I can’t stop thinking about the ZA/UM people who defended the company after it came out that Kurvitz and co were fired like “well disco elysium was a collaborative effort, don’t buy into auteur theory.” Like. First of all what an INCREDIBLE cop out. Second of all elysium was always a collaborative effort, it was a ttrpg setting that Kurvitz made with his friends and had been developing since they were fucking teenagers. And ZA/UM kicked out ALL of those original members who created it together so like. Lol.
But also it just makes me sad bc it’s true that I think the amount of time it took and the collaborative nature of the work influenced disco a lot. There’s such a stark difference between the tone of disco vs the tone of Kurvitz’s novel. Shivers saying “you can keep me on this earth. Stay vigilant. I love you.” The phasmid begging you to please not blink and let the world go. The way that the story had to shrink and shrink for the format until it was localized in Martinaise and the way that zooming in on this small portion of the world they created, all these small people with small lives, made it all the more life affirming bc it turns out to be the small things that make life worth living at all. Egg saying “lonely as I am, I’m not afraid.” The phasmid saying “you are the miracle.” The swallow in the church being kept at bay by a dance club. Like… over all those years of effort and collaborating with other people I think maybe it seems like the og ZA/UM members started feeling a different type of way about things, just a little. Only for all that work and all of those experiences to get stolen out from under them like some kind of cruel joke. It’s sad and infuriating.
Like. Yeah, it’s a collaboration. These guys invited other people into their childhood sandbox to play around with them, and then even invited the whole world in. And then they got kicked out of the sandbox and are no longer allowed to be part of this collaboration. It’s fucked up. Fuck ZA/UM