The Vale Voice - Commentary - Ch. 15-16 (Patreon)

Welcome back to Pandemic Diaries - Day #972.

You know, when I imagined getting old and telling stories to ‘the kids,’ I always imagined talking about AOL or the days when Netflix mailed you a physical movie to watch (or when movies came in physical copies at all).  Now, I might be able to add things like “Oh yeah, we used to go to work sick all the time!  Just coughing or sneezing all over.  No one wore masks those days...”  

The children will gasp and stare at me in horror.  I can’t wait!

I hope everyone is doing well though, or as well as we can be.  Just think - when we make it to the other end of this, we’ll all have stories to share!  Granted, those stories might all be very similar, but that will just make it even more humorous.

In other news, I actually took about 3 days off from writing a week or so ago.  Three days off in a row, even!  I spent the time re-reading my books on writing, but that still counts as a break.  I think I’ve mentioned before, but Stephen King’s On Writing is a pretty great read.  A lot of it is autobiographical, but one section is devoted to his thoughts on writing.  After reading it for a second time, I realized that Stephen King and I are basically the same person.

Yes, you read that correctly.  Stephen King and I are the same person.

In terms of writing, at least.  He has a few thoughts I don’t quite agree with, but overall he had a lot of things to say that reflect how I feel about the writing process.  If you’re curious and have any interest in learning more about his journey into writing, I recommend giving it a read.  It’s not scary at all, promise.  As a (much more fledgling) writer, it was nice to hear him emphasize some things I’ve felt for a while.  Validation, you could say.

Again, Stephen King and I are the same person.

But enough about us!  How about we talk about The Vale Voice?  We had a couple of juicy chapters didn’t we?  Including the moment we’ve all been waiting for...the first kiss!  I want to skip right to that, but let’s start with Chapter 15….

Which started with a time skip!  If you didn’t remember, Chapter 14 ended Tuesday, and Chapter 15 picks up on Friday.  We lost Wednesday and Thursday, basically, but I kind of had to do it.  Well, I suppose I don’t have to do anything…

In this case, I tried to write the two extra days - I really did!  When I really got into the plot though, I couldn’t come up with anything good that didn’t feel incredibly forced.  At this point in the story, what we want to see is Yang and Blake’s interactions, right?  But both of them were incredibly busy this week - Blake trying to switch everything over and Yang trying to write her article.

I set up for the time skip at the end of Chapter 14.  You might have noticed it:

“Even if the next few days were lost in a blur of stress, as they would absolutely be, she would look forward to more moments like these.  Right now, spending time with Yang was just about the only thing she looked forward to.  Spending time with Yang, and making it to the end of the week.

Well, whaddya know, the days were lost in a blur of stress!  Less stress on my part, of course, because I didn’t have to somehow create cute moments between the two of them while they’re running around trying to do actual work.  Can you imagine how frustrating that would be if some greater being kept forcing you to flirt when you had so much work to do?

“Yes, yes, she’s cute and I obviously love her, but I’m trying to work.  Just give me three days, then I’ll go back to pining!”

Their tasks for the week didn’t set up well for working together either.  It wasn’t like they’re working on the same project.  If they did work together, it would be the two of them sitting in the same vicinity while working on separate things.  And we already saw that a few chapters ago, so I didn’t want to make us sit through it yet again (I also didn’t want to write that again).

Realistically, maybe I could have come up with something if given enough thought.  Because the story has already been so drawn out, however, I didn’t feel like I could keep the excitement increasing over the course of two somewhat meaningless days of work.  They’re already working super hard (and being super cute) on Monday and Tuesday, so I wanted to take that momentum and throw us all the way to Friday.  

I hope that makes sense.  It does in my head, but all of this makes sense in my head.

Even though we didn’t see Wednesday and Thursday happening in real time, Blake gives us a little recap (I’m pretty sure that’s all we need, right?).  Basically, Yang took care of her, as any good not-yet-girlfriend would do. 

I love that the entire office banded together to make all of this happen, and to help Yang write her article.  Besides Velvet mentioning that The Voice had never printed an article written by a human (so that readers would know), no one brought up or had any issue with it.  Because they all went out of the way to help her, we could even say that they’re excited for her to have that opportunity.  Blake was just being a stick in the mud.

Not only did the office help Yang though, but they also went out of the way to help Blake.  One could wonder why they don’t put in the extra effort every week, but let’s not question their motivations for a minute.  They know that Blake’s under an incredible amount of pressure, so they take it upon themselves to proofread three times as much as normal and save her a little bit of time.

Velvet, in particular, has been a busy bunny!  She’s the silent hero of this story, in my mind.  We’ll never know the extent that she pulled strings around the office, but it might be more than expected.  (Now I’m just imagining Mastermind Velvet secretly in charge of everything behind the scenes.)

The last half of this chapter, I would call...lots of Blake and Yang being in that “Almost there” state of mind.  There’s so many cute moments between them, and Blake’s so blissfully oblivious to all of it.  As she’s mentioned multiple times by now, she kind of senses that something’s wrong, but work is so stressful that she’s just happy to embrace how Yang makes her feel.

Yang makes her feel a whole bunch of things, but I love the moment she actually wants to hug Yang because the article is so well done.  Blake doesn’t seem like much of a hugger, so for her to want to hug Yang is a big deal!  

In Chapter 16, she does hug Yang, and that’s one of my favorite parts of the story.  After how much Yang has helped, she deserves a Blake-hug, don’t you think?  (The answer is yes.  Yes, she does.)

Also, remember how I mentioned last time that I imagine Blake and Yang adopting a whole bunch of Faunus kids?  Did you catch what she said in this chapter:

“It makes me want to go out and adopt a bunch of Faunus kids, as rash of a decision as that would be.”

This is what we call...telling the future.  It might be a rash decision now, but what about later, Blake?  What about when your job, finances, and relationship are all stable?

Then they’re going to start adopting children, obviously.

Gosh, so much of this chapter is just the two of them being so smitten with each other, I love it.  Yang flusters Blake, Blake compliments Yang (and flusters her).  They just fluster each other, in general.

One extra important part of this chapter, however, happens right here:

For a second, it looked like Yang might leave it at that.  But then she met Blake’s gaze with a sincere one Blake couldn’t help leaning towards.  “And watching you work - how dedicated you are, and how much you love this place...I just...I have so much respect for you.”

That single word sent a flurry of emotions through Blake’s mind, many of which she couldn’t even name.  All she knew was that hearing Yang say that, and say it so openly and honestly, made her feel...validated, and lighter than air.

We’ve already talked about how much Blake needs support, though she’s not great at asking for it or even accepting it.  Yang has already got that on lock though - she’s delivering tea and dinners, and is always ready to listen to what Blake has to say.  But the other thing Blake needs, and wants, is to feel respected.  Valued.  Like what she says and does matters.

Obviously, Yang has already been treating Blake with a ton of respect, but when she comes right out and says it, she might as well have shot an arrow through Blake’s heart.  Blake is surprisingly easy to get - all you have to say is “I respect you!”

Maybe not that easy...she actually says it herself later in the chapter.  She doesn’t let people close to her because they don’t understand her, and she doesn’t trust them.  But Yang, who has been nothing but supportive and respectful this entire time, has earned Blake’s trust.

I made up the part where Yang walks Blake home just to make the chapter longer.  They had a small conversation in the office, but I wanted to give them an opportunity to really talk before the big change headed their way.  What better way to do that than for Yang to walk Blake home?  And for Blake to lead them around in circles just to make the conversation last a little longer?  (Yang totally realized, by the way.  She’s not dumb!  But of course she’ll go along with it to spend more time with Blake.)

One of my favorite parts about this chapter is that, after Blake comes to the realization that she trusts Yang, she opens up and offers some very personal information about herself.  I’m talking about her decision to not attend the prestigious college because it was ‘too human.’

I don’t remember how I came up with that part, but I remember being so happy when I did!  It was just too perfect.  It showed how much Blake has changed, but also how she really hasn’t changed at all.  She doesn’t care what people think about her anymore, but she also kind of does.  It’s a great moment where Yang gets to see the type of person Blake used to be versus who she is now.  

Can you imagine if Blake had gone to the Academy of Vale with Weiss though?  What if they met in college?  That would be an interesting twist to this AU.  Although they probably wouldn’t have liked each other…

What if they were college rivals then?  Oh man...can you imagine how much Blake would have hated Weiss showing up to ‘save’ The Vale Voice under those circumstances?  Blake probably wouldn’t have even emailed Schnee Industries asking for any type of support.  Although I could see Weiss bringing it up on her own volition just to rub it in.  (I like the idea of competitive monobros, if you can’t tell.)

If Blake somehow found it within her to accept the possible help, that would have taken her distrust for Yang to a different level.  That would have been fun - why didn’t I think of it early?  Like...before the story was completely written and nearly finished posting?

Oh well...next time!

But now we can move on to the good stuff...aka, Chapter 16!  

Chapter 16 is all about relief, I guess you could say.  The Voice finally gets some good news - their revamp worked!  Well, it worked for one week.  Time will tell how successful it will be long term, but for right now it offers Blake some peace of mind and a new direction to follow.

I’m positive you noticed that one of the first things Blake does after hearing the good news is finally give Yang that hug.  That was such a good hug too...she literally says that she feels like she could melt into Yang right there in the office.

Can you imagine how Yang felt at that moment?  In my mind, it’s something similar to befriending a stray animal that’s really wary of you.  But you give it food and water and a warm place to sleep and eventually, maybe months later, you’re watching TV and they walk over and curl up on your lap.  And that’s the moment you know that you’ve made it.  You’ve won them over and earned their trust.

That’s probably how Yang feels about that hug.  Blake the Non-Hugger gave her a hug - a real one too.

But it gets even better…

Sun told the future way back in Chapter 8.  At that time, he’s just lugging a foam machine into the office and mentions that they should throw an office party.  Blake’s response is “Maybe one day, Sun…” but little does she know that ‘one day’ would be so soon!

By the way, Yang probably spent the entire day trying to pick out what to wear.  She probably tried on every outfit in her closet searching for something that was the right amount of professional yet also attractive and flirty.  She’s got an editor to catch, after all!

Along with the general relief in this chapter is the theme that Blake can and, in multiple regards, should let go every once in a while.  We’ve seen so many times that when she loosens up a bit, she’s so much happier and more fun to be around.  Agreeing to an office party is a good start, but she’s still got quite a ways to go.  Even Yang knows it, and points out that Blake’s still not relaxed regardless of what the numbers say.

Poor Blake is just trading one worry for another today though.  First, it’s her job.  Then, it’s Yang.  Most importantly, Yang and Weiss.  There’s been several instances where Blake wonders about Yang’s real relationship with Weiss, and Weiss deciding to give Yang a call on Saturday night certainly doesn’t.  Blake has a good point though - what boss calls their employee on a Saturday night?  And why does Yang jump up to answer it?  (These answers and more, coming soon!)

One thing we don’t get an answer to is what Yang was going to say before Weiss interrupted (seriously, how did she pick the perfect moment to interrupt when she’s not even in the room?).  When Blake brings it up again, Yang obviously changes her answer.  At least, I hope it was obvious she changed her answer.

I didn’t plan out exactly what her first thought was going to be, but I imagined it would be something much closer to a confession.  Not a flatout confession, of course, because she’s smart enough not to do that.  But it would be something like, “I’ve really enjoyed working with you (Blake, specifically).  And I’ve learned a lot from you.  And I love talking to you.  And maybe we can still grab lunch or dinner sometime.”

If we want an idea of where Blake’s head is at right now, look no further than this sentence:

Once upon a time, Blake would have counted down the days to Yang leaving.  Now...she didn’t want to think about it.

If that ain’t the cutest thing…

Need I remind you that Blake’s first impression of Yang was something along the lines of “What am I supposed to do with her?  She’s useless.”  Oh how far they’ve come...now, Blake’s much closer to “What would I do without her?”

And then, finally, sixteen chapters into a twenty-one chapter story, they kiss.  Yes!  I’ve been waiting for this for so long, you have no idea.  (Actually, you probably have a pretty good idea.)  I love their first kiss so much, because of how Blake describes it:

It was a release - such an incredible release of pent-up feelings.

Like, yes, finally!  You’ve had these feelings for a while, now express them please.  Obviously, how she feels after Yang leaves is...less great...but at least they kissed, right??  Blake finally understands her feelings, Yang finally expresses hers (she’s known for most of the story how much she likes Blake).  Now they can get together, right?

We’ll see!  There aren’t many chapters left either, so we’ll see pretty dang soon.

I had an interesting thought recently.  I was thinking about how the first kiss/first romantic get together often happens a really long way into the story.  Like halfway to three-quarters of the way, usually.  Realizing that only made me want to write a story where they get together in the first chapter, but then I’d still write the rest of the story with as much slow burn as possible.  Then it would be something like, they’ve already gotten together, then it takes a whole story for them to get together again.

My second idea - and I think you’ll enjoy this one more - is to write a really, really long story where they don’t get together until the very last chapter.  I’m talking like...a hundred chapters or something.  Posting one chapter per week, that’s two years of waiting for a payoff.  Now that’s a slow burn.  Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on who you ask), I don’t think I’m that patient.  Plus, writing a 100 chapter story??  That would take years to finish!

That was a bit of a tangent, but just something I thought you should know!  I hope you’re excited to see the resolution of The Vale Voice, because I’m definitely excited to post it!  Only a handful of chapters left to go.

Until next time, 

Miko