FIC: Loaded March Part 11: Desperate Measures

[loaded_march]

Geez.  It's about time.  I swear, I'm my own worst editor.


** Note that I've had to split this part into two chapters for AO3.



Part Ten: Desperate Measures
Word Count: 91K
Summary:
Excalibur lost a battle, their advantage, their loved ones, their heart and their soul.

A broken Captain, a shattered team, and no one to trust.  Their mission has been full of secrets, the present is the broken past, and the only thing that's left to do is to enact desperate measures.

Comments

[quietomega.livejournal.com]

Finally got to finish this today, and it was just so worth the wait between parts! Just really great as usual - the world building and the myth arc of how long the whole backstory of the series has been running has been really cool, especially because of how well everything fits with what's been established and answers why things are they way they are. The further development of the characters and their backgrounds is still a huge highlight for me; I didn't expect that Hunith would play as large a role as she would in this chapter, and now I don't really want to imagine the rest of the series without her, the further development of Will and Merlin's friendship - of course they'd have a secret code with each other - was just phenomenal, as were the great POV's of Gwen and Morgana.

I thought your way of establishing the mood of this part was really, really effective. This definitely felt like the darkest chapter so far, especially since two of the main POV's, Morgana's and Merlin's, were basically them living under torture, and the third involved constant fear and doubt. What sort of stood out for me in mood was how the romantic scenes were considerably shorter than in prior parts, with relief being the predominant mood; I really noticed, for example, that Perce/Gwaine don't really do anything with each other this chapter, which really hammered just how dire the situation is.

As dark as it was in the context, it was really satisfying to have Arthur in control during the phone conversations with Kilgarrah considering how difficult it was in previous chapters to get into any contact with The Dragon. Also great was Gwen's observation about Morgana and salads; really laughed over that one.

Finally: that cliffhanger! The wait for Part 12 is gonna be SO. BAD.