#anti tenzin

[the-badger-mole]

So you were like the first person I saw call Aang out for being a bad father, and I'm watching through LoK for the first time now and there's this scene where (this is after Bumi gets airbending) Bumi says "even though I'm Aang's son, I never really felt like part of the Air Nation" and then Tenzin is like "You are now." NOW???? GIRL WHAT???? Literally HOW does anyone defend Aang's parenting when one of his sons is like "you're right, you never were part of this half of your heritage, but now you are, because you've earned it"

Listen...when I tell you my anger in that moment was transcendent! Had I had just one more cup of espresso, I'd have shifted dimensions into the ATLA universe and slapped the taste out of Tenzin. I'd have hit him hard enough that Bryke would've felt it, because WHO looks at that moment and think it speaks to a healthy family dynamic???? And even then, at least Bumi got some sort of resolution to his issue with Aang. Kya? Crickets...

I can never be harsh enough on Aang because in canon, he's an absolute creep of a character. His nascent physical abuse of Katara is canon, but because he's small, bald and has a Pollyanna smile, we're not allowed to hate him. Luckily, I've always been a bit of a rebel.

[zuko-always-lies]

Its tenzins fault korra had a “tantrum” in the first place with air training. Kept pushing and pushing her

Honestly, I think that's fair. Tenzin was a terrible mentor for Korra and is also partially responsible for her entire life being so terrible, so I'm not against Tenzin slander.

[atla-confessions]

Tenzin seems like the type of guy to fuck his daughters

….

[feanoryen]

Pema from legend of Korra is disgusting!

She's a homewrecker AND SHE'S PROUD OF IT!

She encourages Korra to do the same thing and sets a horrible example to her.

I'm not saying Lin & Tenzin were a good couple, Lin is WAY TOO GOOD for that ugly bald elitist prick, but Pema ACTIVLY TRYING TO BREAK THEM UP IS SO WRONG!!!

[punkeropercyjackson]

I do NOT think it's fair for Zutara shippers to hate Zukka for a chunk of the fandom popularizing bad tropes and being mean-spirited like sorry not sorry but you're calling EVERY Zukka shipper misogynistic racists and queerphobes as if you're not the ones who came up with 'Fire Lady Katara' and 'Momtara x Dadko' and mocked Aang for trying to emphasize with Katara's mom dying with her by comparing it to him and Appa being the only living beings from what happened to the Air Nomads and call him all sorts of vile appalling shit that should NEVER be said about a fucking 12 year old because he's feminine and silly and not the perfect love interest 24/7 and takes pride in his tibetan heritage AND stripped Katara of all her accomplishments and nonconformity and layers and anarchism because you see her as worthless if she's not Zuko's arm candy while also making degrading comments about her sex life because she had kids with a guy you don't like with added anti-biracial kids propaganda as a bonus AND are so unsympathetic to Mai because she's Zuko but a girl so you're not into her that you unironically think she's a wench plus don't even actually care about Mailee seeing as it has way more evidence than Zutara on every level yet you only see them as a sidedish to prove you don't hate women AND even Zuko dosen't get speared because mans deadass ended the series with everything he'd ever wanted INCLUDING being a better dad than Ozai was to him to AANG but none of it matters apperantly because he choose what was best for himself after 16 years straight of abuse instead of some random ass crush you THINK he had for not even technically a year.You do NOT get to talk shit about Zukka stans,they're just a normal noncanon mlm ship fanbase with a small side of bad eggs,Zutaras are an entire rotten eggs ile from a supermarket that's been abandoned for almost 20 years because it never actually opened but old people who complain about 'kids these days' keep thinking it'll open one day despite it being announced a million times it never would and saying it's elder abuse in response

[shrimz08]

AANG ＆ OZAI PARALLELS: DEBUNKED

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Because apparently the true villain is the sole survivor of a genocide of his entire nation, and not the imperialist colonizer.

Where do I even begin?? Because I’m genuinely holding in laughter writing this, it’s absolutely insane how certain people can make such egregious parallels that aren’t even found in the first place. 

AH, so a little backstory on how this fucking shit stained idea even came to existence, well our dear z^tara fans pissed their pants over Zuko and Katara not tying the knot, so, as a way of retribution for their supposed “honour” They take any chance to jump on the Aang hate train and make him into some irredeemable abusive demon, aaand they got that perfect opportunity because the LoK decided to take a lick out of the great “Main Characters Must Be Bad Parents In The Sequels” Trope. Which personally, does absolutely nothing to the protagonists resolution aside from cheap family drama but I digress. 

Now, I’m not behind the idea of the writers trying to make Aang a “flawed” Parent, I think it really makes no sense by how they went about it, (I might touch on this in another post) 

((And it’s so very clear that they’re trying to give it a soft “retcon” And even taking extra steps saying that Kya and Bumi just “remember wrong” Which I’ll actually take, because season two of LOK was hell on earth anyway so you might as well give it some saving grace.)) 

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There’s three main parallels that they got from Ozai and Aang: (god help me)

Favouring a child

isolating the rest

leaving pressure On the golden child

I’m going to debunk all three of them while trying not to fall into complete lunacy over how ridiculous they are. 

Favouring a child + Leaving pressure: 

OK, so people are clearly blind with context clues and media comprehension, got it. No surprise whatsoever. I can’t be disappointed if I didn’t even have any expectations to begin with. 

Let’s compare the treatment on how Ozai treats Azula, and how Aang treats Tenzin. (Holy Shit)

Beginning with Ozai, well.. It doesn’t take much of a rocket scientist to understand that Ozai essentially could not give two fucks about Azula, as she in essence, serves the role of an attack dog, as long as it does its job, it’s worthy. 

Ozai favoured Azula because she was molded to match his ferocity and hunger for power, she was a prodigy bender, and was cunning and calculated, all traits that Ozai found endearing and someone worthy to be crowned the next “fire lord.” His “favouring” Of her didn’t come out of genuine love or care, she is his tool who serves a purpose. In short, she showed more competency and more ruthlessness and callousness in comparison to Zuko. Which earned her, her place as the “Golden Child.”  

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None of this is even remotely similar to how Aang treated Tenzin and his kids, aside from the fact he supposedly “favoured” Tenzin more, but that is such a baseline statement and has absolutely no relation with Ozai's reasons.

You have to understand that an entire FUCKING NATION IS DEAD. History, Culture, Tradition, is at the BRINK of being wiped out, Tenzin is quite literally the only Airbender that will be left after Aangs passing. Why do people devalue this concept so much? 

“B-BUT THE AIR ACOLYTES1!!” Still have limited knowledge, airbending is so heavily tied to its spiritual roots, you LOSE your ability to AIRBEND, if you aren't inclined to your spiritual side. Which is a core part of the air nomad culture. Tenzin is... Literally the only god forsaken part left of that, so yeah. It’s a pretty big fucking deal. Aang values his culture and teachings to such a high degree, he is literally the survivor of a genocide. His favouring of Tenzin was done out of necessity and love, not out of a need for power and a new attack dog to send orders around. 

Tenzin will literally be the future “Director” Or guide for the next avatar to learn airbending, people still forget this, and it’s hilarious. He needs to know all the moves, all the teachings because he will be the next avatar's personal guide. 

Aang constantly reassures him, and apologizes for the pressure that may be put upon him but he always reaffirms that he’ll be there to guide him and they’ll “learn together”

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So yeah not the same thing at all. Fuck you for being so inept at understanding the different reasons and perspectives of those situations, just for some petty ship discourse, genuinely disgusting.

Isolating the children:

OK this part, I have to say that the writers definitely messed up with aangs characterization, but I think the execution came out way differently than the intention, so I will try to look more into the intention of each decision.

Ozai isolated Zuko, mistreated him, belittled him, PHYSICALLY ABUSED HIM, but yeah totally on par with Aang actually. 

I don’t wanna touch on this part much mainly because his treatment was literally explained all throughout the show, and granted, while I understand most of these people haven’t touched the show aside from reading fanfic 300000 Where Aang is revealed to us as satan himself, but perhaps, even a small peak at Ozai's parenting would reveal the laughable contrast between the two.

Zuko was a slow learner, and much more of a softie, and a “mama's boy” To Ozai’s heavy dislike, he was thus treated as such, he was belittled, turned down, and literally burnt alive for showing “weakness” He is meant to serve as a direct contrast to Azula, ”The everything he isn't.” 

Kya and Bumi on the other hand, don’t show any actual signs of trauma aside from some petty jabs they threw at Tenzin, 

Bumis talk with Aang at the statue was *very very* Clearly, meant to highlight his own inferiority complex that he internalized growing up. His need for proving himself to be capable of doing just as much if not more than a “bender” Probably happened because his two parents were both prodigy benders and him being a first born son who was a non-bender must’ve hit pretty hard for him, and I’m so sure that katara and Aang reassured how special he is but that kind of thing doesn’t really go away.

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Kya: [while healing Bumi] I told you those rocks were slippery. You're lucky you didn't kill yourself.

Bumi: You done with the lecture, mom?

Kya: Oh, grow up. You haven't changed one bit since we were kids. You're still trying to prove you can do everything a bender can. Well, you can't. Deal with it.

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 That talk with Aangs statue was very much meant to unveil an internal struggle rather than a conflict he had with his father. Kya even doubles down on this, telling him “of course he’d be proud of you” Basically spoon feeding to us, the viewers, that this is much more of internal than an external conflict that he has to overcome along the show. 

“Why Didn’t he share his culture with them 1!!1!” 

He most definitely did, or tried to, but it’s clear they didn’t show much interest so he didn’t pester, this is shown many times throughout the show. 

“You know I could never keep all those gurus straight… There were like a million of them!

remember that long boring story about the guy who never ate?”

This is literally Kya’s remark to Tenzin just after he tried teaching the airbender students this story, basically telling us that Aang DID try to tell them about his stories and culture, but much to their disinterest, didn’t try any further. 

And Bumi, literally could not pay attention to the story to save his life, and instead decided to fool around in his literal 60’s!! I mean Imagine what he was like when he was a kid!! 

I could imagine their dynamic was very similar to Jinora with Meelo and Ikki, Tenzin being the only one with actual interest and care, whilst Bumi and Kya goofing off and not putting much focus onto it. WHICH IS FINE BTW!! 

It only goes to reiterate that Tenzin was the only one who was actually giving interest and attention to the air nomad culture, and it was of Kya and Bumi’s own personal choice to not partake in it. To each their own I see. 

“BUT WHAT ABOUT THE VACATIONS” 

This.. I agree, weird for the writers to decide this, but given how they low-key are retconning it in interviews, my best guess is that each of those trips were side-quests during their journey to teach an important lesson that might’ve just drowned out because Tenzin may not have remembered it as well. 

Also keep in mind that Tenzin was put into a lot of pressure, Aang probably saw this, and as a way to still keep it enjoyable, he took him to trips that would help ease the mind for a little kid whilst also learning something valuable. That seems pretty on brand for Aang actually

And given that Kya and Bumi are literally in their fucking 60’s it wouldn’t surprised me if they didn’t have the greatest memory. Hell, they didn’t even fault Aang as a parent until Tenzin started boasting about “trips” That Kya and Bumi gave petty jabs but weren’t actually showing genuine hurt, just annoyance.

Kya even comments how Aang was too busy “Trying to save the world, and doing his duty that he didn't have much time for them” 

Phrasing as if it wasn't anything "important" But it's clear that this was Kya's own personal irritation towards Tenzin rather than an actual evaluation on Aang's duties.

A continuation comic best explains it in a deeper way:

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Literally showing that “neglecting” His kids wasn't up to him, and was out of a sense of necessity, trying to cram as much knowledge onto Tenzin, the only one who was basically putting his lessons into practices. Kya and Bumi were left feeling neglected. But that wasn’t out of his decision; he still loved them dearly.

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This. Literally highlighting how much pressure was forced upon Aang, so yes, as any person would, he struggled with making time for everybody. Holy shit who knew?? 

GASP!! IS THAT… A REALISTIC BUT UNDERSTANDABLE FLAW!!?? HOW DARE YOU! ITS OZAI #2 

The fact that the smiley energetic person forgets to SMILE, is a big deal, man was put through hells amount of stress but he never cracked.

So tell me, how is a genocidal freak, who treats his golden child like a tool and abuses the other both physically and emotionally for showing “weakness’ 

Even remotely comparable to

 the sole survivor of a genocide, trying to withhold his teachings and culture onto literally his only child that showed actual effort in doing so, while also maintaining the balance of an entire fucking world and being literally the biggest “advisor” And “Mentor” For society, OH! And also building and managing a literal city, but along the way struggling to make time for his children. 

Guess what, they’re not. And if you think they are. You are an idiot, with bias and headcanons.

So the conclusion is, Aang is a flawed parent, but he isn't a "bad" Parent - confirmed by the literal writers.

Comparing him to Ozai a literal dictator, is absolutely sickening, just for your petty shipping discourse when this show's been over for a decade is insane. Indulge in what you enjoy, but stop projecting delusions like they're canon.

:D

[coconutsaiyan]

I don’t care if this offends someone but if you think Aang was as bad as Ozai when it comes to parenting then you’re a fucking idiot.

Like the mental gymnastics you have to make to come to a conclusion proves you don’t have a lot of brain cells

Tenzin said they were a happy family at the end and Bumi and Kya obviously agreed.

[sapphic-agent]

Bryke's Responses to Bad Dad Aang

Found these on Reddit and I thought it would be interesting to discuss it here.

I noticed that Mike says that their intention wasn't to portray Aang as a terrible father. And I'm sure it wasn't. But I'm not sure what they thought would happen?

LOK so very rarely portrays Aang as even a decent father. Sure, Tenzin looks up to and admires him, but of course he does because Aang focused on him the most. Tenzin's image of Aang was so distorted growing up, that he literally didn't remember Bumi and Kya being absent on trips. To him, the father he built Aang up to be couldn't have possibly left out his other children. Tenzin is an unreliable narrator when it comes to his childhood.

Bumi and Kya have almost nothing positive to say about him. Bumi, in his own words, never felt like a member of the Air Nomads. And how could he? The Air Acolytes weren't even aware that Aang had other children. This heavily implies that he didn't even care to talk about them.

Mike saying that their intention wasn't to make Aang seem like a bad dad is so odd in retrospect because they never attempted to make it seem otherwise. Neither Kya nor Bumi have expressed many fond memories of Aang, Kya doesn't seem to have even looked up to him the way Bumi did. So, Michael, what were we supposed to think? You're only showing us the bad and none of the good. I mean, other than one measly family picture and Tenzin's biased admiration.

(And yes, this extends to Katara too. Putting my bias for her aside, there's even less said about her parenting than Aang's (which makes no sense because she's actually in the show but whatever). From what we're given, we can't make the assumption that she was a good parent either. Even if we choose to look at her positively, she still canonically enabled Aang. And to be completely honest, that isn't out of character for her)

If Aang favored Tenzin but made even the smallest amount of effort with Bumi and Kya, this would be a different story. This would show that he was a flawed, imperfect character but still tried his best. But he wasn't even given that. We can't assume more than the information we're presented with.

Also, calling Tenzin the "vessel" for Aang's legacy to justify his emotional neglect of his other kids is not a good look, Bryan

[liliesforeveryfandom]

something about the atla fandom that always confused me is how they say ozai was such a terrible father bc he neglected zuko because of his favoritism towards azula, yet don’t apply that same logic to aang preferring tenzin above his other children. this cannot be explained away as an accident or “it’s what he had to do to save the air nomads.” those are all bullshit excuses when bumi apologizes to a statue of aang for being born a non bender and him saying he finally felt like he met his father proud when he got airbending. this is a 50-something year old grown man whose childhood trauma is so deep it still affects him. this wasn’t a mistake, aang did it on purpose. there’s no other explanation, aang became the very thing he fought against.

[survivalove]

why does the atla/lok fandom hype the red lotus so much when z*ko and sokka beat them in their 70s…

and then one of them got zapped by mako

bolin defeating a master lavabender on his second try

combustion girl getting taken out by one of toph’s daughters…

zaheer can’t even win a 1v1 fight with tenzin (reminds me of another overhyped atla villain *coughs*)

like hello? they’re not good fighters 😭

[risingsoleil]

have pema ever walked to them in their sexiest time ever? What would she react to that be more specific please

When Pema was a teen, she walked in on Lin and Tenzin once. It was her first week on the island and she had gotten lost trying to get back to the meditation from the pavilion. She ends up near the airbending gates and sees Lin pressed against the tree with a leg hooked over Tenzin's arm. Tenzin has his lips pressed against Lin's neck and she's scratching the back of his neck while he thrusts into her. Neither realized that they have been caught, and Pema runs off flustered.

It's strange to imagine your teacher having sexual relations...he's certainly very handsome

She has been fortunate enough to not have walked in on Lin and Tenzin after that encounter. Though she's heard stories of other acolytes catching them, and they all say that Lin never cares if they see her because it's her way of marking territory. Pema cringes and nods in obedience. Master Tenzin would never be so beastly and careless when it comes to his personal life.

Lin Beifong is just too whorish and only cast a sexual spell on Master Tenzin. He needs to be freed from her.

After she confesses her feelings and that goes disastrously wrong, however, she walks in on Lin and Tenzin on her way back to the female dormitory. They're in the kitchen and Tenzin is fucking Lin mid-air, carrying her with all his strength in the middle of the room.

Pema is shocked she can't even move.

"Harder, Master Tenzin! Please, harder!"

Tenzin sees Pema and doesn't even show any sign of embarrassment or surprise at her presence. He simply listens to his wife.

"You've been such a naughty acolyte, Lin."

Pema feels tears welling up in her eyes and she runs away. The pain of his rejection and the salt rubbing into the fresh wound of Lin AND Tenzin mocking her is too much. How could he hurt her like this?! How could Lin turn him into a monster? She can save him! If he would just let her!

[the-badger-mole]

I don't particularly care for NATLA, but I think it’s hilarious that the k@taangers are losing their shit over a possibly bait scene for zutara, and that it has even people claiming that if this series canonizes zutara, then Tenzin wouldn't exist and yadda yadda, to the point that my sister who is a non-shipper got sick of it and ranted to me for a whole hour about how sick she is that people believes it really matters, because Katara does so little in LoK, that you could change the mom of Aang's children, and it would hardly make a difference, that all of their characters are defined by them being Aang's children, not Katara's and honestly? It was an eye-opener to me, even Kya, being a waterbender is never that important :/

if this series canonizes zutara, then Tenzin wouldn't exist

I do not care for Tenzin much... But also, I disagree.

Katara does so little in LoK, that you could change the mom of Aang's children, and it would hardly make a difference

I've been saying this for years. Bumi and especially Kya get so little story that they would've benefited from not being Aang's kids. And Tenzin got nothing from his mother. He doesn't look like her, doesn't take after her in any significant way. There's not even a nod to his SWT heritage in his home. The creators went out of their way to make sure Tenzin had almost nothing to do with Katara. He barely interacts with her, and those few interactions are so nondescript that she may as well not be his mother. His kids barely know her! Had his mother not been Katara, nothing about his arc, history, or character design would have to be adjusted. And let's not forget the biggest beneficiary of Kataang not happening would be Katara herself.

I have flirted with the idea of making Tenzin not Katara's son in one or two one shots. It would be so easy to do, too. Maybe he's the son Aang had with an acolyte. Maybe he's an affair baby. Maybe Katara never had to suffer through a marriage with Aang at all. The only child that would be significantly effected by having different parents would be Bumi, and that's only because it would be weird for Katara to name her first son after a man she had only the scantest connection to without Aang's input (why did she agree to that name?).

[wilcze-kudly]

Ever noticed how Lin stans (even the ones who don't woobify her) treat other characters?

Toph suddenly isn't an ex child soldier who never got to grow up in a healthy manner her entire life.

Suyin suddenly isn't her own sister (who based on canon) was never cared for properly by her sister AND mother.

Tenzin suddenly isn't the son of two genocide survivors with a weight on his shoulders can't understand.

I don't know much about Kya or Bumi but from what I know from rants from a Bumi fan I follow, they don't treat them well either.

And don't even get me started on Pema.

See, on one hand, I can perfectly understand people seeing the other characters through the lens of your fave. I can get focuscing on one character you enjoy.

But I will say, from outside of thst bubble, it can be gruelling to see people come up with the most abhorrent takes on a character, simply to prop up another character. There's also just. A startling lack of compassion and understanding towards any character other than Lin. Lin's actions are always perceived in the best light possible, while those of the "antagonists" i her life are interepreted as poorly as possible.

I think a lot of the characters are seen less as their own, and more as accessories to whatever you see Lin as. Like. If you want this Cinderella esque tale, Suyin and Toph are the perfect villains if you tweak them just right. You wanna have a shitty ex storyline? Tenzin's right there.

Kya and Bumi feel extremely interchangeable in how they're portrayed as love interests for Lin. Basically bubbly sunshine to brighten Lin's grumpy dark life. Nothing wrong with the ship dynamic, but there's a lot more to do with these characters i think.

Again there's nothing really wrong with these actions. These people are simply enjoying fandom in their own way. But it can get annoying, especially when it leads to unwarranted hate sent towards characters who certainly don't deserve it like Suyin, Toph and Pema. It does also clutter the space of people who actually wanna discuss the canon relationships with headcanons and assumptions.

It's also not the best thing for Lin's character, since the huge draw of her character, for me is that she's so incredibly painfully flawed and that a lot of it comes from her own fear of change.

Taking away Lin's agency in a lot of the storylines she's in doesn't really make her a better character in my opinion? Maybe it makes her a morally superior one? But is that really what we want for chief milf?

[atla-confessions]

i’ve seen some zutarians likening aang’s parenting to ozai’s, and i just…

꒳h̵̢̢̧̡̙̲̫̲̻̜͓̟̎̋́͆̆͋̕͝͝͠ͅą̵̢̠̙̹̻̗̥̠̬̩̖̠̠͐͂̈́̉̇̀̀͌̈́͊̚͜͠t̶̢̛̪̩̜͔̥͓̲̲̦̼̙̱͉͕̄͗̓́͌̇͂̀̈͘͜ t̶̢̛̪̩̜͔̥͓̲̲̦̼̙̱͉͕̄͗̓́͌̇͂̀̈͘͜h̵̢̢̧̡̙̲̫̲̻̜͓̟̎̋́͆̆͋̕͝͝͠ͅẽ̵̡̛̳̬͙͎̖̻̗͖͕͈̲̜̟̺̽́̓̅͗͑̎̇̕ ą̵̢̠̙̹̻̗̥̠̬̩̖̠̠͐͂̈́̉̇̀̀͌̈́͊̚͜͠ç̴̢̡̳͔̳̫̤̳̱̮̭̺̪̗̠̪̹̾̒͊̈̽͒̉̈́̀̕͜t̶̢̛̪̩̜͔̥͓̲̲̦̼̙̱͉͕̄͗̓́͌̇͂̀̈͘͜u̴̼̬̱͕͈̼̭̝̺͉͓̗̒͆̍͒͐̈́̇͒̓̍͐̎͌̑̽̓͘̕͝ͅą̵̢̠̙̹̻̗̥̠̬̩̖̠̠͐͂̈́̉̇̀̀͌̈́͊̚͜͠l̷̡͍͙͕͍̤̯̟̺̼̹͌́̾̀̈̎͂̃̒̚ f̶̨̰͔̩̮̳̞̩̭͈̅̍͗̑͊́̅͂̎̑̀͘͜u̴̼̬̱͕͈̼̭̝̺͉͓̗̒͆̍͒͐̈́̇͒̓̍͐̎͌̑̽̓͘̕͝ͅç̴̢̡̳͔̳̫̤̳̱̮̭̺̪̗̠̪̹̾̒͊̈̽͒̉̈́̀̕͜ķ̵̡̛̥͓̥̠̪̫̞̥̺̥̮̥͆̿̐́̓͋̎̔̏̕͘̚͜͝ͅ.

if you’re so desperate to compare aang’s parenting to another atla dad, why not compare him to hakoda. a man who loved his kids endlessly but struggled to reconcile his duty to the world / his nation with his duty to his family, and although it left katara and sokka with many, many issues because of it, they never thought for a second that their parents didn’t love them.

& in LOK, the same episode where kya and bumi (the squeakuels) express how aang’s prioritising of tenzin has warped tenzin’s worldview & kya and bumi didn’t get to spend much time with their dad because of it, so on and etc., kya and bumi also say that they never doubted aang loved them. because aang wasn’t a terrible father. he was human, with the responsibilities of a god, and had an entire culture to pass onto his children (kya and bumi literally were not interested. it wasn’t for a lack of trying on aang’s part.) with only one of them (at the time) able to physically manifest those values and traditions.

aang spent so much more time with tenzin because tenzin was aang’s work, not just his child. tenzin was his legacy.

hakoda and aang are just two guys trying to do their best by the kids but shit’s hard, especially when you have to help keep the world on its hinges. they’re flawed, but they’re not abusive nor neglectful.

X

[fanfic-lover-girl]

Tenzin is How Old!?

I recently discovered that Tenzin got together with Pema in his thirties while scrolling through the Lin Beifong and Tenzin tags. And there is a 16-year age gap between him and Pema. I was like, this must be a mistake. Tenzin and Lin dated and broke up as teenagers right? Tenzin is in his thirties, going on to his forties right???!

Never knew LOK could make me feel even more nauseous than it already does. I have some issues:

If Lin and Tenzin broke up as adults, then Lin destroying Air Temple Island on her way out makes her look even worse. I know female violent behavior is supposed to be funny but I don't find it funny. A grown-ass woman acting like a hormonal teenager. Get a grip, Lin!

Pemzin is now icky. The age gap is not a total dealbreaker...but wasn't Pema an air acolyte? Considering Tenzin was basically deemed the saviour of the air nomads and the only kid recognized by the acolytes, I am not liking this dynamic. Especially when you remember how those first-gen acolyte girls worshipped Aang in the comics. I am sure any acolyte would be honoured to mother the next airbender generation. A similar sentiment to Mary accepting to get pregnant with Jesus. Just eww. And when you factor in Pema's homewrecker advice to Korra...ugh. It's the same kind of vibe as the CEO divorcing his nagging wife to get frisky with the young, adoring, just-out-of-college secretary :(

I swear LOK gets worse and worse every day. Tenzin is still one of my favourite characters from the series (not that the bar is very high) but I am reconsidering my view of this guy. And of his wife.

[punkeropercyjackson]

I'd believe Zutara shippers when they say they don't ship it for a colonizer x colonized fantasy if they didn't do arranged marriages aus,call the Fire Nation feminist in the same breath they insult Air Nomads,defang and whitefeminize Katara to make her perfect for Zuko instead of a native punk girl and also spew anti-biracial propaganda in the form of sexual degradation towards her for marrying and having kids with Aang,use only western norms and general writing for a japanese man and a bunch of other things that fall under colonization fantasy by definition.Also the excessive buzzword usage and self-claims of maturity over discoursing with minorities of all ages for no real reason over a 2000s cartoon and then epically failing at gaslighting everybody to think they didn't do anything.So i'll stop being mean to Zutara shippers if they stop being child hating conservatives or if i stop having backbone or if i realize i'm not actually trans and autistic and afrolatino and just have internalized misogyny and a victim complex and melanin that should be washed out for aesthetic purposes