Baladria
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Stede is just going through the motions in his life, his marriage to Mary, suffering through board meetings at Bonnet Enterprises. When Mary suggests he pick up a hobby, he decides to volunteer at the local public library on Saturdays, running a literary classics (mostly 19th century) book club. Then one Saturday, a man in leather comes in looking for a book about plants and makes Stede feel all sorts of things that are baffling to him. His name is Ed, and he's a famous video game streamer on Twitch. Ed comes back, and back again, until they become real friends, inching ever closer to something more.
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This extensive essay contains all the inspiration and meaning behind my depiction of the Revenge crew as ancient Egyptians, as they appear in my artwork, "Crew for Life".
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Egyptian Gentlebeard - an Ancient Egypt AU by Baladria
Fandoms: Our Flag Means Death (TV)
27 Sep 2024
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This series reimagines Ed Teach and Stede Bonnet in ancient Egyptian art style. There are some specific recreations of scenes from the show. In each chapter I will explain the source material that served as inspiration: the history, art, meaning, and use of hieroglyphs. You'll find that, although Egyptian art seems to have stayed the same for 3000 years, there were actually significant changes and developments not only to the style but also to the meaning! If you just want to look at the pictures, that's awesome, and I get that. But if you're interested in the deeper dive into ancient Egyptian study, it's waiting for you. I hope you enjoy in any case whether actively or lurkerly.
Notes at end: explains my art making process hehe
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I Go to the Fenians by Baladria
Fandoms: Creideamh agus Béaloideas na nGael | Ancient Irish Religion & Lore
18 Sep 2024
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This story draws on the old Irish legends in the Fenian Cycle, Mythological Cycle, and the tale of Oisin, the great poet, and Niamh in the Land of Youth. It centers around Oisin's dual life as half-human, half-faerie, and how he must reconcile these halves to maintain the precarious peace between humans and faeries. It's not an easy task when he has a hot-headed best friend who has a long-standing feud with the faeries, an adventurous cousin who is prone to getting into trouble, and a faerie bride who wants him to stay in the Land of Youth. Things become all the more challenging when the ancient enemy, the Fomorians, seek out war against the faeries. Oisin discovers that to restore balance between this world and the Otherworld comes at great cost. This is a story about the tragic Irish hero of bardic legends, and the strength found in family and friendship.
Recent bookmarks
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It’s Paris in the summer of 2024, and world-famous diving champion Ed Teach is representing New Zealand in what could be his final Olympics. After coming back from an almost career-ending injury he’s focussed everything he's got on winning gold at these Games, but when he meets Stede Bonnet—a first-time diving rival representing Barbados—at the infamous free condom handout and then discovers they're roommates, he’s suddenly got a lot more to think about.
As Ed’s synchronisation with his long-term diving partner Izzy Hands begins to falter and Stede struggles with his confidence, believing in each other might be the only thing that gets them both through. In between, they're going to take this brief, fated time together to connect in every possible way they can.
Series
- Part 1 of Love Beyond Borders
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 82,607
- Chapters:
- 9/9
- Collections:
- 5
- Comments:
- 964
- Kudos:
- 1,245
- Bookmarks:
- 373
- Hits:
- 23,453
Bookmarked by Baladria
18 Nov 2024
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Ed's minding his business when the new neighbor's kid comes around holding a human puppet. It's creepy as hell, but as soon as the kid's father rounds the corner, Ed doesn't mind.
ETA: Podfic available here from Kninjaknitter my darling dearest
“Hello,” says the strangest voice Ed’s ever heard, jolting him out of his reverie, sending his heart speeding into chaos.He opens his eyes and he’s staring straight at a stuffed animal in the shape of a human person. It is bald with a tiny hat and too-big eyes and it wears a blue shirt and a name tag that says Jeffy in the sort of scrawl normally reserved for words written in blood.
A puppet, he realizes several seconds beyond when it would have been appropriate to respond.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 83,761
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 1,600
- Kudos:
- 1,658
- Bookmarks:
- 557
- Hits:
- 29,285
Bookmarked by Baladria
15 Nov 2024
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Summary
Standing outside the centre, Stede stared at the handle of the door as if it might bite him.
If he’d thought about it, he could have cancelled within the 24-hour cancellation window, but he hadn’t. He should have. He really should have. But it was too late now and he either had the choice of walking away and losing the payment or going in.
Would it be so bad to lose out on the money?
After all, it wasn’t as if he was short of it.
But he’d–
He wanted to go.
He’d wanted to go ever since he’d heard about it, and yes, all right, he and Mary had already been on shaky ground when he booked a couples’ session six months in advance for Valentine’s day, but now that it was here, he didn’t want to cancel.- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 134,871
- Chapters:
- 83/?
- Comments:
- 7,566
- Kudos:
- 1,210
- Bookmarks:
- 141
- Hits:
- 43,429
Bookmarked by Baladria
15 Nov 2024
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Stede draws his attention back to the head massage, alternating pressure from the kind of bruising that’s enough to knead a migraine away, to gentle, delicate strokes through his hair. He grows almost meditative with it, forcing his eyes away from Ed’s face and simply enjoying the feeling of body heat and cool, damp-silk hair against his palms. Truthfully, he could do this for hours, rather than the usual three-to-five minutes that’s usually afforded to customers when they…
When…
It’s been longer than three-to-five minutes.
A quick glance at the clock reveals it’s been far, far longer than three-to-five minutes.
Stede doesn’t mind, obviously. And Ed doesn’t seem to be about to question it. But the snide little Lucius-like voice in the back of his mind points out that almost twenty fucking minutes is maybe a bit of an overkill.
Stede yanks his hands away from Ed’s hair like it’s covered in bleach.
“Okey-doke!” Stede manages, voice shrill and a little strangled.
From across the salon, the real Lucius snorts.
(OR: Stede's a hair stylist. Ed shows up for an appointment. And shows up. And shows up. And shows up...)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 106,256
- Chapters:
- 8/8
- Comments:
- 2,103
- Kudos:
- 1,063
- Bookmarks:
- 324
- Hits:
- 19,037
Bookmarked by Baladria
15 Nov 2024
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Summary
The 80s are in full swing, and the golden decade of Nintendo Gameboys’ and Sony Walkmans’ has never looked better. In the neon jungle, Stede Bonnet, a young salaryman, meets enigmatic mechanic apprentice Edward Teach, and the pair strike up an unlikely friendship via fax machine, page beepers and gifts in the mail.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 109,438
- Chapters:
- 98/?
- Comments:
- 2,799
- Kudos:
- 4,089
- Bookmarks:
- 1,120
- Hits:
- 126,347
Bookmarked by Baladria
15 Nov 2024