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

[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!