fieldtrip | Application (Folkmore)

★ Character Information ★

Character Name: Toph Beifong
Character Age: Newly 13
Character Species: Human
Current Health: Alive and in great health, just blind!
Outfit: She'll be wearing her outfit from the Promise, the follow-up comic series. Nothing special and no weapons included.

Character Canon: Avatar: the Last Airbender
Link to History: Fandom wikia page
Canon Point: Post-series and with a bunch of influence from the follow-up comics.
Canon Iteration: Original canon
Canon Iteration Explanation: N/A

★ Folkmore Roles & Attributes ★

Skills: Toph is a phenomenal hand-to-hand fighter and uses a form based on Chow Gar Southern Praying Mantis Kung Fu. Her other learned skills include lying, cheating, and pretending to be a helpless blind girl. She has very good (though not supernatural) hearing and never forgets a voice.

Canon Abilities: Toph is the most powerful earthbender in the world and maybe of all time. Earthbending is the manipulation of earth through martial arts, and she can actively sense vibrations in the ground. It's good for a wide range of things from fighting to construction to art. Her acuity is so good she developed the technique for metalbending, and overcame her difficulties with sand to learn sandbending. This also allows her to do some rudimentary lie detecting when speaking with others, though it's not too difficult to fool if the person has good emotional control of their physical reactions.

Role: Familiar

Role Qualities/Attributes: She is absolutely going to have badger-mole feet and she is going to love it. Beyond that, I am playing with the idea of her being able to develop some limited vision through learning her Familiar abilities, but I'm a bit torn since being blind is such a key aspect of her character. It might be an interesting source of character development if she has the right CR.

Role Reasoning: Toph is definitely a free agent who does things according to her own motives and is not dictated by a standard sense of morality, e.g., good or bad, right or wrong. She consistently will lie, cheat, and even steal to get what she wants, but at the same time she's a true, loyal friend to those she cares for. She would be a great example of a Familiar as she tends to be good at supporting others without getting swept up in their goals. She's also the definition of emotionally stable -- stubborn and patient as a rock, she might yell and shout but Toph never makes reckless decisions or gets carried away.

★ Personality ★

OPTION 2 QUESTIONS (PICK 4-5) 100-300 WORD LIMIT EACH:

What does your character feel like they struggle with still? Where could they improve? This could be physically, mentally, emotionally, or otherwise.

Toph still struggles with a few things. Part of being a powerful earthbender is being stubborn as a rock, being literally more immovable than the immovable element. When she makes a decision, she doesn't like to be questioned on it or made to second-guess it, and she has a very 'take it or leave it' attitude about other people. If they don't like her as she is, then she doesn't need them.

This means she has a hard time with interpersonal difficulties that carry more nuance. Notably, Toph is perfectly capable of self-reflection and understanding her own feelings; we see her open up several times in the series and even cry. But it takes a while to get to that point. Toph likes to pretend she doesn't need anyone and she's beyond everything, but when push comes to shove she's as emotional and squishy as everyone else, and she often does have to be shoved to get there. Learning how to acknowledge and express her own emotional needs, especially less aggressively, will be a major area of growth for her.

Is your character capable of forgiveness or will they hold a grudge until they die? Would anything ever make them change their mind?

Although Toph seems like the kind of person who would hold a grudge forever, she is actually quite forgiving. She will get back at people who offend her (see throwing Aang into a tree and demanding her Earth Rumble championship belt back, since he won it unfairly) but once the exchange is made, she's all set. She doesn't forgive immediately, and she doesn't hand it out freely, but if she thinks the person genuinely regrets it or has somehow already paid for what they did, she won't hold onto it.

Behind all the loud-mouthed rudeness, Toph has the spirit and personality of a martial arts grandmaster -- fitting since she ends up establishing a metalbending academy during the follow-up sequel comics. Toph insists that it be run as a free haven for any earthbenders who need a home, much like she once did, and refuses to charge tuition. She's patient, understanding, and often very sympathetic to others, no matter who they are or where they come from. She holds onto Iroh's words about Zuko from way back in mid season 2 until when he finally joins the group, and decides to give him a chance before anyone else really does. She even forgives Zuko for burning her feet, which is a pretty big offense for Toph. She's one person whose actions speak much louder than her words.

What is your character's safespace? When do they feel the most settled and comfortable? When do they feel confident and relaxed?

As sappy as it sounds - and she would try not to admit it - Toph feels safe and comfortable around the rest of the Gaang. Her canon friendships are truly her found family, and although she never fully lets go of her parents or stops wanting their approval, she immensely values feeling loved and accepted for who she is. Even when Katara makes her crazy acting like a mom, she appreciates it in a certain way, because it means Katara truly cares about her and not about an image of who she thinks she is.

We see Toph at probably her most relaxed when she's having tea with Iroh in season 2, a calm moment sharing something with a friendly, wise stranger during a time of distress. When given the chance, she really can show her quiet, patient side. Her natural state is truly listening.

There's of course also the obvious, that Toph feels safest on good solid ground. Flying and being on the ocean both unnerve her because it removes her from her element and makes her vulnerable. Toph is used to being a force of nature, and is seriously uncomfortable being out of that context. That being said, even in those circumstances, she feels she can depend on her friends to guide her through those situations, and she trusts them completely.

What would your character sacrifice to get what they want or to reach their potential? What have they sacrificed already?

Toph has already sacrificed her family's approval, position in society, and life of luxury to live out the life she wants. Despite her exterior confidence, that was a hard decision. We see several times that it still hurts her that she doesn't feel accepted by her family or by others, and however much she pretends that doesn't matter to her - like a typical teenager - it does. She still hopes her parents will come around and accept her for who she is. Even if she doesn't want to live in the privileged cage they made for her, they're still her parents and she loves them.

That being said, once she made her decision, she stuck to it and didn't regret it. Toph isn't naturally a bleeding heart looking to save the world, but she is looking for adventure and ways to challenge herself. She doesn't like resting on her laurels, and any time she's presented with a limitation, she faces it head on, like in learning metalbending and sandbending. Toph sticks to her guns and isn't afraid to take risks, break the rules, give up a comfortable life and live on the run, or lose the people she loves to achieve her potential.

★ Player Information ★

Player Name: Liv
Pronouns: She/her
Are you over 18?: Yes
Contact(s): Plurk: chirality, Discord: whiskeyqueer
Who Invited You?: Link!
Current Characters: None
Permissions: Here
Writing Samples: Here on the TDM!