Quicksilver, Iroh? I can't really say you're that. You're too rooted-in fact, you have too much earth. Mercury is a metal, but it's a fire-water-air stuff. It's light and prone to escaping. And killing horribly, but that's another matter. Mm.

I rather liked what you did with Iroh and Lu Ten. And Iroh's relationship with his father. The unresolved point of Lu Ten's mother was dealt with nicely. You seem to have added an extra generation to the line of Sozin which common sense suggests but 'The Avatar and the Firelord' disallows. Now that you mention it, Azulon probably was only borderline competent, by that family's standards anyway. Would explain the /relatively/ minor progress of the war of conquest between the genocide and the five years of Ozai's reign.

Neat conceit with the metals. I rather wondered what Zuko was going to turn out to be made of, since Iroh was steel-not-steel.

what an interesting first chapter and it complements the heart and themes of it's source

I really liked this story. Iroh is a personal favorite of mine, and your perception of his character was very nice. I thought the metal metaphors were rather clever and quite fitting.

Very interesting. I do not fully agree with you concerning Iroh's self-perception of himself as being steel, but you give a very interesting and well-thought out explanation of Iroh's thought process. enough so that while I disagree with you, I respect your opinion. Good work.

Elsil

P.S.

The reason why I disagree with you over Iroh being steel is because steel breaks. It is hard, and it can become brittle and broken. True strength does not necessarily come from being hard, for one must also know when to bend. It seems to me that in the series, Iroh knew how to bend and when to stand his ground. This was also something that he often tried to pass on to Zuko, which is similar to how you ended this story.

A wonderful story,very well check out some of my storiies on Iroh, such as "The elderly Smith" and " How I Learned To Laugh".You may find we have very similar has been a true pleasure.

Squee.

I am glad that my comments inspired you. I really have fallen in love with your metaphor.

Yay! That was good..I liked the extended metaphors stuff.

Brilliant idea. I love how you compared Iroh to steel and used steel to compare things that I had never thought of. I never thought of steel being something that shined brightly. I also like how you mentioned about the fire making him strong; that was very clever.

I don't quite see how Ozai could be gold though. I mean, gold is unreactive and soft. Ozai has a very 'reactive' temper and is anything but soft.

His son was bronze, the ancient warrior’s metal - I like the idea. I don't now much about bronze though so I can't same anymore.

Zuko was iron - sad thing about iron - iron rusts.

...Wow, that's just amazing.

I really, really enjoyed this fic, and part of it gave me an idea for a story that as i started typing its general outline up in one big mashed paragraph it started to go wild and got longer and longer... (Long story shorter, it's going to be four parts if i can find the will in me to type all of it up and post it.)

I have now saved it onto a file on my computer so that i can read it whenever i get the inkling as well.

I can't wait to read more of your fics!

And just a few questions though:

What, praytell, was Ozai's wife's metal? She had to be something very strong and yet soft in its own right for her kindness.

And the other Q, what was Iroh's wife's metal? Just curious.

Other than that, there's really nothing to ask, except if Iroh ever faced down Boomy in all his battles before. But that's not really relevant to the ficlet.

Oh, and cause i like too, (Warning, it's long this time around)

...ahem...

Once you were warm,

Strong and still.

Nothing could touch you with its chill.

Harmful though the rays of the sun,

That beat upon you until you were done.

Once you were cold,

Drowning in heat.

A memory present that you cannot beat.

Wearing away at your shields,

And no matter how strong,

Against time, nothing lasts long.

And once you were blazing,

A fire holding your core,

And you found that the cold could not hurt you anymore.

Hope burned in your breast/chest, (Either or)

And burned bright it did,

Liquid metal, is what now held you from within.

Touched by many different kinds of wounds,

Fate, you know, can be so cruel.

But touched also by different hands of fate,

You find it so hard to simply hate.

Liquid steel cannot break, no matter how it may bend,

Even against a fragment of wind.

Now the metal you have become,

Has found a life in your newest ‘son’

Hold him tightly, while his flames burn brightly,

Hold him dear out of fear,

Hold him close when his flames would become nothing more than smoke.

Teach him what it means to live,

So that his dented metal can heal and give,

Life to the flame that you hold so dear,

Life to the hope that flows through each single tear.

You can heal him,

It’s not too late.

Set things right,

Back to their perfect state.

This is your chance,

This is your choice,

Can you make the difference?

It's all for you to find out.

It's all in your choice.

An ode to Iroh, (However corny that may be) and to this ficlet.

I hope you write some more soon! (-peers upwards- man, that's sad. My poem is longer than the other half of my review. -sighs and shakes head- oh well, not like i can help it)

Bye!

Well written and good characterization of Iroh. You should write many more fanfics like this one.

A lovely introspection.

I dearly adore your Fire Family pieces, it is fasinating to read about. Your strongest point is your detailed use of allegory.

Perfect for Iroh and perfectly handled by you. Most other writers would have let it crumbled to pieces by paragraph one.

Sidenote on Zuko's metal: Mercury, or quicksliver, acts like a liquid and is highly conductive to heat. In the ancient China, India and Tibet, mercury use was thought to prolong life, heal fractures, and maintain generally good health. Alchemists often thought of mercury as the first matter from which all metals were formed and that you could transform mercury into any metal from purest gold on down.

simply magnificent.

your writing burns brightly with the wisdom of the sun, oh great author person.

What a beautiful and well written piece. Nice job!