"Instead of waiting for a savior to come,
You have to be the one to save yourself."
[Richard Grayson]
[Started: 09/11/2021]
[Completed: 11/12/2021]
[Talon And Bone Series 1]
Cover made by @Purplemist14
After exactly two months, Espera | R. Grayson has reached completion but worry not, the story hasn't yet ended. This is the first book in the series and has two further books connected to it, however I will be explaining that more in the Profile Guide and at the end of this chapter.
First of all, I want to thank all you lovely people who read and supported my work and for that I am very grateful because your constant motivation kept me writing the story:
And all those who I couldn't mention here, I am extremely thankful to you as well for reading this story and appreciating it.
This was my first Alternate Universe fanfic based on the DC fandom and it was quite challenging for me because I changed the key event in the DC timeline; the murder of Bruce Wayne's parents. That resulted in everything getting changed from then onwards and I had to think of all those changes such as Thomas Wayne being the Mayor of Gotham, Bruce never becoming Batman and Richard never getting adopted by him but later on becoming Batman etc.
Other changes I have done to the canon DC storyline are that since Richard was not rich so there were no fancy gadgets or Batmobile. True, he had weapons that Helena helped procure for him but those weren't as advanced as those Bruce Wayne had as Batman.
Also this Batman is not going to be part of the Justice League. The story is more focused on the Court of Owls so chances are that Batman's operative tenure is going to be cut short (hey, no spoilers).
Another thing I have been thinking about is that in this alternate universe Damian wouldn't exist. I just can't get the League involved right now because the Court is more than enough to stir up a lot more chaos than a Demon Head and her assassin kid.
Initially, this was supposed to be a Bruce Wayne fanfic but later on as I thought more about the chain of events that had changed, there were more possibilities for me to explore with keeping Richard as the main character instead of Bruce.
I remember how the whole idea for this started on my message board in December 2020 when I posted: "In another one of my unlimited flights of fancies, I was just wondering what would have happened if Thomas and Martha Wayne were not murdered at Crime Alley... I mean it's a very crucial point in Batman's origin story but if we remove this crucial point, would he still have become Batman or would Bruce Wayne turn out to be a very different person?"
And the reply which started it all and got me thinking more and more about an AU fanfic was by GuyOfMany: "In the comics, Booster Gold went back in time to save them, and Bruce never becomes Batman. We end up with a really deadly Batman, which if I remember correctly was actually Dick Grayson, and they all die at the end anyway. It's not a nice time."
Now obviously I couldn't bring myself to write about a deadly Richard Grayson so I changed almost everything and came up with this daring version of Richard Grayson who experienced the calamities of life first hand and then chose to become the city's protector.
To be honest, this Richard is my most favorite so far and I hope you guys like his portrayal too. However, as the story progressed, the focus was not just kept on Richard but involved other characters too such as Jason, Helena, Barbara, Tim, Lavina and Samantha.
Lavina Vikander is an original character and I know I have made most of you question her motives a lot. Fun fact, the main inspiration for Lavina's character is taken by my History teacher and the way I have written Lavina as this intimidating and manipulative woman who can control anything and almost everything is basically me writing a fictional version of my teacher.
Now, of course, my teacher wouldn't possibly go to the extent Lavina did in this story but the mannerisms and the personality traits were heavily inspired by her. One of my classmates reads my stories and I hadn't told her that Lavina was inspired by our teacher but right after reading chapter 12 in which Lavina made her first appearance in the story, my friend knew exactly who she was inspired from so I guess I managed to capture the personality right and I am quite glad about that.
As you all know, the story hasn't yet ended and you'll see much more of these characters as we have about two books connected to this fanfic. First is Andanza | S. Vanaver which is a sequel to this fanfic and the other is Lechuza | L. Vikander which is the prequel.
I have ended Espera on an ambiguous note and the ground is open for you guys to think about whether Richard resigned from being Batman or whether he continued as a vigilante. Obviously, you will find that out in the sequel but for now, I leave it to your imagination. I am really fond of the last line of the Epilogue and even though I wanted to write a few more paragraphs after it, I just couldn't because I do not want to snatch the power away from that line.
I feel it sets him even more apart from the canon Batman and I just think it's more relevant to his character to own up to his identity and clear the rumors himself rather than letting people believe that he's gone rogue. You will see a lot more events later on in the sequel which will clear to you guys how different this alternate universe has turned out to be from the canon one.
I seriously have so many ideas for this story even now and I can't wait to start the sequel.
Andanza is going to be posted very soon and it focuses on Samantha so you guys are going to see things from her perspective in the next book. The title is taken from Spanish just like Espera, however, Andanza translates to fate.
I hope it turns out to be enjoyable for you all but fair warning, I have a lot in store for you because things have just started to get more interesting.
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