the wings that you burn turn to ashes, my dear

Feeling nostalgic today.

Though I should be plotting my novel for NaNoWriMo, I wrote some Imperial Story snippets today. I don't expect it to go anywhere - the Imperial Story is my long suffering sci-fi epic, and I haven't had the time or determination to focus on it in a few years now. Still, it's nice to get back into the head of these characters for a while.

Then, after dinner, I started rereading Bellflower, which is a Highlander fanfic I started in 2014. It's the sort of fic I'm hesitant to post, since it's a rewrite of the HL stories I wrote (and loved) in high school, focusing on newbie immortal Donna Matthews and how she takes her first head. At this rate, I'll probably never finish it, but I've reworked Donna for roleplay purposes a few times now, and this story is still one I love. If I ever do write an ending, it'll be for me and no one else.

My writing style has changed a lot since I wrote this. I'm cringing a little as I read it, but I'm not editing, I'm just enjoying. And buried within this fic is probably the best Methos-as-Adam scenes I've ever written.

( snippet behind the cut! )

....Maybe tomorrow I'll write out the ending to this and just skip the parts I don't want to write. You know, for funsies.

Title: Live Long and Prosper
Fandoms: Highlander: The Series, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Characters: Methos, Joe Dawson, Jean-Luc Picard
Pairing: n/a
Rating: Gen
AO3 Tags: Non-Canonical Immortal, Future Fic
Summary: Old friends wander in and out of each other's lives.

Notes:For merriman ♥ Your request mentioned a crossover with TNG, and I couldn't let go of the idea of Immortal!Picard. Especially since Sir Patrick Stewart still looks almost the same as he did when the show originally aired. I hope this is up your alley!

Two centuries earlier, Jean-Luc Picard had been a weary solider, a former general in the French Royal Army. Killed in the wake of the French Revolution and unsure why he’d been resurrected, Methos had taken the man in, given him shelter and his first non-military sword. They bonded over a shared love of knowledge, books, and tea. Methos became Jean-Luc’s first teacher, instructing him on the ways of the Game and how to survive as an Immortal. Like Duncan MacLeod, Methos always considered Jean-Luc to be one of the good ones. Perhaps too good, putting the needs of the many above the needs of the few, but only time would tell in that regard.

Methos hadn’t seen him since he took a boat for the Americas and became Dr. Benjamin Adams in the early 1800s. Through his contacts with the Watchers, he knew Jean-Luc was still around, doing what he did best. He led those around him, joining more than one country’s army over the years. It wasn’t for Methos, but it served Jean-Luc well.

Sometimes maintaining the records pertaining to his own life meant hiding his connections to those who might someday come looking for him. He didn’t hold a beef with Jean-Luc, far from it. They had parted on amicable terms all those years ago. But Jean-Luc didn’t know the truth about who he was, and he was better off that way. Methos could pass himself off as only being a few centuries’ old when he had to. He’d had plenty of practice.

Read more at AO3!

Title: Gather Near To Us Once More
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Characters: Methos, Joe Dawson, Duncan MacLeod, Amanda Darieux, Richie Ryan
Pairing: --
Rating: General Audiences
AO3 Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Clan Denial, Found Family, Holidays
Summary: Some gifts were best delivered in person, and even Methos knew when to do that.
Notes: Written for jtt as part of hlh_shortcuts. Also assumes that Richie survived that whole Ahriman bs and is living his best Immortal life. For reasons.


Holidays, for Methos, were strange. Cultures and traditions changed so much over the years - over the centuries, over the millennia - and people were naive, thinking that their way of doing things was the only way. The right way. That sort of blind confidence reminded him a lot of Rome, and in the end, Rome fell too.