clarke

the sky is tumblr

[clarkefaded]

The Symbolism Behind Toph’s Hair

in Avatar the Last Airbender, we find a lot of hair symbolism representing the different characters their arcs, personality and development. we see a naive Katara through season 1 and 2 with tightly woven hair, developing into a wise, young woman with lose, wavy hair who has traveled the world, experiencing the damage the war has brought. we see Azula’s descent into madness: from a perfect haircut for a perfect prodigy child to a horribly, messy knot and a bad cut pony for a madwoman. another example is Iroh and Zuko cutting off their top knots (ponytail for Zuko), meaning they’ve abandoned the Fire Nation and that they reject their homeland and it’s culture. there are many more examples to be named, but something everyone seems to miss out, is the hair symbolism behind Toph Beifong, the little blind girl who ran away from home to help the avatar learn earthbending; the little blind girl who turned out to be a monstrous force to be reckoned with.

Toph her signature hairstyle is a big knot-like style to keep her long hair in place, a hairband and a few strands of hair from under the band out, covering her face. though this is how we see her most of the time, after her appearance as the Blind Bandit introduction we find her at her home with a slightly different style:

daddy’s little blind girl has a much neater style, a smaller knot-like thingy, and her signature hair strands neatly tucked away. the whole time the Gaang stays at the Beifong estate, we see Toph with this style.

during dinner, Aang keeps poking Lao Beifong (Toph’s dad) about Toph’s amazing earthbending skills. as a response, Toph keeps trying to have Aang shut up by kicking him with subtle earthbending from under the table. Lao, naive as he is, continues suggesting Toph isn’t that great at earthbending (because of her blindness). Toph’s behaviour during this scene suggests that she doesn’t want her dad to know about her master earthbending skills and her secret life as a bending wrestling champion. this is backed up by her visiting Aang’s bedroom to call a truce and have a chat in the garden about herself.

she tells Aang that though she’s blind, she’s never had trouble seeing. she sees with her earthbending. she loves bending and being an earthbender, but her dad doesn’t understand. he sees her as a little, helpless, fragile, blind girl. that’s why Toph secretly became the Blind Bandit.

see the hair? it’s not the same neat style with the strands tucked away.

as the Blind Bandit, Toph is really free to be herself. here in this scene with Aang, she’s able to show who she really is, unlike when she’s with her parents. the loose strands of hair are symbolic for Toph her true self, her being free to express herself and being free from her parents’ expectations. the strands are tucked away around her parents because she has to tuck away her skills as a bender, her wish for friends and freedom, and the sassy queen she is.

it’s a minor thing that’s not really noticeable since we see the biggest switch-up only once (twice if you count Aang’s swamp vision). the symbolism however does not end here.

in S3E7 The Runaway, Toph, Sokka and Aang decide to go scam people so they can get more money. despite Katara’s warnings, the squad keeps scamming to the point where Toph gets a bounty on her head. Katara finds out and points out to Toph that she only behaves like this because of her parents. Toph gets mad, but later admits Katara was right.

the moment the scamming peaks in frequency, we see Toph with her hair like this: a lot of loose strands, longer than usual, almost covering her whole face and her eyes.

in her argument with Katara, it’s also styled like that

this symbolism suggests that her sense of freedom from her parents has gotten out of hand, to the point where it’s clouding her own judgement (the hair nearly covers her whole face and her eyes). she’s abusing the fact that her parents can’t control her, nor punish her for her behaviour. the moment she realizes she was in the wrong (about the scamming and her feelings towards her parents) and she apologizes to Katara, her hair is back to normal; Toph stays true to herself, but doesn’t let her freedom from and feelings towards her parents cloud her judgement any longer.

toph’s hair shows the state of her personal feeling of freedom and how she deals with that freedom. neatly tied hair when she’s with her parents where she has no control over het own life, to ultra messy hair for too much freedom while she’s provoking the law as the Runaway. 

[herebeatla]

"I don't like energybending because it was handed to Aang and he got it immediately without practicing" didn't y'all listen to what the Lion Turtle said. Didn't y'all have your brain cogs move the bare minimum to understand that energybending is a reward and Aang can use it because it's already a skill he has and has worked for it the whole goddamn show.

"Your own spirit must be unbendable" is what the Lion Turtle said. Aang saying "fuck you I'm not doing that" to any and all who insisted he fucks over his culture and just kills a guy perpetuating the cycle of violence is Aang refusing to bend himself to the will and spirit of others while further strengthening his own. Y'all keep saying Aang didn't change through the show but Book 1 Aang would never have been able to energybend. A backbone is what you need for energybending and I reckon y'all love saying Toph gave Aang one. Spiritual power is what you need for energybending and the Air Nomad Avatar who can summon his past lives at will at 13yo is gonna fuck anyone over with spiritual power. Being raised an Air Nomad gave Aang an advantage–the pacifist culture that the aggressors tried to wipe out and its sole survivor defended tooth and nail was a fundamental of the energybending that took down the boss aggressor and that is poetic justice. Purity of mind and soul is what you need for energybending and the guy who doesn't hold a grudge against the fucking Fire Nation people after their ancestors wiped out his pacifist people and says things like "there's good and bad in everyone" and repeatedly saves the guy who's been trying to capture him and drag him to be locked up in horrible conditions forever, now that guy can energybend.

The bridge between worlds, divine medium descended upon the earth, who has shared dreams with his bonded animal guide, gets half hypnotized while looking at the statue of his past life, has a vision of his loved one while surrounded by cosmic energy, that has animals hollering at the sky and giants beams of light projected to the heavens when he is awakened by a magic century long slumber, that guy can go meditate and project an unconscious call for help and a huge mystical creature that knows ancient secrets of bending can seek him out and make him sleep walk to it and then talk to him and say "hey guess why y'all can bend elements it's because once upon a time you could bend energy inside yourselves and if you're strong enough you can take control of someone else's energy" that's what the Lion Turtle said. And if y'all really are this prickly about plot and structure then perhaps at least once you've got to have wondered why some people are able to bend and how, like what's under it, and perhaps you've come to the conclusion that they're able to control chi in other things and manipulate it–bend it. Like waterbender healers can heal. Chi. Energy. Energybending is another word for peoplebending.

Energybending and Lion Turtles were a plot twist with foreshadowing but oh would you look at that plot twists are something that the audience could at most suspect and at best be surprised by, looking back at the show and recognizing the hints. Having every small detail handed to you isn't good writing, it means the creator thinks you're stupid and can't get it.

Seriously if any of you consider energybending and Lion Turtles a cheap cop out after one and a half decade of opportunities to think about it and a nauseating amount of meta circulating that explains it, then don't come interact with me, I don't trust myself to have the patience to not call you an idiot.

[clarkefaded]

Aang's arc to energybending is the single most important thing in the series. he is a human who is supposed to be a god to the world. he doesn't want to be, but he fulfills his duty. and he does it his way.

Aang's arc is about a human becoming a god while staying true to his humanity. for him, being a human is treating everyone like they're worth a chance, respecting all lives, forgiving but not forgetting. that's his nature, and his culture.

the moment he gets punched in the face with the fact that he's the last of his people, the weight of responsibility doubles for him. not only is he supposed to bring back balance to the world, he also has to uphold the legacy of his people. that legacy is the only thing that's left from his home, the people he loved and the people that loved him dearly. it's his identity.

then everyone tells him to let go of his identity. he's the avatar, a god for all nations, not just the Air Nomads, he has to give up on their legacy for the sake of the world.

but Aang refuses.

he refuses to give up on his people. Aang understands the importance of keeping the Nomads' legacy alive. once he gives in to the call for a violent end, the Air Nomads would be gone for good, throwing the world out of balance even further. and not only the world. Aang would've lost himself and his whole identity. he'd be the god he never wanted to be, and that'd be tragic. we know him as a goofy, wise and lovable kid, we had known him like that for the entire duration of the show, but all that arc would be thrown out if Aang ended up killing the Fire Lord.

Aang understood that too.

killing the Fire Lord was unacceptable. he'd settle for any solution as long as it wasn't murder. his friends made clear to him that murder was the only viable option to them in his eyes. he wanted his own past lives to justify his mindset, and when they didn't, he flat out rejected them and their wisdom. he stood his ground against the world to keep his humanity and the legacy of his people.

Aang's entire arc was built on being able to energybend. he has learnt to stay true to himself and to his people. how to be a god, but as a human. his backbone grew forth out of the fact that he IS the avatar; though the Air Nomads aren't physically there anymore, Aang still does have a duty them as the avatar.

some might argue that the lion turtle and his gift of energybending was Deus Ex Machina, but that's not true. Deus Ex Machina would be a last minute resort. Aang would've taken Ozai's bending without encountering the lion turtle on screen. energybending was a plottwist that had been built up since the very beginning. it's the only ending for the show and Aang's arc that was acceptable.

[clarkefaded]

is it me, or does this woman wear the same clothes as S3 Toph?

[clarkefaded]

guys guys i found out how Zuko survived the explosions in S1E18!!1!1

remember how Azula fended off the Gaang's attack with the use of a fire shield?

this isn't the first time in the show this technique is used. Zuko actually used it before to absorb/fend off the power of the explosion.

the royal siblings are out there surviving deadly attacks using fire shields

[clarkefaded]

okay but hear me out

what if lavabending is a subgenre of earth that can only be obtained if an earthbender has fire nation genes, since lava is a combination of fire and earth

the avatars Szeto, Kyoshi and Roku were all known lavabenders, displaying lavabending while having mastered all the elements (and therefore being able to bend fire and earth; the very things lava consists of). Bolin has without doubt fire nation genetics, since his mom is fire nation (Mako is a firebender, duhhh...). since the skill is (quoting Toph) very rare, lavabending being an odd genetic trait would be a viable theory.

I'm not sure about Ghazan's genetics, but i think he actually might have fire nation genes. maybe a parent or so. it might be far-fetched, but Ghazan's facial structure and eye-shape feel more like fire nation than earth kingdom.

i would also like to mention that Ghazan basically wears Zuko's ATLA season 3 outfit, but in a more earth kingdom fashion. it's not really an argument, but it's a fun detail.

besides the appearance, Ghazan was always willing to go all-out despite the lethality of his powers. he was a prideful and merciless in combat, or in Azula's words: an earthbender, but with a killer instinct that is so firebender

and if it's true that Ghazan was raised by an older sister, maybe he too had lost his parents to a firebender when he was 8. overall it'd be a cool parallel to Bolin.

[clarkefaded]

catra: making my way downtown

catra: walking fast

kyle: hi catra!

catra: walking faster.

[clarkefaded]

adora and catra: 3... 2... 1... HAPPY NEW YEAR!! [starts kissing]

bow: guys it's not even midnight yet please stop making out every time the microwave goes off

[clarkefaded]

catra, rummaging through her clothes: hey, what should i change into for the party?

glimmer, from across the hall and beyond two doors: a better person.

[clarkefaded]

okay but can we talk about the fact that the writer for the Ember Island play followed the Gaang all around the world, and interviewed numerous people who saw them, interacted with them and even fought with them, meaning that the latter group described Toph as a 6ft tall jock buff guy who could smack the everliving shit out of anyone because they didn't want to admit they got beaten up by a teeny tiny blind 12-year old girl