Hell's Kitchen Sink
is an Urban Fantasy Web Serial Novel about a Masquerade set in the modern day. It is madde out of six books (with a seventh in the making) as well as a number of short stories, the latter of which sometimes describe events between books.
Humanity is not alone. We unknowingly share this world with several kinds of supernatural creatures. Some love us, some hate us, but most are content to leave us alone. An agreement was made, between gods, demigods, and even the elements of the world itself, to leave humanity alone, and to not directly interfere.
That agreement has stood for centuries, but it is more fragile then might be assumed. If the barriers fall, humanity will be exposed to every terror and wonder they could imagine. The stories here are the tales of those who get involved. Those that try to save the world, those that try to end it, and those who are just caught in the middle.
The books are, in roughly chronological order.
- Book 1: A Serpent in Zion
- Book 2: Catfished
- Book 3: Delectable Corpse
- Book 4: Amok
- Book 5: A Stranger in Paradise
- Book 6: Skin Hunger
- Book 7: Actus Deus (ongoing)
Hell's Kitchen Sink contains examples of:
open/close all folders
in general
- All Myths Are True Because the act of human thought created most of the supernatural and formed it towards expectations, the end result is that many pantheons live side-by-side.
- Clap Your Hands If You Believe Many supernatural creatures are somehow formed and nourished by the ideas and thoughts of humans.
- Fantasy Kitchen Sink The name is a dead give away, although various rules and agreements are in place to stop them from getting too much in each others business, most of the time.
- God Needs Prayer Badly Basically the various kinds supernatural requires human worship, faith and/or interest to maintain itself. Note however that these sources of energy can take many forms.
- Guns Are Useless In most cases, bullets do little to the supernatural. Explained for gods as it is not the bullet that harms them, but the act of trying to harm them. Guns are too easy to work, as you do not put enough effort in it.
- Masquerade The various types of supernatural beings have decided to withdraw, and keep themselves a secret. This masquarade is not perfect however. Also, different forms of supernatural beings have their own form of masquarade.
- Our Mages Are Different Although humans are not magical, they can receive magical powers from interacting with creatures that are magical. Through a symbiotic pact or gift, a human can receive magic powers.
- Our Souls Are Different A soul is made from the connection you form with others. Basically, the only reason part of a dead person survives is because others want him to survive. Note that this is not always a good thing, as there is such a thing as hell.
- Subverted Trope How one can deal with supernatural legends influencing your life. Basically, instead of trying to prevent Fate from screwing you over, you change the way it is invoked to either mitigate or subvert its effects.
Book One: A Serpent in Zion
- Achilles' Heel There is this powerful force called Fate, that cannot be defeated by any divine being. Silas Nash is still human, and as such immune, though he is given gifts by his allies to help him.
- The Cassandra Cassandra note actually lives in Zion, and still suffers her curse in her reincarnated form.
- The Cuckoolander Was Right:
- Turns out that Silas Nash is not schizophrenic, he just has seen things other humans did not. That is because these beings appeared to him by choice. This comes as a surprise even to him.
- The mother of Silas Nash decided to train him in martial arts, believing him to need those one day. Even Silas thought her mad later. Turns out these skills are actually pretty important when Guns Are Useless.
- Long Game How Sisyphus believed he could escape Tartarus. Basically he believed that rolling his boulder long enough up the hill would eventually grind the hill down.
- Nice Job Fixing It, Villain
- When War tries to manifest itself by destroying Zion, she reveals the method to stop her. turns out she didn't actually want to manifest, but her nature (and her boss) forced her to try.
- Superpower Meltdown What should have logically happened to Silas Nash when he received power from Gene, at least according to Megara. Turns out that "That much power should burn your soul out through your eye sockets." doesnt matter if Silas Nash doesn't have a soul.
- To Hell and Back Silas Nash multiple times. Both the Japanese Yomi and the Greek Hades.
Book Two: Catfished
- Mean Boss Randall Creed, Horace's uncle and employer, although he doesn't do it for selfish reasons. Turns out he believes that bullying people makes them stronger.
- The Men in Black The Order of Set is an order dedicated to protect humanity from the supernatural, often by using the supernatural themselves. When the supernatural retreated, their artifacts stopped working, and the order was as good as disbanded, as they weren't needed anymore.
- Ragtag Bunch of Misfits Horace team consists out of supernatural and normal people with vastly different personalities and ideas. This might be why Horace is so sure they got a chance. In his own words when he tried to convince his uncle to help: "“You’re the last of an ancient order of demon hunters who protected the world. You’ve got the loyalty of a supernatural demon who I’ve watched kill men with a squeeze of her hand. I know a psychotic house goddess, a group of cops who hunt monsters for sport on the weekends, and an actual protector goddess. Together, you’ve got to damn well be able to do something!”
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech Subverted, when Randall Creed asks Horace for an honest answer, he gets one of these. However, all it did was make him smile and say he was So Proud of You.
Book Three: Delectable Corpse
- Blue-and-Orange Morality: The case against Jenny is Gluttony, not murder. The entire Night Court runs on the presumption of guilt (mistrial means guilty), yet they do not have rules against bribing the jury.
- Honor Before Reason When Li Fang Fen is named prosecutor, she is honor bound to prosecute Jenny to the best of her ability. It is Nothing Personal, and she hopes she loses, but she is not willing to sabotage. She still plays by the rules though.
- Lawful Stupid Why Jenny is in such trouble. Basically, she was turned into a vampire at the same time her boyfriend was murdered by one. Despite being either innocent or overwhelmed by a sudden vampiric transformation,
- Occult Law Firm: What Atina basically does all the time. Despite being no supernatural being herself, and having no supernatural powers at all, she is the one where the Fae and Undead go to for legal aid. (Sometimes she even gets to act in the Fae and undead Courts.)
