Thoughts: Highlander stuff - scenarios

Naturally, I've been reading a lot of Highlander fanfic. A lot. And I have found some very, very good stories. There might even be a rec-set coming.

There are, however, a few scenarios I either haven't found or haven't found enough of:

Methos and Richie together. There's so much potential in the something old-something new scenario that the canon rather skipped merrily over. The obvious way is for Methos to come in to train Richie. But what about some scenario where Richie either knows or understands something that Methos doesn't? Yeah, Methos has been around forever and had time to learn everything, but there are still experiences he is not capable of having, such as being a child. Methos doesn't remember youth--he's only been able to observe it from the outside--so maybe he and Richie could take some perspective lessons from each other. Using this to address their respective issues with the Game could be interesting.

For Reasons Richie agrees to take on the role of Fake!Methos, and real Methos has to coach him in how to pretend to act really, really old. This could be especially fun if it were part of some scam or con the two were running. Maybe they switch roles, and Methos takes on the part of the wide-eyed innocent who's been seduced into the Cult of Methos.

Danny Cimoli and Monty the Magnificent (TP '13) teaming up for an act. I think "Now You See Me" has created some kind of love for stage magicians who aren't exactly above-board for how (or why) they do their acts. ("The Immortal Cimoli" has a nicely ambiguous ending, which I'm going to insist comes out in favor of Danny.) (Also, also, would it be possible for a TP to kill an Immortal?)

Richie and Doctor Anne had some time together while Duncan was dealing with the events of "Finale." Anne had just learned about Immortals and really had little idea what the whole thing was about. Having learned that Duncan was 400, she might assume that all Immortals are equally old. Richie, meanwhile, is dealing with his first public death, which was probably also his first real hint of what the long term consequences of Immortality are. There's room here for a scenario where they share their fears with each other, or where Anne tries to lean on Richie as an expert and Richie realizes how much of life is "fake it til you make it," or where word of the threatened public Immortal reveal gets back to them and Anne tries to help Richie prepare for being outed, or where Anne and Richie work together to prepare Richie for the next time he ends up in the morgue.

The expression Methos makes in "Indiscretions" right before the Quickening suggested to me that he doesn't like Quickenings. I'd love to know more about this.

In "Indiscretions," Joe showed up to save Amy with an Immortal in tow. Amy didn't give any indication of recognizing Adam Pierson, nor did she react when Joe referred to Methos as "The Doctor." How much did Amy know prior to this about Joe's violation of the Watcher oath? Did she realize how casually he hangs around with Immortals-who-aren't-Duncan? What does she think about what happened? What does she do about what happened? After all, Methos was hanging out in the bar while she was having her talk with Joe at the end of the episode. Could she really ignore the Immortal sitting right there, casually drinking a beer after killing her first field assignment?

Meme: 30 Days of Fanfic

24 – Betaing – How many betas do you like to use to make sure there aren't any major flaws in your fic? Do you have a Beta horror story or dream story?

Both my use of betas at all and the extent of that use depend highly on what my story is being written for. If it's a bingo fill or something for fan_flashworks or comment-fic, I probably won't use a beta at all. I may not even mention the story to any of my regular betas. I'm always open to concrit on those works, but I'm going to deal with that after I get the credit for the fill and not before. If I'm writing for a fest or exchange, I try to have at least one beta. The only problem there is that...I really, really suck at deadlines. I don't often allow myself the time to get a proper beta read on stories. That said, I've probably been working very closely with at least one person for the duration of the story development and writing. I've had as many as five people help me out on stories in some capacity including, as mentioned previously, everyone in my family who understands fanfic including the kid, the spouse, my mom, and my nieces.

I don't think I have a beta horror story. All of my beta stories are my dream story because I've taught them pretty well to not let me get away with the crap I keep trying to get away with. Wait, there's a story. I had written, what I thought was, chapter 3 of "The Thickness of Blood" and sent it off to my beta for a SPaG check. Her primary note on returning the story was that the main character's actions weren't believable from the motivations I'd provided. So, rather than posting a chapter, I ended up having to rewrite the entire thing--and it really was a rewrite of the entire thing. Then, when I sent the revised chapter back to my beta, she came back with more notes that required a substantial rewrite. That was a great experience. The new chapter was so much better than the first attempt.