#encoder zim

[abrthephantomq]

Chapters: 5/? Fandom: Invader Zim Rating: Mature Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), GIR & Zim (Invader Zim) Characters: Dib (Invader Zim), Gaz (Invader Zim), Zim (Invader Zim), GIR (Invader Zim), Gretchen (Invader Zim), Torque Smackey Additional Tags: Competent Zim (Invader Zim), Non-Linear Narrative, POV Second Person, POV Third Person, Older Dib (Invader Zim), Tall Zim (Invader Zim), tall is relative -- but Zim isn't like 3ft tall, Enemies to Lovers, competent Dib (Invader Zim), the author plays with punctuation in Zim POVs, I have done my best to be consistent Summary:

2004 - Dib really leans into his villain era. Zim doesn't know how to handle it.

2024 - Dib wakes up in a van and tries to figure out what the hell even happened.

2008 - Something something the fragility of the human condition...

[chellodello]

You can’t just spring stealing a baby on someone Dib.

[defectzim]

TaTr is real and good. <- have a whole story in its head that would NOT fucking happen in canon.

[abrthephantomq]

You tell me I'm a good boy or a good pet and I'll melt in your hands. - Jazz, probably, when he figures out that he's a simp for Zim even if he doesn't realize WHY he's obsessed with him.

Zim this, Zim that - he's all you talk about, Dib. Maybe you don't actually hate him. Maybe you actually like, wanna suck his dick or something --

GAZLENE --

what? Am I wrong?

Nnn-- I mean -- yes. Yes you're wrong Gaz.

Hey, have you noticed there's lots more planes flying overhead around here, lately?

Yeah, that'd make sense and all, considering what happened last week.

What happened last week?

...........Dib. You know what happened last week.

I don't, actually -- oh no...

What is it? Why're you acting so weird? Like, weirder than usual?

Fuck I overshot.

What do you mean, you overshot?

Gaz, what year is it?

It's 2001. Why?

Month?

September --

Of course! That's what happened, last week. Thanks. I forgot for a second. That's all.

How could you forget about it? All you've been talking about is how Zim was the one who did all of it --

BECAUSE HE DID, GAZ.

What?

That was ZIM - he didn't manage to sell any candy bars so he lost our bet. He was so confused why humans weren't falling to their knees, terrified. In those EXACT words. I have a recording of him saying just that.

What the hell, Dib --

:voice recording plays - Zim sounds absolutely devastated: "they didn't even blink an eye when I put that city in ruins. How can these humans be so.... Eh? I forgot the word, what was I saying?

Oh. Yeah. These hyumens aren't scared of my super scary simulation of me destroying one of their precious cities! They just shrugged and said whatever. I don't want your fucking candy."

Do you humans not get enough moneys to buy these things? These are....really good chocolate. Like, I expected them to be sand based on the name of them, but -- they're actually good? Is this a PRIVATE school?

[Dib's voice can be heard in the background; he apparently planted a bug that looked exactly like The Bug --, right where Zim tended to look at himself in the mirror. Because Zim likes to talk to himself out loud - but he's gotta see his reflection to do it. But Zim's eyes are fucking terrible and he can't see shit, even with his occular implants. Even though he is an Irken Elite. You're not gonna get anymore information from me than that. Either way, you hear enough to know that it's Dib speaking, even if you can't make out what he's saying. But Zim can hear him even if Dib is WAYYYYYY. Over there bc of his antenna. Like. You can hear a Dib when he is in his home. That is how much better Zim can hear than Dib]

Did you really just hijack me, space boy? I'm trying to tell my part of the story here as the fly on the wall of every single moment the two of you think you're alone.

Bobby Dawn what are you doing. (Barbie Dan?)(nah, Bobby Dawn. But if you wanna say it where people hear the name both ways, go for it)

Anyways, Steven asked for my assistance with the next chapter of class clown. This ain't the next, next chapter, but it is a chapter that'll show up later down the road. He's gotta finish a Mr. sludgey POV, first.

This just the super unedited version done while I'm high bc I love creating bonds and strengthening them via writing them. That includes my TikToks and my journal entries I ain't shared with y'all and all the writing we ain't shared with y'all, neither.

Gonna go get myself some lunch now, tho. Been at this long enough. ❤️ Have a good day now, y'hear?

All fanfiction authors have praise kinks in the form of comments and likes

[ms-scarletwings]

Frightsome realization brought to me by the beginning of the Planetjackers episode.

Zim’s telescope, all the way from Earth, mind you, couldn’t just search for and fix onto other known planets in the Empire’s range, couldn’t just find the base of the local irken spy, but was in fact able to lock onto the current, exact position of other invaders themselves.

Every single one of them is wired into a database to the point of being able to immediately check one’s encoded job and identity from a quick scan. Of course they’d have the technology and the foresight to have PAKs constantly log and update intergalactic GPS data to their fleet databanks. That’s how Sizz Lorr dropped in on Zim at the Skool. That’s how the guards black-bagged him in order to bring him to Judgementia for his trial. Hell, it probably might even be part of how Tak found him.

Every irken invader, if not every Irken soldier, can be tracked and observed at any time by the empire. Some form of cracking this network may even be the method through which Zim obsessively checks in on the Tallests and where The Massive’s been lately.

But more worryingly, for Irkens at least, this would mean that permanently deserting and evading the empire is effectively impossible so long as there exists some Irken authority willing to put in the effort to chase you down. There is no corner of the universe where their criminals could find a lasting peace of mind. It also adds some more potential context behind their ubiquitous loyalty to their leadership, or why to Zim’s perception, there is no third option after success or being as good as a dead man.

[ghostorbz]

I think about this one scene in career day a lot

In this episode, Ms Bitters class is given an assignment where they have to fill in what various shapes look like to them. The paper gets put into a machine to determine what their future jobs will be. But this one part where Zim is getting his job told to him really makes me think.

Here, Ms Bitters says "the only job suitable for him is fast food preparation." Sound familiar? It reminds me of Zims time on Irk/Foodcourtia. Sure, it could easily just be a joke. Zim, an alien trying to take over the world gets put in mac meaties for a day. It's fnnuy. But really I think it could've been either foreshadowing or just a little nod to Zims life back on his home planet

This is also mentioned in the first episode when Zim crashes in on the great assigning. "Weren't you banished to foodcourtia? Shouldn't you be,,, frying something?"

This seems like a throwaway line at first until you get to the frycook what came from all that space

In here, we get a flashback to Zim getting reencoded from an Irken invader, to a fast food drone. In fact, it stays this way throughout the whole show as he escapes his banishment to attend the great assigning. He gets sent to earth not as an invader, but as a fast food drone.

Numerous times characters tell him his mission is a lie. "You aren't even a real invader." "Your PAK still has you encoded as a fast food drone." "The tallest lied to get rid of you."

Even the job machine realizes Zim isn't suitable for taking over earth. While the machine isn't Irken made, nor does it scan Zims PAK, it also brings up Zims banishment. Again, this may just be a line that doesn't mean anything. But I feel it was intentional in the way to bring up Zims past

[hermajestytak]

Happy Valentines Day but more importantly

Happy Tak Day!

Since she's my favorite character, here are some fun facts about the Empire's most unique invader!

Despite being a Valentines episode, Tak: the Hideous New Girl debuted May 10, 2002. So her birthday would actually be in May, not on Valentine's day.

If you accept May 10th as her birthday, Tak is a Taurus

Tak's holographic disguise has limitations; her human form still had three fingers and a backpack where her pak is

Appearance isn't the only strength of Tak's disguise; she also dumbs herself down a bit and speaks with a higher pitch when disguised as a human.

This first one is an exclusive fact from the Galaxycon Columbus 2023 Q&A! When given the choice between hanging out with Zim, Dib, or Tak, Jhonen hesitantly said Tak, but noted that she wouldn't be fun either because of how bitter she is

In the Invader Zim 20th Anniversary Q&A, the cast members were asked what their character's nightmare job would be. Tak's actress Olivia d'Abo's answers were her canon janitor job and Mary Kay since she thinks Tak would hate being feminine.

Wondering where Tak is? She's in Moo-Ping 10, as shown in the epilogue compilation at the end of the Dookie Loop of Horror. According to Jhonen's 20th Anniversary gaming stream, the reason Tak's ship perked up at Dib's mention of Moo-Ping 10 was because Tak was locked up there, most likely by Zim!

Speaking of Tak in Moo-Ping 10, she was originally supposed to make a minor appearance in Enter the Florpus in a post credit teaser. However, Jhonen canned this because he didn't want to restrict what a follow up on EtF could be about.

Tak was supposed to make her second appearance in the episode Top of the Line, but the series was canceled before it could be produced

Although nothing in canon directly states this, it's very common in fanon to depict Tak as a defective Irken like Zim. Evidence for this includes her seeing herself as an invader despite her encoded janitorial class, her uniform being completely different from any Invader, and in general how unique she is in a sea of uniform Irkens. She's sort of like the neurodivergent gifted kid of her class.

[werewolfromtheast]

!!!!

If you’re on zim tiktok, you may have seen a few videos regarding this. Please support Invader Zim: Re-Encoded! I am the creator of this fanseries, and if you are interested in joining, please read through each photo carefully!!

[thebestinvaderever]

Heeyyy, uh, I had a question.

'Kay, so, that PAK thing you got... what does it do..?

What is it, why does it exist...?

Oh hello Kip! So, my pak? It is..a bit complicated. I will admit that Zim does not know EVERYTHING about it. I WILL tell you what I DO happen to know though.

When Irkens are cloned, we are given a pak. They are coded to each specific Irken, and are most comparable to a human brain. They contain all of our data. For instance, our personality, memories, our role in the empire etc. They can be re-encoded by the control brains who are the top of the top of our empire. We can only live 10 minutes without them, so we will die without them basically. Since they are so important for Irken life, any errors in the code can make us extremely sick. Like, much more severe than any known human sickness. Something that Dib had to witness first hand..

They are also used for self-defense, hence our pak legs. No matter your role in the empire, you have this feature. It is necessary for the survival of our race. See? *he extends them to show her before retracting them* They also can store various items that tie to our biological bodies as well if need be!

That..is all Zim knows. There is probably more to it but I was never of enough importance to be told..I did NOT even know of the sickness UNTIL I experienced it firsthand!

I do hope that helps Kip!

[emeraldspiral]

Another interesting thing I picked up on from looking at Vindicated again.

Dib says he yanked an alien transmitter from one of Zim's computers which is used to send encoded messages from other alien races and that his plan was to use it to call Zim names in alien languages before Dwicky suggested that they pretend to be aliens.

So other alien languages do exist in IZ, they don't just inexplicably speak English across the universe. Zim and presumably many other alien species have translators and Dib stole one from Zim, which is probably how he's able to communicate with other aliens outside of earth.

Also, per usual, instead of playing it close to the chest and trying to hide the fact that he had this thing from Zim, Dib's plan A was to use it to say slurs non-anonymously, which makes him the most realistic fictional 12-year-old ever.

[abrthephantomq]

Chapters: 7/? Fandom: Invader Zim Rating: Explicit Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Relationships: Dib/Zim (Invader Zim) Characters: Zim (Invader Zim), Dib (Invader Zim), Almighty Tallest Purple (Invader Zim), Almighty Tallest Red (Invader Zim), pakless jazz (oc), Gaz (Invader Zim) Additional Tags: Older Dib (Invader Zim), Tall Zim (Invader Zim), Original Character(s), Competent Zim (Invader Zim), Alternate Universe, encoder Zim pt 2 electric boogaloo, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Canon Rewrite, will jazz have a crush on Zim in this timeline?, he did back when we first made him in 2001, Non-Linear Narrative, Multiple Timelines, POV Second Person, Yeah Zim's wonky POV is BACK, POV Third Person, POV First Person, All The POVs Series: Part 2 of Encoder Series Summary:

Yet another Mr. Sludgey chapter. The children are driving him insane, and -- who the hell is that? 

[inbarfink]

Invader Zim S1E10 Career Day

Level 1: haha, it’s funny because Zim wanted to be ruler of the earth but he got assigned to a fast food job instead! Level 2: haha, it’s funny because writing down ‘Human Slave’ on all your answers automatically gets you assigned to fast food Level 3: haha, it’s funny because Zim is encoded as a Fast Food Drone and somehow this Ink Blotches test recognized it and assigned him a job accordingly  Level 4: haha, it’s funny because Zim literally escaped Foodcourtia to flee from the indignity of working in Fast Food and chase the glory of being an Invader. Only to end up right where he started but now he is happy and willing to suffer as a fast food worker because he has deluded himself into believing this is step 1 in a grand plan that shall bring him world conquest and the prestige he believes he is entitled to. If he had not gotten fired at the end of the episode, he might’ve just continued toiling for that grand promotion forever, totally oblivious to the irony. Level 5: haha cow

[chellodello]

I tried to make a comic about how even after getting together Zim will sometimes get so overwhelmed with paranoia that he’ll be betrayed that he destroys as much evidence of his existence in Dib’s life as possible. He doesn’t want to do this, but he can’t help it, it’s how he’s encoded. Irken’s aren’t designed for love, aren’t programed to accept peace. Sharks have to keep moving, to keep consuming, or they’ll die. Zim’s sort of like that.

Anyway here’s the only panels from that that I liked before I scrapped it.

[coycowboykoi]

At last... Im finally done...

BEHOLD, MY INVADER ZIM OC'S!!!!!!!!

Meet Kaz and Dev! Two Irken-Human hybrids (made as such by Zim) who beef with each other and cause shenanigans in Zim and Dib's lives.

More info about them + Zim/Dib below if you're interested :] (a LOT of rambling, especially about Zim and Dib in this universe, be prepared)

Kaz : A 12 year old earth boy once a fan of the world famous "Professor's Zim and Dib". After proving himself to be the most superior amongst other fans in a raffle, he was to be made the protégée of the two men. Kaz packed up that same night and arrived to Membrane Labs with the promise to live there for the next year or two. The next morning, he was woken up by Professor Zim and taken to a lab room. Only to be knocked out and woken up 2 weeks later, completely changed. As Kaz freaked out, Zim (without his disguise) revealed himself and told Kaz what he was actually here for, to test out if human and irken DNA could coexist with each other.

After being told he couldn't return to his old life due to Zim erasing the memories of those who previously knew him, Kaz was stuck in the labs, constantly tested on by Zim. Eventually he learned that although Dib didn't know his DNA was used on Kaz, he didn't care because "what he does isn't any of my business anymore". Feeling betrayed and being put through physical pain, Kaz eventually decided he had enough and planned to ruin the reputation of the professors. But instead of exposing their experiments and running the risk of exposing himself, he took another approach.

His biggest scandal : "exposing himself" as Zim and Dib's "biological kid" on live tv as news reporter's visited the labs, lying about the two's relationship saying they were they extremely close and ruining the professors reputations through utter humiliation. After that fiasco, the professors allowed Kaz to go back to school, go out the house without supervision, and have all his biological/physical tests cut down by 80%. Even after getting back all those privileges, he still spends most of his day's terrorizing those he once looked up to.

Dev : Once a powerful and influential irken elite, now on the run from the empire after a disaster on Irk. A disaster that caused many Elites, Invaders, and Soldiers to wrongfully be re-encoded as food drones and defectives. After stealing a voot from someone in foodtopia, Dev scrambled to get to the farthest planet he could. And the furthest he could go to were the coordinates labeled "Urth".

A year after Kaz stayed with Zim/Dib, Dev crashed behind Membrane Labs and as he saw Zim and Dib rush out, he tried to escape only to be stopped by Dib. Upon recognizing Zim, Dev pleaded with the two men to let him stay and hide out with them even if just for a little bit. Once the two had a discussion, they accepted. However, Dev had to make a special deal with Zim. If Dev wanted maximum security to make sure the empire wouldn't find him, he had to let Zim experiment on him. With no other choice, Dev agreed, and after Zim learned from his mistakes from Kaz, he made sure to not have Dev change as drastically.

After being put through a series of different tests, Dev was eventually deemed stable enough to be let out on his own a few days later. As he walked around the labs, testing out his new disguise, he bumped into someone else. Another hybrid. As Dev tried to introduce himself, the other person became hostile and attempted to attack him. Before everything escalated even more, Dib and Zim ran out of their office's and pulled the two off each other. After they all calmed down, Dev was introduced to his new brother and the other child, Kaz.

Zim and Dib : After years of ruining each other's childhood's, coming to understand each other in their teenage years, and becoming inseparable in early adulthood, the two had changed the way their lives were going. For better, or for worse.

Once the time came for Professor Membrane to retire, Dib was given a chance to prove that he could run Membrane Labs. After thinking on his decision, he brought Zim to the labs and asked him, along with the Professor, if they were both able to run the labs. Shocked but happy, Zim accepted his offer, while Professor Membrane gave the two men his approval. After years of being business partners and building up their reputations, Zim and Dib became just as popular and beloved by the masses as Professor Membrane was. Becoming an inspiration by going from freaks who hated each other, to respected and becoming best friends.

However, behind closed doors the two had slowly become distant and hostile to each other once more. Out of the public eye, Dib began researching the paranormal once more, hoping to open his own institution alongside Membrane Labs, while Zim went back to making experiments in his old lab.

After another petty argument between the two, an idea had popped in Zim's mind. He went into Dib's room while he was sleeping and took some blood/DNA samples. Going back to his lab and taking some samples of himself, he started dedicating the time to making something utterly different. A plan to combine the best side's of the best human and irken into one being, something he calls, "The Zim Experiment".

And that's it for my rambling, I have so much lore and story I left outttt 😭 but this was getting so long + I want to make comics/art about different parts of their life, so I gotta be patient.

if you have questions about them or their story (or if I just didn't explain something well enough), send me asks!

[starpaw0007]

Finding out Zim is currently encoded as a fast food worker was the greatest reveal of all time

[patchworkpoltergeist]

💬

The Foodcourtia encoding's "jailbar teeth" might be my favorite descriptor I've written in the last five years.

The best part about writing two drafts from the ground up is how the second drafts gives surprises like this, and really comes into its own. Especially that moment when Zim tries to look away, and the jailbar teeth are in the floor too. Chasing him.