oh! I hope you continue this someday. it's sooo good!

I loved this! I have an even darker theory that kind of ties into this idea. Where the children who were adopted away are monitored and if they’d end up producing an airbender because you know genetics. The airbenders would take them away even by force, and the parents wouldn’t know why or have a say. I loved this so much and agreed with everything you said after this as well.
I would love to see a companion piece that shows the scene between Katara and Zuko sparring and maybe another one with Sokka confronting his sister about what he found out and also his fear of her. Overall, well done! You definitely earned a new follower!

I enjoyed your story. It is a very interesting take on why Aang isn't the best father he could have been to Bumi and Kya.

I want to see what the others think and say when they see the mural. I hope they're just as outraged as Sokka because that's messed up

Yes. Just, yes. I mean, I clicked for the story, but stayed for the AN, because OMG. The more I read and rewatch, the more I find little things about Aang and his attitude that just irk me so much.

Then they MAKE HIM AN AIRBENDER RRRGH I'M SO MAD OH MY GOD. GIVE HIM THE CLOSURE HE DESERVES WITHOUT HANDWAVING HIS "INADEQUACY" JFC)
Fudge yes!

Thanks for this - needed it.

Oh wow, you kinda blew up at the end a little. I wholeheartedly agree with you. That's not an insult. I mean, for one it's a work of fiction, for two it's a cartoon and for three, this is a work of fiction based on a cartoon.

I honestly enjoyed this little blurb. So much so that I wish there was more of it.

You know reconciliation. Long talks and mediation. And maybe also some meditation.

I initially read those scenes between Zuko and Katara like Zutara which my cup of tea based a whole lot on the scene you mentioned because there's a world of difference between my girl could kill me and my girl would kill me.

Katara was scary, no cap.

I never really got into LOK and now I almost don't want to.

Sokka was my favourite character ND I liked seeing the serious side of him which I personally feel wasn't go en its due. I would loved to have seen him as less of a comedian and more serious.

Maybe they could have given some of his funny to Zuko and some of Zuko's direness to Sokka

I like this story and I agree with some of the points you bring up

Your fic is amazing, but I'd like to talk about your author's notes at the end as they reference topics regarding LOK that I find fascinating to talk about (hope this is okay).

For starters re: Aang favouring Tenzin. Honestly, I kind of expected it from the moment I learned Bumi would be a nonbender and Kya a waterbender, though I didn't realise how deep it went. Firstly, there's no denying that Aang has no real choice but to devote a lot of time to Tenzin, if only for training purposes. Once Aang dies, Tenzin (or his airbending children) are literally the only choice for training the next Avatar in airbending. Tenzin, like his father before him, had no choice but to marry and have children, or be responsible for the end of an entire bending style and screwing the Avatar cycle. Combine that commitment that Aang cannot share with Bumi and Kya the way he could if they were airbenders too, with the fact that the Avatar is not exactly a person with a lot of free time and well... It doesn't excuse his neglect of Bumi II and Kya but it does explain him concentrating on Tenzin without it simply being 'Aang's a bad parent'. It doesn't really help that Bumi II is very much like his namesake in behaviour and hides behind a smile and a wacky demeanor.

Secondly, while I think your point about Bumi II is well made, I think it would have been worse if he hadn't been made an Airbender. Think about it from Bumi's perspective. The Spirit World has brought airbending back, people of all nations are becoming Airbenders... and he, the son and the brother of the two men who were at some stage in their lives the literal last Airbenders in the world doesn't get the ability? I honestly think that would cement his feeling of not 'belonging' to Aang and the family, if anything. I know that in his shoes I'd feel horribly cheated by fate. At least Kya shared waterbending with her mother (we see Kya scold Bumi for being reckless and thinking he can do what a bender does).

Thirdly, as a disabled person and sister of a deeply disabled person, the fic itself resonated very deeply with me. I've heard many horror stories about how my parents were pressured by the own families into giving her up, how financial assistance was withheld, false accusations of abuse were made against my parents by their own immediate family just to get rid of her... and they thought it was justified because giving away such a child was normal, just like Aang does here.

And fourth, boy howdy is Katara scary. But almost as scary is the fact that nobody (with the exception of Sokka) seems to have picked up on the fact that Katara's not just mistrustful and watchful as she has every right to be, but actually actively attempting to goad Zuko. Even Sokka thinks it's worrying, and he doesn't know about Katara's threat and as her brother has every reason to be on her side.

I really enjoyed this. I rarely read anything from sokkas point of view.

I thought all airbenders were thrown off the temple like birds at age 5 or so. They either bend like birds or die.

Dude who cares what some shitty website thinks. You're exploring a concept that never really gets mentioned (or therorly explained) and that's awesome, I always disliked how sokka was ruled out just because he couldn't bend and your just delving into it more, fleshing it out through fiction, thats great! I personally can't wait till your next update. Lots of love and keep up the good work.

I really liked this, you interpretation of Sokka's view is very inspirational. I agree considering the other nations have a non-benders majority it makes sense, and aang was naive and an idiot in a lot of his thinking, your story I think captures it perfectly, as for katara and zuko they are my favourite otp however at this point sokka had every right to be scared of his sister. Either way I loved this, and hope you consider doing a follow on.

This is an amazing fic, very thought provoking. While some might have been offended by itI don't know why, really, it's fiction people- I think that the idea of Air Nomads sending off their nonbending kids away is not so far-fetched as one might think, after all, their whole life did revolve about their bending and for one not having it, it would be difficult to relate to. It is horrible, but to be honest I think that a tradition like that would have been able to bring back the nomads in a better, more realistic way than what they did in LoK

Also, I liked that you addressed the issue of Sokka always getting some kind of discrimination for being a nonbender in a group full of benders that to be honest could easily outclass him, and how every I think that you did a very good job of portraying his hurt feelings because he was able to walk a mile in those kids' shoes and he did not like what he saw and much less how Aang was able to be so crass and dismissing of what he felt was a very close reality for him.

On the other hand I don't think that Aang was wrong because he thought this. He was defending the culture that he knew with the tools he knew to defend it. He probably knew on some level that discarding nonbenders like that wasn't okay, but he accepted it because it was the culture that he knew. The same way
that Water tribe finds acceptable to kill enemies. They don't think it is wrong because that is what they are told all their life

Addressing the reviewer that told you that basically you are an undercover Zutara shipper, I honestly think that you shouldn't even bother with him. He doesn't understand what you are trying to say here and that's a pity for him.

I think this was masterfully done.

Haha wow. I can't believe the nerve of that reviewer, trying to justify that this is a Zutara shipfic and its just lazily bashing Aang. They're just so full-blown anti-Zutara and they can't see it.

I don't think this is Zutara. This wasn't romantic in like, any sense? So where the fuck did they get any sort of romantic relation? Just because you pointed out Aang's faults in some way they think your a Zutara shipper. Wow. Real mature. Even if Aang and Katara are married, does not mean they have a happy and perfect marriage. Does not mean that Aang is a wonderful and 100% understanding dad.

Because what it shows in Korra, he's not. (At least, hes' not a 100% understanding dad. He's not totally supportive of his other kids. He may have been supportive of Kya's sexuality, but that's just Aang. He's innocent in that sort of way and whimsical where he'd never judge a person for loving another person in that sense. That's a completely different topic.)

As for Katara and Aang, I could write a whole post why I don't think they'd work. But I'm not going to as that wasn't the focus of this fic. The focus of this fic was - to showcase some of Aang's personal BS towards how he felt towards non-benders, and then how Sokka felt about it. It's simple as is.

Sokka, oh wonderful Sokka. My favorite baby of the Gaang. He was characterized beautifully in this fic and I have to say you got his voice done really well. A lot of people in fan-fics have Katara and Aang poking fun at Sokka's 'pessimistic' attitude which I can't stand. It's like Katara is the voice of reason with no faults - the poster girl and the hero. Sokka deserves some attention!

I really wish honestly Sokka got more development in the show and Katara was taken down a notch. I have my own personal issues with Katara but I won't address them here. (If you want to hear them I'll be glad to PM you.) In other words, this fic was a breath of fresh air for the community. I'm sorry your frustrated by the antis and dramatics that stirred up. But hey, if you got controversy that just might be a good thing.

A few weeks ago I got a anti on my Naruto fic telling me I should kill myself for not writing a pairing they like. That was- a straight up anti. I hated it and deleted the fic later. I hope you don't feel that way towards the hate and controversy you're getting, and stay strong regardless because this fic truly is a little Gem and it addresses some realistic and harsh issue they didn't talk about in cannon.

"What? Realism in my cartoon/cannon? NO!" Hardcore lovers of cannon get me really annoyed. Really calm down people, this is a headcannon. Your precious little cannon still exists. Nothing was tainted, nothing has disappeared. You're fine. Relax. And stop spreading the hate. (Considering Avatar is a story about peace, balance and understanding maybe you should take a page out of their book.)

This was a wonderful fic. I'm really glad to read it and I hope you do more.

I really enjoyed this fic. I think it is a very mature look on the way Aang behaves about bending that stays within good characterization of the characters being portrayed. It is also a good look at the ways different cultures treat inclusivity and define who can be a part of a culture or not.