Gryffsposts - MashedFandom1 - Tumblr Blog

Toph: Oh, and about your nephew, maybe you should tell him that you need him, too.

Toph's conversation with Iroh is great both because of the similarities it points out between Toph and Zuko, the give and take in parent-child relationships, and the interplay of dependence and independence in relationships in general.

Iroh specifically points out that Toph is like Zuko, always trying stubbornly to do things on her own, to prove that she is capable. And both Toph and Zuko have a strong need to prove themselves because of the ways that they were mistreated by their respective families. Although Toph's parents loved her, they treated her like she wasn't capable of being independent because of her disability, and it's important to acknowledge that this is just as damaging to a child's self esteem as the outright rejection that Zuko was treated with.

Earlier in the episode we saw Toph become angry at Katara trying to get her to help the gaang with menial tasks, because being part of a group means sharing the work. Toph objects to this, saying that she carries her own weight, and therefore everyone else should, too. It's easy to see why Toph wants to be independent, because on one level she needs to prove that she is capable. That's what running away from her parents was all about. She doesn't want to rely on anyone, but this also means she can't let anyone else rely on her. Doing so means giving up her independence, because being part of a team means accepting the mutual give and take that is what Katara wants from her.

This is what Toph didn't get from her parents. Toph's parents wanted her to need them, to rely on them entirely, but they didn't understand that Toph wanted them to need her, too. Toph's relationship with her parents was one-sided because they forced her into a position of helplessness, to the point where she felt that they didn't love the person she was, they only loved the needy, disabled child they thought she was, and thought her incapable of giving anything back.

Toph later says that Katara is a mom for her in a way, and it's Katara who expects Toph to provide for the group as well as be provided for, who emphasizes the importance of being a team.

Children need their parents, but they also need to be needed. Zuko's father rejected him and he's spent three years trying to prove himself worthy, so that feeling of wanting to be needed is very strong in Zuko. Toph is in a position to understand that just from talking to Iroh, who talks to Toph about how he's been trying to help Zuko and feels like Zuko needs him, so he keeps on following Zuko, who does need Iroh even though he won't admit it, even though Zuko has at this point, rejected him in favor of striking out on his own and proving his independence.

But does Iroh need Zuko?

The best evidence for Iroh telling Zuko that he needs him is, I think, is right before Zuko leaves him in season one, to infiltrate the Northern Water Tribe, and he tells Zuko that since the loss of his son he thinks of him as his own. Then in "The Chase" we get the scene with Toph telling Iroh that he needs to tell Zuko that he needs him, and at the end of that episode, Iroh arrives to help Zuko in the fight against Azula, and ends the fight getting hit by Azula's fire and gravely injured.

We know how much Zuko needs Iroh because of his how devastated he is when Iroh is hit. Then we have more of Zuko being stubborn and independent and not wanting to accept help from the gaang when Katara offers it (although tbf these people are not his friends and it's understandable that he doesn't trust them.) And in the very next episode we see Zuko taking care of Iroh. So Iroh did need Zuko, although Iroh is also still in the parent role, advising and teaching Zuko even while injured. And while he is unconscious, Iroh dreams of Lu Ten, of the son he lost, which brings back the idea that Iroh needs Zuko because he couldn't help his own son.

We also see this idea in "Tales of Ba Sing Se" when we see Iroh helping out various strangers the way he helps Zuko, and ends his tale telling his lost son "if only I could have helped you."

Iroh never does tell Zuko outright that he needs him after his conversation with Toph. The closest that he comes is when he confronts Zuko underneath Ba Sing Se in "Lake Laogai," and this is one of the few times that Iroh yells at Zuko because he is so overcome with worry, not just with the path Zuko is following, but he references how Zuko almost died at the North Pole (again after leaving Iroh).

After that, I think Zuko does understand on some level what Iroh needs from him, and that's part of Zuko's book two arc. Zuko knows that Iroh wants him to be happy and safe and make good decisions, and so towards the end of book two we do see Zuko make an effort to be happy and supportive of Iroh and accepting of the life Iroh has tried to make for them in Ba Sing Se.

Of course, they end up separated again, this time on opposite sides, and Iroh's hurt is made clear and Zuko realizes not just how much he'd relied on Iroh in the past, but how much Iroh needed him and how much he had disappointed Iroh. When Zuko tearfully apologizes to Iroh it shows not only how much Zuko needs Iroh, but Iroh's forgiveness and confession that he was not angry, he only was worried that Zuko had lost his way, and how happy he was that Zuko came back to him, shows how much Iroh needs Zuko.

merlin in chainmail. That’s…that’s the whole post. Here you go.

“Fuck you my child is completely fine” your child kins Atsushi AND Dazai

(ง°`ﾛ°)งよっしゃぁぁ‼ DAZAI OSAMU

like or reblog

;don't repost ¡!

ANIME/MANGÁ: BUNGO STRAY DOGS

Kenji moodboard (if he was the one who made the moodboard)

the other ones

Atsushi moodboard (if he was the one who made the moodboard)

the other ones

Chuuya moodboard (if he was the one who made the moodboard)

the other ones

Dazai moodboard (if he was the one who made the moodboard)

the other ones

          “  the WEAK fear happiness itself. they can harm themselves on cotton wool. sometimes they are wounded even by HAPPINESS … ” 

- - Dazai Osamu, No Longer Human.

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𓈒 ﹒ ⟡ 𓂂 ˚ ⟡ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ i think i’ll take my whiskey neat,

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ my coffee black and my bed at 3 . . .

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ ⎯ you’re too sweet for me !

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ 𓈒 ﹒ ⟡ 𓂂 ˚ ⟡ ꙳ * ࣭ ࣭

“Mine has been a life of much shame. I can't even guess myself what it must be to live the life of a human being.”

Dazai Osamu | No Longer Human

"if you place yourself somewhere close to raw emotions, where your exposed to violence and death, instinct and desire, you can brush against man's true nature. i thought that way i could find a way to live somehow"

More art inspired by my recent trip to Europe. This one is based on the drowned church tower I saw in Italy. The village of Curon was flooded to create a hydroelectric plant in the 1950's and this tower is all that remains.

Closeup of the cats~

Here's a sneak peek of how I painted this. The full hours long video process will be DMed on my Patreon on Sept 5

The photo I took, it was raining so I did it really quick, you can even see my finger in the corner trying to cover the camera lol

MHA fanart by mangaka Ryosuke Takeuchi