**ONC SHORTLIST 2024** Heems is an energy vampire, a parasite draining xeir hosts' energy with a single touch. That is until xe meets handsome thief Shiro, the only person immune to Heems's parasitism. ---- Working as a doctor on dwarf planet Eris, Heems drains the energy of xeir unknowing hosts -- Eris's sickly hospital patients -- to survive. Heems's rare parasitic condition doesn't seem to have a cure until xe attempts to make a host out of an injured smuggler. Heems's touch has no draining effect on the handsome vagrant, Shiro, possibly the only person in the Solar System immune to Heems's parasitism. Galvanised by the hope of finding a cure, Heems is lured by Shiro into a world of criminality and obsession, setting them both on a collision course with powerful organisations desperate to keep hidden Eris's biggest secret: that parasites can be hosts too. ☉ Energy vampirism ☉ LGBT+ romance ☉ Non-binary main character ☉ Cyberpunk ~~☉~~ ☆ No sci fi knowledge is needed to understand this story. Basically Eris is cold, has no atmosphere (literally and figuratively), and everyone's broke. I will put some sci fi comments inline for those who are interested, or if you don't understand something, just ask me. I'm happy to help! ☆ Notes on gender: Heems uses xe/xeir/xem pronouns. This book is written in first person so don't worry if you're new to these pronouns since there aren't so many instances of them being used in the book. Content Warning: This book is rated mature. It contains potentially triggering topics such as extreme hunger, chronic debilitating illnesses, suicide ideation, drug misuse, sexual intercourse while under the influence of recreational and medicinal drugs.

Imani was just supposed to make sure that the lost dog got home safely, come back, and pretend like the mere thought of the owner with doe eyes and an armful of tattoos didn't make her question her entire belief system. Sounds simple enough...right? It isn't. (onc prompt #69 | when music becomes a way to communicate no words could compare)

**AMBYS 2022 WINNER** He'll never play piano again. That's what virtuoso pianist Zephyr has vowed to himself after escaping Sigma, the sprawling criminal organisation that once held him--and still holds his friends--captive in California's mega-city capital, Maria. After being forced to entertain Sigma's clients with more intimate services than just music, Zephyr is determined to use his knowledge of the labyrinthine plots and power-struggles between Sigma's gang members to save his trapped friends and find his family, who are mysteriously untraceable by South Korean authorities. But Zephyr's vow to abandon piano is tested by his uneasy alliance with Will, the timid stranger who whisked Zephyr out of Sigma's clutches under cover of a mysterious fire. Will's secretive nature can't hide tantalising hints of his deep connection to music, nor can Will hide the tangled web of his dark past. In a race against time to prevent his family and friends from becoming Sigma's latest targets, Zephyr must discover if Will's true goal is to help him, or to lure him deeper into peril, as they spiral inexorably together. 🥇Winner, Wattpad Amby Awards 2022, New Adult category 🥇Grand Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022 🥇Winner, Wattpad Pride 2022, New Adult category

𝐖𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐘 𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐍𝐄𝐑 𝐘𝐀 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟏 For bipolar fifteen-year-old Aaron, growing up in '90s Dublin, being gay is a choice. It is a choice between risking alienation from his conservative Catholic family and close-minded friends or drowning under the weight of his secrets. So discovering he is falling in love with his witty, bi-racial best friend, Robbie, an aspiring actor, plunges Aaron into a sea of confusion. Swimming against the tide of expectations, the young men set a course through sex, drugs and Bowie concerts, an outlet from a world that doesn't understand them. But weighted under the pressure of maintaining a double life, Aaron sinks into a deep depression. When a shocking incident puts his life in perspective, Aaron must decide whether staying silent and invisible is worth losing the only love he has ever known for. 𝗙𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗼𝗳𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝗪𝗮𝘁𝘁𝗽𝗮𝗱 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗳𝗶𝗹𝗲𝘀: @nonfiction (Memoirs/Sex, love and relationships/ Mental Health and Awareness/ Self-discovery) @DangerousLove (Hot Nerds, Rockstars & Musicians) @AmbassadorsUK (Very British Teens) @Romance (Young Love) @YA (Love, Actually) @beauty (Feel Good Stories) @GeneralFiction (Freestyle Fiction-Miscellaneous/ Finding Love-Romance) @PsychologicalNovel (Triggering Romance) @ProfileMentalHealth (Self Love) @NA (Let Me Share The Truth) @YARomance (A Diary of Everything) @TeenFiction (Teen Featured) @HistoricalFiction (Decade Fiction) @BullyingPrevention (LGBTQIAP+ Pride) @ComeSitWithUs (LGBTQIAP+ I Am Who I Am) @wattpadfriendsandfamily (Always with you) @FreeTheLGBT (Coming of Age)

Two childhood best friends. One accidental kiss. A summer that changes everything. *** Felipe Rivera has a problem. Several problems, really; as if his anxiety disorder and his strained relationship with his father weren't enough, he's also been in love with his best friend for as long as he can remember. Now that it's their last summer together before they go to separate colleges and leave the suburb they grew up in behind, he's determined to keep his feelings for Aaron bottled up. However, things quickly move beyond his control, and what was supposed to be a summer like every other turns out to be something that might just put their friendship to the ultimate test. Content warnings for themes of anxiety/mental health issues and recreational drug use

❝ We are the ones who dream in ones and zeros. Do you dare to dream with us? What will you see? Will you like what you see? Or will these dreams turn into nightmares? ❞ A collection of short stories in the science-fiction genre, but with a twist. If you're looking for sci-fi stories told from a different perspective and with a more personal, emotional, intimate touch, then this is the collection for you! If you don't know where to start, then check the synopsis chapter for a brief and (mostly) spoiler-free description of each short story in this collection.

In a dingy karaoke bar, sparks fly. - Amirah Begum has always believed in happy endings. Even after everything she's been through, whether it be years ago when she lost her favourite pair of light-up sneakers or three days ago, when she got dumped by the girl she thought was the one of her dreams, she hasn't lost her dream of a happy ending. So, when she finds a brooding stranger doing the exact opposite of what she lives her life by, she makes a pact to help them get their happy ending, and maybe re-evaluate her own definition of a happy ending in the process. - started: february 3rd, 2022. completed: april 24th, 2022.

A recently out divorcee must explore his identity and how to not be the straight-acting man he's been his whole life. Just when he has found his footing, a flamboyant trans man jumbles up his ideas about what it means to be gay, to be masculine, to be a man. *** Edwin realises he's gay at the ripe age of 56. Coming-out should set him free to finally explore his sexuality, but honestly? He feels lost. He's getting a divorce after thirty years of marriage, half of his friends turn out to be homophobes, he feels an interloper in LGBT places, and for the first time ever, he's living alone. His only remaining certainty - the one he's risked everything for - is that he's attracted to men. To affirm his sexuality, Edwin focuses on everything masculine and seeks out gay men like him. But just when he finds his footing, a flamboyant gay man jumbles up all his ideas about what it means to be gay, to be masculine, to be a man. If Edwin wants to find his community, he'll need to re-examine what it takes to belong. *** Cover by the amazing @SmokeAndOranges! Cover image found by @galaxiesuniverses

maybe Nate McGonagall has been reading too many vampire novels, but Remus Lupin is starting to seem very suspicious. He's always out late at night, he always looks tired, he's covered in scars and he always spends nights in the hospital wing at a time. There's something up with him and Nate is going to find out what it is... even if he ends up hurt. [completed] [Remus Lupin x Male!OC] [Marauders Era] [Book 1 of the Skylight Series]

One Midsummer night. Two girls. Seven flowers. Once the night is over, everything has changed. *** This is an entry for the 2024 Shortys Awards. Credit to @furusato_ for the lovely cover!