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Alright, setting this up took WAY longer than it should have. But, without further ado, let's get cracking! Feel free to revisit this completely crazy long ass story with me in a very disorganized, chaotic way that hopefully provides enough insight into the weird things on my mind as I wrote and developed Gladiator :D

PART 1: Introduction Arc to Giving In Arc (1-100)

Overview:

Evidently, Part 1 was Gladiator's first plotted story stage, even though very distant and very important scenes from Part 2 started to be cooked early on. I came up with several plot points during that crazy, explosive brainstorming session in my bed that night. For starters, I knew I wanted Sokka and Azula to fight and I wanted Azula to take him as a slave in consequence:

Back in the day, we did not run away from heavily problematic and dark storytelling choices :')))) and while I absolutely can see why people would NOT appreciate what I did here, and if that turned them away from the story OUTRIGHT, I'm not surprised... there was never any part of me that thought Azula's choices here were morally correct, and they were not presented as such. She IS from the villainous nation. She is acting like it. That was the point :') enemies-to-lovers only makes sense if you're actually ENEMIES. I'm not here to police how people write this trope nowadays, but "inconveniently annoying person in my life is kinda hot, maybe I'll devote myself to them completely," isn't the same as enemies-to-lovers. You HAVE to embrace truly horrible beginnings for the journey to be challenging and meaningful at all.

So! I wasn't afraid of dialing up the Fire Nation's evil, just as I nerfed Azula considerably because I thought, without the Avatar out and about, it would make sense for Azula to never really get out there and be actively involved in the war. Why would she be? What need would there be for Ozai to send her to do anything? Nothing suggested he would've had her doing anything else until the Avatar showed up, and he knew FOR SURE that he had showed up in canon. So… I just needed to keep him from showing up, right?

The choice to remove Aang from the equation was kind of a no-brainer: I needed to work with a setting where the Fire Nation was winning and the Avatar is always the symbol of hope whose existence and presence suggests the opposite. It’s the last hope anyone would cling to, the miraculous entity that saves the day. So, without him... who would our characters turn into, instead? :'D What happens if Aang doesn’t come back… or comes back at an inconvenient time? It was an interesting question to answer. I don't think I'd come across stories with that setting before during my months reading fanfiction, either, because most people acted under the logic that the Avatarverse would cease to exist post Sozin’s Comet if Aang wasn’t around to stop it. So… as I reasoned with Ozai’s very questionable plans, and how things played out in the show, I concluded that as powerful as this fucker could be, the odds of him razing the ENTIRE WORLD DOWN across a singular afternoon were nowhere near as good as he thought, or as the fandom assumed.

With that in mind… I kind of went in blindly, without influences, mostly working with my co-conspirators whenever I needed advice and clarity regarding what elements to keep and remove. I started to ponder what kind of world would exist in the wake of Sozin’s Comet’s destruction: without airships, since Sokka’s intervention with the Mechanist hadn’t happened, Ozai would not have the air power to strike from above. Without Azula actively involved, it was likely that the Drill WAS used to breach Ba Sing Se and their sole method inside the city, and the subsequent battles would have been horrible… but as I said earlier, Azula is not involved because she doesn’t need to be, ergo, Ozai sends someone else instead and it’s that person (an OC, in this case, Tiang) who conquers Ba Sing Se in a bloodbath, pretty much. Zuko never gets to come home, because why would he, if he never found the Avatar? :’) Toph? Stuck back home with unpleasant parents and an ever-growing urge to leave and live on her own terms.

Little by little, I started to compose what everyone’s lives would’ve been like without Aang’s presence… and that was the initial foundation of Gladiator.

That would be the start of Part 1! As I mentioned before, stuff like Toph and Iroh's roles as Sokka and Azula's main rivals was also a very early decision. Insane as it may be? The idea of Iroh catching Sokka and Azula getting it ON actually came up as early as that first brainstorming night. And Sokka's showdown vs. Combustion Man did, too...

As well as Sokka and Azula’s first time, of course.

So, crazily enough, that first night really unlocked a bunch of crucial elements of the story... but none for Part 3 :'D woopsie. I had NO IDEA where this story was headed until... at least a full year into its development? And then it still took a WHILE longer for me to be 100% locked in on that direction anyhow :'D But we may talk about that some more later...

Now, into the fray! Arc by arc, let's dig into how this story came together:

Introduction arc: 1 - 22:

For starters, I wanted to honor the original show in many ways even as I whipped up a wholly different tale. I needed to constantly ponder how the changes would impact the canon characters, where they'd be, what their stories might be like. So, for instance, Katara stays stuck at home (but eventually finds Aang) because Hakoda can't bear to lose another child once Sokka gets taken away, and Katara, while raring to go, eventually decides to stay and protect the village, the way her brother wanted to. Toph goes wild looking for better fighting opportunities because Earth Rumble is gone and it was replaced by the Gladiator League, and she can't join that without a sponsor (and nobody in the city was gonna do her that favor, considering who her parents were, sooo... she was kinda screwed :'D).

Piandao remained as Sokka's master because I of COURSE wanted Sokka to learn swordsmanship with him properly, I also wanted him to have Space Sword and refused to let him lose it the way he does in canon! And most importantly, I had to establish Azula's motivations here too. I was kind of wobbly about that, mostly because canon really doesn't give us much in the way of dissatisfaction for Azula in her role in the Fire Nation. So how to make her feel like something was missing...? The idea came together because sexism, yes, is very real in our world and in many Asian cultures, but the way it actually IS part of the Avatarverse wasn't super obvious right away, not for me, not for most people. Slowly, the realization that canon Zuko had somehow never really lost the certainty that he'd be heir if he just came HOME, that Azula hadn't even ONCE referred to the throne as her own, that she BROUGHT HER BROTHER HOME...? All of it suggested this girl was either very self-defeating or not as ambitious as her many haters said she was.

When I gave her this extra push, by making the Fire Nation's sexism MUCH more obvious, giving her a motivation to want power for herself to change THAT... it actually got me to my destination. The arranged marriage with Chan was used as a reference to the scrapped storyline from the original show, from what I've heard, and a direct effect of Fire Nation sexism, where Azula was a bargaining chip for political purposes, same as most highborn women would be. I absolutely won’t pretend every choice made at the start of this story was perfect and that I’d make them all exactly the same way… a lot of things were admittedly rushed, not too professionally, all because I wanted to get to the thick of the fun ASAP. While a controversial choice at first, I skipped Sokka’s years in the Amateur Arena because frankly, I wanted that explored through his retellings instead, when the chance came up, and because it felt like it’d be very miserable to delay the main story I actually wanted to tell just to give full perspective on what his early days were like.

I don’t know if people reacted so badly because they misunderstood this to mean that Sokka WASN’T going to be shown in a gladiatorial situation often (clearly, that wasn’t the case), or because their perspective of gladiators was the Hollywood version where they are constantly subjected to violence and sent to die, the way it worked in the Amateur League. But even without having researched fully when I wrote this, I couldn’t help but conclude that a society that wanted to turn gladiator fights into a major source of entertainment wouldn’t profit off killing the fan favorite gladiators all the time. The Superior Gladiator League came about because of that… and it was, as it turns out, far more similar to the historical gladiatorial world from Ancient Rome than the Amateur League was :’D funny how it goes!

This arc featured a lot of important moments, such as the first rivalry clash between Sokka and Toph, resulting in Azula realizing she gave a LOT more shits about Sokka than she should have. Lots of rising tension between Sokka and Azula from the get-go, the attraction is THERE (the water bucket scene was soooooooooo funny to write and I loved revisiting it, Azula's frustration there never failed to crack me up), but there's basically next to no trust between them. They're just starting out... and things aren't particularly great since they're barely beginning to influence each other. Sokka sees the Fire Nation as a bunch of bloodthirsty bastards, Azula sees everything that isn't Fire Nation as inferior...! They're shaped by their circumstances until they start to be shaped by each other. And that starts here... as their initial dynamic gets properly established, not just as banter but as training buddies, even, on the deck of Azula’s Barge! This arc may have featured the most Avatar characters I brought into the story for what I assumed could be small roles but ended up NOT being small, particularly fan-favorites Song and Shoji. I wasn’t all that confident about OCs because I didn’t reeeally want to make them unless necessary, I’m well aware of the fanfiction reader aversion to OCs. But I needed to make at LEAST a few, Avatar didn’t have enough characters for me to repurpose every single person, so… this arc was the birthplace of one of my most important OCs, Rui Shi! He was still nameless back then, he used to be called "Captain Sokkla" by the readerbase, an EXTREMELY ironic nickname because nobody was more adamant about those two NOT getting together as he was, at first xD but he came around eventually...

The guards were very much a monolith at this point barring Rui Shi, and I absolutely wasn't taking them seriously as characters, they didn’t get fleshed out until ages later. I wanted Rui Shi to be the useful tool through which I could show, however, that Azula's behavior with Sokka was NOT normal, not considered proper, and that she wasn't supposed to be doing that... and she, in turn, would just tell him to shove it and do whatever she wanted because her goals and ambitions mattered more. And if she could look at a pretty guy who grinds her gears in the process of fulfilling such goals and ambitions? She would gladly do so! I would definitely say the seeds of a deeper relationship between Sokka and Azula were planted at this stage of the story, particularly towards the end of this arc, but they weren't strong enough just yet to overcome all the bad blood that evidently lingered between them. Nope. Zuko also turns up here, establishing his very fucked up situation, as the failure who never found the Avatar, and was allowed home because Iroh groveled enough -- honestly, I'd say it was because Ozai was satisfied and happy about proving Zuko was a failure, since now he had every right and excuse to pretend he didn't exist even if he came home. Father of the year, we know that!

Iroh's immediate reaction upon coming home is to start undermining Azula's efforts to establish herself as a public figure and earn the respect of the people... sorry not sorry, but Iroh's wicked schemes, since day one, were all about making sure Zuko WOULD have a path to the throne when he was ready. While I know some people used to think he couldn't possibly have evil intentions (most of whom SURELY dropped the fic ages ago! :'D), the truth is... he did. Sorry not sorry. He is not the saint you guys convinced yourselves of :') feel free to believe that of him in canon if you want to, but not in my house. Aang made his debut at the very end of this arc, and I aged him up because I really didn't like the idea of him being a baby while everyone else was older. Felt kinda iffy. I wasn't even 100% set on Kataang being a thing and I could've left their relationship out of the story, but the idea of him just being a baby didn't really feel right... and then I fully decided on aging him up when I realized I could have HIM training HER. Why not? If Aang had been older, he would have traveled south to learn Southern Water Tribe bending! He might just be able to help Katara to salvage more of her culture and traditions than he could in canon! Ergo... it became a choice of convenience, and one I didn't regret. I definitely have no idea wtf I would've done with a teenaged Aang while everyone else was way older, if it had come to that :'D

Kyoshi’s Heir/Savage Hook arc: 24 - 30

Oof. Why lie, this one's a can of worms and the arc that gave me some of the worst headaches I've had when it comes to this story. I'm not even gonna give THOSE people the time of day, they know who they are and what they did and they can shove it. I don't give a fuck at this point. My characters are allowed to make STUPID DUM CHOICES because that’s what impulsive human beings do when they aren’t omniscient and haven’t matured enough in life. Simple as that. I will always enjoy the rapport between Sokka and Azula in the early stages of this arc. Things were getting a LITTLE too nice and Sokka just goes and blows it, we know that... but I really love the way they turn up at Mai's house, acting as casual as they do. Zuko's reactions to them, his stupid fight with Sokka... that stuff never failed to make me laugh. Of course, the first kiss is a BIG highlight. Absolutely done for the wrong reasons, impulsive Azula decides to sabotage Sokka's attempts to distract himself from her with another girl... and the result is a catastrophe that nearly destroyed their budding relationship and partnership. Woops. Suki was always a very funny character in this situation because she had NO IDEA wtf was going on and I loved that part of things. Jet, on the other hand, was a tragic mess: the idea that he had never left Long Feng's control was horrible, ofc, and being used as his tool... yikes upon yikes. Poor buddy :') his fight against Sokka was one of the most brutal ones I wrote in the entire story (though of course, the Part 3 stuff beats it by miles...), but it was really intense and fun and then having Sokka coming to terms with the reality that Azula DID like him and that he had broken her heart...! Boy, was that an ouchie that never really stopped stinging. He said some really bad things to her, we know that, but I wasn't going to shy away from the reality of how deeply damaged these two are. Sokka didn't spend 23 years of his life hating the Fire Nation and expecting nothing good from them just to get over it because "princess is pretty". I know some people hoped that would be the case...! But I didn't want to disrespect the character, and it frankly made no sense to me that he'd just throw his entire integrity and all his beliefs away for the sake of potentially getting into the princess's pants. Didn't sound like something he'd choose, not until their relationship evolved further :') sorry. ... And yes, hate me all you like for saying it: June is fun to write as an absolutely emotionally detached asshole who doesn't give a fuck about whatever's going on around her. Characters like her aren't the ones I tend to build stories around, but it's really funny to me how SOME people were ready to turn her into a bigger villain than Ozai because she'll bang whoever she likes, if the person in question chooses to go for it. Is she a good person? Nope! Do I want everyone to become her fan? I couldn't care less! I'm just saying, she was an interesting character to write and nobody's gonna change that reality :') sorry not sorry.

Rough Rhinos arc: 31 – 46

This one was a pain to write, I won’t lie. A lot of unhappy people over the previous one made my life a LITTLE harder than necessary when it came to writing this one and I felt myself falter and question a lot of what I was doing. Partly, I wanted to convince myself that it’d pass, and that once things got better, people would get over it! … And then a lot of them didn’t. So, of course, the only thing left for me to do was learn the painful, grueling lesson as a writer: “stop giving a shit and do what you want to do.” It took a while for it to sink in, but it did in the end :’D I’m fairly sure this arc marked the first time I resorted to the giant fanmade Avatar map in order to properly plot distances, as I tried to make the traveling times believable and reasonable in the story. It wasn’t easy, but it worked out. It was also my first proper foray into expanding the Avatarverse’s locations’ repertoire: I actually had to write about places that maybe weren’t that important to the show, that maybe were just mentioned… but I had to detail them more.

Lots of extra worldbuilding came in handy so I could make sense out of the different arenas, and my god, the RANKING. I haven’t even mentioned it yet: that thing was a NIGHTMARE to work with and update all the time. I might actually have finished Gladiator 2 years earlier if I had found a more automated way, a programming method to just… do it automatically instead of by hand in the most UNRELIABLE way ever :’D god, that’s a resource I do not, and will never miss… Azula, of course, was a miserable wreck throughout this arc, but she kept trying to put up her walls so it wouldn’t show (… and it still did). Sokka, meanwhile, was at his most subservient and helpless, trying to win her over again, repenting and remorseful…! I knew from the get-go that I didn’t want Sokka to succeed at helping Azula by romancing her here, though. It didn’t feel right, not just yet, ergo why people were SO SHOCKED that I stuck them in a forest for a week and barely anything physical happened between them :’D yes, something COULD HAVE, but I didn’t want them getting together out of grief and misery. It felt like Sokka was still too guilty, and Azula still too apprehensive, to try.

And then our dragon turned up.

I was not even slightly subtle about the foreshadowing because what are the odds that Azula talks to Sokka about dragons only one chapter before they find one x’D but what can you do, I hadn’t really established the plan fully right away, but I DID want them to find Xin Long here. The idea of him saving them was so much fun! And I loved making it happen because Azula proved herself to Xin… I didn’t intend for Azula to ever visit the Sun Warriors (and she didn’t :’D) so Xin was the best method for me to give canon the middle finger and say AZULA IS WORTHY TOO XD and of course, she got a dragon partner out of it, as well!

Xin Long, then, was the key for Azula’s happiness this time. She found a new partner, one she had a MUCH easier relationship with, a direct mental bond inspired by the one in Eragon (sorry not sorry, it was such a cool idea! Of course, I went about it slightly differently, but frankly, writing Xin Long’s goofy thoughts and conveying them to Azula was always so much FUN!).

But I think my favorite part of this arc was definitely Sokka and Azula coming clean and talking things over. COMMUNICATION! Not only did the iconic turtle and hawk story come up, but then they cleared the air later too. And I looooved their absolutely stupid promise to be fully professional from that point onwards. You can all imagine my wicked cackling in consequence. Just… totally ridiculous. What the hell were they thinking? They were gonna end up together whether they thought so or not, it was just gonna take a bit more time…!

… Worth noting, though, Azula’s stolen kiss when he falls asleep was entirely her doing. I wasn’t planning on it. They weren’t supposed to kiss again until AGES later and she said “b-but he liiikes me…” and I let her be sneaky. But yeah. They weren’t supposed to. She knows she’s my weak spot and takes advantage of that to get away with things she shouldn’t. That’s why that scene happened at all!

The Emerald Rockman arc: 48 – 51

AND THEN THEY WERE SNEAKY AGAIN! XD Look, it was admittedly self-indulgent, but their chapter 50 kiss was just way too much fun and I had to do it. Sue me! Chapter 50 felt like a big deal, numbers-wise, but it also featured one of their best conversations yet, and Sokka choosing to just act on impulse to kiss his sponsor when he shouldn’t have was the cherry on top. Most of all… because of course she kissed him back. How could she not :’) they are SO GOOD at keeping their promises, aren’t they…?

This arc was mostly more lighthearted than everything that came before. It felt a bit like respite, even though Sokka was still trying to figure out how to beat earthbenders. So of course, once Haru was thrown into the mix, we had yet another repurposed Avatar character in a wholly different scenario! And I really loved the insane contrast between the two couples, once Ty Lee became his sponsor: Sokka and Azula were fighting (or failing to resist, rather) an attraction that only grew stronger every day, as they built up a more solid bond with each new challenge… and then Ty Lee and Haru ended up in bed together immediately while barely getting to know each other xD it was way too silly but too funny. I couldn’t help myself.

Of course, this is also Zuko and Suki’s first contact. It was mostly my friend’s idea, and she even featured in a cameo as that character who gives Zuko the peach that he then gives Suki :’D I hoped I did that scene justice, it’s probably the heaviest part of the arc… ESPECIALLY because, right after getting to know a surprisingly decent person who made her feel better after a very dark moment? Suki gets her life totally ruined. Poor girl. I really put her through the wringer. But, again, in my defense…:

IT WAS NOT MY IDEA, IT WAS MY FRIEND’S :D I mean it. Direct any rants at her if you think it was a bad story choice, but Suki’s hardships were 100% designed by her, I accepted it because it worked as a display of how horrible slavery was, but I would’ve gladly gone for someone else in that role if not for my friend’s insistence on telling Suki’s tragic story and getting her the happy ending she deserved with her prince. I mentioned earlier that I struggled to make up my mind about what to do with these two at first… but after a while, her ideas started to make sense to me, and before I knew it, I’d adopted a bunch of them even if they were very, very difficult to write, and very painful for the characters involved. But that’s what happens when you approach a dark setting such as this one…

Attack of the White Lotus arc: 52 – 57

This arc was a mayor highlight for me for many reasons, but writing Azula being SICK?! Vulnerable Azula FTW! Obviously, she really didn’t mean to be, but what can you do! It’s what happens when you fall asleep outdoors because you’re losing your mind about having made out with your situationship after SWEARING OFF HIM FOR GOOD. Bad girl. Very bad XD

But this also of course set me up with the huge dilemma of what to do with the White Lotus, going forward. Believe it or not, I didn’t kick Piandao to the curb as early as I did with a plan in mind. Nope! Ursa’s storyline only came together AGES later, so I had no idea why tf Piandao had left :’D All I did know was that he’d gone back to the White Lotus and told them about Sokka as a potential asset (… lo and behold, he worked out as one) that would be best left to operate on his own… aaaaaand that didn’t really pan out that way, woopsies. But I didn’t really want to show an idealized version of the White Lotus, not at ANY stage of Gladiator’s development, so I didn’t :>

My take on the White Lotus was inspired by some of the things I saw in real life: resistance against tyranny is not, in fact, heroism all along. The right beliefs do not guarantee the right principles and M.O. in any organization. I’ve seen attempts at rebellion going down in flames horribly IRL… I’ve seen the consequences, the in-fighting, the way families can fall apart, even, when some people get extra radical, when they become incapable of tolerating dissent in any shape or form. So… the White Lotus became a representation of that. Yes, they were fighting on the right side of the war, but were they doing it the RIGHT way? Were they ALL good people? Absolutely not. I wanted the White Lotus to be the main rebellion force left against the Fire Nation, and that meant that people from all over the world had drifted towards them, in desperation, hoping they’d be able to save them from the Fire Nation… only for their leadership to be lackluster, at a loss for what to do without an Avatar to hide behind, much like they seemed to be in canon, judging by how they didn’t move an inch until Sozin’s Comet came around :’D I’d say my White Lotus was a lot more active than canon’s, so at least they get that much credit…

Giving Song more of a spotlight here, and actually establishing her first moments of friendship with Azula was such a fun thing to look back on later. Wild how they’re each other’s ride-or-die by the end of the story but back here, Song was a bundle of nerves and trying not to lose her mind after Azula gave her the slip. These two undeniably became a major highlight of the story for me, just as much as Sokka and Rui Shi did. Those four, the whole set of their dynamics, romances and friendships, were one of the best things about Gladiator. Every single connection between them is wonderful. Team chemistry and synergy that makes my heart sing.

Sokka earns Ozai’s respect mildly here, for the first time ever. Not their first direct encounter, that was back when Rough Rhinos was ending… but the first time Ozai reckoned with the fact that Sokka’s no ordinary nobody. The two favors, I hoped, would mitigate the outrage by some people upon seeing Sokka choose Azula over the White Lotus, which, much like the White Lotus saw it, some readers thought was a big horrible betrayal! I still think it’s not exactly shocking that a guy who’s head over heels with a woman he’s been bonding with would save her from the awful circumstances he found her in, and that he’d set aside his grudge against the Fire Nation and refuse to use Azula as some kind of scapegoat through which to make the Fire Nation “pay”. But I do remember quite a few protests about that, sure do…

This particular arc also featured a hilarious chapter in which Sokka gets sponsored by Zuko. Sadly, the funniest part didn’t make it into the official chapter. There are only a few lines I’ve written that I can remember perfectly, and the initial line for this chapter is one of them: “Her room felt like a cage of sorts lately.” Why would I remember something so ordinary?

… Because MS Word swapped “sorts” for “shorts”. Without my awareness.

When I noticed the flip, I burst out laughing. I could not help but imagine Azula sitting in her bedroom, watching as the shorts she most likely DOESN’T own, begged to be released from imprisonment. It’s such a stupid image, but I could NOT for the life of me understand why it autocorrected that way, not even giving me the option to choose if I liked “sorts” or “shorts” better, it just flipped immediately into “shorts” and I laughed over that for years.

There was another line that I loved here, of course, and that’s the ending of that chapter, where Sokka tells Azula that Zuko did his job just fine but there was just one problem: he wasn’t Azula. It was one of those wonderful moments where I went after Azula’s heart and she just couldn’t handle the embarrassment and joy and affection this silly man triggered inside her. At this point, they’re both soooo entirely in love (heck, Sokka even ACCEPTED he loves her now!) but neither one is ready to act on it, based, of course, on all the chaos to arise whenever they DO act on it. So. They behaved themselves.

… For a bit.

Gladiator Scavenger Hunt arc: 59 – 61

This particular event was very lighthearted compared to others. If there’s something that could be deemed filler, I guess this kind of counts, but it reeeeally wasn’t designed as that. I just needed to focus on the Gladiator League again and it was a good way to do so. Exploring a yet-unexplored aspect of the League, special events, was very fun, and writing out Sokka’s crazy race, his ideas and solutions to problems, completely unorthodox every time, paired with the absolute INSANITY of knocking down Ozai’s statue…! Oh, that part was just too funny.

I’ll never forget how Sokka stabbed someone with Azula’s hairpiece. I worried about making sure that Sokka’s plan was conveyed properly, I feared it might not feel completely logical on a first read… but I hoped that, once he explained what he’d done, people would backtrack to see the cleverness of our gladiator and how he managed to steal a perfect, full victory right off Toph’s greedy hands. Hehehe. Sorry buddy :> Still love ya, tho. It was a nice blow to her ego, she needed to be knocked down a peg once in a while to remember she’s still human xD

Oh, and I nearly forgot: this is the arc where Sokka cashed out his favor from Ozai and emptied the FN settlement back in the South Pole. That power move was just… such a great moment to make Ozai catch a whiff of how DANGEROUS Sokka would be one day. The guy was not playing around, and Ozai was INTRIGUED. Of course, him remarking later that Azula isn’t supposed to be sharing this kind of stuff with her gladiator… heh. Hehe. Heh. You have no idea how much they share, buddy, and you don’t wanna know. His remark about the things he expected from Sokka, such as requesting a nobility title, the revoking of his slave status, and then asking for Azula’s hand in marriage… the heart attack he triggered in his daughter for that VERY brief moment was simultaneously sad, funny and endearing. Poor girl was watching this guy getting tormented by his messenger hawk and her dragon, and all she could think was “… okay but I wouldn’t mind marrying him, tho,” it was really sweet and sad, since she thought it was impossible. But I loved having Ozai acknowledge the FUTURE so very carelessly without ever imagining that… yes, that goof lying on the ground with a dragon and a hawk perched atop him is gonna marry your daughter. The thing you’re failing to account for is that he’s not gonna ask your permission to do so… xD

Ember Island arc: 62 – 65

Their resolve to “behave themselves” died so fast in this one, it was honestly kind of funny how weak it was. But this arc was always a big deal as it would be the first glimpse of Azula’s relationship with Ursa, directly.

I really enjoyed writing those flashbacks showing who Ursa had been in Azula’s life, and admittedly while I would have loved to have figured out Ursa’s full story by the time I wrote this first flashback, I think it still fits perfectly well with everything else I developed around her later. I never wanted to write an Ursa whose logic was impossible to understand – while we were obviously predisposed to cheer for Azula and support her over her mother, I hoped it would also be easy enough to see how many misunderstandings and bad choices caused what could have been a small problem to fester all the way until Azula’s adulthood. And Ozai didn’t help in the slightest because he, too, is a product of toxicity and had absolutely nothing useful to contribute to the situation – if anything, he actively made it worse!

I really liked showing Azula’s bond with Lu Ten. While I know it was entirely fickle and just my own choice to feature those two getting along, I basically just wanted ONE (1) person in the Royal Family to be somewhat decent to her. Due to him never coming back and not fixing things after he promised to, it makes sense to me that Azula would eventually hold a childish grudge on him… but as she grew older, she realized it was not fair, even if she didn’t quite process/admit it until the Rough Rhinos arc.

It’s always really tragic to see what a complicated childhood can do to a person. The amount of work they have to put in to become healthier, to find peace, to learn lessons that should have been available for them much sooner… it’s quite messed up. I really wanted to make a clear contrast between someone who bottles everything up (Azula) and someone who does not (Zuko). People like Zuko wear their hearts on their sleeves and everyone gets splattered by their feelings and personal struggles. Depending on how much you like this person, you can obviously react by helping however you can! (Ty Lee). And if you don’t like them… the explosion of emotion just irks you (Azula).

Again, I hoped it would be obvious that there were many things in play here, many factors that contributed to the messy spat at night, by the beach, but considering the strong reactions chapter 64 always resulted in (particularly the Zuko punch moment), it became apparent that readers reached whatever conclusions they wanted to. The people who are partial to Zuko, the people who see him as a victim of tragic abuse who should not make himself smaller and who think it’s great that he is so open about his feelings, absolutely hated the way Sokka punched him :’D but people who have been on the opposite end of a situation, witnessing as someone else gets all the care, all the attention, while they are left on the sidelines, convinced that they can’t ask for help because “their problems are not as bad as the other person’s”, were the ones who cheered and thanked me for making Sokka punch him :’D

The intent of that situation was never to make Zuko feel like he didn’t matter, or like his personal failings and struggles were irrelevant: the punch to the face was a wake-up call. An unexpected reaction coming from Sokka, someone who, at this point, adores Azula and has basically no relationship with Zuko, and who just heard the latter being completely inconsiderate towards the former because he was in pain and concluded, for no reason, that she was not. The thing about Zuko is… his pain DOES make him selfish. This is not just me speaking: it’s canon. He will hurt people who are actively trying to help him – he’s even less likely to be nice to those who aren’t, such as Azula, in that situation.

So, while Zuko fans may never forgive me for it, I don’t regret what I wrote there, and I personally don’t think Sokka, as he is at the moment, would have reacted any differently. As for Azula, her spiraling resulting in her attempting to isolate again is just a pattern of behavior for people in similar situations: she may begrudge Zuko for taking up the attention that she craves, but she convinces herself that she doesn’t need it. She’s stronger. She can handle everything on her own…!

… Except for learning Ursa bothered waking up Zuko to say goodbye and not her, that is.

It’s rather amusing now, with the full perspective of what happened that night, to reason with the fact that Ursa DID want to say goodbye to her daughter and just couldn’t. The reality of her mistakes with Azula overcame her. Her realization that there would NOT be a chance to fix things with her daughter crashed down on her so abruptly that Ozai had to drag her out of there before they were caught. Azula didn’t know this, not for a very long time… and it was the last moment of unfairness, the last time her mother favored her brother over her, and not for the first time, by accident entirely. Who’d have thought this kind of moment would still hold up after the rest of their past got fleshed out, huh? :’D

But of course, whoever wasn’t interested in a long debate on the trauma and chaos and toxicity of a family that, hell knows how, managed to HEAL in the end… you were probably thinking I’d focus on talking about the BIG moment with Sokka finding Azula and sharing a rather intimate night with her, even if one where they didn’t do anything fully horny just yet. He managed to hold back as best he could, even if Azula was seeking that kind of comfort… but he made the right, responsible choice. Azula would have surely regretted letting herself go with this at that stage, overwhelmed by so many confusing feelings, crying helplessly as she had been, her heart fully bare for Sokka to see.

When did this particular idea hit me? I think it was at some point after Rough Rhinos arc, where I was starting to plot this sort of thing. And now I just confirmed it! Because the first chunk of the flashback was actually written BEFOREHAND! It was the one thing I wrote out of chronology because the idea hit me DAMN HARD… and according to the properties of the file? The content for the first Ursa flashback, in chapter 62, was written on September 23rd, 2013 (so, yes, technically that’s when I was still posting Rough Rhinos, if probably late Rough Rhinos…?). I remember I tried to make an artwork for the scene of Sokka carrying Azula, but mostly by tracing an image and I hated how it looked so not only did I never trace again in consequence, I also have absolutely no idea where that piece ended up at :’D it’s veeeery old though.

At any rate, I decided the time would come for me to explore Azula’s past and I figured to give Sokka a chance to not be the cause of her anguish, possibly for the first time in the story :’D I wanted Azula to realize that she could actually trust him as more than just her gladiator and combat partner. It was a big breakthrough for her, a surprising moment where she finally didn’t have to face the worst of her demons alone. Sokka said many things that night, chief among them that he loved Azula, but he also reassured her that she wasn’t a monster. As for the love confession, he of course lied about loving her for one night because he’d loved her for WAY longer than that and he would love her for way longer still, but the silly dude could not go all the way yet, partly because he still thought he had much to make up for… partly because he still didn’t think Azula should have wanted him, and he didn’t want her to regret anything.

Strangely, I really liked chapter 65 a LOT. 64 was great and very emotional… but sometimes I’d find myself reading the aftermath instead. There was something so soft and sweet about how they interacted in that one, how Sokka tried to leave and just couldn’t without another kiss. Promise well and truly broken! And Azula wasn’t protesting, exactly :'D the final kiss they get was inspired by Drakyx’s Sokkla kiss artwork, too… it was my favorite Sokkla fanart for a very long time, and while I had no idea what the artist’s original idea was for it, I just figured I’d write a scene that felt like it too :’D

The Notorious Stingray arc: 66

The Stingray was a wicked OC created by the reader who first supplied me the original idea for Gladiator. The Stingray fit fairly well into the story, threw in a mild wrench into the story just when Sokka and Azula weren’t sure where they were standing in regards to each other anymore. It was a depressing reminder of the war’s worst, of course, and the darkness of the Gladiator League (we did get those reminders often but maaaaybe not often enough). That a sponsor would actively hope that a gladiator kills HIS gladiator is really messed up, but that’s rich people logic, I guess.

The Stingray was a very messed up character to write, with a backstory that ends up becoming relevant all the way in Part 3, and one of the most interesting fighters of the entire story. His comeback many, many arcs later was probably highly anticipated, but at this stage of Gladiator I had absolutely no plans of bringing him back. Not necessary, I assumed…! And I just wanted to use him, why lie, to expand the lore a bit (Azulon assassination attempt, Northern Water Tribe’s pragmatism, getting rid of an assassin they no longer wanted because he seemed to be out of control…), and to further bring Sokka and Azula together once Sokka won the fight but felt like he had lost instead.

I remember still that a very insensitive and frankly shortsighted reader once complained about Sokka “standing there hearing everything this guy said instead of knocking him out,” and it baffled me that someone could be this utterly blind to the intent of that moment: Sokka doesn’t want to kill the Stingray, doesn’t want to shut him up, because there’s a part of him that fears his words could be true. He already defeated him. He doesn’t feel like he has any right to inflict further violence on a man who clearly was not okay and was betrayed in so many different directions (by his people, by his sponsor, by every support system in his life…). There’s a side of Sokka, at this point of the story, that remains convinced that he’s EXTREMELY unworthy of his luck and all the good things he’s got going on in life. He’s not your average action hero with zero empathy who punches his way out of everything (only out of a few things!). It still blows my mind that anyone could be so intentionally obtuse, but alas, you’re guaranteed to find all sorts of unforeseen reactions to stories that grow a little bigger than anticipated…

Azula’s Birthday arc: 67 - 70

Oh, this one was ~fun~, particularly 69, ahaha. Granted, there were depressing moments in this arc, but I really loved the initial scene with Xin Long coming home from his trip, Azula singing while bathing him, and then Sokka overhearing it and starting to sing really weird stuff too. Comedy central, those three. Ozai’s absolute confusion later at everything to do with these two was just priceless. Early Ozai’s reactions to Sokka and Azula were so unassuming… oh, you stupid man, why couldn’t you stay ignorant? :’) he never even imagined his daughter would do anything improper…

Of course, his scene with Azula in the throne room was meant to show how far she has come at this stage of the story. While still defending her father, a part of Azula is deeply distressed by the petitioners, particularly by the guy who wants to protest Ozai’s most irresponsible decisions. And THEN, Ozai has the gall to admit to Azula’s face… that he’d have Zuko killed if he thought nobody would notice. It’s such a low blow. It’s such a dark moment. His awful behavior deserved retaliation so BAM! Azula puts an embargo on his marriage schemes and suddenly the Loser Lord is throwing a fit because anyone trying to marry Azula off has to beat her gladiator! And BOY is Sokka unwilling to lose in that scenario :’D

I didn’t mention Kuan so far, but the guy was quite a funny loser to develop. Unlike other, slightly more dignified Fire Nation nobles, Kuan was always meant to be your average corrupt sleazebag. I never wanted to give him any redeeming qualities (though some readers imagined he’d have them anyway??) and making him the kind of guy who wants to pressure a woman into marrying him felt like a solid way to prove he’s just big-time scum. Of course, he gets lucky that the deal was for Sokka to fight the gladiator he’d brought… if Sokka had gotten his hands on Kuan himself, yiiikes… I can’t say he would’ve lived long enough to tell the tale :’D

Another important part to note was Song and Rui Shi’s adorable developing friendship. They were really cute, working alongside Sokka to craft Azula’s birthday present while she was none the wiser. Song gives Rui Shi quite a few moments of introspection and hard truths, all of which pay off as he becomes so much more mindful and eventually even helps her reunite with her mother, when he has the chance! He’s such a good egg, and Song deserved happiness and stability at last. Whether here, as friends, or later on… it was always a treat to write these two.

Now, big highlight here… “that’s the wrong leg”, I’ll never not find that moment delightfully hilarious, more so because Azula’s reaction is “Oh, who the fuck cares,” forsaking all sense and instead jumping in to make out with her man. But then their kisses at the end of the arc… oh, that scene by the edge of the crater, after all the crazy shenanigans of this arc, was always really sweet. I’m happy I got to draw that kiss sometime ago for Fic-to-Art, it was always one of my favorite moments between them.

Pairs Tournament in Ba Sing Se arc: 72 - 80

This one was a WILD ride. While it’s not like we had no plot in the past arcs, I’d say there was nothing plot-heavy since the White Lotus attack… until this one came up. The Pairs Tournament was a reader suggestion, one that came in sometime in the first review parties (yep, I used to throw those, I STILL remember, it was a different time, for a different Seyary, 100%). I think it was an anon, but if whoever suggested it is still around, you’re welcome to take ownership for the idea that spawned one of the best arcs of Part 1, for sure.

All across the board, this was action-packed from start to finish across both storylines playing out: with Suki’s story, and her necessary rescue, we finally got her out of a REALLY dark situation and closed up that loose end, to a fault… but in the mean time, in Ba Sing Se, Azula and Sokka joined Toph and Iroh in the most unlikely team-up in the entire League. While the two gladiators were POWERHOUSES… their compatibility as a team was up in the air :’D that first fight was just so damn funny to write. Toph needing the bathroom and being completely crippled by the need to make a run for the nearest loo MAY have been too comedic and dumb, but it made me laugh and it was a solid way for her to learn to respect Sokka a little more :’D

The tension in EVERY direction here was just… wild. Azula and Iroh? Barely ever get along, they actually only made peace BRIEFLY because of this arc. Azula and Toph? Forever clashing because Toph wants to fight her, Azula wants nothing to do with her… and yet, after this one, they become really good friends, and Toph joins the Azula fan club forevermore. Iroh and Sokka? … Probably the only one that wasn’t THAT bad but Sokka still wasn’t super friendly with the old man because Azula wasn’t :’D Sokka and Toph? Big time rivals, Toph was ready to knock him out in the middle of the fight so he wouldn’t get in her way…! Sokka and Toph had such a wild relationship across Gladiator. Yes, they were friends, but they were never friends the way they were in canon. Different growth, meeting at fully different stages of their lives… it really brought about a different result, and yet I REALLY liked fleshing out that friendship once it started… in this very arc! Iroh and Toph were actually on the same page here, mostly, which was meant to be a solid contrast to Sokka and Azula in CRISIS! After such a happy period across the past few arcs (… okay as happy as can be…), the Suki situation brings out the worst in Azula again, but she has a little more self-control this time. Just a little. Dragging Sokka halfway across the world so he won’t be near a potential love rival is totally healthy. I guarantee it (?)

Of course, Sokka’s remorse probably felt like he was going back to old habits when he was FINALLY moving on…! But I do hope that, after the first few bumps along the way, his behavior stopped bothering people since things between him and Azula never got “Rough Rhinos” bad again. Of course, even with so much chaos they still managed to sneak a few moments together, and a BADASS flight across the city…! Oh, that scene was wild to write. I LOVE Azula becoming a human-shaped jet fighter while Sokka clings to her and screams for his life, it’s SUCH a visual xD but of course, his protectiveness once Azula couldn’t hit the brakes properly is the final highlight there for me. Things between them weren’t fully okay still, but Azula had nonetheless grown enough to realize that, as bad as things could get, she STILL meant something to Sokka...! Even if, of course, she dragged him away from Suki AGAIN at the end of this one.

… Cue the hilarity that Sokka, ofc, didn’t mind one bit, neither did Suki, because neither one was interested in the other romantically AT ALL at this stage in time :’D Sokka’s like “Woohoo! New trip with my crush!” while Azula is just short-circuiting the whole time, thinking he’s going to ditch her for Suki when he couldn’t have been any less interested in doing that :’D

All in all, plotting this entire arc was HARD. It was the first one that had a document of its own! Dated all the way back to August, 2013! :’D I do love checking the properties of any such things because it REALLY shows how long I sat on some of these ideas and how much I worked on them until they were ready. I had a whole document outlining the story called “Arcs and specific important stuff that I might forget” :’D yes, I’m not joking, that IS the title: such was the extent of how much I needed to plot to make sure I didn’t fumble the Pairs Tournament that I made an independent document for that one alone. Not the ONLY time it happened, but certainly the first one: it was that big of a deal.

But the main reason why this one ends up going into Gladiator history as it does… is that this arc was quite possibly the one time in the story during which Azula, Sokka, Toph and Iroh worked harmoniously together :’) oh, the good old days…

Tour through the Fire Nation arc: 81 – 82

And this arc featured Renzhi and Aonu’s first appearance together :D Renzhi was seen in Rough Rhinos, briefly, but Aonu wasn’t introduced until now. I really liked the idea of having a higher-up gladiator in the ranking meeting Sokka early on, and for that chance encounter to have consequences later. Here we had it! Aonu was always meant to be an underdog nobleman, with great aspirations and ambitions but struggling to achieve them. The idea of him being gay and so, stuck in a VERY unpleasant situation, due to nobility being obsessed with traditionalism and having direct descendants, didn’t fully start here, and I’ll say so without hesitation. My plan was for him to not even KNOW what his inclinations were until a while later, and for his attempt to woo Azula, however poorly, to come in response to having realized that he didn’t actually want women… but he needed one, anyway, if he hoped to succeed at climbing the social ladder. And who better than Azula for that?

BUT…! I’m getting ahead of myself :’D I suspected that Aonu might have felt like a more serious Zuko here. He was cranky, he was hellbent on beating Azula… but I hoped, nonetheless, to convey that he was a scheming, conniving guy in his own way. Not as smart as Azula, sure, but he’s playing the nobility’s games in his own way, and it becomes more obvious in the next arc, as the Slate’s invitation reaches our main dorks.

The Dragon’s Pit was a hilarious place to write. So nonsensical, and yet so CRUCIAL for Part 3! :’D funny twists in life, wouldn’t you say? I really wanted to have the different Arenas to feature clear, memorable concepts and identities, and I loved the idea of a Gladiator free-for-all Arena where nobody gave a damn about the official matches, to the point where Sokka didn't even FINISH his fight with the Priestess of Flames and nobody cared. It was way too funny to throw Sokka and Azula into chaos of that degree, independent gladiators doing whatever they want (and that being FIGHTING, 24/7) was just a whole new rodeo for these two and their reactions to it were priceless. The Priestess of the Flames was inspired by an old OC of mine, which is why her personality was quite so prevalent, I had a very good grasp on her special brand of sass, and her utterly illogical train of thought. She was a lot of fun back in the day, and she was a lot of fun repurposed for Gladiator too, whenever she turned up!

But the biggest highlight of this arc, goes without saying, is the final trip. While the visit to Janghui is depressing as hell, the visit to Shu Jing, on the other hand, is so much more heartwarming :’) And this is, yes, as agreed upon by both Sokka and Azula, the point where their relationship became official. While things between them didn’t reach the pinnacle of physicality until later? Sokka confessed that the only girl he wanted, and the girl he was in love with was Azula… and her reaction was to basically fall apart while kissing him and wishing she had the strength to say the words right back to him. And yet she didn’t really need to, because he could tell. Yep. You’re not even a little subtle, darling.

Rui Shi catching them at SOME point was a given, but his resignation here just made me feel for him, no matter how amused I was. Poor man. No breaks given. His job only gets worse and worse and his charge apparently THRIVES in making him miserable. She can have any guy in the world, and she has to go and pick this one…?

Well, yes, Rui Shi, she did have to pick that one. And in the end, Rui Shi ended up accepting that this was indeed how things should be and he supported them wholeheartedly! But… it did take him a while to get there :’D

Still, this was a very light arc, plot wise, and the main highlight is DEFINITELY the relationship status change. I remember so many happy reactions because of this. I was thrilled, too…! But I had MORE stuff I’d plotted and looked forward to developing before they consummated their feelings properly. Ehehe. So much more…

The Slate arc/Fire Nation Festivals arc: 83 – 94

Here comes a chaotic one, and probably one of the most painful ones to write because the EXCITEMENT of writing Sokka and Azula in their “new normal” basically had to go down the drain when circumstances forced them to be apart for longer than what would have been optimal. But you see… if they hadn’t been kept away from each other, there’s no way they would’ve held out until 97. So… I had to keep them apart. Woops.

The Ball was a concept I found quite complicated to implement. I’m not 100% sure if it was my idea or if it was my Zuki co-conspirator’s, but I do remember her wild excitement about the subject and she even came up with ALL THE CLOTHES everyone was wearing. It was kinda funny :’D for her, of course, this was THE ARC because it was Zuki’s great escape + their own relationship getting established for good, so she was extremely excited about this one. Most developments to do with Zuki here were 100% her idea, I ran with everything that served my purposes and tweaked her plans as needed… we were both aware, since early on, that I didn’t want Zuko to stick around in the Fire Nation forever. The original plans of his departure never truly coalesced until she brought up this option. After a lot of brainstorming, we decided that this was going to be his big escape, and I was also 100% adamant about giving him the chance to confront Ozai, face-to-face, and finally get clarity on soooo many things that he hadn’t understood until then. I also insisted on making it happen in a situation where Ozai was NOT in a disadvantage so that Zuko would actually be defying his father far more bravely than in canon :’) sorry not sorry, shade has been thrown.

That conversation between Ozai and Zuko should not have been so much fun to write, but damn, Ozai’s evil wily ways are just… I don’t KNOW why wicked characters doing awful things can be so damn entertaining to write. It’s not RIGHT, but it’s just wild how he did such a terrible job at parenting Zuko and somehow succeeds at making it look like it’s Zuko’s fault! The man’s range is simultaneously impressive and horrifying. I think we all needed a moment like this one, with Ozai and Zuko coming clean, to recall that both parents to Zuko and Azula were vastly different people to each of their kids. Ozai of course looks a lot less awful in this story often because he’s nice to my main character… sometimes! Kind of! In his own way! And yet… he’s still the worst father he can be, as often as possible, to Zuko. Entertaining as it was, I really had hoped, quite innocently, that people would take the right lessons from this scene. That they’d see the truth…

Ozai just wanted ANY excuse to get rid of Zuko.

… Cue my surprise when most people latched onto Toph’s insensitive rant at Zuko instead, which caused him to confront Ozai as he did.

And no, I don’t even mean that they got mad at her for it solely because I framed it, narratively, as something she deeply regretted later…! Nah, the rage started from the moment that chapter dropped, and it didn’t stop after she apologized and Zuko made it clear he had absolutely no hard feelings because she had, if anything, done him a favor by inspiring him to confront Ozai! :’) But alas, what can you do. Reactions never fail to catch you by surprise, in good or bad ways.

Suki’s role here was always a little complicated too. While I of course wanted to show her growing back into herself and finding peace, she did involve herself in combat by training Sokka along with everyone else. And then, when the reality of the Gladiator League’s violence got to her, she was overwhelmed…! Part of me didn’t really love this overly dramatic clash between Zuko and Suki, but my buddy was keen on this being their big make-or-break kiss, while Sokka was in the middle of that fight. Then she insisted on the idea of the first kiss happening in Zuko’s bedroom instead, but this one STILL had to happen.

Whatever the case, their seemingly happy times together were abruptly cut off, first by Suki reacting to the noise in the fighting ring – leave it to Zuko to choose the worst possible situation to confess his feelings, bro, it’s like telling the girl you like that you want to be her boyfriend during a football match just seconds before someone scores a goal. And then, of course, things were better after they confess to each other again, but then Zuko gets his terrible showdown with Ozai… only for Suki to decide she’s going with Zuko too. I’ve always wondered if people thought it wasn’t fair for Zuko to turn Iroh away, when he allowed Suki to join him. Of course, romance wins but… Suki was his future, in just about every way. Iroh was his past, his parental figure, and it was very much time for Zuzu to break out on his own, build his own future, rather than relying on Iroh to dictate it for him. For once, maybe that message was conveyed properly :’) not a lot of grouchiness over this, that I can remember.

This is probably the point where I first started spinning Zuko’s story towards my preferred growth process for him. Yes, I had already improved his dynamics with Azula in the previous arcs, as he started making efforts to approach her in the wake of Ember Island… but a lot of that was uncertain, tentative, Zuko was TRYING to do the right thing while still not really knowing wtf that was. Here, he was finally owning up to his decisions and no longer relying on others to dictate his direction in life. And his growth arc then carried him so far that even his nasty hater, yours truly, ended up feeling proud of him a few times! Unthinkable, and yet he succeeded… props to you, Zuzu.

Of course, now onto the main event: Azula and Sokka’s relationship kind of got put on hold here for their respective challenges. Rui Shi was a very mean nosey pal, trying to watch over Azula, trying to make her understand this was NOT sustainable, and she refused to hear his arguments. I really loved their exchange when he asks if she really thinks there’s any way this ends well, and Azula responds with “Good thing I have no intentions of letting it end, then.” Such an irresponsible thing to say and yet, when coming from Azula, you just KNOW she means business. It’s the way it works!

Sokka building up his training team thrilled me, since it was the first time Gladiator really had an opportunity to bring about a lot of the characters on a longer basis than usual. While his training with Haru would happen often enough, this honestly felt like a group of friends and the closest thing we’d get to Team Avatar vibes until… well, until Team Gladiator came together ages later :’D His constant butting heads with Zuko was funny, I really liked their contentions dynamic. I laughed my ass off so much writing Sokka misunderstanding that Zuko was trying to win over Mai even though she was married. It was such a silly moment, but I loved it lots.

Another scene worth remarking on, featuring Zuko (wow, so much Zuko in this particular entry!) is his first and I think only flight on Xin Long. I loved the idea of showing that his efforts hadn’t been in vain: Azula trying to talk him down from his angst there was a nice glimpse into the kinds of dynamics these two would unlock in the future, and a speck of hope so that people wouldn’t assume that their relationship was doomed forever. Not in this house!

Alright! Worldbuilding-wise… I always assumed that the existence of other fire colors besides the traditional orange meant that others could be unlocked, somewhat. The idea of giving Azula a power-up also came from the need to explore her potential as a firebender, because as Sokka was the combat-heavy character, Azula’s firebending either fell to the wayside or hardly ever got attention aside from during their training sessions, and often she withheld her bending there because she was learning swordsmanship from Sokka too, so… yeah. The plans for the ceremony came together as a challenge that Azula couldn’t simply ace without even trying: when your character’s as OP as Azula, it’s not simply about giving her an opponent that can best her… but about finding which angles in her area of expertise she might not have covered up in full. In this case, firebending for combat purposes? Totally mastered. But what about OTHER purposes? The show itself doesn’t really explore this… but bending is a major part of culture. It stands to reason that it would not be reserved SOLELY for fighting, especially when we’ve seen glimpses that prove as much throughout ATLA.

So... Azula becoming a ceremonial firebender, however briefly, sounded like a fun way to also explore and scratch my itch over the mythological beginnings of the Fire Nation’s belief systems. ATLA never really committed to religion or what its idea of spirituality was: because of these gaps in the original story, I had a chance to make up my own mythology, as simple as it may have felt. I wanted it to be a myth, something clearly not factual and not traceable perfectly to a real individual because… yeah, there’s a major difference between something like the Tale of Two Lovers, and Wan’s episodes in LOK. I clearly favor the former :’) the latter were unbelievable in the bad sense of the word for me. I didn’t want my mythological beginnings for the Fire Nation to feel like a definitive answer: that’s just not how culture is built. Azula was never going to find proof of this being real, she was simply going to learn from the book as best she could as she sought an answer as to why her fire wasn’t good enough for the ceremony.

And this is the part where I say that I’m sorry, but Agni is a fandom fabrication. Use it all you like in fics, sure it’s popular enough, but Agni Kai means “fire duel”. It doesn’t mean Agni is the Fire Nation’s god, as much as it IS a real Hindu deity, for the simple and obvious reason… that they never once showed any religious ceremony, any sign of respect for this presumed god AT ALL. The fandom liked this idea and ran with it… but it’s just an idea. It’s not fact, it’s not canon, I didn’t need to retread on the same steps as everyone else. While my story of the phoenix wasn’t necessarily extraordinary, the idea that there’s a distant foundational tale for the Fire Nation, one that people really don’t care about as much anymore in modern times, feels a LITTLE closer to the setting as established in ATLA than what a lot of people do by depicting the Fire Nation worshipping Agni in ways they were never shown to do in the show. So. That’s that.

Now then, while this is obvious and I already said it, it bears repeating: Xin Long was always meant to be my answer to Ran and Shaw: he was a waaaay more entertaining source of chaos too, I liked the idea of featuring Xin Long as Azula’s companion in her firebending adventures rather than just making him hand over the answer quickly the way Ran and Shaw did in ATLA. I wanted Azula to actually ponder what fire meant to her, the source of it, what she was drawing strength from… only to realize, thanks to her dragon, that the best source of inspiration and strength in her soul happened to be the dork she was in love with.

That Azula loved Sokka by this stage was obvious… but her acceptance of it was crucial for her gold fire to come together. And I didn’t want it to be Sokka’s love for Azula that set her free… because a lot of times, the implication in stories like Azula’s is that finding romantic love from someone else, earning it, is what will save your life. I always wanted to lean far more towards convincing Azula that daring to love others, and finally lifting her embargo on her own heart, was the answer. It was in letting herself FEEL those feels that she leveled up as a firebender in a non-combative way… gaining the most beautiful kind of fire that she could pair with the blue and create something wonderful out of it :’)

Also, having Azula share Wolf’s Bane with Sokka was a fun concept that some people took issue with because double-wielding apparently is just cool-looking and not efficient. Look… it’s way too cool. You will pry it off my cold, dead hands one day. On a whole other note, a lot of people had said they thought Wolf’s Bane might have special powers due to being forged by Xin Long and I FRANKLY didn’t consider that all along…! But then, once we hit this stage, I thought about the idea of a firebending sword and it was just waaaay too much fun not to go for it. Azula had been using it to help channel her attacks before, but never really to dissipate or strike away fire: it felt like such a fun power-up to give Sokka, even if of course, Wolf’s Bane is only a loaner and he doesn’t get to keep it 24/7, haha. It was a nice surprise even for me that the weapon could be given that kind of special skill, and I really enjoyed writing it with this idea in mind in their future fights.

Now… fun facts? The Slate as a whole was an idea by my Zuki shipper buddy, of course it was. She had a hand in a few fan favorite arc ideas and I will gladly credit her for those. It was a very special arena, a very unique fighting ring, and it created for such an epic showdown…!

… And now, fun fact #2: the scene where Sokka and Azula get a little too drunk and a LITTLE too excited and a certain lady discovers the pleasures of the flesh for the first time in her life?

… That was actually meant to be their second kiss, back when I was starting to plot the story.

Haha.

Ha.

Once the Rough Rhinos arc came together, I decided that I’d have ONE more kiss (the one in the forest, after the screaming showdown). But this, still, was supposed to be number THREE!

… Clearly, Sokka and Azula had entirely different designs because not only did they decide to make out a gazillion times before THIS, they also said “nah we’re going WAY deeper than just kissing,” and I was left with a hilariously bolstered tension that was REALLY hard to juggle afterwards!

Zhao’s return in this arc was also a BIG deal. God, this arc is just PACKED! I admit, I changed my mind a little too late about Zhao’s attitude, but his CREEPINESS in his introductory chapter was how I envisioned him at first. I thought he’d realize Azula was stunning and start plotting how to insinuate himself as her potential husband to Ozai…!

… But after reasoning with it a little more, especially after writing that first chapter? I just found it so incredibly BORING.

Like. I’m sorry. But… that was just never going to make him an engaging character :’D he was coming off as a mustache-twirler already, this typical average boring ass guy with no designs but power and sex and I just… couldn’t write such a simplistic, annoying villain. It really felt like he had nothing interesting going on… and that’s why I reeled it back, maybe too abruptly, until I actually made him a lot more palatable during Part 2. But his starting point here? If you found it gross and thought he was sketchy… it’s because I intended it that way. I even wanted ZHAO to be the final baddy who killed Ozai, back in the day! :’) Believe it or not. But it made no sense because of the NWT battle, so someone else had to take his place aaaaaaaaaand… that’s a story for another arc!

Of course, it HURT to write Sokka and Azula’s beautiful silly dance scene, and then making Azula withdraw from a potential kiss out of fear, impulse, because she knew where things would go next if she didn’t stop it now. And then it was the other way around: she was full of remorse, willing to try, while Sokka kept his distance and begged her not to tempt him because it was all he could do not to take her in his arms already. Man, they were not having the best of times even though they were so damn happy together. To think they were so innocent as to believe they could have a celibate relationship… while I was writing them. ME. Ha. No chance at that, you two. You should’ve known…!

Giving in arc: 95 – 100

At last, the moment of truth that we were all waiting for. As I mentioned before… this actually was intended as their big cathartic moment where they finally get together for good! And the whole intense-duel-into-sex concept was an idea I carried with me since DAY ONE!

To make it clear, as I started to imagine Sokka’s rivalry with Toph, I KNEW I wanted him to be the underdog. I wanted her to be the rival within reach, where Combustion Man would be the one beyond his grasp. First, he’d take down Toph, and then Combustion Man later… but defeating Toph too quickly, too easily, would defeat the purpose of their rivalry altogether :’) Sokka’s growth as a fighter is honestly so easily traced and witnessed through his fights with Toph and how he behaves in each of their confrontations. Wary and nervous in the first fight? Total annihilation, nearly dies, she spares him simply out of disgust because he seemed to welcome death and she found him pathetic for it. Then, still, uneasy but aware that he wasn’t very likely to win, simply planning not for total victory but for the sake of stealing Toph’s own, in the Scavenger Hunt! Next, earning her respect when they worked together for the first time in the Pairs’ Tournament...!

And now, at last, they went up against each other, one-on-one, again. This time, Sokka was much stronger than before… but not strong enough. Not quite ready to defeat Toph, even though he actually handled himself SO WELL in comparison to their first confrontation. But after having worked so hard, and achieved things as unthinkable as beating Renzhi in the previous arc… it stood to reason that Sokka would be miserable, dejected, feeling like he had reached the height of his potential and wrongly assuming that he couldn’t possibly become strong enough to defeat Toph.

I wanted him to feel that way. I wanted this moment to feel like a new partnership crisis, however brief, where it looked like their future in the League was on the line… and the fight to preserve it was symbolized by their duel. By Azula losing her temper but trying to prove to him that he’s stronger. That if he can hold his own against her, he could do it against ANYONE…! She didn’t see his loss against Toph as a condemnation, as a full failure, but being Azula and having a slight problem when it comes to handling her emotions when someone she loves appears to be about to leave her…! Girl went about proving it in the most violent way she could :’D

Of course, the intent in this scene was always for it to serve as a contrast to Sokka and Azula’s first fight: the temperature of THEIR relationship and dynamic was also always proven by their actual serious fights. So, of course, first fight ends with Sokka’s total defeat. Then, in their training session in the previous arc, where Azula held nothing back, Azula won by a tiny margin, which Sokka accepted… and then this fight was meant to be a stalemate. While of course Azula lost her sword, she still had her bending and absolutely could have used it to set Sokka on fire right there, as he pinned her down…

But naturally, that wasn’t going to happen :’)

This chapter brought about the culmination of their internal war metaphor, started all the way back in the Rough Rhinos arc. Azula kept saying she wouldn’t mind losing battles as long as she won the war, Sokka wasn’t sure why they needed to have a war in the first place…! And of course, at this point, when Azula capitulates, so to speak… Sokka realizes he doesn’t want victory over her at all. I loved that her vulnerability, her acceptance that Sokka could just behead her there (of COURSE he wouldn’t have) or walk away for good, was actually what pushed Sokka forward. They say that if you love something, you let it go… Azula finally did and Sokka said: “HEEEELL NAW, GRAB ONTO ME AGAIN” and woops! I guess they slipped and fell into bed together, what do you know? :’D

It’s kinda funny to say it, but I had 100% choreographed their first time across the… 2-3 years it took me to reach that stage. The idea of the ripped shirt thrilled me so much (the aftermath too, it was never not funny how much they struggled to deal with that teeny tiny mishap), Azula taking off her crown in an obvious representation of her forsaking her royalty and her position because finally she embraced that THIS mattered MORE…! And of course, Sokka worrying about everything and Azula telling him to shut up in the sweetest way she had, to date. It just tickled my fancy in all the perfect ways and I won’t ever pretend otherwise…!

But of course, the aftermath of their first time was also very plotted. I loved the idea of Sokka helping her with her hair, and their discussion on how to handle things going forward…

… And their subsequent relief over having gone all the way and finally releasing ALL THAT TENSION resulting in, uh, them sleeping like 12 hours or however long it was. Too much happiness, straight into a new crisis!

Of course, I will always consider this the revolving door where Part 1 ended, explicitly due to them going all the way at last. Where in practice, their relationship did solidify in chapter 82, the original plans were for them to actually solidify into it here and I regret nothing about changing things slightly for realism’s sake. It still worked, of course, because as long as Sokka hadn’t done anything TOO damning with Azula before, they weren’t going to be in that much trouble :’D but once she’s “lost her innocence”, why, shit gets a lot more dangerous and the tension of the story shifts from “will-they-won’t-they” into “are they going to be able to keep it a secret now?”

… And at this point, we all know the answer to THAT question :’)

This arc’s final highlights are definitely Mai and Ty Lee finding out about Sokka and Azula’s relationship as they did, I planned that dialogue super early on as well and thought it was soooo funny for Azula’s damn aura to give her away x’D sorry not sorry, I barely give that stuff any credit in my stories but it was perfect here. Like, yes, the girl is faking that she’s moody and grumpy and yet you can just FEEL the sparkles and joy because she’s finally settled things with her partner…! It had to be obvious to two of the people who knew her best, of course.

It was less obvious, of course, for those who just… didn’t expect Azula to do anything so “damning”, so self-defeating. So of course, Ozai doesn’t notice, Zhao doesn’t notice, even Iroh didn’t notice – fortunately he was absent here after Toph’s win, if I’m not misremembering, but yeah, the old fart went right back to sucking after Zuko leaves, we know that, and there was no recovery for him at that stage anymore. Sorry not sorry, my criticism of Iroh and my complicated feelings about him will never go away :’D but yeah, Zhao had a slightly less unpleasant appearance here, and I 100% reeled back the “sexual creeper” vibes from the previous arc even if I wasn’t sure of how I wanted to write him yet. So… he felt more like a grumpy judgmental soldier who couldn’t see the logic or worth of a guy like Sokka being around the Royal Family. Slightly less demonizing, way more manageable as a character, even if he wasn’t anywhere near pleasant anyhow.

Of course, Sokka’s first time sneaking into Azula’s bedroom tied in with the White Lotus’s previous infiltration of the Palace, a little thread left dangling that now wrapped up somewhat neatly. I think few people expected to see this matter coming up again. I had to bring it up, though :’) I’d thought about it a lot myself and I HAD some answers to provide! So, when this opportunity came up, I made the most of it and used it as a GREAT excuse for Sokka to dial up the mischief and steal the innocence of Azula’s room as well (?)

This arc wraps up in a way that, I hoped, would feel like a new beginning was just around the corner, because it was! So many things to explore, so much left to work with… and I was soooooooooo excited about Part 2. The way I saw it, Part 1’s struggles and complications and so much of the long road that brought us this far HAD to find their payoff in Part 2. Judging by the reactions of MANY readers… maybe I misjudged my goals, maybe I underestimated what certain cultural tropes and traditions have conditioned everyone to expect. But I was ready for the new challenge of writing Sokka and Azula being a steady couple, with as few internal conflicts as possible, mainly dealing with whatever crap the world threw at them while making sure to care for their relationship and for each other, now that they had finally embraced their truth.

And so, I was ready and eager for more. Part 2 began then…

… But I’ll just drop a little extra thing here and acknowledge the elephant in the room:

The Southern Water Tribe chapters were never my cup of tea and I’m sure this is something ANYONE could tell. It was always the stuff that took me the longest to write, the stuff that I was least engaged by, and yet, maybe due to the expectation that the Avatar would save the world and be the hero, readers kept begging to see what was going on with them. I can’t tell you how many times I read such comments and thought to myself: “… literally nothing is going on. Nothing. I have NOTHING to show them doing. It is boredom central down there. Why tf do you even wanna see it, ffs,” but I still knew I had to deliver enough chapters about them to explain WHY they weren’t up to anything crazy so far.

So, I handled the Kataang side of things as best I could in my very obviously limited interest in the subject… but I knew I didn’t want them to get together superfast (they never have been that quick about it, famously enough), and I had no idea what else to do besides using the Fire Nation base as a threat (which came about as early as chapter 58!) How else to make this story dynamic at all?

One of the funniest stories about Gladiator’s development came from that dilemma: during another of my pre-sleep routine plotting sessions, I carelessly and innocently started pondering what to do about Aang and Katara post-Fire Nation settlement attack.

And then an idea came to mind. A very fun, interesting one that I thought could come in handy! It would be a really solid way to introduce the factor that was direly missing in Sokka’s absence for those two, it would make the story more interesting for them, give them some extra meat to dig into, dilemmas, complications…!

I fell asleep.

… I forgot the idea by the next morning.

I swear I spent HOURS trying to remember wtf this concept was. Why the hell did I forget about it?! It was so good! How could I not remember?! It was the solution! I knew it was, so why was it slipping my mind so easily…?!

… And then it hit me:

The idea I’d forgotten about was Aang and Katara capturing and questioning a soldier of the Fire Nation, who would eventually desert the settlement and become their friend :’)

In short: the first person to forget Kino’s existence was ME.

This is why his humorous gimmick, occasionally useful so he could be a great spy, was no more and no less than “nobody remembers this guy exists”. It’s never not going to crack me up, and it absolutely endeared him to me early on. I know he may have been waaay too comic relief for some people, but Kino honestly served such a good purpose in Aang and Katara’s story, creating new stakes and providing a way for them to gain information on the outside world: otherwise, they would’ve had to wait until Zuko and Suki turned up, and ain’t nobody got time for that!

Alright… I think, so far, that’s what I’d have to say about Part 1. It was a very intense time in my life, and absolutely the most hectic era for Gladiator since, ha, it was “less daunting”. Even though it was already daunting, size-wise, as early as arc 3. Plenty of people expressed they were intimidated by approaching a story this big, and every time they said so, I would just laugh awkwardly… because this very much was just the beginning. And I was 100% convinced that what came later would be BETTER! Fortunately, a few people agreed… and so, Gladiator’s journey continued, into its second phase: now that the relationship was established, the damage was done, Azula was no longer “traditionally pure”, as her culture would have it…!

What else would lie in store? :’)

Up next, part 2’s behind-the-scenes! Sit tight for that one too!

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