ethekitchenator

[ethekitchenator]

the je ne sais quoi i miss most from the early dragon age games is a certain ethnographic/anthropological interest in how individual’s societies and living conditions shape both their worldviews and their politics, and I feel like that’s missing from Veilguard.

There are many symptoms of this: the companions not having interesting conflicts between each other, the morality of the factions feeling very simplistic/black and white, the way that there really is no follow through on everything the previous games told us about the Tevinter Imperium (slavery! Legalized caste system! Natalist/reactionary Make Tevinter Great Again political movement), etc etc etc

But i feel like it all comes down to the fact that the Veilguard writing is generally incurious towards how the characters exist within their context in the fictional world. Every social issue or cultural setting created feels like it was written for twitter discourse or a corporate pride post, not that it exists in the world of Thedas that has been built up for years and years and years.

[ethekitchenator]

Artwork Still in the Making

Hi everyone!

I'm still creating, even though I've been quiet. My Redbubble store is updated, and I'm also now on Displate!

Exciting times are ahead. I've been slowly working on a Youtube Analog Horror series, I've got loads more art and photography I'm working on, and writing is being slowly chipped away in the background.

As always, any support is appreciated. A share to get the word round of my work would be amazing. I know the world is pretty crazy right now, so I'm hoping to just spread some creativity and positivity.

Cheers!

[ethekitchenator]

I don't get how more people aren't outraged by the the absolutely atrocious writing writing of Dragon Age Veilguard. 99% of the writing in this game is downright awful, the few gems completely lost in amongst it.

We're told instead shown almost everything. Conversations go around in circles going nowhere. Conversations repeat themselves, just worded differently. Any hints of things of where something is going, half the time the rug is pulled from under you as if to say "gotcha", the other half is just a mediocre experience.

All the missions are summarised, like you didn't just spend all that time playing it. Varric jumps in after every significant companion quest and tells you what's going to happen next. I just don't understand.

They took out companion conversations to replace them with "timed" ones, and half the time these conversations gave you nothing except more roundabout discussions. They removed so much heart from this series for the sake of...something. I'm not even sure what. I'm just so angry and heartbroken over this game because Dragon Age has been a huge part of my life, it's got me through some of my worst times, and now we've been given...this thing. I struggled hard to get through the game because I just couldn't stomach the writing.

We have a right as fans to voice out that their game is not up to the standard it should be. If we support mediocrity, then they'll just keep giving us mediocrity. It's cheaper for them after all. Yet, I see lots of people just singing the games praise.

Have I missed something? Am I overreacting? Everyone is allowed their opinion of course. To me, majority of the game feels like it's been written by a thirteen year old taking their first stab at fanfiction. How can you not be angry at a AAA game studio producing quality like that?

I just don't know anymore. What is life. What is writing. After the last two years I just needed a win and this game wasn't it...

[ethekitchenator]

The Crowley Reverse Bang is returning!

We know you did.

So, let's give you what you want: ARTISTS SIGN-UPS OPEN TOMORROW!

Here's the schedule:

Jan 10th 2025 - Artists Sign Up open. Feb 2nd - Artists Sign Up close. Feb. 16th - Artists Check-In Feb 17th - Author Sing Up Opens Feb 23rd - Art Submissions Due (50% draft at the very least) March 2nd - Author Sign Up Close March 5th - Art Pieces Due (75% draft at lest) March 8th - CLAIMS March 21st - Team Check In #1 April 4th - Writers Check In April 18th - Team Check In #2 (& dates claims) May 3rd - Posting Begins

And here are our general rules:

Whether you’re an artist, author, beta, or mod, we expect you to be respectful of other participants and your teammate.

Anyone who was banned from the previous round cannot participate. Disappearing on a teammate and the mods is rude!

Respect your deadlines, including submissions, check-ins, messages from your teammate or from the mods.

Check-ins are COMPULSORY. You will have between 48 and 72 hours to complete them. While an extension can be requested, missing them will result in a ban - and good luck explaining this to your team mate.

Deadlines are flexible with enough notice. Fandom is meant for fun and sometimes real life gets in the way of our creative fan works. Be considerate of your teammate in this regard as well: make sure to communicate with them about their workload, timezone and time availability. 

Reach out to mods when an issue comes up - we are here to help you. 

If you have limited internet connection, such as relying on libraries/offices or cafes and need extra time to respond, please let the mods know that upon signing up, so we can make a note of that.

Links to the forms coming tomorrow!

[ethekitchenator]

Artwork Still in the Making

Hi everyone!

I'm still creating, even though I've been quiet. My Redbubble store is updated, and I'm also now on Displate!

Exciting times are ahead. I've been slowly working on a Youtube Analog Horror series, I've got loads more art and photography I'm working on, and writing is being slowly chipped away in the background.

As always, any support is appreciated. A share to get the word round of my work would be amazing. I know the world is pretty crazy right now, so I'm hoping to just spread some creativity and positivity.

Cheers!

[ethekitchenator]

Now that Veilguard is out, this feels like he was trying to warn us.

[ethekitchenator]

*whispers* holy shit people are amazing.

[ethekitchenator]

I'll upload old work to celebrate 10 years since the Hobbit movies has concluded.

#ホビット完結十周年

[ethekitchenator]

Have creative writing skills just died over the last few years? Between movies and games (TV has been a little better), I'm just finding it harder and harder to actually find decent, or even forgivable, writing.

Take the film Longlegs. Did Nicholas Cage play his part really well? Yes. Was anything else about the movie good? No. You had a bland and passive protagonist who literally does nothing and was played so vacantly that she was boring as anything to watch. The whole plot line made zero sense, and the FBI were laughable at best. The film could not decide what it wanted to be, so it was just left as a poor, confusing mess that really didn't solve anything or make any sense.

No take Dragon Age: The Veilguard. Oh boy do I have some thoughts about the writing in this game. I'll save most of because I'm not finished, but it's been really hard to get through. It has it's moments, don't get me wrong, but those gems really shine compared to the rest of downright awful writing. Almost everything is told to you, not shown, told. The player is hand held through the story, and your character is...sickeningly nice the entire time. There's no character building, no nuance, and it's like being forced fed on old, dirty spoon.

Now, these are just two examples off the top of my head, but surely it's not just me noticing this right? Time and time again I'm being disappointed by modern media, mostly because of poor writing and storytelling. The times where I'm not disappointed are becoming rarer and rarer that it's hard to look forward to anything. I'm sure there's multiple reasons I could put it down too, but it's becoming increasingly frustrating from a writers perspective. The basics seem to be being thrown out the window in favour of...something. There's a time and place you can break rules, but these should never be at the cost of your story.

I don't know, maybe it's just me.

[ethekitchenator]

I don’t WANT a career. I want to cuddle and sleep and eat and read and create and love and be loved.

[ethekitchenator]

Where would I be without my chooms? join Patreon for this month's Cyberpunk themed print club!

[ethekitchenator]

I don't know what those '90s sci Fi TV writers were putting in their shows but I wish they'd start doing it again

[ethekitchenator]

heeppy hoolida

[ethekitchenator]

[ethekitchenator]

Artwork Still in the Making

Hi everyone!

I'm still creating, even though I've been quiet. My Redbubble store is updated, and I'm also now on Displate!

Exciting times are ahead. I've been slowly working on a Youtube Analog Horror series, I've got loads more art and photography I'm working on, and writing is being slowly chipped away in the background.

As always, any support is appreciated. A share to get the word round of my work would be amazing. I know the world is pretty crazy right now, so I'm hoping to just spread some creativity and positivity.

Cheers!

[ethekitchenator]

Artwork Still in the Making

Hi everyone!

I'm still creating, even though I've been quiet. My Redbubble store is updated, and I'm also now on Displate!

Exciting times are ahead. I've been slowly working on a Youtube Analog Horror series, I've got loads more art and photography I'm working on, and writing is being slowly chipped away in the background.

As always, any support is appreciated. A share to get the word round of my work would be amazing. I know the world is pretty crazy right now, so I'm hoping to just spread some creativity and positivity.

Cheers!

[ethekitchenator]

i think maybe we could spend less time thinking about things that make us angry and more time thinking about other stuff