The Winter Challenge - Commentary - Ch. 11-12 (Patreon)

Welcome to the second-to-last commentary for The Winter Challenge!  A new year just started, but we still have old stories to wrap up before moving on.  

As usual, reaching the end of a story makes me both excited and apprehensive.  On one hand, I’m excited for you to see the ending and be able to view the story in its entirety.  On the other hand, I feel like I’m walking away from something that’s been a part of my life for quite some time now.  The weirdest part is that I might never revisit this universe, in which case the story is really over.

That’s ok though!  Maybe one day, years from now, I’ll reread The Winter Challenge and think, “Wow, I was such a crappy writer back then.”  (I actually hope that’s true because that means I’ve grown as a writer!)

If you can’t tell, we’re reaching the end of the story.  Actually, you’ve read Chapter 12 now, so you know that we basically have reached the end of the story.  Two chapters remain, during which we get our long-deserved happy ending.  Before we get there, however, we need to recap what happened in these two chapters.

I would call it some very mild angst.  Actually, angst is too strong of a word.  How about we say we suffered some mid-grade worry about what Blake’s going to do as she goes full Blake on us (i.e. running away from her problems). 

Chapter 11 is essentially Weiss’ moment to say, “What the heck just happened?” both to herself and to Yang.  This chapter is the most...subdued, we’ll say...as Blake’s gloomy aura settles over everything.  She’s upset right now, so everyone else kind of steps back and tries to figure out what really happened and how to help.

These two chapters were Ruby’s time to shine, as Weiss takes a severe hit to her confidence.  With Weiss worried that she might have overstepped her bounds and ruined things between Yang and Blake, it’s Ruby who provides subtle reassurance and comfort (in Chapter 11) before providing encouragement (in Chapter 12).

It’s actually really cute to think that Weiss broke out of her shell in her efforts to get Yang and Blake together.  She’s been very much like, “Yes, I’m doing something great for my friends!”  But now that this argument happened, she’s like, “Oh I shouldn’t have even tried,” only to back into Ruby, who gives her a gentle shove back out there.

I’m imagining it like little kids playing tee ball.  Walk up to the plate super confidently, swing and epically miss, then try to disappear.  Ruby’s the kid who’s saying “that was awesome!  try it again!”  In this case she’s more subtle about it - basically, providing a distraction so Weiss doesn’t dwell too much on a situation that can’t be fixed right now.

Ruby understands more than Weiss thinks she does.  One understated way she shows this is by messaging Yang before Weiss could even ask her to.  Now I’m thinking that maybe she pretends not to understand so that people explain the situation in their terms.  Or maybe she wants everyone to underestimate her.  Or maybe she’s not very confident in her ability to read these situations yet, so she keeps her conclusions to herself in case she’s wrong.

Well she’s not wrong!

Did you catch that she called Weiss pretty in a roundabout way?  She called the character in her game pretty, who she just so happened to model after Weiss, which is basically the same thing.  (Also, Weiss’ response is thinking that she should blurt out “You’re pretty too” - come on now Weiss, show some chill!)

Why haven’t I written a story where Weiss is a complete doofus for Ruby?  Similar to Yang in Pages, where she’s tripping over every word and saying the weirdest things because she can’t think straight?

Why hasn’t that happened yet??  Because that sounds like a lot of fun!  Poor Weiss...I’m going to embarrass you so much.  

Let’s not think about that right now because I don’t need to start another story.  It doesn’t have to be long though!  It actually can’t be because dragging that out for too long would get a little repetitive.  Three chapters?  Four?  Pages wasn’t very long…

Seriously, someone stop me.

This story!  So Ruby calls Weiss pretty, and Weiss has no chill - we’re back on track.  We’re so much on track, we could be trains.

(That is exactly something no-chill Weiss could say in future no-chill story.)

So Ruby, Weiss, and Blake walk into a bar -

I mean, are waiting for Yang to show up at the dorm, and Weiss is growing increasingly worried with each passing second.  She’s not the only one though - we just don’t get to see into Ruby or Blake’s minds.  

Blake is probably a wreck right now because she knows what happened and has probably convinced herself that Yang did go on that date.  Isn’t that what you’d think to?  You get mad and storm off, then Yang doesn’t show up back at the room for a long time.  What could she be doing for all that time other than going on a date?  Of course, the other part of Blake is probably worried sick.  She’s like “Can you please come back so I can be mad but also know where you are?”  Then Yang shows up and she can be angry in peace.

I find it so sweet that Yang still tried to talk though.  Even though she knows that Blake’s upset, her instinct is to try and work it out though talking.  You know, the thing that Blake doesn’t want to do right now.

I think in this situation, it’s probably for the best that they don’t talk right away.  Blake clearly needs time to sort through her feelings.  Emotions are running high, and she already lashed out once, so I agree with Weiss’ advice (obviously) - go to sleep and try again once things calm down.

I viewed this chapter as a wakeup call to Weiss that sometimes meddling in other people’s relationships isn’t the best idea.  She has their best interests at heart, and she just really wants to help them get together, but there are obvious drawbacks to playing matchmaker.  She’s experiencing those drawbacks now, as she worries that this is her fault.  Especially when she talks to Yang and sees how sad Yang is.

Fortunately, it all works out in the end.  Otherwise, I fear that she would blame herself so much for ‘ruining’ their relationship.  For someone who’s just starting to open up and is trying to be a great friend, that would be a pretty backbreaking blow to her confidence.

Now I feel really bad for Yang!  She just wants to have a great night with Blake, then some guy ruins their plans (that was my fault).  So she’s going to get rid of him, but Blake succumbs to jealousy (again, my fault) and says that they can’t be together because Yang’s so popular with the boys.  In Yang’s mind, she must be thinking, “What the heck is going on?  I just want to be in love with my partner!  Who are all these random guys asking me out?  Why is one of The Winter Challenges flirting with other people?  Why does someone interrupt literally every time I try to kiss her?”

Again, that’s...mostly all my fault.

She’s fine though!  She gets to kiss Blake in the next chapter.  We’re good.  We’re golden!

Also, did you notice how Weiss again compares herself and Ruby to Blake and Yang?  It’s almost as if the easiest way for her to feel what they’re going through is by imagining that she and Ruby are in the same situation…

Except Ruby took Weiss on a super cute date to watch a fighting tournament!  They ate candy together and had a great time!  Neptune made a miniscule pass at Ruby, but Weiss literally tossed him out of the stands.

I think Weiss and Blake are similar characters in how they react to intimacy and vulnerability, which is why I also think it’s great for Weiss to empathize with how Blake feels.  This is another way of pointing out to any of the “Ugh Blake just talk” readers that we should at least try to understand her way of thinking.

Maybe that was Weiss’ most important role in this story - rationalizing Blake’s behavior.

Before moving on to Chapter 12, I want to share what Chapter 11 was originally going to be.  This is a small section that ended up getting cut, and written how my thoughts flow out (i.e. it’s truncated because it only serves as a reminder to expand the thought later).  

Let me set the stage for you!  Weiss and Ruby are giggling on their way back to the room after watching the tournament, when they open the door and find Blake in the room alone.

“Where’s Yang?”

“She’s out.”

Uh oh.  Something was wrong.

“Should we message her?”

Blake closed the book and stood up.  “We’re not her parents - she’ll be back when she wants to be back.”  With that, she walked into the bathroom, and the sound of the shower turning on came a few minutes later.

Weiss cringed at the words.  Yup, something was wrong.

Yang comes back later and had been caught up talking to someone.  She apologizes to Blake, but Blake just kinda brushes her off.  Weiss takes the opportunity to drag Ruby out of the room so they can talk privately.

“Shoot - I forgot one of my notebooks in class today,” she said.

“I’ll help you look for it!” Ruby immediately offered while hopping up from her bed.  Weiss smiled at the girl, who was always willing to drop everything and help a friend.

“So...which class do you think you left it in?”

“Professor Port’s, maybe,” she said.

They go there and check around where they sat before checking all the other seats..

“Weiss - you have to check this out!” Ruby called out.  Weiss goes over and Ruby shows her a picture carved into the desk.

This probably isn’t very clear, so I’ll explain.  Originally, Yang and Blake came home separately because Yang ran into someone she knew (from high school, perhaps), and they were catching up.  Blake decided to head home alone and let Yang talk to an old friend.

But the longer Yang’s out, the more Blake’s mood sours.  Pretty soon it’s not “Yang and her friend are just catching up,” it’s “oh it was that type of friend, huh?” followed by “I guess today wasn’t about ‘us’ after all.”

Weiss then comes up with an excuse for her and Ruby to leave the room, leading to another chapter in which they have a cute, adorable time together while Yang and Blake hash things out.  In the classroom, they were going to find carvings in the desks and have a good time figuring out which of their classmates left which message.

For example, who might write “N&R 4ever” in a heart?  (You only get one guess.)

Ultimately, I decided that this path was too ‘hands off’ for such a critical point in the story.  Instead of Weiss talking to Yang and getting to see Yang’s emotions over the misunderstanding, she would essentially remove herself when Yang and Blake actually need her help.  

She eventually does step out of the way, but only when it’s crystal clear that everyone’s headed in the same direction at once.  That moment happens in Chapter 12, which starts out pretty gloomy for a morning in which Weiss wakes up with Ruby in her bed.

“W-what happened?”

Wait, this is the wrong story.

But Ruby fell asleep in Weiss’ bed!  They totally cuddled.  Weiss doesn’t say anything, but how would she know?  She was sleeping!  I know because I know everything (clearly), and they cuddled.

Chapter 12 is about Ruby sleeping in Weiss’ bed and Ruby helping Weiss through the last part of this challenge.  (And some resolution, I suppose.)  Weiss is feeling pretty down, at the moment, and her confidence is shaken.  Know what she needs?  A confidence boost!  

(WDU reference, anyone?)

Anyway...when Weiss is at a loss for what to do, Ruby’s there cheering her on.  And by cheering her on, I mean dragging her around Beacon in search of Blake.

Somewhat randomly, I felt like writing a scary or creepy scene at this point.  I’ve always kind of wanted to write a horror story, but ultimately I’m too much of a scaredy cat.  But I still wanted to try just a little bit, so I wrote the scene in the ‘dungeon.’  Even if it wasn’t scary, it was the perfect opportunity to make Weiss scream and cling to Ruby.  Since we missed the events of last night.

I just had to.

But how fearless is Ruby?  If I heard someone muttering in a dark, supposedly-empty basement, I would be out of there pronto.  I would not, under any circumstances, be calling out to whoever was there.  

I just realized it’s even funnier to realize that Ruby didn’t scream when Nora jump-scared them.  She probably flinched, and that was probably only because Weiss just screamed in her ear and latched onto her like a koala.

Nora searching for random keys hidden around Beacon is actually a remnant from when Weiss and Ruby were going to participate in the fighting tournament by themselves and win.  If they won, they would technically be winning the entire Challenge at this point, making the fact that Nora’s collecting extra keys even more upsetting to Weiss.  

I was going to use these extra keys as an explanation for how Team JNPR ends up winning the challenge even though they lost most of the daily events.  This would set up a situation where Weiss learns to accept losing when it’s announced that they lost the challenge.  She would look at Yang and Blake - happy and together - and decide that she won the challenge that mattered most to her.

I wanted her to learn that lesson regardless, but I wanted her to choose to lose.  That’s effectively what she did when she decided not to fight with Ruby.  She chose to lose, and was ok with that.  In this alternate path, she chose to win, but that win was taken from her at the last second because of Nora.

Nora’s taking this challenge so seriously, she deserves to win.

Weiss is a winner too!  Just...in other ways.  Like in getting the girl slowly and eventually.

Anyway, did you notice the Rush reference in this chapter?

“How about...oh!  Let’s start at The Tower.”

The Tower being the same building where Ruby and Weiss shared some of their closest moments in Rush.  It’s where they shared their first kiss (I think?) - and this little callback shares another similarity to that moment, as Weiss opens the door only to have the wind pull it from her grasp and slam it against the wall.  In Rush, that moment foiled any hope Weiss had of a smooth, classy arrival.

And then they find Blake!  

Not in Rush, in this story - they find Blake right when they’re about to give up.  Or Weiss is about to give up.  Ruby probably would have kept searching all day if needed.

In the same way Weiss talked to Yang the night before, she talks to Blake today.  In the end, she ends up figuring something out without even realizing it: 

After trying everything else, this was all she had left to give - her time, her willingness to listen, and her best efforts to help.  It might not be much, but...she hoped it was enough to get Blake through this.

She thinks it’s nothing, but it ends up being everything.  When her teammates need her, they don’t need her to be Weiss Schnee, super smart heiress to the world.  They just need her - to be there for them, and listen to them, and support them.  She’s getting pretty good at it, in my opinion!

She’s also getting pretty good at holding Ruby’s hand without even noticing it.  At the end of this chapter, with the drama finally resolved, she walks off into the sunset - holding Ruby’s hand.

And so our matchmakers celebrate a job well done by heading to the school cafeteria and eating breakfast.  Meanwhile, Yang and Blake makeout on a rooftop for who-knows-how-long before eventually catching up with their teammates.  What a productive break this has been.

But wait - there’s more.

Until more, 

Miko