loaded_march | Entries tagged with lm hive mind

Another week, another 10,000 words -- which now is officially my goal word count for the week, since that is what seems to be achievable despite constant interruptions at work (they're my breaks, damn it, but a lot of the time something gets in the way) and distractions at home (what, I have to make food if I want to get fed? fuck that!).

It also wraps up Chapter Two, which means that the final word count for Chapter One wasn't a fluke. I mean, 20,000 words for a chapter? haha, no, that's wrong, there must be at least three natural breaks in the storytelling where I can chop the section into another chapter. I mean, depending on the story I'm writing, my files are split up in chapters that are anywhere from 3,000, 5,000, 7,000 words.

Nope. 20,000 words, which is a new record for me. However, 20,000 words for a chapter makes me ask the question of how many chapters is this going to be and dread the answer. I have been mocked for whining and crying about it, because while I know people don't necessarily think this is going to be a bad thing, I am going to be driven absolutely bonkers about this. 20,000 word chapters, jesus fucking christ.

*ahem*

I do have questions this week, and although these are mostly aimed at London residents, it's open to anyone in England or Europe, really, or anyone who's been to the United Kingdom. I did do some research, but couldn't find what I was looking for, and even though I don't think it exists, specifically, I want to at least be able to worldbuild something believable.

Anyway, the questions are behind a cut, as usual, in case people don't want to be spoiled in any way, shape or form.

News, broadcasters, media
I'm aware of BCB broadcasters because we get it here/have our version, so let's see:

What are the major British news broadcasters? Are there local stations? Is there competition between them? Are there more than one news desk? Are they television or radio?

What about international news? Is CNN a channel people get/watch? How much actual access to international news is there in England? I don't expect coverage of a farm fair at a small town in the middle of nowhere, but just general earth-shattering type of news, like, oh, the end of the world?

What about webnews? Are there any news broadcasters that also broadcast on the web (I know, I know, it's 2015, the answer is most likely yes)? What about news broadcasters that only broadcast on the web?

Thank you!

It's February 3, and I have written the first 2,500 words of LM#15.

~~That is all.~~

No, that is not all, actually. It's come to my attention that one of the files I lost during the Crash of 2015 was Loaded March Characters.doc, which just so happens to be the list of names, descriptions, occupations of nearly everyone in the series (I kind of stopped updating it around 8 or 9). Another file that disappeared -- actually, nearly the entire contents of my Worldbuilding folder -- was This is what the fuck that was.doc, with plot details and crucial information to make sure that I didn't mess up.

(Which I'm sure I did. Multiple times.)

If I look at what I have now and consider how many of those words words have four X's in them (i.e., thingthatgoesboomXXXX -- my catch-all CTRL+F to find the details I don't fill in until later, so that I don't have to stop to look it up), I'm afraid I'm going to have to call upon the Hive Mind (or just anyone who has a really good recollection of LM) to answer some questions about LM.

Man, it's embarrassing to ask, but I'm acutely aware that the fans of the series have way more knowledge about the story than I do (and I'm totally cool with that. One day I will rectify that problem by rereading everything and recompiling the files) and it's just easier and faster if, I just ask.

So this is me, with a global help me do my homework request, and hoping that no one minds.

I need someone to translate a phrase of dialogue in Welsh for me. Can anyone help?

So, in my earlier post I mentioned having seen something on Tumblr -- I suppose you could call it the GoT version of Loaded March? -- by greenleaves-never/

baemlalagreen. The images are there in two posts (1, 2), but you can find a comprehensive description of the whytofores over on her LJ.

I gotta say that I'm always amazed by the creativity of the people in the LM Hive Mind, because these were awesome.

I heard about this before it happened, because it was a thing that was happening, and then it was a thing that happened amongst the LM Hive Mind, which seems to be a force of nature in their own right. The thing in question is a future!wedding between Leon and Morgana, and it includes a combination of chat!cosplay, fanart, fanmixes, and an argument between Leon and Morgana over the wedding plans themselves.

There are too many posts for me to link to them all, but check out the #hive wedding tag over on Tumblr (or just click this link) and scroll through.

So, my plan for the next several days, assuming I survive the actual daytime hours and crawl home in a more or less conscious and coherent shape, is to try to catch up with the random news about the Loaded March series that have been popping up on the Interwebs. I am probably going at them in reverse order of awareness, because some of these came in just before I was leaving for vacation (and given the events that happened before my vacation.... ehhhh. Let's just say I didn't have any kind of mindset at the time).

Anyway!

First up:

The LM Hive Mind over on Tumblr has spawned the Loaded March Wiki and are slowly and surely populating it with facts and details, and ocassionally emailing me with questions to fill in the details (the roles of each member of the team, or what my headcanon for Lucan is, for example). You can join and add details or just hang out in the forums. It's pretty amazing how much was accomplished in a short period of time. I have nothing to do with the Wiki (beyond fact checking for writing purposes, so you're at the mercy of the LM Hive Mind for this one.

I just want to also add a big thank you to the LM Hive Mind for doing this, because it's a freaking ridiculous group effort and labour of love and they scare me a tiny little bit because they know more about LM than I do.

I've done very little writing over the weekend -- it was one of those holy fuck, no one told me I had this much shit to do weekends -- and my word count on Friday was 2,500 words, and I managed 500-750 words today, which brings me to an approximate word count of... hold on, I have to adjust for screwing up the progress bar last time... of:

84000 / 90000 (93.33%)

Huh. I thought I'd be further along. Damn it. But I'm getting there. There's at least one more scene that needs to be written. I need to put in another POV for a section. And I'm going to have to write an Extra, too, because it needs telling and it just didn't fit into the narrative.

Then I have to go through it and fix all the parts I'm sure I've missed and clean it up as much as I can. I'm wondering if anyone is willing to give it a quick beta? I know several people have volunteered in the past, but I don't want to impose on anyone who doesn't have the time to do it right now. Time frame? I could get it out to whoever's interested by next Sunday.

Now for two do my research questions for the LM Hive Mind (because I'm seeing double and I'm not finding it, damn it):

Did I ever give Kathy a surname and an occupation?

Do you remember That Guy^TM with the weird fuzzy-TV flipping-screen channel/illusion face? Does anyone happen to remember his name?

I just have one thing to say about the whole [Poll #1881341]

Part Four: The Jester
Silent rebellion
It took two weeks, one day, six hours, five minutes and however many seconds for the team to show the first signs of revolt to the new training regime Arthur had implemented once they returned on base.

You're my pet
"You'll be loud, you'll be an arse, you'll have a mouth. You'll tell everyone off. You'll tell me off. I'll let you get away with all of it until you push me too far, and then everyone is going to know that the biggest genius in the room is mine, that you're my pet..."

You need magic to fight magic
(direct quote)

The heat of your body crashes into mine
Merlin was dripping wet, a too-small hotel towel around his waist, his hair slicked back and every bit of his skin glowing. There were faint lines on his chest and arms where he'd been cut the deepest, a thin cut still closing on his cheek and forehead, and Arthur didn't realize that he'd crossed the distance until he was right there, feeling the damp heat of the shower radiating from Merlin's skin.

Part Five: Avalon
An angel mourning his fall from grace
The moonlight streamed through the window, and Merlin was sitting right in the beam, cast alight like an angel mourning his fall from grace.

Impossible to put into words how much he wants, how much he loves
It wasn't until he'd walked into this building and saw Merlin sitting stoop-shouldered on the bench, fragile and broken and vulnerable, that the torturous pain in his chest eased, even if only a little, because all he could really feel now was how much he trusted, how much he wanted, how much he loved.

I was a champion in the Olympics of wanking
"Old sports injury," Gwaine said, cradling his wrist close to his chest. "Wrist-flicking makes the carpal tunnel worse. I have doctor's orders to keep it rested and elevated..."
"I was a champion, making a name for myself in my sport --"
"Which was what, the Olympics of wanking?"

There's a price for secrets
His head hurt. His heart hurt. His soul hurt. He wanted. He wanted to pull Merlin close and to hold him until neither of them could breathe. He wanted to tell Merlin that he was all right, that Merlin had saved him.
He wanted to tell Merlin that he knew. He wanted to tell Merlin how pissed he was that Merlin didn't tell him. He wanted to tell Merlin that it didn't matter.
He wanted to kiss Merlin again and again. He wanted. He wanted Merlin so much that it was tearing him apart.
He wanted, and he couldn't have him. He couldn't.

Part Six: Intermission
To trust means trusting everything
He was a foolish, foolish boy who didn't realize that there was one person in the universe that he could trust implicitly with his deepest, darkest secret. It was the same person who had managed to earn Merlin's trust in everything else. There were times that Kilgarrah watched the two of them walk down the street together, each of them silent or in fervent discussion or even sharing a laugh, and he felt as if he should march out toward the two and smash their heads together until they saw sense.

The puzzle pieces are a woven web
He could see where all this was heading, the various tendrils in the strands of the Sister Fates' weaving, the pattern that might form in the yarn, the unravelling that would need to be knotted and curled to save the future.

I will wait forever for you
We have to wait. Just a while. Can you wait, Merlin? Because I can. I'd wait forever for you.

I will have you no matter what
Merlin sank against Arthur as if he were trying to climb into Arthur's skin, his breath soft and desperate on Arthur's cheek like a lure, and Arthur chased after it until his teeth caught Merlin's lower lip, nibbling lightly before pressing in, hard, turning them both around with speed and strength that nearly sent them both to the ground. Arthur gasped when Merlin fought him, struggling to gain the upper hand. He caught those slim wrists, those delicate wrists, and held them away, pinned to the wall, whispering hot and hungry in Merlin's ear.
"I will have you --"

Part Seven: First Contact
There were tears of desperation
There were tears. They streaked down his cheeks like rivers, marring gunpowder and dirt and a smear of blood on the side of his face. His mouth was set in a trembling line, despair, desperation, fear shining in his eyes where Merlin had only ever seen resolution, determination, and courage."

Excalibur will show you how it's done
"The Directory's standard operating protocols suck donkey balls. Excalibur is about to show you how they do it -- and they'll beat your time. On the first go."

Rail and rattle against the wrong
These are words to live by: He couldn't talk Stupid; it was a language reserved for the inanely vapid and transparent. He couldn't blithely agree with whatever the status quo claimed was true, because his gut instinct was to rail against the wrong.

The end of the world in a single spell
...Merlin hadn't hesitated. He hadn't needed a spell. Merlin had released his magic and let his magic forge something between them out of sheer force of will. There had been a sense of possession, of binding, of two broken edges finding each other and fitting in neatly at the jagged seams, welding together where it had been shattered only to come out stronger in between.

Part Eight: Groundwork
There was a bloody wall of balls in the air.
(Direct quote)

He'd planned this all along
He stared at Merlin in the mirror, at the wanton, dishevelled look of him, at his bare throat reddened in precise rounds the size of Arthur's mouth, at the shuttered eyes and the lips parted in a moan. Merlin lowered his chin, finding his gaze in their reflection, and there wasn't the least bit of shame to him that he'd planned this all along.

He was the devil in the rain
"Merlin was the devil in the rain, his army greens slick-black with wet. He was loose and limber and deadly, his hair a chaos of spikes and curls. The sun shone on him in a single beam diffracted a thousand times from all the raindrops suspended in the air, a prismatic rainbow casting an ethereal fire and light in a breathtaking aura. Merlin was long and lean and beautiful, with sharp cheekbones and a smirking smile of mischief, but it was those eyes -- those golden eyes -- that drew Arthur closer and closer, until he grasped Merlin's outstretched hand and let Merlin pull him near."

He's our Merlin
"He's our Merlin," Lance said. Merlin's heart could burst, because no one spoke up to tell Lance that he was wrong."

Part Nine: The Play's the Thing
There's a pillock I need to shoot dead
"So I hear there's a pillock I need to shoot dead," Will said, his tone as casual-smooth as if he were talking about the weather.

I'd follow you to the end of the world
I'd damn the tides to your will
I'd make the forest bloom in winter, I'd make it snow in June
(all taken from this quote:)
I'd follow you to the end of the world, you know that?
I'd make a way to get there if that was what you wanted. I'd show you the stars when they burn themselves out, disappearing from the sky. I'd send the clouds away so that you'd only ever see sunshine every day. I'd make the moon hang in the sky, full and bright and white, so that you'd always find your way in the dark. I'd damn the tides to ebbing and flowing at your will. I'd quiet the seas to mirror calm and take on Neptune himself when he raged.
I'd make the rest of the world vanish to wrap you in the comfort of silence. I'd stop time so that you can lounge in the shadow of a tree as long as you liked without needing to move. I'd make the forest bloom in winter, I'd bring life to the desert, I'd make it snow in June.
I'd do anything for you.
Anything?
Anything.

Part Ten: Means to an End
Love cannot be possessed and cannot possess in turn.
"Love is unforgiving and fair. Love is fleeting and eternal. Love is a constant that cannot be possessed and cannot possess in turn.
"Have patience, one with the other, through whatever comes. Stand fast and strong and slow and pliant. Be giving in your affections, be free to love one another, be sensuous and warm. Be fearless when together, be brave when apart. As the Gods and the Spirits of the Old Religion watch over you, may your love be steadfast and eternal."

I'm a brilliant, no-good bum
"I've been to enough interviews to recognize one, whether I knew about it or not, so if you're checking to see if I know my shite, then you should probably listen to Prof Monmouth when he says, most brilliant kid I've ever taught. But I don't doubt that you've got access to my records, sealed as they are, so you know better than to listen to Monmouth when he says, I don't know what happened to him. I'm surprised, actually, I didn't think he'd turn into this much of a no-good bum."

Everyone dies.
(Direct quote)

There was a dragon. There was a fucking dragon.
A reverberating rumble -- no, a roar -- shook the air and the ground and the shield around them. Arthur saw a shape, an impossible shape, sweeping down in an arc, wings nearly perpendicular with the ground, long tail trailing out behind it.
A dragon.
A fucking dragon.

.

Well, fiddlesticks. It's taking me longer than anticipated to compile the poll, mostly because today has been full of interruptions, but also because I tried to trim the favourite scenes and lines down to four choices or less, picking a scene and trying to come up with a phrase that will at least somehow represent that scene. I had to keep reminding myself that the phrase needed to fit on photo manipulated art that someone wants to do for LM, because I have a [Poll #1880936]

Ugh. Okay, my HTML failed, and I'm too tired to figure it out, so here we go with the scenes:

Part One: Radioman
Excalibur is your destiny.
Arthur held up the swath of red cloth. "You dropped this."

The sky at moonrise, the sky at sunrise.
It had absolutely nothing to do with bright, guileless eyes that were a startling jewel blue, like the sky at moonrise and the sky at sunrise had gotten together and made babies in that exact shade.

Comfort is in the heart.
"The map says there's a series of caves up ahead, but that's only if the map isn't wrong," Gwaine said. "Don't worry, Princess. I'll find something that suits your particularly extravagant tastes."

I've known from the start that you were mine.
"Now, now. There's plenty of me to go around," Merlin said, sounding so damned pleased about it that Arthur wanted to shake him a few times to tell him, that, no, no, under no circumstance was Merlin to even offer, because he was Arthur's and only Arthur's, and...

Part Two: War Games
Laid bare on an altar is a feast for a King.
Merlin was stretched out on the hood of a clean transport, laying back on the windshield. His long legs were crossed at the ankles, his trousers were low on his hips, and his chest was bare except for the gleam of metallic circular ID tags. His hands made a pillow behind his head, he wore a pair of silver reflective aviator glasses, chin tilted up at the sky while he soaked up the sun as if he were some sort of Celtic god.

Only one will ever wear Arthur's red.
"You're wearing Arthur's red, aren't you?" Arthur's red, and not Excalibur's red, Merlin noted after a surprised second. "You're one of us. You're family now. If you think we were merciless when we questioned you on your first day, wait till your month's grace of wearing the red for the first time is over. The bollocks I'm talking about is this James Bond double-oh all these bloody secrets that you're not telling us."

The young laugh when the old fall.
"Am gwymp hen y chwardd ieuanc." Merlin said, his voice quiet. Arthur turned to look at him, but everyone's eyes were on Merlin in the next instant, and he pressed his lips together, falling silent until Arthur raised a slight brow to tell him he might as well continue. Merlin sat up a little straighter. "It's Welsh. It means the young laugh when the old fall."

A silent rage is the deadliest.
Merlin didn't have any of the poker tells of a man trying to hide how much he was struggling to contain his fear...and Merlin wasn't acting like a man who was afraid or who thought he'd lost the last few marbles he had left. His hands were too steady, his voice too soft, his gaze too intense, his body in a bowstring-tautness that might release at any moment and be flung out far, far away. Where Arthur might never see him again.
Merlin was angry.

Part Three: R&R
Some things are worth the wait. He'd wait forever --
"Mara designed and did my tattoo. I thought, maybe, you'd like her to do yours," Arthur said quietly.
Merlin snapped out of whatever funk he was in, studying him with a frown, before looking up toward the shop.
When Merlin looked at Arthur again, it was with such a brilliant, brilliant smile, that Arthur knew he was a goner.
He'd wait forever for Merlin.

What's a more perfect sword than Excalibur?
Merlin touched the edges of the tattoo on his left ribcage tenderly. It was in the same spot as Arthur's, too. He hadn't done it on purpose, either. When Mara had asked him where he wanted it, Merlin had thought about it for a moment, closing his eyes to feel for the right spot, and his magic had guided his hand to point without even thinking about it.
He had her hide some symbols in the Celtic knots, too, darkening them out a little bolder than the rest. Now that it was healed, he could feel the magic pulse on each of those symbols, spells ready to be taken and thrown. They would come in useful, he knew, if they were ever going to go against Aredian and the Jester and Mordred again.

A tease; a secret sigh. Yearning and unfulfilled desire.
A long bare leg, moon-milky against the blue-grey comforter, stretched out and curled slightly. The fine black hairs on his calf and thigh only served to enhance the lines of muscles, lean and lined even at rest. Arthur's eyes traced the length of his leg, his breath catching in his throat at the sight of Merlin's boxers, the fabric pushed up all the way to the crook and curve of his arse.

.

So, the general consensus appears to be that I've been rather neglectful when it comes to giving Will a surname. Easily remedied! But, no, it won't be Will Williamson, and it won't be Will Thacher (but thanks for playing; I got a nice chuckle out of those).

Um.

What about Kay? I know I gave Kay a surname. I mean, I must have, but the document that I use to keep track of facts, which I haven't updated since, oh, Part 3, is missing this useful detail. For some reason.

And here's a few random things so that this post isn't just about how incredibly awful I am at keeping track of my own shit:

1) Despite the hectic madness of the last week, this one has sort of returned to normal. I still don't have time to do a lot of writing during my breaks or lunch hour because I don't have breaks or lunch hour (too busy), but at least I'm coming home at my usual time. Unfortunately, I'm doing a lot of stress eating and stress running, and I'm pretty sure I'm only operating on 20% brain power right now.

2) Correction:19%, because another one of the gremlins who work at the BrainPower Nuclear Plant just quit in a hissy fit of epic proportions. That's okay. I'll just get a few of them wet and feed the offspring after midnight and I'll be back to 21% in no time.

3) I've managed to keep with the word count output for Part #11, though. I didn't do any writing last weekend (I'm pretty sure I shut down to do something about the coolant cells at the Nuclear Plant hitting critical temperatures), but I've been anywhere between 2,000 and 3,500 words a day.

4) And anywhere from 500 to 1000 words a day on this other thing that I signed up for that I wasn't supposed to sign up for after I swore up and down that I wouldn't sign up for anything else for the rest of the year but it's totally not my fault, people were supposed to stop me and they didn't and I would never say no when a friend is in a bind.

5) Don't be mad at me. Please!

Edited to add:

6) Oh, yeah. Apparently LJ's latest is causing people to veer toward Dreamwidth; to that end, I have created an account there as well. Keeping with my tradition of not having the same nick everywhere I sign up, I'm BooBooBear on Dreamwidth.

No, not really.

I'm totally kidding. I'm loaded_march on Dreamwidth, too. It's completely, absolutely freaking empty right now and at some point I will figure it out the same way I'll figure out tumblr, but, there you have it. I'm on there.

I really should keep better notes, but this has been bugging me for a while. So, for absolutely no reason that has to do with Part 11, does anyone happen to remember if I gave Will a surname?

Time-wise, today was more like one of my usual days -- up at the pre-buttcrack of dawn, an hour on the treadmill (because it's wet and rainy with chance of snow outside) and a half hour of strength training, at work at my "usual" time, not having enough time to do anything that needed doing, running around so much that I may as well have saved my energy by skipping my morning run, wishing that people believed in the concept of letting hungry people eat their lunches in peace and quiet -- instead of forcing them to eat one bite every ten minutes -- and leaving work at my "usual" time.

Even if leaving at my "usual" time amounted to quite literally running out of my workplace when an insistent string of "No, no, I can't, I have to go, I have to -- fuck this, BYE!" and wrenching myself out of someone's grasp. I'll probably pay for that tomorrow, but, fuck, I just couldn't take it anymore.

Have I left the Pick your favourite lines/scenes from Loaded March poll open long enough? Should I leave it open a little longer? Since those quotes are meant to go on photomanipulated art, I'm going to go through the entries and either pick a line or a phrase or a concept from each so that the text will fit, and those will be the options for Poll #2.

And finally, because I came home feeling shitty and was in desperate need of a pick-me-up, and

swordmage posted a fic rec that I clicked and red that did more than deliver on the pick-me-up part, it had me grinning all the way through because it was so well written and so well done and so well paced and so freaking intelligent, you are getting a rare rec from me that I seriously think everyone should read, because it's totally deserved: Fundamental Imperfection by starlingthefool.

incidentally, how the heck do you put those pretty AO3 icons in front of someone's nick?

[Poll #1873803]

A talented fan of the Loaded March series has asked me if they could do photomanips as fanart, and ~~after squeaking and clapping with glee,~~ I said that I thought that would be awesome.

This fan is taking it a step further by asking if I could provide a line from each part to be included in the artwork. These lines would be things of importance or of particular insight or even a favourite phrase -- all of which would be relevant to each part. I thought that was a great idea, too.

But then my mind went blank. I can't think of a single phrase from any section that stands out.

Then I realized: I've got the LM Hive Mind. They know the series better than I do. I mean, I haven't read the series since each part was posted (that's right, I've only ever read them last before putting them up, and not once since), while I know some of you have read the series a zillion times (which boggles my mind).

So, help a girl out. What are your favourite lines from each part? Post them in the appropriate thread for each part in the comment section, and...

Then we'll proceed to part two of the poll: I'll have you pick your all time favourite from the phrases that you post.

Between clicking on the helpful link to Tumblr that

fuckyeah and

steplianna provided and realizing just how (adorably) crazy people over there are on the loaded march tag, and a few comments in previous posts, I thought maybe people would like a place where they can go crazy with spoilers for LM.

So here it is. A spoilers post. Bitch about what's going on now, what you think might happen, how I got shit wrong and totally need to fix it. Go ahead. Go nuts. Say what you're thinking. Get it off your chest. I don't mind.

Just so you know, I will not be participating in this post. I will not be giving advance hints on what's happening in the next parts. I won't confirm or deny speculations. In fact, I've disabled notifications of the comments, so I won't even be reading comments as they're posted (though I might sneak a peek here and there). Anon comments will no longer be screened, so if you don't want us to know who you are, we won't! And if a fight breaks out ("Who's cooler, Kay or Will?") I will break it up ("Duh, Gwaine, of course") and send people to their respective corners.

Do not click on the comments if you don't want to be spoiled.

First! I have not fallen off the face of the planet! I've... been avoiding the interwebs by immersing myself in fic. Also, it was the long weekend; I totally turned off my brain for the vast majority of it.

Second! Part #10 is still in beta -- and although I have an ETA, I am not sharing it, because Things^TM happen, so it might be a bit longer. Plus, I still have to go through it and fix it. And believe me, there's a lot of fixing to do. No, I am not sharing word count, even though someone came close to guessing how many words there are. I am denying it totally until I have it posted.

Third! I finally have a title for Part 10. Amazingly, I have a title for part 11, too. And the opening scenes to part 11, which I want to start writing right now, but I have a fest fic to write.

Fourth! Speaking of fest fics -- I am in serious need of someone to Brit Pick my

merlin_horror fic. The fact that I'm coming to this realization now, when I'm only two parts into the fic, is a pretty bad thing. So I am putting up my official Craigslist ad here:

Wanted: One ~~poor sap~~ wonderful human being willing to beta a horror fic set in a modern AU. Specific needs: British slang, location descriptions, and help me I'm lost in London address fixes. Some knowledge of the medical profession would be helpful but not required. Should be willing to answer ~~frantic and frequent~~ rare and occasional PMs with random questions as I work my way through the fic, because all these is there even slang for this in the UK? notes I've left myself all over the documents are driving me freaking crazy.

Fifth! I... I totally had a fifth. I swear. I seem to have misplaced it. I'll get back to you on this one.

This is embarrassing, but I have completely failed on keeping tabs on my own worldbuilding and am now asking people to do my research for me, because I've tried to track down a small detail, and either I am not seeing it, or it doesn't exist.

( Cut in case it might be considered spoilery )

EDITED TO ADD: Fekkin' hell, people. You found it in, what, less than TWO MINUTES. That's got to be some sort of record.

THANK YOU!

So, yesterday I did not post word count, but I promise there was word count.

And there were more words today, too. I am not going to post the total word count at this point because, err... I've lost count. Oops.

But there is substantial progress, even if I am eking it out at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 words a day, which is a leeeettle bit slower than my previous 4,000-and-change word count during First Contact, but I blame drastic overwork at the day job, the going-bonkers of the holiday season, and the current, incessant, distracting throb of a freshly-bruised heel after slipping down the stairs.

There were a lot of stairs. I made a lot of noise going down. It was awesome.

I have yet to decide on the Option A versus Option B, and despite the consensus for Option A, it's entirely possible that I will (as someone put it) pull an Arthur, and go for an Option C or Option D, where Option C is to wait and see if I stumble on a natural break about mid-way through, and Option D is to do another cliffhanger before finishing it off in part 9 -- which might result in my untimely death by hanging, so that might not really be an option.

I admit being somewhat grumpy because Option A (and C and D) involves splitting the 8th part and that means that the lovely, lovely title I'd stumbled over will suddenly no longer really apply, and I'd have to come up with two titles, and I swear that I left my title jar somewhere over here, but it appears to have disappeared. *frown*

Anyway!

After writing a conversation between Morgana and Arthur that included the words lube, strap-on, and Beckham, it occurs to me that I don't know/haven't settled on something in their background/history, and it's this:

Is Morgana older or younger than Arthur?

I can't seem to recall if that detail ever cropped up in the episodes I've seen, and I haven't seen any of S4. That's not to say that I will follow canon in LM, but I was wondering, and now it's bugging me.

So I am asking the LM hive mind: Does anyone know/have an opinion on this?