killabeez (![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png)
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crack_van2006-04-04 08:39 am
killabeez.livejournal.com) wrote in crack_van2006-04-04 08:39 am
Entry tags:
Unconventional Virtue by Dasha (R-ish)
Fandom: HIGHLANDER
Pairings: Methos/Joe, Duncan/Joe
Author on LJ:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
dashamte
Author Website: http://soulcake.skeeter63.org/dasha.html
Why this must be read:
These stories are so rich and nuanced, and offer so many gifts to the reader, it's difficult to do them justice in a rec. Until I read them, I was a firm resident in the "Joe don't do no slash" camp, and had very little interest in having my horizons expanded. To say that these stories changed my perspective is putting it mildly.
It was just dusk when they broke free of the packed auditorium and stepped outside. A lovely, warm late summer evening. Adam had paused at the cluster of garbage cans by the door. He had the same amused, impatient, oversatisfied look he'd had all evening. Instead of an acid comment, he just pointed across the lot. "I'm parked over there. Past the police cars."
"Ah," Joe said. "I wonder if Mac knows how exciting his evening is going to get."
And then Adam smiled. Or not Adam. It was a Methos smile, the kind that made Joe's hair stand on end. "It looks like we're on our own tonight."
The first part picks up during "The Valkyrie," and manages to blend just enough touches of the episode into the story that the seams are invisible. That's a trick very few authors can manage half so well, and it makes the complex friendship between Joe, Duncan, and Methos feel all the more authentic, their interactions all the more plausible. She uses the context of this ep to explore their relationships at a moment in canon when Methos is really becoming part of the family, when both Joe and Duncan are beginning to really trust him, to feel like they know him. With deft skill, she captures all three characters so vividly they become present in the room with you, and manages another trick as well: all three men are written with maturity and subtlety, yet she conveys their respective ages and experience with unhesitating conviction.
The second part is a much longer story, and beautifully realizes every bit of promise in the first one. It picks up after "Not to Be," at a moment when the three are at a crossroads, trying to find their footing with one another after so much has happened. Into this tentative reconciliation comes disaster -- Methos' past returning with a vengeance. What ensues is a complex, detailed, impeccably-paced tale of faith, love, and connection that will make you forget to breathe at times, and that gradually, sometimes mercilessly peels away the layers of these characters until their love for one another is the only thing they have left to rely on. Amy Thomas and Amanda join the three guys in the cast of characters, their characterization equally strong, and I'd venture to say that though the story is not technically a Duncan/Methos story, if that's what you're looking for, don't hesitate at the pairings.
It's tough not to go on all day, but just go read them. It'll take you a while, and you won't want to rush, and it will be so, so worth it.
Unconventional Virtue I: In Each Moment Grace
Unconventional Virtue II: In Each Heart, Hope
Please let the author know if you enjoy these stories.
Pairings: Methos/Joe, Duncan/Joe
Author on LJ:
dashamteAuthor Website: http://soulcake.skeeter63.org/dasha.html
Why this must be read:
These stories are so rich and nuanced, and offer so many gifts to the reader, it's difficult to do them justice in a rec. Until I read them, I was a firm resident in the "Joe don't do no slash" camp, and had very little interest in having my horizons expanded. To say that these stories changed my perspective is putting it mildly.
It was just dusk when they broke free of the packed auditorium and stepped outside. A lovely, warm late summer evening. Adam had paused at the cluster of garbage cans by the door. He had the same amused, impatient, oversatisfied look he'd had all evening. Instead of an acid comment, he just pointed across the lot. "I'm parked over there. Past the police cars."
"Ah," Joe said. "I wonder if Mac knows how exciting his evening is going to get."
And then Adam smiled. Or not Adam. It was a Methos smile, the kind that made Joe's hair stand on end. "It looks like we're on our own tonight."
The first part picks up during "The Valkyrie," and manages to blend just enough touches of the episode into the story that the seams are invisible. That's a trick very few authors can manage half so well, and it makes the complex friendship between Joe, Duncan, and Methos feel all the more authentic, their interactions all the more plausible. She uses the context of this ep to explore their relationships at a moment in canon when Methos is really becoming part of the family, when both Joe and Duncan are beginning to really trust him, to feel like they know him. With deft skill, she captures all three characters so vividly they become present in the room with you, and manages another trick as well: all three men are written with maturity and subtlety, yet she conveys their respective ages and experience with unhesitating conviction.
The second part is a much longer story, and beautifully realizes every bit of promise in the first one. It picks up after "Not to Be," at a moment when the three are at a crossroads, trying to find their footing with one another after so much has happened. Into this tentative reconciliation comes disaster -- Methos' past returning with a vengeance. What ensues is a complex, detailed, impeccably-paced tale of faith, love, and connection that will make you forget to breathe at times, and that gradually, sometimes mercilessly peels away the layers of these characters until their love for one another is the only thing they have left to rely on. Amy Thomas and Amanda join the three guys in the cast of characters, their characterization equally strong, and I'd venture to say that though the story is not technically a Duncan/Methos story, if that's what you're looking for, don't hesitate at the pairings.
It's tough not to go on all day, but just go read them. It'll take you a while, and you won't want to rush, and it will be so, so worth it.
Unconventional Virtue I: In Each Moment Grace
Unconventional Virtue II: In Each Heart, Hope
Please let the author know if you enjoy these stories.