As Toph gets older, Eggers finds himself having to navigate a confusing dynamic. On the one hand, Toph is responsible enough to be on his own and independent enough to have his own plans, freeing Eggers to pursue a more active social life. On the other hand, he can’t fully adopt an active love life, since doing so would still require him to have more autonomy than he actually has. As such, he finds himself torn between two poles, still straddling his life as a guardian and as a young “twentysomething.”