Behind-the-page: Ladybugs Awake · 8:06am Sep 19th, 2023
Hiya, lovely peeps!
Holy stars. Wow, just wow.
When I posted the story yesterday, I wasnʼt expecting much. It did gain a lot more views than I was expecting (200 in less than 12 hours), but it was a little slow on the upvotes (a mere 7 in 12 hours). I told myself, “Okay. No biggie.”
And then I woke up this morning.
27 notifications. 430 views. 32 upvotes. 3 extra followers. Featured!
In fact, in the time it took me to write and publish this blog, it went from the 32 upvotes to a whopping 48. It quickly rose to become my second top-rated, blowing Mayor off that position, and it also hit a peak of second Featured! Truly donʼt understand how or why it blew up so fast, but I am grateful to each and every one of you. Thank you.
Now that thatʼs out of the way, let me give some background info about Ladybugs Awake.
It doesnʼt take a genius to figure out where the title comes from, but did you know that it wasnʼt the original title? I wanted to call it Cocoa, Comfort & Conversations, before eventually scrapping because it was a mouthful. Likewise, the cover art also went through a few renditions. I initially wanted to draw a picture of a steaming mug of hot cocoa, to lean in into this late-night-conversation vibe, but I found it too difficult to draw, hence the cover art you have today.
Truth be told, I have been wanting to write a story about a traumatized Twilight ever since I wrote my blog series, A Deep Dive Into Twilightʼs Character last year. It occurred to me as I was writing that that Twilight must have some issues every time she faces a villain. It took me forever to finally get around to writing it, but boy, am I glad I did.
The story also had a different ending. I was initially going to finish it with our three characters clinking their mugs together, but I found it far too upbeat for what is an otherwise pretty somber fic. I wanted to be realistic.
Oh, and fun fact, this exchange:
Cadance: Ooh, I canʼt wait to be a part of you guys’ family!
Shining: Cady, you always were.
is taken straight from an episode of Fuller House.
Overall, Iʼm really proud of this. I finally got around to creating a kinda-sorta accusation fic, and itʼs about the infamous S2 finale, to boot.
And with 96 followers, we are only 4 users away from the big hundred! Iʼve got a few special surprises lined up for when it happens, so stay tuned.
Thank you so much and see you soon! Bye!
I would love to dig into your analysis when I have spare time. Personally I examined for myself only Cadance's trauma after her initial encounter with Chrysalis, and I will examine it further later, as both characters play a crucial part in my own work
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Thank you for your interest in my blog. That blog series are among my most popular blogs and honestly, I'm really proud of them.
Uz Naimat, I really enjoyed your story cause I have always wanted to know what was said after Twilight found The Real Cadence and after the Cantorlot wedding
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Thanks! Glad you liked it.