#just a little something I've been writing and hoping might bring a wee bit of fun and adventure to whoever dare read it :)

[nelicossack]

Chapters: 3/? Fandom: Pirates of the Caribbean (Movies) Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Relationships: Jack Sparrow/Original Female Character(s), Crew of the Black Pearl & Original Female Character(s), Will Turner & Original Female Character(s), Hector Barbossa & Original Female Character(s), Elizabeth Swann & Original Female Character(s)

Edith Smith. Daughter of a privateer-turned-pirate, who dreams of nothing more than to sail the high seas in the search of freedom, adventure and perhaps even some danger.

'Captain' Jack Sparrow. Sailor-turned-pirate, who dreams of nothing more than furthering his fame as a pirate, and gaining back his beloved ship, so that he can sail on it for eternity.

How will their tales intertwine? What will come of it?

Well, all I can say is that tales there be a plenty in this cursed place, and dead men do tell tales...

[himluv]

DA Review Series – The Calling by David Gaider

<<< Previous Review: The Stolen Throne

At last, my media tie-in tour of all things Dragon Age continues! You can find the previous review linked at the top of each post and I will probably make a master list once all is said and done. But, let's talk about the next thing!

Title: The Calling Author: David Gaider Publication Year: 2009 In-World Year: ~9:10 Dragon (possibly 9:11 Dragon) Verdict: ... eh? There's much more to like here, particularly lore, but it's long and feels longer. If you're determined, give it a shot, otherwise maybe just read the wiki?

The Calling is the direct follow up to The Stolen Throne, but still a prequel to Dragon Age: Origins. In this book we meet Duncan just months after he has joined the Wardens, and they have travelled to Ferelden to ask King Maric for a favor.

The favor? Oh, you know, nothing much... just if he would lead them through the Deep Roads and back to Ortan Thaig so they can find their missing Commander who *should* be dead. So, you know. Typical Warden shenanigans.

And, as one might expect from a dummy like Maric, he agrees. Now, I am being a little hyper-critical. I actually found Maric to be much more likable this time around – he's grown up quite a bit, and he's grieving Rowan's death and a life he never had. He's got some complexities showing through in this book and it looks good on him.

I also really enjoyed the other Wardens we get to meet. Especially Kell, an Avvar, and his hound Hafter, as well as Orlesian battle couple Julien and Nicolas. We also meet quite a few important folks in this book! Obviously we have Duncan, and he is a delight, but we also meet Fiona, Utha, and of course, The Architect.

Which brings me to the point of this book. The Architect has concocted a plan to infect the whole world with the Darkspawn Taint in hopes that the survivors will achieve some sort of middle ground like Grey Wardens do in the advanced stages of their Calling. Ghoulish and horrible, but still retaining their minds.

Except... do they retain their minds? The evidence suggests that the further the Taint spreads, and the more corrupted one becomes, the angrier and more hateful they become. Which is interesting, because I don't know if that's really come up elsewhere in DA. It definitely makes me consider Red Lyrium a little differently, that's for sure.

Of course, if you've played DA: Awakening, then you know that The Architect and Utha escape and do continue... refining(?) their plans to bring a "lasting peace" to Thedas (read my tin hat theory here).

Also important to the series, Maric and Fiona do the nasty in the Deep Roads which results in the birth of one adorable wee baby Alistair. We also get some context about Duncan's promise to Maric to watch out for the boy, so we know his recruitment was hardly coincidence.

There's one more thing I really want to mention before I wind this down. I've been pretty critical of Gaider's writing in these reviews so far, and while I still think the writing isn't great in The Calling, it is GREATLY improved. It's obvious to me that he learned a lot and grew over the course of writing these books. But, there's one moment that I think really shines, where I actually got the sense that Gaider was writing something that mattered to him.

When the party is trapped in the Fade, Maric finds Nicolas in his dream with the recently deceased Julien. It's a poignant and tragic scene, where Nicolas knows he's dreaming, that Julien truly is dead, but chooses to stay anyway. It's beautifully done and made my chest ache with the weight of Nicolas's pain. It also made me think about when it was written, how it was "revealed" so far into the book that these two very buff warrior bros were actually devoted lovers. And how the gaming landscape in 2009 might not have looked upon that with the most kindness and empathy.

I'm glad it's there. To me, it was the best part of the book.

Overall, The Calling is a decent addition to the Dragon Age series. It struggles with pacing a bit, feeling like the pacing of a quest in Origins (which also struggles with pacing imho), but there is quite a bit of lore and extra context for characters we see later in the series.

So, while it took me a little while to get through, I am glad I read it again!

[localvoidwhumper-moved]

HELLO WHUMP COMMUNITY.

A GREMLIN IS FINALLY COMING OUT OF THEIR LITTLE CAVE AND THAT GREMLIN IS ME

so hi there and welcome to my INTRO POST!

(despite having tumbr for years, i still suck at post formatting so please bear with me dkdhj)

I'm a person of many names, but for the sake of brevity I'll give you three

feel free to call me Yeehaw, Void or Isaac, whichever you prefer

I go mainly by they/them

English isn't my first language so please be patient with the occasional grammatical mistakes jdldjdldjdkdh

This is my main, chaotic blog where I'll reblog and try to post whump along with lots of stuff about my ocs and some other things.

For a bit about me: I am a writer, an artist, and a long time fan of whump. Ever since i was a wee child i found great joy in brewing up dark scenarios in my little mind to hurt the fictional people i made. And so i continued and now, here we are.

ONTO THE CREATIVE INFO!

(and buckle your seatbelts, this will be a long ride)

My favorite tropes:

i adore anything to do with dehumanization, which is why pet whump is one of my favorites! Nonhuman characters are very much my bread and butter, be them whumpers, caretakers or whumpees. That brings us to vampires in specific. I love those. mwah perfect. i also love creepy and intimate whumpers ohooo yes.

i like to see my whumpees break. i like my whumpees terrified. i like watching the last shreds of hope be ripped away from them and see how they scream and cry because what did they do to deserve this? BUUT i also like a hardy defiant whumpee who instead of breaking, snaps. and oh the desire for revenge... delightful. i like many things dkhdkdjd

gore, torture, kidnapping, lab and medical whump, restraints, heavy conditioning, the "damned if you do damned if you don't" trope, illness whump, all of those are absolute FAVORITES of mine

when it comes to comfort, i like seeing the recovery process, eg: a heavily conditioned and traumatized whumpee slowly learning that life isn't all pain. oh yesssss. i enjoy comfort and specks of hope being granted just before overwhelming torture strikes. it's about the contrast

when it comes to squicks, i don't really have a need to list them. i simply Dont Look at what makes me too uncomfortable once i find it so as long as a work has its themes properly tagged, it's all fine and dandy :D

I have a fuckton of ocs. might just make a big ole post cataloging all of them and let people send in asks requesting an oc and a prompt, who knows!

I have many ideas but it's hard to organize them so expect random disorganized idea dumps every now and them (voidrambles? maybe)

I'll also post lots of art, mostly oc drawings and some whumpy ideas!

AND FEEL FREE TO SEND ME ASKS!!! i love interacting and i promise i dont bite im just shy

MAIN STORY:

My main wip still doesn't have a proper name so I've been calling it the "wolf and rabbit story". It's mostly a recovery story that takes place in a world where hybrids, humans with animal characteristics, are mistreated and oppressed by most governments at large, and as such often end up becoming pets (i still gotta organize this worldbuilding *sobs*). The story follows Aleksei, a wolf hybrid who escaped the system and is now a citizen, and Vincent, a pet rabbit hybrid who ran away from his old master and is now living as a stray. Well, was living as a stray, untill Aleksei found him bleeding on the streets and made the impulse decision to take the rabbit in. Features lots of caretaking and comfort and past trauma and that wip is my baby basically.

if you've read up until this point, thank you! now it's time to play tag

(if anyone tagged here wants me to remove the tag, please let me know)

here are the main blogs which inspired me to write whump and dive into this lovely community! they're all amazing and i recommend checking them out!

@just-a-whumping-racoon-with-wifi was the first whump blog i saw! Her Tool series just awoke something deep in my heart and i haven't stopped since

@whumpster-dumpster 's delightful prompts have carried me through many a writer's block!

@wumpzone was the blog which actually inspired me to start my wip! her stories are all worth checking out they're so good

@whumpsday 's kane and jim series is just UGH PERFECT it sparks so much joy all their blog sparks joy

and @whumpshaped is the one who gave me the last push i needed to finally post this! (thank you whumpshaped of the lake <3) its writing and drabbles are all perfect and amazing and i love it all (devil hot.... my beloved) go check it out!

and i think this is basically it, folks.

if there's anything i should change around for more clarity, please do tell

and thanks for listening to my whump intro!!

have a good earth rotation :D