Let's talk about why Hot Cocoa is, in fact, Illegal in Yakyakistan · 9:53pm Feb 10th, 2020
I've been putting this off for a while now, but now that the submission period for The Discovery contest is closed, I figure it's high time I did a little chatting about the creative process behind the story and such.
:3
First, a retrospective on the story's performance. It was a SMASH hit (snort), running straight to the top of the feature box and staying there for a couple of days. First time I've ever made it that high on the box! That was a good time. Watching the flood of notifications roll in that week was a feeling I want to replicate. Many times. That sweet serotonin release of getting some recognition for your efforts is as addictive as hot cocoa is to yaks.
I usually try to reply to comments on my fics, but a combination of crazy irl schedules and sheer laziness kept me back from that. I went to Boston for a conference literally the day after release, and then school started back up. Life never moves slowly around these parts, that's for sure.
Hot Cocoa is Illegal in Yakyakistan was birthed from a number of things coming together all at once. For several months, I had been searching for a proper idea to write a fic about Yona for a few months. I've long been aware of the severe lack of yak on this site. By the numbers, Yona is far and away the least popular character of the Student Six. For reference, here's a breakdown of each character tag on fimfic as of January 31st (numbers have definitely changed since then, but I'm too lazy to recount.)
Gallus: 176
Smolder: 157
Ocellus: 137
Silverstream: 118
Sandbar: 106
Yona: 47
Yona: 47 
She deserves better.
When Miller Minus announced The Discovery contest, I instantly knew that my time had come. I was going to find a concept worthy of our absolute QUEEN or I was going to die trying. Never a fan of death when it isn't finals season, I put on my thinking cap for a few hours. Incidentally, I had just been randomly curious about the reason chocolate was toxic to dogs. I had a Wikipedia article about theobromine poisoning sitting open in my browser, and that was where it all started. Before long, I knew exactly where I wanted to take things: A journey to Yakyakistan that culminates in Yona walking in on Prince Rutherford as he snorts hot cocoa powder off of a mirror. Concept development was quite fast compared to my usual speed, only taking a couple of days of planning before I knew I had my story, and so I set about writing it.
The writing process was expedited by my lack of classes or major responsibilities over the holidays, so I was able to knock out an 8000 word rough draft in a little over a week. I finished the rough draft a couple of days after Christmas, and from there, it was off to the editors.
I want to give a HUGE shoutout to my man Muggonny for his assistance. Comedy writing is hard, even when you have a concept that lends itself so easily to comedy. This man knows how to infuse a story with absurdist humor better than anyone I know who would be willing to sit down for hours and help me clean up a story about yaks snorting swiss miss. He's also one of the few people I know who actually reads my blogs. What a champ. Can we get a round of applause for this man?
The editing process took about a week, with contributions from MissyTheAngle and BootyPopperzZz. All totaled, we added about an extra 1500 words to the story in the editing process, even when cutting a few bits here and there. We were ready just in time for the submission deadline.
And then it got moved back a month. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Hot Cocoa was one of the more fun writing experiences I've had recently. My first time ever attempting to write something aimed at comedy. Based on the response from you guys, it looks like it was a worthwhile endeavor. Until Set Sail eventually eclipses it by sheer force of length (I hope, seriously. Please read it if you haven't yet I'll love you 5ever), Hot Cocoa is Illegal in Yakyakistan stands as the most successful release I've ever put to the site and is currently the highest-rated Yona fic on the site!
Big mcthankies to everyone who read and enjoyed the yak shenanigans. It was a fun one. Now back to work on Set Sail. Later! 
I really enjoyed the fic, Yona does deserve more.
That was basically what it was like for me. Heard about the contest, worked quickly to get a fic written and posted (well) before the deadline so to have it out the way so I can get back to other fics I was already working on at the time, then turned around and found the deadline delayed for another month.
But hey, because it was delayed, that allowed me to justify even considering writing a second fic for the contest, and that one was a brilliant success itself, so I guess it worked out well for everybody. 
And yes, Yona definitely needs more attention, and I ought to do something to help contribute myself. Unfortunately, haven't yet come up with a premise involving Yona that I like enough to write...but hopefully I can work that out someday soon.
I heard Sandbar thinks of Yona as his 'hot cocoa'.
This Muggonny sounds lame. I bet he likes White Castle.
you’re the cutest person on this website I stg
also this story is definitely one of my all time favorites on the site
I still feel bad those yaks stole that poor orphan's money.