thedeadparrot

Don't Let Your Schemes Be Dreams or: Life Lessons from the Annual Psychonauts Holiday Party (1801 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Psychonauts (Video Games)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Sasha Nein/Milla Vodello
Characters: Sasha Nein, Milla Vodello, Razputin "Raz" Aquato, Interns (Psychonauts)
Additional Tags: holiday party, Scheming
Summary:

Somehow, the drinks at the annual Psychonauts Holiday Party never seemed to improve year after year, despite Truman's repeated insistence that he would 'make it happen.'

And I also took a brief nostalgia dive into LOTRips and wrote something because Billy and Dom kept talking about playing League of Legends on the Friendship Onion.

I don't think anyone else I know has played Psychonauts, but I just want you all to appreciate the title. I am very proud of it.

Our Friendship Is On Another Level (3839 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Lord of the Rings RPF
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Billy Boyd/Dominic Monaghan
Characters: Billy Boyd, Dominic Monaghan, Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, Orlando Bloom
Additional Tags: League of Legends - Freeform, Alternate Universe - Gamers
Summary:

Gamer AU. At the time, Dom's friends list was empty, and so maybe that was the explanation for why he sent a friend request to this awful player who went by the name Pippin68 and had a terrible tendency to get lost in the fog of war.

Uh, and here's the reveal for the pinch hit I wrote last yuletide

Cognitive Dissonance (1321 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Comics)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Andy | Andromache of Scythia/Quynh | Noriko
Characters: Noriko, Andy | Andromache of Scythia
Additional Tags: Spoilers, Post-The Old Guard: Force Multiplied, Complicated Relationships
Summary:

After the events of Force Multiplied, Andy tries to work out her new relationship with Noriko.

I will write a year-end fic in review at some point, but I am very tired and basically playing Stardew Valley nonstop instead of being a person.

The most important news is that I have a cat now! I got her about 4 months ago now, and she's something of a senior cat (9 years old), and she is the sweetest, cutest cat in the whole world. There were some health issues that took me by surprise at the beginning and are causing me stress on the regular, but that's something I was preparing myself for when I adopted a senior cat. I named her Andromache after the Old Guard character, so I call her Andy.

( pictures )

I'm still a nervous, anxious cat parent, but I am getting more used to it! I have been watching a lot of My Cat From Hell and learning a bunch about cat behavior, and it's been a fun trip to learn a bunch of new stuff during pandemic.

Apparently I'm just on a writing binge right now, so uh, here, have an emotionally fraught threesome.

all my failings exposed (3493 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Booker | Sebastien le Livre/Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Characters: Booker | Sebastien le Livre, Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Additional Tags: Threesome - M/M/M, Bad Decisions, Depression, Suicidal Thoughts, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Pre-Canon, Unsuccessful Comfort Sex, Booker | Sebastien le Livre Needs Therapy
Summary:

After a rough mission, Joe and Nicky make sure that Booker doesn't spend the night alone.

Yup, I also got suckered into this movie and had enough feelings to write a fic! It's probably verging on meta, but you know, fanfic is where we can grapple with those sorts of feelings.

A Life's Purpose (1822 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolo di Genova
Characters: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani, Nicky | Nicolo di Genova, Nile Freeman, Andy | Andromache of Scythia
Additional Tags: Introspection, Slice of Life, Backstory
Summary:

Nicky sometimes wonders why they are always warriors, those of them who have been chosen.

So as promised, here's some navel-gazing about this current moment in time from someone who isn't black and who isn't a history scholar, so fair warning, this might be all sorts of cringe-y, sorry. But hey, if I can't process my many feelings here, where else am I going to do it?

( cw: history, racism, etc )

I did sign up for fandomtrumpshate this year! It's for fanfic again, and I basically copy/pasted my offer from last year into the signup form. I wrote a crossover I was not expecting to last year! That was cool!

Anyway, you should check out my offer.

the size of the boat (6130 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Good Omens (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens)
Additional Tags: Size Kink, Bottom Crowley (Good Omens), Top Aziraphale (Good Omens), Multiple Orgasms, Marathon Sex, Crowley Has A Penis (Good Omens), Aziraphale Has A Penis (Good Omens), Plot What Plot/Porn Without Plot, Large Cock
Summary:

Crowley has a size kink. Heaven accidentally issued Aziraphale a huge dick.

There are no footnotes in this. That is the only thing I can say in my own defense here.

Of course I now have bronchitis after my cold. OF COURSE. Body, why do you do this to me? It's just been snot and coughing all over everything for the past few days.

Anyway, I posted some Good Omens fic.

O Blessed Bonds (3809 words) by thedeadparrot
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Good Omens (TV)
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Aziraphale/Crowley (Good Omens)
Characters: Aziraphale (Good Omens), Crowley (Good Omens)
Additional Tags: Bondage, Gentle Dom Aziraphale (Good Omens), Blow Jobs, Forced Orgasm, Footnotes, Dom/sub, Sub Crowley (Good Omens)
Summary:

Aziraphale ties Crowley up. They both enjoy the experience.

Because I'm that kind of nerd, I wrote up a tool to code the footnotes in this fic: Footnote Formatter. Feel free to use it or to spread it around or to give me some feedback on it! I have added some features based on some early feedback already.

1. I have been sick with a cold for the last week and a half and while I'm doing a lot better this week, the long tail of cold recovery (BODY. STOP. COUGHING.) is causing me a lot of low-grade misery. It has just made me whiny and a little needy, so of course I've resorted to shitposting on Twitter.

2. Saw my parents for Christmas. My mom is doing much better. She's fussing like normal again and recruited me to set up a million electronics for them, most of them bought post-Thanksgiving. I watched Triad Princess -- a Taiwanese Netflix series that's a mafia rom com that works way better than it should -- with my dad, who was delighted by it. He explained how the divination and spirit asking thing worked and also talked to me about the linguistic drift that's happened since he and my mom left.

3. I was reminded that I usually do an end-of-year fic retrospective (and I'm going to!), but part of me is a little bit sad about my fic output this year. I dunno if I should save my too-many-feelings about it for my retrospective post or what, but while I understand that there are plenty of good reasons for my fic writing falling by the wayside -- not having much of a fandom! other creative hobbies that I find fulfilling! lots and lots of work stress this year! -- it still makes me sad to feel like this chapter of my life is closing/changing. But such is life, I guess. Change is the only constant. And I do keep poking at things, even if I will never finish them. Who knows, maybe I'll even squeeze out this Good Omens PWP before the end of 2019.

4. Cross-stitch is one of my latest crafting things that I've gotten into. It's soothingly repetitive in the way knitting is soothingly repetitive, and it's new! It's a new thing! My brain is pleased.

I am kind of obsessed with tarot decks right now. I love the weird imagery-laden art. I love the way each card, even the middling ones in the minor arcana has significance and meaning. I love the way people love it and come up with their many varied and infinite interpretations.

It's not a spiritual thing for me, but it's not just an aesthetic appreciation either. I think there's something to be said for drawing a random card and forcing yourself to confront how it might apply to your own life. I haven't done much of it yet, but I might try it out for a little bit, see how it goes. I've experimented a little bit with readings and I'll see how much of more that I tackle.

I'm also kind of fascinated by the history of tarot, too. The most common version of it comes from a weird mysticism cult around the turn of the 20th century (known to those 'in the know' as the Rider-Waite-Smith deck) which drew and produced the cards, shoving them full of signs and symbols. It's a mishmash of Christian and other white people stuff (Odin makes an appearance as The Hanged Man, and Judgement is all about Jesus rising from the dead). But it's also very evocative and powerful in its imagery, which is part of what makes it so enduring.

One of the things I love about looking at tarot decks is seeing how people reinterpret those original images and how they bring their own perspective on the meanings of the words. There's a whole section out there on 'oracle decks' which are any sort of divination decks that are not tied to any of the tarot traditions, and I'm less interested in those because I want to see how people take this framework of the original RWS and reinterpret it into their own art. It's like watching a bunch of different takes on Shakespeare. The joy is partially in seeing how the artists work with and against the limitations of having an established structure. There's a whole lot of queer and POC tarot nerds and artists out there, and they've been putting some cool spins on the very white, very heteronormative imagery of the original.

I have already caved and bought a few different decks and read a book on the subject. I'm staycating this week, so I had the free time, and it's been fun doing a deep dive here.

Here are the decks that I've caved and bought for myself:
Everyday Tarot - cheap! pretty! abstracted, minimalist version of the Rider-Waite-Smith in purple and gold.
Neon Moon - cyberpunkkkkkkk. I love how the artist reinterprets the originals into this very cohesive cyberpunk world. Also check out their Sinking Wasteland deck, which I might also cave and buy at some point. I also love how the artist puts high quality images of their whole decks online for perusal and appreciation. Definitely check it out.
Prismatic Tarot - I love the colors of this one. The art is clear and sharp, too.

Decks that I'm lusting after:
Prisma Visions - Very impressionist art! The minor arcana all make up one large image, which is amazing.
Slow Holler - Alas this is out of print. It's actually a collaboration between queer Southern artists that somehow manages to be amazingly cohesive.
Next World Tarot - was told about this deck by hermionesviolin and it might not be to my tarot tastes, exactly, but I love the colors and the ferocity of it. Unashamedly queer and full of POC surviving and thriving in a kind of post-apocalyptic America.
Sasuraibito - Beautiful and clear art threaded through with so much feeling.
This Might Hurt - Somewhat cutesy but still serious and trying to portray a whole lot of different types of people in a lot of ways.
Golden Thread Tarot - I love the beautiful, simple linework here, and it's also shiny!

Decks that aren't for me but that I think other people would dig:
Weird Cat Tarot - I don't think this needs any explanation.
Halloween Tarot - It is such a delightful, joyful take on the cards. And v. seasonally appropriate.
Wild Unknown - The art is beautiful and very nature-focused. I love the strategic use of color, but I think it might be a little too abstract for my tastes.
Fountain - Also very pretty. Maybe a little too abstract for my tastes as well.

I've also decided to start stalking indiedeckreview so that I can keep up with all the latest and greatest indie decks that are coming out, if only so I can admire all the pretty art.