COMMENTARY & ANNOTATIONS
Most of this fanfiction—and everything after Arc 2—was not plotted ahead of time. Random scenes and lines bounced around in my head until I decided to weave them into a coherent storyline. The rest was literally made up as I went along, with minimal revision.
I tried to keep characterization consistent in internal as well as spoken narration. My favorite way this shows is how Robin thinks of the other Titans as his "teammates", while Starfire considers them her "friends".
Chapter 1
"'They shot up a bank teller.'" Although not stated in the story, the bank teller lives.
"Kane Street" as in Bob.
"I hate guns. Been that way for a while now." Batman has a strict no-guns law.
"Criminals are a superstitious and cowardly lot" -- Bruce Wayne
"Felled by a set of bird-bolas." Bolas are that weapon that's a string with two weights at the ends that wraps around things.
"And Beast Boy falls." This was actually the very first scene I imagined for the story. All the rest grew from there. (I had, in fact, initially pictured it in comic book format; the words appeared in separate boxes. However, I quickly concluded that a fanfic was a much easier option.)
"'Wally! Stat!'" Kid Flash's name is Wally West.
Chapter 2
"DeGama Avenue" as in explorer Vasco da Gama. No known connection to Teen Titans.
"For a billionth of a second, I halt my momentum so as to not slice Beast Boy in half." The idea of a superhero catching a shooting victim at superspeed comes from Adventures of Superman #631 (2004), where Superman grabs the wounded Lois. She, however, survives.
Chapter 3
"'B-bless y-you--'" Line stolen from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban movie.
"The parts of my soul-self I have conjured." These appear in the form of the birds from inside Raven's mind in Nevermore.
"Dark Ether" is a term I personally coined for the black substance Raven can conjure.
"Haney Avenue" also as in Bob.
"'I, uh, always felt partial to "Rachel".'" Raven's alter ego in the comic books is Rachel Roth.
"Other memories come flooding in." In order: Go!, Only Human, Betrothed, Masks, Apprentice Pts. I & II, the Season 2 arc, The End Pt. I, Car Trouble, Teen Titans Go! issue #44.
Chapter 4
"'If you're near a church, now would be a good time to go inside.'" That's a rather clumsy way of telling them to pray…
"'That altercation you had following that business with Trigon.'" Happened in DCU canon, way back in Tales of the New Teen Titans #65 (1986).
Chapter 5
"'After that business with my Emoticlones running loose…'" Happened in TTG! #42.
"'The Ring of Azar I wore during our battle with Trigon'" appeared during The End Pts. II & III.
"She looks stunned." This is, of course, a loose translation…
"'Dr. Jorge Sanchez.'" Foreshadowing of a sort. Dr. Sanchez officially pronounced Superman dead when resuscitation attempts failed after his battle with Doomsday in Superman #75 (1992).
Chapter 6
"The cherished myth shattered when I was eight years old." That when Robin's parents, the Flying Graysons, were killed.
Chapter 7
"Vegrandis Dei" is bad Latin for "Small Gods". The name of the cemetery, its subsequent description, and even the name of its caretaker are all cheerfully stolen from Terry Pratchett's novel "Night Watch". If you haven't read it yet, shame on you.
"'Mayor Antonio Renozzi.'" Renozzi is Hizzoner ("His Honor", a mayoral nickname) spelled backwards.
"'A fellow Tamaranean, possibly an ambassador of some sort.'" This is Galfore, who became Grand Ruler of Tamaran in Betrothed.
Chapter 8
"'I used to love the spotlight. Literally...'" Robin, of course, used to be a circus acrobat.
"Some guy with glasses and a goatee." This is cameoist extraordinaire Irineo Maramba, a Teen Titans storyboard artist.
"'He was born just as human as you and me.'" For more on Beast Boy's origin, read TTG! #45.
"'Fighting for truth, justice--and, occasionally, the last slice of pizza.'" Reference to an early marketing phrase for the show.
Chapter 9
"Matt Logan, Beast Boy's long-lost cousin, up from LA." Matt helped Beast Boy form a short-lived Teen Titans team (Titans LA) in Titans Secret Files #2 (2000). The implication is that they met during the "trouble in Hollywood".
"'Instead, I decided to write a poem.'" A lot of the inspiration for this poem came from Jimmy Stewart's ode to his late dog Beau (available on YouTube, FYI).
"'He was the glue that kept us loose.'" I'm particularly fond of this line. Just thought I'd mention that.
Chapter 10
"I figured the funeral required a touch of the military." The inspiration for the three-volley salute came from the moving West Wing episode "In Excelsis Deo".
Chapter 11
"The wake of Beast Boy is winding down." I know, this isn't what a wake traditionally consists of. I couldn't find a better word.
"'Uncalled-for, Toni.'" Argent's name is Toni Morrison.
"His breath reeks of alcohol!" Evidently Robin's decided to drown his sorrows…
Chapter 12
"The sake and vodka two of our foreign teammates brought to last night's wake." Bushido brought sake from Japan, Red Star brought vodka from Russia. Multiculturalism FTW!
"I blink. Wait a minute--did I just say that?" Raven's ring-induced OOCness begins manifesting.
"The sudden silence is punctuated by a loud 'BWA-HA-HA-HAA!'" Yeah, that was pretty much my reaction too when the idea popped into my head. :-)
"I can tell who those words were directed at." Raven, of course, has had some daddy issues of her own…
Chapter 13
Ravager made her TTG! debut in issue #49. To those of you who were looking forward to Jericho-Ravager interaction based on the fact that they share a father, and were disappointed, I say that I chose them through the exact same process the Titans did in-story, and figured that such interaction would distract from the main plot.
"The San Julio branch of Bells, Cargo." TTU analogue of the Wells, Fargo bank.
"'Aren't you supposed to switch hands now or something?'" Apparently, both Ravager and Super Saber have watched The Princess Bride…
Chapter 14
"Jericho: 'I always enjoy new challenges…'" He is "speaking", of course, via sign language.
Chapter 15
"Cyborg yelling, 'I hate mechas!'--" Ohh, the irony.
Chapter 16
"'Sure,' I signed back." Note how Starfire's signing (from here on) comes out as "normal" English.
"'I have no proof, but... I believe that she had on Beast Boy what you would call, a crush.'" I am an anti-BBxRae shipper. This was intended as a jab, but didn't come out very well.
Chapter 17
"The isolation chamber the Titans built for Raven a long time ago." In The End Pt. I, in fact.
"I'm more of a cerebral type--having your voice box shot out can do that." Gruesome--and part of DCU (and my personal TTU) canon.
"universe filled with grains sand each grain another universe" The visuality of Raven's mindscape was not inspired by the episode Nevermore, but by the animated movie Sinbad: Legend of the Sevens Seas (specifically the Tartarus scene).
"Of all Raven's Emoticlones, this is the one I'd second-least like to face in a fight." Green is the manifestation of Raven's bravery.
"I marshal my thoughts." Earlier, I had hit massive writer's block; when it ended, I entered such a writing frenzy that I realized I was in danger of completely contradicting earlier facts set out in the story. It was at this point that I actually had to stop and plot out on a separate sheet of paper how to tie it all together--the only time I ever did this--coming up with the solution once again "on the fly", making it as much of a surprise to me as the eventual reader.
Chapter 18
"Three weeks have passed since life got back to normal." Because of the shift in both time and subject, it may be more accurate to split Arc 3 into two mini-arcs… but I digress.
"Little by little, I coaxed the whole story out of her." Secret's full origin appeared in Young Justice #42 (2002). She did not appear in TTU canon.
"Instead of her body, a swirling portal appears within." The idea of using Secret's portal to try and reach the afterlife is taken from Young Justice #48 (2002).
"'What's the matter… Afraid of the dark?'" This ought to sound familiar to TT fans. It's lifted from Nevermore.
Chapter 19
"Out of Cheese Error: Redo From Start." A computer error message from Terry Pratchett's Discworld.
"'So, to paraphrase someone famous, "when do the good things frickin' start?"'" "When Do the Good Things Start?" is the title of a self-help book by Dr. Abraham Twerski, and a song title from Snoopy: The Musical. It stuck in my head for some reason.
"I appear to be standing in the middle of a large park." The main inspiration for Heaven's appearance comes from Green Arrow #7 (2001).
"A pale bald dude in red tights." This is DCU superhero Deadman.
"'Hello, Victor.'" Cyborg's name is Victor Stone.
"'I'm guessing that thereby hangs a tale.'" And how. Cyborg had a falling-out with his father after the accident that created him, since it was partly his fault. I'm treating his self-told origin from TTG! #45 as a white lie.
Chapter 20
"An origami turtle." Reference to the episode Overdrive.
"'Signed... "The Milnip Wusserloop".'" Nickname given to Beast Boy by Starfire at the end of Forces of Nature.
"'The lucky penny'" is from The End Pt. I.
Epilogue
"'Maybe,' Robin admitted." Is she? Did she? Didn't she? You decide!
Thank you so much for reading this far…