#and I hope that there's a good arc for his illegitimate daughter because she deserves better

[weshallflyaway]

I need to get fit. I've known I needed this for a long time, but I can no longer ignore it.

In order to 'encourage' (force) myself to work out for longer, I generally choose a drama to watch while I'm on the gym equipment. If it doesn't capture my interest then this doesn't work very well, because I need a good reason to stay on that treadmill/elliptical for longer. Choosing a good drama and setting a rule that I can only watch it while working out means that I go to the gym more often, and for a bit longer.

My current drama is Dr Cha and I am loving it. I love it every single time she receives acknowledgement and every time that disgusting husband and mother-in-law of hers receive their comeuppance. I love that it's a drama about an older woman who had to give up her dreams and rediscovers them at a later age, needing to fight multiple challenges to do so - it's not been preachy so far (I'm up to the 8th episode), and it's got a nice humorous vibe to keep things light. With the subject matter and all the hidden secrets it should probably be a makjang but it's not - it's a very good show.

I do like Jeong Suk with Roy, but I'll be happy with the ending even if there's no romance between them as long as she leaves that pathetic husband and he learns his lesson.

[sokkathebluewolf]

Is there any character that you originally wrote as a super minor character, but you’ve ended up changing your plan so that they have a larger role?

This is honestly a really funny question, and I really hope you’ll enjoy the answer.

When Gladiator started out, I decided I’d be too bored writing about bland and flat soldiers with zero personality or depth to speak of. Canon did feature a few Fire Nation soldiers with personality, but they weren’t all that fleshed out and virtually had no identity, so in a sense, I decided to rebel by actually giving my soldiers a little more relevance than that.

But it wasn’t meant to be a TON of relevance, you see... it really wasn’t. So when Captain Sokkla (that’s how everyone used to call him xD) suddenly became a hit with readers, I wondered if maybe I should expand his role even more than I had during the early arcs of Gladiator. He had no name for a long time in the story because he had no name in my head either, then it turns out the name I picked for him had a really cool meaning (as in, the guardian lion statues frequently seen in Chinese culture) and I had no idea xD it’s ironic how many amazing things came into place for Rui Shi to slowly but surely become the most popular of my OCs, as well as one of the actual main characters in the story. He’s subtle in many ways, and he’s never seeking to hog up attention... but the man’s definitely outgrown his initial role and become a most incredible character I’ve loved working with over the years.

Of course, if Rui Shi’s role wasn’t meant to be as big as it’s become, it’s probably pretty obvious that Song was also intended to have a supporting role, even if she had some moments of prominence in the early stages of the story here and there. A lot of the idea of giving Song a new life in Gladiator came from my lingering grumpiness at canon for not giving the poor girl a better resolution, so I wanted her to be more important, and treated better, in my story. Then, everyone started shipping her with Rui Shi and why lie? I enjoyed the idea of those two interacting right off the bat. Figuring out how to get their romance started was tricky, but damn, it’s been worth it. And I’m just going to come out and say it: Song is literally a breakout character. For the majority of Part 1 she was mostly a supporting character, with the occasional moments of relevance indeed, then she grew more important through Part 2, and that importance has only continued to escalate and rise higher as we come closer to the end of Part 2. From starting off as a maid and healer for Sokka, she’s honestly become one of Sokka and Azula’s best friends, and I’m not even going to talk about how absolutely CRUCIAL she’s going to be in Part 3. Much like her soulmate Rui Shi, this girl’s gone the distance and I could not be prouder of her for it xD

Next! I think I could lump in all of Azula’s guards along with Rui Shi, to a fault (despite he’s obviously the most important of them). Most of the guards didn’t even have names for a fairly long time, but I slowly grew to use them more, especially in the Festivals, and I just needed them to be individualized and relevant as they are. Of course, not all the ten guards are easily individualized yet... but they’ve all become near and dear to my heart over the years, that much I can confirm, and they’re definitely going to become more than nameless, faceless soldiers in the future, for they have some very important roles to play in the story by the end of Part 2 and eventually in Part 3.

Shoji also, of course, gained more relevance as the story progressed, to the point where I finally set him free from the confines of his desk for the first time in chapter 201 xD He’s a really fun character to write because of how innocent, sweet and good-natured he is. Giving him a bit more content to work with, including as good as becoming Haru’s foster brother (yes, Ran’s basically adopted Shoji by now x’D), made me very happy because he deserves the relevance, for sure.

The last one I’ll bring up... is Rei. Oh, my sweet, pure, wonderful Rei. She definitely could compete with Shoji in the contest of the sweetest characters in this wild story xD But of course, Rei’s role so far has been minimal and nobody really understands why I love her so much. To focus on your question, though, I pondered the idea of making her Zhao’s illegitimate daughter since the moment I came up with the character, back in chapter 138, but over the next months (heck, years, probably) I wondered if I should scrap that whole idea and just make her a regular maid with no further relevance than that. But when the time came to really plot Part 3 properly, to ponder if there was a role this girl could play by then... I was completely blown to bits by the possibilities, and I literally spent DAYS just plotting, not writing a single word, so I could unravel her future role in the story, which is just one of the many things I can’t wait to write already. Rei will breathe a lot of life into Part 3 as long as I do my job properly, and I guarantee she’ll be so much more important than I EVER anticipated she could be, back when I first came up with the character.

At any rate, there’s quite a fair share of characters who went the distance and completely shattered not just my expectations but who broke out of the plots I used to imagine for them. They’ve all outgrown their initial roles to varying degrees (Shoji, despite he’s more important now, won’t be as much of a main character as someone like Rui Shi, for instance, despite his role has indeed expanded plenty). You see... sometimes you have to enforce plot by any means necessary, restraining whatever wild ideas you get if they’ll derail your overall plans. But sometimes you have to cut yourself loose and let ideas run away with you... because who knows? Could be letting some characters gain life of their own is exactly the element you needed so your story could truly move forward in the right direction.

As an added note, Kino, the poor forgotten boy whom I did NOT forget xD was actually meant to have a prominent role from the moment I came up with him (as a fun factor in the South Pole, as well as a useful source of information for the Tribe before Zuko and Suki arrived), but... hehe, much like Rei and Song, this guy’s going to be much more important than I planned initially, even if I did plan for him to play a big-ish role from the start. I didn’t list him with everyone else because he was intended to be important all along, but he still became a much more relevant character than I expected once I plotted Part 3 better and certain possibilities came to life through his character. So he’s a case of “important who became even more important” rather than “supporting or background character who became essential to the story”, unlike everyone else I’ve listed here. There’s definitely a few others who suit that first category, and there’s probably more of the second one too, despite I can’t think of them right now... but thanks for the ask anyway, and I hope your curiosity has been sated, if just a bit :D