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Fancy meeting you here again, two weeks after our last meeting.  The days just keep rolling by, don’t they?  Suddenly, we find ourselves not only in a new month but also in a brand new year!

I’m particularly fond of January since it’s my birthday month.  It’s also my mom’s birthday month and my brother’s birthday month.  So…growing up, January meant there would be a lot of cake.  And I do love cake…

Vanilla cake though.  Although I’ll eat chocolate if it’s the only thing around.  I just love cake in general, and I love having my birthday as an excuse to eat a far bigger piece than normal.

Anyway…all that just to say that I’m happy it’s January, and I’ll be eating cake this month!  I’ll also be writing something, though I’m currently at a loss as to what that’ll be.

I do have some news to share though - I tentatively started writing an original story!  I say tentative, and even italicized it, because I don’t think it’s anything to get excited about now or even to anticipate anytime soon.  It just feels like…well, not a huge step, but it’s a step.

It’s strange to be creating my own characters.  I’ve been using the RWBY girls for so long that I’ve never really had to think about what my main characters would act like or look like.  I’ve created some side characters before, but they’re mostly throwaways who are only there to fit a particular role.  Thankfully, I have plenty of experience creating AUs, so world building isn’t a problem at all!

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I’ll probably write a bit of this story and then end up having a different idea for a completely different story.  That won’t be a problem though.  The important part right now is just getting a feel for this new process and figuring out what I’m doing.  It could lead to nothing, but I want to at least give it a shot.  I should at least try, right?  That’s my thinking, at least!

I’m not going to give any details about the plot or anything right now because I don’t want to spoil it or ruin the excitement for me.  Let’s just say it’s gay and adventurous!  Which is also something I’m going to have to decide…do I want to write adventures or do I just want to write romances?  Because it’s much more difficult to fit a satisfying romance into an adventure while also having it be a satisfying adventure.  I think that’s something I’ve always struggled with…but I guess that’s just another reason to keep practicing!

Waiting (on You), on the other hand, is a good example of a typical romance plot with little adventure.  In some respects, I feel like not enough happens in a romance story, but too much happens in an adventure.  Finding a good balance will be my next goal.

While I work on that though, we get to witness Yang finally coming to her senses.  It only took 16 chapters to get here…but we never doubted her for a minute!

Personally, one of my favorite parts about the ends of stories (besides the happiness, of course) is seeing the characters grow and triumph over whatever they’ve been battling.  In this case, Yang has been fighting against some insecurities and anxieties prompted by losing several important people during her formative years.

In the early chapters, we see her react rather poorly whenever she thinks she upset Blake.  Remember the whole incident after Yang got jealous of Sun and then invited another girl over when Blake came to take care of her and then Yang was so worried about Blake hating her that she was practically hyperventilating with worry?

Yeah, me too!  That’s why it was so important to me that we see Yang in another situation where she’s worried about possibly having upset Blake but reacts in a much healthier way.  She stays calm, doesn’t do something rash like cancel on game night, and resolves herself to talking it out to make sure everything’s ok.

And, unsurprisingly, things are just fine.  Actually, Blake spent the day feeling horrible and probably worried that she upset Yang, not the other way around.  “I wanted to comfort her, so I kissed her?  What the hell was I thinking??” went through her head all day.  Along with, “She kissed me, she kissed me, she kissed me, she kissed -”

You get the idea.

Ok, funny tangent about Yang’s ‘most embarrassing moment.’  While I’ve never had the misfortune of that happening to me, something similar happened to my sister in middle school.  Only she threw up in front of my crush LOL.  It was in middle school and I think she ate something bad or had the stomach flu.  She was sitting in the front lobby waiting for my mom to pick her up when this girl and two of her friends were walking past.  And it was at that moment that she threw up all over the floor.

I’m sure she was really embarrassed.  But I was also pretty embarrassed to learn about it when I got home!  But they never said anything to me, actually.  Which is great because if they had I wouldn't even be here today because I would have spontaneously combusted.

But enough about me!  This is about Yang’s embarrassing memory…

I had a lot of fun writing game night, if you couldn't tell.  At the same time, I struggled with it.  Mostly, I struggled with trying to make it even - ie, everyone had to get a turn playing the game, right?  We couldn't just get Weiss’ answers and Blake’s answers but leave out Ruby and Yang.  Although…now that I’m thinking about it, I could have just had some type of interruption occur that ended the game entirely…but that wasn’t how I wanted the night to end.

Anyway, the chapter ended up getting pretty long due to my never-ending search for equality.  Plus, it gets a little formulaic when you’re trying to make sure everyone fits into a specific question-and-answer mold.  And you have to make sure that readers understand the game, which is why they aren’t playing something complex like Settlers of Catan.  (Can you imagine though??  Ruby busts out the Catan box and we know friendships are about to be destroyed.  “I need wheat!!”)

Besides Yang being incredibly awkward around Blake, this chapter was a great chance to see White Rose as a couple in comparison to Yang and Blake but also compared to when we saw them earlier in their relationship.  They’re so much closer now, and I love that for them.  I also love that this version of Weiss is very…at ease with herself.  Poor girl rarely gets that luxury in my stories.

By at ease, I mean willing to be open and honest about herself in front of others.  Like how she admits that she’d like to be more personable right in front of Blake and Yang.  Or how she helps Ruby with game night even though she has very little idea what a game night is supposed to be like.  (A caterer, really?)  But also that she’s willing to make jokes - pretending that something is super expensive has to be one of the most common Weiss jokes that I write.  It’s just too easy for her to pretend she spent a fortune on something when she didn’t (or pretend like she didn’t spend a fortune when she did…).

Also, if Yang thinks that Weiss decorated Ruby’s apartment solely for game night…she’s got another think coming.  Weiss decorated the apartment she’s been spending a lot of time in.  It probably happened gradually, too.  One day, she comes over with dinner for Ruby and herself, but also a bag with a couple of throw pillows in it.  “I just thought they’d look nice on the sofa.”  The next time, she has a few random trinkets that go on the shelves or table.  “Aren’t these cute?”

Of course, she could just ask Ruby if she can add some things and Ruby would be over-the-moon that Weiss wanted to spend more time at her place.

We didn’t get a lot of Ruby-time in this story, but I hope that she still makes an impact as a great sister.  It was a little difficult to balance out Ruby with Blake since Blake is the one who Yang spends more time with and therefore turns to for support more.  But Ruby is still around!

I guess I built in an excuse for myself by Ruby and Weiss just starting their relationship during the story.  Of course, Ruby will be a little more distracted than usual as all of her time gets sucked in that direction.  That’s kind of what happens at the beginning of most relationships!

I think it would’ve been really interesting if Ruby had been hanging out with Yang when they stumbled into Raven in the previous chapter.  Unlike Blake, Ruby knows who Raven is, what she looks like, and - most importantly - how bad of a mother she’s been.  Blake in that situation reacted in a, “I know something’s wrong but I don’t know how wrong or how I’m supposed to deal with it” type of way.

I imagine Ruby would have been silently pissed - maybe even a little outwardly pissed.  Yang probably wouldn't have had to say as much because Ruby might say something like, “Hey lady, you need to leave.”

Oh, I just had a thought…what if Raven responded with something like, “You’re just like your mother, aren’t you?”  Then we’d have all-out warfare in the lobby.  Or that would piss Yang off to no end, and the conversation would come to a very rapid conclusion.  They might still drive out to see Summer’s grave afterward and vent for a bit, but they’d end up sitting down and sharing good memories instead.

So, it still would have ended well, but the interaction would’ve been even more explosive than it was.

I wonder if Raven ever communicates with Tai in this universe…I think that she would because she seems to be pretty callous about the feelings of her former family.  Maybe she even sent him a message along the lines of, “Stopped to see Yang while in Vale today.”  She wouldn't include any detail or anything, but he would probably heave a big sigh and then immediately call Yang to check on her.

I’m sure you noticed that we missed the mature Q&A game that happened after the chapter ended.  As much fun as that would’ve been to write, the chapter was already way too long.  That only would’ve made it drag on even longer.  Besides, some things are best left to our imagination.

I just love imagining how embarrassed Yang and Blake were while discussing those topics.  They’re friends, but they’re friends who want to cross those lines - right now, they’re right on the precipice of doing so.  We only witness Yang’s suffering in the aftermath of this new knowledge, but we know Blake is suffering just as much.  She’s probably suffering even more than Yang since she’s the one who’s actually willing to admit that she wants to be more than friends.

Yang is right there though!  Well, we actually see at the end of the chapter that she finally makes it!  That clue-by-four swings in and clobbers her with the truth.  After they make out again.  Which, you know, you’re welcome.  (That was just as much for me as it was for readers though.)

I thought of Chapter 18 a bit like a preview of how they’d act once they’re a real couple.  A cute night stroll, donuts, good conversation, good kisses, and a general feeling of contentment.  They already have all the pieces to make an incredible couple.  They just need to fit everything in the right place, and Yang’s been holding onto that last piece for dear life.

A quick note about donuts - I got so hung up about the chocolate covered donuts when I was proofreading.  I realized that it might not be realistic for a street vendor, with one of those little carts, to be able to make chocolate covered donuts.  There isn’t exactly a ton of room on those things!  (I’m imagining one of those little ones that can be wheeled around.)  Plain donuts or cinnamon-sugar coated probably make much more sense and are way more doable, but plain is boring and cinnamon-sugar coated seemed like too much to describe.

“Chocolate covered donuts.”

“Cinnamon-sugar covered donuts.”  Or “cinnamon and sugar covered donuts,” which is more accurate since cinnamon sugar isn’t technically a thing.  Or “donuts covered in cinnamon and sugar.”

“Donuts covered in chocolate.”

“Plain donuts.”

“Fried balls of dough with no coating.”

This is so insignificant yet feels significant.  Chocolate covered just looks better, it’s fewer words, not boring, and accurately descriptive.  So I left it in even though it might not be plausible for this late-night donut salesman to be making them at his little stall.  I figured…there’s a chance that he could do it - maybe his specialty is chocolate covered donuts over anything else.

A brief look into the inner workings of my mind…let’s get out of here!  To safer and saner pastures.

It’s almost ironic how different Blake and Yang’s dating philosophies are.  They’re literally night and day.  Yang is flying through shallow relationships because she’s afraid to get attached.  Blake is waiting for the perfect person because she wants to get attached.

Naturally, Yang assumes that she already blew her chances since Blake saw how many random girls she went out with.  She misses the point where Blake also sees how much time she’s devoted to them and their ‘friendship,’ and how she literally just said that she doesn’t want to go on any other dates because she wants to spend all her time with Blake.  She doesn’t use the words, but she’s basically just saying, “Hey, I want to be exclusively in a relationship with you.”

That’s only been Blake’s dream for years now.  I doubt she cares if they still don’t have an official label.  All of Yang’s time to herself?  No other girls to be jealous of or annoyed about?  A dream come true.

But an official title would be nice.

There are only 3 chapters left now, which means we’ll have a resolution before you know it!  I think I’ll roll the last 3 chapters into one commentary since the last chapter is the epilogue.  It’ll probably just be a slightly longer commentary than usual.

In the meantime…I need to figure out what I want to work on now!  I’m stuck between seeing if I can edit Queens of Remnant again or working on that Cops and Robbers AU I’ve got cooking.

Or maybe take a break?  (What does that even mean…)

But I’m excited for 2023 and so grateful for all of your support!  I think we have a great year of writing and posting ahead of us.


Until next time,

Miko

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