get me off this crazy thing

Please go check out all the Highlander Holiday Shortcut stories! As always, we had a great fest and all the stories are true gems. <3

Moondance or A Series of Extraordinary Events (18825 words) by hafital
Chapters: 10/10
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Richie Ryan, Methos (Highlander), Angie Burke, Tessa Noel, Joe Dawson, Duncan MacLeod, May-Ling Shen, Amanda Darieux, Connor MacLeod, Ceirdwyn (Highlander), Sean Burns
Additional Tags: Questionable Use of Science, Background Richie/Angie, Richie Ryan Saves The Day, unexplained phenomenon, Light Angst, nobody dies everybody lives
Summary:

Richie lassos the moon.

( Story talk behind the cut )

Dear HLH_Shortcuts writer!

I'm sorry I couldn't get this done in time for sign ups. I'm editing my sign up now to include this link. :D ETA: Whooops, thought I could edit my sign up post assignments being sent but apparently I cannot. Hope you wander over here anyway!

Thank you for writing my story for me. I'm very happy to read it. <3

I'm pretty open to receiving just about anything, and have only a couple requests:

1. No permanent deaths for any of the characters listed in my sign up. Temporary deaths are totally okay though. :D And feel free to kill any number of bad guys you want haha. (For Richie -- I wouldn't call myself Clan Denial but I am fond of him, so if you undead him for a story, please just don't dead him again! lol)

2. Nothing too depressing. I'm okay with all manner of torture, angst, hurt/comfort (especially), mayhem and chaos, this is Highlander after all, etc., that's what I typically write myself!,if there's at least a hopeful if not a happy ending.

and most importantly, 3. Have fun!

Thank you.

All of the Highlander Holiday Shortcut stories are posted and available for reading. 25 NEW Highlander stories, with something for everyone! Huzzah!! Please go check it out, if you're so inclined. The stories are here: HLH Shortcuts 2023.

You can also access the stories from the DW community - hlh_shortcuts


I received a lovely gift, featuring an unstuck in time Richie Ryan and a resulting alternate timeline, which left me emotional.

Know Where It's At (5457 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Characters: Richie Ryan, Methos (Highlander), Darius (Highlander), Tessa Noel, Duncan MacLeod
Additional Tags: Background Duncan MacLeod/Tessa Noel, Time Travel Fix-It, Highlander Holiday Short Cuts Challenge, References to Other Canon Characters - Freeform
Summary:

The universe must have a plan for why Richie gets to do it all again. Now, if only someone would tell him what that plan is.

hlh_shortcuts stories have been revealed! Every year we get an excellent crop of stories and this year is no exception. Please head on over and check out all the wonderful stories -- there's something for everyone.

This year I wrote another gen story focusing on the season 1 character Randi McFarland - the journalist who begins nosing around Duncan and Tessa's life, always asking probing questions and getting herself accidentally kidnapped by creepy doctors in basements haha.

Anyway, I would not have guessed writing this story would have been so fulfilling and enjoyable, but it is honestly one of my favorite stories I've ever written in this fandom. Not because it's super complicated or plotty or even particularly well written but it was so great to give a minor character a bigger sandbox to play in the show, to weave her into Duncan's life beyond what we see in the handful of eps she's in, AND perhaps most especially, to view the world of Immortals and Duncan in particular through someone who is a) not another immortal, b) not a main character, and c) not a watcher. She's just a person, who trips into that world, and stays.

Also, it was a true delight to write for my recipient, brightknightie.

I know Randi's not a particularly popular character, but I'm going to be rude and recommend you read my story anyway. :D

Big big thank you to my beta reader, raine. <3

The Jaded Journalist (9682 words) by hafital
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod & Randi McFarland, Duncan MacLeod/Tessa Noel, Randi McFarland & Tessa Noel
Characters: Randi McFarland, Duncan MacLeod, Tessa Noel, Amanda Darieux, Gina and Robert De Valicourt, Methos (Highlander)
Summary:

Randi McFarland, jaded journalist, finds her story.

Woohoo! First three stories are set free from their anonymous cages to run around and stretch their legs. I'm currently hip deep in a lovely Highlander/Longmire crossover ooh boy.

Highlander Holiday Shortcuts 2022 collection on AO3.

It's that wonderful time of the year again! Calling all Highlander fans. Head on over to hlh_shortcuts and sign up for this year's Highlander Holiday Shortcuts.

Always guaranteed to be a good time!

hello! Happy Holidays! (I know, I'm late, I've been distracted.)

The hlh_shortcuts Fest is now live! And I got this wonderful wonderful gem of a story.


Little Blessings (3514 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod/Methos (Highlander), Methos/Original Character
Characters: Methos (Highlander), Duncan MacLeod
Summary:

Methos is 5,000 years old. He's managed to attract some attention in his long life.

I believe this story, completely. I love that the old gods know and love Methos. Who else would they love? <3

The rest of the fest can be found here. I've only read a handful of stories so far, but they've all been wonderful.

My particular favorite is Legend Has It -- Gen, Darius, Richie. Not only is it note perfect in-character, but it's also my favorite kind of canon-divergence.

The hlh_shortcuts posting is live! Check it out.

I received my story gift yesterday and holy moly but it is a Highlander/Justified cross over of perfection. Now that I have proof how great these two shows meld together I need about a million more words of it. Raylan! and Duncan! Together! in the same story! With a dash of h/c! AND it has Dr. Methos....

Truth and Consequences (3192 words) by Anonymous
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: Highlander: The Series, Justified
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Duncan MacLeod/Methos (Highlander)
Characters: Raylan Givens, Duncan MacLeod, Methos (Highlander), Joe Dawson, Rachel Brooks
Additional Tags: Crossover, POV Outsider, Established Relationship, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Canon, Canon-Typical Violence
Summary:

Deputy U.S. Marshal Raylan Givens has experienced some strange situations in his career, but none of them prepared him for this.

*no apologies for the abuse of exclamation points

hello kind friends, I suppose one should post before the big thing, eh?


1) I signed up for Highlander Shortcuts! I hope to actually write my story earlier this year. At least not a day before the deadline!

b) I scheduled a dentist appointment for Nov. 3 not realizing that Nov. 3rd was Nov 3rd. I almost canceled but then was like whatever. Might as well.

iii) due to that mandalorian dude, my tumblr dash is full of Timothy Olyphant and therefore I am feeling more favorable to the series than before lol. I liked this first season 2 episode a lot more than any of the eps from season 1, though the no remove helmet schtick still bothers the fuck out of me. i started rewatching both clone wars and rebels, and you know, EVERY MANDALORIAN REMOVES THEIR HELMET WTF I DON'T UNDERSTAND. And I'm going to be seriously annoyed by any retcon that makes it okay.

quatro) my phone overheated and died a couple of weeks ago while I was on a too hot walk around the hollywood reservoir while on this weird date with this dude. dating during covid is weird, ya'll. as a bad sign, when I returned to my car it was flashing the apple logo and wouldn't come back to life if you do the hard reset thingie, you know push the magic buttons at the same time thingie. spent the rest of the day googling what to do. did ALL the things the internet told me to do (which, in case you're wondering for when your phone gets stuck in recovery mode like mine did is to act like you're going to restore to factory settings but instead actually update it) , tried over and over again, called Apple and they instructed me to do the exact same things I had already been doing. Nothing would work. No genius bars open. It wouldn't recover or restore. Everything failed. My options were to mail it to Apple for at least a $600 repair bill if not more, try a third party mac place, or buy a new phone. And (don't yell at me) I didn't have a recent back up. So if I bought a new phone I'd be restoring from a back up from a year ago whoops. Anyway long story long, I spent all day after my weird date trying to fix the damn thing. Gave up. on a whim, I put the phone in the fridge while I went to shower. then I took it out 20 minutes later, I decided to try the restore one last time and... it worked. 8 hours I worked on that thing. I spent the next day in a coma. but I had my phone! And it's like nothing ever happened. the bastard.

5) I watched THE BOYS on Amazon Prime and ended up loving it even though it's kind of terrifying. It took a while for me to warm up to it though. I find the young lead in it super annoying (who turns out is Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan's kid wtf). But I loved Frenchie and MM. And each time I see Eomer in something (sorry I can't remember the actor's name right now) I always think, okay THIS time I'm going to like him, because normally I don't like how he acts, or maybe I just don't like the roles he takes or something? I don't know. I always try to like him because he's in everything! That man is in many a fannish show or movie. and each time I see him i'm like oh no that guy again, okay well maybe this time I'll like him and... I usually don't. But again, this time I was like, okay, we're going to really like him for sure and...well it took both seasons but I did sort of warm up to Billy Butcher by the end. at least I didn't hate him, which is pretty good all things considered. But I'm really just watching for Frenchie and MM. And I kind of like this dark twisted superhero AU reality that's TOO real. I enjoyed imagining the MCU heroes suddenly teleported to the Boys reality and wondering at their horror.

5a) I am very much still loving MCU. I often think...wow Endgame came out last year. LAST YEAR. It missed the pandemic by a year. Imagine what it would have been like if Endgame's release got nuked by the pandemic? Most MCU fans want to be whiney complainly about Endgame and the MCU in general but for me Endgame was a blast, especially the in theatre experience of it, I went *mumble* number of times and enjoyed the heck out if it each time, and it's sort of odd to think that it just might be a once in a lifetime thing.

VI) I have no sixth thing to talk about. okay I lied, maybe I do. I watched the Haunting of Bly Manor and I didn't like it nearly as much as the Haunting of Hill House. I'm not really a fan of The Turning of the Screw though, so it already had a mark against it. The best part of the season was Hannah Grose and Owen.

g) I have been listening to Georgette Heyer novels on audiobooks while I run. I'm running 3 or 4 times a week. I'm listening to the Nonesuch right now. Nothing quite like Sir Waldo <3. :D :D :D The reader for this one is particularly great. During October, my runs are populated by skeletons in people's yards. They all make me very happy.

ocho) I am mostly doing okay, as life continues to swing into surreality. some weeks are worse than others. Some days are funky and moody and strange. Some are just wtf. I'd really love to go to the movies again. I hope you all are doing okay and hanging in there too. work is never ending and surreal. don't let your phones overheat. I have no idea what's in store for us, whichever way the election goes tomorrow. But, either way, it's going to be historic.

It's winter solstice and I kind of wish we kept the murky, short days for longer instead of the days lengthening again.

To celebrate Duncan McLeod's birthday, check out the Highlander Holiday Shortcuts! Which is live! Stories are being posted! Check it out and comment! I am very behind on reading.

Look at the adorable Methos in my icon. LOOK AT HIM. <3

(if you're wondering if I finished my story in time, I did, thank you very much, with time to spare. okay not much time, but still. HAH!)

~~

In other news I have seen Rise of Skywalker, but will post about it maybe tomorrow. Spoiler alert, I loved it. A LOT. My favorite of the trilogy so far. Haven't read anyone else's reactions, but I'm gonna go with the assumption that I'm probably alone in liking it as much as I did? I don't know, and frankly don't care. WHEEEE. *sticks fingers in ears*