There's a Mirror On the Wall

I didn't get words written yesterday, but HLH reveals were yesterday, and I got words POSTED yesterday as well.

So, for HLH, I wrote Walking a Different Road, which is ultimately a Joe/Methos story, and I don't think I've written one where they're anything other than platonic. It's entirely from Joe's POV, in close third person, and is functionally a five times Joe met Methos story in an alternate universe.

I posted the first bit of Echoes In Transit, which is Methos's side of the same story, so we get to see what Methos is up to when he vanishes from Joe's life. It's going to take longer, but it'll get to the same end point eventually.

Both of them involve Joe's loss of his legs, because being disabled is part of Joe's character, and erasing that makes me twitchy. And while it is definitely a running theme of the story, it's not the focus of Joe's character.

Caspian and Silas will both show up in the story, but Kronos only will show up if I do flashbacks, because that's technically the precipitating event of the AU, that Methos killed Kronos rather than shoving him down a dry well.

Not all things are tagged in the second story, but the tags will change as the story is posted, and the new tags will also be posted in the chapter notes so new chapters come with their tags readily visible.

Marisol decided to climb the hammock to the hook and tightrope walk on the rope that holds up my canopy. At bedtime. I only just finished getting the hammock back up with some assistance, because I needed to entirely redo things to be at least hopeful that Marisol will not attempt that again (anytime soon, anyway).

I know I've got food, but it's getting low and what I have is being less appealing than I like. I'll manage, and I'll get dad to do a grocery run Friday or Saturday so that I can spend quality time on Saturday downstairs doing a large batch of cooking - meat/veggies/fruit, whole grain mixes, various sauces, three different sized jars, and then I can mix and match for meals.

I watched through several episodes of Magnificent Seven yesterday, and I'm probably going to watch more today. Going to attempt to get some more of the Highlander DVDs ripped as well, so I can marathon some of that. Specifically, so I can marathon Methos episodes. And probably some S2 episodes which have Joe in them. Because Reasons.

And while I didn't get words actually written yesterday, I went poking through my WIPs and abandons for one of my Mag7/Highlander crossovers (with bonus X-Men), and am seriously contemplating just posting the one bit without bothering with edits. Just. It's not a complete story, the end's dangling. So I should probably watch the episode with Matthew McCormick in it of Highlander, because he's one of the important characters in the early bits of that crossover (of which the story in question is), and... well, I'm not the one who wrote him in it originally.

(There's also a bit in that which crosses with Burn Notice, but I think I'm going to leave that as an AU of the AU, because I'm even less interested in rewatching Burn Notice than I am in attempting to write Matthew McCormick.)

Here, have a snippet of that story, since I dug it out. :)

--

Apparently the afterlife starts with an awful headache and a strange sense of having his ears plugged with wax, though at least there's no other pain to be noticed. Vin pries his eyes open after a moment, looking up at blue sky, green leaves, and a patient-looking Matthew. Perhaps he's wrong about the being dead part of things, though he remembers the gut-shot, and the bullet that left him starting to drown in his own blood. There must have been another shot after, to put him out of his misery before he died that agonizing death.

"Thanks," he murmurs after a moment, once he's sure he can breathe enough to speak. He's not sure what Matthew did, though he wonders if he can't help someone who's dying with whatever it is that heals him. Or if it's something else that's why Vin isn't dead, and why he still has that odd feeling that's starting to fade from the strange headache and difficulty hearing into something more like his head is stuffed full of cotton.

"You're welcome, though I'm not sure what you're thanking me for," Matthew answers.  Unhooking his canteen, he passes it to Vin.  "Here; drink up.  You've lost a lot of blood, and your body needs liquids to replace it."  He'd been hoping that both Vin and Ezra would survive until the war ended, mostly because the middle of a war is no place to try training a student.

"Savin' me, or not leavin' me behind for dead." Vin takes the canteen, taking a long sip of the water, though he doesn't try to drink too much down. Wiping the back of his hand across his mouth, he shrugs. "Whichever fits."

Since he can't tell which one's the better fit to be thanking Matthew for, not until he figures out what's happened since he was shot. It's nice not to be dead, but he's still not sure quite why, or how.

"I didn't save you," Matthew tells him.  "You died."  He's always hated explaining Immortality to new Immortals, and he really isn't looking forward to Vin's reaction.  Vin is a practical man -- and Immortality is anything but.

Whatever it was, then, wasn't something Matthew did. And it certainly hadn't been anything like whatever healed Matthew before this, because he's been injured before, and not healed any faster than anyone else might. "Ok."

He takes another sip of water, hoping that maybe enough water would make the headache fade entirely. If nothing else, it's worth trying.

Matthew's seen new Immortals fall into hysterics, or try to deny what they are, or even rejoice in it.  He's never seen anyone take the thought of dying and returning to life nearly as calmly as Vin.

I found my kitchen table again, with assistance from mom. I have no idea how long I'll keep the surface clear, but it's there.

I added some words and I think found an end to a story that's been languishing for a year and a half. I just need to find a title, and figure out if it's going to follow the titles in the arc that follows Methos (Shadows and Ice On a Dying Planet, titles "Shadow of the Valley", "From Out of the Wilderness", and "Turn Away From Paradise"), or the arc that follows Kronos and company (Death's Gifts, titles "Terrible Prayer", "No Safe Harbor", and "Wide New World").

If anyone has opinions on this, I'm open to suggestions that fit either set. Though the ones in the arc that follow Methos are harder, because they all fit into a sort of quasi-religious tone? I think? I mean, certainly the first two deliberately drew allusions to bits of poetry out of the bible that stick in my head. Just. Finding one that fits the theme of the story and the style of the previous ones, and. *sighs, and gently thumps head on desk*

At the same time, the current piece is from Methos's POV, and naming it to fit the other arc doesn't feel right.

*more gentle headdesking*

(Oh, and look, my Methos icon is even relavent!)

A Case of Immortality (32581 words) by auberus, Morgyn Leri
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Law & Order: Criminal Intent, Highlander: The Series
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Characters: Matthew McCormick, Robert Goren, Alexandra Eames, James Deakins, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Crossover, case-fic, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued
Summary:

A serial-killer strikes in NYC, and brings Matthew McCormick, FBI agent, into the orbit of Detective Goren.

Title: The Art of Surrender (Without Submission)
Fandoms: Harry Potter, Highlander, Sanctuary, Stargate SG1
Genres: Character Study
Rating: Teen
Word Count: 720

Summary: It begins with a choice, as all things do. And it ends with a decision, though perhaps not the same as the beginning.

( Four by three )

Notes: I don't know if this is entirely finished, but it is finished for now. The characters were deliberately left unnamed. And if anyone wants to take a snippet and make use of it, they're welcome to it.

Prompts: Magnificent Seven; Chris/Vin; untamed, fealty, homecoming, peace, future

Title: Desert Rocks and Lawmen
Fandom: Magnificent Seven (TV), Highlander
Genres: Alternate Universe, Future, Historical, Crossover
AU: Talents and Resources, NOS, From Rome to Mexico
Rating: Teen
Characters: Chris Larabee, Vin Tanner, Ezra Standish, Buck Wilmington, Josiah Sanchez, JD Dunne
Word Count:

Notes: Although the prompt was Chris/Vin, the others snuck in around the edges. I have never managed to write Chris before, and I've not even tried to write Chris/Vin, so this was a challenge in prodding at Chris more than Vin. I also have a penchent for AUs, which meant that some element thereof pretty much was a given.

Summary: Five snippets of Chris & Vin (and the others).


( Desert Rocks and Lawmen )

---

Prompts: Highlander; Marcus Constantine; longing, simple, jealous, conceal, knowledge

Title: Scrolls and Artifacts
Fandom: Highlander, Mythology (Middle Eastern)
Genres: Crossover
Rating: Teen
Characters: Marcus Constantine
Word Count:

Notes: Mostly sticking close to canon, although there are elements of crossover that tie back to my Darius/Anat stories in "Simple". Also, my Marcus Constantine muse is good at brevity.

Summary: Glimpses of Marcus Constantine, mostly in single sentences.

( Scrolls and Artifacts )

Title: Here
Fandom: Highlander, Mythology
Genres: Crossover
Rating: Teen
Characters: Anat
Word Count: 200

Summary: Here, she can make herself in her own image.

( Here, she isn't the Destroyer, the Warrior, the Winnower of Death. )

Title: Differences in Faith
Fandom: Highlander, Mythology
Genres: Crossover
Rating: Teen
Characters: Darius, Anat
Word Count: 521

Notes: I think this is actually a scene from a larger story, but I don't know what that story is yet, and it is sorta needed to make the double drabble above make more sense.

Summary: "Not as different as you might think, Darius. Gods, after all, can die."

( Once he worshiped her as a goddess of war. )

Crossposted:

Livejournal, Here on AO3, Differences in Faith AO3, my website

Prompt: Waiting (#944/1000)

Title: Silent Vigil
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: Teen
Characters: Haerviu, Darius
Word Count: 431

Summary: Haerviu rarely comes here if he isn't looking for conversation, no matter how long it takes for him to find the words for it.

( Silence surrounds him, the falling snow outside muffling what sounds the stone walls of the church do not. )

Prompt: Noble (#585/1000)

Title: Spring Floods
Fandom: Highlander
Rating: Teen
Characters: Haerviu
Word Count: 429

Summary: Another sheet, and another sketch, details drawn from old memories of people and place.

( The place seems nothing special, just a mountain valley with a swift-running stream tumbling down the center. )

Prompt: Ancient (#25/1000), Montjoy (thank you, lferion!)

Title: Summer's End
Fandom: Highlander, Shakespeare History Plays
Genres: Alternate Universe, Crossover
AU: NOS
Rating: Teen
Characters: Haerviu (Montjoy)
Word Count: 367

Summary: Loss is a grief more ancient than he is.

( Time falls away when he's in Henry's presence. )