#to use a metaphor (and a reminder that is more relevant to physical disabilities):

[shoreline-system]

Gentle reminder, particularly to systems and Especially for larger systems or systems with a lot of background noise; you don't need to figure stuff out in your head. Write that shit down. On your phone, in a notebook, on a whiteboard, in a voice note, whatever works - if you can't think clearly, can't figure out what is on your mind, you don't need to be there trying to visualise it. Take that pressure off of yourself.

[bigskydreaming]

have you read this fic called "robins and other flightless birds" by ionaperidot? it doesn't focus a lot on dick or damian, dick is also a child, so he's not the source of comfort for the most part. but jason, bruce, and cassandra are big and good source of comfort. it's a fic about healing. this writer is jason and tim fan so obviously they're not the best with dick and damian, but at least in this fic it doesn't come out as outright insulting?

I have read it, or most of the first one in that series. It’s very well written and a great source of good Batdad and I really liked Jason, Tim and Cassandra’s characterizations, but purely as a personal thing, I had to call it quits when it became clear the fic was going to keep the physical Talon changes to Dick. That’s kinda a big thing with me, I don’t think I’ve ever really been able to make it all the way through a fic that kept Dick physically a Talon and unable to be restored to his pre-Talon physiology or mental state.

Again, nothing against the stories themselves, its just the trope. I think a lot of people view the whole Talon thing as a potential disability or traumatic life change metaphor, and thus undoing the physical changes to Dick would be kinda ‘cheating’ and doesn’t explore that sometimes there’s no going back from a huge physiological change - but I’ve never been able to agree with that take, personally. 

Like, first off, I’m not really a fan of disability metaphors when the option of just writing disabled characters is right there, but also I’m a big believer that like....magical problems require magical solutions. What I mean by that is if the alteration to a person or their life was done by something that has no real world equivalent - I see no reason why it isn’t equally valid for an equally unrealistic reversion to occur. 

Most of the fics I’ve read that keep Dick as a Talon focus primarily on the more superficial aspects of the change (his pale skin, the black veins, gold eyes), how this makes it difficult for Dick to go out in public, or else the focus is on the regenerative abilities and potential immortality/longevity and how this sets him apart from his family. But what I’ve NEVER seen addressed by any of them is the fact that like....the psychological impact of being left with these permanent changes as a reminder of what the Court did to him, made him into - with the biggest one of all, and the one that gets the least focus in fic being that like...Talons are literally like...half dead. 

They’re frozen, static, for the most part....I know some fics have them able to age slowly, but for the most part the idea is that like....they’re not alive in a sense, and there’s no real world equivalent for that, which might potentially be  disrespected or undercut by just acknowledging that like....this leaves one of the most vibrant, ALIVE characters in the DC universe stuck in a state that’s literally called undead or half-dead by everyone else, and with this being a direct result of abuse that was done TO him BY the people who tried to establish...ownership of him.

Like that’s the fatal flaw of the Talon trope for me....the regenerative abilities, the longevity...they’re not a gift, a blessing, a ‘power’....they’re a means to make the Court’s tools - the Talons - more useful tools. These things don’t exist to be of benefit to the Talons, because everything the Talons are is the result of their original selves being twisted and remolded both physically and psychologically into the form the Court deems them most useful to them and their agendas.

With the other physiological changes like the black veins and golden eyes indicative of this as well. Permanent reminders that everything that Dick was or might have been was hijacked and WRITTEN OVER, on a fundamental level, to twist and alter him into a more effective tool for his abusers....because he only existed to them, to be a tool to be used....and everything about how his life was changed was a direct result of them deeming him to not have any personhood of his own, as far as they cared.

See because the thing is to me, that’s not a disability or illness metaphor. Its an abuse metaphor. But when Dick’s kept physically a Talon, its almost universally written more as a disability metaphor with no real examination of what I personally see as the root issues that come with that permanent state....and so that’s where those stories lose me.

In addition, a lot of Talon Dick stories add in the element of the psychological changes induced in him, brainwashing etc, and that’s the part that REALLY squicks me and why I’m extra cautious even trying stories that have Talon Dick in the tags because like....if there’s any kind of Orders trope, especially where Dick’s left with a need to obey certain Orders and other characters like Bruce fulfill the role of the Grandmaster....I nope nope NOPE the hell out of there hard, cuz that’s one of the few tropes I just can’t with at all. It just fundamentally doesn’t work for me as anything other than an utter tragedy, to have Dick left in a state where he has to follow certain pre-established orders or directives, when his independence is one of his most core character traits for me. And I’m not really interested in stories that have tragic endings, in general, so. LOL. That’s a recipe for disaster for me.

So yeah...I’m aware of my hot buttons, and there’s a LOT about Talon stories that make even trying them a bit like navigating a minefield for me, and there’s not really any I can think of that I’ve actually made it all the way through.

(Again, this really isn’t about that story in particular, some of these things don’t even apply to it - like I don’t recall it having the Orders issue, or anything like that...it was a very specific element that was the decision maker for me there and its not really relevant to this. But all of that is entirely subjective - I’d actually recommend the story on its other merits and characterizations for anyone who doesn’t mind Talon Dick stories).