Guys this completely changed my writing, heed it. I often do an entire draft just looking at sentence variation and oftentimes the results are absolutely transformative in the difference.
This is very very good advice, and absolutely worth following. Read this. Read it again. Follow it. Your writing will get much, much better.
whenever i see this post i am like goddamn this is so true
listen to me carefully. a key part of toph’s arc is going from dismissing sokka outright bc he’s not a bender to thinking that he is the coolest person ever. you do not understand toph if you don’t get this.
(wanted to expand on this bc their relationship is so important to me)
#like I want to be clear I am not joking about this in the slightest #her relationship to sokka is so soo so important to her character #like her relationships w aang and katara and her parents and even iroh #are all very interesting and layered #but it is 100% sokka who catalyzes her personal growth who completely rearranges her soul #and her relationship to her own self worth #and toph is SO important to sokka in return #like she is his BEST FRIEND and that cannot be overstated enough #ugh. I just love them. I love their relationship #no one truly gets it. but I do <– my tags
i’ve talked before about the importance of toph’s vulnerability in terms of her disability and how letting sokka in, letting sokka take care of her and protect her and and carry her and see her cry is such an important step for her, but it’s also important specifically because toph has always wanted to be seen for who she is, and sokka more than anyone sees her so clearly, and that’s why she lets herself be vulnerable around him more than anyone else, because she knows that he knows her. and that kind of clarity cannot be one-sided, like it’s just as crucial to acknowledge that toph understands sokka as much as sokka understands toph, and her friendship is such a turning point for him, i think, because he’s never had someone who’s a part of the gaang who truly gets him before. like of course katara and aang love him, but they often dismiss him, they don’t understand him. and toph dismisses sokka too at first, but by the time they get to ba sing se they are like this 🤞🏼, and we see over the rest of the show how much happier having someone like toph around makes him (and compounded especially once suki joins the gaang post-boiling rock too). aang and katara found that profound connection and understanding and became best friends from the very first episode, but while sokka found people who understood him in suki and yue, he was only able to spend brief time with each of them, so he’s mostly very lonely as the odd one out in the group. and of course toph was extremely lonely until she meets the gaang. forging that understanding and connection and trust is so crucial for both of them, it’s everything actually. time and time again atla says you NEED healthy bonds, you need someone who loves you unconditionally and sees you for who you are, or you will inevitably fall apart trying and failing to sustain yourself without support (hence’s azula’s tragic breakdown). meaningful relationships, whether romantic and/or platonic and/or familial, are crucial to your growth and self-actualization. no one can do anything alone.
#Toph’s arc in general is allowing herself to be more vulnerable and trusting but sozin’s comet is the one that really drives it home #because she (understandably) has avoided any situation where she can’t use her bending at all/to help her see #and she trusts sokka so much and so completely that when her ENTIRE WORLD becomes just his hand holding her up. she trusts he won’t drop her #do you GET that? do you UNDERSTAND #she has no idea what’s going on and he asks her to trust him and she does with her LIFE #hands down one of my favorite moments for her in the WHOLE show because like. that moment is so emblematic of her growth #their friendship is so so important OKAY??? <– tags by @thelesbiansfromnextdoor
exactly!!! sozin’s comet is such a crucial culmination of their arcs and their relationships like it is truly not a coincidence that they are paired together in the finale, just like how it is completely intentional that it is zuko and katara (narrative mirrors from day one, finally coming together to fight side by side instead of against each other) facing azula together, or aang facing ozai alone (as the avatar, as the last airbender). like when i say their most important relationship is to each other, i don’t just mean that i love their chemistry and rapport, i mean that the narrative explicitly tells this to us. and the significance of toph’s arc culminating in being completely dependent on the person she loves most in the world and trusting him with her life without hesitation goes hand in hand with the significance of suki coming back and rescuing them as it pertain’s to sokka’s arc (but that’s for another post). toph trusts sokka to command her, to guide her, to protect her, to be her lifeline at the end of the world, and sokka holds onto toph with all he has. she’s his best friend, and he’s hers.
My whole life I struggled to gain my father’s love and acceptance. But once I had it, I realized I’d lost myself getting there. I’d forgotten who I was.
[ID: Four gifs of Guillermo del Toro in an interview. He says, “I think the sublime confusion is from 19 to 29. You think you are late for everything, you’re a has-been, nothing is happening, there’s no opportunity for you, the world is closed, everything is a disaster, you wanna die. And then you’re 30.” /end ID]
He once gave a class in Guadalajara and said “Ustedes los jóvenes están en la edad exacta de la desesperación. Yo nunca me sentí más acabado y viejo que a los veintitantos. Decía ‘ya me pasó la vida y no hice nada’. Pero estoy aquí para decirles que no: tienen un chingo de tiempo”
Which translates to “You young people are in the exact age of desperation. I never felt more done and old than in my twenties. I’d say ‘life has passed me by and i did nothing’. But i’m here to tell you that’s not true: you have a lot of fucking time”
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
ALT
