(via https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gvNUiMjuhVE)

This is the theme song of the huge showdown fight in Mercury. I was pleasantly surprised that not only is it thematically appropriate to where Benjamin is by chapter twenty-six, but it even references the little motto Benjamin adopted: “keep moving forward.”

Oh, my eyes are seein’ red

Double vision from the blood we’ve shed

The only way I’m leavin’ is dead

That’s the state of my (state of my) state of my head

EMERALD, YOU’VE GOT ME VERY CONCERNED.

(Source: https://www.youtube.com/)

What is Benjamin’s relationship with his mother like?

emeralddodge:

Complicated, even before the events of Battlecry.

Benjamin was a surprise, but welcomed, baby, and Janice insisted on naming him after her favorite grandfather. She was rather open about her preference for Benjamin over Beau, and she coddled him a lot.

Benjamin’s unique involvement in the family business (as described in the end of Sentinel) caused him a great amount of anguish, confusion, and general distress as a young child. Janice threw all of her energy into distracting him, and he received almost every material item he ever wanted, within reason, and it’s why she lobbied so hard for him to be allowed to joint JROTC. She saw Benjamin’s self-confidence and happiness soar, and knew that he needed a place to shine outside of Chez Trent.

Had Benjamin never met Jillian, he would’ve eventually worked up the nerve to tell his parents about nursing school–and Janice would’ve made sure that he got in. She pinned him for a dreamer and tender heart early on; she always felt that Benjamin would probably move on from the nitty-gritty of their activities and probably develop more businesses to enrich the family.

Janice’s downfall is that she can’t see her son for who he truly is. Even at the end of Sentinel, she believes that superheroes are somehow controlling him. If not controlling him, then he’s been utterly seduced by either Jillian or her promises. She can’t admit that for all her hard work and love, Benjamin has rejected her.

The Job in the Warehouse – FULL

emeralddodge:

Well, the results of the polls are in, and Ben’s POV of the night in the warehouse was the winner by a wide margin. I’ll post this one first, followed by Benjamin Dances. The excerpt of Artemis will follow.

A word of caution: this short has a lot of swearing in it, since it wasn’t intended for publication. You’re about to see how Benjamin actually talks, especially when he’s angry. Also, this chapter contains major spoilers for Sentinel–if you have not read it, I strongly advise you to wait until you have. (And it contains Beau acting like Beau.)

The Job in the Warehouse by Emerald Dodge

Copyright 2018

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Benjamin Ditches Work – Full

emeralddodge:

This is a character exercise I wrote before beginning Mercury to get a feel for Benjamin’s voice. It’s almost identical to the final version of Battlecry, which had some last minute additions (mostly about the lights flickering and the sirens). This document has also not been proofread, so if there’s a typo… *shrugs*

Benjamin Ditches Work

Copyright by Emerald Dodge, 2018

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Since I can’t ask anything about Sentinel yet, can you tell us about Benjamin’s life pre-Battlecry?

emeralddodge:

Of course!

Benjamin’s middle name is Philip.

He is a graduate of the prestigious Severn School’s class of 2013. He graduated with a 3.8.

His mother is unsure whether his father is Henry Trent or Henry’s younger brother, Franklin “Frankie” Trent, Jr. Nobody knows of her doubts.

He took Accutane for a while to clear up some pretty bad acne, and his face bears faint acne scarring.

Like Jillian, he is 5′11.5 feet tall.

He’s dated two women before Jillian: Janet and Felicia. Both were tall brunette athletes. (dude has a type)

He doesn’t have a favorite food, but rather a food category: sweets of all kinds. The sweeter, the better.

Pottemore sorted him into Ravenclaw.

Virtually all Supers are somehow related to people in the camps (who are approaching inbred). Benjamin’s great-grandmother’s maiden name was Fischer; her family left the camps in the late 1930s in protest of how the Jewish Supers were being treated by camp leadership. Reid and Benjamin are first cousins, several times removed. (The story of how they discovered this, Light One Candle, will probably be in the box set.)