#anti linzen

[ljf613]

I should start by clarifying that I love Lin. I also love Tenzin. I think their relationship was an important part of their lives and eventual character development. 

I don’t think they should have ended up together. 

In theory, I have zero problem with people who do ship them. YMMV, ship whoever you want, have fun. 

The problem I have is when people start attacking Tenzin, saying things like “he broke up with Lin for babies” or “he only married Pema for her uterus” or whatever...... as though people don’t break up all the time because one partner wants kids and the other doesn’t. 

(Would we even be having this conversation if the genders were swapped? If it was the woman who was like, “I want kids” and the man was like “but I don’t?” I highly doubt it.) 

It is normal and healthy to have the “do you want children” talk before committing to a long-term relationship. If you don’t, you may find yourself with more than a few problems sometime down the line. 

(I am begging you. Please have this conversation-- along with others of signifcant importance towards your future, such as “where do you want to live” and “what are your long-term plans”-- before signing on the dotted line. You’ll save yourself a world of hurt.) 

I am so sorry that you have been lied to. Love does not conquer all. There are many valid reasons a couple might choose to break up, and this is a big one. If you want kids, great! If you don’t, that’s also fine! But don’t go into a relationship-- or, worse, a marriage-- thinking you’ll be able to change the other person’s mind, or that you’ll settle for what you really don’t want just for the sake of making the other person happy. It’s a very bad idea. 

(Not to mention that none of this is a reason to throw undeserved hate on Pema and what she chose to do with her life. Y’all act like being a housewife/stay-at-home mom/homemaker is either a tragedy or an unpardonable sin, instead of a valid life decision like any other. The fact that LOK gives us such a wide variety of female characters, from Lin to Zhu Li to Kya to Suyin to Pema, is one of its selling points.) 

And this is all aside from the fact that we don’t actually know all of the reasons why Lin and Tenzin broke up. We know the kids issue caused a rift. We know that Pema’s confession didn’t help matters. But odds are, there were probably numerous factors involved. At the end of the day, they wanted different things out of life, and that’s okay.