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Welcome back to another two-week marker for this story!  We just got through another WR pair of chapters (isn’t it nice that they’re grouped together?) and have plenty to talk about.  But first, a writing update.

I’ve been cranking away at the new WR story that I’ve been working on for the past…maybe it’s been 5 or 6 weeks now?  I’m pleased to report that I’ve wrapped up the first 11 chapters already!  And that every chapter has been longer than intended, and that there are still 7 chapters to go.  (Update - I actually consolidated two chapters *gasp* so there are only 6 to go now!)

I’m tired…but I’ve been on such a roll cranking out these chapters that I don’t want to take a break and lose momentum.  If I can keep up this pace, I could finish the story in another few weeks, and then…

I was going to say that I could take a break, but most likely I’ll just start another story.  In which case…I really shouldn’t be rushing myself, but I also want to write the entire thing in one go so that it’s cohesive!  What I discovered with Diva is that dropping something mid-completion and letting it sit for several months makes it hard to get in the same writing mindset when you return.  The style might end up a little different, too.

So…I’m trying to get this done all in one go, then I’ll probably move on to writing the Bumbleby sequel.  Would it be a Bumbleby sequel if this is the prequel to the Bumbleby story?  (Which I already started writing and dropped, which will result in the problem I just mentioned lol)  The great news is that I have this week off of work, so I can probably make some significant progress.

I’m trying to figure out what it is about this story that’s made progress so easy to find.  A big part of it is probably that this is a different version of Weiss than I’ve written before.  She’s extra sassy, sarcastic, drops some swear words from time to time, and can be a little vulgar in places.  That’s been really fun for me to dive into.

Another part that I think’s been helping is that I might have gotten my outline/scene ratio just right.  By that, I mean that I outlined enough to get a full sense of the story but not enough that I’m bored when I go to fully write each chapter.  Imagine it like a connect the dot puzzle.  I made enough dots that it’s easy to move from one to the next, but it’s not so easy that I can see the final shape without drawing a single line.  That leaves more room for imagination, and imagination makes things more enjoyable.  I’m going to keep this in mind for the next story, and hopefully I can duplicate the results!  (Except maybe not write quite as much or as fast because that’s not super healthy when this isn’t my full-time job.)

Alright, let’s talk about Queens of Remnant so I can wrap this up and get back to it!  The White Rose calls me…

There isn’t any White Rose in Queens of Remnant yet, but don’t worry, it’s coming.  We’re still setting up their characters and then they can find each other.  First, we check in with Weiss after her somewhat-horrible first chapter.  Unsurprisingly, she’s barely holding it together.

I thought it was really interesting to write a version of Weiss that was less sure of herself than usual.  The reasons for this will become more obvious over time, but I think it makes her personal growth all the more satisfying.  As you can probably tell just from this chapter, she has no idea what she’s supposed to do, and that’s not a great position for a new ruler to be in.

She’s spent most of her life hiding, and suddenly she’s the center of attention.  Imagine how unnerving and anxiety-producing that must be on top of everything else.  And she has the sudden attention from those council members who had zero interest in her before.

Ironwood and Robyn were actually OCs in my original draft - Councilor Dasche and Gardone, respectively - but I ultimately swapped them for actual RWBY characters.  I didn’t want to have too many OCs, as I mentioned in the previous commentary, but I also felt like the OC councilors weren’t compelling enough that they had to stay.  James and Cecelia are good characters, in my opinion.  I really like them.  Dasche and Gardone?  Meh.

Replacing them with Ironwood and Robyn actually had a better effect on the story, I think.  Or gave those characters a little more depth by drawing in the backstory we have from canon.  Not that their canon stories have anything to do with this story, but they just…feel more fleshed out since we have that canon knowledge already attached to them.

Also, I realize that Ironwood’s first name is James, which makes it extra confusing that I have an OC named James, but I rolled with it!  Someone pointed that out way back when I was posting Rush - they asked if James, Weiss’ chauffeur, was supposed to be James Ironwood.  I didn’t even know that was Ironwood’s first name when I wrote Rush though, so it was just a coincidence.  I happen to really like the name.  Hopefully, it’s not too confusing though.  I think most people typically think of Ironwood as ‘Ironwood’ anyway.

One of my main issues with using Ironwood as an Atlesian councilor was that he has black hair, which doesn’t fit in with the white-haired Atlas vibe.  So…we just assume he dyes it so that he stands out.  What an egomaniac…(Also, Robyn’s a little too tan for Atlas but I didn't know how to solve that so I didn’t bother addressing it at all.  Perks of being the writer!)

A few years ago, someone explained to me how people will ‘get their ducks in a row’ before a work meeting - i.e. going over the topics and feeling out responses before the meeting actually starts - and that’s basically exactly what Ironwood’s doing in this chapter.  He’s ‘helping’ Weiss, but also priming her with ‘answers’ that coincidentally align with his goals.

He’s a politician.  Yuck.  And Weiss doesn’t seem to have much experience dealing with politicians.

She doesn’t have much experience at all.  As she opines, there isn’t a handbook or introductory course on how to be queen.  And if her dad didn’t bother teaching her anything - unsurprisingly, he didn’t - then she’s pretty much in the dark.  Winter probably should have taught her more, but Winter was probably more concerned with trying to protect Weiss and handle her own issues with their dad than preparing anyone to lead Atlas.

As we learn in Ruby’s chapter, Vale is much more aware of who Winter is than of Weiss.  The flow of information between Vale and Atlas isn’t exactly great, which obviously worked for my purposes, but Winter’s the only one who’s been spotted out on the battlefields.  Add in Yang’s comment that Jacques kept his daughters locked up pretty tight, and I think we can imagine the type of sheltered lives they had.

I feel worse for Weiss the more I think about her new situation.  Imagine that you live in Washington DC or something, and one day everyone’s like, “You’re in charge!  See you in Congress to vote on some new laws!”  Then you show up to these buildings steeped in history with their own customs, norms, and factions to try to work with strangers.  Oh, and please explain how your dad died on your first day.  With details.

Weiss could really use a mentor right now.  Ironwood is obviously making himself available, and Robyn is around, but other than that…who does Weiss have to talk to?  To trust?

The one thing Weiss has going for her is that she doesn’t want to fight a war.  Not only because she just doesn’t want to hurt people, but also because she can already feel how in over her head she is.  Unfortunately, sending her to negotiate a truce seems destined for failure.  At least, that’s what the Council might presume…but they’ve never met a certain someone named Ruby Rose.

Ruby’s back in Vale!  She’s ready to jump back into work and change people’s lives.

I love her confidence and certainty in her role.  I feel like that’s not often how she starts out in my stories, but she’s been a queen for a while now so it’s reasonable that she’s sorted through all of her leadership hurdles already.  We missed her ‘growing into a leader’ phase in this one.  Now, she’s just awesome.

It’s almost like I stole Weiss’ typical confidence and gave it to Ruby.  That’ll make for an interesting dynamic once they meet, won’t it?

In particular, I love how other people respond to Ruby’s assuredness.  I hope you could tell how much everyone seems to respect and love her.  But it’s hard not to love someone whose life’s goal is literally, “To help everyone.”

There is a ‘big’ (ish) reveal in this chapter - Ruby knows Yang has the Phage, and she knows that Yang’s hiding it from everyone.  That puts her determination to find a cure into more context, right?  It’s not just for the greater good of Vale.  This is for her sister, who she loves more than anyone.  Her last remaining family.  Her partner in queendom.

I considered having Ruby find out later in the story, but I thought that it was almost sadder this way.  Most importantly, now we know that Ruby will do basically anything to find a cure.  It will drive her actions and decisions in the story - it already has, even!  As soon as she hears that Weiss is willing to travel to Vale, she knows that she has to make it happen.  If Atlas won’t admit outsiders, then what better way to probe about this mythical cure?

Atlas is so closed off from the outside world that Yang and Ruby didn’t even know that Jacques died.  So…that should give you a good idea of how little they know of what’s going on in the snowy kingdom.

So it makes sense that Yang and Ruby think that Weiss and Winter possibly got into a huge fight over who took the crown.  Game of Thrones style of succession - trial by combat or poisoning or something.  Oh, how wrong they are…

Ruby gives us some backstory on how she and Yang came to be co-rulers while discussing Weiss and Winter.  I wrote in Boundless that they were ‘sister queens,’ and I liked the idea so much that it stuck around for the full story.  Doesn’t it just make so much sense though?  And Yang, as the oldest, is absolutely the type to want Ruby to lead with her.  Besides, this means that they can divide their responsibilities and focus on what they excel at.

One of the things Ruby excels at is reading people.  I typically give this to Yang - and I think she’s still really good at reading people in this story - but Ruby’s the one sitting back and observing more than not.  This is another remnant from Boundless because of her entrance in that chapter, and I leaned into it by giving her plenty of opportunities to watch from a distance.  And plenty of hiding places to do this observation from.

I guess if you consider the secret passageways, the hidden walkway above the throne room, and probably others, it makes sense that she grew up learning how to read people.  Just imagine little Ruby hiding above the throne room listening to her parents talk or sneaking through the walls eavesdropping on conversations between the advisors and staff.  She probably learned so much just by watching and listening.  This is in direct contrast to Weiss, who ducks her head and tries to make herself invisible more often than not.

I’m so happy that their chapters are paired up so I can talk about them together.  It’s like writing one White Rose commentary and then switching to a Bumbleby commentary.  It’s kind of nice!  I adore both couples so getting to work with both of them in one story was actually really awesome.  Complicated, but awesome.

Maybe instead of all 4 POVs, I could just do one from each pair next time?  That would still give both couples equal time, but less POVs?

Ugh…the complexity of weaving together two relationships though…I somehow got it to work out here, but I don’t know if I want to put myself through that again.  Wouldn't it be better if I just wrote two separate stories, one for each of them?  That would take less time, too, and I’m all about maximizing efficiency.

Eh, that’s an issue for future me!  I currently have my blinders on with my sole focus being The Family (title will probably change…I like it less the more I use it).  Once that’s done, and so is the companion piece that goes with it (which I’ll probably post before it??), then I can think about what’s next.  With that said, I should get back to it!

Thank you again for all of your support.  You make all these writing hours worthwhile!


Until next time,

Miko

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