What Defines Us - Commentary - Ch. 11-12 (Patreon)

Hey guys, welcome back!  For this commentary, I don’t have any deleted scenes for you (Fortunately?  Unfortunately?).  Instead, we had two chapters whose purpose was to move the story forward.  I guess that technically all of the chapters are supposed to move the story forward, but...well, you get what I mean.  (You do, don’t you?)

Anyway, Weiss’ chapter (Chapter 11) gives us another peek into Weiss and Ruby’s past, but this time through Weiss’ current self instead of through a flashback chapter.  The shopping center, the courtyard, the very specific table and chair - these were their old stomping grounds.  This was where Weiss and Ruby went to get ice cream (pretty often).  This was probably where they hung out as a team when not on hunts or where they would go shopping for birthday gifts.

Have you ever gone back to a familiar place after being away for a long time and been amazed at how nothing has changed?  Like if you go away for school and then return home at the end of the semester, or if you...go on a really long vacation, I guess.  I’ve had something similar happen to me in the past when re-visiting a mall (because malls must not change that often).  All of the stores were exactly the same, and the noise, the floors, the lights, everything!  It’s this weird moment where you think to yourself that you feel different, but this environment has rebuffed any attempt at change.  

I was so proud that Weiss was able to go back to a place that held so much significance to her.  In the beginning of the chapter, she’s almost a little self-loathing that it’s so difficult for her to do something as simple as revisit a mall, of all places.  But she did it.  She had to talk herself into sitting down, but she did it.  

I hope you also felt proud of her in that moment.  Look at the baby steps that are being made!  She might not be thrilled about it (because she’s used to charging forward and being at the front of the class), but some situations call for more prudence.  Hopefully one day she’ll learn that it’s ok to take things slow.

Hopefully her team can help her with this - because that’s what a team is for, right?  Let’s talk about Blake for a minute - more specifically, how absolutely superb she is.  She’s one of my favorite aspects of this story, by far, because she’s playing a mediator-type role that I think she’d actually do really well with.  Admittedly, she’s in a very difficult situation, but navigating it well.  Yang needs to be calmed, Ruby needs to be challenged, and Weiss needs to be encouraged - talk about having a lot of kettles in the fire (I don’t know if that’s an actual phrase, but I’m using it).

(It’s irons in the fire, right?  You have a lot of irons in the fire, not kettles.)

Ok, but anyway, if you were to use just one word to describe each of the girls right now, I think what you’d have is: pure (Ruby), regretful (Weiss), upset (Yang), and understanding (Blake).  And I love how understanding Blake is being, even while trying to toe that line between helping too much and too little.  

But Weiss really needs someone to talk to at this point - someone who knows what happened.  Think about it...who can she turn to and try to express how much she loves and misses Ruby?  Obviously, Ruby isn’t an options, and Yang isn’t willing to talk, so that leaves Blake.  

I think the conversation between Blake and Weiss is important for a couple of reasons.  The first is that Blake is able to tell Weiss flat out what we already know - Weiss needs to talk to Yang.  There might be yelling involved, but they need to have an honest conversation.  Personally though, I would dread that conversation so much.  I would do anything to put it off as long as humanly possible.

The second outcome of Weiss and Blake’s conversation is that we get a small glimpse from Blake into the Bumblebee side of this story.  That brief look illuminates one important thing that they’ve put off in order to help Ruby recover - marriage.  Fortunately, other than that it seems that Blake and Yang are very much on solid ground.  Compared to the other stories I’ve written, I would call this a blessing!  Sure, things haven’t gone exactly as planned, but they still have each other to fall back on.

And, it turns out that Weiss took Ruby’s advice (from Ch. 8 when they went on a walk together) and bought Yang some pricey concert tickets.  I imagine that in the absence of being able to communicate, the only thing Weiss really knows how to do is give an expensive present.  At least she’s making an effort to show she wants to make things right - by softening Yang up with a gift and then getting into the nitty gritty conversation.  

Obviously, that situation is going to take a lot more time to reach a resolution, but at least some semblance of progress is being made (and Yang got some free concert tickets too!).  

So our current relationships are:

Weiss and Blake = friends.

Weiss and Yang = not friends.

Weiss and Ruby = look at how adorable they are!  Look at them pouring over a bag filled with electronics junk!  What are those tiny wires even for, Ruby?  Does it matter?  Not really, if merely talking about them makes Weiss feel more comfortable!

Ok, I’ll stop - because I have an Easter egg to point out - who caught the reference to Rush in this chapter?  Anyone?  Show of hands - who picked it out?  I’ll give you a few seconds to think about it...actually, you give you a few seconds to think about it.  I’ll give you a hint though, it has something to do with ice cream…

There was a scene in Rush where Weiss and Ruby got ice cream (Blake and Yang were also there).  But what did Ruby order in Rush that she might have also ordered here?

...besides ‘ice cream.’

That’s right - a Ruby’s Special!  Ruby’s ice cream order is so special that it has its own moniker, and the same one used in Rush.  I think that the actual composition of a Ruby’s Special has changed though.  In Rush, it might have been a scoop of every flavor?  (Please correct me if I’m wrong.)  While in this chapter it’s just several different flavors.  Either way, there’s your Easter egg of the day!

And am I the only one who loved Ruby’s interaction with the owner of the ice cream parlor?  I thought it was adorable how there was an outside person who was able to watch Ruby bounce back from her injuries, all through the context of serving her ice cream.

Actually, now that I think about it...this is making me pretty emotional.  Hear me out…

Here’s a man who was used to seeing Weiss and Ruby come in together, the two of them happy as can be.  Suddenly, and without warning, they stop showing up.  Maybe he thought that they’d just moved away, that they were off on the other side of the world together - still happy as can be.  But then Ruby comes back, she’s been gravely hurt, and Weiss is nowhere to be found.  Of course, he wouldn’t want to pry, but he had wonder what the heck happened.  Based on the circumstances, he probably thought that Weiss had died in whatever battle hurt Ruby so badly.  

What’s somewhat ironic is that everyone will probably forget his character as the story continues, but here was this kind stranger who witnessed an important piece of their lives.  And he tried to help in the only way he knew how - by giving Ruby extra ice cream toppings, probably extra ice cream too.  He was nice to her, treated her as a special customer, and watched her bounce back - without her partner.  Weiss’ reappearance was probably really unexpected, but he had to have been happy to see her.  Of course, now he probably has even more questions than before.

I don’t know why that suddenly became super important, but he has this whole separate life that I never considered when writing the story.  I never thought about what he might think from his position behind the counter.  That’s actually pretty sad…

Ok, so we’ll move on!  Because that’s what we do, right?  Just keep moving forward!

I think the end of this chapter shows us a new side of this ‘new’ Ruby.  Look at her, feeding ice cream to Weiss and asking for her number!  I guess the question that remains is...does Ruby see this as flirting?  Or is this relatively ‘normal’ behavior?  Remember from her conversation with Blake that she doesn’t think she knows how to make friends.  So maybe she thinks this is what friends do?  Or is she just imitating what she knows?  (She lives with Yang and Blake, for crying out loud.)  Guess we’ll figure that out in the coming chapters!

One last note before we leave this chapter behind - Weiss made a few mental references to ways that Ruby had changed or was different than before.  I think it’s important that Weiss keeps noticing these things so that she doesn’t fall too much into past behaviors.  Ruby is a different person, but at the same time, there are little things that are the same.  

Maybe you noticed, but Weiss thinks to herself that ‘if only’ Ruby would drink the milk at the end of a bowl of cereal like she’ll drain a bowl of ice cream.  And, in Chapter 2, Ruby was throwing her leftover milk into the sink rather than finishing it (I do this too, shhhh).  I like to think that these little similarities mostly go unnoticed by Weiss, but subconsciously help her feel a sense of comfort around Ruby.  The differences are jarring, but the similarities are silently reassuring.

Enough about Weiss though, because the next chapter is almost solely about Ruby.  There’s not really too much to say here because a lot of Chapter 12 is taken up by Ruby’s practice with Blake, but I have a few tidbits to add!

First, and maybe most importantly, is that I actually don’t like pancakes very much.  I love breakfast, but pancakes are probably one of my least favorite breakfast food items. (Jeez, I don’t like pancakes and I don’t finish my milk - apparently I’m terrible at breakfast.)  

Then why do my characters eat so many freaking pancakes?  I have no idea...maybe because they’re quick and easy to make?  It might be a little unreasonable for them to make eggs benedict every morning…

Anyway, I really like showing Yang/Blake/Ruby spending time together.  They’re their own little family, making breakfast and cracking jokes early in the morning.  Even without Weiss, they were able to forge this tightly-knit unit that thrived through adversity.  It will be interesting to see if there’s space for one more at the table with them, because right now everything operates very smoothly with just three people.

Another point of interest in this chapter happens as Ruby heads off to practice with Blake:  Ruby learned from her first battle that she shouldn’t say she’s ‘ready’ until she’s actually ready.  I won’t say that I didn’t giggle when Blake immediately taught Ruby a lesson the last time, but I did think it was pretty darn funny that Blake took the answer so literally.  Hey, Ruby needs to learn though! 

And boy has she.  Fighting scenes are incredibly difficult for me to write, so I hope that you found their battle to be enjoyable.  In particular, I liked when they were fighting on the roof, and then when Blake pulled Ruby’s leg out from under her.  And when Ruby punched Blake in the face - twice!  

Ruby’s been training with Yang a lot ever since her injury, so I imagine that she’s picked up much more of her sister’s style this time around.  Can you imagine a more combustible version of Ruby who’s not afraid of a fist fight? 

Since I haven’t seen the most recent volumes I’m not entirely sure what Ruby’s fighting style is now, but I think that adding in elements of Yang, Blake (with her ‘gamesmanship’), and now this mechanical glove create a unique version of her.  I would love to see her flinging around Crescent Rose like a crazy deadly boomerang.

The best part of this chapter (in my opinion) is that Ruby figures out a way to win, and earns Yang’s blessing to go on a hunt again.  This is a goal Ruby has been working towards ever since Yang told her that story (a couple chapters ago in our minds, but much longer in their lives).  I guess that now the question is...how will Weiss take this news?  And how will that hunt go?  Is Ruby actually ready to take her skills outside of safety?

The answers to those questions and more will be revealed eventually!  

Until next time,

-Miko

P.S. - Chapter 12 marks our quarter point through the story!