#iz cyberpunk

[askdibthenetrunner]

Dib: Hey all! Dib here, and this is Zim. Say hi Zim!

Zim: No. I refuse to speak to the smelly internet humans.

Dib: Zim, I’m a human on the internet.

Zim: And I can still change my mind about you.

Dib: Hahaha… Aaanyywaaays, feel free to ask us anything, I’ll at least be around to answer your questions!

Scroll down for A/N

(Mod here! Just wanted to talk about my idea for this blog. This is an Invader Zim AU set in the universe of Cyberpunk 2077, but if you haven’t played it or watched edgerunners on Netflix, worry not! You do no need to know anything about it to understand this AU. The main things to know is that it’s a futuristic setting with body modifications and has plenty of its own terms and slang, which whenever it comes up there will be an A/N with its definition. Now this is a VERY adult themed universe, and this blog will be no different. Please beware. This blog is not here for minors. Thank you for reading and hopefully participating!)

[zazlesynth]

Invader Zim (2001)

[astrocorvus]

Hey... Grown-up Dib?

Please don't reblog with ship tags. Thanks!

[bonniecupcake]

DAY 1 - ALIEN

Here is my first art for @alt-zadr-b1tch3z IZ event :P

I love the cyberpunk theme in general but GOD, neon colors are hell for me to work with xD

Still was super fun to draw :D

[strigital]

when you can feel your brain start to slowly and menacingly shift to another hyperfixation, but you're not nearly done enjoying your current one, yet alas, there's no way to stop this wheel from moving onward, so you're on your knees pleading with your brain like:

[goblinhomosexual]

Cool And Sexy Asian Girl is my new all time favourite character.

WIP fanart for the incredible short story «Termination Stories for the Cyberpunk Dystopia» by @anonymousalchemist

[izzpog]

Cyberpunk 2077 OC — ALISA SAITO.

“Her? Not a lot of people seem to know our V has a little sister. She’s a merc, too. Young. Beautiful. Merciless. Probably scarier than V himself. Usually only takes assassination gigs. Have you heard the stories? They call her a ghost. Once took down whole compound in seconds without being seen, only with the sound of her blade dragging against the floor echoing through, and before they could even blink, their bodies dropped. Scary good at what she does. So if you want people flatlined, she’s the one you call.” — Evelyn Parker to Judy Alvarez after Vinny and Alisa leave the basement of Lizzie’s Bar, prior to the Heist.

[paulkleestan]

Rewatching Invader ZIM and I’m kind of stunned that it got away with so little censorship like right after 9/11 and Columbine. And I’m not referring to how adult it was because there are plenty of kid shows with mature content (Regular Show, Animaniacs, Rockos Modern Life) but how dark and cynical it was plus the concept of having an outcast in a trench coat vs a literal terrorist as a protagonist - very bold in the dubya years. I’m honestly surprised it wasn’t cancelled or drastically changed earlier as it was an overwhelmingly negative satire of American society in an era of extreme patriotism and hostility towards any criticism of American culture or policy (Google “freedom fries”, zoomers).

I’ve been reading a bit about the early development and apparently Nickelodeon was desperate to recreate the magic they had with Ren and Stimpy in the 90s so they let Jhonen make it as edgy as he wanted it not realizing that IZ would be like 10x as expensive as Ren and Stimpy and not profitable at all with its mediocre ratings compared to titans like SpongeBob. So then they were left with an expensive, mediocre performing, unsettling and unpredictable show that starred two morally ambiguous protagonists with an angular and drab color scheme and a creator who is notoriously stubborn and refuses to compromise his vision. This made Invader ZIM nigh unmarketable to kids the way SpongeBob was (this is before its Hot Topic renaissance). People get understandably frustrated about ZIM being cancelled especially with episodes still unfinished but I’m honestly grateful it got made at all.

Now what really grinds my gears is how neutered Enter the Florpus was despite the censors not even being an issue anymore due to streaming. Yes, I understand that Jhonen has gotten older and isn’t the cynical young man he used to be but at least give us some creepy atmosphere and cyberpunk aesthetics. It doesn’t have to be body horror or gross out even - just give us some cool camera angles and some gritty futuristic tech.

[rararazaquato]

Tell us more about le cartoon version of Raincode you have please.

Like of other characters appearing and more dynamics, including episodes.

oh BABY you're in for a treat!!!

i have a whole google doc planned out for this thing, despite me having no animation experience gjgkhkh... this is gonna be the Public Lore Dump Post btw, and spoilers for all of rain code will be under the cut.

so the concept for this whole thing came about while watching the animations of youtuber OkayScreamingNow. super cool animation btw, their "psycho teddy" animation moderately blew up but i'm a huge fan of their "everybody likes you" video.

between watching those, a ton of aimkid videos, wince media's meat bun song, and nicktendo's mighty b review, i started feeling really nostalgic for mid-late 2000s animation, the stuff i grew up on. growing up creepie, yin yang yo, kenny the shark, all these were shows i adored as a kid. so, combined with my current rain code fixation, this little au came to be!

the general conceit of this au is that "Master Detective Archives" is a 2008 animated children's program that lasted for 20 episodes and is majority lost media. only a couple episodes exist in the bowels of shitty piracy sites, and even then those sites keep getting taken down. the more screenshots and concept art i make, the more is "revealed" about the show.

one of the things that interests me the most about children's media is how people worked around the censors. a lot of people are familiar with the story of the ren and stimpy adult party cartoon. for those who aren't familiar, when john "god's mistake" kricfalusi created an adult oriented reboot of ren and stimpy, the show was dogshit. with the new ability to rely on the crutch of whatever grossout sexual humor it wanted, it became a massive stain on john k's career (he has had other horrific stains both before and after apc, but i need to stress, no one liked apc).

for a more positive example, i love pretty much all of jhonen vasquez's work, but i find the humor and even some of the horror of invader zim to be more interesting than the same stuff in jthm, because iz was working under far stricter standards and practices.

what i'm trying to get at is that i enjoy the challenge of seeing how i can take concepts and make them more kid-friendly while still keeping the intrigue and interest the concepts originally had. i worked at a summer camp in 2022, and the driving force behind this little project was "keeping rain code camp-appropriate, but also keeping it interesting".

this ethos will hopefully explain some of the Big Changes i made to the story and characters. i do want to stress that i do not think i am improving on the original work. i think rain code is a story that, inherently, works better as an m-rated, gritty, cyberpunk-y murder mystery. i've just always been uniquely fascinated by this particular genre shift.

so, first major change: nocturnal detective agency has turned into nocturnal detective academy. this is a place where young minds, particularly those with supernatural powers, go to hone their craft. or at least... it was. now it's run exclusively by three people: headmaster Zange Eraser, school nurse and therapist Melami Goldmine, and teacher (and everything else) Yakou Furio.

i grew up with a book series called school of fear, which was about a small group of kids with severe phobias being sent to help conquer their fears at a highly rated school. however, it was actually just a kooky old lady and her massive mansion, and while she helped the kids get over their fears, she did it in unorthodox and occasionally darkly humorous ways. i remember a scene in the books where she put the claustrophobe and the kid afraid of death in a coffin for a few hours, and while that is absolutely NOT how exposure therapy works, the idea of a school that's just a few adults running a lowkey scam out of their house has always tickled my funny bone.

so the nda is a school, teaching detective skills and the like. of course, because yakou is my beautiful failwife, he mostly just sends his students out into the city of Kanai Ward to do their own investigative work and report back with what they've learned... as long as they don't get in trouble with Hecksmile or his goons, at least!

yeah, the other big change is that the peacekeepers are more like team rocket than corrupt cops. while i agree that the police suck, and a lot of older cartoons seem to share that sentiment (even some newer ones like gravity falls), having all the villains be evil, corrupt cops seems like a recipe to get s&p on your ass. so now, the cops just don't do anything, and Hecksmile and his goons just wreak havoc whenever they feel like it.

(i've already explained the hecksmile bit in a previous post, but i dont think any of the other names would need changing. maybe if this was the 90s, desuhiko and fubuki would get their names changed to something more eurocentric, but this isn't the 90s and that stuff was cringe even back then.)

there are only seven students at the academy, and i've de-aged these characters to be more relatable to the target audience: our main character yuma, halara, desuhiko, fubuki, vivia, pucci, and aphex. i'll detail them a bit here, because yakou, zange, and melami can all stay pretty similar (actually, melami doesn't randomly feel up strangers to get their clothing measurements anymore, but that's a pretty minor change).

yuma is still our main character, acting as the straight man and audience surrogate. the whole "number one" twist isn't really a thing with how this whole plot is set up, so his awkward and generally "scrunkly" attitude from the game is his natural state here. though none of the ages of the characters are specified, he's often called out as the youngest detective, probably in his preteens or early teenagehood. his coalescence is used for a lot of teamwork-based solutions to problems, but he isn't that great at actual mystery-solving.

this is where shinigami comes in! in the first episode, after some hijinks, yuma accidentally summons a death god. fortunately, he summons a teenage death god. she can only appear in her cool human form in her summoner's dreams, she can't interact with anyone in the physical world except her summoner, and she doesn't even have her reaper's license yet! regardless, she likes having a friend, so she helps yuma see things from different perspectives. i figured death spirits wouldn't be off the table, exactly (i mean, look at billy and mandy), but i think there's a certain humor in a death god not being able to do any soul reaping. i like to think she talks about it like her driver's license. "ugh, i'm not allowed to reap any souls until i'm 16 thousand years old! i'm only 14 thousand!!!" because of her teenagerdom, her human form is going to be far less sexualized. also because i think her canon outfit is a little ugly.

halara doesn't change much from canon. very mysterious and intimidating. no one knows their gender because everyone's too afraid to ask (and to find out, you'd have to pay them about $100 in cash). they still love cats but have an allergy to them, they still don't trust people, etc.

desuhiko changes a lot from canon. he's less actively creepy and more of a wannabe romantic. he has a tendency to fall for grown women, although he has absolutely no chance with any of them. this is played for laughs.

fubuki is another character who doesn't change much from canon. obscenely rich and super out of touch with everything around her. has occasional bursts of intelligence for comedy.

vivia is still everyone's favorite emo sadboy, writing poetry in the fireplace. his passive suicidal ideation, though interesting to explore in media made for adults, is very dangerous to put in a children's show, so we're nixing that. instead, he's just real sleepy and goth. he's also the least interested in doing actual detective work, so when he and yuma are investigating together, it gives yuma a chance to take the lead.

pucci doesn't change much from canon, but admittedly, we don't know too much about her. she's sensitive to noise, very thoughtful and introspective, but very awkward around people being nice to her.

and aphex. what to say about aphex. i don't like aphex for a number of reasons (anyone who played with jpn audio can back me up on this one), but the idea of someone who is initially violent and cruel becoming your (still somewhat violent and cruel) ally is a fun character trope to me. my go-to example is buford from phineas and ferb, and i think that's the role aphex would play. initially a threat, but eventually becomes softer and more well-developed. well, if the show got more seasons.

and that's our main cast! i could talk about kurumi, makoto, and martina, as i have a lot of cool ideas for them, but i have been writing this for like an hour and i think i need to chill ahaha... ty for the ask!!!

[cepheusgalaxy]

The Oc Masterpost

A while ago, somebody sent me an ask asking who my ocs where. I wanted to make a proper introdution, so on each link is a post with a certain cast of ocs. They are separated for wip, and there is a little bit of context on the top of each one.

1. Ein (im rebooting it, you could say)

2. Totsuka and Megan: Mishappen Heroes (updated! Meet Donatello and Lady Iz)

3. The War Of The Human Throne (updated! Meet Aalyah.)

4. 9 Gates Of Hell

5. Across Time & Odds

6. Project Three (placeholder name)

7. Little Red Riding Hood Cyberpunk

8. The Snow White One

Still on the brainstorm phase:

9. (coming out eventually)

10. (about a knight girl and her sassy trans magician friends. Ugh--coming out eventually)

11. (chosen one story--coming out eventually)

Wipless ones:

12. Petrichor oc - he was born of a redrawing i did of an old piece. In the original drawing, the character was a girl but I decided to make him trans just like me. He has long pink hair and is a witch on a modern witch academy. That's all his lore. Main traits: Cocky, playful, confident.

Note: If there are any typos or things that you couldn't understand, please lmk! I want to make them very neat and simple to read.

[fiangrey]

Viaraxia Ying - Cyberpunk 2077 OC

Viaraxia was fine living his nomad life, hopping from place to place with his clan, not thinking about corpo shit around the globe. But if you ignore something for too long, it will get you sooner or later.

He lost his previous body, people he called family, homeland and even language. Via insist that even with the new body he still the same, in new home still have the old heart of nomad, and he certainly didn't sold his soul to those who destroyed his past life.

Viaraxia afraid of implants, and will occasionally bite his metal claws or scratch edges of face cyberware, leaving scars and bloody scratches, which he eventually fixes at some point with the help of his...friend ripperdoc from Trauma. All those cyberware are "needles for voodoo dolls" as Via says, and they should not even touch the body of a human. It's really hard to make him lay under rippers knife to install or upgrade anything, easier to just hunt him down in the streets with sedative darts and do the job, or get your fingers bitten off. But Vivien seems to know how to persuade Viaraxia that some changes are for better.

He dreams big about his future, even if his actions bury him deeper and further from his goals to return home.

OC Reference template by me Character by me Corpo Phone Avatar by CyberVesna Sometimes I use translator because, you know, engrish iz hard sometimes :V

[askdibthenetrunner]

Hello boys! How are you this fine day?

Dib: needless to say it’s gonna be a long night…

[emeraldspiral]

Love the idea of an IZ/GF crossover where the GF characters go to the city where Zim and Dib live and it turns out that city isn't representative of the entire earth as IZ portrays it. It's just that the city is highly industrialized with a lot of factories producing so much pollution most of the citizens are brain-damaged. The Membranes are the only ones spared because the Professor protects his kids from being exposed to harmful chemicals and toxins. Kinda like how in TF2 it was revealed that Soldier and most of the residents of Teufort are brain-damaged from lead contaminated water and the only reason the rest of the mercs aren't is because the Administrator supplied them with bottled water.

So the GF characters show up and notice not only all the weird paranormal stuff that everyone else seems oblivious to, but also all the weirdness that's just accepted as part of every day life. They're the first people to tell Dib that stuff like exploding hall passes and confiscating retinas for overdue library books is not normal and make him realize that he's living a cyberpunk dystopia.

[astrocorvus]

Should I draw more Invader Zim stuff?

(Idk. The aesthetics are just so damn appealing to me. Ugh!)

[spacebabe51]

OK so a couple people seemed interested in the fic rec list so here it is. I haven’t done one of these before so keep in mind this is just my personal likes, and idk if this is usual but i’m also going to put my little mini reviews + warnings (not content warnings but anything I think might deter someone from reading) on them so you kind of know what to expect. Obviously I can’t vouch for any of the authors on this list as I don’t know any of them personally, so if some fic ends up being written by a heinous person just know I didn’t raise them that way. List under the cut: 

OK! Without further ado, I’m going to be ranking these in descending order down to my all-time favorite, but first I'm going to add two fics that are kind of nebulous to rank because they are both crossovers. If I were going to rank them, both would be near the top of the list.

“Now You’re Thinking With Real Science” by Jaywings

This fic is just insanely good. It’s a Portal 2 crossover, and even for two franchises that already seem to blend together really well with the same brand of darkly humorous cyberpunk themes, it does a really good job of fitting the world and characters together in a way that makes perfect sense. Everything flows together really well, and every character from a large cast of characters is well handled and gets a chance to do something (or have something done to them). Fair warning, there are a few pretty intense scenes, and this one is as of yet unfinished, but still updating, and I highly recommend it. 

Warnings: This fic makes me want to like wheatley again and I won't, dammit. I refuse. Die you traitorous metal ball.

“Mad World” by iamwriting

This is a crossover between IZ and Jhonen Vasquez’ other most famous work, his horror/black comedy comic series Johnny the Homicidal Maniac. For those that have never read any of Vasquez' other work, it’s safe to say that JTHM makes Invader Zim look like Blue’s Clues, so fair warning before going into it this fic is dark. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it’s depressing, but it certainly handles very heavy themes (insanity, suicide...murder, obviously) and doesn’t pull punches. That said, it really surprised me just how well-crafted, compelling and moving this fic is. By the time I was finished with it, all the plot threads had pulled together so tightly I had to go back and reread chapters just to confirm that oh, yeah- I didn’t imagine that, the author set that up so subtly I didn’t even notice. An absolute 10/10 for plot, mood, and how well it kept me engaged (I spent an entire workday feverishly reading this and didn’t even notice the time pass) with a powerful and satisfying payoff. 

Warnings: This story is told in a very restricted first person pov, which can sometimes feel awkward, but is necessary for setting up an unreliable narrator. Characters, particularly Zim, can also sometimes feel ooc, but this too has an in-fic explanation that I won’t spoil.

OK! Enough crossovers, onto the ranked fics:

#6: “Hey, Spacejerk” by HeCallsMeHisChild

This particular author and her series of fics were some of the first that I read in the fandom, and one thing I can say with absolute certainty is that she has the most original ideas I’ve ever seen. Hey Spacejerk is strange, and that’s not a bad thing. It starts out as sort of a self-contained exploration of isolation with elements of psychological horror, and blossoms into something totally different by the end. If you don’t mind suspending disbelief and being taken along for the ride, I really think this it's an enjoyable read, with a strange but satisfying conclusion. 

Warnings: not really an issue for me, but this fic was written before the movie release, and Prof. Membrane takes on a villain-like role in this story so if that’s a deal breaker, you’ve been warned. 

#5 “A Parade of Indignities” by RissyNicole 

A LOT has been said about this fic and how good it is that there’s almost not much left to say. This story is epic in scope and very good at maintaining the nail-biting suspense it sets up early on. Supporting characters who didn’t get much focus in the show are a big part of this one, and help the world feel more fleshed out and alive. This story isn’t finished, and I have to admit I’m actually not caught up with it, but regardless. The fandom considers this one a must-read and I do too. 

Warnings: If you are an anxious hypochondriac like me this one can be a psychological horror as well! Little added bonus :)

#4 “Important Messages From Beyond the Stars” by myrskytuuli

This one is very niche and catered to my interests. I love stories that utilize the Resisty, and I'm an absolute sucker for anything exploring Zim’s time working as a scientist on Vort. Is it canon compliant? Not even close. Is it fully in character? Highly debatable, but this fic rec list needs some of the heartwarming found family healing only fanfic can provide, and goddamn it this fic provides. This one is also unfinished but still updating, and as new chapters and plot threads are introduced I’m more and more excited to see where it leads. 

Warnings: Again, if you’re looking for canon compliance and the usual dark cynicism of IZ, this is not the fic for you. 

#3 "Forced Perspective" by 0palite

I read this fic more recently after stumbling across some of the adorable drawings the author did for each chapter. This fic is quintessential zadf, and that’s a-ok with me. It’s character driven all the way through, and great care is taken in examining the different ways they think, as well as their motivations and worldviews. Everything feels in line with canon, and the development of the plot as well as the central friendship is natural and never feels too contrived. Really enjoyable read, and the drawings and animations created for every chapter are so charming and a huge added bonus to this one.

Warnings: None really, if slowburn zadf isn’t your thing you won’t enjoy this. 

#2 “Experimental” by HideousBlob 

 I don't think it would be an overstatement of any kind to say that Experimental and its lost? sequel Hypothetical are sort of the golden standard when it comes to Invader Zim fics. Butingly funny, very in character, bordering on psychological horror in places, this one excels at utilizing Zim's manic hypochondria to create a real sense of paranoia and keep the reader guessing. A great story with or without the slowburn zadf going on in the background, this fic is also available in the form of a great 8-bit RPG game with multiple choices and endings. One thing to note is that this particular author has since distanced herself from the fandom, so although you can still find the fic on archive.org (dm me if you’d like to play the game) please don’t go attempt to contact her about it. 

Warnings: I just wish I could read her other fics again. Thats all 😭😭

#1 “Leaving Home” by DiscoTeriyaki

This fic is the bane of my existence. It’s so good I hate it. And the worst part is that I can’t even put my finger on exactly what makes it so good. Leaving Home’s main idiosyncracy is that it’s very grounded in the real world, much more so than most other fics on this list. For example, Dib and Gaz have (or, had) a mother, real-world cities are mentioned, and the author utilizes a soundtrack of real-world songs from the late 1970’s to tell the story. This fic is very self-contained and small in scope, but it has a cutting, straight-forward and bittersweet take on the characters and their relationships. Exploring themes of growing up, death and remembrance, forgiveness, and what it means to be important to someone without particularly liking them. Everytime I read it (and I’ve read it a few times) I notice something new, and I’m in awe of how well this author is able to say so much in so few words. If you read this, do yourself a favor and listen to the music the fic provides. 

Gripes: I’d really like to stop crying everytime “The Lights Go Down” by ELO comes on please and thanks. 

And that's it! If you decide to read anything on this list, let me know what you thought of it, and please show these authors some love. And if there's a fic you think I would enjoy based on these recs, I'd be thrilled to check it out (and YES that includes your own fic). Thanks for reading!

[ormspryde]

Day 3: cyberpunk

Last time I did something like this I cyberpunk-ized Raven and Yuri, so I thought it was Alexei's turn. Not a great sketch but the battle against the tired sleepy had turned into a war I was destined to lose at this point.

I'd like to finish this more but it needs a ton of work first.

[ID: Alexei Dinoia from Tales of Vesperia, only cyberpunk. He is wearing glowing cyan goggles and a longcoat with a high collar and circuitry stitched into the bottom half of it. In his left hand he is carrying a taser; in his right, a glowing broadsword with barbs at the tip and in the middle and a ball of plasma at the bottom. He is wearing a backpack, which is connected by a hose to the top of his skull. /ID]