#means I totally am behind the idea of men being manwhores with no consequence

[seyaryminamoto]

Anon-Nemesis - Dunno if I said this before, but just in case, but one of my favorite parts of Gladiator is the chapters of the late 20s where Sokka falls out with Azula, dates Suki and bangs Jun. I like how the way you wrote both sides of S/A's emotional turmoil and misjudgements elicited extreme opposing reviewer opinions like "Sokka is a heartless cheating, ungrateful pig." or "Azula sent him into slavery to suffer for years, he owes her nothing." Nuance, pft, its clearly 100% his/her fault.

... I know there might be other people who feel this way but I’m guessing a lot of them are afraid to speak up due to the constant complaints I still get over this arc (I literally got one like the day after you sent this and I’m honestly so tired that I think I’m not going to answer it at all this time).

What I’m trying to say, though... is thank you :’) I know that arc is really tense and chaotic, but while it’s not my favorite at all, I always felt it had brought the story to a whole other level and pushed the plot forward at full speed by forcing Azula and Sokka to confront their growing feelings for each other, feelings they were absolutely NOT prepared to accept. The amount of bad blood and distrust in there was nowhere near resolved, and I honestly can’t imagine that taking the story in another direction would have worked as well as this did. I needed the bad blood, I needed the clashes, I needed the conflict. I enjoy exploring the darkness in characters, even if the darkness I’ve delved into isn’t really as dark as stuff other people have worked with in other fics. And while I absolutely understand why people, shippers like myself, would feel horrified by watching the dreadful fallout between Azula and Sokka... I think it’s been long enough, and there’s been plenty of development since then, for that particular matter to still have as much bearing on the characters at this point in time as it used to.

But some people just refuse to get over it :’) good thing Sokka and Azula aren’t like them, else the rest of the story would have been worthless.

At any rate, I’m really glad it worked for you, both sides were absolutely a mess in this situation, both had their reasons to behave as they did; they had reservations, misguided impulses and acted out when they shouldn’t have. Sure, not everything is a bed of roses, but why on earth would it have to be? Frankly, stories where right and wrong are simplistic, where heroes and villains are completely static in their roles, where you can’t understand two sides of a conflict... are just boring as hell to me :’) I find much more value in working on characters whose motivations are understandable, even if their behavior is not agreeable, than constantly writing tired and old “good vs. evil” stories that some people seem hellbent on interpreting this arc as. But damn, knowing it worked at least for you is a very big relief for me :) thanks, Anon-Nemesis, my pal. Definitely made my day to read this ask.