BabblingBookends



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Recent series

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  3. Summary

    A collection of slice-of-life drabbles featuring DC Comics characters!

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    Bookmarks:
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Recent bookmarks

  1. Public Bookmark *

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    Getting information out of Ilya about his family was like getting blood from stone. Maybe harder. It had been one of the first things Shane had noticed about him. Any questions about his parents – the kind of typical things Shane’s mom had taught him to ask to make polite conversations – would result in brusque, emotionless answers or, worse, actual anger.

    But somewhere out there was Irina’s granddaughter. The only remaining blood relative that Ilya gave a shit about.

    And Ilya could never go back, which was Shane’s fault.

    So that bothered him.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
    40,355
    Chapters:
    5/5
    Comments:
    141
    Kudos:
    997
    Bookmarks:
    329
    Hits:
    10,044

    09 Jun 2026

  2. Public Bookmark *

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    At twenty-one, Ilya Rozanov is the Soviet Union’s most perfect weapon, a soldier of the Red Machine who has spent three years locked in a silent, jagged war on the ice with Canada’s golden boy, Shane Hollander.

    When the Montreal Metros claim him as a "wasted" mid-round draft pick, the rivalry transforms from a professional grudge into a desperate lifeline. On the final night of the 1988 Calgary Olympics, he risks everything, his family, his career, and his safety, to start a new life in the West. Forced into a high-stakes billet under the roof of his bitter professional rival, Ilya must navigate a world where freedom feels like a new kind of prison.

    As Ilya struggles to adapt, the crumbling Soviet empire reaches across the ocean, searching for leverage to help pull him back.

    OR: What if Ilya fled Russia in 1988 to play for the Montreal Metros?

    Series
    Language:
    English
    Words:
    199,578
    Chapters:
    28/35
    Comments:
    3,204
    Kudos:
    2,193
    Bookmarks:
    1,174
    Hits:
    94,803

    23 May 2026

  3. Public Bookmark 59

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    "I dom men too," Sid says dubiously, now clearly trying to find a secret offering of equal merit.

    Zhenya snorts, endeared against his will by Sid, which happens too often for his liking. He decides not to share that he would sub to men, if it weren't riskier than subbing to women, on the off chance that Sid thinks that he has to come up with another confession in return. "Thanks for telling," he says sincerely instead.

    Sid looks up from where he has been staring unfocusedly at the beer he has only had two sips of. "Have you been bratting because you haven't had a scene in too long?"

    Being a hockey player has been more important to Zhenya than almost anything else about him - being a man, being Russian, being a sub. He hasn't regretted what he gave up to play in the NHL, but there are days when he's very lonely. Being able to play with Sid helps. It takes a while for them to figure out the rest.

    Language:
    English
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    Chapters:
    5/5
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    Kudos:
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    Bookmarks:
    59
    Hits:
    6,044

    16 May 2026

  4. Public Bookmark *

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    Bookmarks:
    452

    04 May 2026

  5. Public Bookmark 21

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    His voice feels thin when he speaks again. ‘He used to hit me when things went wrong. Even when I didn’t know what I did.’

    ‘Like when?’

    Ilya shakes his head. ‘I don’t remember. Was long time ago. Just if I was bad.’

    It takes him a little while to realise that Shane is shaking.

    What’s worse, much worse than his father’s raised voice or raised hand, is having to confront the fact that his father no longer remembers a lot of what he’s done to Ilya.

    Only his body remembers the history of what he’s endured. When he listens to his father cry down the phone like a child, asking for Irina, he can almost convince himself that he’s made all of it up.

    Language:
    English
    Words:
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    Chapters:
    1/1
    Comments:
    5
    Kudos:
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    Bookmarks:
    21
    Hits:
    2,666

    25 Apr 2026