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sapphorror · 5 months

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Now that you have read the ZimVoid arc, what are your toughts on Zib and Za2r (Zib❤Zim2[2im{twoim}])?

I'M SO GLAD YOU ASKED!!! alright, maybe I was definitely going to say this all anyway, but now I have a decent excuse to braindump it all at once instead of trying to write, I don't know, coherent analysis.

Yeah, I'm obsessed with this guy. I'm still only just starting to build a proper 3D model of him in my head, so don't take anything I rave about here too seriously, but my god is Zib something else. Also, really cute. No one told me he'd be cute and I wasn't at all equipped to deal with what I got. I was operating under the assumption he was going to be at least a LITTLE cool, but this is the most pathetic wet meow meow of a character I have ever seen, and that is no small statement.

(Also also, is it just me, or does the way Zib's drawn remind anyone else of rubber hose animation like, moreso than the comics artstyle generally does? I can't quite pin down what's making it feel that way, but I like it. Gives him Vibes™, y'know?)

Anyway. Fusions like Zib are always going to be fun, just for what they imply about their component characters and the game of trying to identify what characteristics come from where. And Zib is especially fun for this because Zim and Dib are such similar people to begin with. It honestly doesn't surprise me that the Zimfluence went initially unnoticed by our Dib, not just because he's more prone to cognitive bias than he likes to believe, but because there are so many overlapping traits between these two guys that Zib wasn't so much altered by the fusion as he was exacerbated. They blend seamlessly to the point it's really hard to pick out where one ends and the other begins, and in a different kind of story, Dib might actually be forced to reflect on what that implies about him and his motivations. As is, he's just going to keep fooling himself, though.

Probably the most obvious dichotomy between them, at least where it applies to Zib, is motive, and that definitely brings up some interesting questions. When he chooses to take over the Earth, is that the Zim side disguised by Dib-passing justifications, or does it say a whole lot more about Dib's actual loyalty to the Earth against his loyalty to opposing Zim than anyone would really like it to? How about the total lack of internal conflict when it comes to decimating the Armada and wrecking the Irken Empire? What does that say about Zim's ultimate loyalties?

Granted, I am at this point pretty certain Zib didn't just put on the PAK and call it a day, I think he took precautionary measures to ensure that the Dib half remained the 'dominant' personality, given that in 10 Minutes to Doom we see him completely subsumed by Zim's coding, so this isn't a perfect equal split. But it is still a split—Zib clearly did not have the foresight to account for everything, if he even wanted to—and the fact he prepared himself for this is itself interesting, because it means the decision was premeditated, not done on a whim during some momentary mental break. This might even be why he's half-Irken; instead of the PAK altering his biology, maybe Zib altered his biology so it could survive the long-term integration of the PAK. And isn't it just insane to imagine any version of Dib willingly body-horroring himself like that, stripping away his own humanity? When he accused our Dib of being just another ignorant human, could that maybe be a sign that he didn't want to have anything in common with those people anymore?

None of this is what really gets me about Zib, though. This is.

Admittedly, I'm sort of predisposed here, because I have this whole Thing about Dib's unfaltering belief he can somehow prove himself to humanity, despite all evidence to the contrary, being in essence identical to Zim's delusion that he's already adored by all... that's it's whole own post, tbh, but my point is Dib's ostracization wouldn't be solved by exposing Zim, and it's fun to see that explicitly confirmed.

But it's also more specific than that. Because what Zib was forced to realize here is that he destroyed the only person capable of actually caring about him. And that's why the Zimvoid is the Zimvoid, isn't it? Zib could've used those portals to escape anywhere or lure in anything, but instead he does this. Part of that's the obsessive need to succeed where he'd previously failed and decimate the Armada (+ repeatedly 'defeat' Zim because he's still too emotionally stunted to understand that's not actually what he needs), and I think all of that is important, but there's also something to be said about how deeply driven Dib is by the desire for external validation, and here he went and fused himself with the one person in the universe who might be even more love-hungry than he is. Zib's not afraid of being alone simply because he dislikes isolation—I mean, even within the Zimvoid, he still physically and ESPECIALLY emotionally isolates himself from the other Zims. Being the only person left in his reality means there's no one to admire his greatness, and given who he's a combination of, of course that's his worst nightmare. And ridiculous as it may be, he understands that Zim is the only person who's ever given him that kind of attention. So why not make a whole planet of them? Why not trick them into idolizing him? I mean, who else could even matter besides Zim?

Also? This one's sort of auxiliary to the last point, but there is something deeply, deeply sexy and thematically chewy in Dib wanting/needing Zim so badly that he quite literally became him, and that not being enough. I mean, what is the Zimvoid but a huge collector's display? And it's exactly this that makes him the architect of his own ultimate tragedy. I have a thing for characters who damn themselves not through any single choice, but by passing up a million little opportunities to save themselves, totally confident in their decisions right up til the moment it actually is too late. He could've used those portals to escape to another timeline. He could've designed the Zimvoid as anything other than a ticking timebomb of lies, conflict, and an ever inflating population of lunatics. He could've given up on his destructive plans and just enjoyed the huge fucked up harem he built for himself. He could've quit while he was ahead.

And the really funny thing is, even after the collapse of the Zimvoid, his total isolation is still a consequence of his own actions. I mean, the Zim from his own timeline literally cannot be taken away from him through any method short of murder. He's still right there. But by winning, by possessing his Zim to the point of consumption, Zib defeated the entire purpose of having Zim in the first place. They'll never be separated, and that's exactly the reason why he'll always be alone.

As for ZA2R... hm. I'm not sure if I have much to say about them just yet, but suffice to say I am Deeply Compelled. I'm always weak for that (false) god x worshipper dynamic. It's about someone as lonely and broken and closed off as Zib finding out the hard way that they're still capable of genuine love, no matter how bad they are at it, and there's something very special in every Zim's desire to be someone's favorite being so specifically exploited. I mean, the dynamic of highest subordinate is essentially identical to the one Zim likes to imagine he has with the Tallest, only actually real. Dishonest and exploitative, to be sure, but still real. And hey, important question, but what about #2's personal Dib and the fact Zib is always going to be implicitly competing against the person actually cosmically destined for his partner, because he fucked his own cosmic destiny up so badly? Or the inevitable spectacle of Dib's semi-latent yandere tendencies being brought to bear against himself?

Also! Shameless Homestuck chatter, but I take so much joy in pale ZADR dynamics (black diamond romance my beloved), and the fun thing about ZA2R is that their default pacifier/pacified dynamic swaps. In, uh, normal person terms, they've managed to contrive themselves a situation in which Zim is actually the comparatively sane/stable one, keyword comparatively, and being worked to death about it. There's nothing I love more than a justified role reversal, y'know?

THAT'S ALL I'VE GOT FOR NOW but like I've been thinking about these guys nonstop for 24 hours already, I WILL be losing my mind about them again. I don't know when, I don't know how, but it's gonna happen.

#invader zim #zib #za2r #zadr #zadp #za2p #meta #my meta #saph reads #iz posting #asks

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random-iz-stuff · 1 year

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Invader Zim Deathmatch:

[Round 1, Fight 1]

ZIMVOID SPEED ROUND!

The rule for prep time is that if one contestant gets prep time, the other contestant gets an equal amount of prep time as well.

[Masterpost]

Information about all seven contestants can be found under the cut.

Contestant Stats:

(The winner of this round will get a properly fleshed out stat block in the following rounds)

Big Zim:

“Strong as a train, dumb as a rock”

Their whole deal:

Big Zim is a Zim that “trained his body instead of his mind”, having extreme strength greater than any other Zim, but at the cost of being extremely dumb and easily fooled. He’s extremely strong, but has been defeated before by physically weaker opponents like Number 2.

The Elder:

“Zim but he’s capable of growing facial hair”

Their whole deal:

The Elder is one of the oldest (and presumably wisest) Zims in the Zimvoid and is the leader of the Zim Resistance. He has all the skills of an average Zim, but is presumably at least slightly smarter and wiser due to his older age.

2K:

“He’s Baby”

Their whole deal:

In 2K’s universe, a lab accident made him start aging backwards. He’s got the body of a smeet and the mind of an older Zim. He’s also believed to be the second in command of the Zim resistance, being seen directing everything when the Elder isn’t there (and the Elder only has one appearance).

The Meat:

“Meatmeatmeatmeatmeatmeatmeat”

Their whole deal:

In The Meat’s universe, Zim and Dib never found a cure for the events of Bolognius Maximus after the episode ended and they ended up permanently stuck as bologna. Having no arms or legs, The Meat uses his PAK to travel around and interact with things.

Number 2:

“I swear there’s something wrong with you, I just don’t know what”

Their whole deal:

Number 2 claims that they have slightly worse aim with throwing knives compared to the other Zims (99.4% instead of 99.7%) and that’s their thing, but I seriously doubt that considering his extreme height and the fact that a supposedly weaker than normal Zim is the second strongest Zim in the Zimvoid, beaten only by Zib, who isn’t even a Zim.

Make of that information as you will.

Palindrome:

“Ocean man, take me by the hand……”

Their whole deal:

In Palindrome’s timeline, he attempted to make himself immune to water and succeeded, but as a side effect grew gills and can no longer breathe air. They’re immune to water without needing paste which is a massive advantage, but they’re screwed if that water bowl is broken.

Emperor Zim:

“Not a Zimvoid resident, but still an alternate Zim”

Their whole deal:

Emperor Zim won. He took over Earth and killed Dib by chaining him to a wall and having him die of either starvation or thirst. He even got the approval of his Tallest by promising to cut the Earth in two to make it into a snack bowl. However, he was defeated by his younger alternate self in one on one combat, so this deathmatch isn’t exactly his strong suit.

#invader zim #polls #invader zim deathmatch #Zimvoid #comic spoilers

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sidetable-drawer · 1 year

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Invader Zim lines that live in my head rent-free:

“YOU GONNA MAKE BISCUITS? YOU GONNA MAKE BISCUITS? YOU GONNA MAKE BISCUITS? YOU GONNA MAKE BISCUITS?”

“It’s not stupid, it’s advaaaaaaaaanced!”

“MY BUSINESSS IS DONE!”

“SOMEONE’S MAKING DONUTS!”

“Solutions, give me solutions! SOLUTIONS, GIVE ME SOLUTIONS!”

“Zim!” “WHAT!?” “Zim!” “WHAT!?”

“Scared of BEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAANS, SPACEBOY?”

“Dance with us, GIR! Dance with us into oblivion!”

“WHY MY PIGGY? I LOVEDED YOU, PIGGY! I LOVEDED YOU!”

“How’s it goin’?”

“ADHESIVE MEDICAL STRIPS”

“He’s getting eaten by a shark!”

“I put the fires out!” “You made them worse!” “Worse? Or...better?”

“THEY TOOK MY SQUEEZING ARM!”

“I’m gonna watch it AGAIN!”

“WHY WAS THERE BACON IN THE SOAP?” “I MADE IT MYSELF!”

“OW! My squeedlyspooch!”

“I don’t get it! Why does he want to take over the Earth so badly? What does he have to gain? Or to loooose? And the mechanizations of this malfunctioning Santa suit completely ELUUUUUUUUUDE me!”

“YOU LIKE ICE CREAM. YOU LIKE ICE CREAM. YOU LOVE IT. YOU CANNOT RESIST ICE CREAM. TO RESIST IS HOPELESS. YOUR EXISTANCE IS MEANINGLESS WITHOUT ICE CREAM”

“Yeah...(oh yeeeeaaah) Ultra Peepi”

“I WANT MY SLAW!” “YOU HAVE YOUR SLAW, SIR!” “I WANT MY SLAW!” “YOU HAVE YOUR SLAW, SIR!”

“WHO ARE YOU?” “I am...” “WHO ARE YOU?” “I...” “WHO ARE YOU?”

“For longer than I can remember I’ve been looking for someone like you. Someone with a head like yours and a torso, too. Birds sing and you’re gonna PAY, THE END! HERE’S YOUR MEAT COVERED IN BARBECUE SAUCE!”

#invader zim #add more

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geekcat · 6 months

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Had an idea for a "Dibvoid" to parallel the Zimvoid arc that I don't know if I'll actually write.

The basic premise is similar to the Zimvoid, with Dibs from alternate universes being lured into another dimension. But in this case, the signal they follow is one from another Dib, asking for help in defeating his Zim, who successfully took over Earth!

Once there, the Dibs all gather together and plot against Zim...all while receiving messages from the Dib who contacted them in the first place. After a lot of questions about why he can't fight with them in person, he admits to being Zim's prisoner...sending secret messages and rerouting supplies to them without Zim noticing is the best he can do.

Even through just messages, they're able to launch a lot of good attacks against Zim! It feels like they're making progress in taking back the Earth...though at other times, it feels like a large game of tug-of-war between them and Zim, neither side taking much ground.

The first twist is when they learn the Dib supposedly guiding them has been dead since Zim took over this world.

The next is that it's Zim himself who's been leaving them messages and leading them through the fight against himself.

After taking over Earth, there was no contact from his Tallest, other than that they'd be there "at some point". (They weren't planning on showing up ever.) Zim became bored, and started to miss the days when he and Dib would fight, making him despondant...

So, he lured in a bunch of other Dibs, hoping to return to the days he was missing. The Dibs don't take it well, learning that they all walked right into a trap of Zim's.

#invader zim #zimvoid #dibvoid

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r0tt3n-corpse · 22 days

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Another writing I did awhile back, not sure I really like this one but it’s fine 👍

Fandom: Invader Zim

(Invader Zim isn’t the only thing I write about I promise 💀)

Warnings: None!

Gender neutral human reader x Zim

You shifted in place and knocked on the door of the tall green-ish house, Zim's house. You've known Zim since school started, but only recently became what you'd call friends. Zim seemed to disagree with that statement, only using you to seem human and look over his plans since you were what he declared not so humbly, "smart, for a human." You were about to knock again when the door opened, Zim's parents opening the door. Gir, Zim's “dog”, waved to you from the couch, watching some show about monkeys.

"Heyy, stranger!!" Gir says happily as you step past the robots, closing the door behind you. "Hello, Gir." You say plainly as you step away from them and into the empty kitchen. Looking around, the ceiling was full of wires and the kitchen was weirdly decorated. You pull out your phone, the text Zim send you a while ago telling, or more like ordering you, to come over still on it's screen. You still didn't know why he needed you, but you definitely had a hunch. You put it away and looked around again. Still no Zim.

Or, you swore you didn't see him. A tap on your arm said otherwise about his whereabouts. Spinning on your heels, you're met with the harsh stare of the short alien as you look down. "Took you long enough!" Zim shouted at you, his gloved hands on his hips. His black wig was ruffled, he clearly had rushed to put his disguise on. You opened your mouth to respond sarcastically but Zim's sudden harsh grip on your wrist shut you up. "Ugh, never mind! Come on, I need you to look something over."

The alien turned and attempted to pull you into his lab, but your height difference didn't help much. You kinda just stood there calmly for a moment, looking down at the Irken trying, and failing, to lead you by the hand. Calmly, you slipped your hand out of his grasp and just walked into the elevator that led to his lab with him, but not before he glanced distastefully at you from the corner of his vision, embarrassed. He seem a lot more nervous than usual, but then again he was always kind of awkward, especially when trying to act human.

"So... what did you need?" You asked, looking around the lab when you got there. To be honest, you were surprised he even took you down here. Or you would've been if this was the first time. It was very much not. After Zim found out you were top of the class at Skool, and also the tallest kid there, he had for some reason developed some sort of respect for you. Either that, or he just used your knowledge to build his plans. It was... probably that one.

Walking over to what seemed to be a table with some sort of poorly drawn Earth with an alien ship blowing it up, Zim pointed at the picture as if it was the most interesting thing ever. You rolled your eyes but walked over. "Human, er... y/n, you know of Earth's defenses, right? What are they??" He took a step back and looked around as if trying to figure something out. "It's for.. uh, a science project! Yes, a science project." Zim said confidently, stepping back over to the picture. You looked down at Zim's picture and with a shrug. You didn't know of "Earth's defenses", and you weren't sure why he thought you did. But you were bored, and if he was willing to believe whatever you said, you thought no harm would be caused if you just made something up. "Yeah, totally. I know of Earth's defenses, or... lack of them." You said with as dramatically as you could without bursting out in laughter.

Zim gasped loudly, believing you. "Earth has no defenses?? No plan? How..." For a moment, Zim seemed excited and looked as if he was about to said "great" or something. But he quickly straightened himself up to regain his "human" look. "That is, erm, terrible. Just terrible." Zim said before turning and pushing you towards the elevator, only being able to move you because you were caught off guard. "Well, y/n, Zim is so terribly busy. I must work on studying more of Earth lack of protection, and, er, how to fix it!" Zim said as he managed to shove you into the elevator and wave you off, looking excited at the, false, discovery.

You finally burst out laughing as you once again walked pasted Gir and exited Zim's house, walking home. This would surely be exciting.

(After reading it back and fixing some things, I don’t think it’s that bad, just kinda hard for me to write in character sometimes)

#invader zim #zim #zadr dni #zim x reader #platonic #x reader #gender neutral y/n #gender neutral reader #no dib in this one sadly #writing #fanfic #short story #dib membrane #professor membrane #invader skoodge #would you believe me if I said I haven’t yet finished the show #it might be obvious actually 💀

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godhoodandgirlhood · 2 years

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RIDE THE CYCLONE HCs!!!!

WARNING 4 SPOILERS AND ONLY ONE JANE/ PENNY HC (im so sorry)

noel is a chronic nail chewer

ik we all headcanon that ocean is literally suffering from every painful experience possible, but i would also like to add iron deficiency to that list

mischa is actually so good at cooking so whenever the choir is hungry, he and constance always have to make the meals since everyone else is physically incapable of doing so.

out of the group, ocean and noel have the best grades and (surprisingly) constance has the worst. she doesn’t really care about school because she knows she’ll just take over the cafe anyways.

noel is an absolute genius when it comes to language arts and ocean hates him so much for it

ricky loves tim hortons so much he always orders a hazelnut ice capp and a cheese tea biscuit

noel secretly loves tim’s too and orders a mango creamy chill and a garden salad with ricky

mischa is addicted to monster energy and everyone thinks it’s concerning

shockingly, ocean or mischa don’t get road rage. it’s constance and no one knows why she’s so angry when she drives

noel’s second favourite movie is the perks of being a wallflower and he is a charlie kinnie (only lowkey tho)

mischa came to uranium city when they were in grade 9, but didn’t “join” (get manhandled) into the choir until the end of the grade

ocean can only chew sugar free gum or else it feels like her teeth will fall out

ricky has all the dvd’s of like star wars and invader zim and stuff like that

mischa thinks it’s so cool and starts collecting video game cd’s

noel had this notebook with all his angsty poetry and once, mischa took it and started reading it out loud to embarrass him until he realized how personal they are

he profusely apologized afterwards

constance literally has the loudest sneeze on planet earth. when she sneezes the earth shakes a little (/j)

ocean hates the sound of knuckle cracking and noel does it all the time to piss her off

noel is emo at heart he has all the my chemical romance albums

ricky does everything “for the aesthetic” (don’t ask what this means idk either)

noel eats lemons and mischa thinks it’s so gross

mischa eats orange skins and noel thinks it’s so gross

aka the olive theory

rip noel you would’ve loved tiktok

rip constance you would’ve loved bereal

rip ocean you would’ve loved twitter

rip mischa you would’ve loved discord

rip ricky you would’ve loved splatoon 3

penny (omg finally a penny hc!!!) was oceans gay awakening

constance was pennys gay awakening

ocean was constance and noel’s gay awakening (noel is a shady bitch i love him)

noel has celiacs

mischa started to read poetry because he knew noel was a poet and wanted to impress him

#ride the cyclone #noel gruber #ocean o'connell rosenberg #constance blackwood #mischa bachinski #ricky potts #jane doe rtc #penny lamb

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saintheartwing · 17 days

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Invader Zim: The Terror of the Pies!

THE TERROR OF THE PIES!

"Hello. I'm Michael White." White says, waving at you all. "Once again I welcome you to a viewing of a show entirely dedicated to the downfall of Civilization as we know it!"

"He of course refers to MY show." Zim says, standing next to White, grinning happily.

"Yeah, well you ain't gonna remember any of this. We're breaking the fourth wall and once the show starts, you'll be your usual, incompetent self!" White laughs, smacking him over the head.

"OW! Do not touch me with your FILTHY Halfling hands!" Zim snaps, hissing at him.

"Right, right. Now there's been a lot of talk about whether or not the people in this show are evil. Now, lots of people are BAD, I guess. Zim's bad. But unlike him, he could never hope to be as chaotically neutral as I am. You see folks, he's what we call "Incompetent Lawful Evil"."

"Right." Zim says, smiling and closing his eyes as he nods. Then his eyes shoot open and he wheels on White. "HEEEEYYY!"

"Dib's not evil either. Actually Zim and Dib both see themselves as just doing a job that has to be done, a job nobody else can do...the job of protecting Earth and INVADING it. They're "good guys" on different sides. Gaz though, is a heroic sociopath, but she's not really EVIL either. Red and Purple, I'm not too sure about…they're kind of…dumb…so I'm gonna hafta do some research." White shrugs. "But enough talk of such a stupid and warmongering race! On with the show!"

"STUPID?!"

…

…it was the 2nd year since Tenn's disastrous attempt to wage war against the Meekrob. War waged over the surface of the planet and Tallest Red and Purple had directed their armada and their main army forces there to fight the Meekrob threat. The whole area was divided up between the Resisty-supported Meekrob and the Irken army, though the Irkens didn't control nearly as much of the planet as they wanted, and their Armada was BARELY holding up against the Resisty's crippling cannon fire, leaving an Orbital Sweep simply out of the question! The coastal outposts were deserted…except for people. In fact, despite the threat of invasion and the CONSTANT blackouts, the Tallest and Erin still took their evening constitutionals.

"Ahh, hat a nice evening, don'tcha think, Red?" Tallest Red laughed as he walked along the cliffs that overlooked the ocean near their main ocean lab where Erin was doing deep-sea-research on a way to sneak over to Meekrob bases via the sea. To ensure his beloved's security, Invader Darth had been called in from his "vacation" (nudge-nudge-wink-wink) to look after Erin and he had instantly taken to her kind and sweet attitude.

"Hey, Pur…could you hold my elephant gun?" Purple asked. He was doing some part-time lab work at the lab with Erin and getting to know her better. Grinning, he held up a gun for his buddy to hold onto.

"I don't know WHY you brought it here, you can't shoot elephants here on Meekrob, you know!" Tallest Red told him, putting one hand on his hips while raising a claw in the air.

"Why the hell not?!" Purple snapped, looking irritated.

"For ONE, they're out of season!" Red explained.

"Wait…so I'm gonna hafta eat Meekrobian pelican for dinner again?" Purple moaned. "They're ALL mouth!"

"I'm afraid that's just the way it is!" Red said sadly, shrugging.

"Then I'll risk it. I'll shoot an elephant out of season!" Purple muttered, grabbing the gun out of Red's hands and heading off in a huff.

Those of you who have been paying close attention as to WHERE this story takes place will of course, realize that Red and Purple are talking absolute rubbish! There are no elephants in Meekrob. There ARE plenty of them in Foodcourtia though, northwest of a line drawn between two points, thus making it the shortest distance!

"Darn you, Nick…well, if that's how it is I can't shoot any! I've got a restraining order from Sizz-Lorr!"

"Why?" Red asked.

"He doesn't allow PDAs in his shop." Red mumbled.

"And I'm banned too. I went into the ladies room." The blind-eyed Darth added sadly.

"Now I'm sure it was an accident-"

"I went in there FIVE TIMES." Darth mumbled, hanging his head.

"It beats what White did." Purple remarked.

"Yeah, what I did to Trenton is the reason why the phrase "This used to be a nice place to live" was invented." White remarked, jabbing his thumb at his chest proudly as he popped up and grinned.

FWIP!

White frowned, looking around. "Did you just hear that?"

"Hear what?" Purple inquired as they headed off to the left, going towards the lab.

"Sounded like a…gas door slamming…" White mumbled. "But who would be walking around with a gas oven?"

"Betty Crocker?" Erin mused, laughing. It was getting darker and darker out…and it was rather hard for all them to see, actually. Save for Darth, who was blind.

"BESIDES her!" White asked.

TWHOOSH!

SPLAT!

" Oooooooooooohohohohohohohohohohoh yeuhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!" Erin hollered, hitting the ground as most of the others kept on walking forward, not realizing what had happened.

"If you're trying to do an elephant call, you're not doing it from the throat right!-" Red began, turning around…and he saw in horror that Erin was on the ground.

"Oh my GOD, what hit me!? Call the guards or the cops or something!" She shouted.

Red nodded, looking around. "HELP! HELP! POLICE! GUAAARDS!" He cried out.

A few moments later Skoodge whistled, getting their attention. White saw his son approaching and blinked. "Skoodge!? what are you doing here?"

"Tenn's been very moody and stuff lately..." Skoodge admitted. "So I thought some time off from her would be good. What's the problem, My Tallest?"

"I was struck down from behind!" Erin moaned, holding her head.

"What with?"

"I don't know, I can't see, and I think my back's been bruised!" Erin complained.

"What FIEND would dare hurt my lady?!" Darth hissed angrily, his eyes glowing for a moment.

"I can't see ANYTHING in this lack of light!" Red admitted, squinting his eyes.

"So strike a match!" Erin begged .

"We have RULES." Red said. "We're in a blackout currently, and the enemy needs light to focus their targets on. We can't just "strike a light"."

"Then…strike a dark light!" Erin snapped. "SOMETHING!"

"We daren't!" Red said in a dramatic tone. "Why, only twenty miles across the bay, there's an Meekrob-run base that's watching our base intently!" He said, pointing across the sea.

"Don't be stupid!" White muttered. "They can't possibly see a MATCH being struck!" he snapped, crossing his arms.

"Oh, all right, fine! If you don't believe them…" Skoodge sighed as he dove into his pocket and quickly pulled out a box of matches. Taking a match, he got it lit with a quick striking motion on the striker stick, and then…

BUDDA-BOOOOM!

An explosion blew up a nearby tree and the shockwave sent their hair flying to the direction of the ocean while the match's light was blown out.

"Any OTHER questions?" Red inquired.

"I don't think I can feel my legs!" Erin moaned.

"Do you believe me NOW?! Are you aware of the danger of the Meekrob's long range guns?" Purple asked, raising a claw in the air and waggling it.

"Fine. Luckily for you guys…" White dove into his jacket and pulled out a small box. "I have a box of matches I snuck from a one of their bases!"

"Not bad, albino freak!" Red said, patting White on the shoulder. "Go on, strike one! They wouldn't fire at their own matches!"

"Of course not!" White said happily as he held one aloft. He struck it…

BUDDA-KROOOOM!

"…curses…THE RESISTY!" Red hissed as he and his buddy Purple hung from the tree they'd been knocked into. Erin was now on HER SIDE, cuckoo birds flying around her.

Well, they thought about using a candle, but it wouldn't have been very bright, and they didn't DARE light it and since they were afraid of moving an injured person, they waited 9 hours until sunrise and there they saw what had hit Erin. It was…A CHERRY PIE.

BGM: Dramatic chord of notes!

"…HMM…" Skoodge felt the pie. "It's still warm!"

"PHEW. I HATE cold pie!" Erin remarked. "Can you lift me up now?"

Lifting her up, Skoodge rubbed his chin. "I'll have to take note of this." He remarked. "A sinister pie-hurler is on the loose!"

"Maybe it's GIR." Erin suggested. "It sounds like something stupid he'd do."

"No, I got a call from Nick. He's busy being a poker player." White said. "He's quite good too."

"Really?"

"Yep. Give him a poker and he'll play any tune you like on it!"

"Ah." Erin nodded.

"Well then, I'm off!" Skoodge said, turning to the right and walking off…

"Goodbyyyyeeeeeeeeekkkk!"

…the cliff. WOOPS!

SPLOOOOSH!

"Oooh, look! A dolphin's coming to rescue no, it's a shark! It LOOKS like a dolphin. Tricky fish! TRICKY FISH!" Purple proclaimed.

…

…after swimming back to shore, Skoodge dried himself off to save time. As he headed back to his home, he wondered WHY anybody would want to strike somebody with a pie? So he decided to ask the man on the street.

"So, do you like pie?" He asked an Irken in the street who was leaning against a lamp post in the early morning.

"Pie?" The Irken grunt's head snapped up. Then he began to walk around like a zombie, chanting over and over. "Pie, pie, we like pie. Pie, pie, we like pie."

More people suddenly ambled out of the buildings nearby, joining him in a long line and chanting as well. "Pie, pie, we like pie! Pie, pie, we like pie!"

Skoodge blinked as a HUGE throng of people moved down the streets, heading for the sunset. "PIE, PIE, WE LIKE PIE! PIE, PIE, WE LIKE PIE!"

"…oh…kaaaaay…" Skoodge muttered, rolling his eyes as he headed back towards his house. Not much else happened that day…except he was suddenly struck with a peach pie. THWOCK!

"It's all rather confusing, y'know…" VENT said as he sat atop a mailbox as Skoodge walked inside his house, dripping in Pecan pie.

In the days to come, thirty eight fruit pies were hurled at Miss Nightshade.

"YEEEOOOWWW! WILL YOU STOPTHAT?! WHOEVER YOU ARE?!"

A madman was at large, In desperation...DIB was called in. But...not by choice.

"I require your help." Invader Skoodge told Dib as he stood in Dib's room, the door locked. It had been simple enough to teleport inside thanks to White assisting him. Dib was frankly AMAZED at the whole spectacle, but also...annoyed. HELP? An IRKEN?!

"What?" He asked stonily.

"I need your assistance. Nobody has been able to catch the one hurling these pies. He's moving in and out of our bases and past ALL security. This has made the Tallest suspect...paranormal intervention. You are a paranormal investigator. If you assist me I will not harm you. I have no real reason to bring harm upon you, Dibbun Membrane. Useless violence will not bring either you, nor I, closer to our goals."

"I'm NOT helping you." Dib spoke angrily, grabbing Skoodge's arms. "I'm throwing you into my closet and putting THREE PAIRS of sleep cuffs-"

"You leave me no choice then." Skoodge said softly. He quickly broke out of Dib's hold and grabbed HIS wrists.

"AAA!" Dib screamed in pain. "What are you doing?!"

"Crushing your fragile human bones, little one." Skoodge intoned. "But I will give you one more chance. Do as I say and you'll be spared."

"RRR..." Dib grit his teeth in pain, then finally nodded. Skoodge let go and nodded. "Fine. If I DO Help you?" Dib inquired.

"Oh, I will make it worth your while." Skoodge said. "Say...with a piece of Irken technology so advanced that they will HAVE to call you sane?"

Dib rubbed his chin. "Find a ghost that hurls pies in exchange for advanced alien technology?...I can live with working with your kind for that. But I'll need a disguise."

"Taken care of." White said, entering the room and holding up a holographic image inducer.

"This pie-hurler must be stopped. He's made FOOLS of us Irkens!" Skoodge growled.

"I disagree, you were fools long before he came along." White laughed.

SOME TIME LATER...

"Now, from the splatter-impact of the pies...they were obviously thrown by hand." Dib said, disguised as a blue-eyed Irken with a dark cloaked-jacket and a tool belt with various technological equipment for use in "Phantom Pie Hurler-Hunting".

"Not necessarily. some people are pretty clever with their feet." Purple added. "You should see Sizz-Lorr! He can fry TEN slydoodeedoos with his feet!"

"Which is why they always taste like feet." Red realized out loud.

"...brilliant." White groaned.

"Now...these PIES, were they all identical. They all used fruit." "Dab" went on. "EXCEPT...for THIS one." He added, holding up the remains of the latest pie. "There was a BOOT in it."

"Ahhh. So the dreaded hurler is a military man!"

"And as it were the The 1st Heavy Underwater Artillery. Happens to live right near where Erin keeps getting attacked!" Red realized. "Dab, Skoodge...I want you to go there at once and arrest the first Irken you see wearing one boot!" He demanded as-

SPLAT! A pie flew in through the window and hit Dib.

"...I hate all of you so very much."

…

… "I assure you, this is absolutely ridiculous. None of my men are-"

"We want to be SURE, Commander Darth."

"Fine, fine, I'll call them all out."

The blind alien tapped his forehead and concentrated. Immediately all of the soldiers within the base went RUNNING to the main hall of the 1st Main Heavy Underwater Artillery. The entire building was actually under the sea, and various fish of different kinds were swimming around them. On either side of the main hall were hallways leading off to bunks, the cafeteria, etc, etc. At the very top was a crystal chandelier. They LIKED chandeliers.

"So, why are you doing this again?" Darth inquired, blind eyes narrowing.

"I'm looking for a criminal-" Skoodge began.

"Which one? The whole LOT are a bunch of stupid defectives, criminals or morons who either ran away from Food Service, spat on the Tallest or blew up the planet they were supposed to invade before they even GOT their. Reminds me of the stories of Zam..."

Skoodge shuddered. Zam had been the absolute WORST invader of all time. He had blown himself up while still on the planet he had yet to invade in his penultimate act of stupidity.

"Anyhow, I doubt you'll-"

"Please, this is important." Erin spoke up, standing by Dib. This was the first time she'd talked to Darth.

"WH-what?" He inquired, turning to look in her direction, astral form reaching out. The moment he touched her mind, his eyes bulged out, antennae standing up. "My LADY! Oh, I'm so sorry!" He bowed deeply. "I had no idea you were here!" He ran to her and kissed her hand. "Anything for you, my lady!"

"What's with him?" "Dab", who was really Dib, inquired.

"He only acted this way with Miyuki. Apparently he "sees" a similar soul in her..." Skoodge whispered.

"Alright, you slobs!" Darth yelled out to the gathered Irken grunts who appeared to congregate in the Main Hall. "You all stand at attention so my friend Skoodge and his associates...especially the lovely Erin..." he added with a nod in her direction, "Can examine you!"

Both Skoodge and Dib walked among the ranks looking for the soldier with one boot, but their luck was out, the entire regiment was wearing boots on BOTH feet.

"I say Skoodge, it's getting dark. You can't see in this light!" "Dab" complained.

"Fine, I'll turn on my flashlight." Skoodge said, holding up his flashlight.

FWICK!

KA-THWOOM!

A missile had JUST barely missed the underwater base. Skoodge quickly turned it off. "DARN it! I forgot about the Meekrob..."

"It gets awful sometimes. Our supplies have been cut off recently, we've been keeping track of every single person who has access to heat and clean food and that list is getting shorter and shorter..." Darth went on.

"I want to return to BED. Can I do it SOON? I want me beddy byes!" A soldier spoke up, one with dark brown eyes and a nasty glare.

"Uh, who are you?" Skoodge inquired.

The Irken put his hand on his chest. "Me? I'm Lance Private Doody-Eyes, that's my nickname, but most folks calls me by my regular name."

"What's that?" "Dab" inquired.

"Reg." Reg remarked.

Dab, AKA Dib, looked this...THING over. If he had never seen Irkens before, it would be the closest thing he'd ever SEEN to one, without actually BEING Irken. There was something decidely off...almost like somebody had taken an Irken body and filled it up with cottage cheese...his skin was lime green and he had a slight red tint to his teeth.

"Surely you don't suspect THIS one." Darth inquired. "He's one of my finest soldiers! Always follows orders! Granted, he smells very oddly..."

"I'm over HERE." Reg mumbled.

Darth turned, went "Oops" and gestured in the right direction. "He's perfectly normal. True, has has the same name as the one who blinded me all those years ago-"

"An Irken blinded you? I thought you were CREATED blind." Skoodge remarked.

Darth smirked a little and closed his eyes. "I learned recently that I am a spirit reincarnated into a blind body...a spirit that was once a "World Destroyer", trained by Tallest Kor. It explains my powers as well, AND my calling...with my years of experience I shall lead the Irken people into a new era, one part at a time."

"I'll bet the old Reg you know had more than one boot." Reg admitted.

Darth frowned. "You seriously have only one boot upon your person? Why didn't you tell me? I would have gotten you a replacement, you dolt!"

"I didn't wanna tell ya that my boot were stolen by a thief." Reg added.

"...so why are you wearing it on your HEAD?" "Dab" asked.

"It fits my head better than it fits my foot."

"What size is the boot?" Skoodge inquired.

"Nine."

"What's your head size?"

"Nine."

"Damn." Skoodge swore. "His defense is perfect. So the other one was stolen by a thief and not some random pickpocket?"

"Oh yes, sir!" Reg insisted eagerly, nodding his head. "I NEVER keeps my boots in me pockets!"

"...riiiight..." Dab, who was really Dib, commented.

The next morning, Dib was struck with another pie. This one was an apple pie...

And stone cold.

"Do you know what this means?" Dib asked Skoodge as he, Darth and Erin all sat around the lounge of the Underwater Artillery, a big grin on Dib's face.

"Ummm..." Skoodge blinked. "The pie-hurler is losing interest in you?"

"Nooooo." Dib remarked, shaking his head rapidly. "It proves that the phantom has lost his heat! He's going to be checked off that list Darth was talking about! We've got to get to Head Command and find it!"

AND SO...

"Alright, here we are." Dib looked over a long list that had various Irken names scrawled all over it in bright blue pen. He scanned the various names that had been crossed off, rubbing his chin. It felt weird still appearing as an Irken to the others...he was almost getting USED to it all!

"Well?" Erin inquired.

"Ah, here's the most recent person on Meekrob who has lost their heating." Dib realized as he and the others stood around in the shelved rooms of the back of Head Command. There were dozens of various military records, most of which was a load of hooey, the Irken empire did NOT win as easily or as often as they liked to admit. And against the Meekrob, they continued to lose and lose and lose...

Dib motioned for Skoodge to turn on the communicator vid-screen nearby, and Skoodge flicked a switch, turning it on...and revealing Sizz-Lorr's face.

"Yesssss?" He inquired, looking irritated that he had to move from his diner to go to the Irk-forsaken rock that was Meekrob.

"...oh...uh...sorry, wrong number!" Skoodge gasped out, flicking the off switch as the others looked at him. "No, it couldn't be him, who would he want to throw a pie at?"

RIIIIIING!

Skoodge looked over at the wall and saw they had a call. He turned the vid-screen on.

"Hello?"

"It is ZIM!" Zim complained. "And somebody has thrown a PIE at my glorious visage!"

This time DIB turned the thing off, laughing as he did so, the image of Apple Crumble pie dripping down Zim's head forever lodged in his brain.

...more days went by. Dib continued to be bombarded with pies, and this also applied to anyone walking WITH him who didn't duck or dodge in time! One night, desperate to get some time alone, Dib walked through an alleyway of one of the Irken bases, when SUDDENLY...

SFX: Sinister and dramatic fanfare

...absolutely nothing happened. BUT It happened suddenly. Annoyed, Dib decided to turn on his flashlight since it was getting dark out and head back to Skoodge's place...

BA-KROOOOOM!

"Darn Meekrob!" Dib growled. "STINKIN..."

"Excuse me? Are you depressed?"

Dib turned to see GIR was sitting atop a garbage can. He turned his head to the side. "I'M depressed too. And you know what I do when I'm depressed?"

"...what?" Dib asked.

"I PLAY THE BONGOS!" GIR exclaimed, holding up some bongos and pounding away at them.

"...now I AM depressed." Dib remarked, frowning.

"By the way, could I borrow a cuppa sugar?" GIR asked, popping the bongo tops open and chewing some popcorn that was inside.

"I haven't got any."

"How about a match then?"

"Take the whole dang box!" Dib said, tossing GIR his box of matches which had been rendered useless in the recent "anti-light" weather. "They're useless for me."

"Thanks, big-head-boy!" GIR said happily,popping them in his head and clapping his hands. "Now I can make sure my pie's warm again and Piggy will be happy! Y'know there's nothing worse than being struck down with a cold pie!".

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Dib remarked, rolling his eyes.

Dib watched GIR head off and shrugged the whole crazy thing off. He didn't have time to waste with GIR, he had to find that pie-hurler.

Author's Note:

For those of you who believe that Dib isn't cut out to be a paranormal investigator…please write to Jhonen Vasquez in Los Angeles, California. I've heard he LOVES getting fan mail.

A few days later, Dib got a hot lead on a tip from Reg, who had seen a shadowy figure go out to sea with what appeared to be a small ship that had a nice-smelling aroma coming from it...the aroma of baked goods. Immediately Dib sprung into action!

And so, they traveled by sea, Dib and Skoodge. To avoid detection by the Meekrob, they spoke Tantalog throughout the whole trip and were heavily disguised as Murideans.

"Tooki ba waba!" "Dab" said to "Skoo" as they clasped hands and shook them eagerly as a Meekrob ship eyed them suspiciously. The captain of the ship waved them along and they waved back as they moved the ship down along the bay, breathing a sigh of relief. Dib was dressed up as a yellow-furred Muridean with bright blue eyes and a small tail, while Skoodge was a fat, dark brown-furred, red-eyed one with a thick nose.

"I can't believe I'm disguised as a RODENT. Is this what ZIM has to go through?" Dib wondered.

More often than you'd think.

"Great, now I feel SORRY for that evil alien jerk." Dib muttered at the sky.

"As an added precaution we should stand on separate decks and wear separate shoes." Skoodge added.

"And we'll disguise the ship as a train! But have it made to look up like a boat but PAINT it to look like a train!" VENT remarked.

"...you drank the sea water, didn't you?" Skoodge asked as VENT giggled and then vomited overboard.

Hooking up with Erin, they headed out on a more seaworthy vessel and were sailing along the dark seas, eyes peering over the horizon when...

"MINE AHEAD!" Dib yelled. "There's a horrible, HUGE honkin' mine ahead!"

Erin promptly fell overboard in fear as she took a step back and VENT blinked stupidly. "Funny, she wasn't dressed for swimming!"

"There's no need to worry guys!" VENT insisted. "It's one of OURS!"

Dib covered his eyes and shook his head.

BA-BOOOOOOOOM!

…

...so they floundered around in that cruel, cruel sea. Fortunately they found that Erin had found a rowboat. Unfortunately there was only room for TWO, apparently...

"Well, Skoodge asked ME to find the Pie-Hurling phantom. Sorry Erin!" Dib said, entering the boat.

"Sure, come on in!" Skoodge asked.

"Wait!" Erin begged. "Uh...fifty monies for a place in the boat!"

SFX: SPLASH

"You Irken SWINE!" Dib yelled angrily, eyes narrowed into slits as he splashed around in the water.

"Come on in, Erin." Skoodge said, bowing deeply.

"Oh, this is nice." Erin commented happily, brushing her red hair back.

"Uh...100 monies for a place in the boat!" Dib called out.

SFX: SPLASH

"HEEEEEYYY!" Skoodge moaned horribly as he was tossed out into the water.

"Up you get!" Erin said, helping Dib into the boat.

"Ahhh, Erin. Myyyy frieeeend." Dib spoke gently, grinning broadly.

"TWO HUNDRED monies for a place in the boat!" Skoodge called out.

SFX: SPLASH

"You ain't MY friend!" Erin snapped angrily as she flopped around in the ocean waves.

"Oh, Skoodge, how could I have abandoned you?" Dib asked. "I'm sorry, I don't know what came over me."

"Yes, let's never do something like this ever again." Skoodge agreed.

"FOUR HUNDRED monies for a place in the boat!" Erin hollered.

SFX: SPLASH-SPLASH

That's right, folks. TWO splashes. How is this possible?

"Heh-heh-heh." Darth laughed as he helped Erin into the boat. "I took their little tosies and WOOPS-a-daisy!"

"Darth, you saved my life!" Erin commented, hugging him tightly.

Darth blushed deeply, and hugged her back. "I'm HONORED, milady, to be of service to one as gentle and loving as you."

"So, what do you do for fun?" Erin inquired.

"Well, I enjoy walks on the beach, looking through private thoughts and laughing madly...did you know Purple cross-dresses?"

"It's true!" VENT added, appearing from out of Erin's hair and waving. Yeah...her hair's thick, folks. Lovely thick locks. ^_^

Meanwhile, Skoodge and Dib were drifting around, lost in the sea...when they suddenly saw the faint outline of a ship. Instantly they took off towards it and climbed aboard...finding what was a large shack. Skoodge knocked on it and...

When the Tallest says we is the Master Race, we heil-

SFX: Fart noise

Heil!

SFX: Fart noise

Right in the Tallest's face!

"SILENCE, GIR!"

KNOCK-KNOCK!

"Hold on, hold on!" Zim snapped before opening the door. "Zim does not want any!...wait, why am I not upset that somebody's knocking? And that the somebody is the DIB-STINK!?" He gasped.

"Don't move, Zim!" Dib snapped, eyes narrowing. "I arrest you as the Phantom-Pie-Hurler." He told Zim, smirking.

"Curse you, Dib!" Zim hissed.

"Hands up you devil, don't move…this finger is loaded." Dib told Zim.

"If you kill me I promise you, you'll never take me alive!" Zim hissed.

"...uh...how are we going to prove that ZIM'S the pie hurler?" Skoodge inquired nervously.

"Actually, GIR hurled pies too." Zim explained, spreading his hands. "He just got into some sugar and some baking supplies and went INSANE...more so than usual." He added, seeing Dib's expression of "Oh, c'mon". "But then when DIB appeared to investigate and I threw one at HIM, I...I got hooked! It was so...exhilarating!" Zim went on as GIR held onto the last remaining pie. All of the other cooking supplies in the shack were utterly used-up.

"That pie's ALL the proof we need." Dib said, grabbing something in his jacket and pulling out a communicator. "Tallests Red and Purple?"

"Yeah?"

"What if I told you ZIM and his crazy robot were behind the pie-hurlings?"

"Ooh, then you can dissect him!" Red said happily.

"But we wanna watch!" Purple added gleefully as Zim's mouth hung open and he gulped deeply.

…

...unfortunately for them, the boat's engine had died. THIRTY days they drifted in an open boat.

"OOOAEIOUGHHHH!" Dib groaned as they lay back in the boat, looking up at the sky. He and Zim had flies circling around their heads. And he could hear birds calling in the air.

"There's freaky bald BIRDS circling around…" Zim muttered. He looked quite gaunt and was a pale green color by now.

"Vultures." Dib mumbled, adjusting his cracked glasses for the eighteen bamillionth time. His skin was pale and yellowy. "They're called vultures. Normally they stay on the PLAINS…"

"They came all this way…and just to EAT us?!" Skoodge muttered.

"I don't know…but we'd best watch out for the ones carrying those knives and forks!" Zim whispered.

"We all live in a yellow submarine! A yellow submarine! A yellow submarine!" GIR sang for the eighteen-bamillionth time.

"Come ONNNN, Dib!" Skoodge moaned, sitting up and holding his stomach as he whined. "We MUST eat that pie or we're going to STARVE!" He sobbed, his figure now far-depleted, his pudgy stomach a distant memory.

"NEVER, do you hear me, No!" Dib shouted, clutching onto the pie and snarling at Skoodge. "That's the only evidence we've got against him! This will get him on an autopsy table! I WON'T give it up...though…" He looked down at his stomach. "I must admit I've got one HELL of an appetite..."

"We've got to eat the pie, or we're going to DIE!" Skoodge demanded of Dib, frowning angrily.

"NEVER!" Dib cried out.

"WE MUST!" Skoodge insisted.

And that, dear readers, is the end of our story, except of course, for the END. So we invite listeners to submit what they think should be the true ending! Should our protagonists eat the pie and live, or leave it and…in the cause of justice…die? Meantime, for you ZADR shippers who just want a happy ending, here it is!

Zim and Dib held onto each other tightly, locked in a deep embrace. Zim, no longer in his disguise, smiles warmly at Dib as Dib returns the same loving smile.

"Darling, darling, will you marry me?" Dib asked, eyelids partially down the same as Zim.

"Of COURSE I will…darling!" Zim said, and the two then kissed passionately as Nick wiped his teary eyes with a kleenex, watching the two smooch up a storm, their tongues intertwining like two snakes making love, their chests rising and lowering as they took great deep breaths filled with life…

Thank you and goodnight.

#invader zim #Zim #Dib #GIR #dib membrane #Tallest Red #Tallest Purple #Skoodge #humor #comedy #fanfic #fanfiction #ZADR #joke

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refriedrambles · 2 months

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Zim's a jealous and petty little shit. There's absolutely no way for him to be friends with someone he subconsciously considers an equal for a long period of time (maybe not the best phrasing here) He absolutely poisoned any friendship he developed with Skoodge. Any win or acknowledgement that Skoodge got that Zim didn't, would eat at him. And it'd only get worse as Zim dug his hole deeper in an attempt to prove himself. The more desperate he got, the more he fell behind, the higher Skoodge seemed to climb. No matter how bad Zim fucked up or who got hurt, Skoodge always managed to climb out it in one piece. Skoodge always managed to complete his task. Skoodge always managed to help someone out no matter what kinda hell he went through. And it killed Zim

He wants the kinda of awe Skoodge gives him but not from Skoodge. Anyone, but Skoodge. He can't take it from Skoodge because they're too similar in his mind. Every time Zim fails, Skoodge succeeds, even though that's not true. Zim bulldozes himself into being an invader, into being assigned a planet in OID 2, but Skoodge, HE WAS ALREADY THERE. Every win Zim got over him seemed only to set him back further. Skoodge, he was actually chosen to be an invader while Zim was demoted to being a food service drone. He was assigned Blorch without having to claw it out of the Tallest's hands. He ACTUALLY CONQUERED A PLANET. And Zim? His motivation was petering out. He couldn't keep believing that if only he proved himself, if only he took over earth, he wouldn't be sent back to Foodcourtia, he wouldn't be sent to trial.

They started from the same place with the same circumstances. The smallest soldiers. But Zim was a leader, Skoodge a follower, a fool begging to be led by the nose. So why him? Why did he always manage to show Zim up? Expose his flaws so effortlessly? He'd almost think it was intentional if he wasn't so dumb. Zim was inventive! Innovative! Skoodge? He couldn't even keep his uniform clean let alone create something.

He can't help but revel in every instance Skoodge gets thrown back down. Shown his place. But at the same time it's disturbing. It shakes him to his very core and he can't figure out why. He could never admit to himself that if the empire is willing to throw even Skoodge away, someone who does everything right, he has no chance of ever being accepted or loved.

#idk why I'm writing in this like almost Zim but not but definitely in his head POV unreliable narrator style but yeah #anyway thinking about character dynamics #there's been this little hiccup in my brain on why Zim dismisses and pushes Skoodge away #even though Skoodge has almost always given him the attention and respect he's carved #it's totally insecurity #like i legitimately think they were friends maybe even best friends at one point but it was doomed from the start #little guy needs to grow a bit #self notes #refriedramblings

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ms-scarletwings · 9 months

Text

That Speculative Analysis About Irkens No One (Originally) Asked For: Part III

Hey! Huge thanks to everyone who took an interest in the first two parts of this fun I got into about Jhonen Vasquez’s funny green guys. I didn’t really expect to kind of rebound back into this old flame the way I have been lately and it’s actually a pleasant surprise that other fans have been getting something out of it and enabling my latest thinkworms.

Check out the part one of this extended analysis here, for broad tids and bits about Planet Irk and the mention of its inhabitants being basically cyborgs.

Part Two, takes on Irken physiology and focusing on their tissue differences from humans, here.

So alright, I’ve been holding this one in since the very start. Previously, I brushed the topic of the control brains, and I’ve sorta gestured acknowledgement toward the Irken obsession with height. Now, I’m really ready to get some thought goo flowing all over and in the crevices of the matter of Irk’s power structure, and, perhaps the one social W that this marauding pack of space imperialists get to claim.

Bearing no further ado, let’s talk about the Tallest. Can we talk about the Tallest? Please Mac, I’ve been dying to talk about the Tallest with you all day.

I’ve said once and now repeated twice that I think the canon implied that the homeworld of our favorite invaders is dummy thicc; consequentially, it’s left a lasting ripple on the evolution of their species as well.

Planetary gravity has a ton of invisible effects on the skeletons of large fauna, to the point where it’s the main thing that you, filthy Earth creature, can shake your own fist at it for taking a huge slice of the blame behind the prevalence of back pain in upright hominins. All that downward tug can really wear a spine down good over the years. In fact, would you believe that astronauts actually grow a smidge taller in Zero-G environments? Legit. So… use your brain and consider what we could have ended up looking like with our same bone structure, but many times that compression.

You take that mental path, and suddenly, height outcomes may not seem like such an arbitrary measure of general survival fitness after all. Especially in the days before the Irkens represented an intergalactic super power. It may seem counterproductive in their modern intelligent society, but no doubt this aesthetic affinity is something that runs much deeper ingrained than practical programming. Respecting tallness is something Irk takes on dogmatic intuition- to the fault of barely being able to comprehend the notion of another species being both tall AND intellectually primitive.

Nevertheless, I pose that the connection may also be more than traditionalism, and not so vestigial after all. My reasoning suggests that The Almighty Tallest are in fact, not randomly born… they’re planned and made by the real overlords sitting atop the pyramid. And even so, they have existed in the species long, LONG before the PAK even did.

• Caste Polymorphism & Bug Stuff

The insectoid inspirations of Zim’s kin are something so obvious they really need no recapping, yet, I’m pining to make a more specific comparison. Some people like to go for wasps or bees, but if you ask me, the roving militarism of the armada is begging for the ant metaphor if anything.

And I got a hell of a species to whip out that you’ve probably never heard of.

A quick context breakdown- Polymorphism is another one of those long biology terms for a pretty simple concept: when one species has different distinct forms or types of forms that appear in its population. And it’s not talking about continuous spectrum differences like height alone. It’s talking about when animals/plants can have one gene with different possible phenotypical presentations. One good example (in humans no less) is the existence of different blood type groups. One of my absolute favorite cases, by the by, is in Side-Blotched Lizards. The females are samey and look pretty generic, but the males deadass come in 3 completely differentiated color variants, all of which are playing a perpetual game of rock paper scissors with the other two for breeding success.

And this kind of phenomenon of course gets way less subtle in the insect world. Everyone here probably knows the simplified version of what a colony critter’s caste system looks like, with sterile female workers, breeding done males, and one big fat queen at the top, pumping out replacements for the other two. This is the part where I tell you it’s a hell of a lot more complicated, weird, and varied than that, actually.

Consider army ants, as I see them, the most Irk-ish of real world animals. Some fun facts on the most notorious handful of species below:

+ Nomadic by nature, they do not build any form of permanent hill or nest, and instead make temporary pit stops inbetween periods where the entire colony swarms along the forest floor in search of resources.

+ Army ants are aggressively predatory and forage in the style of legion-like “raids” that overwhelm their prey with sheer numbers and speed.

+ These raids often take shape by way of linear traffic columns that guide the direction of the swarm. This is because the ants have poor vision, relying on following the paths of the scent trails of the workers that are spearheading the legion.

+ Eciton burchellii, in particular, demonstrates a stark example of polymorphism by way of a rigid caste hierarchy. I.e., The non-reproductive colony members are divided into 4 sized tiers of worker. From smallest to largest there are minors, medias, porters (sub-majors), and soldiers (majors).

And let me tell you… the difference between the Soldier (major) caste and the rest of that batch is a pretty surprising gap.

This is what ONE major-type ant looks like hanging out with colony mates from the lower worker castes.

Oh wait, getting ahead of myself. Ahem… sorry, I meant THIS is the image I was referring to:

Not only is that obviously the bossiest bitch of the bunch, but she has some pretty cool features unique to her status… The more spidery looking body shape and those absolutely wicked mandibles being a standout.

You know what drop I already had coming, so I’ll cut to the chase.

It’s clear that the Almighty Tallest are NOT the Irken equivalent of a hive queen. They are not drones, either. Besides the glaring fact that they are non-reproductive individuals, the role they serve in Irken society has very little if anything to do with running the day-to-day lives and functions of the larger population.

Instead, we have always seen them (and would have seen them more in the unmade episodes such as The Trial) involved more with the military front of the empire. Tallest Miyuki’s one known planned appearance would have featured her overseeing the military research happening on the Vortian base. Tallest Spork’s brief entrance (and exit) was planned to take place on Devastis, where he addressed those who were being evaluated to join the elite ranks of the armada. And our very own iconic duo have,

also,

never even once been seen on their home planet since their introduction. Their first appearance? Conventia. Ever since? Aboard the Massive, where they directly command and supervise the operations of the active invasions.

Why, the Almighty Tallest in all cases… these aren’t emperors at all, they’re generals! Sure, they have power, they have reverence, but even they must obey the final judgement of a Control brain at the end of the day. The same brains that grant them their status in the first place. Note, in real ants, the mechanics of how exactly any one egg is differentiated into its decided caste, from worker to queen, and all between, is… to say the very least, really fucking complicated. And all over the place. Broadly speaking, it’s a mix between genetic potential and nutrition during development. In some species this determination is near entirely up to the whims of DNA, and in others, it does come heavily down to how many protein shakes the colony decided to give their brood that day.

For the purposes of this hypothetical, I’m going to assume the people of Irk fall somewhere in between those two polar options. Now, being a futuristic network of coordinated supercomputers using cloning tech, the control brains have a more precise handle on the gene pool/diversity of their underlings than anything possible with natural breeding.

Let’s also assume they record and monitor the current population of each potential class of irken (they literally assign and code the PAKs’ occupational roles themselves). With each batch of smeets, they can predetermine certain percentages aside with the potential to fill whatever roles need replacing and expansion… keeping the genetic height markers attached for those downline to understand who should be looking down on who. Ergo, not ANY Irken can one day become the almighty tallest, but within each generation of smeets produced, there are potential candidates hidden among the upper ranks of would-be soldiers.

This way, the sudden death of the current armada commander would not disable current operations or throw the offensive lines into utter chaos for years on end. The Control brains need only select out the cream of the crop from their “proto-Tallest” and then cue their body (via diet or hormones) to switch the proper genes on, get a new growth spurt going, and complete the metamorphosis into their true potential.

As for why they seemed to break a historical precedent and jump for a two-for-one special in Zim’s generation… yeah, I’m not sure about that really. There could be a link between that and the very sudden death of the two previous tallests in a row, but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯. It could just be a remarkable coincidence that Red and Purple were decided to be equally viable successors. Or, Operation Impending Doom could have been deemed an ambitious enough endeavor to warrant the appointing of two regents at once, given the scale of Irk’s expanded army for the purpose.

So, that’s it, then? The Irken species became so reliant of their technological advancement that they have casted aside and replaced every bit of their natural life cycle and order some

computer deemed inefficient? Substituted the seat of their leadership and even their ability to procreate with the soulless calculations of their AI programs?

:y Well, yes, but actually no.

• Long Live the Cyberocracy!

When I said in part one that Irk was on track to eventually make the jump from cyborg citizens to an entirely mechanical or digitized lifeform, I was doing a ponderous thinking thing. I was supposed to just be speculating, and then I find out the most mind blowing revelation while doing the research for this bad boy- those alien bastards already did it. The madlads/madlasses… So, living Irkens DO actually run the show around here, hiding in plain sight this whole time.

I am still desperately searching for confirmation of the rumors I heard that Vasquez himself has said what I’m about to share, and I deeply appreciate anyone who can give me that as well. Even if this turns out to only be fanon, I’m still in love with this interpretation anyway: Within the Control Brains are the preserved consciousness of Irkens who have achieved this evolutionary end stage. WHO are they exactly is… honestly anyone’s guess. The important part being that they no longer have need of their meat suits to survive any longer and now exist as these hulks of nerve and metal.

Be this what it looks like to me, and it would be certain that this is actually the most coveted and honorary fate of any single Irken- immortalized and given a status on par with deification over the most powerful imperium the cosmos has ever known. Perhaps this was the path of particularly accomplished Tallests of the past, who had their paks integrated into the core of a fledgeling new control interface. What better way to commemorate those who have fallen in the highest level of glory? A single “brain” could in fact even be the summation of multiple beings, making example of the greatest the species has to offer and what all should be striving for. Conversely, the greatest punishment of their kind is the opposite- to be forever deceased, forever forgotten, forever excluded from this collective transcendence:

Damnatio Memoriae.

(But like… in a kids’ show)

There’s no clear estimate on how many control brains exist in the franchise, there are at least four that we have seen on screen, one on Devastis and the others within Judgementia. Probs safe to assume there’s at least one permanently built into the infrastructure of any planet of key enough importance to the Empire. Interestingly, lost scripts and show canon make numerous references to them still having gendered pronouns and voices when addressed individually.

Though, now that I think of it, that’s also really interesting that the same is true for the worker castes, too.

• Putting the “Trans” in Transirkenism 👉😎👉

When a worldbuild goes so far as to explicitly confirm a completely sexless, alien race of neuter cyborgs, the existence of a human-like gender binary starts to beg for some kind of explanation. You can’t just “suspension of disbelief” it aside the same as you can the fact that English is the most popular first language across the Galaxy.

Oh, lookie, it’s one of my favorite things to think about when toying around with postbiological concepts/philosophy. I knew there were even more reasons transhumanism always seemed like such a cool sci-fi trope, from the endless possibilities in imagining the badass super powers, to the worlds of knowledge, and to the absolute social equalization that would all be unlocked in a cybernetic future. Well, that future is already comfortably in the hands of Irk, and whether intentionally or not, it has apparently brought them to the threshold of not just a postorganic, but also a post-gender society too.

A feminine and masculine variation does still exist in the form of small aesthetic differences- voice, antennae shape, pronoun usage, and eyelashes- but is now so far disconnected from the original associated sex roles that the distinction might as well be no more than a cosmetic preference. While “female” irkens are seen much, much more rarely than their counterparts, neither gender is treated differently from the other, and both have been spotted in occupations all the way up to invader elite and the Almighty Tallest.

This is a blending, of course, far beyond the insect-like caste system that itself did survive to the modern day, and that shows some truly impressive progress from what I imagine they were doing before.

Army ants, like all eusocial insects, are matriarchal; as in, where the females run the colony from top to bottom, while the males lead short runs of being mutilated by the workers, mating with the queen, and then dying shortly after.

In this headcannon narrative, it was almost certainly the male-associated gender Irkens who were liberated by the technological jump.

And that’s all sum purdy neat food for thought, huh ! ?

#iz headcanons #invader zim #irkens #xenobiology #iz analysis #iz #nicktoons #long post #new world army ants #cool bug facts #scarlet talks about things #more like becomes possessed by them #YOU WANT THE SCOOPSIES YOU GET POTATOES #we hyperfixating #lord help me #thanks for coming to this ted talk #you know for kids!

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vortainz · 8 months

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How it ends

the ending of IZ is ,, a really odd topic

technically it has 4 endings, well, 4.5

1 : invader dib

no, it in no way was a planned ending ever, but i feel it deserves mentioning considering how prevalent it was

it originally started on TAIZS when the producer was interviewed, he went on to confirm there was a intention to steer the show towards IRK and talking about its “”existence””

(also istg there was a ask where he vaguely explains the plot as a joke but i can’t find it for the life of me)

there were multiple versions of it but there’s two that circulated the most

A: “this special would have allegedly followed Tenn’s kidnapping by the Meekrob, and an all-out war happening between the Meekrob and the Irkens, which would have ended with Zim (aided by Gaz) being victorious over Dib, The Resistys, and the Meekrob, and finally conquering Earth.” (fan wiki)

B: the focus of the show would slowly shift towards irk, dib would get more crazed trying to stop the empire, zim and gaz would team up (or date, depends on who you asked) and stop both dib and the empire. everyone else dies and zagf/r saves the rest of earth

2 : space smoothies

In a nicktoons magazine, IZ made its “””final””” return. in which it had its first comic iteration where zim successfully took over the earth, but just kinda gives up when he sees the merch of himself. dib complains and zim offers to just have a jolly ol’ time in space, them both leaving earth in disarray while just being buds

3 : dookie loop

The “”canon”” ending, basically zim traps dib and the rest of the universe in a timeloop due to not being able to finish a puzzle. blah blah blah i’ll rant about his reasoning for that in another post ANYWAYS,, he eventually finishes it and resigns to fixing the timeline, but the “fix timeline button” doesn’t work and the universe implodes, everyone dies.

4 : nothing is real

i haven’t fully pieced together the lore but this is what ive gathered

rk is god. kinda.

in their orginal universe, zim and dib are real people, dib has gone missing and zim conquered earth. the conditions are really bad till he finally gets the idea to just indoctrinate them all

rk uses the comics as a “coping mechanism” of sorts, avoiding what’s really going on by just reading the comics, it’s really the only think they can do anyways

here’s where my idea sort of splits

A : they continue reading the comics and recapping them all, imagining this fantastical world where life is just zim and dib fighting in middle school, each winning and losing occasionally. rk starts making their own comics and aus, getting more and more absorbed by the characters of zim and dib that anything other than them is incredibly distressing

they get so sucked into their own mind that at this point they feel as though they ARE the creator of these characters and comics. when the story in their mind gets too off track, when it’s getting to the point where it might end, they insert themselves into it and fix whatever issue there was

B : bk (brain kid) is god essentially, rk was originally from the universe as described before but was scooped up by bk at some point and put into the recap section of the comic universe, something similar to in issue 40. in the comic universe, IZ isn’t real, it’s just a comic. yet rk is still able to manipulate the story and interact with the characters, when the comic is finally coming to and end they step in and just start everything over again

oh yeah in both A n B what i mean by ‘the comic ending’ is that earth is burning and no one wins, both zim and dib are about to die

⬆️ sorry if none of this made sense 😭 i’m struggling to word it correctly + still theorizing

4.5 : timetravel

Probably the most simple one, zim conquers earth, dib dies by being stupid, zim gets killed by his younger self, the end. the only reason it’s “4.5” is due to it being specific to the timeline of that issue, as none of the other entries acknowledge it

#invader zim #Vortz #they’re just like me fr (starts sobbing)#apologies for my writing

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h-d-w-g-h · 8 months

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Hi this is the post explaining the au.

The “How Did We Get Here AU” is an idea that’s been marinating in my brain for a while now. It’s time to finally talk about it.

As stated in Zimvoid, every Zim has a thing. This Zim’s thing is that he was assigned to go to Earth way earlier than in canon. When they get there, his spaceship malfunctions resulting in it crashing right into the Membrane household. He assumes Gaz and Prof dead as Dib is the only one showing any signs of life.

Zim’s leg got injured in the crash and so he decides to postpone invading Earth for when they heal. They leave Earth for the time being, but decide to take Dib with them as they think an alien life form might be useful.

Then, still loyal to the Empire, Zim returns to Irk to watch Operation Impending Doom II unfold. Around the same time, Zim also has to amputate its lower right leg, as an infection settles in.

As time goes by Zim tries to plan out his Earth invasion. He communicates with the Tallest, or rather tries, they ignore or ridicule him most of the time. The thing is, Zim is actually making progress, his creations are good. The Tallest however don’t care due to Zim’s record.

While all that is going on, Zim is also taking care of the human he took from Earth. He mostly treats him like one would a pet, it is a child after all, not very smart. He knows the very basics when it comes to human needs. Zim does not know the child’s name, nor does he want to name them. Dib gets the nickname “Stinky” (playing on how Zim uses the word Stink quite lot in the canon)

Time passes and Zim cuts ties with the Empire. They’ve done nothing but disrespected him despite his trials. They failed to provide for him as an Invader. Cutting ties also means moving out. For a while Zim and Stinky just jump between different planets to see what sticks. They’re trying to avoid Irken colonies, but don’t exclude them completely.

When Stinky gets even older, Zim sees some form of intelligence in the alien. They start schooling him for something like a second GIR. Stinky is very much interested in the technology shown so he obeys.

They make their (hopefully) forever home on Cyberflox. It’s hard at first, it isn’t the most friendly environment, but they manage to get by. Stinky seems to do fairly good. He gets along with most citizens and figures out ways to deal with the unwelcoming planet. Eventually the same happens to Zim, the aliens “warmed up” to them as they’re no longer an Invader, nor in support of the Empire.

While Zim did cut ties with the Empire, there are Irkens it still talks with to have an idea of what is going on in there.

Hey, let's talk about Dib.

Dib is fully aware of not being Irken, however he tries to blend in. She styles her hair similar to an Irken antenna. She’s learned the alphabet and knows her way with Irken technology. They are really persistent on getting a PAK of their own, they believe they can modify it to fit a human. Zim however insists that he doesn’t need one.

Dib knows fairly little about Earth. Zim did provide him with some information on Earth, but it is very lacking. The most visible human thing about either is their wardrobe.

Stinky is in no way, shape or form recognized as a child of Zim (or whatever the alien equivalent would be). He’s merely a person living in the same place as Zim. Zim doesn’t like acknowledging Stinky as its child, Dib however mostly refers to Zim as dad.

Dib is open to learning about alien cultures and is somewhat fluent in different alien dialects. He’s enthusiastic about machinery design and focuses on becoming a robotics engineer. Yet their enthusiasm sometimes leads to mistakes that can cause a need to start over. From scratch.

While Zim is rather cold and hostile to the idea of being a parent, then he does care for the kid.

AND the care is mutual, when needed - Dib will provide to the best of her abilities for Zim.

The two enjoy working on tech together, participate in usual child-parent activities and often go to just have fun on Cyberflox. Zim takes Stinky with him almost everywhere he goes. He knows Dib would most likely be fine left alone, but there is that irk of worry. They're often snarky to each other, but never abusive. So yeah, that's it. That's the au.

#invader zim #dib membrane #invader zim AU #how did we get here au #hdwgh au

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emeraldspiral · 8 months

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Even more additions to my Peg Membrane Concept:

Peg's full name is Dr. Margarita Membrane.

When Dib gets nosy about what happened to his mom, he asks Membrane if he's worried the truth will hurt him and tells Membrane that he's already survived having his lungs stolen, being turned into bologna, and trapped in his own nightmare world, so there's pretty much nothing Membrane could tell him that could hurt him worse than he's already been hurt. He asks if his mom left because she didn't want a family and Membrane is quick to tell him she wanted a family more than anything. He explains to Dib that he and Peg couldn't have children by conventional means and that's why they developed the process by which Dib and Gaz were created together. He also reveals that because of the way they were conceived Dib and Gaz were both born sterile and with pituitary issues that will require them to go on HRT soon so they can grow up alongside their peers.

Peg used the same technology to save the Irken race from extinction, but the Control Brains took over before she could solve the sterility and hormone issues and never fixed it themselves because it gave them more control over the Irken populace. This is why only a handful of Irkens selected by the Control Brains grow to be taller than the average pre-adolescent child.

Peg nurtured Dib's fascination with the paranormal as a child by providing him with picture books about aliens and cryptids and giving him cryptid plushies like Bigfoot, the Loch Ness Monster, and his favorite; Mothman. She noticed that Gaz seemed to really like pigs as a baby so she got her lots of piggy toys, blankets, and stuffed animals. Before she went into space to check out the Irken signal, she taped a drawing Gaz made of a pig to the inside of her shuttle. At some point while she was raising the original Zim he found the drawing and asked her to explain it and became fascinated by pigs. This is how knowledge of pigs and pig imagery became prevalent on Irk despite pigs not existing on their planet and why current Zim says things like "pig-smellies" and "love-pig" all the time. This is also where the confusion between "Peg Membrane" and "Pig Mom Brain" originated and why Peg is often described in ancient texts or drawn with a pig's head by the Irken cultists who worship her. Irken cultists also sing and play music that Peg brought with her on her shuttle, with lyrics that have become garbled nonsense overtime, but which Dib is able to recognize and give the correct lyrics for.

Dib only starts looking into what happened to his mom because Zim was gone, having been lured to planet Judgementia to be put on trial. He figures out "Agent Roswell" was his mother and that Membrane knew and kept it from him all his life. So it becomes like a Little Mermaid situation where a combination of dissatisfaction with his life on earth, a longing to explore other worlds, and feeling betrayed by his father drives him to run away from home. Meanwhile, Zim is declared defective and upon escaping execution decides to go home to Irk to try to get the Master Control Brains to overrule the Control Brains of Judgementia and affirm for him that he was made perfectly, exactly according to their grand design.

When Dib and Zim both end up on Irk at the same time, Dib isn't able to breathe Irk's toxic atmosphere and only has a limited supply of oxygen to get him by. Zim finds him a PAK fresh off the assembly line with no personality or memories coded into it which allows Dib to breathe without overwriting his personality. It takes Dib a little while to get used to it and figure out how to make the spider legs and other appendages and accessories come out when he wants them to. Zim can't explain how to make the PAK do what he wants because for him it all happens automatically without him having to think about it, like breathing.

When Dib becomes aware of the Control Brains and their role in Irken society he points out that the entire Irken race are getting all their information outside of personal experience from a single source and none of them have ever questioned whether anything's been omitted or misrepresented to them. He gets very upset by Zim's blind trust in the Control Brains and tells him, "You know, I used to think you were different, but it turns out you're just as willfully ignorant as every other person I've ever met. No wonder no one else can see that you're an alien. You fit right in!" to which Zim does not take kindly.

Zim and Dib meet the cult of Pig Mom Brain, and Dib quickly realizes that they're not really operating like a cult. They don't have any leaders telling them what to think to serve their agenda. They do research, they come up with theories and debate them with each other, and they're willing to change their minds according to new evidence. They're scientists, just like him.

With the cult's help, Dib and Zim end up discovering Peg's lost lab. There they find video diaries that explain everything that happened and show the original Zim growing up in her care. Zim gets to see himself being nurtured and cared for and loved by Peg. He gets to see her being proud of him. He gets to see himself become tall thanks to her addressing his pituitary issues. Dib also gets to hear Peg lamenting that she may never see her biological children again since they won't even be born for another 10,000 years, and wishing that Zim could've met them before wistfully adding, "Maybe in another life."

Original Zim is somewhere in his late teens or early 20s when Peg's final diary is interrupted by the lab being attacked by robot assassins sent by the Control Brains to destroy her and take control of the planet so that they can force the Irkens to depend on them forever. Original Zim tries to protect Peg, but is fatally injured. Zim and Dib stop the playback so they don't have to watch Peg die as well.

Zim realizes his entire life he's been subconsciously influenced by buried memories and emotions from his past life. When he first came to life and said he loved the cold unfeeling robot arm? That was him projecting his feelings for Peg onto the closest thing he had to a mother. His destructive nature was born from his rage over the Control Brain's betrayal and his constant accidental sabotage of his own people came from knowing that what Irk had become wasn't what Peg wanted for them. His inability to conquer earth and affinity for Dib came from his instinctive recognition of their connection to Peg.

He'd always believed he was meant to be an invader, but the events of ETF and his subsequent trial have made him doubt himself. All Irkens are supposed to be made for a reason, but until finding out about Peg, Zim didn't know what he was made for.

Knowing the truth, he's convinced that he was never meant to be an invader, he was meant to be a disruptor. He wasn’t supposed to perpetuate the system, he was supposed to burn it to the ground. Peg made him to be the start of a new generation of Irkens who would save their planet, and being unable to do that in his past life he's returned to become Peg's vengeance and the destroyer of her corrupted dream.

Zim and Dib team up to take out the Control Brains who are simultaneously the only things keeping Irk from completely falling apart and also everything holding Irkens back from being able to fix their broken society.

The Control Brains actually have Peg still alive in suspended animation and try to use her as a bargaining chip, but Zim and Dib manage to rescue her and still defeat them. They bring Peg home to reunite her with the rest of the family, which Zim is welcomed into.

Zim asks Peg for confirmation that he served the purpose he was made for and what he should do now that his reason for being has been fulfilled. Peg tells him, "I didn't make you to be anything. I made you for the same reason I made all my children. Because I wanted you."

#invader zim #zim #dib #dib membrane #zadr #zadf #peg membrane

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