![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
hafitalHappy ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
hlh_shortcuts reveal day! It was actually yesterday but I was out of the house and away from my phone the entire day.
This year, I wrote forraine, which was a delight but also a challenge because Raine_Wynd has betaed for me for the last several years. :D
Follow The Gleam (21043 words) by hafital
Chapters: 12/12
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ceirdwyn (Highlander) & Matthew McCormick
Characters: Ceirdwyn (Highlander), Matthew McCormick, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Weird Immortal Happenings, Canon-Typical Violence, Historical Inaccuracy, K'Immie of the week, Literary References & Allusions
Summary:
Typically, I started way too late, but as usual over on my end the fall is always a hectic time, and I turned my attention to hlh_shortcuts after Thanksgiving. Which is fine -- I write great under pressure! -- but my aim was to write a shorter, snappier fic, and I completely failed entirely. Whoops.
I blame Matthew. And also the Middle Ages.
What had happened was, I got stuck on this scene with Matthew, as an FBI agent, being called to a crime scene for an unusual homicide, and couldn't shake it. The rest of the story sort of grew from that. Early on, I kicked around ideas for it to be the trio of Matthew, Cory, and Ceirdwyn, but that was even too complicated for me and I kept trying to simplify the story so I could reasonably get it done in time. So I gently let Cory go and just concentrated on Matthew and Ceirdwyn, and then somewhere in there it became a sort of origin story for Matthew.
It was a lot of fun, but also one of the most difficult stories I've ever written for this fandom. This is where I blame the Middle Ages!
The modern portions of the story fell into place without too much trouble, but I struggled with the Middle Ages portions. Again, the plot grew too complicated with too many characters. At one point there were two K'Immies. Several scenes had to be rewritten. I wrote about 10K words that got tossed. Figuring out how the pieces fit, how to unfold the story in pace with the modern parts, researching what was around in the Middle Ages and what wasn't (like peppermint! Was not existing in 1255. Mint was though. Did they have peacocks? Yes they did. All the research into jousting tournaments and armor. And so forth. I had about 50 tabs open.) I just kept reworking and reworking the story, again and again, involving lots of literal headbanging, until the pieces began to fit finally.
High word counts aren't really a big deal to me. I write fast, but this was a challenge also because as much as I'm familiar with Matthew and Ceirdwyn, we have so little canon with them and none together, so understanding their dynamic, particually toward the end of the story after all is revealed, what Ceirdwyn would say to Matthew, how their teacher-student relationshop would start and then evolve... that was tricky, and also had to be rewritten a few times.
ETA to add that this is the first time I've written from the POV of a Pre-Immortal and that was very interesting! And tricky!
Anyway, I'm quite proud of this story. I've always liked Matthew and adored Ceirdwyn, but this is the longest I've ever hung out with either of them and I have a lot more appreciation for both characters, especially Matthew, who's a bit of a dark horse.
Saved for another post, let me tell you about how I want to rewrite Will & Grace, with Matthew instead, but in the style of Kevin Can F*** Himself. (but less depressing; just showing the real life of the sitcom.) :D
hlh_shortcuts reveal day! It was actually yesterday but I was out of the house and away from my phone the entire day. This year, I wrote for
raine, which was a delight but also a challenge because Raine_Wynd has betaed for me for the last several years. :D Follow The Gleam (21043 words) by hafital
Chapters: 12/12
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Ceirdwyn (Highlander) & Matthew McCormick
Characters: Ceirdwyn (Highlander), Matthew McCormick, Original Characters
Additional Tags: Weird Immortal Happenings, Canon-Typical Violence, Historical Inaccuracy, K'Immie of the week, Literary References & Allusions
Summary:
"You are Matthew of Salisbury, and you are an Immortal."
* * *
The story of how Matthew and Ceirdwyn met.
Typically, I started way too late, but as usual over on my end the fall is always a hectic time, and I turned my attention to hlh_shortcuts after Thanksgiving. Which is fine -- I write great under pressure! -- but my aim was to write a shorter, snappier fic, and I completely failed entirely. Whoops.
I blame Matthew. And also the Middle Ages.
What had happened was, I got stuck on this scene with Matthew, as an FBI agent, being called to a crime scene for an unusual homicide, and couldn't shake it. The rest of the story sort of grew from that. Early on, I kicked around ideas for it to be the trio of Matthew, Cory, and Ceirdwyn, but that was even too complicated for me and I kept trying to simplify the story so I could reasonably get it done in time. So I gently let Cory go and just concentrated on Matthew and Ceirdwyn, and then somewhere in there it became a sort of origin story for Matthew.
It was a lot of fun, but also one of the most difficult stories I've ever written for this fandom. This is where I blame the Middle Ages!
The modern portions of the story fell into place without too much trouble, but I struggled with the Middle Ages portions. Again, the plot grew too complicated with too many characters. At one point there were two K'Immies. Several scenes had to be rewritten. I wrote about 10K words that got tossed. Figuring out how the pieces fit, how to unfold the story in pace with the modern parts, researching what was around in the Middle Ages and what wasn't (like peppermint! Was not existing in 1255. Mint was though. Did they have peacocks? Yes they did. All the research into jousting tournaments and armor. And so forth. I had about 50 tabs open.) I just kept reworking and reworking the story, again and again, involving lots of literal headbanging, until the pieces began to fit finally.
High word counts aren't really a big deal to me. I write fast, but this was a challenge also because as much as I'm familiar with Matthew and Ceirdwyn, we have so little canon with them and none together, so understanding their dynamic, particually toward the end of the story after all is revealed, what Ceirdwyn would say to Matthew, how their teacher-student relationshop would start and then evolve... that was tricky, and also had to be rewritten a few times.
ETA to add that this is the first time I've written from the POV of a Pre-Immortal and that was very interesting! And tricky!
Anyway, I'm quite proud of this story. I've always liked Matthew and adored Ceirdwyn, but this is the longest I've ever hung out with either of them and I have a lot more appreciation for both characters, especially Matthew, who's a bit of a dark horse.
Saved for another post, let me tell you about how I want to rewrite Will & Grace, with Matthew instead, but in the style of Kevin Can F*** Himself. (but less depressing; just showing the real life of the sitcom.) :D
