#and there’s all those robins after him wearing his suit or some variation of it

[theshadowrealmitself]

Something something something angst about the mantle of hero identities getting passed around to new people, the duty of other heroes to accept this because it’s important that civilians keep feeling safe, villains being the only ones to truly get to mourn the original heroes and choosing to step out of their villain identities because they liked fighting the person not the hero, etc etc etc

#listen I love sidekicks and titles being passed down and stuff like that #but there’s always an inherent angst to me in like. the loss of identity? #because yeah at some point they just get acknowledged as superhero titles #but at the beginning of all that was a person making a costume and band intrinsic to *them* #*name not band #I doubt anyone starts off being a hero with the thought that they’d pass down their hero stuff to someone else #then eventually there’s a third generation wearing their costume and stuff #because it’s important that their work continues and the whole symbolically the hero continues on in sone form and villainy doesn’t win #but do they even know about all the personal stuff that went into it from the first person who started that mantle #one thing I always think about is like (and I know this is sidekicks but stay with me here) the robin thing from b*tman #now I can’t remember if this was someone’s hc or if it was in one of the runs or whatever #but it goes that: robin comes from a nickname dick’s parents gave him #because they were the fl*ing gr*twins with their little birdie robin #*gr*ysons not twins god damn it #and again I can’t remember if that’s an actual thing #but imagine if it was #and there’s all those robins after him wearing his suit or some variation of it #calling themselves the hero name he gave himself to honor his parents as he tries to find their killer #no other way to think about for me it’s just. loss of identity #anyways #no fandom #heroes #supervillains #superheroes and supervillains in general

[not-so-mundane-after-all]

HEADCANON TIME!

Okay, so this was supposed to be shorter but I got carried away again, don't mind me, so now it's part headcanon part fic. I might turn it into an actual fic but first I wanna see if I can tie it in to what season 3 gives me.

So let me introduce you to Operation: Raven

Few days after Rachel leaves for Themyscira, Dick finds himself in her room. Why? Because he's brooding and grieving, some days are harder than the others and he just fucking misses her okay? And he misses Donna too and he doesn't know what to do with himself so he wanders off and just ends up there. He looks around the room, admires her art scattered around, smiling at the portraits of Gar and Kory. Then something catches his eye, a drawing sticking out from under a math textbook. He pulls it out and blinks in surprise - it's a kind of drawing you would find in a fashion designer's portfolio. It's unfinished but still has all the details, with little notes about the colors and fabrics and functionality written on the sides. There's few of those drawings actually, a different variations and Dick cannot believe she had actually thought of this. A full superhero suit. There's even a little headline on top of the first page, Titans: Next Generation and he chuckles, remembering her glare when he suggested the name. He takes those drawings with him, an idea already sparking in his head.

A week later Gar calls out an official Titans team meeting. The main topic: Codenames. Because "If we are going to do officially do this," he says, jumping with excitement. "We need to come up with an upgrade to that as well. Dick can't be running around in a brand new shiny suit, calling himself ex-Robin or whatever". He even brought a canvas stand from Rachel's room and put a whiteboard on it, standing next to it like a student about to give a presentation to the class. After over an hour of intense brainstorming Gar proudly writes down the codenames of everyone present with colorful markers he keeps in his pocket: Hawk, Dove, Superboy, Beast Boy, Starfire, Nightwing. Dick looks at it for a moment then gets up from the couch and walks up to Gar, snatches the black marker from his hand and goes "you forgot someone" then next to his own codename he writes down: Raven. Gar can't get over that he didn't come up with something this obvious for the rest of the night.

Going forward to the end of season 3 (however it ends) - if/when the team comes back to San Francisco, the first thing Dick does after walking into the Tower is dragging Rachel to the display room. Gar and Kory, already in on the topic, follow along. Gar is covering Rachel's eyes as they go. "Rach don't look!" "I'm not looking!" "You're not looking?" "No! Guys, what the hell is going on?"

Then they stop and Dick puts his hands on her shoulders. "Okay, now you can look." he says and nods to Gar. Rachel opens her eyes and gasps.

The Raven suit. Black and dark blue leather. Functional. Easy to move in. Safe and bulletproof. With places to hide weapons in. With a long cloak shaped as bird wings and a pointed hood. Combat boots on a heel, fashionable but practical. A mashup of her unfinished ideas she left behind few months ago, but with extra stuff she didn't think about. It's perfect.

"You did this?" she asks, turning to Dick. "How did you know...?"

He wraps his arm around her shoulder. "Because I know you! And because I might have found some drawings on your desk." he says with a smug grin. "You like it?"

Her eyes shine with tears when she buries herself in his chest.

"I love it! I love you! It's incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"

"Now go put it on!" Kory tells her and goes with her for assistance.

When she walks out wearing it for the first time, it takes Dick's breath away. This is who Rachel was destined to be - not the destroyer of world, but The Raven, the hero.

#dc titans #dick grayson #rachel roth #garfield logan #kory anders #graysonfam #titans #titans season 3 #headcanon

[beyondmistland]

Westerosi Worldbuilding Wednesday: Hidden History of the Vale: Lost Lore (Part II)

 Letter #11: Long before the Andals came to Westeros the Giants were rooted out of the Vale not by the hand of any one king as in the Stormlands but by an alliance of no less than twelve kings, which included amongst its numbers the Bronze King Robar I Royce as well as the Gull King Osgood II Shett.

 Letter #12: One of the great mysteries of the Vale concerns the construction of the Bloody Gate prior to Osric V's renovation. According to old texts the original was a rough-hewn, unmortared wall similar in style to the ancient ringforts of the earliest First Men but built with stones so big and heavy that no man could ever hope to lift them, an allegation which has baffled many a Maester for centuries. (Recently, Archmaester Marwyn has presented a most unorthodox solution to this conundrum. Namely, that the old Bloody Gate was built not by men but by Giants and not to defend against the Children of Summer (as the elder races then called our kind) but against the terrifying Others of ancient legend. This theory has not gained any traction with the rest of the Citadel however and can be safely dismissed as pure nonsense (with all due respect to the Archmaester of course).)

 Letter #13: It has often been said by the ignorant that the fact only five men died during the construction of the Eyrie is proof of the Seven's favor for House Arryn and its vassals but the truth is much bleaker for outside sources claim that the number is closer to sixty thousand or even six hundred thousand in some cases. (The bones of those dead are likewise said to be hidden in a secret vault deep inside the Giant's Lance, an allegation any Vale Septon will furiously deny.)

 Letter #14: On that note here would be the best place for me to address an issue pertaining to the construction of the Eyrie. Namely, why was marble brought all the way from Tarth when the Vale has an abundant supply of that already. Over the years Septons have put forth variations of the following three theories in an effort to explain this historical decision: That at the time marble had not yet been discovered in the Vale, that the marble brought by ship was merely supplementary rather than the main source of it, or that House Arryn wished to establish trade ties outside the Vale and so looked to Tarth specifically because it had just recently fallen to their Andal brethren. None of these explanations are truly satisfactory but they are all we have and for that the Citadel is (grudgingly) grateful. (A fourth explanation has been gaining ground here at the Citadel as of late, one rooted not in matters of trade or supply but rather the material properties of marble. To elaborate, marble from the Vale is always pure white whereas that of Tarth is known for its coloring. Thus, Archmaester Perestan posits that the Falcon Kings sought the latter over the former because it made for better ornamentation, which is as good an explanation as any.)

 Letter #15: Osric V renovated the Bloody Gate after it was overrun by Bernar (I) the Bloody, with his son and heir, Robin II, serving as the first Knight of the Gate. (The claim that the Bloody Gate has never once been breached is thus pure fabrication on the part of House Arryn since our sources on this matter leave little room for doubt.)

 Letter #16: According to ancient records at Griffin's Roost House Connington may well have originated in the Vale rather than the Stormlands but the details concerning their supposed flight south are left unsaid...almost as if someone did not wish the world to know what had happened...

 Letter #17: House Arryn was nearly undone shortly after its founding when mountain clansmen launched a night attack in the dead of winter on the Gates of the Moon during the reign of Artys II, slaughtering the entire royal family except for Queen Alyssa Arryn and her good-brother, Elbert I, who thereafter dedicated all his reign to improving the castle's defenses so that the Hour of the Moon's Grief could never again occur.

 Letter #18: Roland III, Hubert II, Denys I, and Roland IV were collectively known as the Red Falcons given that under them the Vale took part in no less than three Holy Wars against followers of the Old Gods in the Riverlands. (Thus, Roland V was the first King of Mountain and Vale to live in the Eyrie.)

 Letter #19: During the reign of Jon (III) the Faithless, the smallfolk rose in rebellion after electing as their new king a common butcher by the name of Lyonel, whose wife, Marla, was said to have received visions from the Seven commanding him to purify the Faith of its corruption and worldly trappings. (Jon III and his father, Jon II, were the only Falcon Kings not to be crowned wearing Hugor of the Hill's royal regalia, which consisted of a sword, a crown, and a suit of iron plate.)

 Letter #20: Alester II's son and heir, Artys (III) the Affable, brought the rest of the islands off the coast of the Vale into his realm with the notable exception of the Three Sisters.

Letter #21: Elbert III established trade ties with Ibben as well as the Summer Islands and took to wife the daughter of a rich Pentoshi magister because her dowry would allow him to triple the size of his fleet, for which he is known in Vale histories as the Sea King. (The North on the other hand prefers to simply call him a pirate and a bad one at that.)

As always, share, comment, and critique.

#hidden history #asoiaf #the vale #house arryn #worldbuilding #lost lore #Westerosi Worldbuilding Wednesday