#also mulan 2 is an excellent movie argue with the wall

[beifong-brainrot]

Its honestly bizarre, and I've been trying to not make this a fullblown conversation because I don't wanna be that™️ person in the fandom.

But like, there's always this focus on picking apart Suyin and presenting her in the worst light possible. Her flaws and mistakes? The most important part of her. Any good that she's done? Either undeserved, undermined, just due to the writers 'favouring' her, or for an ulterior motive.

And it's a shame because people will demand well written, flawed or complex female characters, but when one does appear, she is often despised. This happened with Katara, Korra and so it will happen to Su.

But I think what really gets me is that Su is such an interesting character because she dodges a lot of tropes we assign 'strong female characters'. She is an already established leader, not a young upstart who has to fight to be recognised by an oppresive world. She is a leader who doesn't replicate stereotypically male behaviours. She is a capable fighter who embraces roles of motherhood and being a wife, and makes them her own.

Furthermore, she doesn't talk down to other women, nor put them down to elevate herself. In fact, she actively goes out of her way to support Korra and help her gain a new skill.

These are traits of some of my favourite strong female characters, and ones often forgotten in both fiction and real life.

Like it is such a huge part of the patriarchy to teach girls and women to put each other down and fight between themselves. It's a competition that has no winners because its impossible to fit all the standards.

Suyin actively steps away from that competition, pursuing her own goals, for her own reasons, and encouraging others in Zaofu to do the same. Does she have flaws? Yes, absolutely. But she's a fascinating portrayal of a fictional, empowered woman and it really feels like a lot of the hate towards her is based in this need to put successful women down.

Alexa play Everybody Supports Women by Sofia Isella ig

There's such a weird undertone of misogyny in a lot of the Suyin criticisms I see (and the lovely anons I get). And I don't wanna use that lightly because it feels like moralising fandom drama. But like at this point it feels so intense.