Oh, man. This has been an actual journey. Of course, story time is due since I've actually held off writing this part for the longest time mostly because my aim is to highlight the community centered about the ONC. This year didn't disappoint, and I'm always in awe of people who show up and cross paths with me and my works every year I join.

The conception of this work and its parent series has always been a fever dream of mine. I've always wanted to write a mystery story since I love, love, love Sherlock in all its iterations as well as crime movies, documentaries, anime, and even kdramas. There's just so much allure in the mystery genre, and I figured I'd try my hand on it. What better way to masquerade as a mystery writer than the ONC, amirite? xD

So, now you have this work in your hands: an ONC series that is centered around a dark academia, arcanepunk, thriller, crime, mystery setting and characters that I had so much fun developing and writing in. Exploring their psyche and deliberately writing a Static Anti-hero ™️ as the main character has been one of the main challenges of this novella and this series in general. The fact that I've never written mystery at all in the past 10 years that I've been writing is another challenge.

In my fear of not doing enough, I ended up plotting this thing by hand, alternating between the perpetrator's plans and what the main character is experiencing. I think I used about 10 pages of my big plotting notebook. Of course, some details of the crime ended up getting pantsed in the middle of drafting, which is annoying, jarring, and forced me to scramble to go back and change the outline and the chapters so I can accommodate them. It might have done more damage than help. xD

(In case you all are not aware, I also wrote this in the middle of Graduate studies as well as studying for a professional licensure exam. And I'm proud to announce as well that I'm a professional licensed teacher four months later!)

I love this series and its idea so much though. The works in store for this universe are exciting, and I can't wait to share them with you all! Of course, that's all I can say about it. One thing you must know about me is that I don't talk about my projects. Ever. Perhaps, wait until the next ONC season! Who knows? 😉

This work won't be possible without the help of the awesome ONC community over at several communities I unwittingly found myself in, particularly: DreamlandCommunity, BootcampMentors, WritersConnX, and LiteraryLounge. Seriously, keep doing what you do best—helping writers find their communities in the vast orange world of Wattpad.

Finally, we get to the most important part of this mega essay: the acknowledgement section! I would, first and foremost, give a shout out to the Mango Matriarch, SuVida777. Thank you so much for spearheading the mango cult that I will forever be a member of. I told you I would work hard to get your sticker to the winning slate, and look where we are now! I'm in shambles. 😭 Keep shining, and keep writing your kawaii heroines. You rock, and keep doing so! Uwu.

To my long time friends, TessaTuring, Waterbender_poet, and AmnerisTenjo, you guys seriously keep me sane and provide me a safe space to rant about anything and everything in that tiny space we occupy. Thank you so much for all you are!

And I did say something about the community spirit, right? Well, cheers to my all time cheerleaders - BrianMullin0, Kaiddance, Ry-reader-29, EverythingsNothing, EvelynHail, allrenwrote, -DeeIsDead-, DrizzleTheWolf, MilaForLife, yaris052018, GandalfofspaceAnli, Shivran86, WendyyWolfe, MusicalKehleigh, Saramitra_, DomiSotto, pixelmum, starisredy, Renaissance1111, HeideHunt, AnnamitaMuscaria, BreanneLHeureux, anonymous_audrey, Queen_of_life_Heba, and M_A_Hartman. Thank you so much for showing up every time they release the winners and qualifiers every round in the ONC and dropping in my little corner to celebrate the milestones across all ONC entries with me! I told you that I remember you. You have my heartfelt gratitude for making these wins not feel lonely. Thank you!

Special shoutout to BrianMullin0 and FoxLock34 for their energy and creativity. You guys make me chuckle with every inventive and enthusiastic congratulations ever! I appreciate the effort and all you are. Keep rocking and passing the torch forward! 🙂

Thank you as well to BootcampMentors and yaris052018 for giving my ONC entries the shoutouts in your message boards. It means a lot to this undiscovered plebian. Special thanks to Nablai for tagging me every time in various discord servers as a way to congratulate us and for not faltering every round. To neverfakeit as well, for never missing my name in your congratulations. To BirtheV, for populating my dying corner in LL, thank you for dropping by to celebrate my milestones with me.

To TheCagedWriter14, AliKatMeow, C_the_Dreamer, BlueStarrySky1, Juleove, WrennaStone, AziaElga, hendre_writes, lexalee17, axgirl13, eliana_elf, MiyaHikari, Davrielle, MGHicks_reloaded, Brei_Mcgillicutty_17, Oxviola, jinnis, JankyFluffy, _marmoris_, ahkaswrites, Elixyzsss, ZonderZorg, the-reticent-seer, AmariOkito, DreamingAboutCats, IskippU, hchladybug1218, High_Priestess_Elena, violadavis, Hestia6, WezleyBrookz, EliBees, annkreeves, ToWolfKin, CrownedMadness, elveloy, Sapphire-Rain, and philouwrites—thank you for celebrating the milestones that Die a Horrid Death, Arlo Crowhaven reached. Your greetings and well-wishes will be forever remembered and appreciated. Keep being good people and supporting the rest of the community and more power to all of you.

Special shoutout to RookWri78, Kaiddance, and laurmilangie for dropping by personally to offer your congratulations. I truly, really appreciate it. You guys might have just caught me just waking up, so apologies if my replies sounded a bit confused at that time. 😂

To the people who went above and beyond in supporting Arlo's journey:

MilaForLife, High_Priestess_Elena, and Kid_Kia —my Starchasers peeps! Thank you so much for fishing my obscure mystery novella in the list of things to read in that event! If not for you choosing it every time, I would not have had the courage nor the will to keep on participating in that activity. Your support is duly appreciated, and my gratitude knows no bounds.

Silverdawn284 — Thank you so much for reading Arlo's journey in full unprompted and for loving it. It's been a delight reading and replying to your comments, and I'll forever be grateful for that dopamine rush your bingeing gave me. xD

47thDimension — You deserve the world, truly. Thank you so much for pushing on unprompted and finishing the rest of the adventure. For that lovely comment, thank you so much! Silent readers are equally appreciated, so don't be afraid to be you. I don't know what I did, but thank you for saying I inspire you! It is truly an honor. ;-;

soxiarchive — I don't know how you found me, but thank you so much for doing so and for continuing to read this one even after you already read one work from me. Thank you for loving this first thrust into the mystery genre, for your votes and comments, and your overall support for me and my works, you deserve the world as well. Uwu.

To carol_carrots, DrizzleTheWolf, SuVida777, Oliver-Hoffmann, veevee7373, starisredy, honey-locust, BellOfSilence, Casey0207, LunarAquarius, MusicalKehleigh, Furu_Sat0, Elixyzsss, anonymous_audrey, sandydragon1, miathewattiest, SubjectID_OACM, IndrasNirvana, Emotional_Clouds, _marmoris_, Kelsea_Dove, shuairan, axopus, jasmineandjade, Easterhead, and SNTheNightVisitor— Thank you so much for dropping by even if for a short while. Rest assured that all votes, comments, and reads are all appreciated, and I'm truly grateful to have crossed paths with you in that time. You all are great people, and I wish you success in every endeavor you undertake in life.

And finally, to all the people who added Die a Horrid Death, Arlo Crowhaven to your reading lists: Ry-reader-29, Queen_of_life_Heba, MoniTheTigerEmpress, Han_writer21, elmaloney, the-reticent-seer, TheCagedWriter14, Roy_Taler, allrenwrote, EverythingsNothing, violadavis, DomiSotto, CamWill18, Shivran86, BootcampMentors, BrianMullin0, AriaOfStorms, sternentreumerin, Oxviola, Spruce_Goose, Van_Carley, C_the_Dreamer, AziaElga, WrennaStone, MiyaHikari, Chaotic_naturx, druidrose, alana_kate, GandalfofspaceAnli, OnceUponALily, BarbaraRatliff3, Ninaisawip, wxnderland_addict, SageSabastian, SeraDrake, HyperKatKei, FoxLock34, sakurahimesama, Read-aholic2006, _BLACKSPADESZ, and ratpoison1600. Your notifications truly brighten up my day when I receive them. Please know that even support as small as this can make the difference in this plebian's life. Thank you so much. Uwu.

A huge thank you to the judges and OpenNovellaContest for making this contest and this community possible. This novella getting 2nd place was just a big added bonus. Seriously, after winning in 2022, I never expected to move higher, even if it's one place. Thank you so much for loving Arlo as much as I did. It is truly an honor I never thought I'd receive a second time. 😭

(To the-reticent-seer, thank you for bestowing your seer powers on Arlo. That is seriously eerie but cool. uwu.)

And to you, dear reader, please know that even if you are not mentioned here, if you interact with this story in the near and far future, know that I will remember you as long as you make yourself known and leave a note for me to go on. Readers are the backbone of this community, and I seriously couldn't have made it without you.

To people who have made it this far, I have decided to give you a little teaser. You guessed it: it's an announcement of the next book that will drop in this series. And that is... drum roooooooooll

🎉 Never Say Die, Alyson Gardner 🎉

This is a novella set sometime after the events of Die a Horrid Death, Arlo Crowhaven, and you also guessed it correctly: Alyson is going to take the center stage! Join me in exploring what she is up to all this time. Expect this on my profile sooner than later. For now, I will die in the background fixing up COF's Sequel Series.

See you in the Open Novella Contest 2025. I will be back with more surprises. 😉