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Things Worth Searching For by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
09 Dec 2025
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Summary
Sirius would be the first to admit that he was prone to unnecessary dramatics, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that something of the person he had been was lifted away with the curtain call. One version of Sirius had entered the tent and a different one walked back out into the sun. It was, in a way, exactly what Walburga Black had hoped for; what an enjoyable irony to comfort himself with as he reluctantly left the stage behind.
In post-war England with society on the precipice of a major shift, Sirius Black reaches the tipping point within his own family. With nowhere else to go, he turns to a new friend and his family's traveling circus for an escape. Even with the fresh start he hoped for and an unexpected chance at love, eventually, Sirius must admit that one family can never be entirely left behind for another.
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One More Boy, One More Lie by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Baldur's Gate (Video Games)
06 Dec 2025
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The stories grew more fanciful, a snowball rolling downhill as it passed from person to person. The Blade had plucked a harpy straight from the sky and stolen its wings for himself. The Blade had felled an army of goblins with no weapon but the jawbone he ripped from the first of their corpses. The Blade would show up when your need was greatest and turn the tide of unwinnable battles as easily as one might snap a dying branch. The Blade would not confirm, and he would not deny. When a traveler more daring than most worked up the nerve to ask him the source of his triumph, his answer was always the same — some secrets are too important not to keep.
The Blade of Frontiers is the greatest hero the realm has ever known, a man of strength from mysterious origins. Astarion, a prostitute working in the Tourmaline Depths who has won the Blade's affection, is approached by a powerful patron with an offer - reveal the source of the man's strength and be rewarded. An easy bargain, yes? What reason could there be not to throw the Blade to the wolves?
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The man in the woods didn’t inspire dread at first glance. He wandered as aimlessly as a week old lamb, lifting one hand to trail it through the sweeping branches of the willows on either side of him.
A strange man wanders near Forest Hills, straying near lingering danger. A callous prince controls the palace, holding Eddie’s fate in his capricious hands. They look the same, though they couldn’t be more different — two men in the same body in a way that shouldn’t be possible in the wake of magic being purged from the kingdom. It would be wiser to weather the consequences for thievery with his head down rather than involve himself in a mystery, but Eddie has never been known for his wisdom.
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It had taken only a few days of playing unwilling host for Wyll to learn the signs that his dreams hadn’t remained his own; by now, he had thoroughly mastered it. As his eyes fluttered open, his temples ached. There was a rapidly fading pressure there, pulsing as the tadpole backed away from his skull and the tendrils that had projected his memories retracted under the weight of consciousness. At least it had been a kind memory this time. The party would wake cocooned in fond recollections of childhood with a father far softer than the one that existed now rather than choking on bile as they had after being subjected to glimpses of the Blood War.
After a fond childhood memory is accidentally shared with the party while Wyll sleeps, he discovers that the mermaid he once discovered in the harbor was not a mermaid at all. There are far crueler things in the waters of Baldur's Gate than the imagination of a child can picture.
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They may very well not survive to celebrate the slaying of a devil in his own realm, or the city’s dictator in all but name, or the chosen of Bhaal herself, slippery like roaring rapids and twice as deadly. They could, however, celebrate doing one misguided constable’s job for her and prying loose one of death’s many claws sunk into the meat of the city. That would have to be enough.
Dolor has been slain, the Bhaalist murder plot has been interrupted, and the party has survived to see another day. This is a victory worth celebrating, and a major blow struck against Bhaal's Chosen...isn't it?
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Now, a long train trailed behind her, embroidered along the edges with skulls and ravens, and all manner of intricate artwork that drew another scandalized gasp from the woman who had tutted earlier.
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I Must Be Going When Destiny Calls by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
27 Sep 2025
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Eddie’s acting weird. After seven years together, Steve is more than used to that by now. It’s the natural way of the world when you hitch your wagon to the strangest set of horses you’ve ever met in your life. Loving Eddie Munson means strapping yourself in to a lifelong roller coaster ride and holding on for dear life as it goes around bends you never would have imagined.
Summer 1993
On vacation across the country, Eddie and Steve start to think about whether they've outgrown their life as it is.
Series
- Part 8 of I Am What I Am (I’m Not Apologizing)
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As if his luck couldn’t get any worse. Two hours in a cell, and his first visitor was the man who leapt dramatically into battle to save people he didn’t know with a catchphrase at the ready. The goblin would be better company.
All it takes to know a man is six conversations through six different sets of bars.
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If fatherhood had been stolen from his grasp, then a son was all he would ever be. It had come naturally to him once, and it did so again as he collapsed into Ulder’s embrace.
Wyll and Astarion receive the worst news expecting parents could receive. Who could ever handle it gracefully? -
Under the Shade of Another Oak by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Baldur's Gate (Video Games)
31 Jul 2025
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Halsin had stepped valiantly into a portal that blinked out of existence when their party was overwhelmed in combat. They hadn’t been close all those years ago, but Halsin had been the first to die, and Astarion would be the last as he was always destined to be. There was something meaningful in that.
Immortality leaves one with rather a lot of years to keep track of. 150 years since saving the realm. 146 years since marrying Wyll. 79 years since becoming a widow. 13 years since the last of his former companions passed on without him.
Of all the things Astarion has suffered in his long life, the one blow he's no longer capable of weathering is suffering all on his own. When he finds his way to the Shadow-Cursed lands in search of place to waste away in peace, the last thing he expects to find is a kindred spirit in similar need of healing.
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He had hoped the others might see his reasoning after spending so much time psychically linked, but apparently not. Seven years of adventuring had given him the right to call himself a hero; perhaps seven more would grant him the benefit of the doubt with those he held dear. The pedestal he waited upon until then was high enough to turn his stomach.
There is no beating Mizora. Wyll won't forget that just because a false opportunity to escape his pact shows up to tempt him. The others may not understand his reasoning, but it is a lesson he has learned well. There has been no chance to learn something new until now.
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“Are you kidding?” Steve asked. He grabbed an oven mitt and tucked the pan where it couldn’t do any more damage. “You grabbed a hot pan right out of the oven? Focus on what you’re doing for two seconds. Jesus.”
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The Chain You’re Dragging That Was Once Your Relief by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
09 Apr 2025
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It’s the same as before, but it isn’t. He’s in a hospital bed, but he can leave any time he wants. Eddie is dead but breathing, and Dustin is laughing, and Steve stalls out in the doorway of the room trying to make sense of it all.
Spring Break 1990
A phone call from the hospital about a car accident forces Steve to confront issues he thought were dealt with and appreciate what he has in life.
Series
- Part 7 of I Am What I Am (I’m Not Apologizing)
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Outrun the Loss by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)
01 Mar 2025
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Summary
Maybe in another universe, there was someone waiting for the right words. He would save his voice for her.
Unable to accept the finality of Jinx’s death, Ekko uses what little of the anomaly’s energy remains to travel between worlds and find a version of the woman he loves that he can save.
Written as 28 interconnecting drabbles for Febuwhump 2025.
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James wanted to hold him by the face and force him to meet his gaze, to look in his eyes and bellow the affection he had bottled up for so long until no part of him had any doubt how easy he was to care for. His fingers twitched with the instinct just beneath his skin, but not even James was brash enough to believe this was the right moment for it.
When Regulus turns up at James and Sirius's flat reeling from a devastating break-up, James sets aside his own feelings to help him pick up the pieces.
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Nothing Worthwhile Is Built Alone by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Arcane: League of Legends (Cartoon 2021)
11 Jan 2025
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Scar considered himself better than most at rolling with the punches, but even he had his limits. Every tantrum soothed without the help of his daughter’s second-favorite person wore another piece of him to dust. Every decision he made for the Firelights on Ekko’s behalf fueled the frustration simmering in his gut. There were no more fights to throw himself into, no punches to throw or weapons to swing to work out the knot building in his chest. There was only absence where once there had been companionship, and enough was enough.
In the aftermath of the fighting in Piltover, Ekko has been changed. Grief demands his attention, and he retreats from his duties with the Firelights to do so. Scar is more than willing to lead in his stead as he has done since his disappearance, but all things reach a breaking point eventually.
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The Doors Are Closed and Cannot Be Opened by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
26 Dec 2024
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Summary
The bartender and his companion both stiffen. Already pale from the bitter cold, their faces go white as sheets. They swivel to face the mouth of the alleyway so fast that they nearly fall to the ground in their haste to put distance between them. If Moira hadn’t already been sure that the man she caught a glimpse of was her son, the eyes would have erased any doubt. They’re more expressive than Moira remembers, but they’re hers.
Christmas 1988
Left alone in New York City on Christmas Day, Moira Harrington comes face to face with a ghost and all the haunting realizations that come with such a thing.
Series
- Part 6 of I Am What I Am (I’m Not Apologizing)
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If None of Us Believe in War (Then Can You Tell Me What the Weapon’s For?) by GhostInTheClawMachine
Fandoms: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
31 Oct 2024
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Summary
The bond of similar experience — normally a balm when bad memories strike — sits between them like a weight that Steve doesn’t know how to lighten. Listening to what happened with Joyce turns his stomach, like looking at his and Eddie’s life through a funhouse mirror of what-ifs and worst case scenarios.
Fourth of July 1987While still off-balance from the flashbacks that plagued him during the Fourth of July, Steve pulls it together to support Hopper, who had an even worse holiday than he did.
Series
- Part 16 of Whumptober 2024
- Part 5 of I Am What I Am (I’m Not Apologizing)
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Hide in a memory of Hawkins. Hide again in a memory of the arcade. Hide again in your favorite machine and don’t stop digging, putting as much distance between you and the homicidal maniac on your tail as you can.
Trapped in Vecna's hold for longer than anyone could have planned for, Max comes up with new ways to run out the clock.
Series
- Part 15 of Whumptober 2024
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Wrench couldn’t tell them either, but the medical team hadn’t even attempted to get their answers from him. There was no point in asking questions to a man who could not speak through the black shield welded to his jaw.
Wrench's mask has always been an extension of himself, and he would go to great lengths to prevent being separated from it again. The universe has a sick sense of humor. It fulfills wishes far too literally for Marcus's taste.
Series
- Part 14 of Whumptober 2024