rusty_halo (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rusty_halo) wrote2004-04-09 01:55 pm
rusty_halo) wrote2004-04-09 01:55 pm
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Um, would anyone happen to know where I might find high-quality Methos-centric Highlander fanfiction? I've never read Highlander fic before. Any rating, any pairing, any topic is fine, as long as it's got Methos and is written well. (From what I've seen so far, writing a complicated morally ambiguous 5,000 year old immortal well is quite a challenge.)
I ended up celebrating my colloquium by watching my two favorite Highlander episodes, "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8." Then I watched them again. Then I decided to watch all of the Methos episodes that I have on tape. Then I decided that I need more; thus, fic. Most of what I've found so far has involved Methos behaving like a 12-year-old girl with a crush on Duncan, so if anyone could point me in a more productive direction I'd appreciate it. He's such a wonderful character; I'm sure there must be great fic out there somewhere.
I haven't read my LJ in a week. I suppose this has to do with souled Spike's failure to hold my attention--I'm turning to Methos and Jaime Lannister instead. Alas, neither actually has the potential to hold my attention long-term--Methos' story has been over for years, and who knows when the next Song of Ice and Fire book will be out (plus, Jaime has a miniscule fandom). But for the time being, this is entertaining me.
While watching these episodes I became curious as to what my reaction might have been when I first saw them, so I pulled out my old diary and checked the date that the episosdes aired. Sure enough, post "Revelation" I devoted three pages to expounding on the wonderfulness of Methos. I was fifteen at the time--six years ago. I may be fairly new to online fandom, but I've always been a fan. It amuses me how little I've changed.
I think in the end, I love Methos much more than Spike. Methos is a lot like Jaime Lannister in that they both took the hard path toward redemption--struggle and suffering and choice. No magic deus ex machina soul for them.
While searching for Methos fic I found this old message board archive where people were arguing about whether Methos' development could be blamed on a "dark quickening" turning him evil, or a good quickening turning him good. The argument with which I agreed was that the story was so much better when there wasn't some kind of external force compelling him to change by effecting some essential part of his nature--rather, he evolved slowly over time. He's still the same person who went around horribly murdering innocent people and getting off on the power--no supernatural excuses. He's still capable of doing those things, a part of him still wants to do those things, but he chooses not to.
Souled Spike just seems like a victim of fate, in contrast. (And yes, I know all the arguments about how he chose a soul, but it's still utterly lame). With a soul, he'd never seriously go back to committing evil. He's just a big fluffy puppy in a ridiculous leather coat, a pathetic poet playing at being a badass. But there's no real danger there--despite ME and their little gotchas, he's never going to decide "screw this redemption thing, killing people is fun." We know he'd be overwhelmed with guilt and turn back into a sniveling little wuss the instant he screwed up, so there's no real risk to the character anymore. He's a pale shadow of what he used to be.
Now, it you compared unsouled Spike to Methos, it's a much more difficult choice. Unsouled Spike (post-"Intervention" and throughout the end of season five/all of season six) was changing on his own, through choice, and always held a risk and a danger and was interesting. But I think I like Methos better for a couple of reasons. (Many of which are based on feelings I have about unsouled Spike that only emerged after seeing souled Spike). I have no respect for Spike. He doesn't think deeply, and he has no self-respect (and no real sense of self). He used to have these flashes of insight into people, but those have been gone for years. He used to have a cleverness, too--impetuous, impatient, but not at all stupid. Now he's pretty much just plain stupid. And he used to have this really biting sense of humor, but now it's just like bad "head boy" jokes. Please. All of his witty observations and harsh truths disappeared when he got his soul--like being a good guy means being passive and weak, giving up your individuality, your voice, and just being a slave instead. (And, well, on Buffy, that pretty much is the definition of a "good" man, since all men are inherently evil nasty violent rapists and can only be worthwhile when they're down licking women's boots).
Okay, tangent. Anyway...
Now, Methos, on the other hand, has the most brilliant, biting sense of humor. He never stops seeing into people and telling the truths that no one wants to face. Despite his insistence to the contrary, he is, in his way, very wise. He understands that the world is so much more complicated than Duncan wants to believe, that morality isn't black and white, and he won't let his friends get away with deluding themselves. And he's so deliciously morally ambiguous. He's sneaky, brilliantly manipulative, and puts his own survival above anything else. The really delightful thing is watching him change, watching his crises of conscience. He's survived 5,000 years by putting himself first, yet Duncan inspires him to put others first, and totally despite himself, he finds himself letting his care for his friends get the best of him. He risks himself again and again to help other people, despite his resolution not to. Watching Duncan bring out the best in him is so cool--like watching Dawn bring out the best in Spike, or [Storm of Swords spoiler] Brienne bring out the best in Jaime.
And the thing I really love is that with Methos and Duncan, it's an exchange. They teach each other and grow together, as friends and as people. Methos becomes a better person, puts himself at risk to help others, makes hard choices even when they hurt. Duncan learns that the world isn't as simple as he'd like to think, that morality is incredibly complex and can't just be dumbed down into black and white. With Buffy and Spike, there was no exchange (although, god, there should have been, and what an amazing story that would have been). It was just "Buffy is Spike's beneficent goddess, and he should be grateful to be allowed to lick her oh-so-precious boots." The series flirted with the idea that morality was more complicated than black-and-white, but in the end Buffy was up on her high horse espousing simplistic morality, her ignorance validated in the name of "female empowerment." Blecch. Now, don't get me wrong, "Highlander" had many flaws as a series, but in the end, it grew from a very childish "good vs. evil" moral view to a very complex understanding that the world is much more complicated. "Buffy" never did that; it had the chance, in season six, and rejected it in favor of a regression back to season one. I'm sad for the lost potential, and I mostly just despise the show for failing when it had such possibilities. It's one thing for a bad show to suck, but Buffy could have been so much better.
*sigh* I really need to update my website. Maybe next week....
So, anyone going to see Common Rotation at the Bitter End this weekend?
I ended up celebrating my colloquium by watching my two favorite Highlander episodes, "Comes a Horseman" and "Revelation 6:8." Then I watched them again. Then I decided to watch all of the Methos episodes that I have on tape. Then I decided that I need more; thus, fic. Most of what I've found so far has involved Methos behaving like a 12-year-old girl with a crush on Duncan, so if anyone could point me in a more productive direction I'd appreciate it. He's such a wonderful character; I'm sure there must be great fic out there somewhere.
I haven't read my LJ in a week. I suppose this has to do with souled Spike's failure to hold my attention--I'm turning to Methos and Jaime Lannister instead. Alas, neither actually has the potential to hold my attention long-term--Methos' story has been over for years, and who knows when the next Song of Ice and Fire book will be out (plus, Jaime has a miniscule fandom). But for the time being, this is entertaining me.
While watching these episodes I became curious as to what my reaction might have been when I first saw them, so I pulled out my old diary and checked the date that the episosdes aired. Sure enough, post "Revelation" I devoted three pages to expounding on the wonderfulness of Methos. I was fifteen at the time--six years ago. I may be fairly new to online fandom, but I've always been a fan. It amuses me how little I've changed.
I think in the end, I love Methos much more than Spike. Methos is a lot like Jaime Lannister in that they both took the hard path toward redemption--struggle and suffering and choice. No magic deus ex machina soul for them.
While searching for Methos fic I found this old message board archive where people were arguing about whether Methos' development could be blamed on a "dark quickening" turning him evil, or a good quickening turning him good. The argument with which I agreed was that the story was so much better when there wasn't some kind of external force compelling him to change by effecting some essential part of his nature--rather, he evolved slowly over time. He's still the same person who went around horribly murdering innocent people and getting off on the power--no supernatural excuses. He's still capable of doing those things, a part of him still wants to do those things, but he chooses not to.
Souled Spike just seems like a victim of fate, in contrast. (And yes, I know all the arguments about how he chose a soul, but it's still utterly lame). With a soul, he'd never seriously go back to committing evil. He's just a big fluffy puppy in a ridiculous leather coat, a pathetic poet playing at being a badass. But there's no real danger there--despite ME and their little gotchas, he's never going to decide "screw this redemption thing, killing people is fun." We know he'd be overwhelmed with guilt and turn back into a sniveling little wuss the instant he screwed up, so there's no real risk to the character anymore. He's a pale shadow of what he used to be.
Now, it you compared unsouled Spike to Methos, it's a much more difficult choice. Unsouled Spike (post-"Intervention" and throughout the end of season five/all of season six) was changing on his own, through choice, and always held a risk and a danger and was interesting. But I think I like Methos better for a couple of reasons. (Many of which are based on feelings I have about unsouled Spike that only emerged after seeing souled Spike). I have no respect for Spike. He doesn't think deeply, and he has no self-respect (and no real sense of self). He used to have these flashes of insight into people, but those have been gone for years. He used to have a cleverness, too--impetuous, impatient, but not at all stupid. Now he's pretty much just plain stupid. And he used to have this really biting sense of humor, but now it's just like bad "head boy" jokes. Please. All of his witty observations and harsh truths disappeared when he got his soul--like being a good guy means being passive and weak, giving up your individuality, your voice, and just being a slave instead. (And, well, on Buffy, that pretty much is the definition of a "good" man, since all men are inherently evil nasty violent rapists and can only be worthwhile when they're down licking women's boots).
Okay, tangent. Anyway...
Now, Methos, on the other hand, has the most brilliant, biting sense of humor. He never stops seeing into people and telling the truths that no one wants to face. Despite his insistence to the contrary, he is, in his way, very wise. He understands that the world is so much more complicated than Duncan wants to believe, that morality isn't black and white, and he won't let his friends get away with deluding themselves. And he's so deliciously morally ambiguous. He's sneaky, brilliantly manipulative, and puts his own survival above anything else. The really delightful thing is watching him change, watching his crises of conscience. He's survived 5,000 years by putting himself first, yet Duncan inspires him to put others first, and totally despite himself, he finds himself letting his care for his friends get the best of him. He risks himself again and again to help other people, despite his resolution not to. Watching Duncan bring out the best in him is so cool--like watching Dawn bring out the best in Spike, or [Storm of Swords spoiler] Brienne bring out the best in Jaime.
And the thing I really love is that with Methos and Duncan, it's an exchange. They teach each other and grow together, as friends and as people. Methos becomes a better person, puts himself at risk to help others, makes hard choices even when they hurt. Duncan learns that the world isn't as simple as he'd like to think, that morality is incredibly complex and can't just be dumbed down into black and white. With Buffy and Spike, there was no exchange (although, god, there should have been, and what an amazing story that would have been). It was just "Buffy is Spike's beneficent goddess, and he should be grateful to be allowed to lick her oh-so-precious boots." The series flirted with the idea that morality was more complicated than black-and-white, but in the end Buffy was up on her high horse espousing simplistic morality, her ignorance validated in the name of "female empowerment." Blecch. Now, don't get me wrong, "Highlander" had many flaws as a series, but in the end, it grew from a very childish "good vs. evil" moral view to a very complex understanding that the world is much more complicated. "Buffy" never did that; it had the chance, in season six, and rejected it in favor of a regression back to season one. I'm sad for the lost potential, and I mostly just despise the show for failing when it had such possibilities. It's one thing for a bad show to suck, but Buffy could have been so much better.
*sigh* I really need to update my website. Maybe next week....
So, anyone going to see Common Rotation at the Bitter End this weekend?
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http://slum.slashcity.com/rsm/readerlinks.html
Your one-stop shopping for all of your slash reading needs!
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But, I can help with good Methos fic. Brilliant, even.
There are a couple of standouts, though:
Upstairs/Downstairs--pre-slash Duncan/Methos. Been a while since I read it, but I remember just how simple yet complicated it was.
Heat Goes to Cold--one of the first and best second person fics out there. Anyone else attempting to do Methos in second person would have failed magnificently. Amand-r, however, pulls it off incredibly.
Tongues of Angels--my absolute favorite story of Amand-r's is this. It's something of a sequel to Masters at Deception, but I think it can be read as a standalone. Methos. Duncan. Gods. Goddesses. The secrets of Immortality. It's a WIP, but well worth it. Duncan/Methos.
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With HL, I'm still sort of where I was with Sentinel for years, which is "ooo! shiny badfic!"
I'm sure I'll get 'round to finding the good once the train-wreck appeal wears off...
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Er, actually, you'll get a nice taste of Jaime before you finish the second book. It's really not until the third that he gets a chance to shine, though.
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You've already been recced Amanda-r so Im going to tell you that
Tessa Rae is a goddess who writes wonderful stories. Her newest batch, Spring Pleasure, April Delight and Shades of Forever are gold.
Her site is here: http://www.squidge.org/~esjay/TessIndex.htm
Then there's MacGeorge: http://wordsmiths.net/MacGeorge/index.html
Go to under the boardwalk for the slash. If you like humour read "Social Graces" It's genious.
Then just for self pimpage I have a site with a recaps and a whole bunch of screencaps from some Methos episodes here http://www.crowblanket.com Just for when you need to look at the pretty that is Methos.
Cheers
-Sica
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I started off reading from Killa's link page:
http://seacouver.slashcity.net/killa/linkpage.html
And you should also look at the ROG-L Recommended Reading page, being Methos centric and all. The stories were recommended by the members of the ROG-L list, so keep that in mind. Some recs will be fantabulous, some not so much.
http://wordsmiths.net/ROG-L/recs.html
enjoy!
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I absolutely must recommend Sandra McDonald's "Methos in WWII" series; it's what got me hooked on Highlander. There are three stories: The Wars We Choose To Fight, The Battles We Lose and
The Victories We Claim.
Teresa Coffman wrote a wonderful follow-up to The Victories We Claim. You can find her Highlander stories here.
WWII
(Anonymous) 2004-04-09 04:24 pm (UTC)(link)xxx, Mog
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Was going to go with my sister and her boyfriend, but they can no longer go due to unforeseen circumstances. After seeing CoRo headline at the Point in Philly, I really wanted to go too. Oh well. Guess I'll just catch them next time around. Have a good time if you do go!!
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I want to run read these, but I don't have enough time for all the stuff I want to do already.
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And--that seems a normal and healthy reaction for 15. Sexuality is both wonderful and scary and kids need time to come to terms with it.
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But - recently became addicted to Farscape. Are you familiar with Captain Crais?
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Highlander's not a great show, but Methos is a great character. If you skip everything else and just watch his episodes, you'll probably be better off (unsurprisingly, most of the best episodes have him in them, even though he's only in something like 1/5 of the total).
I still like unsouled Spike as a character, but I'm sick of the bullshit that surrounds him.
Today, I read someone I otherwise like arguing that Spike saved the world in Chosen for "selfish" reasons, to please Buffy. This is the kind of bullshit for which I have no longer have any patience whatsoever. I'm sick of Spike and sick of the Buffyverse--it's an ugly, hypocritical place. Spike was a good character who was a victim of a bad show (or, a show with a really sick "moral" perspective), and it's not his fault, but it still makes his story heartbreaking and frustrating and sickening for me to watch.
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Methos, mostly alone
http://members.shaw.ca/sylviavolk/
Re: Methos, mostly alone
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**faints**
:-)
You've just reminded me why I loved Spike so much... and made me realize that the post-season-5 version is such a pale shadow of a memory of the formerly complex, kickass character, that I really should stop kidding myself and waiting for My Spike to make a come-back. What with the show being almost over, and still ran by the morons from ME.
What hurts me the most about the way they "developed" the character is that I can't respect this Spike, either. I guess this is why "Beneath You" and "LMPTM" are my two favorite episodes from the otherwise despised season. At least there Spike fought back, and told his tormentors off instead of meekly taking their abuse as his due. Oh, and this is why I cherish that defiant look at the First when Spike was being carved on the cross. My boy was back, if briefly.
**sigh**
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You said it.
I know you soothed the burn by watching Captain Jack (many many times). I suppose I'm probably doing the same with this mini-Methos-obsession. :)
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obsessionfandom was HL. Particularly Methos. Most of my recs would be termed classic, to put it nicely. It's been years since I've dipped my toes in that fandom and have no clue of the current hotties. Here are the tried and trues, however:Maygra
Ashyln
Merry Lynne
Kellie Matthews
Aristide
I should warn you my taste run to angsty. Good luck and welcome to the wonderful world of methos!!
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Personal growth
(Anonymous) 2004-04-12 03:40 am (UTC)(link)Trepkos