Another One Q&A
Girlbook: Are planning to write the book 4 comics? It would be interesting to read with Alec around the Gaang.
Answer:Yes, I am actually. There are five trilogies that were made by Dark Horse, and each trilogy is focused around each member of the Gaang. Zuko was given three trilogies: The Promise, The Search, and Smoke and Shadows. I will only be using The Promise and The Search in book 4, and maybe some of Smoke and Shadow. The other trilogies will be mentioned and referenced, but not written due to the fact that in book 4 Alec will receive her own story. Almost as if she had her own comic.
Serendipitymadness: I'd like a q&a cause I want to know if there was ever a chance for Alekka to happen or if it was always going to be Aleko since I did honestly ship Alec and Sokka in the beginning but I've liked what you've done with the development of Alec and Zuko's relationship throughout the series.
Answer:
I chuckled when reading this questioned, because there was a time where I heavily contemplated Alekka (Or Alokka) as the primary ship for this story. When I first started writing Another One, I had no real direction or idea as to what I was doing with this character Alec, but as I grew as a person and so did the dimensions of my character, I realized that her personality fit well with Sokka's.
I didn't hit this realization until Book 2 and Sokka developed a crush on Alec. Although Alec didn't share Sokka's feeling, there was undoubtedly a click with their personalities. Much like water and fire, because although Alec is an airbender that doesn't take away the fact that she grew up in the Fire Nation and received most of her personality traits from her father who was a firebender.
They balanced each other out and they communicate very well, but that doesn't mean that they would always be able to do so. Especially if one tried to override the other, which tends to happen a lot when Sokka and Alec hit topics they don't agree on. For example, Zuko joining the group or anything that has to do with the Fire Nation.
Now let's say that Alec did share Sokka's feelings and they tried to start a romantic relationship. The relationship would be good, but it would not fulfill either of them on an emotional level. They could laugh and be happy and do fun comical things, but Sokka would not be able to understand Alec the way Zuko does on that scale. And really the emotional aspect of the relationship is what convinced me to stay with Aleko. As you've seen in Book 2 and Book 3 and will find out more in Book 4, Alec tends to bury her emotions with in her and translates them to anger. She's able to deal with other people's emotions but is oblivious with her own. Zuko being able to see the pain that Alec endures with certain situations is able to help her and connect with her in that aspect.
So that's why Alec and Sokka never became the primary ship, but that doesn't diminish the value of their friendship. Alec has always considered Sokka her best friend and after Sokka gets with Suki, he realizes how important his friendship with Alec really is. But if anything those two would always have each other's back and I consider them my Bro-OTP.
Guest, Ryo : How would Alec react if she knew that Katara has a small crush on Zuko? 'Makes evil face' Just saying, I do not ship Zutara, just asking.
Answer:
Alec would get back at her. Not vendictively, but Alec is very much aware of her and Aang's crush towards one another. If Katara did develop a small crush on Zuko, Alec would be quick to remind Katara about Aang. She would probably flirt a little with the Avatar just to get under Katara's skin. Trust me I thought about this too, but it would have been a whole chapter of Alec and Katara probably butting head.
Fallingoverstars: So did you ever consider making Alec a dual bender since there are a lot of those stories out there even if they are good ones
Answer:
I thought about it, but it was just that. It was a thought, but I knew I was never going to happen. Personally, I don't like those types of stories. Nothing against them, I bet there's some really good ones out there, but when dual benders is brought into the Avatar Universe, to me; it defeats the purpose of the Avatar himself. It's almost a totally different universe, because if it was meant to happen we would have seen dual benders in Legend Of Korra, seeing how there were more mixed nationalities.
Plus if Alec were a dual bender, it would change the dynamic of the story drastically. It would also change Alec herself, and a lot of the choices she made throughout the story so far would be different.
Avatard: I get that alec is your name but is she like you are irl or are you guys different in personalities?
Answer:
I was wondering if someone was going to ask this question and I'm glad you did!
Alec and I have very similar qualities. It's not because I tried to make her a reflection of myself, but because she's an airbender and I'm a Gemini which is essentially an Air sign in astrology. I didn't mean for that to happen, it's something I recently found out but because of this we have similar quality, characteristics, and choices.
Just Some Guest: aww the aleko feels so how did you come up with the idea for this anyway. were you just sitting around and thought 'I know, i'll write an avatar fic with an airbender oc. that'll be good.' cause trust me, it is good.
Answer:
Story time!
Okay, so when I was fifteen (which was when I started this story) I was reading a lot of Fanfiction. I didn't learn to read until I was fourteen, and that's when my world began to expand. When I was reading Fanfiction I was a HUGE fan of captive/hostage fanfics for Zutara, yes I was a Zutara shipper, but then I stumbled upon an OC fic with Zuko. Let's just say I had no idea what an OC was so I looked it up and I fell in love with the idea of an original character. So I decided to give it a shot.
I didn't want it to a waterbender, earthbender, or firebender, but how do I incorporate an airbender? That's where the Fire Nation airbender came in. It's a contradiction and I loved that; the fact that a Fire Nation airbender is a living contradiction. Just to remind you, I was fifteen; I didn't really think this through and just went with it. As I grew older and as I wrote more her story fell in place. I never struggled with a name because I already knew I wanted to name her Alec.
But I took a two year hiatus because of High School and College, but I did end up picking the story back up with more life experience. And the hiatus gave me enough knowledge to flourish Alec as a character. As you'll learn in book 4, there's so much more to Alec that you or she never knew. So to kind of sum up the answer this took a while to get it where it is. Five years to be exact and book one isn't one that I'm really proud of but that's where I started and the story has grown.
I just really really want to thank everyone who put the time in to ask these questions and to everyone who has read my story!
This has been a five year journey of growth as a writer and I'm really happy to be able to do this. It's you guys, the reason I keep writing :)
You have no idea what this means to me.
Till next time
- Alec