Lost Soul

Honestly this! That’s why Suyin’s attempt at reconciliation felt so inauthentic to me. In the flashbacks she didn’t seem to even respect her sister and she still doesn’t as an adult. It’s not about giving Lin closure. Rather it’s to service herself and clean up her slate because it bothered her that her life wasn’t a 100% perfect.

The Toph I imagine in my head would have told Suyin that if she wanted to be a criminal so bad she would have to be good enough not to be caught and toss her in a cell for half a day as part of a scared straight program or make her face the family who’s livehood she had threatened all because she was bored. Toph would be stressed but ultimately grateful Lin for making a decision that is nearly impossible to make and be greatly bothered at Suyin for putting them both in that position in the first place.

Instead, she ends up resenting her eldest daughter for putting her in a position where she has to make a tough call-  like any parent has to when their child does something so callous that it can end up ruining someone else’s life. Lin probably witnessed other kids’ lives being ruined because they were in such desperate situations that they resorted to a life of crime and Toph arresting them without second thought because they didn’t have the fortune to be blood-related to her.

The way I would have written Suyin to amend for her past would be to invest in a future where she would help troubled youth. Give them advice and sources to fall back on when their lives would be complicated by poverty or harmful family members. She’d even help out the spoiled kids like she herself was to get their parents’ attention without having to break the law. Instead of housing war criminals *cough Varrick cough* she would give kids options instead of them feeling they are walking into a dead-end. With her first hand knowledge on how one could easily damage the entire family by turning to a life of crime she could give them that cautionary tale.

By chance Lin would come across her and see her work and approach her, at her own admission, not by Suyin cornering her and shaming her into submission. She would see first hand how Suyin used her experience and riches to help others and prevent them from turning to a life of crime. She walks up to her and tell her she now believes how serious Suyin was about her intentions to change for the better. Whenever Lin notices Suyin looking away from the scar on her face she tells her it’s ok. What happened has happened. What matters now is that she cares about others. They hug it out. Suyin accepting Lin’s wish to not have contact with her for so long and Lin getting to make her own terms.

But Suyin and Toph aren’t sorry. They feel sorry for themselves. In their minds they have been sitting out their time with Lin’s grief directed at them and now Lin’s anger should have reached an expiration date by now. They have the gall to feel owed to something by someone they have betrayed without considering her personal feelings about it.

What made me incredibly angry was the scene in which Suyin says: "No wonder Tenzin ended things with you years ago" ... How fucking dare you?!

Not only did she have absolutely no right to say something like that, she wasn't even there! Lin and Tenzin should have broken up in their thirties, as Pema was just 18, when Lin was 33 and Tenzin was 34. (and I hope it was a little later just because it's sooo weird)

That means Suyin couldn't have known the reason for the breakup, at least not from Lin's perspective and I just doubt that Tenzin would talk bad about Lin in front of her sister.

So she just assumes that it was because Lin is so "bitter and selfish".

If the selfish was related to the fact that she denied him children and preferred her career, that would be just fucking sad. Not everyone dreams of having 5 (6!) children.

I really had the feeling that Suyin wanted to show off her perfect dream life in front of her sister.

Criminal brat: look at me, what a wonderful life I have! Not like the one over there *points to Lin* she's just a bitter, lonely and selfish bitch!

Glad I speak to your soul anon. And you’re right and you should say it. It’s like the writers seemed to want us to believe Suyin was in the right, yet they kept validating Lin’s decision to cut her out of her life every time Suyin opened her mouth. With a sister like that who needs enemies?

How dare she? I could’ve gotten on board with the story of someone who had time to reflect and realize they’d behaved badly and genuinely wanted to mend fences. There are people who were awful kids, but can become adults worth knowing. It seemed like Suyin just wanted Lin’s forgiveness because her anger was inconvenient for her. She presented herself as a victim who just wanted her family together, while excluding her huge role in why she and Lin had been estranged. In what world are you allowed to brush off that time you scarred someone? She didn’t want to work to make amends. 

Furthermore, none of Suyin’s behavior shows Lin or us that she’s really changed. She still does reckless things without thinking of the consequences. Additionally, she downplays her behavior and shifts the blame onto Lin for being angry about the ways her family hurt her as opposed to owning up to causing her pain. 

And ugh. You’re absolutely right. What would Suyin know about Lin and Tenzin’s relationship? She was too busy interning as a getaway driver to pay attention to it. More than that, Lin isn’t selfish because of her desire to remain childless. Plus, it’s implied that she felt like Toph didn’t want her. Perhaps a part of her decision-making was not wanting to continue that painful cycle. 

In the end it’s fine for Tenzin to want babies, but it’s wrong to act like Lin is a terrible monster to not wanting to give them to him. She’s just a person who doesn’t want kids and it sucked that so many people were allowed to call her a bitter loner with no pushback. Borrowing some words from Amanda Lovelace:

 “all of the oceans

& galaxies did not conspire together to create me just so i could reproduce for you. -Startling Fact #1”

I have waited ALL FUCKING YEAR TO POST THIS