#Toph Critical

[allgremlinart]

honestly I love Toph in tlok but my defense of her characterization would come off as Toph slander I think. Like, they didnt write her as a cop because she's the rich elite and a little close-minded and stubborn and emotionally crippled by her ego and cares more about proving herself in every way possible than facilitating any societal change, they made her a cop cus it was 2012 and they were white liberals and its all they could think of I guess BUT. It fits.

[innocentimouto]

Some atla opinions that I feel like have been explained in old posts

Aang supported, respected, and comforted Katara throughout the series.

The first one to ever trust or help Zuko was Aang.

Everyone in the Gaang did chores, not just Katara.

Katara comforted many characters, not just Aang.

Appa should have been afraid of Zuko.

Sokka is not a good judge of character.

Sokka should have been the one to go with Katara to face Yon Rha.

Toph is bratty.

Toph didn't care about the war.

Haru showed a lot of hatred for the Fire Nation.

Hahn was a missed opportunity. And so was every ek kid.

Katara was the only normal one for not trusting Zuko.

There are more pros than cons in keeping Jet alive for the plot.

Jet was a great leader.

All the Freedom Fighters were fine with flooding the village.

Ty Lee can be cruel.

Mai was friends with Azula, willingly.

Suki deserved more development.

Jin should have gotten the chance to confront Zuko over Ba Sing Se.

Teo should have made plans with Sokka.

Hakoda should have praised Katara for her bending.

Hakoda should have been able to fight in the finale.

The White Lotus made a lot of characters look worse.

The only actions Zuko regretted were the ones against Iroh.

Zuko was fully prepared to capture Appa and use him as bait by any means necessary (ie firebending).

Iroh is a hypocrite.

Azula was abused.

Azula lost many times.

Bloodbending isn't evil.

Book 3 was rushed.

[atla-confessions]

Iroh, Toph Zuko are the most overrated and overhyped characters on the show.

Iroh is not all powerful or all wise. His character just isn’t that interesting either.

Toph loses 6/10 of someone gets her feet or she’s fighting someone who’s agile

And I’m tired of 99 percent of fics being about Zuko. We get it, he had a sad backstory so does everyone else let’s keep it pushing,

X

[transformers0]

Look at this guy on Twitter saying that the other members of Team Avatar should have accepted Zuko as easily as Toph did.

Dude needs to learn that the real world does not work like that.

He's also even trying to say that Toph's attitude is fine and is justified by her parents' treatment of her.

[sh3nlong-promakh0s]

Toph was such an asshole to Korra in LOK s4 omfg

Her low empathy ass pissed me tf off but anyway ig that's pretty fitting for her character. Me out here just thinking CAN EVERYONE PLEASE GIVE KORRA A BREAK WTFFFFF SHE WAS DISABLED AS ALL FUCK FROM THAT WACK ASF METAL POISON FOR THREE YEARS AND HAD HER BENDING SEVERELY COMPROMISED AS A RESULT ALL IN THE NAME OF SAVING EVERYONE HOW THE FLYING FUCK WOULD YOU FEEL?!?!!? SHES JUST TRYING TO GET BETTER FOR EVERYONE ELSE DNDJSJSJ anyway

[piperslovebot]

Summary: Aang, Sokka, and Katara have a talk after Toph leaves

Fix-it that takes place during The Chase.

[zuko-always-lies]

What are overlooked flaws of Toph

Well, if we only want talk about the negatives, Toph is arrogant, obstinate, and spoiled. She's easily angered and quick to violence. She has little respect for social and legal rules, and expects others (and the universe) to conform to her wishes; this in part derives from her immense class privilege. She is quick to insult others. Although loyal to her friends, she doesn't have the strongest sense of morality. Generally, she's not the sort to think things through before swinging into action, and this also can be a flaw. She's the sort of person who would quickly get on most people's nerves if they had to spend time with her.

Also, she probably condemned two men to horrible deaths by sealing them in a metal box and then abandoning them in the middle of nowhere.

In conclusion, Toph acts like a typical twelve year old.

[transformers0]

With Toph, Katara prioritizes much more childlike things, like having the last word in an argument, and whether her friends think she’s cool, and laughing in a day spa, and petty revenge. Only Toph can drag Katara down to her level of immaturity and I think that’s beautiful

Yeah...

I don't consider that "beautiful" or good.

”Aang is the one who reminds Katara to be a kid” PUT SOME RESPECT ON TOPH’S NAME!!! Toph brings out Katara’s inner child, not the sunshine rainbow flower crown inner child, but her internal gremlin. Her pettiness and violence and self-centered mischief. Aang is a ride-or-die friend sometimes, but when they’re together, Katara’s priorities are always 1) the state of the world and 2) Aang himself. Like she can be playful but she’s never really distracted from her sense of responsibility.

With Toph, Katara prioritizes much more childlike things, like having the last word in an argument, and whether her friends think she’s cool, and laughing in a day spa, and petty revenge. Only Toph can drag Katara down to her level of immaturity and I think that’s beautiful

[spop-romanticizes-abuse]

i don't often talk about atla by itself here unless i'm comparing it to spop, but there's something i've been meaning to talk about.

i hate how the fandom reduced Toph to “chaotic murder child” when she's clearly so much more than that.

the thing that especially pisses me off is when fans act like Toph is reckless and stupid, when her WHOLE DEAL is that she's extremely observant and patient when it comes to fighting.

this is what set her apart from other earthbenders, she doesn't just use brute strength to win fights. she concentrates on the sound and vibrations, and she waits for the perfect moment to strike. this was the main reason WHY Toph was one of the best earthbenders.

and the fandom acknowledges that she's the best, but somehow doesn't seem to realize WHY she's the best, when it was practically spelled out for us. Toph isn't the best because she's super strong or muscular, she's the best because she crafted her own form of earthbending that utilizes patience and attention to detail. how do people not understand this?

[lilbagdermole]

It's common knowledge that Zuko and Aang, throughout the duration of ATLA, are a mirror of one another; a reflection of each other - not necessarily opposites but parallels.

So whilst I was analyzing the finale of the show, I noticed a really interesting parallel between our two protagonists:

Zuko was close to dying in his final confrontation with Azula and what pulled him back up, what saved him from dying was water. More necessarily Katara's healing abilities - but nonetheless, his opposing element saved his life.

On the other hand, Aang throughout his harrowing fight against Ozai utilizes Earthbending time and time again to save himself, techniques that we've come to associate with Toph (rock armor and seismic sense). And to access the Avatar State, that had since been blocked, Earth had been the ultimate catalyst to unlocking his Seventh Chakra.

And if we take into consideration what Guru Pathik told Aang - to unlock the Seventh Chakra he would have to let go of Katara. In a sense, this could have been a visual representation of how Aang lets go of his love for Katara, and how Toph (Earth) could take up that role.

Earth, his opposing Element, saves his life.

It's also interesting that our protagonists' conclusions and destinies are integrally tied to the aforementioned girls. Destiny and Fate are two major themes in ATLA, alonside the moral lesson shared to us by Uncle Iroh about the unity of the four elements and how each element can learn and grow from the other.

Zuko's destiny to bring honor to Fire Nation whilst also challenging his conflicting natures (Sozin vs. Roku; Ozai/Azula vs. Iroh) would have never come into fruition had it not been for Katara. Katara was the first person (other than his Uncle) to show him genuine compassion and humanity, she was the first person to glimpse into his true, kind and gentle nature. Additionally, had she not fought alongside Zuko to defeat Azula and save his life, he would have never been able to step up to the Throne and fulfill his destiny. Thus Katara is linked and bound to Zuko's destiny.

Aang's destiny was to restore peace to the world and end The One Hundred Year War. The Aang we meet during Book One - is timid and soft, a strong bender and with limitless potential, but he lacked the confidence, the back-bone, the grounding to step-up to his duties as the Avatar and defeat Ozai. Katara coddled him and never challenged him to look beyond himself. It's only after meeting Toph does Aang begin to confront his opponents with a different viewpoint, he gains a certain matureness in himself and suddenly we see him step up into his role and responsibilities. Toph's Earthbending not only saves him from death but it also gave him the strength to face his destiny. Thus, Toph is linked and bound to Aang's destiny.

It would have tied a lot of unexplored themes as well as provide a more satisfying conclusion (Aang entering the Avatar State because he followed through with Guru Pathik's lessons instead of pointy rock triggers it) and it would have been cohesive with the narrative thematic of ATLA.

I'm still astonished at how badly Bryke fumbled the bag with their romantic sub-plots. 🗿

[innocentimouto]

Be honest, would you call Toph a bad teacher?

Yeah I would.

I don't take issue with her being a rougher teacher than Katara (doesn't work for me personally but I get it works for some), but she was beyond the point for me. I don't know if the show wanted us to treat her crazy handling of Aang's staff as a joke, but it never sat well with me.

I think that's just a point of her being uninformed and rich. She probably only saw it as being a concern for Aang since it was his property, but didn't truly understand how important it was (she does seem to later on in Book 3)

In my opinion, she gave up on Aang too quickly. He does everything she demands and then the ONE TIME he can't, she dismisses him entirely. Suddenly if he can't do this, he can't do anything. He might as well not earthbend at all. She doesn't bother to find a way around it. She doesn't consider he may not have been ready because of HER.

She leaves him to figure it out on his own and then completely endangers Sokka.

Aang did need to learn to accept failure, and no one will really hold your hand in war, but Toph had no patience with him in the end. Which is in character for her. Just wish it was recognized.

[transformers0]

Seriously, people shit on Aang and Katara for hurtful stuff they say when they're at their most lowest, angry, and stressed.

But Toph being a shithead ON PURPOSE just because she can?

That shit is a-okay?

Fuck that, and fuck Toph.

(Reblogged this again because I wanted to leave this unfortunate observation with fandom bias.)

i can’t imagine any other atla character (whether it’s the gaang or the dangerous ladies) get away with some of the stuff that toph or zuko say. sokka could (he’s another fan favorite) but people still drag him for his sexism but it’s also very mild and tired so yeah….

[atla-confessions]

Hi!, I am the one who says I dislike Toph, and this is just to say that I thought this blog was for confession, and you would be rebloging as you receive it... but I see you add shit to my comment and tag it as an antiang, when the right is antitoph.

And talking about "Aang disrespecting others culture", do you really watch the serie?, because wow, Aang is the one who is always adapting to others, even in the way to bow.

And if you consider comics are shit, okey, okey, can we talk about the shit of aptitud Toph has in the second book?, I suppose you will respond saying that "she is just 12 and had a hard childhood", so do Aang!, and he lose all his people but not He is the bad.

I asume this won't be publish and if it's, will be changing like the other one, so that's give an idea the kind of person you are, ahh, just like Toph demanding respect to her opinion but not respecting others.

Bravo

Idk why you don’t think this would be published. The one that was tagged with anti Aang was a response from a different anon. I didn’t add the anti Aang tag to your original post about toph. I did tag yours as anti toph.

[transformers0]

A potential hot take, personally speaking, but I feel that Toph's lie-detecting ability is too much of an overpowered ability to the point that it feels convenient when it works and makes things easy for herself or the team, or if it fails at the worst possible time (and it feels like the writers have to mandate it).

Girl probably shouldn't have had that ability in the first place. She's already too stacked.

Also, personally speaking again, Toph does not have enough character growth or mastery over her behaviour to justify being so powerful at such a young age.

It's overpowered crap like this that makes me SO glad that other prodigy characters such as Po from the Kung Fu Panda movies can still get his ass kicked by villains or allies (in spite of his good heart and strong will).

And in the case of Anakin Skywalker, Toph's ridiculous memetic fandom that hails her as a nigh-unstoppable badass and worships the very ground she walks on makes me appreciate that Anakin on the other hand was NOT granted the rank of master, because, in the words of Obi-Wan from the Revenge of the Sith novel, "How can you be a Jedi Master when you have not mastered yourself?"

[jahtrashh]

You all could never make me hate aang, katara, sokka, toph, zuko, jet, suki, mai, ty lee, or azula. You can however make me hate you though.

[yourhighness6]

Is Katara "Motherly"? - The Discourse

The whole "is Katara motherly" discourse is a little annoying to me because for one thing its impossible to deny that in canon she acted motherly towards Aang, Sokka, and Toph, with Sokka even saying at one point when he thought of his mother Katara's was the face that came to mind.

But the other problem is that this fits into the shows themes so perfectly of children being thrust into adulthood and enormous amounts of responsibility too easily because of war and the subsequent (or end goals of) genocide, cultural genocide, and colonization. Katara's motherly characteristics are of the show's own making, they're right there in the text and their there for a reason, and although they weren't given enough attention as they should have been, there is no doubt that this is treated as, not exactly a tragedy, but as something bad and debilitating to Katara and her teenagerlike need to goof around with her friends.

But for whatever reason, the fandom seems to think that this characterization is fan made. Katara is supposedly forced into a motherly role by the fandom, particularly the zutara fandom, when in reality it is the show that does this to her. And the whole idea of momtara and dadko is that Katara doesn't have to be the mom anymore. She doesn't have to be the one solely responsible for the chores and the cooking and the emotional labor. She has a partner, and equal, who is willing to put forth the time and energy to assist her in what she feels obligated to do, and to tell her to go sit down sometimes before she burns herself out.

Could the other kids besides Zuko do this? Of course. But as we've already established, everyone in the gaang besides Suki shoves Katara into a motherlike role. Is this their fault? It's hard to say. Toph at least has a heart-to-heart with Katara about it, and Sokka's idea of her as a mother largely stems from trauma.

But my significant problem with Katara's motherly traits comes with the fact that there is no real closure to that arc in the "Runaway". Toph and Katara talk mostly about Toph's parents, and Toph tells Katara that she thinks she is capable of having fun. But other than that, there's nothing. The boys don't have to come to terms with the fact that Katara does not want to be seen (solely) as motherly or put in that position. Instead, the show gives us a few colorful explosions and subtlety implies that it is a little bit Katara's fault that she is seen that way. But again, that's not the fault of the zutara fandom or a reason the trope of momtara and dadko is problematic. It seeks to acknowledge these character traits in Katara, which a lot of kat@angers refuse to do, and give her a way to work past the trauma that caused them and help her adjust to a more healthy amount of stress and pressure on herself for a kid her age.