[nick / name]: Lys
[personal LJ name]: ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
bringmepie[other characters currently played]: Father Abel Nightroad :: Trinity Blood:
whofelltoearthAuron :: Final Fantasy X ::
delightfulironyNatsu Dragonil :: Fairy Tail ::
imusteatitSon Gohan :: Dragonball Z ::
satancompelsSumimura Masamori :: Kekkaishi ::
stillwaterrunUrahara Kisuke :: BLEACH ::
vivememorleti[e-mail]: lysandra.sylier@gmail.com
[AIM / messenger]: pochirabume, y!m: shinjiteeth
[series]: Avatar: The Last Airbender
[character]: Iroh
[character history / background]: here and
[character abilities]: right here[character personality]:"It is time to look inside yourself and start asking the big questions."
A discriminating irreverence is perhaps the greatest protector of liberty in any people, whether it be for his own Fire Nation and royal family, which he is exiled from by choice to watch over his nephew, or for the Avatar-- which is to say, Iroh thinks that you can stuff your awe.
General Iroh is in many ways the stereotypical uncle-mentor, the sage martial artist in touch with nature and the spiritual world, the elderly former butt-kicker, purveyor of proverbs and the sort of cliche advice that becomes cliche because it
just works. While he is an optimist regarding life and the situations one finds oneself in it, possessing a go-with-the-flow relaxedness not frequently seen in Fire Nation men, Iroh is also a staunch realist. He is not afraid to employ harsh words about other people's decisions and personalities when necessary. Iroh seldom patronizes his nephew, Zuko, although he also doesn't interfere with Zuko's choices. It is, after all, not Iroh's place to make choices for the boy. He would be just as happy with any final choice Zuko made, so long as it was his own-- true to his own feelings --whether it be as a peasant merchant hiding in the Earth Kingdom or from the throne of the Fire Lord.
Although Iroh is almost a stereotype of wisdom and experience, and of gentle power, he is also no perfect man or savior figure. Iroh can be cruel if not unashamed concerning his now-retired military life. He is a hedonist-- a glutton, lazy and feckless. While he often does so with the best of interests, such as attempting to help Zuko on his path, Iroh is not afraid to put his own wants and comforts first, as witnessed in his calling off his (at that point successful) siege on the capital city of Ba Sing Se after the death of his only son ("I was tired. My men were tired. I'm
still tired."). Iroh does not necessarily see money as the source of all comfort-- there is something proud about a simple life, and something prosperous about the dignity provided by working for a living --but he wants his cup of tea and he wants it made right and made
right now. He will lie to get his job done, to his nephew, to the Fire Dragons themselves, saying that he defeated them as a way to create a lasting peace.
Not to mention those
sticky fingers that he shares with his nephew.
Although he himself is both a seasoned politician and military general, Iroh has no love of war and conflict, or for the sort of xenophobic nationalism which pervades the Fire Nation which he was once meant to rule. Iroh believes in balance-- that each power should be separate but equal, unique in talents but with talents divided and sovereign. He is respectful of nature and the spirit world, but without a stifling reverence for either. He is appreciative of all of the world's cultures.
And all of the world's teas.
And most of the world's women.
"Who are you? And what do you want?"
[point in timeline you're picking your character from]: As he is escaping prison in the Fire Nation.
[journal post]:[voice post]
Hello?
HELLO!Is this thing o-- oh.Please, someone, I have been here for a few days, living off of good-natured handouts for a poor old man. I'm lost and a little confused, and it took me about three hours to figure out how this little thing works even after being shown!
Please, again, please, if anyone has any information pertaining to my nephew, I would appreciate it. He has a very distinctive scar on the side of his face, like a wing, or a flame, and he has his mother's pretty honey-colored eyes. Very well-shaped.
Ooooh, Prince Zuko. Where are yoooou?
[third person / log sample]:[a note on the sample: the sample focuses strongly on Iroh's nephew. Iroh himself during the Avatar chronology forms his life heavily around his nephew and places the majority of his self-esteem and purpose on Zuko's shoulders. With this in mind, I felt that a lighter and broader sample would have been uncharacteristic.]There was no light from outside in the cell, barely any indicator of what time of day it was, how much time Iroh had spent locked up. Only the sounds of the guard changing outside and the increased activity of rodent life would give him any indication. Under certain circumstances, Iroh might have joked-- this was never what he had meant by a 'simple life.' No fresh air, no bed, no tea-- a cave would have offered more comforts, and he knew this from experience. He would have joked, but this was no time for joking.
No, there was nothing funny about the situation at all.
Betrayal always came as a surprise, otherwise it wasn't a betrayal. It was the nature of the beast, or in this case, the family.
Iroh had done as much as he could in the short time he had with his nephew. Less than four short years, in total-- only twice the time Iroh had once spent on the siege on the capital city of Ba Sing Se. A few short years to try to rid the future of a young man that he had begun to see as his own son from the stifling shackles of what had become of the culture of the once-spirited nature of the Fire Nation. Iroh had done as much as he could to lead Prince Zuko down the good path (not necessarily the strongest or rightest path, but the one of good). There was nothing else he could have done without actually controlling the boy in the same way that his brother and niece had been trying to do.
Too far ahead of yourself, he thought, that's where you had gotten with Zuko. Iroh could recognize that he had stopped paying attention to the interior, to the warning signs, he was so focused on how good and calm their lives had become. They had been happy, his
nephew had been happy, they were prospering-- but there had never been a they. Iroh had been happy.
Who knew what Zuko had been, past the happy smile he was wearing in front of Iroh in Ba Sing Se.
Zuko eventually started 'visiting' him, although visiting was perhaps not the right word for what was occurring-- imploring. No begging, no asking for forgiveness. Imploring Iroh for the validation he had always provided for Zuko in the past. He would not validate or vindicate this behavior. He would not even open his mouth to say a single word. There could be no room for disagreement if Iroh never spoke. If they disagreed, they would argue. If they agreed, it would spell the end for whatever hopes Zuko had left, possibly even death for both of them.
Iroh had never been a man to be ashamed of crying, not for a single moment in his entire life. But now he was ashamed, because the tears that clogged his eyes and nose tasted bitter when they slid down his throat.
It was such a pity that the boy would choose what Iroh knew was a tainted, damned victory over an honorable road. Iroh knew his brother better than anyone else, after all. He knew Azula and he knew Zuko. He knew, and in the end, he wasn't angry but he was sad.
Such a disappointment.
