r/TheLastAirbender • u/Xelewt • 1d ago
Comics/Books Nobody's perfect
Avatar: Lost Adventures, Boy's Day Out
267
u/Aiti_mh 1d ago
Almost a reference to Some Like It Hot
73
u/FirstRedBarrel 1d ago
I only realized this just now, it definitely feels like a reference to the ending of that movie
38
u/Fan_of_Avatar_TLA 1d ago edited 1d ago
Katara and Toph even go cross-dressing in this exact same comic to enter a restaurant in which girls aren't allowed!
12
4
825
u/Strawberrycocoa 1d ago
I've heard people say the comics manhandle the characterization, and I think I'm seeing here what they're talking about. Toph didn't hate her day out with Katara, she smiled when Katara said she looked nice. She wasn't keen on the pedicures but other than that she had a good time.
723
u/omnipotentmonkey 1d ago
but she's also definitely the type to later downplay how much she enjoyed something that doesn't fit her usual vibe
284
u/XVUltima 1d ago
Yeah she puts up a front. She just let the mask down for that one moment, this panel is business as usual
81
70
u/Aimcheater 1d ago
Yeah I don’t get how people miss that part of her character. She’s just shit talking here regardless that she enjoyed it 💀
61
15
20
u/CuriousLands 1d ago
Yeah I thought the same thing; Toph really enjoyed the day out and felt good about herself after it.
13
4
213
1d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
76
80
70
u/crownofdawn 1d ago
Nobody’s perfect, unless they’re Toph.
14
u/TheRealGeigers 1d ago
She yells out "I can't see you!" While the trumpets play out in the background 🎺
26
10
u/Suitable-Pirate-4164 1d ago
Oh you should've seen what it looked like when they were cleaning Tophs feet, you'd think she was giving birth with a face like that. Like the first 4 minutes of "Tales of Ba Sing Se".
8
5
26
1d ago
[deleted]
127
u/Behold_My_Beans 1d ago
It’s not sexism. She’s just not a very feminine person. That, coupled with being the strongest earthbender of all time contained in such a tiny frame, is the basis for her entire character
61
u/Bannon9k 1d ago
She's also a young child at this point. What does gender or sexuality matter when there's fun to be had. Which for her, was kicking the crap outta people.
36
u/throwaway47351 1d ago
And her starting point was being pushed into femininity by her parents and reacting to that by secretly doing the exact opposite. Like, of course she doesn't want to have someone else push her to explore her feminine side.
12
u/El_Chinche 1d ago edited 1d ago
the strongest earthbender of all time
She's definitely the strongest earth bender of her era but I don't know if I'd call her the GOAT. Definitely a contender though but Yun from the Kiyoshi novels might edge her out. And that's before he defeats and eats Father Glow Worm
9
u/TicketHead6432 1d ago
Yun is older,we would have to compare them at the same age. Toph still clearly progresses
5
u/godspeeding 1d ago
I mean, she was the first to metal bend, that's a pretty wild feat
7
u/El_Chinche 1d ago
Metal bending is more of a show of skill and not strength, which is still impressive don'tget me wrong, but there's a reason that Toph's first students are a bunch of low skilled misfits. To show metal bending isn't a rare skill only prodigies or highly skilled benders could do, it was something that could be taugh to anybody. Toph was a pioneer. Yun on the other hand could liquify earth without heat, fought and defeated Father Glowworm, one of the oldest most malevolent spirits ever, ate him and gained his powers, escaped the spirit world and fought and defeated 5 master benders at once, a group which included Avatar Kiyoshi
2
u/AutoRedialer 1d ago
i don’t know the content of who you are responding to, but I would argue that, if the comic doesn’t push back, it might be trafficking in misogyny. This is made more important since it’s a comic for young adults/teens. It’s not super sexist so there’s no need to be…hysterical, but it shouldn’t be the least bit surprising that some people clock it as problematic.
Think of if the original Sokka had said this in season 1. We know that Sokka gets a story where he makeup. We know that he gets schooled by Suki in flirting (I am a girl). Sokka, hopefully, get’s a balanced view of (cis/straight) feminity. IDK what the comics do with Toph but whatever.
I wrote all this from a hospital bed
60
u/Lunar_Canyon 1d ago
Toph is okay being a girl. She doesn't like being girly though.
27
u/PlayfulIndependence5 1d ago
Makes sense. I’m a man but I don’t go around acting super manly. I’m pretty comfortable being who I am
6
u/Ok-Temporary-8243 1d ago
She does sorta appreciate being a girl too. Part of the dissonance is that she's not conventionally attractive in the society she lives in because she's a tomboy
4
u/Veridas 1d ago
Would Toph know what "conventionally attractive" even means?
I think it's less about Toph's own opinions and the simple arithmetic of a child. Girly=bad, manly=good. Whether she actually believes it is irrelevant if everyone else seems to, and everyone does. So...
That or this is just Sokka giving off screen advice on "how to raise Kara's blood pressure in three easy steps" or something.
2
u/Ok-Temporary-8243 1d ago edited 1d ago
Yes. I should have caveated that I don't mean physically but a wealthy families daughter like that would have had to go through a ton of etiquette classes, probably moreso to "make up" for her disability.
For better or worse, it was probably made clear to her at a young age that there's a very narrow lens of behavior and hobbies than boys will find attractive and more than a few family members and acquaintances would have expressed disappointment at her for bucking expectations.
So I'm kinda theorizing here that toph rejects most feminine thjngs despite being a girl because she's been told she's failed at being a proper wkman
10
u/Marshmallowlolfurry 1d ago
Is this like actually a canon comic? Bc I feel it kinda feels out of character for toph to have that kind of sexism going, it definitely feels more like a fan interpretation than the toph we got in the show
48
u/ChessMaster893 1d ago
All of the comics have the fanfic feel, especially when it comes to characters
2
u/Fan_of_Avatar_TLA 1d ago edited 1d ago
This comic is canon and from The Lost Adventures. Made when the show was airing, written by the show's staff and originally published in Nickelodeon magazines.
People here in this subreddit should really stop trying to judge so much the character writing in the comics by short panels or a few pages out of context. That's not to say that there isn't problematic character writing in the comics, mainly in the trilogies, but people really should better than to make judgments without the full context of a story. You can easily make many moments of ATLA seem just as out-of-character as the ones people complain in comics if you ignore the context.
23
u/Killjoy3879 1d ago
it's not even sexist lol. Toph just doesn't care to come off as that feminine.
7
u/Ok-Apartment-8284 1d ago
But she’s not opposed to being feminine otherwise she’d just bolt out of the girl’s day out during Appa’s Lost Days. Her not wanting to conform to society’s view on femininity is more align on her being blind, not wanting to seek anyone’s approval because she can’t even see herself
1
-10
u/Marshmallowlolfurry 1d ago
Idk man, responding "nobody's perfect" to being told you are in fact a girl is kinda sexist, and also very different to how she is in show, she doesn't mind dressing up and looking pretty and she enjoys her girl's day out with katara and but doesn't see a reason to dress up when she can't appreciate it
3
u/StarryNight_7665 1d ago edited 1d ago
I feel like thats definitely a reach, theres plenty of ways to interpret that and this is just one of them. Personally I’m a trans guy, so I took it as a relatable moment from the perspective of someone AFAB who doesn’t necessarily feel fully in tune with it. Its all about perspective, and putting words into the mouths of people who meant no harm and caused no harm is a poor practice in general that does nothing but sow dissent and division.
-10
u/Marshmallowlolfurry 1d ago
My brother in Christ when was I putting words in someone's mouth?
1
u/StarryNight_7665 1d ago
Claiming Toph is being sexist when there is no evidence of intent towards that regard. Jumping towards labeling someone a bigot before actually confirming that those are the intentions just creates dissent and divides us. The people who wrote this comic very likely intended this to be a funny relatable comment, and I highly, HIGHLY doubt they were thinking of sexism in any regard. The comic isn’t hurting anyone. Leave it be and move on.
-6
u/Marshmallowlolfurry 1d ago
A fictional character, is not a person, I'm not "putting words in someone's mouth" I'm interpreting what a fictional character is saying
0
u/StarryNight_7665 1d ago
A human being wrote that comic. That human wrote this line with intentions as they did the entirety of the work. Yes, the line is stated by a fictional character, but that does not remove the human being behind it. You have no proof of ill intent or any actual harm done. What is the value in the argument then? All it does is create division. Let it be. If you’re that concerned about sexism, spend this energy on fights worth having where actual human beings are at risk. Dont waste time arguing about a comic book.
3
u/Marshmallowlolfurry 1d ago
I'm not saying that the author of the comic is a bigot though, I don't think making a misogynistic joke makes someone a bigot because everyone is prone to bad jokes, everyone is shaped by their environment, I never said there was ill intent, what I'm saying is making fun of smelling/acting like a girl is a joke that's making fun of women, what I'm saying is responding to "but you're a girl" with "Nobody's perfect" is a joke that frames being a girl as a flaw, for someone so upset at me for "putting words in someone's mouth" you sure seem to be putting a lot in mine
→ More replies (0)0
2
0
0
u/Fan_of_Avatar_TLA 1d ago
This comic is canon and from The Lost Adventures. Made when the show was airing, written by the show's staff and originally published in Nickelodeon magazines.
People here in this subreddit should really stop trying to judge so much the character writing in the comics by short panels or a few pages out of context. That's not to say that there isn't problematic character writing in the comics, mainly in the trilogies, but people really should better than to make judgments without the full context of a story. You can easily make many moments of ATLA seem just as out-of-character as the ones people complain in comics if you ignore the context.
2
-29
u/Xelewt 1d ago
It was just a joke. Why are you people so fragile?
5
2
u/Grabbioli 1d ago
It's just an observation. Why do you prefer to blindly consume media without thinking about it?
3
0
u/IAMATruckerAMA 1d ago
Might also be a girl vs. woman thing. She associates girly stuff with her restrictive childhood.
-4
4
u/reddituser6213 1d ago
Where is this comic in the timeline? This looks like it takes place during season 3 but that doesn’t make sense because why would you need a comic there when the show covers it
12
3
5
2
u/mike_litoris18 1d ago
Incredible reference to "some like it hot". An absolute must watch if you haven't already. It's an old classic with Marilyn Monroe, Tony Curtis and Jack lemmon. I always watched it in black and white but I'm sure the colorized versions doesn't take anything away from the original.
0
u/thedemigodgay 1d ago
FTM Toph omg
46
u/matellai 1d ago
she is a tomboy, enough with the erasure
1
-20
u/TGirlAltAccount 1d ago
Tomboy/femboy "erasure" is a psyop to justify transphobia. One joke comment about a panel of Toph showing disinterest in being feminine isn't erasure.
9
u/Not_MrNice 1d ago
Denying tomboys is transplying.
Honestly, how would you like it if someone made a joke that something you did didn't fit your gender and therefore you aren't your gender?
-6
u/TGirlAltAccount 1d ago
Never denied the existence of tomboys, I just said that the concept of tomboy/femboy erasure is a fabrication made to perpetuate hateful rhetoric about trans people. If you want to see actual erasure, look at the plethora of trans and nonbinary characters who are constantly misgendered or vehemently labeled as tomboys/femboys by the larger cis community.
And to answer your question, I already get jokes made towards me about the mismatch between my appearance and my gender, and while I do not often enjoy those kinds of jokes that is because I literally experience dysphoria over my masculine features and often those "jokes" are meant to be insulting and deprecating. It all depends on the context of the joke. That said, Toph herself does not seem to mind people making jokes about her masculine traits and even seems to like people thinking she is a guy, if her dialogue in the Ember Island Players is anything to go off of.
-20
1
-34
u/stupled 1d ago
I don't think she dislikes being a girl.
82
7
1.1k
u/Gemnist 1d ago
Well that explains it.