GhostInTheClawMachine
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According to her, one of these should appeal to him above all others. It should call to him so clearly that its owner was sure to be compatible with him on a biological level — compatible enough that simply existing near them could begin to purge the rot still pulsing into his body from the wellspring in his carotid artery. Passive recovery, they called it.
Astarion has been mated to a monster for 20 years, a nightmare with no way out. When he finds himself faced with the prospect of freedom, the possibility is overwhelming. How could he get by on his own when just getting through the day is a battle? Fortunately, there's a lifeline, a voluntary program that matches people who have suffered a great trauma with a volunteer whom they are scent-compatible with. By simply sharing a home with this person, healing comes faster than it ever could alone. Astarion is paired with Wyll Ravengard, a young man who has done more for the program than almost anyone else.
It's a simple arrangement - move in, get better, and move on without giving a new alpha any chance to harm him. After all they've suffered, who would expect feelings to complicate matters?
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It would come back again. Maybe he might be lucky enough to go years in between, but soon enough, the itch would return. In a way, this was rather fitting. His body never had learned how to stop craving the worst things that had ever happened to it.
A deal with a devil isn't a bond so easily broken. Even after Mizora is gone, Wyll finds himself going through a sort of withdrawals. An infernal itch lives beneath his skin, banished only upon fulfilling the conditions of his old pact - the death of something infernal, demonic, heartless, or soulless. A vampire ascendant fits the criteria quite nicely, if you can stand the pain of coming close enough to kill one.
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Gale stood alone atop the last evil left to face, and death did not fulfill its promise of oblivion. There was no comforting dark embrace nor any gentle erasing of hardships.
After sacrificing himself to defeat the Netherbrain, Gale doesn't fade quietly into death. He becomes one with the Weave, indistinguishable from the magic he loves. Every use of it anywhere in the realm feels as if it is delivered by his hands.
Written as 28 sequential drabbles to fill 28 prompts for Febuwhump 2026
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On Main Street, between the circling cop cars, a path of flesh probably ran from a pothole to the flaming wreckage of Steve’s bike.
A foot to the left and he would have died. -
Welcome to the Family by GhostInTheClawMachine for backflips
Fandoms: Baldur's Gate (Video Games)
12 Feb 2026
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“I can’t always come first to him, Astarion,” Wyll said. “He’s a state senator. He has more important things to worry about sometimes. I understand that.”
“Well, I don’t," Astarion said. “I don’t understand it, and I certainly don’t have anything more important to worry about. I’m glad you have him in your life again — really, I am, even if he’s driving me even grayer than I already am — but it’s so new. You already let him treat you worse than you deserve to keep him around. How much worse is it going to be at a wedding?”
Only eight months after ending their estrangement, Wyll receives an invitation to his father's wedding and attends with his partner, Astarion. A fragile relationship, two important people at odds, and the peaceful, zero-stress environment of a wedding - what could go wrong?
Recent series
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I Am What I Am (I’m Not Apologizing) by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandom Stranger Things (TV 2016)
27 Sep 2025
Summary
The Wounds Where Blood Just Won’t Congeal + related stories
- Words:
- 177,281
- Works:
- 8
- Bookmarks:
- 35
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Whumptober 2024 by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandom Baldur's Gate (Video Games), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Stranger Things (TV 2016), Watch Dogs (Video Games)
31 Oct 2024
- Words:
- 54,066
- Works:
- 16
- Bookmarks:
- 1
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Is this thing on? by ARustySpork
Fandoms: Heated Rivalry (TV), Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid
04 Apr 2026
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“They need to return to a conference based system,” Svetlana said, slamming her hand against the table. “It was fucking fine the way it was, why are we handing out participation trophies to shitty divisions?”
Ilya raised his eyebrows from where he hovered in the kitchen, cracking open another Red Bull.
“This is fun,” he said, deadpanned. “You guys should start a podcast or something. I would not listen, you are both terribly boring.”
* * *
Or, after an injury on the ice forces Shane into an early retirement, he and Svetlana start a podcast.
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,670
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 525
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- 8,129
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- 1,857
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- 49,672
Bookmarked by GhostInTheClawMachine
28 Apr 2026
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“Did you like them? My parents?”
Ilya squints at him. “I love them,” he says simply, like it should be obvious. “They’re your parents.”
But, Shane thinks idly, there's a difference, isn't there, between loving them and liking them?
(5 times Shane thinks Ilya doesn't like his parents and 1 time he finds out the truth)
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 12,743
- Chapters:
- 6/6
- Comments:
- 422
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- 6,899
- Bookmarks:
- 1,604
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- 55,214
Bookmarked by GhostInTheClawMachine
29 Mar 2026
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Ilya died, yes, but then the doctors saved him. Cardiopulmonary resuscitation in the ambulance, three electric shocks, two emergency surgeries, twenty-six units of blood. Ilya died, but then he came back.
If only Shane could get his subconscious to understand that.
Series
- Part 1 of my anonymous heated rivalry fic
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 13,090
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 520
- Kudos:
- 10,573
- Bookmarks:
- 3,153
- Hits:
- 101,474
Bookmarked by GhostInTheClawMachine
19 Mar 2026
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Summary
The Swiss National League doesn’t care about the legendary Hollander-Rozanov rivalry. When the MLH can’t negotiate with the Hockey Players’ Union in time to prevent a hockey lockout at the start of the 2015 season, the Zürich Lions jump at the chance to sign both Shane and Ilya to short-term contracts. For four months in Switzerland, they share a team, a line, a house, and a bed.
Then the lockout ends in January, and it’s time to go back. Back to different countries, cities, lives. Beds.
Reentry is harder than expected.
Series
- Part 8 of my heated rivalry anon fics
- Part 1 of homegrown
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 38,174
- Chapters:
- 4/4
- Collections:
- 1
- Comments:
- 3,767
- Kudos:
- 28,580
- Bookmarks:
- 12,061
- Hits:
- 526,026
Bookmarked by GhostInTheClawMachine
11 Mar 2026
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Friendship In Retrospect by HH_Arrow
Fandoms: Game Changers Series - Rachel Reid, Heated Rivalry (TV)
14 Jan 2026
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Summary
Cliff Marleau gets assigned to keep the new Russian rookie out of trouble. Fifteen years later, he gives a speech at Ilya's wedding.
Series
- Part 1 of A Formal Study of the Heart
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 14,275
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Comments:
- 1,395
- Kudos:
- 13,185
- Bookmarks:
- 3,105
- Hits:
- 89,502
Bookmarked by GhostInTheClawMachine
08 Mar 2026