When Elora comes back home one afternoon, she discovers her mentor dead-just another in line of her recent nightmares that came true. With his final message telling her to find a reclusive researcher, as well as the traces of corrupted obsidian powers at the scene of the crime, she quickly realizes that there is something much larger behind her mentor's death. Something has been corrupting Obsidians, and Elora is one of the few people who are seeing that. And now that something has killed her mentor and forced her on a journey she never desired to go on. With the help of an enthusiastic alchemical apprentice-to-be, Elora will have to find Arcani and put an end to the corruption that is trying to catch up to her before it's too late.

𝗠𝗔𝗥𝗥𝗬 𝗢𝗥 𝗗𝗜𝗘!!!! It's just another day for Howard and Vince until their friend Naboo receives shocking news from a shadowy government authority on his home planet of Xooberon - he must get married or be executed. When Howard volunteers to marry Naboo and save his life, there's just one problem: Howard and Vince have been avoiding each other ever since that one night when they kissed. Now they're travelling to an alien world together, forced to pretend their complicated feelings don't exist. Naboo's mentor Dennis is suspicious, the wedding trials are perilous and keeping up the charade is getting harder by the minute. Can Howard and Vince survive preparations for the big fat intergalactic wedding without confronting what's really between them? A space fantasy queer romance absurdist comedy about fake relationships, second chances, and the things we do for the people we love. °︵‿︵࿔.♡.࿔︵‿︵° 𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒊𝒔 𝒂 𝑴𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕𝒚 𝑩𝒐𝒐𝒔𝒉 𝒇𝒂𝒏𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏 𝒔𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒔𝒆, 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒄𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏-𝒕𝒚𝒑𝒊𝒄𝒂𝒍 𝒍𝒂𝒏𝒈𝒖𝒂𝒈𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒉𝒖𝒎𝒐𝒖𝒓. 𝑰𝒕 𝒊𝒔 𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒖𝒓𝒆 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒄𝒐𝒏𝒕𝒂𝒊𝒏𝒔 𝒓𝒆𝒇𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒔𝒆𝒙, 𝒅𝒓𝒖𝒈𝒔, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒓𝒐𝒄𝒌 '𝒏' 𝒓𝒐𝒍𝒍.

🏆 ONC 2026 Ambassador Pick 🏆 Dead men tell no tales. Or so they say... Having survived a series of catastrophes, disgraced detective Penny Dubois is thinking of retirement. After all, she sees no reason to come back. However, everything changes when her best friend, Irma Hale, is framed for the murder of renowned heiress Charity Payne, and all the clues point towards her. The victim's ghost is summoned from the dead and says she's guilty. As a necromancer, Penny instantly recognises that the seance had been rehearsed, but she must keep it a secret, because if she gets found out, it could be her awaiting the final sentence. As the clock ticks, Penny must start a new investigation and find out who the real killer is before it's too late. *** Based on Prompt 72.

In a world full of monsters, sometimes you have no choice but to become one. The kingdom of Aspera is in disarray, and its queen, Julia Semel, fears that she may lose everything. She's losing popularity with the royal court, her cousin rightfully contests her claim to the throne, and invading armies threaten to ravage her homeland. The chaos is a prime opportunity for the enemies to strike. If she fails to unite her people, it's the end of Aspera as they know it. However, there seems to be nothing she can do, especially with Melinda Bellerose, the ruler of a world power, vying for the throne. There may be one solution, though. In a dark forest, under the light of the full moon, Julia makes a great and terrible decision. After all, there appears to be no other choice. Making a deal that could cost her everything, she turns her citizens into an army of unstoppable monsters with the promise of them being able to turn back after the conflict is over. Still, this does not remain secret. Hearing of this immediately, Melinda, along with all her other enemies, plots to counter her risky move, and the possibility of her defeat becomes more real by the minute. Will she win, or will she perish? And can she handle the price of her actions? *** Based on Prompt 96.

Unlike her master, who was one of the very first witches to ever exist and even pioneered the study of magic, Evelynn Kerubin was simply a witch-in-training who did menial tasks. These ranged from helping a child find their missing toy, or going down to the town and refilling the dried well. Which is exactly why it surprised her when Asa Luciferis, heir to one of the most powerful families in the continent, came to their cottage to ask for help. His job for them isn't simple, either; evil spirits and ghosts are haunting the Eden Estate, and it has gotten to the point where his father has locked himself in his room due to his paranoia. It was one thing that Evelynn has to deal with powerful spirits, but going to the manor was a different story--she once lived there as a child and had to escape. If she were to return, it might open unhealed wounds. But whether she wants to admit it or not, Asa was the only friend she made as a child. And if she wanted to help her friend, it means she has to face the ghosts of her pasts. Figuratively, and perhaps even literally.

Tayla's life should have been full of adventure and battle, and it would have been had she not failed her Crest Champion test a year prior. Now she's stuck at her aunt's herbalist shop, selling potions to the very ranks she once dreamed to join. And her town has just become a hot spot for Crest Champions everywhere. The once-bound dragon Zyrel has awakened after a century of slumber, and he draws dangerous monsters to his cage. The Crest Champions must kill him before he can finally be freed. Tayla plans to keep her head down and avoid the constant reminder of her failed dream, but that changes when an alicorn appears in her garden, claiming they must join forces and release Zyrel before it's too late. There's something wrong with the story of Zyrel's imprisonment, and to uncover the truth, Tayla must join a familiar-and loathsome-face from her Academy days. Dangers await, but the greatest threat she finds in the woods won't be the prowling beasts. It will be herself. -- Shout out to @raizelrose3 for the absolutely amazing cover!!

ONC26 Second Place - A counterfeit claim against a legendary wine ignites a high-stakes investigation in which a neurodivergent restaurateur and a forensic wine analyst must navigate forgery, deception, and their own unexpected connection to save a century-old legacy. Luc, owner of London's prestigious Le Rêve restaurant, faces a devastating crisis when a valued patron declares a prized vintage a fake. To protect his family's century-old reputation, he enlists Izzy, a brilliant but socially unconventional forensic wine analyst, eager to prove her mettle. Their shared autism initially creates an unexpected but undeniable spark of attraction, challenging their focus. But as they delve deeper into the complex world of wine fraud, they suspect a widespread conspiracy that threatens to destroy Le Rêve. Together, they must harness their unique abilities to expose the truth, safeguard the restaurant's legacy, and navigate their intensifying relationship, even as they battle their own internal worlds.

If you got anyone to describe Jessie Reynolds-Somber in one word, it would be 'lucky.' She survived childhood leukemia (twice), has the best friend-slash-roommate in the world, and she's studying something she loves at the university she's forever adored. But not even November can describe why she feels so incomplete, as though she's forgotten to do something she'll never get a chance to do. Why she feels like she's failed---no, worse, like she's a failure. [FORMERLY AN ENTRY FOR THE 2026 ONC]