#hardlycats

[lazaruspiss]

sladedicktalia??????? i am LISTENING

there's like. 5 fics. im so starved. i think theyre so hot and funny together!! im obsessed. also this got long so im adding a readmore. whoops.

SlaDick: classic enemies to lovers. they may try to kill each other half the time but they respect each other more than anyone else. OBSESSED with each other, Slade knows he's weird about Dick and couldn't care less but Dick is so in denial about it. they could both give explicit consent but be so antagonistic about it that it becomes unclear if "yes i want to have sex with you" is actually code for "die right now" and i think that's beautiful.

SladeTalia: they fucked! in canon! there was some bullshit plotline where Talia tried to give Slade Damian and pretend he was his son instead! ex fuck buddies who show up just to make each other's lives harder bc they wanna fuck so bad it makes them have stupid brain. also they're both hot as hell. i'm weak for big strong milf/dilf idk idk.

DickTalia: LISTEN TO ME. TALIA WOULD TREAT HIM RIGHT. THEY BOTH KNOW HOW EMOTIONALLY DEVASTATING IT IS TO LOVE BRUCE. LISTEN TO M- ok aside from that. Talia is someone who tried so hard to be good, to choose to be kind. She loved Bruce because she saw how hard he tried to do good in the world. Her character has gotten considerably colder over time, in huge part due to a certain writer writing about her despite knowing nothing about her, but in universe i try and rationalize it as a growing cynicism stemming from both her father's gradually increasing cruelty and Bruce's failure to support her or commit to her or to even just respect her. She hasn't been shown to have very many people in her life who she can really trust and be close to. She used to have a good relationship with Ra's, she used to have Bruce, she's even lost Damian at this point. She feels like such a lonely character to me. And I think Dick would be able to see that, be able to understand it better than most. He's always had people who loved him, people he could turn to, but he's also ended up perpetually isolated for one reason or another. Dick and Talia both feel to me like characters who are so lonely the further they get in their lives. I could see a silent understanding there. The kind of people who would be able to find solace in simply sharing a space with each other. Neither of them like to talk about what they've been through, I think they'd like to have someone who just gets it. Trauma for trauma, you know?

SlaDickTalia: several angles available here.

1) Dick deserves some sexy older lovers who would wine and dine him and also rail him within an inch of his life and also kill for him. i am not immune to the aesthetics!! to the allure of a hot older duo double teaming their young spitfire partner!!!

2) corruption arc. u know u wanna.

3) Dick's fear of abandonment x the 2 most devoted people on the planet. if they were dating nothing bad would happen to Dick again, Slade and Talia just wouldn't allow that. smth smth, couldn't get rid of them if he tried <3

4) Bruce would hate it and that's always fun :3 not that that's hard tho, Babs is like the only one of Dick's partners that Bruce liked and that's bc he wants to keep it in the family.

5) healing.... sobs...... esp when it comes to feelings around parenthood. Those three have shit to work out and i think having some company would help.

6) They all need more people time but 2/3 of them don't get along with anybody so they're kinda stuck with Dick. that kid will forgive anybody if u bat ur eyelashes and behave well enough. He's also more likely to still see them as people despite everything they've been through, and when you're a military experiment and a semi immortal daughter of an immortal terrorist... It can be hard to find someone who looks at you like you still have a chance at humanity.

7) Slade and Talia playing a Cat Vs Dog type game with Dick in the middle. I think it's funny.

[ragnarokhound]

the what time stamp from sit, stay, speak 👀👀 i ate that fic up i need to know all extras about it

fjsldkajf Ok. When I wrote those tags this timestamp was PURELY HYPOTHETICAL. BUT WHELP.

Cross-posting it to AO3 too lmao

“Wait, wait, wait. I can’t be hearing this right. You were a dog? For a week?”

Tim sighs. He looks over at Dick before returning to the surveillance clips he’s sorting through.

“Yes.”

“And Jason didn’t know.”

“No.”

“Jason took care of you. For a whole week. Thinking you were just a normal dog. Jason.”

“Yes, Dick,” Tim says, long-suffering. 

And how long he has suffered.

Ever since Babs let it slip to Dick that Tim had been AWOL for a week and could use some help getting his cases in order, he’s been subjected to grilling from everyone. Even Cass texted him, demanding he spill it all. (She sent a single dog emoji, followed by an eyes emoji. Her methods of interrogation are as effective as they are inscrutable.) He’s had to explain the entire thing at least four times now, and it always comes back to the same ribbing questions.

“Wait. So does that mean— you actually ate dog food?” He stares at Tim with wide eyes, equal parts aghast and intrigued.

Tim wishes he were surprised.

“What— yes, Dick, I was a dog. Jason bought dog food and wouldn’t really feed me other stuff. So I ate dog food.”

“What did it taste like?”

“I don’t— like it smells? I don’t know, Dick, dogs have less oral sensory receptors than humans do. It was food. I was hungry. I ate it. It didn’t smell as good as the eggs or bacon did, but—”

“Todd fed you bacon,” Damian interrupts, eyes narrowing. 

Tim glances at him, not sure what to do about the weird note in his voice. 

It’s the first thing Damian’s said about the whole affair other than to roll his eyes and mutter a scathing ‘typical’ under his breath. He couldn’t have projected ‘I don’t care about your incompetencies’  any harder; but he also didn’t leave the room when Dick finally cornered Tim into explaining it all in detail.

And he’s here in the first place, in Tim’s Nest, helping with the mess. So.

“...Yes? A few times.”

Damian’s face twists into a dark scowl. “Tch. Idiot. There’s far too much salt in bacon, was he trying to kill you?”

Tim stares.

“Humans can eat a much wider range of foods than many animals,” Damian sniffs. “Most of what we eat should either be considered a treat or not eaten at all. This is basic. A child would know this.”

Tim doesn’t say anything about getting this unprompted lecture from a teenager.

“If Todd couldn’t be bothered to do even a basic internet search, I loathe to think of that man ever owning a real dog.”

“Who’s getting a real dog?”

Jason comes clomping down the stairs from the apartment with a grocery bag in hand. Tim’s heart does something he didn’t tell it to when he comes into view, holding a pack of Tim’s favorite energy drinks tucked under his arm. Jason doesn’t even drink those. He says they taste like death and chemicals, and he should know. Tim might swoon.

“No one,” Tim says at the same time as Damian says, “Not you.”

Jason frowns. “I could get a real dog, why can’t I get a real dog?”

Damian immediately rounds on Jason. “Please. You’re lucky it was Drake you were caring for and not an actual animal. You would have killed it!”

Jason scoffs as he crosses the walkway to lean casually against Tim’s computer desk. “Oh, come on. No way I would have killed it. Dogs are bouncier than that.”

Damian sputters, before launching into a tirade about proper animal care. Jason smiles serenely, always ready to wind up Damian as Dick looks on, partly amused and partly concerned, and Tim tries to bite down on his snickering. 

Jason sets down the six pack and pulls one off, handing it to Tim. Their fingers brush over the cool, wet metal, and Jason winks at him. Tim nearly fumbles the can.

“Maybe I should get a dog,” Jason muses, interrupting Damian’s rant before he can get started on the importance of socializing. He slants a grin at Tim. “What do you think, Timmy? How would you rate the Jason Todd experience?”

Tim’s thoughts go briefly X-rated before he gets ahold of himself. 

“Zero out of ten,” he says flatly, cracking the tab on his drink. “Would not recommend.”

Jason’s grin turns sharp. It's an expression that clearly says 'that's not what you were saying last night'.

“Oh?”

Tim makes a face at him around the can as he takes a swig. He hopes Jason reads it as ‘shut the fuck up, Dick and Damian are right here’ and not a challenge to see how far he can push it.

Thankfully he’s saved by Dick. First Robin, best Robin.

“You here to help out too?” Dick asks, clearly excited at the idea and trying not to show it, in fear of scaring Jason off.

“Nah,” Jason says, not unkindly. “Just swingin’ by. I had a suspicion that Timbit’s fridge would be about as empty as the last time I saw it.”

Tim squints at his screen, thinking back to lunch and trying to remember if he can defend himself honestly, but he’s pretty sure he just ate a snack bar from the pantry. He doesn’t think he’s so much as looked in the fridge since the morning he turned back into a human. He’d watched Jason make them breakfast from his place seated on the counter; Jason nearly burned the bacon, then blamed Tim for being…distracting.

(He maintains that the spell simply wore off after seven days. Significant numbers are also a thing in magic. Or was it nine days? It doesn’t matter. It was not true love’s kiss. Jason kissed him on the head the night before he changed back, but that doesn’t mean anything. It doesn’t.)

Anyway.

Dick and Jason are chatting idly while Damian sulks in his corner. They seem to be comparing notes on Tim— and Damian’s— bad habits, but at least they’ve stopped asking him about the dog thing. Jason’s timing couldn’t have been better.

Gratitude for Jason swells in his chest. Tim watches him with a growing flutter in his stomach, and when Jason glances his way, caught, he smiles at Tim. It’s soft, conspiring. It rivals the moon.

“Alright,” Jason announces. “It’s about time I headed off.” From his corner, Damian grumbles something that sounds like ‘finally’.

“Thanks for coming by, Jay,” Dick says, clasping his arm. “Always good to see you.”

Jason ducks his head. “Yeah, yeah.”

He turns to Tim. “Try not to die of starvation while I’m gone, princess,” Jason says, ruffling Tim’s hair with a heavy hand.

Tim’s cheeks pink up. Princess? He’s about to— protest, surely, but Jason leans down over his chair, leaning in close.

“I’ll see you later?” He asks quietly, looking hopeful, his hand still warm on Tim’s neck. Tim can’t help how shy his answering smile is. In his periphery, Dick’s eyebrows shoot way up, and the tips of Tim’s ears go red-hot.

“Y-Yeah,” he says, super smoothly. “I’ll be here.”

“Good.”

All hope of playing it off to Dick and Damian goes right out the window when Jason leans in and pecks his mouth with a short kiss. And then a not so short kiss. 

Tim untangles his fingers from the lapels of Jason’s jacket reluctantly, opening his eyes in time to see Jason’s pink face and self-satisfied smirk before he’s turning around and hustling back up the stairs to the apartment. Presumably he’s putting the groceries away before going on his own patrol. Dick and Damian stare after him.

Tim can’t even be mad at Jason for dropping that little bomb and then escaping. He’d have done the same if their positions were reversed.

Of course, the second Jason disappears, Dick and Damian whip their heads around to look at Tim with big-eyed stares, one maliciously gleeful, one truly disgusted. Then they start talking over each other. Loudly.

“Timothy Drake-Wayne, explain yourself immediately—”

“I need bleach for my eyes, Drake—” 

Okay. He can be a little mad.

[ladytauria]

BITTYBIRD!!! that’s so fucking cute i desperately need dick to call damian that immediately

i feel like damian’s face the first time he says it would be hilarious. THE most disgruntled cat expression.

“no. absolutely not.”

“what? what’s wrong with it?”

“everything. i demand you cease.”

“bittybird? are you serious, dickwing?”

“well, everyone else has a bird name! dami deserves one too.”

“i— and you cannot come up with anything else, richard?”

“nope! besides, it’s cute, like you~”

[bulletsxlattes]

the tim art of yours that you touched up (with the cat) is the prettiest version of tim i’ve seen so far. absolutely in awe of your art. i don’t really understand the terminology, so sorry if i use it wrong, but you have a huge strength in coloring and facial expressions. your tim in that specific piece feels very light and warm. like yknow when you go to a café and everything smells good and feels nice??? that’s the best way i can describe my reaction to seeing that post, lol. thanks for sharing! you have a gift xD

AWW thank you I really don't know what to say besides thank you. It means a lot to me. Some of my favorite parts of drawing/rendering a piece is working on the face and expression. Even as a kiddo I remember really zeroing in on that part more than anything. Thank you again, and I completely understand what you mean with the soft vibes you get from Tim in that piece. It was exactly what I was going for!

[bi-bats]

"'n this is gonna have to go into my jaytimroy fic" LISTEN. listen, okay. jaytimroy is one of my fav poly relationships to read. i will eat this fic uppppp whenever you post it [zero pressure just to be clear!!! write at your own pace babes i'm rooting for it in the meantime]. with that said though, anything you're willing to share abt the wip?

also if you've written anything for that pairing, or just a fic including roy in general in the past??? shamelessly asking you to share a link.

AKLSJFLKSD thank you!!! Writing is definitely not happening the way it usually does for me (and this weekend has been Very Stressful, my cat is really sick and things aren't looking so good, he's not keeping food down at all and hasn't been for about three days and also it's my one year anniversary with my gf today and this has put a bit of a damper on it)

Anyways!! I really just have the plot for it 😂 basic rundown is Bruce finds out about the league bases and gets into a huge argument with Tim which results in the outlaws taking him in during the fallout. JayRoy have been hooking up but they don't know how to address the whole having feelings for each other thing because they both think it's one-sided. Then, of course, Tim comes in and throws a wrench into everything because he starts hooking up with Roy, and then if I say anything else we're wandering into spoilery territory!

I actually haven't written anything for that pairing yet/at all BUT my girlfriend has been begging for it (literally even was like 'you can give it to me as a birthday or a hannukah gift!! 😂) BUT I have written fics with Roy in them! I'm starting to get more comfortable writing him now.

Here's what he's in!

Roy is in Rooftops & Bookshops, but not very much. He's pretty much only in a short scene in chapters 9 and 12 each, other than a few background mentions along the way.

He's also in Pieces of Me (Pieces of You), and he's in two of the three chapters and plays a significant role in the plot

He's in Non-Refundable Plans, but he really only has a few lines (it's a one shot anyways), this is the one he's in the least by far

BUT he is in Know Yourself a significant amount! Every chapter, plenty of lines, scenes alone with Jason, scenes alone with Tim! This fic is ongoing but is NOT abandoned!! I'm struggling with it a bit right now but I am actively working on it. If you want to see how I write Roy or want to read something I wrote that has Roy in it, this is definitely my top recommendation for that!

And thank you for being clear that you aren't applying pressure!! I really appreciate how kind and patient and understanding everyone always is with me here!!! this fandom is the absolute best fr 💚💖💚

[littlemourningstarr]

Rules: Reveal the titles of the documents in your wip folder and tag as many people as there are documents. Let others ask questions about the ones that interest them and post snippets or explain the contents as you see fit!

Tagged by @ghostly-pup-pro-at-shipping and thought it'd be fun! No pressure to actually ask anything y'all, it's just nice sometimes to air out the ole WIPs.

Tagging (no pressure tho, you don't have to do this if you don't wanna!) @deepwithintheabyss @disniq @hardlycats @mintacle @cadkitten @wellthatjusthappend @kiseiakhun

WIPs (which almost never have titles and are usually just the ship or the vaguest of ideas):

Sunsetter (TimDami, DamiColi, JayTim, BruDick- just notes that I've had for like 5 years that I refuse to let go of. Somehow the only one with a title.)

Jon/Colin Grindr (JonColi, as you'd expect lol)

Fluffy Robin Pile (surprise... it's Robin pile)

DICK'S DATING PROFILE (Brudick... yes it's all caps in my docs)

Type Jason Positive (JayTim)

Robin Pile (oh wow, wonder what ship this is)

The LMC TimKon Wedding (Part of the Wish I Had an Angel series)

[lobotomydaughter]

I can't believe my dear friend "hardlycats" last name "deactivated20230907" would ever be this clumsy

one of my dearest friends after i messaged them whining about what i did

i just wanted to delete my old blogs— mobile should have a better setup than a purge all approach

[chejuu]

wip game!!

Rules: reveal the titles of the documents in your wip folder and tag as many people as there are documents. Let others ask questions about the ones that interest them and post snippets or explain the contents as you see fit!

tagged by @roipecheur

i only started writing again a few months ago so for now i am a man of few wips:

as-of-yet untitled fic where dick goes undercover as a mafia boss's new boy toy & slade shows up. supposed to be a one shot but now i’m a few chapters deep and want to finish completely before i start posting 😩

heat lightning

backdoor

tagging @thotsyndrome @pelopides @hardlycats :~)

[ragnarokhound]

"i'm a fucking wolf girl" you don't say xD

fucking awoo lmao

“Catch me if you can,” Tim dares, and the wolf howls.

His breath stammers in his chest. It is a baying song, haunting, beckoning. His heart quickens, stuttering against his ribcage, and he aches. For a moment, he aches.

Then Tim laughs, knocking the visor on his helmet down before revving the engine. The song cuts off with an answering growl, and he kicks away from the sidewalk.

Jason chases him.

[ladytauria]

the jason & tim horror fic… i need it please if you still have the link

here you go!

calling it horror may be a bit of a misnomer on my part—but they are definitely being psychologically tortured~

i had a really good time with it xD & i hope you enjoy too!

[zuzuzuko]

#‘damian is the mean robin’ explain this image then

-@hardlycats

remember when Damian named a rat in the sewers???

he named a rat SPOTTY and apologized for encroaching on his home

and you're gonna try to tell me this boy is evil???

i'm sorry but what are you even talking about???

[bi-bats]

sending warm thoughts your way. give zeus a smooch for me.

I really appreciate it! He's been eating a little better and without the appetite stimulant we've been giving him, which is good!! I gave him that smooch and in return he permitted me to get a video of him receiving pets, in which you can hear him purring:

I love him very dearly 💖

[lobotomydaughter]

!! yo you changed your username!!!! will miss hardlycats but felinemotif is very very cool :)

hardlycats was so fun but i just really wanted my ao3 & tumblr users to match which wasn't an option with my old user

[deepwithintheabyss]

woooh one month late but whatever tagged by @hardlycats

name: currently just going by Abyss, but taking suggestions

pronouns: Fine with whatever they/them my go to for it to be easier but i don't really care

where do you call home: hmm 🤔 place I grew up with/my family, I don't really have a hard time getting comfortable in a new place but I guess my childhood home will always carry pieces of my heart 😭

favorite animal: I have to choose one? :( hmm today feels like a fox day I guess

cereal of choice: cornflakes, I know very basic

visual, auditory, or kinesthetic learner: ooh I think kinesthetic fits best, definitely not auditory xD, and just because I know how something works because I watched and understood it doesn't mean I can copy it (< cries over so many art things I know how to do but never do myself because it doesn't click)

first pet: first pet for myself was a cat, first pet in general was the cats my mom had before I was born (look I always had cats all my life up until I think 2 years ago? and I am suffering)

favorite scent: hmm I like the scent of wood? freshly fallen rain and cut grass idk these are hard questions I never think about this stuff

do you believe in astrology: hmm no, sometimes it's fun to hear what people think about it but it isn't something for me

sharpies or highlighters: sharpies, I only started using highlighters like 3 years ago or something

songs that make you cry: uuuuhhh it really depends on my moods?

songs that make you happy: oh fuck okay so this is old but back when the song happy was new that gave me instant happy thoughts and feelings, otherwise currently idk

do you write/draw/create: yess or well at least I try too, but I write and draw and sometimes wonder if I should animate and then I cry (just kidding I don't) because ugh idk how, also I wanna pick up knitting again and learn to crochet and-

tagging with no pressure uhm hmm @timmyjaybird @disniq @mintacle (just tell me if you don't wanna get tagged for stuff like this and I pull you off the list)

[lazaruspiss]

i would actually love some nightwing recs from you

Aha! You activated my trap card <-(completely forgot how public they are with their nightwing obsession) (ps: i also talked nightwing recs here too <3 i simply love to talk about my baby boy)

My "area of expertise" is mainly Nightwing 1996, so that's where most of my recs come from. There was also Nightwing 1995, which was more of a test run for 96. I think it had 4 issues total? It's not bad, just not noteworthy either. I've been working on a big spreadsheet of info for 96, including trigger warnings, but im only like. 15 issues in. hashtag pain and suffering. Issue #1 already has a woman being threatened, I have it down as "attempted rape" in my list, and that kind of sets the tone for what you need to be able to handle to read everything in that series.

The biggest downside is that it's all pre Damian :( son boy i miss u and i wish u were in better comics. Tim is funny tho. The first arc in 96 is great scene setting, and Tim shows up in #6 to be a lil stinker :3. We establish Dick's goals, motivations, etc, as well as what the state of Blüdhaven is and who our main baddies are.

It's all a bit heartbreaking in retrospect. Dick fails. He wants to be more independent and remove himself from Bruce's shadow, Blockbuster is established as the big bad for him to bring to justice, and he wants to make things at least a little better for the people of Blüdhaven.

He ends up dragged back to Bruce by an invisible leash, he technically beats his main villain but only in the absolute worst way after losing everything (and continues to lose more after, losing things he didn't know he had), and Blüdhaven is destroyed.

Dick loses. It's a bad end. A tragedy even. And yet, because of the nature of comics like DC, his story continues. It continues in crossovers and fan service and whatever else might sell. His most personally meaningful story ended prematurely for fucking War Games. sorry I know I just complained about this but cmon.

There were some good storylines after that! But I'm still bothered by the fact that the Tarantula arc was cut off after like, 2 issues. Road to Nowhere (#94-95) really did go nowhere. But the concept was there and it had the potential to be a decent story about an abusive relationship.

Mobbed Up (#108-111), Renegade (#112-117), and Brothers in Blood (#118-122) are some of my favorite arcs, all post Blockbuster. But after those I kind of lost interest. Annual #2 also came out sometime after all those, and I can't stress enough that it is absolutely not worth reading. It was written an illustrated by men, reduces Babs and Kori to nothing more than romantic partners, and completely misrepresents older stories. They literally retell older Dick/Babs moments, but without anything that could make their relationship at all complex or questionable to the consumer. Dick saw her as a sister, but rather than use that as a sign of closeness and respect they cut out all reference to that entirely because god forbid relationships have any nuance nowadays. Annual #1 was alright. I think it came out in the first or second year of the 96 run, and it's a nice self contained murder mystery one shot that showcases Dick's workaholic habits, his want for a family, and his tendency to try and change himself to makes others happy. He also comes off as very accidentally arospec. There's a moment where he tries to get a woman to stay with him by saying things like "but I could learn to love you" and if that wasn't me everyday throughout my middle to high school years than I don't know what is.

Outside of 96, I wanna point out The Search for Ray Palmer: Red Rain. Which may not be a Nightwing story but is absolutely a Bruce & Dick story (with vampires!) I haven't actually read much of the original Red Rain because. Dick's not really in that one. The Ray Palmer spin off however has Dick hunting down his parents' killer: one vampire king, Bruce Wayne. If you find those posts about Dick initially being a vengeance hungry 8 year old interesting than this is about as close as actual comics get. In the main timeline, yeah, Dick wants revenge, but because he's 8 and really just going through it rather than being genuinely bloodthirsty he's very easily talked out of it. In the Red Rain universe there is no comfort. He's alone, and grief consumes him. Bruce killed his parents for that very purpose, because he wanted Dick to be consumed by grief and hopelessness like him. Getting Dick to be like him and getting Dick to be obsessed with him was kind of his entire goal from the moment he laid eyes on him. Bruce's main presence up until the end where he shows up is shown largely through Dick's hunt, through Dick's obsession. Bruce wanted them to be inseparable and he very much succeeded in the end. By the time Jason and crew cross paths with them it's already too late. Everything is as Bruce wanted it to be. So a yandere vampire brudick au, basically.

There's also Outsiders 2003, which I keep meaning to read but haven't quite gotten to. Dick leads another team, but Donna just died so he's even meaner and cagier than he usually is.

gah. i really wanna finish that nightwing spreadsheet. i'll probably post it once i finish the 1996 section, or at least get it caught up to where it stops before crossing over with war games.

i've made a lot of these but theyre just things that i eventually wanna read, the dick grayson one is really the only one with anything in it rn <-(one track mind. and that track is called blorbo)

[ragnarokhound]

remove the j 💃

CALLED OUT asjhfskal what can I say you've got me read to rights, ason Todd can get it (from me) (and Tim) 😔🙏