The Vale Voice - Commentary - Ch. 17-18 (Patreon)

It’s been two weeks already?  Jeez...where is the time going?  I could’ve sworn that I just wrote one of these, yet here I am writing another.  I guess that means we’re closer to the end of this story, which I’m excited about.  

I think that I mentioned I’ll be posting Star-Crossed next, which I still think of as Space Bees.  (I should have just titled it Space Bees.  What was I thinking…)  Over the past few weeks, I went through the story for a third time and made a few slight adjustments.  The last time I read it was about six months ago, when I finished it, so I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed it!  I don’t think it’s like anything I’ve written so far, which is part of what made it so fun.

Because I’m excited to start that story, I’m even more excited to reach the conclusion of The Vale Voice.  We’re just a few chapters away now, though the most recent two chapters weren’t exactly a walk in the park.

Blake, Blake, Blake…what are we going to do with you?

Well, first we’re going to lament how she’s overreacting about what happened with Yang.  That’s basically the theme of these two chapters, as she single-handedly destroys all the cute, fluffy feelings we had from a few chapters ago.  (Remember that?  It was only two chapters ago that they were being so cute and smitten with each other.  Oh how things change…)

Remember how I kept pointing out how Blake avoided the topic of what Yang means to her?  Not only that, but she almost purposefully kept herself from making that realization on her own.  She was so happy using her crush as a distraction from work that she didn’t let her ‘morals’ come up.  That worked perfectly up until those feelings smacked her in the face.  Or, more accurately, until those feelings kissed her.

As soon as they kiss, she can’t fool herself anymore.  Well, she might have tried if she didn’t know that Yang would bring it up.  If she knew Yang wouldn’t bring it up, she would definitely take that route.  “It was just a friendly kiss.  Yang’s an affectionate person - she probably does that all the time.”

Because she can’t wipe Yang’s memory or pretend that friends usually kiss like that, she’s forced to do the most Blake thing possible and flip the hell out.  Her responses are just so wrong too.  She doesn’t even consider accepting Yang’s (or her) feelings because she can’t be with a human.  She doesn’t want to be a hypocrite!

Well, obviously she’s in the wrong - about a lot of things.

When she goes to the coffeeshop later than usual that morning, she’s surprised that there’s actually a line - and there are actually humans there!  Remember how she felt in the first chapter?  It’s slow in the morning, so she assumes that humans are inconveniencing themselves rather than visit a Faunus-run store.  Did you catch Sam’s pearl of wisdom though?

“It’s usually like this on Monday.”

This is just one of the ways I tried to sneak in hints that the world isn’t how Blake sees it.  We’re in her POV, so she’s heavily biasing much of what we see.  But these little tidbits suggest that things aren’t exactly as she thinks.  

You’ve got to be subtle slipping in these hints though!  Go too big or too heavy handed and it doesn’t make sense for the character to miss them.  And if they don’t miss them, it will jar them from their little bubbles of reality.  In this case, Blake doesn’t remember her thoughts from the first chapter, and she’s too preoccupied with being surprised to make that connection (we don’t often jump to the conclusion that we’re wrong, after all).

I was pleasantly surprised that a few people correctly guessed that Yang would be leaving, and that’s why she wasn’t bummed when Blake told her they couldn’t be together because they worked together.  That was the reason for Weiss’ call during the party - the call that interrupted Yang right when she was going to say something probably pretty mushy.  That’s why Yang’s tone changed for a bit when she got back - why she was momentarily bummed - and that’s also probably why she was willing to go for that kiss.  If she had to leave the next day, and Blake seemed willing, then that was a great chance to finally go for it.

Such great timing, isn’t it?  The Voice is finally a success, Blake and Yang kiss, Weiss returns from her trip, and Yang has to leave.  Such writing magic…

One little detail I deliberated on for far too long was how to get Blake to kiss Yang a second time.  I wanted a second kiss really badly!  Both because I just wanted to write them kissing, but also because I wanted to prove that it wasn’t just a one-time thing.  This is something that Blake wants, as much as she tried to convince herself out of it.  The only problem...how could they kiss in the office without everyone else seeing?

Seriously, I spent time puzzling this out.  

The main issue was that I wrote the rest of the story with Blake having a clear, open view of the office from her desk.  That’s how she spent so much time looking at Yang, sharing glances and smiles and being adorable.  That meant that Blake’s office had glass walls though, or a considerable amount of windows.

Obviously, if Blake could see out, others could see in.  (I don’t know why I even typed that…)  

But I wanted them to kiss again!  So I went back to Chapter 1 and added this:

Unfortunately, one of the drawbacks to having an office with glass walls was that it offered little in terms of privacy from the main office space beyond.  She could draw the blinds, of course, but that seemed a bit too secretive in such a close-knit work environment.

Blinds.  The best story invention since mysteriously-disappearing parents.

So Blake’s office has blinds.  Perfect!  Then I only had to give her a good reason to draw the blinds - she can’t stop looking at Yang’s desk, and that’s preventing her from working.  Now her office is blocked from view, offering her privacy from prying eyes when her true love comes walking through the doors.

But before Yang arrives, Blake gets some enlightenment in the form of Velvet’s photos.

Velvet is so sweet, by the way.  Obviously she’s been the mastermind behind the entire story, but she’s not pushy about everything she sees.  She’s quite content to sit back, watch, and offer a nudge every once in a while.  In this case, her nudge is a candid photograph of Blake and Yang together, flirting away with each other.

This is one of the heavy-handed moments I mentioned earlier.  The moment that didn’t register as anything special in Blake’s mind at the time, but now she’s forced to acknowledge the disparity between what she felt and what reality shows her.  How nice of Velvet to capture that reality for Blake to see!  

When I read this chapter, I just want Blake to get out of her head and say yes!  Yang is being so sweet and affectionate and open about her feelings...and Blake wants to be with her.  Why else would she be wishing that Yang was a Faunus?  In her slightly misguided views, that single change would make this a done deal.  If Yang is a Faunus, they get together and live happily ever after.

Can you imagine?  Just one thing holding Blake back…

I think that deep down she understands that this is a stupid reason not to follow her heart.  That’s why she starts thinking that it’s not just her.  Why would Yang want to be with a Faunus?  If anything, Blake is saving Yang from the trouble of dealing with that taboo.

It’s like she doesn’t remember Yang from the entire rest of the story.  Do you really think Yang cares about what other people think about her?  If you did, she comes right out and tells you that she doesn’t:

“I don’t care what the world says about me.  I don’t care what humans think about me, or what Faunus think about me, or what anyone else thinks about me.  I like you, and I’ll try my hardest to be the best for you every single day.  Let people think what they want to think.  That doesn’t matter to me.”

Unfortunately, Blake isn’t exactly quick to change.  If she was, we wouldn’t have a story! 

We certainly wouldn’t have Chapter 18, which is unfortunate in many ways.  The world is sending Blake some clear messages, don’t you think?  It’s pretty loudly telling her “You made the wrong decision!”  If only she could hear it...all she knows is that she’s miserable, and her choices make her even more miserable.

I think one of the saddest parts is how she can’t focus on work but doesn’t take that as a giant wake up call.  This is work, we’re talking about.  Blake lives for her job!  And now she hardly even wants to be there?  She should be ecstatic based on how the last week’s edition went.  Instead, she’s thinking about going home early.

Then she does one worse - she goes on a date with Sun instead!  And her rationale gets even worse.  Who would’ve thought that would happen?  (Probably everyone, considering where we are in the story.)

So now Blake is in the mindset that her mom wants her to date a Faunus, so why not accept an invitation from the first one who asks?  In all fairness though, at least it’s Sun. 

What I hoped to show through their dinner (I hate writing meal scenes - why do I keep doing that to myself?) was that Blake actually has a pretty good time.  Sun talks a lot, and she only partially listens, but they’re able to share a few laughs and some good conversation.  They’re friends, after all!  

Of course, Blake can’t help pointing out the difference between how she feels about Sun and how she feels about Yang.  I think that’s a good comparison since she thinks of Sun as only a friend.  Yang, however…

Also friends!  Friends who like to kiss, but still friends.

Oh and look who just so happens to stop by that particular restaurant at that particular time - Yang!  And wouldn’t you know...Weiss is with her.

Weiss’ inclusion in this chapter is the reason I had to figure out how Sun gets them into a fancy restaurant on short notice, and picks a place on the ‘human’ side of town where Blake doesn’t typically go.  If he’d picked someplace closer to home, we never would have seen this wonderful interaction!

Blake isn’t too happy with what she sees, is she.  I wouldn’t be either if I turned down the girl I’ve been pining over only to go on a date with some guy I’m not interested in and run into said girl with another girl.  That would probably win an award for worst dinner ever.

It is sad that Blake accepts Weiss and Yang dating, in a way.  She actually sees it as a good thing for Yang, because she figures that as a Faunus she couldn’t provide the type of life that Weiss can.

If there’s any hope to be had, it’s that Blake is at least making progress in some ways - i.e. by finally telling Sun that she’s not interested in dating him.  Of course he already knew that.  He kind of got the picture after being turned down twenty times in a row (thankfully!).  This begs the question of why he asked her out to begin with, which I’ll explain next time.

But again, the outside world is aware of much more than Blake thinks.  She was all worried about leading him on, but he already knew exactly where he stood. 

If we extrapolate from here, imagine how hurt Yang really is.  In Blake’s mind, they were just friends.  They were just hanging out, talking, having a good time together.  If she’s wrong about that too, then she’s been sending some serious mixed signals this entire time.  All we can do is hope that she gets her act together and comes to her senses soon.

There are three chapters left in the story, so I sure hope so.  I’m excited to wrap this story up and find some resolution, and I’m excited to start a new story and have no resolution at all.  Very conflicting emotions...but this is what happens when we reach the end of yet another tale.

As always, thank you for your support!  I still love writing and sharing these stories, and I hope you still enjoy reading them.

Until next time, 

Miko