they say baia valontiu was a city of opportunity, once. before the fires came. the first fire was two hundred years ago. no-one remembers exactly how it started, whether it was an errant spark or an act of arson; what everyone agrees is that it was devastating. three out of four buildings reduced to ashen shells, far more grief than a city could handle. but they rebuilt, covering over their losses and starting anew ― and they almost made it. the second fire was fifty years ago. two years after the first greatship returned to baia valontiu's harbour. still, no-one knows quite how it began, only that the only surviving buildings were the stone ones. everything else, simply hollow ― but once again, they rebuilt. they raised their city higher, yet again burying the ghosts and grief. this time, though, they left people behind: the people beneath, the lost and forgotten. this time, something was missing from the city above; this time, the city had grown claws. the third fire hasn't come yet, but they say it will. smaller blazes break out across the city, each stopped, each one lending venom to people's whispers. maybe it's this poisoned speculation that turned the city sour, cut-throat, only offering its sweet opportunities to those willing to spill blood for them. those like beatrice vulpes, a child of the ashes, orphaned in a boat fire. her surname means fox, but they don't call her that; if they have to address her at all, they call her dog. clever, but dangerous too: she leads a gang of thieves and swindlers, running just outside the reach of both the law and the iron circle. it isn't enough. when a stranger offers her the reward of a lifetime, bea finds herself tasked with a suicidal mission: to venture into the bowels of the city, to venture beneath, to kill the most powerful man in the city. and maybe, just maybe, to find it in her shrivelled heart to save her city.

virtues are for fools, darling.

*ONC ROUND ONE QUALIFIER* *ONC ROUND TWO QUALIFIER* *ONC AMBASSADOR'S PICK* *COMMUNITY CURATOR PICK -- JULY 2020 & FEBRUARY 2021* *MINI AWARD WINNER FOR BEST DIALOGUE -- OPEN DOOR AWARDS 2021* *SUN WINNER - FIRST PLACE FOR FANTASY -- OPEN DOOR AWARDS 2021* ❝ how can you prove whether at this moment we are sleeping, and all our thoughts are a dream; or whether we are awake, and talking to one another in the waking state? ❞ | IN WHICH THERE IS A WAKING, AND A DREAMING, AND A RETRIEVING OF MEMORIES, AND THOSE WHO SPEAK IN DREAMS DO NOT EVEN KNOW THEIR OWN TONGUE | ❝ there are no witnesses to a dream. ❞ (#ONC prompts #15 & #30) (cover by @TahliePurvis )

dr. jonathan deere, trapped in a small, stifling town, spends his days working and pining after the gravedigger's son: sweet, silver-souled jesse goodwin. but the goodwin brothers have a devastating secret, and when jesse falls ill jonathan must force his way into their shadowy world, facing a battle for the life of the man he loves. things are not what they seem in the gravedigger's house -- men and monsters alike stalk the corridors, wearing the same skin. as jonathan delves deeper into the secrets of the town, he finds his own soul at risk. he can't save jesse alone -- but the alternative means trusting a man he hasn't spoken to in two years.

❝ THE LAW AIN'T NEVER BEEN A FRIEND OF MINE. ❞ in the year 1864, twenty-four-year-old american outlaw jesse jordan gets caught and hanged, but his story doesn't end there. he ends up in hell, but he manages to slip through the devil's fingers. he snags a completely new body along with one of hell's treasures - an intricately carved, delicate golden ring that stops any supernatural creature from locating him with ease. but hell doesn't let its sinners go so easily. a demon is sent to get him, to catch him and return him to hell where he will face eternal torment. to make it as hard for them as possible, jordan hides himself away in the smallest, most out of the way town in america he could possibly find - graymore, california. There, he meets his ex-boyfriend casey hawkes and lives in graymore for a while in relative peace - until things begin to happen. animals are found dead, drained of their blood and organs. houses are found burned down in the mornings, but no one remembers smelling any smoke. a little girl disappears. jordan must find out the reason graymore has gone from a charming, sleepy village to a place that positively reeks of terror, the damned, and something much, much worse. he may be the only one that can save the inhabitants of this little town, quite possibly at the cost of his own soul, but damn him - jesse jordan has never been a good man.

❝ THE APOCALYPSE DOES NOT WAIT FOR LITTLE GIRLS, MISS TAALIS. ❞ ― a runaway, an ex-apostle, a heretic, a soothsayer, a seductress, and a child all navigate an incoming apocalypse under the backdrop of an ancient city, a burning friary, a dark prophecy, and a doomsday cult.

richard died four days ago and darcy knows why. © veerle.

❝POWER IS A PRETTY THING.❞ ❝NOT AS PRETTY AS YOU, BABE.❞ MEI IS BEAUTIFUL. With beauty is danger.

a futuristic world where science is the new god, humanity is legend and technology is the norm. what happens when the most ancient species appears in the system again? © castor may 2019™

TIME DOES NOT BELONG TO YOU © 2018 mars