#talon!jay

[msfcatlover]

Can you tell me the about the talon jason au?

YES! Yes, yes, yes, yes yes!!!

The Talon!Jason story is really heavily inspired by All Birds Have Talons, a fantastic little oneshot which got my gears churning with possibilities (as well as Talon’s Grasp, my all-time favorite Talon!Dick fic, specifically for how it handles the conditioning & Dick’s escape.) I just… snipped the Joker out altogether, and had Shiela betray Jason to the Court directly. They wanted Robin, after all, and she’d been out of Gotham for so long that even if she had contacts to know about the “wanted alive (or else)” bounty on Dick’s head, she probably wouldn’t know any of the details. She’s embezzling funds, she’s being blackmailed, she’s kinda on the run, and here’s the son she never wanted offering to help her with whatever problem she has, insisting they won’t even need to get his rich new dad involved if she doesn’t want to because Jason can handle himself; she doesn’t need to worry about him, because he’s Robin.

The Joker isn’t involved at all. Shiela calls her old contacts herself.

(CW: heavily referenced if not described brainwashing, torture, medical abuse, dehumanization, and depersonalization ahead.)

They’re not happy. Jason’s not the Robin they want, but he’s seen/heard too much once Shiela tricks him into the meeting, and they might as well get something out of this meeting. They fake Jason’s death with Shiela, the bomb, flesh too charred to get a DNA reading off of, a dangerous amount of blood, and hack off one of Jason’s arms before pumping him full of experimental healing drugs so they can stick a new one on and don’t end up with a one-armed Talon. (It never connects quite right, and Jason is always a little clumsier and a little bit number on that side.)

Jason wakes up in the labyrinth, fighting off the drugs & shock, with an arm that looks dead, doesn’t move right, and that he knows he should not have anymore. He’s not ready, his body isn’t chemically prepared for the procedure, so they keep dragging him back to the medical area, talking over him like he’s not there, and when Jason fights back, the punishments are brutal. There’s also plenty of classical conditioning, trying to train him to do what they want one step at a time. (He loses fingernails & teeth, because those are easy sources of extreme pain that won’t damage him in the long term, but he does piss them off worse. Jason learns that broken bones hurt worse when forced to heal too quickly. Spitting in one of the doctors’ masks cost him color in his right eye. The shock collar was just to make him put on the hood originally, but eventually they just… left it on. Food can be bought only with cooperation, and it’s a hefty price indeed.)

Jason does hold out for an impressively long time. First it’s because he thinks he needs to wait to be saved; they break that hope by showing him his own funeral. Then it’s because he needs to escape, though his attempts all come to naught. In the end, Jason hangs on because he listened when the Owls talked over him, and he knows they’re just using Jason as a trial run; he knows they’re planning to go after Dick. The longer Jason holds on, the longer his big brother will be safe. Conditioning corrupts that, though. Memories fade, names slip through his fingers, he’s… he knows he’s here for a purpose. Protecting someone. Someone the Court will also make Talon if he fails—no one should go through this, and that person is (warmth & sunshine, bright smiles & sky blue) is important, and he can’t… he can’t fail. He can’t let them down.

If he can just be a good enough Talon, that person will be safe. (This is what carries him through the training, the treatment, the cold, humiliation, and death, death, death, death, death. He can do it. He can be good enough. He’ll keep them safe.)

And then. The Court gets what they want.

Jason doesn’t realize it at first (of course not, who tells a Talon anything?) He doesn’t realize it until the base is under attack, all the Talons are woken up and sent to defensive positions, and he finds their newest prisoner in the middle of an escape attempt. He freezes for just a second, hands on his knives, trying to make sense of this. His voice is still hoarse from scarring and flat from disuse when, for the first time in well over five years, he says, “Dick Grayson?” (He didn’t even know he still knew that name.) Dick has been fighting Talons since he got here (and is pretty drugged up himself,) and acts on instinct. Dick strikes out, and it’s not until he knocks the Talon down that he realizes it’s only fighting defensively—and only because it stops fighting altogether. It just lays there on the floor, staring at him through that blank hood. “Dick Grayson,” the Talon says again, and this time Dick can make out what almost sounds like confusion in its voice, “You shouldn’t be here.”

Dick doesn’t know what to make of the Talon that helps him escape. Dick does try to help the Talon back (raiding a bat-safehouse to check both of them for trackers and to change their clothes. The Talon seems hesitant to change out of the uniform, even when Dick turns away and promises not to look. Dick still catches just a glimpse of the old scarring on the Talon’s neck out of the corner of his eye, thinks of how hoarse the Talon’s voice was, and feels sick.)

The Talon stays with Dick all the way to the back entrance of the Batcave, but when Dick turns to ask if they want to come in, the Talon is gone.

(When Dick tries to explain everything that happened to the rest of the family will be the first time he realizes: “The other Talons, they were very formal, full names only. ‘Richard Grayson, the Court of Owls commands’ blah-blah-blah. The Owls just called me Grayson. But the Talon who helped me called me Dick.” “Do you think it was someone you knew?” Tim asks. Dick manages a weak, humorless laugh. “I don’t know, Tim. Maybe?” Dick thinks of the scars again, the breathy rasp of the Talon’s voice, and swallows. “Gods, I hope not.”)

It’s not the last time they meet, though. Not by a long shot.

(The Talon cannot go back to the Court, not after having the greatest failure possible dangled in front of its face, stealing the Court’s prisoner, and… and what if they try to take Dick again? No, no, can’t let that happen, can’t let this happen to Dick too, not after everything. Never, ever, ever again.)

(And gradually, the Talon begins to find Jason Todd in the graveyard of his own mind.)

.

I have several scenes I really, really love drafted (the moment when Dick convinces the other bats to see Jason as an ally. The moment Jason realizes what his connection to Dick actually is. The entire sequence where Dick finally realizes who Jason is, who Jason has been this whole time.) I also have a few concepts that won’t seem to go right on paper, like a final confrontation with Cobb, and Bruce finally seeing his second son face-to-face for the first time in years.

And it is, like most of my stories, full of holes I’m still trying to fill; I can’t promise this will ever resolve into a cohesive, fully narrative fic one day. But! I’m happy to ramble, and nothing helps me fill in the holes faster than getting to talk through things with people! So please, feel free to ask more if you’re interested.

[ghost-bxrd]

So I've seen you post a lot about Dick and Calvin recently, and I wanted to know how you thought Calvin would react, in this Calvin gets adopted by Bruce kind of au, to:

1). Jason's death, in the assumption Calvin can't prevent it (And subsequently what he would do to Joker for it.)

2) Damian's early childhood.

3) Tim's Tim-ness.

4) How Calvin would react to the Batman Robin situation, when he finally learns about it.

I haven't gotten the opportunity to learn much about Calvin, but you have me interested, I'm a sucker for overly traumatized characters, and I am looking for the comics with him!

We can never have enough Calvin Rose content, that boy is so underrated 🥺💚

1. Pfpfpfpf you know for ONCE I wanted to go with “Jason doesn’t die in this Au” but you asked and I shall deliver hehehe.

Look, Calvin adores children. And it’s no different with Jason, whom he basically helped Bruce raise from the moment he came to the manor. (Bruce is a good dad here but emotions are not his forte. Calvin picks up the slack.)

So we’ve got a former Talon basically raising Jason, sharing a lot of his interests, teaching him fun escape techniques and pranking the others…

Only for Jason to die in Ethiopia. Beaten within an inch of his life and then blown up.

Because his birth mother sold him to the Joker.

Look, there’s very few things that make Calvin snap. Canonically it only happens when his loved ones are in danger/threatened, or children are being hurt.

And this one ticks off both boxes.

Calvin doesn’t kill if he can help it. Hasn’t done so since that one time with the Court, and that instance still haunts him in his sleep. But this?

Yeah. He’s not losing any sleep over killing Joker. He’d hunt the clown and put him down like a rabid animal. Cold, clean, and efficient. No drawing it out.

2. As mentioned before, Calvin adores kids. I don’t think they’d meet before Damian comes to the manor though, so no early early childhood shenanigans. But when Damian arrives, all entitled and clearly having been conditioned from a very young age, he gives Bruce a very deadpan “You do know you don’t get a discount for the amount of traumatized kids you take in, right?”

Damian is a stabby little shit that tries to kill Calvin at every turn. Dick thinks it’s hilarious. Damian becomes progressively more angry because Calvin doesn’t break a sweat side stepping each and every attempt. (Talon training pays off)

Calvin just lets Damian “burn off his excess energy” (“You do know he’s a kid and not a puppy, right?”) and uses the time the boy isn’t actively trying to murder him to child proof the manor again. Just to piss Damian off.

Having the kid try to poison him at dinner that day is so worth it.

Damian reluctantly warms up to Calvin over the next few weeks when the former Talon proves annoyingly helpful at setting up his room and helping him with training. (Although Damian turns his nose up every time Calvin obviously handles him with kiddie gloves. But the man point blank refuses to do anything else.)

3. Calvin spends a week around Tim and all his alarm bells for “neglected child” are going off like autotune in his brain.

Considering it’s still very close to Jason’s death tho it would take him some time to truly warm up to Tim.

Tim wishes Calvin remained as distant as he was the first year or so (no he doesn’t) because now Calvin has strictly limited his daily caffeine intake, is forcing him to eat at least three healthy meals a day, and actually set a bed time for him.

Tim is outraged (flustered) about being treated like a kid (like the kid he is).

4. Depending on who’s Robin when he finds out the reactions would vary greatly, but he still wouldn’t be happy that Bruce is taking kids out onto the streets at night to fight criminals either way. It remind him too much of the Court for comfort, grooming children into the percent assassin.

After a while though he’d realize that Bruce would love nothing more than for his Robin(s) to hang up the mantle and just live their lives to the fullest, and that they’re simply too stubborn and determined to fight crime with Batman to stay at home. With our without permission.

It helps that Bruce is clearly distressed and close to benching Robin whenever Dick/Jason comes back from patrol with a bruise. Never mind an actual injury.

[birdies-aus]

may I request a chel doodle since I had to learn the origin of Chel's name last night <3

some pencil sketches 4 u

chel my baby... he/him for the child

the bear is named Biam Wildie The Bear :3 its chels fvaorite thing

Also random family members keep giving chel worms .. its very silly he ends up with pockets full of worms bc of this

its bc he asks 4 "worm/warm" which is what he calls wally but no one but birdie knows that for a while

[rainofthetwilight]

@finn-m-corvex hey hey hey, guess who made memes of your prime empire rewrite 😎😎 (this is spoilers for finn's prime empire rewrite on ao3 and these memes are basically based on ch4, so if you havent read it GO CHECK IT OUR RIGHT NOW ITS LITERALLY SO GOOD!!!!)

I AM SO OBSESSED WITH THESE IDIOTS, AND LEADER JAY!!!

[finn-m-corvex]

hey hey hey finn!!! tossing you a 🧠 and a 🧑‍🧑‍🧒 for the pe rewrite ocs! (i’m nothing if not consistent with the s12 brainrot ahahshdha)

have a great day bestie :D

Key!! Thank you so much for stopping by in my inbox <3 <3 <3 life has been difficult recently but I'm always happy to see you!

🧠 How did you first come up with this character? Any interesting details about creating them?

Ever since I've seen S12 I've always wanted there to be more depth to Beta in particular, so I developed him into the Beta that you see today! Dee is born from another one of the Jays, but them together is from my musings about what a relationship born inside of PE would look like. Beta and Dee are a pair, not sold separately lol

Talon was created because I needed someone or something to link PE to S4! Also because in order to make the League feel more like a family I definitely needed a father figure (or grandfatherly figure, considering that Talon has 20 years on everyone else in the League at least).

👪 Do they have any family members? What’s their relationship with their family?

Borrowing from Doc, #NoSpoilers :)

Talon and Beta's will be mentioned though!

[feline-evil]

Fuck employment and shit we should all be big beasts running around a forest tackling each other and entwining our long tails together when we fall in a heap and fitting each others snouts in our mouths and nipping with sharp teeth and

[ruby-static]

Life is like a… fairytale?

Known by few, there is a fairytale of a fallen star. And the three who’s lives were changed. 

The hero who was as brave as his spear was true, the maiden who brought a village to life from dolls, and the scholar whose greed for knowledge and power corrupted him.

What many don’t know is that these three had truly been part of a battle for the fate of the world. But sadly, this fight would not find a conclusion. In the end, this responsibility had to fall to their eventual successors.

A scientist who now has to study and master the art of magic in order to prevent his predetermined fate, an easygoing con-man who now has to live up to the role of a hero, an aimless child found lost at sea that they took in, and the daring missing sister who found out far too much.

The former scholar, Talon, has found a way to cheat his way into gaining a second chance at life, which throws this ‘prophecy’ into further chaos. And it’s up to these successors to fix it. And, hopefully, avoid fate.

[rumiraclemi]

first print is a lil rough but i certainly do have a little bird man to put on my desk now

[ne0nwithazero]

can swatch wear regular socks? cause of toes/talons?

Sure :) I just feel like them having talons would make socks feel very awkward hahaha

[envysparkler]

Adorable. Let the man suffer.

Would love to see your Bruce trying to cope with simultaneous Robin's!! 💛💛

[msfcatlover]

trick or treat!

(Trick or treat ask game is still open!)

How about a snippet of Talon!Jason?

The Talon points to Jason’s bright, smiling face. “…if he came back, like me. Monstrous and blood soaked. Killing countless people, because they told him to. It would be a trick. Everyone would know it was a trick. It wouldn’t be him, it would be an imposter, and you would be incensed that they insulted his memory like that. You’d never trust him.” It’s the most Dick’s actually heard the Talon say in a single sitting. “He’d still be dead, and it would hurt you. I won’t do that to them. Let me stay dead.” “It’s your call,” Dick tells him, feeling his own heart ripped in two. The Talon nods. “Let me stay dead,” he repeats, and picks up the nearest packed box with only a single glance at the pictures on the wall.

[ghost-bxrd]

Dude I just finished catching up on the Owl Song series and I am equal parts excited and terrified about what’s going to happen at the end. I swear to god everytime that series updates I just get more nervous, why does every endnote have to be so ominous?! You’re killing me here. I’m gonna start naming my grey hairs after you author, I swear /aff

MWAHAHAHAHA I HAVE ACHIEVED MY GOAL!! 👹 each endnote is to make you more afraid of the ending! Terrified of the pain! MWAHAHAHA!!! I ASPIRE TO BE A FEARED VILLAIN

Nah but we still have 3-4 parts to go before disaster time :333 you know, fluffy family time and mild angst with lots of cuddles, to make the ending hurt even more ✨🦉

[gaertan]

Timelapse of the birb beach drawing I did for @wherewolf_wolf ! in case someone was curious about the process

Posted using PostyBirb

[finn-m-corvex]

"I'm so sorry sir, but I'm afraid you only have about a year left..."

"They say that it can cure anything, maybe it would be worth a try. Goodness knows you have the skills for it."

"Happy to be working with you, boss. What's my first job?"

"He knows too much, I should've never left you in charge of handling him, [REDACTED]. Dispose of him; you know who to call."

[dramatisperscnae]

Confirmation. Dick glanced down at the shirt he wore, hands tightening on the hem. Jason's shirt. Soft cotton, faded red, smelling of storage and dead air but still also of Jason himself, and the way it hung off Dick's frame just threw into sharp focus how big Jason was. His not-so-little little brother.

He smiled again, a touch wider this time, and pulled the shirt a little tighter around him, clearly taking some small comfort in it. It was another reminder that this was real, that he wasn't just stuck in some fever dream or vivid hallucination. Jason's shirt. Jason's touch. They were both grounding, reassuring, signs that he was safe, that he'd be okay.

Mostly, anyway.

There was still the matter of what had been done to him to deal with, the darkened veins in his arms, but they had at least faded back for now. Dick risked a glance as Jason stepped away, relieved to see they'd stopped spreading over his arms. They were still there, around the track marks at his elbow, but they weren't spreading anymore. That was good enough for now. At least, he hoped it was. It had to be.

Jason's voice pulled him out of his thoughts, Dick looking up to blink at the glass of water in front of his face. It took a second or two for it to register, and then he had to hold himself back not to snatch it immediately from Jason's hand. Small sips. Go slow. Right. Saline was helping with dehydration, but his stomach might not be able to handle even just this much water all at once.

To his credit Dick tried. He tried to take it slow, but the moment that water touched his lips he couldn't make himself pull it away. He started slow, sure, but it didn't last. The glass was drained within a matter of seconds, Dick's hand trembling slightly as he handed it back to Jason. "…Thanks…"

"Just right over there." Jason indicated the small kitchen counter and stove at the opposite side of the small hideout, not even fifteen steps away from where the narrow bed was, Dick would be able to see him all the time and from whatever position he decided to sit up or lay down.

That was a side of Jason that truly hardly ever popped out, he didn't show the whole caring that often, preferred to stay in his corner and just observe what others were doing; but he cared, he listened everything, even stuff that wasn't of his concern, if it was in the air, he listened and retained everything like a fucking sponge as he tried to learn more about his found family. And that was easier to see when he waited until Dick was sitting on the bed again, since he Jason hesitated to step back just yet.

"It's one of my old shirts... Sorry it's a bit smelly from being locked in a crate for a while, but it's clean." From the time he came back to Gotham City with a vendetta against Bruce — gosh, that looked so far in the past now! "You can keep it." It was made of cottom, very soft and good to the touch, Jason figured it could help Dick's senses by providing a good texture to him.

Dick's smile had his chest filling with warmth. Yes, it wasn't the same bright smile everyone was used to, but it was a smile; and it could be fake or genuine, but that was one of his trademarks to show that at least some part of him was okay, because when things were really bad, Dick didn't smile in any way.

Jason still gave himself a couple of moments more before he turned on his heels and went back to the counter where he left the vegetables and greens to wash, then, before he resumed cleaning it all, filled half a glass with water and brought it back to Dick — clean, filtered water that he could drink without fear of poisoning, or of having some sort of serum in it.

"Here. You probably need this really bad." Saliva alone didn't make for the best throat cleaner, and who knew how long had it been since Dick last had any drinkable water. "Small sips. And don't force it in. Better go slow." He was probably preaching all that Dick already knew, but better be safe than sorry.

[gracefireheart]

It's them. Again 💃 Back at it with somewhat different looks :]

(Some notes about them below the keep reading line)

For Tallulah's design, I gave her a cow tail instead, and I changed her fur pattern to be similar to a white-throated magpie-jay. And ofc, her hair is like-- right between black and dark brown in color, which I also put as her eye color :]

Gave her a bag (that has lil' images that represent her family) that I imagine works like Ramona's bag from [specifically] Scott Pilgrim: Takes Off. Where suddenly, Tallulah will just pull out a big fuck-off battle axe <3

Instead of having black hair with pink highlights, I made Chayanne's hair [sandy?] blonde with pink highlights.

As much as I love the duck floatie on his Egg design, it can be a pain to draw. So, while I was doing the lineart (to which I was going to draw the duck floatie as is), I decided to change it into an apron instead.

q!Phil's got some new clothes! Which includes: A cream undershirt, a green samue I took the sleeves off of, two lil' friendship bracelet (one purple and pink that's made by Tallulah, one yellow and pink that's made by Chayanne), and a lil' skull charm chained close to his waist uvu

For q!Phil's avian/elytrian side, I decided to just let him have talon feet 24/7, his wings are ofc fucked up from Enderpookie Enderking, and he was going to have tail feathers, buuut they ended up pretty hidden 'cause of his pose + the pants o(-(

q!Phil may not have chronic pain, but imo, it would still benefit him to use a cane while his wings are fucked up like that. So he's gonna be using a cane in my drawings.

And then we have lil' sleepy q!Missa. He's just in his sleeping garb in this drawing :')