#fights about superiority

[starry-bi-sky]

I am of the DPxDC belief/headcanon that any variation of Danny who grew up poor in Gotham during his formative years before moving to Amity Park would not be friends with Sam without friction at first. It makes things more interesting and imo allows for more exploration of different themes plus character growth for Sam that she doesn't really go through in canon.

(this doesn't only apply to a DPDC au where Danny grew up in Gotham poor, but it was the first thing that I thought of where this might happen considering my Childhood Friends au.)

Now Sam's a compassionate girl, it's one of her defining character traits, but so is her hypocrisy and judgy-ness. She's the Not Like Other Girls' girl. This is in part of the show's narrative framing that makes her out like this, unfortunately though its still showing how she is as a character since its consistent enough to be part of her character description. There are also times where the show's depiction of her activism makes it look like she's performative about it. All of this makes her dynamic with a Danny who grew up poor in Gotham very interesting.

Anyways, Sam is aware of her privilege to an extent, but still has her blindspots - glaring ones, in some cases. Her self-righteous attitude would not go over well with a crime alley kid Danny. He'd like her, at first, but then she'd do something to make him mad - personally I think her judging people for not being vegan would annoy him the most, or at least would be the breaking point for him, because it was only recently that his family started actually being able to consistently put food on the table at all, good food nonetheless. And being vegan is expensive.

Any other behavior he noticed from her he'd slowly stop tolerating - her judging conventionally attractive girls and automatically assuming they're vapid and shallow for being feminine. Her anti-capitalist beliefs start coming off as superficial at worst, and Danny would eventually figure out that Sam either came from a family that was well off, or that she wasn't aware if her family was experiencing financial struggle.

He would still be friends with Tucker, but since Tucker imo is still friends with Sam, they'd still run into each other often enough to butt heads. Sam's got a nasty habit of refusing to take responsibility when she's wrong, but when Danny is arguing with her, and counterpointing her with stuff she can't retort back at without compromising her own beliefs, then forces her to start reflecting on herself. Especially when Tucker eventually starts siding with Danny and agreeing with him.

Does sam genuinely care about her beliefs and philosophies? Survey says yes. However that doesn't mean she's not ignorant, and she definitely is at times throughout the show (like when she released the purpleback gorilla thinking it 'wanted out of its enclosure' despite the fact that it was endangered and in an urban area) and I think it'd be a real fascinating dynamic between Danny and Sam to explore.

This isn't Sam hate btw, nor am I trying to make her out like "the worst person ever" bc she's not, i wanna make that explicitly clear. Sam Manson has a lot of positive traits about her but she also has an equal amount of negative traits that I think should be explored, she is not immune to the character development.

#dpdc #dpxdc crossover #dpxdc #dpdc headcanon #dpxdc headcanon #dpxdc danny fenton #dpxdc sam manson #on a funnier note to me Danny asks Sam how much a loaf of bread costs and she can't tell him bc she doesn't know #she's an activist but also look me in the eyes and tell me she knows how much stuff at the grocery store costs #rich girl advocate sam vs crime alley kid danny FIGHT #does sam genuinely care about her beliefs and philosophies? survey says yes. however that doesn't mean she's not ignorant #cfau danny calls her privileged once and sam turns a new shade of red #this isn't sam hate btw i wanna make that explicitly clear #she's great i love her hOWEVER i am not blind to her flaws and i think it gets ignored by fanon AND canon in favor of girlbossing her #this also brings up the idea that Sam (based on her releasing the gorilla) would either respect damian wayne or HATE him bc she's judgy #and one of her flaws is her moral superiority over others. how very christian of you Sam - and i know she's jewish. thats part of the irony #he'd open an animal rehabilitation center and she'd assume the absolute worst. its hilarious. Damian would eat her alive #im taking a bat to a hornet's nest i think

[puppetmaster13u]

Prompt 82

Lex Luthor is admittedly, a very petty man. A very petty man who absolutely despises a certain kryptonian. So what if he made a clone- the alien got mind controlled practically every other week, could anyone blame him for being concerned?!

He’s more than a little annoyed that said clone was stolen from Cadmus, even though they had assured him repeatedly that they knew what they were doing. Trying to steal Gotham’s cryptid’s child was not a good idea- even he knew that! So of course they take the clone and the kryptonian discovers said clone and… rejects it. Huh. He should probably take advantage of that. 

But he is a petty man. 

If the alien is going to reject the child then he’ll just have to prove to be the better father. He’ll of course be the best father, if only to shove it in the other’s face. Really, how hard could it be?

#dcu #dc #prompts #petty dad au #Luthor: Ah yes I shall take advantage and prove that I am superior in parenting #Luthor: Obviously if I help make the clone sympathetic to humans that is advantageous #Alexander “Lex” Luthor: Oh you wish to be called Connor? Certainly we can put it on your birth certificate even #young justice #lex luthor #connor kent #kon el #superboy #superman #Tim who forced Batman to adopt him: Oh finally an adult that I can bitch about my bio parents about with #Tim: Bruce gets all weird and sad when I try to roast them like being left alone isn't that weird #Bart: No idea what's going on here I was dragged to this way too fancy penthouse for breakfast #Bart: But I'm not going to say no to free breakfast #Connor: I am not doing villain things- i'd have to fight my friends! #Connor: I won't say no to the cash and free stuff and being petty tho

[newtlesbian]

going further. franks child self was living in that one room with a strange weirdo boy he dreamed up but never really had. now his inner child isn’t alone anymore. he plays games with his real charlie in their terrible one room apartment. getting weird with it and being okay with being weird no matter what everyone on the outside might think. sharing a bed together to feel the comfort in being close to that

macs child self had charlie the whole time. inseparable. a package deal. the most genuine connection and comfort in both of their neglected tiny lives. not just because they were otherwise alone. decades later theyre not going anywhere. now their inner child rides bikes together they throw rocks at trains together they teach each other about the world just like they needed so desperately in old times

dennis’ child self never had charlie. not until highschool. but that was exactly when he experienced his csa. his inner child found charlie at the exact right moment. caught him when he fell. he got his child self back through charlie just as he lost feeling. and now what do the two of them do together? they go recreate memories and recapture lost youth with a mutual unspoken understanding of why

they all need charlie. relaxing into his genuine youthful energy lets them feel that way again.

#iasip #charlie kelly #:) the first one is the ‘playing together in this room all day’ from the last post i wanted to make it clearer #i wrote a part about dee but i decided its better to reblog with comment instead of one post #because this feels so good to me. so nice to think about him being uplifting. but not possible to ignore the darker aspects of his childhood #give you options #delicate. #im trying to be cautious #but you cant talk about the gang without dee and you cant talk about child selves without trauma. its not Honest not Authentic not Genuine #it does feel sad its kinda tough to touch on it. delicate yk yk #but she seeks charlies natural lack of ambition and a brother who doesnt push her to prop himself up #dees brother fought her and charlies sisters fought him. both cases about superiority. dee fights back charlie ignores #csa warning #kid selves #frank reynolds #bc theres no attention paid to him

[introspectivememories]

i wish you guys could feel the way i felt when reading HOO and realizing in real time that "oh, riordan clearly does not care about the romans". like the downplay is insane!!! as if the greeks and romans were not two separate cultures!!! you cannot one-to-one the gods!!! jason never gets all his memories back, percy ends up remembering everything. jason struggles to fit in at chb, they make percy praetor in one fucking week! not to mention the very weird addition of saying that camp jupiter was part of the confederacy???? like he very clearly does not care about the romans

#i would say smth about rr having a very clear bias for percy but im not sure if yall are ready for that #like the minute i knew that he didn't give a shit about the romans was when percy decimated the cohorts during the war games #bc of his superior greek fighting style or whatever #like just say you like the greeks and go!! there is no need to sideline the romans like this #the way he writes them it's like the romans were just a knock-off copy of the greeks #as if they weren't two fully-realized separate cultures #whatever #jason grace #percy jackson #pjo #hoo

[childrenofthesun77]

It was so sweet (and sad) to see yotaro take care of an upset mahiru while they were in london. With akira dead, tooru being busy with (secret) work and most other characters around mahiru often being pretty irresponsible, immature and caught up in their own issues it was nice to see another character taking up the "mom" role for mahiru instead of him having to be the "mom" or "therapist" for whoever he's currently dealing with.

For similar reasons I really liked iori, even though we didn't have him for long (rip). When mahiru arrives at the battle scene iori has never personally met him before. But instead of trying to trick him or make him jump through hoops first until he has earned their trust/approval like most other adults in the manga the first thing iori does is to reassure mahiru that things are going to be fine even when the situation might look bleak. He puts his trust in him and sacrifices his own life to teleport mahiru and kuro to safety and with his last words he advises mahiru who to look for in london to get help.

I know mahiru is "the straight man" in the story, as in the normal person with common sense who has to suffer from the shenanigans of the crazy people around him for comedic effect, but it was nice to see mahiru interact with people who see that he's just a sixteen year old boy in an extremely upsetting situation and in need of some comfort and reassurance from them.

#servamp #mahiru shirota #Yotaro tsumugi #Iori tsukimitsu #Sigurd is also growing on me #He has his bloodline superiority issues but I like that he's so upset about children fighting for them #he was willing to put his life on the line to free iduna #and he yelled at the C3 members to get off their ass be responsible adults and not let teenagers risk their lives for them #because C3 is too incompetent to do their work #Jun was also nice I guess #at least he was honest that he was using them in hopes of saving tsurugi

[bedtimegiraffe]

Headcanon Height Chart

Here's my head canon line up for the characters along with my reasoning. I'd love to hear how other people picture them!

Actual Data

"The average orc stands six and a half feet tall." (Lore Tablet 1)

"Female orcs are stronger than males." (Lore Tablet 1)

"Elves are taller than humans, standing an average of just over six feet fall." (Lore Tablet 1)

"[Humans are] smaller than orcs and shorter than elves." (Lore Tablet 1)

Assumptions

In the real word, the average person is about 5'4" (5'2' for assigned female at birth, 5'6" for assigned male at birth). I picked 5'6" as the average human height across sexes for conceptual symmetry (about 6 inches between the average height for each race).

In the real world, males tend to be taller than females. I am applying this to humans and elves, but not to orcs, as orc females tend to be stronger (which I'm somewhat spuriously correlating with height).

For the chart itself, it's a general art rule to have a person's crotch/wrists at about half of their height. That put the 'floor' for everyone's full body sprites at about 2 feet. I did not stretch or squish anyone. It looks kind of whack to me, but I have no solution for that.

Character Specific Lines

"You bump into a tall man [Mal] heading out of the village!" (Book 1, Chapter 1) Mal is taller than the average human man.

"An exceptionally bulky cocoon thrashes and bursts apart. Prince Baldur tumbles out." (Book 1, Chapter 9) Baldur is unusually large.

"[Nia] You were puny and insignificant before." and "Leave me alone, tiny man [Mal]." (Book 2, Chapter 12) Valax may just be trying to insult everyone, but I'm taking this as she's taller than both of them.

"The bed's too small." (Book 2, Chapter 17) This could be Imtura just wanting an excuse to go at it on the desk, but I'm choosing to believe she's taller than her mother. I cannot imagine Queen Ventra putting up with a suboptimal bed for herself.

Just Vibes

Nia just gives me short girl energy.

I could have sworn that somewhere Aerin is described as the smaller prince, but I couldn't find it. We know Baldur is stronger than Aerin, so I guess I just assumed he's also taller?

I picture Aerin as shorter than average, contributing to his whole *gestures vaguely at him* complex.

For Mal, I feel like it's easier to do rogue-ing if you're not super tall.

I just think it's neat if Valax is big.

Bonus Imtura next to Aerin to drive home how terrifying I imagine her 'lifting him off his feet by the scruff of his shirt' would be-

#Fighting my very flawed gut feelings about what 'tall' means coming from a family where my grandpa is 6'6 #Sorry to anyone using the superior metric system- I'm sticking with the in-game system of measurement #Aerin I'm sorry you look so positively tiny in this picture! You're like 5'5 I swear #Curse you Mal for not standing up straight like everyone else #And curse everyone's very voluminous hair making it hard to tell how tall they actually are #blades of light and shadow 2 #blades of light and shadow #choices blades #imtura tal kaelen #valax #princess valax #tyril starfury #baldur valleros #mal valori #aerin valleros #nia ellarious

[bumblingbabooshka]

Something about this interaction between Harry & Janeway - specifically Janeway but it's notable that Harry's the one listening because I think, say, Chakotay or B'Elanna might push back against the idolization of this 'it was different back in those days' way of thinking.

#Get the Tranq she's 'Good Old Boys'-ing! #never beating the Starfleet stooge accusations #which I think should have been brought up more between her and Chakotay #instead of just making Chakotay like Starfleet again so they can be together #the Tuvok/Chakotay/Janeway command trio should have been like #Janeway: I love Starfleet in an uncomplicated way and though it's painful sometimes I believe following code is the only way to proceed #Tuvok: I agree with the captain and this makes her believe in her decisions more - though I would attempt to obey her commands even if they #weren't regulation. #<- Janeway doesn't want to examine this #Chakotay: I hate Starfleet because of very valid reasons and I don't think following orders and codes from superiors is the best thing #in every situation. I want everyone here to examine their biases which cannot necessarily be done if biases are written into the #codes. We aren't in Starfleet space. We might have to adapt. #but it's nowhere near that nuanced bc you know. Starfleet Good. Starfleet Good. Starfleet Good. Maquis Bad. Maquis Bad. Maquis Bad. #Or you know: 'Maquis doing this the WROOONG way...violence isn't the answer :(' maybe violence is the answer sometimes. #when it's the only language the people in power understand. #maybe 'let's talk about this' is an insidious military tactic sometimes actually #Also Harry immediately going from 'They falsified logs?' to 'I always wondered it'd be like back then...~' #He and Janeway................Him and Janeway are!!! AGH #People think Harry's way too timid. They think this because he's asian and an ensign so they make him timid & obedient #But he's very willing to break or bend the rules - he's willing to fight he likes action and adventure and he's very similar to Janeway #where they'll both die and go to hell and come back just to save their crew - their friends - their family

[movedtodykedvonte]

No cause the moment they discover Spidey is barely in his 20s, like hasn’t even reached it, their perspective changes wildly.

This isn’t some annoying dude fucking with them anymore, this is a kid with a sense of justice and they respect the bravery it takes to come out here as a child and fight the likes of them. Even if they find it incredibly dumb and overly self-sacrificial. They don’t throw their punches but they miss more. Their plans are just as dire but straight forward, easier to thwart. Not intentionally, just the subconscious thought and agreement they don’t want to be the one specifically responsible for death of a child. 

Like imagine in battle Spidey sacrifices himself and they all just gotta be like “Yeah we did it!” for like the news only for the inside of their heads to be like “That is a child.”

#every six memember has been shown in one continutiy or another to not like hurting kids or actively avoiding it #rhino and miles saving those kids #electro not wanting to fight spiderboy #the many iterations of Sandman that has a kid and hates collatoral #doc ock and his hate of bullies plus that kid in superior he wanted to save #vulture is an uncle or father too #idk about mysterio or shocker but eh Im sure they wouldn't punch a child #there are fics that execute this really well cause spiderman villians most of the time arent blood thirsty maniacs unless you piss em off #worst thing about spidey comics is sometimes the villians feel evil without that remorse #the reason or the morals they have albeit scewed #like they are just doing shit and it aint fun no more #the sinister six #peter parker #spider-man #spiderman #marvel comics

[oifaaa]

ah but jason only beat up joker with a crowbar! has he beaten him up with a fish, a gun, etc.

He doesn't have to, Joker is one of those characters that lives off people paying attention to him the best thing Jason could do now is show Joker how unimportant he is by treating him like any other rogue

#ask #anon #joker is not a source of fear for jason #jason doesn't care that joker killed him #People die all the time in dc thats not special #bruces reaction to jason dying is whats important to jason #all of jasons pay back towards joker was in utrh #when he beat the joker with a crowbar and told him how little he actually cares about the joker #and then just uses him as a prop in his fight with bruce #that should have been it #but anyway #lets talk about someone else #im getting paid in a week #and seriously considering if i should send 75£ on the superior spiderman omnibus #even tho i probably cant afford #i really want it #actually really like the superior spiderman story #but 75 pounds mmmmmm

[nerosdayinanime]

fuckign obsessed with sabigiyu... sabito's tough and snarky and brash when hes around people but then see him with giyuu and hes the biggest fucking puppy... constantly touching and being affectionate whenever he can, harshly stopping/snapping at anyone who tries to badmouth giyuu or even looks at him wrong, always glancing back when hes talking looking for giyuu's attention and recognition- he so freely displays his love and its just so sickeningly sweet to anyone around as witness

giyuu's a youngest child too, you know he'd eat that shit up. he fucking loves how much sabito spoils him- the occasional time sabito tries to be stern or ignores him all he has to do is bat his eyes and raise the corners of his mouth and sabito near immediately caves to whatever he wants. anything to see giyuu's full smile, and giyuu never hesitates with him

they know exactly what the other wants at a given moment, know when to be soft and sweet or when to be rough and wild- quietly sitting together close enough for their thighs to touch and enjoying the warmth of eachother's presence to playfully pushing buttons until the other snaps and gives their full attention to grappling the other to the ground. they'd both stop at the drop of a dime for the other for whatever reason needed, lovingly teasing and calling the other an idiot the whole way out

#loserboy giyuu posting #fratboy sabito posting #sabigiyu #sabito x giyuu #i found Anything You Want(JAWNY ft. dojacat) and i just asfdghgjhykdsfghjkyj sABITO #he fucking loves giyuu sm. theyre both utterly obsessed with eachother but sabito's more outgoing abt it so its #way more obvious to outsiders. anyone who actually knows how giyuu is see how down bad he is- hes a different person when sabito's #way more obvious to outsiders. anyone who actually knows how giyuu is see how down bad he is- hes a completely different person when #sabito's around vs when hes not and everyone thinks they're ridiculous #sabito got in a fight one time bc he called someone pathetic for being scared to openly love their partner #giyuu had to drag him out like a cat carrying an angry kitten. he was staring them down with death in his eyes then as soon as line of #sight broke he looked to giyuu with a proud little smile and giyuu dropped him on his ass for getting into a fight for such a stupid reason #sabito tried to defend his superior opinion but stopped when giyuu kissed the top of his head and started walking off. scrambled to get up #and follow- whatever he was gonna say forgotten and no longer important #ough... #sorry im unwell about them #i like thinking of what they'd be like if they hadnt lost eachother and turned cold in eachother's absence like they did in canon #sabito asshole & giyuu spoiled brat supremacy #also this is ambiguous as to whether its canon-setting or modern its just Them #'youve got the funk- gets me stupid gets me drunk- ill do anything that you want- anything that you want want want' #its just oUGH

[a-lil-perspective]

Hunter literally throws him on the ground and I. Can’t stop watching this.

#also just goes to show that Hunter is clearly superior in melee combat #I mean Cross is capable and fully trained but his melee attacks are much slower and he leaves himself too exposed and vulnerable #because if you think about it he is not used to close-quarter fighting #as a sniper he rarely has to engage in it #anyway I just think subtle details like that are neat #carry on #also Hunter putting those broad shoulders to good use mmm #he so wide he just heft himself an entire body onto his shoulders #you go sarge #star wars: the bad batch #star wars the bad batch #sw tbb #bad batch finale #the bad batch #bad batch #clone force 99 #sergeant hunter #crosshair #tbb hunter #clone trooper crosshair #tbb crosshair #bad batch gifs #it’s a lil thing

[ofekma]

"how can you be an animorphs fan and support Israel?"

I don't know, how CAN I be the fan of a book series talking about kids being forced to grow up too fast due to being a part of a war that has been going on for longer than they're alive, trying to defend their home against an invading force?

Seeing how this situation affects their mental state, world view and relationships with each other? Not being able to fully trust anyone else because they can turn out to secretly wish for your demise?

How can I be the fan of a series that mirrors the way I grew up, of feeling scared and lost and small but knowing that you have to keep going because there's no other way?

Knowing that the other side has people who are like you, who never really wanted to hurt anyone but are being forced to fight too, who were brainwashed from birth to not see people like you as people?

Knowing that innocents die in war, that cruel, messed up, unjust things happen in wars but not seeing another way forward?

Wanting to save your loved ones who are now being kept hostages?

YEAH I HAVE NO IDEA WHY IN THE WORLD WOULD I, AN ISRAELI PERSON, BE AN ANIMORPHS FAN?

#animorphs: there's no black and white but sometimes you have to fight to protect the people you love #people on tumblr: ISRAEL BAD PALESTINE GOOD #Hey remember how every time the animorphs kill a hork bajir controller #they kill both an innocent hork bajir hostage and a yeerk that is threatened with starvation by their superiors if they won't fight? #remember how most taxxons only agreed to collaborate with the yeerks because they feel like being puppets is better than constant hunger? #remember how Serrow only wanted to do something good but ended up causing an intergalactic war? #remember how as early as book 6 Jake didn't blink before boiling alive dozens of helpless yeerks? #remember how the Howelrs who exterminated countless species were merely toddlers playing controlled by a higher being? #REMEMBER HOW ANIMORPHS IS A FUCKING COMPLICATED BOOK SERIES AND EVEN OUR HEROES COMMITED ATROCITIES THAT HAUNTED THEM EVERY DAY? #AND HOW WE STILL ROOTED FOR THEM BECAUSE WE KNEW WHY THEY DID THIS AND WHERE THEY'RE COMING FROM? #HOW MOST OF THEIR ATROCITIES WEREN'T JUST KILLING FOR THE SAKE OF KILLING? #Unlike you know #what Hamas is doing #killing for the sake of killing #sacrificing their own people in the process #brainwashing and treathening their population #Remember how the war is actually a chess game between two larger entities that use everyone else as a peon for the war between themselves? #Hm now that surely sounds familiar #Imagine thinking that a fictional war in a book series for kids is more complicated and morally grey than one in real life #And that you can know everything about it from Twitter and tik tock #Couldn't be me lol

[balteus]

tbf the most fascinating part of radahn as a boss and character to me isn't even the horsegirl\war general aspect of him. it's the fact that he uses spears people stabbed him with as arrows. that's metal as fuck.

#like ok not to expose myself here w shitty analytics but when the cleanrot knight stabs radahn in that one cinematic #it reminds me a little of that one scene in beauty and the beast where beast's hide is stabbed with an arrow #this is. most certainly not intentional but the imagery. #the concept of being in pain for a long time and fighting through it #have you noticed his back is a pincushion already by the time he fights malenia? goddamn #also i supposed at one point it would have been interesting if the spears caused rot buildup but i realize now that wouldn't fit #as his rune states his body constantly burns to try fight off the rot #that AND #the fact the spears are infused w gravity magic #like. bro. talk about turning the enemy's power against them #idk basically i see why his troops loved him the way they did if my military superior got shanked and 1. tore ut out of their body #and 2. chucked it back at the enemy #that is so fucking sick!!!!

[breadedsinner]

My extremely cold take is that, while the option to play a woman is very cool and the sole reason I got into Mass Effect, and while her performance is considered by many to be superior, Femshep herself is not a Strong Female Character. When people include her in various Favorite Female Characters lists and such, I have to wonder if they’re mainly talking about the character that exists in their head.

At the very least, when discussing the fleshed out female characters of the series, to dismiss the other human women, including the sole Latina, to prop up the usually white readhead Jane. It’s not a very Girl’s Girl attitude.

#Me Tag #Yes this also applies to any other protagonist whose gender can be selected #Like don’t get it twisted #I love Hawke as a character #But to say she’s a better female character than say Isabela #Is just not fair #And like yeah femshep is considered superior in the fandom #Which has its own problems because there are lots of men under represented #Most regular players seem to go with MShep if not the default #idk I was just thinking about this one gifset of that ME3 commercial #Femshep and Ashley were fighting together #But the gifset cut out every bit of Ashley #And if that don’t say it all

[nebulousfishgills]

I'm aware that the carnival wheel game is a scam, but this was worth the 500 gold, full stop, I was on the floor crying for like ten minutes

(Also peep my Durge Tav, Sorcerer)

#there's personal context about my tav that makes this infinitely funnier #i'm being serious this had me dry heaving on the floor #also here's the proof I'm doing this way out of order #i'm at the carnival after beating cazador and fighting shadowheart's church's leader #which everyone said that fight was worse than cazador but here's a secret if you get shadowheart to rally the others behind her #you only have to fight four people #there are benefits to doing a dark aligned shadowheart #i also stole the mother superior's dress and dyed it red so that's what my tav is wearing #i'm being such a gremlin bastard in this game #fishgills speaks #fishgills plays bg3 #bg3 #baldur's gate 3

[emeraldspiral]

Thinking a bit more on the idea of Dib having a vampire ex-boyfriend/nemesis.

Zim would be absolutely terrified of him. Like, we know from the Halloween episode that he has a massive fear of being eaten/having his blood drained so he'd find Batty really intimidating. But he'd try really hard not to show it because he doesn't want to look like a pussy in front of Dib's ex.

Batty would invoke a lot of comparison to Zim with his design and dramatic mannerisms, but he'd be more playful and mischievous and into manipulation and toying with his opponents. The main contrast between the two of them is that Zim is supposed to be cold and unfeeling because his people are conditioned to not feel or crave love but he secretly yearns for it. Batty claims that he had real feelings for Dib and wanted it to work out between them but Dib believes that since losing his soul he can't feel anything genuine and is just very good at faking it.

Batty is extremely charming and manipulative and way better at blending in with humans than Zim, but he also has the ability to hypnotize people, which grows stronger after they've been bitten. Dib however, is immune to Batty's hypnosis because he was bitten once but managed to get away from him long enough for the wound to heal up completely. He still has scars though, hidden by his jacket collar.

Dib asks Zim politely to put off his plans for world domination and promises he'll foil them in a day or two after he deals with Batty's return. Zim takes offense at Dib treating Batty like the bigger threat and tries to force Dib to prioritize his evil scheme but immediately fumbles it, allowing Dib to give Batty his undivided attention.

Dib tells Zim to just go home, promising that Batty can't do anything to him as long as nobody invites him in. Naturally, Batty shows up at Zim's house and walks right in thanks to the Robotparents answering the door with their standard "Welcome home son" greeting. He terrorizes Zim for a bit before biting him but is driven out when GIR belches on him after eating a garlicy pizza.

Zim goes to Dib's house freaking out about being bit and asking if he's going to turn into a vampire now. Dib tells him that he'll only turn if Batty comes for him again and drains enough of his blood to kill him, or if he gets any of Batty's vampire blood in his system. He promises to protect Zim because he doesn't want to deal with him as a vampire. Standard Swollen Eyeball protocol demands that all agents deal with vampires by driving a stake through them, beheading them, and then for good measure burning the remains to ash. The former two Dib doesn't have a problem with, but the latter is unappealing because then he wouldn't be able to prove Zim was an alien or have him dissected for scientific study.

Zim wants to know how to keep Batty away. Dib says he's got a salt circle and garlic wards up around the house to ward away vampires but since Batty's already been to his house it's not totally safe. Gaz is at a sleepover and Membrane's working overnight at his lab, but they'll be going to a safe house set-up by the Swollen Eyeballs.

Unfortunately, having already bitten Zim gives Batty a telepathic link to him, which allows him to figure out where they're going. GIR orders a pizza and Batty seizes the opportunity by pretending to be the delivery guy and getting GIR to invite him in. Hungry for more of Zim's "exotic" blood, he uses hypnosis to compel Zim to come and be fed upon.

Dib drives Batty away, but not before he's drained enough of Zim's blood to put his organic body into a coma while his PAK assumes emergency control, carrying him around on spider legs. The PAK is prepared to turn the nearest organic life form (Dib) into its new host, should Zim die, which seems imminent given that he desperately needs a transfusion and there are no other Irkens around who could donate blood. The PAK is aware of its surroundings however, and is able to listen to Dib explain that there's another way to save Zim.

They get into the medical research department of Membrane Labs where Dib's dad has been working on a blood synthesis machine that can convert any donor blood type into one compatible with any recipient. Dib uses the machine to convert his own blood and Zim is able to accept a life-saving transfusion from him.

Unfortunately, having fed on Zim twice now, Batty's telepathic link is even stronger. He cons his way into entering Membrane Labs and uses his powers to compel Zim to steal the blood synthesis machine and bring it to him while Dib is too weak and anemic to stop him.

Batty takes Zim back to his lair but doesn't feed on him because his plan is to run his tainted vampire blood through the synthesis machine and send it to all the city's hospitals and turn their patients into an army of vampires under his thrall, and he's going to need Zim's blood to replenish him.

Zim attempts to use a tack infused with garlic DNA just like the one from Bolognius Maximus, which he'd made while in the safe house with Dib. But Batty already knew about it due to their telepathic link. He flexes his mental control over Zim by taking it from him and leaving it out in the open and not even bothering to restrain Zim, knowing he doesn't have the strength to break his mental hold and escape or attack him.

Zim is able to contact Dib and tell him where they are though, or rather, Batty allows him to contact Dib because he wants a confrontation with him. When Dib comes Batty tries the classic "we can rule together speech" but Dib's heard it before and reminds Batty that he has no power over him anymore. Batty lets his obsession with Dib get the better of him though, and while he's focused on trying to seduce Dib to the dark side, Zim finally has the chance to strike back and get Batty with the tack, turning him into the very thing he's allergic to.

Batty flits off screaming in agony. Dib isn't sure if being turned into garlic will actually kill him, but if it doesn't, that almost seems worse. Either way, he doesn't expect they'll be seeing him again anytime soon.

And then the story ends with the conversation about how Dib's rivalry with Zim means more to him than Batty ever did.

#invader zim #zadr #zadf #dib #dib membrane #don't think too hard about why batty is still allergic to garlic after having it fused with his dna #when zim seemed to lose his bologna allergy after he got fused with bologna dna #i just really wanted zim to be able to save himself #and prove he was the superior rival to dib #and to do it his own way #playing into his unique strengths as an alien #rather than by conventional methods #of fighting vampires