Dream Theory - Commentary - Ch. 3-4 (Patreon)

Welcome back to another early-story commentary where, successfully or not, I try to avoid giving away spoilers!  It’s hard to do because I just want to spill the beans on everything.  If you asked, I’d probably summarize the entire story in a single breath.  (I get really excited when I’m allowed to spoil things.)

Before we walk through the landmines, however, I wanted to give an update on me.  Because these early commentaries can also be commentaries about me, right?  Well, in this instance, I’m going to talk about a future story that I’m writing.  Which I think is still relevant.

If you’ve been following my writing journals, you might’ve noticed that I wrote like...100k or so words for Queens of Remnant in the past month.  (I was only able to write that much because it’s a big story, and therefore there’s lots to be written in the first place.)

Queens of Remnant was never supposed to become a thing - just like Dream Theory was never supposed to become a thing.  They were both ideas that I thought ‘eh, maybe one day.’  Then my brain refused to let go of them and...well, here we are.  Queens of Remnant won’t be finished for a while though, especially because I only gave myself May to work on it before I need to finish a shorter story for you all to read next.

The idea for QoR is actually from Boundless - chapter 4 or 5, I think.  Whichever one has Weiss as a queen traveling to Vale to meet Ruby.  I built out the world and threw a story into it.  One of my favorite parts?  It’s equally a Bumblebee and White Rose story.

Yes, that’s right.  It’s not Bumblebee with a side of White Rose, or vice versa.  They’re both predominant pairs in the story (which is part of the reason why it’s so freaking long).

Oh, it’s also told from all 4 POVs.  (Another reason it’s long…)

And it’s 48 total chapters.

I have 200k words so far.  Maybe it will be around 300k when finished?  (Why do I do this to myself…)

The reason I started writing it to begin with was because I’m trying to make everyone happy at once.  What I’ve noticed is that if I write White Rose, Bee fans complain (not complain, really, but they impatiently wait for me to get back to the bees).  If I write Bumblebee, the White Rose fans feel the same.  So I thought to myself...I’m just going to write both in one story.

Why did I do this to myself?  Mostly, I consider it a challenge.  Can I write two romances in the same story?  Turns out, I can!  But since May is now over, I have to finish one of my smaller, lingering stories before getting back to that.  So hang tight, and one day we’ll get to read it!  As of this moment, I have no idea what story I’m going to wrap up in the meantime.  All I know is that it will be smaller, and therefore easier.  At least, I’m hoping it’s easier…

I like how I’m talking about stories that are potentially years away when we’re only through 4 chapters of this one.  But it’s good to plan ahead right?  Always keep an eye towards the future!

Ok, but let’s talk about Dream Theory for real though.  I could go on and on about future stories, but eventually you’ll get bored of that (I think…).

Let’s start with Chapter 3 - aka, the one where the plot moves forward, kind of.  Basically, Chapter 3 is showing more of Yang at work.  The work she does, the people she works with, etc., etc.

Remember how I said that Casey was originally a much smaller part of the story?  Well, in that first iteration, we met his character in Chapter 3 when he asks Yang out.  That was basically his only claim to fame in the entire story (besides another part I can’t mention yet).  Ultimately, I decided to give him a bigger role because otherwise he felt like an empty character.  But we’ll see what you think when we get to the last chapter.

Also, I named him Casey because he was going to be a girl character.  I switched genders but kept the name because I liked it.  

But he brings up something I talked about in the previous commentary, about how Dreamscape technology increases the amount of time you have to hang out with people.  Instead of going home and sleeping through the night, it would be commonplace to invite people to dream with you.  While Casey uses it as an attempted date, it could also be just friendly in nature.  It could even be a work meeting!  (That would really suck…)

It was basically the worst invitation Casey could come up with, poor guy, which is why he was mortified when he realized what he did.  To Yang, the nightly dream sequences with Blake are the only times they see each other.  So to her, Dreamscape is closely intertwined with her relationship with Blake.  Of course, he doesn’t know that.  He just knows that he asked Yang to partake in something that would immediately remind her of her ‘dead’ girlfriend.  In reality, he basically asked to take away from the only time Yang and her ‘dead’ girlfriend can see each other.  Sorry, bud.  Not gonna happen.

This chapter is...rough though.  When looking at it as a whole, like I am now, it’s like multiple punches to Yang’s heart.  First, Yang realizes that she’s basically back on the market, so people will expect her to date again.  Then Blake’s old co-worker friend drops off a box of memories (ouch) and, on the way out, lands this doozy after seeing the way Casey looked at Yang:

“She would want you to be happy.” 

That, my friends, is what we call a kick to the solar plexus.

I mean, it’s pretty obvious what Lyla’s referring to, right?  She sees how Casey looks at Yang, and realizes there’s some more-than-friendly feelings there (mark down ‘obvious’ in Casey’s character trait list).  To Yang, however, that has to be so hard to hear.  Especially from someone who also knew Blake.  This entire day and chapter is basically telling Yang that it’s time to move on.

Of course, here’s Yang’s thought on that:

Move on?  Move on without Blake in her life?  That was impossible because Blake was still in her life.

Translation:  One big hell no.

After Lyla, we meet grieving mother, Ellie Sawyer.  One thing I liked about the situation Yang’s going through with Blake is that it makes her more empathetic at her job.  No one else in the department wants to ‘waste’ their time with Mrs. Sawyer, but Yang understands how important it is just to have someone willing to listen.  Ruby and Weiss listen to her every morning, so she can listen to some random lady at work.  It doesn’t matter how outlandish or crazy it may be - Yang’s going through something pretty crazy herself.

One of the coolest things about writing this different world was that I could make up just about anything and throw it in there.  For example, these two instances during the conversation with Mrs. Sawyer:

“Like a gang or shadow group?” Yang asked, but the woman shook her head.

If Yang had a dollar for every parent who was surprised by the antics their children got into, she’d be living in a penthouse in the Gold Quarter instead of an apartment downtown.

Who knows if I actually explain these later?  Maybe I do, maybe I don’t, but I think they provide depth to the environment and world around the characters.  If you think about it, for someone living in this futuristic society, they aren’t going to pause and explain every phrase as it comes up.  To them, shadow groups are a fact of life, not some new terminology they feel the need to explain.

What’s really fun, however, was creating new technology and terms that are explained in further detail over time.  Like the holomasks, for instance.  Yang gives us a little more background on their nefarious past:

While holomasks were once notoriously used by criminals, that wasn’t the case anymore.  Everyone had one these days - even she carried one with her all the times in case she needed it.

A funny evolution of the story - in the first passthrough, Yang commented that holomasks were currently notoriously used by criminals.  Then I realized that Weiss was using one in just the previous chapter...what kind of signal would I send with that?  Plus, I decided it was a cooler, more frightening society to imagine everyone carrying a mask around in their pocket.

Can you imagine?  Everyone you pass on the street, everyone on the bus could be wearing a mask.  Great for keeping your real identity off of cameras, but bad for personal interactions.

Ok, another cool thing about writing in a futuristic world - I can make up any new-age restaurant I want!  I imagine that since Ruby’s on her computer a lot, she hears about these ‘awesome’ new places when they open up, and she drags Weiss and/or Yang to them.  In this case, a restaurant cooking with blowtorches.  And I don’t mean those little torches they use for desserts, either.  I’m talking full-sized blowtorches.  (I hope they have good liability insurance…)

I’m pretty sure the idea for a blowtorch restaurant came from thinking about hibachi, only extreme hibachi.  Which reminds me of fireball from Friends.  Anyone remember fireball?  Anyone remember ultimate fireball?  (Cue Joey with a blowtorch and bowling ball.)

Moving on to Chapter 4, which is really just more sadness for Yang.  Only this time the sadness occurs with Blake in the picture.  Yang mentions why she never bothered trying to get better at dreaming though, which I think I alluded to in the first commentary:

But she never felt the need to practice when Blake was so damn good already.  

Makes sense, right?  Yang was used to letting Blake run their dreams, so she didn’t put much time and effort into getting better.  Now that Blake’s gone, however, that kind of sucks.  Although Blake’s not fully gone, so yay!

This chapter is somewhat showing off Blake’s skills, but also showing how close she and Yang were (still are, in a way).  Like how she remembered the specific jacket Yang once wanted but didn’t buy due to price.  And, a little more humorous, she remembers the woman Yang once checked out, probably while they were grocery shopping or something super innocent like that.

Basically, Blake remembers all the little details about Yang, just like she remembers all the little details about the environments she creates.  And, in this chapter, Yang gives us some nuggets of knowledge she’s picked up from Blake over the years.  Like how ‘perfect’ dreams are actually imperfect.  And by that, she means that life isn’t perfect, so if you want to make a dream as realistic as possible, it also can’t be perfect.

Speaking of perfect, however...how about Blake’s line??

“I used to love getting lost in dreams, but when you came into my life...I discovered I’d rather get lost in you.”  

Damn.  I’d totally forgotten she said that, but when I read it again I was like...wow, Blake.  What a line.  Of course, she probably doesn’t consider it to be a line.  To her, it’s just telling the truth.  Which is what makes her even more deadly!  She’s deadly without even trying.

There is an interesting concept brought up here which I wanted to point out:

As usual, Blake read Yang’s emotions like a book.  Being in the Dreamscape did that, somehow.  That, or Blake was really good at deciphering Yang’s emotions regardless of the circumstances. 

So this is what Yang’s been trying to do with Ruby and Weiss.  The ‘dreams’ take place in their minds, right?  And so there’s a possibility for your subconscious to slip in, or something.  The science is really in its infancy *cough* at least, it is in my mind…

The idea being that if you don’t have a firm grasp on your emotions, you might accidentally slip bits of your true feelings into the environment.  This is what Yang’s looking for, and she assumes that Blake can do the same during the dreams.  Because Blake’s so good at this, however, she probably gets a lot more from Yang than Yang does from her.

At the point when Blake says “You seem...upset,” I imagine Yang somehow manipulated the environment in a way to show her frustration and sadness.  Like a dark rain cloud forming over her head, only less obvious.  Although a little rain cloud following Yang around would be kind of cute.  Sad, but cute.

The conversation towards the end of the dream really kills me, but I needed something to rile Blake up.  Or at least for Yang to make an attempt to rile her up.  And what better way to upend a relationship than by accusing someone of cheating?

Poor Yang...poor Blake...what have I done to you?  I think you could say that at this point in the story, their relationship is kind of...on the rocks.  And I wish I could tell you it gets better but...that’d be a spoiler.

We see in this chapter, however, that Yang was successful in getting Blake to drop a clue into the dream.  That clue, however, wasn’t very useful at all.  A safe!  A dream safe, if you will.  Somewhere Blake locks up her secrets so no one can see them even if she loses a bit of control.  The more I think about this, the more impressed I am with Blake, even though she’s kind of hurting Yang in the process of doing whatever she’s doing.

But let’s move on to Weiss and Ruby and how cute they are!  I love those two super-intelligent, best-in-their-field goofs so much.  We get a little more information about Ruby in this chapter, who I really, really adore in this story.  She’s still a little goofy, a little hyper, but also basically a computer savant.  She’s also more emotionally intelligent and mature, as I believe she’s becoming in the show now (after Volume 3?).  But they’re all older in this story, so that’s as it should be.

Can you imagine what it was like to grow up with this version of Ruby though?  Yang gave us a little peek:

Hidden security systems they never knew about, automated check-ins for nearly every situation, and computer-driven robots designed for the craziest of tasks. 

Yang and Tai probably got locked out of things all the time, and then the computer asks them for crazy passwords they don’t know, or to solve computer-related riddles they equally don’t know.  It’s probably funny until it prevents someone from getting into the bathroom when they really need to pee.  Then Tai has to step in and set some ground rules for ‘enhancing’ their home security.

1. No passcodes on the bathrooms, ever.
2. Nothing lethal.

Knowing Tai (I don’t know him at all, actually…), that’s probably it.  Knowing his daughters...he probably ended up on the receiving end of some epic pranks.  He’s a good sport though!  And he’s not in this story, just because involving the parents gets a little messy.  Obviously, in real life, parents would play a much larger role.

I’m beginning to think that’s why Harry Potter is an orphan.  How much easier is that?  Don’t worry about his parents because he doesn’t have any (Sorry, Harry…).  Ron’s parents were in the series a bit, but think about Hermione - her parents are hardly involved.  Right?  Or has my Harry Potter knowledge gone bad...but one would think Hermione’s parents would be concerned when their daughter is nearly dying every year at school.  

I don’t know if that made my argument better or worse...but basically, I try to avoid parents because they’ll have a lot of emotions, and that makes the story messy.  Consider Blake’s parents - their daughter is ‘dead,’ for all they know.  They would be distraught, but would probably stay in Yang’s life in some way.  Yang, however, knows that Blake isn’t dead but still spends time with them - how hard would that be?  She would want to tell them, for sure, but that would open up a huge can of worms.

On Yang’s side of things, Tai would know his daughter was going through a rough time.  He’d probably be around all the time trying to cheer her up.  Number one fan!  But also number one distraction from the emotional journey Yang’s on.

Speaking of emotional journeys...let’s discuss Weiss and Ruby.  From what we’ve seen so far, obviously their relationship is a secret.  A big secret, seeing as how they’re on opposite sides of the law.  In this chapter, we see a bit of how they deal with this secret as a couple, especially when Weiss’ job puts her at odds with Ruby.  Like what Yang says:

“If you know she’s the best decoder around, why do you spend so much time trying to discredit her on the stand?”

Not only are they at odds, but Weiss actively tries to belittle Ruby’s authority on all things tech.  Of course, Ruby is the master, so that only works so well.  In private, however, Weiss shows how unbelievably proud of Ruby she is, which I absolutely love.  Her job might force her to say otherwise, but she’s Ruby’s biggest fan.

Which makes me think about how hard it must be for her to do her job.  From how she acts with Ruby in private, she wants to praise Ruby to the moon and back.  I loved that dichotomy in their relationship, as well as how Ruby understands that Weiss loves her but has to say and do certain things for work.  Ruby doesn’t hold any hard feelings towards Weiss for what happens at work, and vice versa.

Which makes me really want to write the story of how they got together.  I actually put a little more thought into that recently, and made some decisions in the interest of making it a stand alone story.  I think I mentioned previously that I wasn’t sure if I wanted to connect it to Dream Theory in some way, but I’ve decided not to.  The story will end prior (possibly just prior) to the events leading to Dream Theory - i.e. the explosion at the transit station and Blake’s ‘death.’  

It’s funny, but as soon as I made that decision, the story became a viable one to write.  Instead of being this massive undertaking, it became something with a scope I could deal with.  From early estimations, I’d guess it’ll be around the length of Dream Theory - another 140k words or so.  And I’ll probably try to write Queens of Remnant first, so maybe after that…

I guess, in summation, there are a lot of things to come.  I wish I could fast forward to the end so everything was already done.  Unfortunately, I kind of need to put in the work before I can share with you.  One day though...one day soon (ish).  

As always, thank you so much for your support!  This has been a really amazing journey so far, and I’m really excited to see where we go from here.

Until next time,

Miko