The Answer Is always 42!

[ithildin]

Pillaged this from kc_anathema

Go into your journal. Find the 42nd entry. Copy, paste, post. This is the meaning of your life.

So here's #42. Seems thinking about Methos and fic is the meaning of my life! Why am I not surprised?

From April of 2006:

What's Normal?

I was talking with Nin before she went to work yesterday about how these new stories I'm writing are different in mood than the Bloodties stories I normally write. It took me a bit to pin it down, but I think the big difference is that these are from the perspective of everyday life. They aren't adventures, no sword fights -- for the most part.

Something that I've thought of from time to time when watching Highlander is what's a normal life for an Immortal? Not all of them are like Duncan, having constant adventures. Every so often you get a glimpse of the other side of the coin. The de Valicourts come to mind most readily. They seem to live a fairly normal life. Or Methos when he tells Duncan that he's been out of the Game for two hundred odd years. I know there are other examples, but I can't recall them off hand. So what's it like to be an Immortal, and have a career, like being a doctor, with mostly mortal friends? Maybe answering that question is what keeps me writing. [shrug]

Yeah, I'm rambling all over the place today, aren't I?

(and there were zero comments on this back then, so maybe I'll do better this time around!)

Comments

[bleukittie.livejournal.com]

I think Sean Burns had a fairly normal life. I think Rebecca and Ceirdwyn had normal times too. Maybe it's easier to accomplish for women than men because women tended hearth and home for so many centuries.

Now you have a comment.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Now you have a comment.

LOL! You're so agreeable [g]

[j-renae.livejournal.com]

As I stole the meme for my own page I thought I should comment.

I think that for a lot of the immortals normal life is as average as they can possibly make it. Living for a long time (especially through some of the more horrible parts of history) would make a person far more appreciative of the quiet life. Make them really cherish the peace and friendships and day to day life. The high death rate among the younger immortals is probably due to them not understanding how precious 'normal life' is so they go off wanting wild adventures and get themselves killed.

I think what messes a lot of the older ones up is when they get obsessed with stuff, either good or bad. Be it Duncan's obsession with saving his clan/the world/everyone he possibly can or Kronos trying to recreate the power and glory of his youth (so to speak) or whoever else.

Maybe that's why Methos survives so well and is so well loved by fans (apart from the gorgeousness obviously); he's grown above those types of obsessions and he's a more complex character because of it.

He's ruled bits of the world, destroyed bits of it and he's tried to save it as well at different points. He knows the folly trying to control it all, as he said 'kingdoms rise and fall', nothing lasts forever. He seems to have settled on watching, relaxing and recording it all in his journals. Only getting involved in the heroics when people threaten his chosen few or it looks like someone is trying to mess with his beer supply. But even then he knows when to cut and run and that even the best will eventually lose (if they play the game).

So the wisdom of the ROG seems to be enjoy what you can while you can because no matter what you do everything will eventually change, so if you want to survive to see the future you'd better just 'go with the flow'.

[robi-travels.livejournal.com]

Well I did not know LiveJournal existed in 2006, so that is my excuse for not commenting. Not to mention I do not have a #42, so I have no life.

Although, yes I think Duncan is the exception. Most of the other "non-hunters" or "sane" immortals we met- Marcus, Darius, Grace, the Valicourts, the boxing coach, even Reinhardt etc - had normal lives. I think it is what allows them to go on and not become disillusioned, angry, depressed or seek the adrenaline rush of a quickening.

Roberta

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Not to mention I do not have a #42

Yes you do. You have 47 entries so far, so five entries ago is entry #42

[robi-travels.livejournal.com]

Okay, I checked you are correct. If I count your original entry then #42 is

2007-05-19 14:29:00 Vacation
Have a great week everyone. I am off on vacation - yeah, this is so needed : )


If I do not count your entry, then it is

2007-06-04 13:33:00 Something to Do.
Okay, it is a cold, raining Monday. I am bored. Not interested in any of the work I need to get done.

I really wish I could go home and nap. It is that kind of day.

I guess either way it works.

Roberta

[mischief5.livejournal.com]

My #42 was an art post for pat_t's birthday last year. It was the first time I'd ever done a full sized piece featuring Methos. I did it a bit early, July 19, I think. I've done lots of Methos/PW art since then. Boy, it's been fun. *grin*

[beccadg.livejournal.com]

First, if I counted right my 42nd post was a MEME on June 12th, 2004 that read...

You are purple. What a romantic person you are. You're sentimental and forward-looking (those are opposites.) You're sophisticated and refined--with a refined taste for chocolates and wine (yum...) Temperamental and moody, you let people know when you're angry. But other times, you just sit and sulk. Alone. When around people, you're a generous person with insatiable needs. You're a starving artist, basically. You enjoy getting into debates over politics and religion with people of the same intelligence as you. But you know they can never convince you otherwise, you stubborn person, you. A unique person you are (not to mention just a tad bit eccentric...) You're well-liked by either a few people, or too many people...

Second, I find it interesting in your 42nd post that while you ask, "What's normal," you defined it as "not Duncan" with, "Not all of them are like Duncan, having constant adventures." I'm not sure that's entirely fair to Duncan. Certainly it's true that each episode of the series was an adventure for Duncan, but I'm not sure that's the same as saying that he has not/does not lead a normal life that has the episodes of adventure in it. In the pilot for the series Duncan had been out of the Game. Tessa demanded to know what the last 12 years had been to him. While I can't remember if he had a normal routine that grounded him in the later seasons at the moment, first season he had an antiques shop to run, and after that for a while he owned Charlie's dojo. Duncan's life has adventure, but it isn't all that.

[amberleewriter.livejournal.com]

I would imagine the answer to this question would vary widely depending on what the age of the Immortal was at the time of first death. Kenny would have a very different kind of life because he would always be placed in schools or it would be assumed he was to young to do things like live on his own, have a wife, or other such things. In addition, he could never stay in one place for more than a couple of years because he doesn't age. It would be very easy for mortals to figure out what he is. Michelle (and even Richie) has a somewhat similar problem. With makeup she could probably pass for as old as her 30s but staying somewhere more than a decade would be a hard sell.

I think Duncan's life is a bit different from most Immortals in the number of other Immortals he runs across and Challenges he accepts (at least during the few year period we see during the show). Thanks to the nature of the show, he was fighting or confronting a new Immortal just about every week. One would think that aside from a known Immortal on holy ground (such as Darius or Father Liam) you wouldn't get that many Immortals showing up in your town to see you. You could probably say Duncan runs into about 30-40 Immortals a year and must take the heads of at least 20 of those. It seems a bit high. However, in Duncan's defense, when Connor shows up in the first episode it's fairly clear that Duncan considers himself "out of the game." How long it has been since he took a head or was stalked/hunted by another Immortal is not something I recall the show having addressed directly, but I think Duncan's Immortal life tended to run in "cycles" where he was very active and then either went to Holy Ground or found a way to fade into obscurity for a time and was, therefore, not pursued.

Duncan also seems to find pre-Immortals as children or teens with some frequency (Richie, Michelle, and Claudia all come to mind quickly). I'm not sure that the majority of Immortals would keep tabs on so many young pre-Immortals to ensure their welfare and that they have a good teacher if (or when) they are required to enter the game. It implies that he becomes a teacher of new Immortals as a voluntary decision on a fairly regular basis. I am unsure this is "average" in the life of other Immortals.

Overall, I think the average Immortal life is rather mundane, if sad. One way or another I doubt you could stay in a location with the same friends and co-workers (or spouse) for longer than 20 years without your Immortality showing. I would imagine it is difficult to build a life and friendships, to care for mortals and love them, and then have to turn around and walk away just when those friends and loved ones will begin to need you most. It is that or you will have to tell your spouse and move them far away from all of their friends and loved ones in order to remain together as one of you declines and the other remains in the prime of life. Visits from family and friends would have to be discouraged because they might find out about Immortality. Where many mortal couples can have forty, fifty, or over sixty years of life together, Immortals with a mostly mortal existence would not. In addition, I would imagine staying in one place for a long while only increases your chances of being found by an Immortal playing the game and then require you to fight. Living among mortals you would have to find hobbies which would make your interest in swords and swordcraft (and keeping yourself very fit) reasonable. I would imagine a lot of them participate in the SCA, historical reenactment groups, and various martial arts clubs.

The other two options would be to become largely a recluse (Silas comes to mind) or to turn into a sociopath. Of course the sociopath option (while frequent on the show) also doesn't seem very wise. If you are at odds with the law you are likely to get caught. Being put in jail doesn't seem like the best thing for an Immortal.

Oh, and are the discussions of the HL episodes ever coming off hiatus?

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Oh, and are the discussions of the HL episodes ever coming off hiatus?

I was wondering that myself earlier in the week. I need to get back in gear. Okay, I'll aim for next week. I'll even send myself an email to remind me!