Happy Holidays, unovis_lj!

[amand_r]

Title: Gods Above and Below
Author: amberleewriter, aka Why Do You Bother To Even Look Here Anymore?
Written for: unovis_lj
Characters/Pairings: Darius, Marcus Constantine
Rating: PG
Summary: "There was a time when I found it difficult to forgive him for bringing the Goths to Rome."
Author Notes:
If this fic, it hath offended

Comments

[killabeez]

I've never thought much about Constantine, mostly because I loathe that episode -- not his fault. *g* But this is amazing. Gorgeous story, and a fitting tribute.

[amberleewriter]

Yeah, the episode has a few *cough* plot holes *cough*.

The things I found most interesting were Constantine's mentions of Darius. They were nearly toss-off lines but implied a long and strong friendship. In spite of this -- and the fact that Constantine obviously lives and works in Paris -- Darius never introduced Duncan to this Immortal. It made me wonder. Throw these thoughts together with my assignment and you get this.

Well, actually you get a lot of things but this is the one I turned in. ^_^

Thank you for reading and for your kind comments.

[blackrosebard]

That was the most awesome story I've read in a long while.

[amberleewriter]

Thank you very much!

[mackiedockie]

Excellent portrayal of two strong and complementary characters. There is aching weight to the years Marcus and Darius managed to survive.

[amberleewriter]

Thank you. I often wonder about this pair and their friendship. How do you go from enemies to friends? How long does it take? What is the transformative moment? Is it a slow gradual thing or a sudden revelation.

And so much history to explore with both these characters. I'm just glad I did them some kind of justice.

[corbeaun]

Wow. That was a stunningly written. I especially love the philosophical bent to it, and how Constantine changed over the course of this story.

And that last line, when he tells Darius that "Rome is dead, the past is gone, and I forgive you"... It feels so bittersweet.

Amazing story.

[amberleewriter]

One of the most interesting things about Constantine as a character (for me, anyway) is the idea that, for centuries, he was a warrior for a single civilization only to, at some point, choose to lay down arms and become a historian of that culture instead. With Darius, this change is sudden and explained by a "light quickening." Not so with Constantine. His transformation seems to have been hard won. Quite a story in there somewhere. I'm not sure that this particular tale begins to do more than touch on such a change, but it is a start.

Thank you for commenting and I am very glad you enjoyed the story.

[sapphiresmuse]

This was just beautiful. It puts the reader right back there in their time and with the fall of Rome Marcus has finally discovered within himself a certain amount of peace, but it was wrought with bittersweetness.

Whenever I think of Darius, there always seems to be this air of regret, not always necessarily for Darius, lurking in those immortals about him.

This fic was a prime example of "can you be better than you are (or have been)?"

[amberleewriter]

Thank you very much. At the core of Highlander is the question, "Can you be better?" If this story captured even a small bit of that then I am satisfied.