A lot of people were horrified beyond words by Jill’s press conference. Though the Saint Catherine team’s actions had been noticed by the wider world, most Americans treated superhero teams like football teams–they typically followed the locals, and those were the teams that felt like “theirs.”
The broadcast exposed the events of Battlecry to the entire nation, most especially who and what Patrick was. The human mind dislikes shades of gray, and a lot of people assumed that all leaders were like that. Moreover, Edward (codename: Hunter) had a few unfortunate attributes in common with Patrick: he was handsome and popular with the media, he allowed interviews, and he was charismatic. Unlike Patrick, he was a genuinely kind and caring person, and he spoke to the media to improve his team’s standing with the citizens of Burlington.
None of that mattered after the broadcast. Edward pulled his team off the streets after the broadcast, knowing something large was coming, and the superhero-watchers of the area interpreted that as foul play on his part. They came to the house armed to the teeth and ready to “rescue” their heroes. As you saw in Mercury, it went wrong very quickly.
It was during the part of the trial where they talked about possible racial discrimination in the camps, which would lead to more charges due to the camps being part of the DOJ. Marco was talking about Abby, and how she’d been forbidden to marry Edward Yazzie.
Prosecution: Mr. St. James, please tell the court what Mr. Yazzie said to you about his courtship with Miss Calhoun.
Marco: Edward said he’d asked for Abby’s hand after meeting her on a courtship swap. Abby supported the match. But her dad said–
Calhoun: My daughter would never have wanted to marry a redskin!
Marco: Shut the f*** up, you liar! They were going to run away together! The only reason they’re dead is because of the JM-104! You’re responsible for her death!
Fortunately, there was no mistrial. Marco’s comments were struck from the record (”speculation”), but Calhoun certainly hadn’t helped himself by shouting about Edward being a “redskin.”
Vines: Anything by Meech on Mars. I never even went to high school, but for some reason I’m always like, “yeah, it be like that sometimes.”
Memes:
Ugandan Knuckles. It’s just so goofy.
The one with the two guys yelling at each other and it escalates into a fight
The gunshot meme. I got in trouble with Jill because I made a joke about the elders and them killing people, then pretending that the Westerners had done it.
No, there are no registries. The collapse of the camps was a watershed moment for Supers, though. Before that, the camps had a monopoly on superheroism and controlled how Supers were viewed. After that, people from the obscure families were a lot more comfortable coming out of hiding; there was even a certain glamour attached to being from one of the “rare” non-camp lines.
I love when readers ask me questions. Please send as many as you want–I promise that you’ll never annoy me.
The DOJ got in trouble with pretty much everyone for not monitoring the camps better, but to be fair, the camps had done a lot to hide what was going on. There were “inspections” occasionally, but like in real life, virtually all of them were communicated ahead of time.
The big thing is that the people in the camps were private citizens, just like people in real-life cult compounds are. The amount of neglect they could legally get away with is quite real.
Ember did a lot of good, hard thinking during Reid’s convalescence. She rarely left his side, usually sitting in the corner chair and just looking at him. Most people, Jill included, assumed that Ember was thinking loving thoughts and standing watch over her beloved.
In reality, Ember was considering her options for if, and then when, Reid woke up. She loved him, and she wanted to be with him, but she was just as concerned for her safety in the hospital as she was at any other time. And like you said, her feeling of safety was a pillar part of their relationship. Could Reid offer her any protection anymore?
Things changed when Reid began to be able to talk to her again. She was able to visit him in his mind, and there she finally admitted what she’d been considering. Reid and her discussed how they’d construct their life, steps they’d take to make sure they were both safe, etc.
Even though Reid was comatose, he had his own two cents to put into the discussion: how Ember had treated people during Mercury. I said in another post that she didn’t get the dressing-down she deserved, but I meant that she didn’t get it in the book, which is probably what readers wanted. But she did get it from both Reid (kindly) and Marco (not so kindly). Reid told her that if they were going to be married, she needed to take responsibility for all the crap she’d pulled in the lab–and he didn’t even know what she’d done to Benjamin.
That was extremely difficult for her. In fact, when he told her to do it, she pulled out of his head and walked out of the room for several hours. She finally came back and admitted she’d been horrible.
In the end, the animal sanctuary was purchased in a roundabout way, so neither of their names are attached to it. It would be hard to track them via paperwork. Ember has virtually no social media presence, and Reid doesn’t publicly talk about her. All staff on the farm are hired and vetted through a third party company that doesn’t disclose the names of the owners until after the person has been hired, and everyone signs non-disclosure agreements. Even then, Reid deals with them almost exclusively.
No, I never seriously considered giving flight to another character. I wanted Christina St. James to have multiple distinctions as the OG superhero, and her powers were part of that.
I chose the lip piercings because I love them. See, Dean was built from the ground up to be a foil/threat for Benjamin, and I wanted him to have every attribute that I find attractive. That meant dark hair and light eyes, dashing and brave, and a warrior with a certain edgy flair. I even gave him a boy’s name that I adore but will never give a son, because “Dean Dodge” sound stupid.
A few days after the Saint Catherine team departed for Georgia again, Eleanor knocked on Dean’s door and told him–told him–that he was going to come to her house for dinner every single night to discuss finances. She made sure to wear pretty clothes for once, and had her hair and makeup done. He was like, “………..okay.”
She began to hit on him pretty hard, and our buddy Dean got the hint before too long. He realized that Eleanor was very pretty and smart, and that he had grown fond of her. A whirlwind romance bloomed.
There are roughly 125 teams in the country, and about half of them saw the broadcast when it aired. The rest saw it throughout the week afterward.
About a dozen of those teams had been waiting for such an event to cause enough chaos to disappear. Several teams vanished overnight (more than mentioned in the the books)–they’d fled to the wilderness, other cities, etc. Fortunately, the elders were so focused on putting out the fires that those teams were left in peace. By the time of the final epilogue, those heroes had either fully integrated with society or joined the National Superhero Corps.
All teams had a very stern conversation with each other about strange things they’d noticed re: the Westerner attacks, stuff they’d heard in the camps, Jillians’s credibility, etc.. To the credit of the leaders, the vast majority of them knew nothing of the human trafficking and took their responsibilities seriously. A handful of not-so-nice ones were forced to stand down and stay in their rooms by their teams. Many leaders simply put their leadership to the vote and were like, if you have any problems, now is the time to tell me.
Dean and the Sentinels were initially deeply afraid of dealing with the government, but luckily Eleanor saw it as the chance they’d been waiting for. She obviously was leery of dealing with the feds, but knew that it was zero hour. She contacted a lawyer, who accompanied her and Dean to the Denver FBI field office. There, they confessed to what had happened, explained why they’d never come forward, and said they wanted to help the investigation. With the help of a really good legal team, Eleanor’s power, and simply lucky timing, it turned into a highly positive visit. They went back to the Sentinels and told everyone that it was time to put down their weapons. Many Sentinels were unhappy, but it’s not like they had a lot of options.
Wide Spread Interests 