In the woods of Oakridge, hikers are disappearing left and right―even more so than usual. After much careful deducing, Evan Novak is positive that the locations where the vanishings occur follow a pattern, but when he sets out one night to see for himself, he doesn't return from those woods. The last thing he does before seemingly blipping from existence is send a garbled voicemail to his best friend-his emergency contact. Day Jha wants to get through high school with minimal mayhem. From elementary school, he's been a wallflower, blending in with the crowd-and he prefers it that way. In a town like Oakridge, where strange things are the norm, Day prides himself on being truly mundane. But when his best friend goes missing, and his only lead is a voicemail with nary a voice, the beginning of his freshman year is made up of poking into the odd history of his small town and unearthing disconcerting instances from its places, its people, and even himself. Day wants to be a typical high schooler. He wants to be on the swim team, even if one of its co-captains has a big head. He wants to go out with the new girl, Artie. He wants to slip by as he had in middle school―but mostly, he wants to do all that with his best friend by his side. But where on Earth is Evan, and what really is lurking in those woods? There's only one thing to do: see for himself. They're just trees; it's not like the legends, the tales, the monsters that have always surrounded their town are real, right? BOOK 1 of the Monsters series

[MLM] Moving to another state to start anew was Ryan's best bet in leaving behind memories of a messy situation. But when Cash Durand tumbles into the backseat of his taxi, suddenly, Ryan's got another messy situation on his hands―this one might be worth sticking around for, though. Maybe even worth both of them acknowledging their individual pasts clinging to their present selves. ****** At the fresh age of twenty-five, Ryan decides to move out of his small (and homely) two-bedroom flat, opting for a new start, away from messy memories and messy situations. What he'll soon find is a messier situation; starting with the one-room flat in a rural Indiana town he can't remember the name of, where his wake-up calls are the shouts from the town common across the road, because of course, the one place he found was smack in the middle of the busiest street. A cabbie as a job seems like a step up from his bartending days back in Illinois, and, well, it's not great compared to his exercise science bachelor's degree gathering dust, but he's still proving to the world that he's found something all on his own. Then, a day after he got the job, Ryan comes face to face with a twenty-something beaten up by life, who has a fire burning constantly in the palms he curls into fists, dark shadows under his eyes, and who acts like Ryan should know him―like there is more to them than this moment, than who they are right now. Maybe to him; but to Ryan, he's just the cabbie driving the annoying guy to the ice rink or random bars. That's all there should be to them. Until the cycle of familiarity becomes the string joining them together, and the past tangles with the present--even states away. No one can steer clear of messy situations forever. SIGNIFICANT RANKINGS: #4 in realistic fiction on 1/10/2026

𝐢𝐧𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐧: people who were abandoned grow up to love people who abandon them || Justin thought he was hallucinating when he saw him for the first time on the streets. But no, his drug-addled mind hadn't been fucking with him. He'd actually seen a boy with glowing eyes--a boy who'd saved his life by taking away something that shouldn't be taken away: his pain. When they meet again, his eyes aren't glowing but that doesn't stop Justin's life from becoming more complicated. For each encounter to bring more pieces to connect. For everything to become harder than it had been before. For him to realize that there are different types of addiction, different forms of monsters, different types of pain--the kind from the outside, and the kind that's inherited. It doesn't stop him from having a foot in two worlds, both dangerous for him in different ways for the same reasons. It doesn't stop him from hoping he doesn't fuck things up like last time. ( teen wolf : s4 - s6 ) ( 13rw : s2 - post-s4 )

❝𝑻𝒐 𝒈𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒕𝒕𝒐𝒎 𝒐𝒇 𝑨𝒑𝒐𝒍𝒍𝒐'𝒔 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒐𝒕, 𝑰𝒄𝒂𝒓𝒖𝒔 𝒇𝒍𝒆𝒘; 𝒉𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒓𝒆𝒘 𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒉𝒆𝒂𝒅 𝒃𝒂𝒄𝒌 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒚𝒆𝒍𝒍𝒆𝒅 𝒕𝒐 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔, 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝒃𝒊𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒖𝒎𝒑𝒉 𝒊𝒏 𝒄𝒓𝒂𝒔𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒃𝒆 𝒔𝒐𝒂𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈. ❞ ( male oc x will herondale ) ✹ ☀ Charlie Starkweather was a wanderer with blood on his hands. For probation, he's taken to the London Institute; the sentencing for what he had done would have been more brutal had it not been for his age and family influence. Though he would rather have suffered death at the hands of the Clave than suffer painstakingly in his current state-a ghost to the world around him; smoke of the flames in his soul, surging out of his lungs. In his bitter spite, against the people who refused to believe his innocence, Charlie Starkweather was killing himself slowly. Unintentionally deliberate. All he wanted to do was fly, to be free, but even someone as bright and fiery as him needs to drown in the deadly blue waves of his inevitable demise. As flashing, jagged, and so blue as pansies. As alluring and dangerously wicked as the gaze of William Herondale. ( the infernal devices; clockwork angel - clockwork princess ) ( crossposted: quotev ) ( creds to @CASTIKLINE for the gorgeous cover! )

❝ 𝒚𝒐𝒖'𝒓𝒆 𝒔𝒐 𝒅𝒐𝒘𝒏 𝒕𝒐 𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒕𝒉... 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊'𝒎 𝒖𝒑 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒓𝒔. 𝒔𝒐 𝒔𝒉𝒐𝒘 𝒎𝒆 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒔𝒆𝒂𝒔... 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒊'𝒍𝒍 𝒕𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒚𝒐𝒖 𝒕𝒐 𝒎𝒂𝒓𝒔 ❞ ( male oc x lance mcclain ) ⭒✶⭒ Trent was born on Mars in the Red Planet's first-ever human community (funded personally by the Galaxy Garrison). Everyone on Mars knew about the Garrison and, when it was Trent's turn at the age of 18 to be called to Earth for an ambassador's meeting, he was surprised to see that they were famous too---the first successful mission, the one people brought up especially when the Kerberos Mission went sideways. Sure he's a tad distant from Earthen happenings, but Trent's content strutting his strut on the Blue Planet before going back to living among his small community on Mars. Unfortunately, his life nosedives when his first night on Earth is disrupted by several teenagers and he's dragged along for the ride. One thing leads to another and Toto, they're definitely not in Kansas anymore. Or the Milky Way galaxy for that matter. ( season one - season eight ) ( crossposted: quotev )