A gothic romance of longing and fate, where love must battle distance, shadows, and the peril of awakening powers. Belle and William once shared everything-childhood secrets, laughter, and a dream to build a chocolate empire brimming with stories. But when William vanished without a word, Belle's world fractured. Six long years passed, each one echoing with silence, until her longing turned into resolve. Now, Belle sets out across shadows and seas to find him. What she discovers is no longer the boy she remembers, but a man cloaked in secrets, his gaze touched by darkness, his presence both magnetic and dangerous. Mysteries of blood and power have shaped William's path, while Belle's own lineage begins to unravel-her ancestry an unknown force, bound to a destiny she never imagined. Every step toward him pulls her deeper into a labyrinth of wonder and dread. Sweet memories blur with haunting revelations, and the bond they once cherished teeters between salvation and ruin. Can Belle and William rebuild the dream that first bound them together-or will the magic that now surrounds them tear their souls apart before their story even begins? Thank you, Nightenghale, for designing the cover and banners.

After exposing academic fraud committed by a star faculty member, Harvard PhD student Madelyn Chung is appointed to collaborate with top neuroscientist Dr. Alex Manning, who is tied to the scandal and whose career she has nearly destroyed. ── .✦ Madelyn Chung is one of the best clinical psychology PhD students Harvard has ever seen - the most controversial, too. After discovering academic fraud conducted by Harvard's star faculty, Dr. Charlotte Shelby, her future career seems uncertain as whispers accuse her of being a burdensome whistleblower. With a potential groundbreaking research project in the line, she is appointed to work with Dr. Alex Manning, Harvard's young neuroscientist and professor who revolutionized several research in his field. A life-changing opportunity for Maddie - but she must deal with the fact that Alex was one of Charlotte's past collaborators, and his career was at stake because of the scandal. Maddie has always been careful when trudging through the endless hours of clinical shifts and research. But when she doesn't know if the longing stares from Alex every time he tries to make her life harder are an indication of hatred, or if they mean something else, she starts to feel unprepared. Because Maddie knows she is a falling star, and if she holds onto the fragile trust between her and Alex too tightly, she will only fall harder.

║18+║ Expedition 33 ║ From the day Cyd was born, she already knew the exact day she would die. With only five years left to live, she joins Expedition 33 to stop the countdown to extinction. The goal was simple... at first. Until the memories began to resurface. Until she met the stranger with eternal youth he never asked for. Cyd may not remember the truth of who she really is. But Verso does. "Hello again, little Writer spy." ━━━⊱●✤●⊰━━━ Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 Fanfic ║Mature scenes + Heavy themes ║18+ ║Also available on AO3 as "Une Vie Enverso"

ONC 2026 Round 1 Winner ONC 2026 Ambassador Pick In 1897, Charlotte Moreau has been in an abusive marriage for years and the only solace she has is in the quiet moments when her husband and children are asleep. She often spends time by the lake and usually finds it a place of solace until one day when she receives a message in a bottle from her former best friend Marie who passed away. She encounters a friend of her acquaintance, Julien Deroche, a man she despises. She begins to argue with him, telling him to leave her alone. She begins to argue with him, telling him vicious things and to turn the other way when they cross paths. When she goes to the woods to find a new place to escape from her daily hell, she encounters Julien and must come to terms with what happened to Marie because Julien knows the truth. And because of their connection to Marie, she begins to soften toward him until she begins seeing him every day in this isolated place. But then Charlotte realizes that she has fallen desperately in love with him. And her husband begins to suspect something when she has dirt on her dress nearly every day. She must choose between her heart and her duty to her husband and children.

LONDON, 1848. Apprentice to the elusive portrait artist Henry Glass, Saskia van Asch spends her days in the studio sketching studies of vain aristocrats. Dreadfully boring, she might complain, but the monotony suits her just fine. And then the mysterious Lady Helen Blackwood commissions a portrait. Saskia takes an immediate dislike to the new sitter, with her evasiveness and quirky mannerisms, not to mention the odd hours she forces Saskia to keep. But the more time she spends with Lady Blackwood, mapping out all the details of her portrait and her life, the more her misgivings transform into a fascination that she finds hard to resist. But giving in to its pull might mean that she has everything to lose. Because Saskia is hiding a secret of her own. -- Main prompt: 117. You're a portrait artist for high-profile clients, but one night a pale, uneasy stranger arrives, asking for a painting. They haven't seen their own face in a century. Secondary prompt: 78. You begin to realise that nothing is quite what it seems.

A forgotten amulet. A whisper of fate. A princess it commands, but at what cost? Maela, princess of the Seelie Court, can't sit through court affairs to save her life. To avoid another royal meeting, she takes a new path through the forest, stumbling upon ancient ruins. The secret within their shattered walls sets her on a path she must find the answer to--before it's too late. Main prompt: ~ 93. Buried beneath the ruins lies an artifact that whispers memories of an ancient being. The first memory it reveals is a warning and it's meant for you. Sub prompts: ~ 16. =And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul= Quote by John Muir ~ 11. The daughter of the most powerful witch(changed to Fae) is nothing like her mother. ~ 104. While wandering in the woods, you dismiss the rustling behind you as nothing more that wind through the trees until you turn around and realize it isn't the wind at all.

Delilah Daine is the most ordinary girl in existence. At least that's what she wants everyone to believe desperately. After spending years in a residential treatment center as a pre-teen, she wants to be normal and fit neatly into the popular mold society creates for girls her age. She has a social media account, so she isn't considered too closed off, but she only posts nature photos and shares cute animal videos. She works as a librarian surrounded by people every day, but after work, she prefers to stay home and be alone. Her carefully curated existence shatters when she receives a letter from someone every doctor insisted never existed - a person who was supposed to be nothing more than a figment of her childhood imagination. Nathaniel Fitzpatrick knows he must leave Europe, especially after spending years caged in a delusional scientist's basement as a test subject. Only one thing keeps him from boarding the ship to America and disappearing for at least a decade - Delilah. A talkative little girl who once showed him he shouldn't spend the rest of eternity hidden in dark caves, only coming out for food. He decided weeks ago it would be best to write her a thank-you note before his departure and forget about her, the way he assumes she forgot about him. But now that it's time to board, he realizes a simple letter isn't enough. He needs to know if she's even alive and what kind of person she has grown into during the years he was imprisoned. People change, and he has to find out whether the only good person he has ever met managed to retain her kindness and compassion - or if she lost that battle the moment she grew up, the way most humans usually do.

|ONC PROMPT 78 "You begin to realize that nothing is quite what it seems."| In the hidden chambers of an ancient elven court, every decision is a matter of life, law, and secrecy. Alliances are forged in shadow, and even the smallest disruption can ripple into catastrophe. For the elves, maintaining order is more than duty-it is survival. Two council members, the steadfast High Justicar Cirmon Shadowbane and the perceptive clerk Belvedere, stand at the heart of this fragile balance. As threats emerge and secrets surface, they are forced to confront the limits of their authority, the weight of their choices, and the consequences of silence. In a world where magic, morality, and power collide, no law can predict every outcome, and no justice comes without cost. Cover designed by @raizelrose3

Bianca Angel was desperate for a job. Jin Hwa was desperate to be left alone. When Bianca becomes the new caregiver for a sick boy everyone else has abandoned, she enters a new challenge that will change her life forever. What started as a job slowly turns into something neither of them expected. A bond built from shared loneliness, broken dreams, and the fear of tomorrow. As Jin's illness gets worse, Bianca was caught between responsibility, longing, and the ache of knowing she can't save him. Will it have a happy ending, or will all her efforts go to waste? This story is inspired by the song 'Holding you' by Stan Walker and Ginny Blackmore _______________________________ Prompt #84 A standalone story where romance and heartbreak join in one

The Open Novella Contest is back for 2026! Join fellow storytellers and plant the seed of a tale that will blossom into a 20,000+ word novella within 12 weeks! Your epic quest begins February 1st, 2026, so mark your calendars with this date!