All that once glittered was gold, until it turned to bitter ash and ruin. Juliette Laurant has always dreamed of a simple life, painting to her heart's content and unbothered by men and women alike. She gains her wish, to paint in a way that is envied by all who see it, but at the cost of her life's work, and the sudden arrival of a stranger whose only desire is to be seen once more. Now, trapped by the hands of fate, she must find a way to put an end to the stranger's cycle of despair or discover what awaits her at the end of life's final portrait ~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Tris McCoy is having an uneventful summer. It's the summer before eleventh grade, and it's the last summer she has before she has to start worrying about driving, and college, and a career. With her mom being in the hospital and her dad enjoying the title of father out in Australia, she's left to spend the next six weeks alone. Until she (literally) stumbles across a stack of old letters from her pen pal, July Souders. July lives in British Columbia---four provinces away---but Tris knows of a camp she used to attend. Unwilling to spend the summer alone and desperate for any change, no matter the size, Tris sets off for summer camp.

This story is a participation for ONC'26. •••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 𝐂𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐀𝐰𝐫𝐲𝐧 has spent her life being perfect. 𝐃𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐧 𝐕𝐚𝐥𝐞 has spent his being blamed. They can't stand each other, and St. Aurelia's Academy is big enough for them to stay strangers-until a punishment sends them beneath the school, to a door that should never open. A legendary weapon lies waiting. It won't awaken for one heir alone. Forced into an impossible bond, Celeste and Dorian must learn to work together before the power between them turns into something far more dangerous than hate. Because some things don't choose one person. They choose two.

What happens when Death falls in love with the paramour he is gifted? Cursed to kill everyone he touches, beastly Lord Damien Casteel lives in anger and loneliness. During a rare game of poker, he wins the final hand against a petty criminal named Luca. The prize is a pouch of twelve precious gemstones. But Luca is determined to get the stones back, no matter what. Breaking into Damien's mansion to exchange the real gems for fakes, he is captured and threatened with death. Begging for his life, he strikes a deal: his freedom in exchange for his adopted son, Jemison, who will serve the lord as his paramour for twelve days; one day for each stone. Although he is reluctant to let anyone into his life, Damien is desperate for companionship and finally agrees. What he does not expect is to fall for the tormented young man. Prompt used is number 46. We love broken, beautiful people. And it doesn't get more obviously broken and more classically beautiful than you. (Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid) My writing is AI-free. Any emdashes are here because I LIKE them. The poetic purply prose is here because I LIKE it. Computers don't write my stuff. The Muse inside my head who keeps me up till 3 AM and wants to drive me bonkers, does. Warning for: spicy situations, alcohol, some swearing, blood, abuse, and typical Christine darkness. There's no graphic sa, torture, gore, or animal abuse.

something I'm working on for ONC2026 using prompts 67 and 91.

Julian Vane and Clara Reed have been at war since orientation. He thinks her teaching style is "unstructured chaos"; she thinks his tie is tied too tight for his own good. They are locked in a ruthless battle for the "Highest Class Average" trophy, but they've overlooked one thing: their students. Tired of the bickering, the junior class starts a viral "ship" campaign. From "accidental" lunchtime encounters to fan-fiction in the school newspaper, the kids are determined to turn their teachers' rivalry into a romance. Julian and Clara are horrified-until they realize that pretending to date might be the only way to get the students to actually focus on their exams. But when the fake smiles start feeling real, the lesson plan goes out the window. ONC 2026 ENTRY PROMPT 55

Title: Double-Edged Fate Contest: Official Entry for the Open Novella Contest 2026 (#ONC2026) Prompt: #115 - "A prophecy says you will love two people: one destined to save you, and one destined to destroy you. The problem is, you don't know which is which." Description: "One destined to save you, one destined to destroy you." In the year 2026, destiny is a clinical diagnosis. On her eighteenth birthday, Elara receives a rare Split Prophecy: her future is now tethered to two young men. One is her savior; the other, her end. When a near-fatal accident brings Julian and Kael into her life at the exact same second, the vision is triggered. But as the lines between protection and betrayal blur, Elara must discover who is who before her heart-and her life-are cut by the double-edged sword of fate.

Staying on the safe path feels secure, but that doesn't mean it's the path you were meant to take. ​Sloane and Brady were the "it" couple of high school, but graduation is a hard stop. To satisfy her parents' rigid expectations and step into a prestigious future in Law, Sloane chooses the script over her heart. She breaks the only boy she's ever loved because he doesn't fit the "perfect" image her new life demands. ​But as the bridge to her past crumbles, Sloane realizes that walking away is the easy part. Choosing between the life she was born for and the boy she can't forget is where the real danger begins. ​One choice. Two worlds. A line that was never meant to be crossed. 《#ONC>Prompt24》

In a world where soulmates are bound by names, everybody gets a special mark on their eighteenth birthday. The name of their soulmate. But in Ivy's case it's a little bit different. Instead of a name she gets a countdown. She doesn't know what it stands for or why she get it but she needs to find out before it shows zero. A search for answers begins and every time Ivy thinks she is one step closer to it, even more question starts to come up. She has to find the reason, the answers and the solution for that countdown in a short time. But will Ivy find what she's searching?

Clarence lived a normal, boring life. He worked a menial job, had a cat that didn't like him much, and his only friends were romance novels and smutty sci-fi books. With no aspirations and no reason to leave his well-trodden path, Clarence knew exactly who he was. Until he didn't. After visiting a strange shop down an alleyway he had never noticed before, he wakes up in an unfamiliar body. A body that belonged to a feared, alien general in the middle of an intergalactic war. With the help of an optimistic android and a cold, yet beautiful sworn enemy, Clarence must uncover the truth behind who he is and how the hell he can get back home. MxM Scifi romance. * ONC 2026 entry, using prompt: 41 *