Is "Custody" a Sequel?

Hey all,

Today I decided to answer a question that is long overdue for an answer. That question: Is "Custody" a sequel? I've gotten this question a few times, particularly on the basis that it is a sequel to my first story "What?". The first time I actually drafted anything for "Custody" was after I wrote the first chapter of "What?", which was originally supposed to be a one-shot. However, the response to "What?" was "More please" and figuring that I could do 'one more chapter', I wrote more. And more. And more. And more. By the second chapter of "What?", Chapter One was already written for "Custody", but "Custody" got shelved until I completed the 24 chapter "one-shot" (hysterical, I know).

Anyway, after "What?" was finished, I decided to go ahead and work on another story, "Could This Go Anywhere?" before finally moving on to writing "Custody" (I knew "Could This Go Anywhere?" would be shorter than "Custody" and opted to finish that first).

So onto the actual question, now that background has been given. Is it a sequel? Technically, no. I never wrote "Custody" with the intent that it would be a follow up or sequel to "What?". However, nearly everything I write within the "Teen Titans" realm in regards to fan fiction is written with the characters all having the same qualities/aspects/personalities as they would in any other stories I've written them in (with the exception of perhaps comedy). I also rarely, if ever write duplicates, or rather stories that would conflict with one another due to timing.

So if you want to see my stories as part of their own extended universe, then yes, "Custody" could be considered a sequel to "What?" as it would take place after the "Apprentice" episodes of the show whereas "What?" took place during said episodes. Do you need to read "What?" to understand "Custody"? Not at all. Do you need to read "What?" to enjoy "Custody"? I certainly hope not! But if you find it more enjoyable, than that would certainly bring a smile to my face. ^_^

To read "What?", you can check out the link below or find it linked on my Fan Fiction Profile Page.

Have a lovely day,

The Mystery Guest in Chapter Two

Spoilers to follow. You have been warned!!

Fun little fact, since I’m pretty sure no one guessed who it was, but in Chapter two, the person who was talking to Slade was meant to be Jericho.


Chapter Two Excerpt: 

       A tap on the shoulder.

       "Yes?" he asked, looking over his shoulder.

       "What are you doing?

       "Work," he put simply.

       "You're back from Luthor's party?"

       "Yes, dull, as always, but I got some work out of it," Slade answered.

       "What work?"

       Too many questions, "You know, I believe that we agreed that you wouldn't come in here in the first place. You never even told me why you made this unexpected trip."

       Nothing. He continued, "Why don't you exit my office? Once I can freely start questioning your motives for directly defying our agreement, I think then you can question what I do during my own time."

I wrote this specifically so that Jericho would recognize that Slade was looking into Wayne’s background, but not Grayson’s/Robin’s (which came about later) so that when Wayne got shot, Jericho would realize his father might be connected to it, but not why exactly. Additionally, I made sure that the conversation happened before Slade had really gotten started to eliminate the possibility that Jericho could potentially warn somebody about the impending assassination attempt. 

This is why I had Slade actually turn to look at Jericho and why Jericho's words were all in italics. He can't actually speak, he has to sign his words, so Slade can't very well understand him without looking at him.

I wanted Jericho to be in the story from the get-go, so as not to have his final reveal at the end seem like a dues ex machina. Through out the story, you can actually pick up on mysterious people, not all of whom are Jericho, but a few times they were. That was also intentional. As I wrote, I decided to keep the 'mystery' persons in the plural so that sometimes it was Batman, Jericho, Red X, Slade, etc. This was a mystery after all and people were meant to be working in the shadows. I felt that this would 1. keep readers from figuring out who the 'mysterious' persons were and 2. help to show why it would have been so difficult for the characters themselves to figure out what was going on.

It's easy to say 'this should have been done' or 'they should have known that' once we figure it all out ourselves. It's much more difficult to definitely 'argue' with a character's decisions if we ourselves as readers are a bit lost through out the story as well (till the end anyway). A movie I find to be much like this is "The Prestige" with Christian Bale and Hugh Jackman. I won't reveal the end of that movie, but once you finish it, you basically feel the need to re-watch it, because suddenly things make a lot more sense.

So final question then, what was he doing there? I like to think that the more Jericho began to work as a hero, the more often he came to feel responsible for checking in on what his father was doing, even if visiting was on very strict terms and there wasn't really much information he could get out of it.

And while I feel that Slade wouldn't have been thrilled with Jericho just randomly showing up, he would permit it from time to time if he wasn't 'super' busy or in the middle of something. But why would Slade let his semi-superhero son into his lair? Honestly, I think he would have done it for Adeline and perhaps an added sense of guilt. After all, his work was what caused his family to be torn apart. In this way, at least he was kind of... trying to make amends. Kind of. But not really.

I'll try to point out more of these appearances by Jericho as time goes on and I write more on this blog, but anyway, yes, that was Jericho. He wasn't just thrown in there at the last minute. He was there all along.

Later,