Conflict of Interest - Commentary - Ch. 3-4 (Patreon)

Hello again!  Welcome to the second commentary for Conflict of Interest, which I’m writing from a strange, uncommonly well-rested place.  I haven’t worked on any stories in about five days now!  I’m pretty sure this is the longest break from writing I’ve taken in years, so it’s been weird but also really nice.

I finished Dirty Little Secret, by the way!  But upon doing so, I felt so burnt out that I knew I needed more than my traditional day or two break.  My hands were sore, my mind felt melted, and my motivation...well, what is motivation, anyway??

It was good timing because I had some life distractions to attend to, which helped distract me, and I actually played a game that had been sitting around for quite some time.  The end result?  I feel pretty rested!

This morning, I noticed my mind starting to spin up again, ready to take on another big challenge.  What will this challenge be?  Right now, I’m leaning towards Queens of Remnant.  I really want to see that story finished some day...but I wouldn’t count out a brand new story flitting into existence, or one of my vaguely-outlined ideas grabbing my full attention.

I’ve had one small idea subtly pulling at my imagination, but that will be a two-parter with a big cliffhanger at the end of part one.  Knowing how long it will take to plan and write something of that magnitude, I’m shying away from that idea for now.  But at some point...the mind wants what the mind wants!

Long story short - I took a little break from writing, but I feel almost ready to get back into it.  I don’t know what will catch my fancy yet, but I’m leaning towards Queens of Remnant.  I could maybe finish that story in another six months if I don’t kill myself working on it...which I should probably avoid as much as possible...

Anyway, let’s get to our story, shall we?

It’s still getting started, so there isn’t a ton to point out yet.  We’re just dipping our toes in, figuring out what this world is all about, what the characters are up to, and what type of people they are.

Ruby keeps telling us all about herself - mostly, that she’s better with computers with people.  You know the type, right?  Very smart - maybe too smart - but doesn’t quite know how to connect with people.  A bit awkward, perhaps?

I didn’t want her to be completely socially inept - she has a sweetness to her that will always win people over - but I wanted it to be clear that she prefers computers over people.  Because she understands computers - they’re logical.  They react logically to the information they’re given, which makes them predictable.  People...not so much.  I guess you could say that Ruby’s uncomfortable not knowing what to expect.

At the beginning of Chapter 3, she’s also surprised by the outcome of the trial she put so much effort into.  I felt a little bad for wasting her hard work like that, but...it had to be done for the greater good of the story!  Why?  Well, because it gives us a great comparison between how Ruby and Weiss react to failure.

When Ruby learns that the police department lost what she considered a winnable case, she’s shocked, confused, and maybe a little annoyed that her coworker isn’t taking it more seriously.  But she ultimately accepts the result and decides that she’ll work harder next time.

Ruby ‘failure as a learning opportunity’ Rose, checking in.  Weiss, on the other hand...

Honestly, Weiss’ reaction at the beginning of Chapter 4 is one of my favorite parts of the story.  She’s so mad that she lost.  She takes it personally, as if she’s been personally humiliated.  Considering her coworkers, I guess you could say that’s correct.  They’re thrilled that she, in particular, lost an ‘easy’ case.

Unsurprisingly, Ruby and Weiss both respond by deciding that they need to be better at their jobs.  But Ruby approaches it from a place of ‘so I can make sure the bad guys don’t slip away again,’ while Weiss literally just wants to spite her coworkers.  She’s a bit of a tough cookie, isn’t she?  Yet I love her so...

There’s a Welcome to Vale High easter egg in Chapter 3 - Trevor!

Did you recognize the name?  Trevor was the freshman Yang befriended who carried around a frog in his backpack.  Or was Trevor the frog’s name…

I’m pretty sure Trevor was the boy’s name, and the frog’s name was...probably not Ribbit.  Carlos?

Ok, I don’t remember the frog’s name.  But Yang befriended Trevor, and Ruby ended up befriending him too later on, remember that?

Anyway...that was a really long way of saying that’s why Trevor writes like a ‘five-year-old’ in this story.  Because he borrowed his name from a 13-year-old!  Or a frog.  Either way, their handwriting ability is probably a little sloppy.

Trevor, however, isn’t the most important ‘off screen’ character we hear about in this chapter - Blake is!

We all knew this was a prequel, but now we also know that Blake and Yang are already together.  Happily together, I might add.  Oh to be the background couple in one of my stories...it’s the best plot armor one could hope for.

Or is it…

Oook let’s not think about that!

What I love most about the Dream Theory universe is how smart each of the 4 main characters are, but in completely different ways.  Weiss is a brilliant strategist and can think incredibly fast on her feet.  Yang is extremely intuitive and a people person.  Ruby’s a computer savant.  And Blake’s imagination puts all of ours to shame.

They each have their own niche and - the best part - they respect what the others excel at.  Ruby shows this in Chapter 3 when she says that what Blake does is “about a billion times more complicated” than what she does.  Yang obviously disagrees - because she thinks what Blake and Ruby do is a billion times more complicated than her job.

Now that I think about it…Blake and Ruby’s jobs are almost completely at odds with each other.  Computers are logic oriented, but dream theory - based on what we saw in the aptly-named story (pats self on back) - is about pushing the limits on our imagination.

This makes me remember the moment when Blake pleaded with Yang to breathe while trapped underwater.  When I think about doing that, I feel so...there’s something very wrong with it.  It would take so much mental willpower to convince yourself that the environment isn’t real and you can do whatever you put your mind to.

Because Ruby’s so grounded in logic, she basically can’t be a genius at dream theory like Blake is.  She’s so good at what she does that she can’t free her mind that way.  The same thing with Blake though - Blake’s so used to challenging the rules of the universe that she’d have a hard time with what Ruby does.

Thinking about it even more now...you could say that Weiss and Yang are opposites too.  Weiss focuses on winning by (almost) any means necessary, whereas Yang cares more about doing what’s right than furthering her career.

I guess that makes the two couples: strategy + logic and imagination + heart.

When I think about it that way, it’s even harder to imagine them paired up differently.  To me, these are the most powerful, synergic combinations possible with these four types of characters.  That’s why they’re so good together.

Besides the main characters though, I was really excited to bring Casey back into the fold.  He’s one of my favorite OCs out of all the OCs I’ve ever created - the handsome, chivalrous guy who maybe (quite possibly) has a crush on Yang.  But he’s too nice to do anything about it since Yang’s happily dating Blake.

I actually think of him a lot like Sun, but Sun is so tied to Blake that I couldn’t actually use him for this role.  I mean, I guess I could have...but readers would also associate Sun much more with Blake than Yang.  And they’d probably have a weird expectation for Sun to try to get with Blake somehow?  So...Casey it is!  (Sometimes, blank slates are just so much easier to use.)

Poor Casey got in trouble though...for giving a speeding ticket to the police chief’s friend.  That should probably make you stop and think...wait a second, what’s wrong with that?  If he was speeding, he deserved a ticket.  And you’d be correct!

This little instance just goes to show that Weiss’ side of the law isn’t the only one engaging in some questionable behaviors.  It’s just that ‘not giving tickets to your boss’ friends’ is seen as more acceptable...somehow.

Also, the chief of police is friends with someone wealthy enough to hire Weiss - that should tell you something about the kinds of people he’s rubbing elbows with.

I just remembered something!  Or think I do.  Didn’t I use Ironwood as the chief of police?  I remember writing something about him having a limp from his cop days.  This was obviously many volumes ago, back when we thought he was a decent-ish guy.  If I did use him...how appropriate would that be now?  You’re thinking the police are the good guys...but a super shady guy is in charge.

If that’s the case...did I set myself up perfectly for the Dream Theory sequel or what?

I really shouldn’t think about that right now.  Not when my mind’s untethered to any stories.  That’s a recipe for disaster.  Or a recipe for starting a new story rather than finishing an old one…

But I’ve spotted another difference between Ruby and Weiss!  At the end of Chapter 3, we see how excited Ruby is about a challenge.  She’s seeking out someone to put her skills to the test, and she even puts herself at a time disadvantage to do so.

Weiss, on the other hand, wants nothing more than to never see Ruby in another courtroom again.  She enjoys winning handedly, not fighting tooth and nail for every victory.  Fighting so hard probably makes her feel like she’s not as talented as she really is, and I imagine someone in her position needs to be unflappably confident at all times.

Ruby’s just tickled pink at the opportunity to grow.  And what does she have to lose?  She’s just helping Casey out.  Weiss has all of her coworkers waiting at the office to ridicule her.  (I’m so sorry, Weiss…)

I actually didn’t consider the end of Chapter 3 to be a cliffhanger until people commented on it.  I suppose they’re right, but there’s a pretty obvious reason for that and the time skip to the next chapter.  Can you guess what it is?

How about...I have no idea how Ruby won that case, nor did I want to figure out how to explain what she did.  She essentially rewrote the laws of physics and convinced people to believe her.  I thought that was hilarious, but I didn’t want to be the one trying to explain how.  Because then I would have to be the convincing one, and I actually never took physics in school so...time skip it is!

Plus, I thought it flowed better if we went from Ruby’s excitement directly to Weiss’ frustration.  We don’t really need to know exactly how Ruby did it - we only need to believe that she did, that she can, and that now Weiss is royally pissed off.

One thing that was really important to me, which I made sure to mention as often as possible, is that Weiss isn’t pissed at Ruby.  She’s able to separate the person from their work enough to not misplace her anger.  (Now I want to write a true enemies-to-lovers story though…)  She even admits being a little in awe of Ruby’s argument.

There’s that mutual respect coming out again!

The police department gets Weiss’ anger, or at least condemnation.  She thinks they’re wasting Ruby’s talent - arguably, maybe they are.  Did you notice this little comment though?

But Weiss would change a lot of things if she were in charge of the department.

If you remember the end of Dream Theory, you probably caught on to what this alludes to.  This only makes me want to write the sequel even more...because I want to know what types of changes she would make.

Rule #1:  Don’t waste Ruby’s time.
Rule #2:  Don’t waste my time.
Rule #3:  Don’t be a dumbass.

That sounds about right, coming from Weiss.

So I’ve never seen Breaking Bad, but I think there’s a character named Saul in that show who’s an attorney.  Maybe?  I just remember the spin-off - Better Call Saul - and that’s what it seemed to be about.  Anyway, that’s where Saul the smug prosecutor got his name!  From some TV show I’ve never seen.

I should mention that I really love the scenes where we see Weiss working through her POV.  I think this chapter shows even better than Chapter 2 how much conflict there is in her life and mind.  Even though she lies easily, she has a strong moral compass - in this case, saying that she cares that her client actually stole money from people.  Even though she’ll do just about anything to be the best, she refuses to consider bribery, manipulation, or any of the more sordid measures her coworkers resort to.

Something about her is just so cool.  At the same time, you kind of wish she could relax, right?  In Dream Theory, she said that she worked with sharks, but it kind of seems like her entire world is filled with them.  Because of this, she’s constantly in self-defense mode, waiting for another perceived attack.

Poor girl just needs someone to love her for her!  I wonder who that could be…

I’m sure we’re all sitting on the edge of our seats in anticipation.  But fear not, the weeks seem to be flying as fast as ever - you’ll have the whole story in front of you before you know it!  And then we’ll be back to me saying ‘where has the time gone?’ and ‘I’m sad but happy it’s over’ yet again.  Funny how that works, isn’t it?

But that’s all from me, for now.  Besides one last note - thank you for your support!  I’m hoping for another great year of stories, and your support goes a long way in keeping me writing day-in and day-out.  This wouldn’t be nearly as much fun without you, so really, truly, thank you!

Until next time,

Miko