#re:mhny

[grouchymillennial]

after so many years, it feels nice to draw iz/zagr art again!

This is from an amazing fanfic called “Re: My Hostage, Not Yours” by the lovely @amyisherenowitsokay

It’s fucking genius, go read it

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Ooh, another one came to me when I sent the technology one.

In going back and reviewing the original MHNY trilogy plot, story, everything built between characters etc, what did you do? What did you decide to scrap, to keep, or to repurpose? You said you're aiming to branch away from 2 and 3 with something different, and disliked how you kept yourself to following the plot beats of the original first, right?

What does that clean slate look like? What pieces in Re:1 act as the catalyst to those further down in Re:2&3? The largest ones are obvious, (obviously) the big glaring plot changes. Are there more subtle ones? (don't have to say if you want to keep em a secret.)

Or, just, what things thru all three stories made you die inside and scream why did you write that? (I feel like you have a list.)

I'm gonna answer with spoilers because I'm having a good time answering these. These are HEAVY spoilers for the direction of the fic. As Re:MHNY2 is currently aiming at a Spring release date, I feel more lax about it's secrets, but still. If you don't want to know, don't look.

CW// Mentions of sexual themes, explicit themes, the briefest of mentions of non-con as a theme

This is a really fun question in particular, because it was really something I wrestled with just in the conception of this fic series so many months ago, going back and forth with "do I want to do a rewrite? and if I do, knowing I had a second chance, what would I fix?"

I'll fully admit there are people who remember my fics better than I do (I am looking respectfully at @rllybritrlly whenever literally anything about From Your Memory gets brought up). That meant I really needed to reread my original fics to even remember all the details, what I wrote about them, read my cringe tween A/N's, etc. As Re:1 was the baby that started it all, I really wanted to pay as much homage as possible to it. Also, even so many years later, I still liked the overall plot, even if I felt the details could've been better executed, and I could've done without the various problematic themes. I think I've given the lengthy answer before, somewhere, but the short of it is mostly these major points:

I didn't like the weird sexually exploitative relationship between Zim/Gaz with the kissing/touching. Additionally, I knew I could make the inevitable ZAGR kiss way more dramatic if it was roped into the climax instead of just randomly thrown in the mix in problematic ways from the mid-arc. I LOVED writing the kiss in the rewrite, and it was actually one of the first scenes I rewrote, even before officially announcing/confirming the rewrite.

I didn't like Gaz and Dib's relationship. I love cruel, troubled Gaz, but I don't think it benefited the story to make her so constantly dismissive of Dib, to the point where he was sometimes written like an afterthought. I think IZ as a whole benefits from the complex relationships the characters have with one another, and the Re:MHNY series could benefit from developing those changing relationships rather than stagnating on them.

I had no idea when writing the original MHNY that I was ever going to do a sequel, or the direction of the finale. It was originally a one-and-done until I think the second-to-last chapter, when I decided I had more to write, and liked my readership too much to give it all up with a one-hit-wonder. Now that I know where the finale goes, I really wanted the opportunity to drop more lore, hints, and foreshadowing. The biggest example is Tak, whose name I basically borrowed as recognizable since I was too lazy to make a one-off OC, and only after-the-fact found a way to reweave her back into the third installment. Tak's fate is not going to be the same as it was in the original, and also, in the first rewritten fic, we got more insight into her personality. Not a lot, granted, but enough where the reader would be able to notice changes later on.

Discerning readers may have noticed that I kept the same amount of chapters in the rewrite as I did the original. If you compare chapters 1:1, a lot of the bigger themes parallel one another. Gaz is still ensnared by alien parasitic technology in chapter 1 of the rewrite as she was in the original, albeit in much bloodier circumstances. Zim's motorcycle/car chase in the original in chapter 6 is paralleled by the chase in chapter 6's rewrite, even though the circumstances are vastly different. Zim feigning a long-term, committed relationship in chapter 17 of the rewrite is a big nod to the original, in which Zim bartered for Gaz's life on the premise that they were more together than they really were, even with the kissing/touching premise they had with one another. Additionally, the theme of 'Zim hacks the Valkian ship' stays, even if it's once again executed under different circumstances. The details change, yes, but ultimately the Valkians are still slaughtered. That dedication I made towards keeping Re:MHNY1 as 1:1 as possible was a fun challenge in its way, but it's not going to happen in the sequels.

Regarding Re:mhny2 and Re:mhny3, I will only be borrowing the most basic of premises. As announced earlier this year, Iggins is still in the next fic. However, his differences are major, and a closely guarded secret I have only really shared with I think my internet bestie and my boyfriend. Again, anyone not looking for spoilers may want to skip this ask.

Some sneaky secrets are how I left whether or not Gaz went back to finish the tournament ambiguous. Additionally, that unlike the finale of the original MHNY, Gaz and Dib do not ever have another 'on-screen' discussion after she's rescued. Zim and Dib do, yes, but Gaz and Dib do not. There's a joke in Ch 20 about Zim showing up in his living room with cocoa, but the nature of any sibling conversations, if any even occurred, are also left deliberately absent and/or ambiguous. It's noted that they spent the majority of the aftermath resting, and really not a lot else. The most screen time Dib gets is being thrown out of the operating room in the flashback.

Unlike the original, where Tak was originally just used as a throwaway name-drop when I was too lazy to make an Irken OC or find another way to justify why someone might call to warn Zim about the Valkians, or even know who he was, I currently know Tak's fate in the rewrite, and I knew it when I wrote it, too, which means I got to sneak in that little ominous line of the Tallest when hearing her report in Ch 20.

“Now,” he said, doing his best to shrug off the strain of morning. “Go get that she-Irk again.”

A discerning reader might also have noticed Professor Membrane is not brought home, and never told what actually happened. Aside from some angsty pining from the Membrane siblings, his personal involvement ends when Dib abandons him at his conference and comes home for Gaz. That being said, there's also an interesting few paragraphs that have been brought up and pointed out to me individually before on Discord, and that other readers may have picked up on as well from Ch 18 that are going to be important to the sequels.

She hated this. She hated hiding herself behind veils of cynical wit and aloofness just to survive—to barely endure while she festered inside. She hated her father, drilling into her how uncomfortable people could be around her. That scaring people was wrong. That friends and admiration from peers were so very important. Don’t be angry, Gazlene. Be motivated! Don’t be frightened of change! Embrace it!

Zim had never demanded change. Zim had only ever ripped out the honesty, the worst parts of Gaz that she had buried under years of practiced apathy, and embraced them with open fascination. Sick. Accepting. Conniving.

You killed an Elite, his voice whispered, a caress on trembling limbs.

She had. She remembered every vivid detail like a flash bomb. The fear. The rage. The burning resentment. The same theme over and over. That she never should’ve been there. She never should’ve been here . That something had tried to take her life over nothing . That she had every right to fear for her life. 

The flashbacks that left her breathless. The fear, genuine, and yet underlied with something she dared not admit to even herself. Years of her fathers conditioning cushioning the awful truth of his daughter. She was just a teenage girl—once a child—who should never have been formed this way.

His son had inherited his father’s bravery and passion to learn, and twisted it into a dangerous recklessness. A need for pursuit and answers at all costs.

His daughter had inherited her father’s calculating practicality, and it had mutated into a vicious willingness to do the very worst thing for the necessary reason.

You killed an Elite, she heard once more. 

But this time, a loathsome truth followed. 

And you want to do it again.

As trademark as Gaz's viciousness is throughout the IZ series in general, and in this fic, her strict restraint being pinned on her father's discipline may seem out of place with only this fic to go off of. While it can definitely be read as a standalone, it does (deliberately) give the reader pause. Professor Membrane praises Gaz in the series for being his favorite child, not for being a menace to society as a whole, so where's this coming from? Why are Zim and Professor Membrane playing devil-and-angel-on-her-shoulder in her (concussed) brain? And notably, if that's their assigned role, where Membrane is the voice of restraint, and Zim the voice of rationality, then it should be noted that Zim's voice won. This should leave you asking why that is, and if that's always going to be the case.

A funner teaser is some foreshadowing I dropped throughout the story about what mating is going to look like in this fic. I wrote a lot of what I wrote about sex, love, and marriage under a heavy veil of religious indoctrination, which distorted and I think damaged the potential creativity of my writing. Virginity-cultural stigma somehow shoe-horned its way into my fic, and I don't really want that to happen again, which means there's going to be a lot more lewd scenes leading up to a sexual relationship. We're not just gonna have our characters go from making out to full penetrative sex. That's skipping quite a few bases. I've expanded behind the scenes a lot more information about Irken culture/mating, and while penetrative sex has been established as off-limits until such a time as our two heroes may deign to bind themselves to one another for eternity, I am not going to leave you hanging in the meantime. Some hints however about what mating looks like in the rewrite have been dropped, such as this nibble in Ch 9.

As he'd briefly gone over with the human girl, irken rituals of courtship were far different than any found on Earth. There was no religious entity or documentation, and the ceremony required complete isolation for at least three days.

and

He could never have that with Gaz. For one thing, she had no PAK. Well, she did, but it didn't actually count. Any attempt to encode the PAK was pointless, and furthermore, the PAK wasn't integrated to her brain the way it was to Zim's, or any other Irken's. It held no influence, and no significance to her decisions. While Zim's PAK may bind him for eternity, the human wouldn't be bound by anything other than the whims of her fleeting, mortal affection.

I outright name the ceremony in Re:mhny2, and also plan on further establishing teasers here and there about what's in store.

Skoodge is also a big teaser in himself! Skoodge is a competent invader and a traitor to the Empire, whom Zim has explicitly expressed allyship towards. He is definitely going to be important later on.

Regarding what a clean slate looks like for the sequels, I'll go ahead and name some big ones off the bat. Again, spoilers.

In Re:mhny2, Iggins is ultimately the antagonist, but whether or not he's the or even a villain is going to be something I look forward to watching readers debate about. That's what I mean by clean slate. Iggins was inarguably the bad guy and a major shithead in the original sequel. In the rewrite, Iggins may be a shithead, but what I really disliked about the original was how one-dimensional he was. Additionally, I think it's a more interesting story not for the protagonists to overcome the antagonist in a linear journey, but for the antagonist to grab the protag's by the neck and drag them into the mud with them. What if the hero's journey isn't upward, but one where simply keeping afloat equates success? What if not drowning is the victory? Metaphorically speaking, Re:mhny2 is going to start with fearless characters and end with characters who never look at the ocean the same way again, and are wizened for it.

Whereas the original was just kind of 'watch these characters be badass and mercilessly inflict pain on a bad guy' Re:mhny2 is basically going to be a lot of character self-reflection. I love the IZ characters for their flaws, but we're not going to get real, raw growth out of them if they're not forced to take on their own misdeeds and mistakes by metaphorical knifepoint. Re:mhny2 is going to be about them and the knife. And by them, I mean all 3 of the main cast, plus Iggins.

Re:mhny3 is similar. I'm excited to write about Iggins, but I am ecstatic to get another shot about a Zim-pocalypse. Enter the Florpus gave me so much new source material about what Zim successfully taking over the Earth, even for a short while, would look like, and I'm grateful for its contributions to the finale's development. Zim is still going to take over the Earth. Why, how, and under what circumstances is drastically different, and since its release is much farther out than the sequel, I will restrain myself to only give you this single, but eye-opening question when I talk about major, complete deviations from the plot. I have always regretted my impatience with MHNY3 for many things, but mostly one:

Wouldn't it have been a much more interesting story if Gaz really didn't know what was going on?

I'll just leave that thereeeeee.

For your last question, and one that makes me laugh to even look at, I do have a mental list. I'm pretty sure this'll be the first time I've ever written it down though.

Here are my top ten cringe moments from the original series as a whole, from cringiest to least:

The entirety of every sex scene I ever wrote

Ever writing the phrase "And they hadn't even done anything yet!" during a sex scene -- this is so ingrained in my cringe that I can, even now, tell you exactly where it is in the fic, the context, and wrote it without even needing to reference the phrasing

Implying Iggins would SA Gaz while she was under his thrall, and incapable of consenting (for concerned readers, non-con is not going to pop up in my stories again, and I apologize in hindsight for any discomfort caused)

Zim and Gaz's sexually transactional relationship, especially while Gaz was 14

Gaz getting married when she was only 18 (Gaz is already going to be 18 in the sequel, and will probably be in here early-to-mid twenties in the finale)

Dib being used as a punching bag for Zim and Gaz to be cruel to for cheap gags

Making the Tallests simps for Zim for really no reason other than that I was a simp for Zim and wanted to give him nice things lmao

Tak just sort of popping up out of nowhere as a maid, and blatantly borrowing the themes of servants being 'furniture' from the anime When Seagulls Cry/Umineko

That fucking weird ass segment where I had Gaz have prophetic nightmares (?) in the third one, and wander around a castle like some sort of haunted Victorian child. Really the whole castle scenes themselves were cringe. Get rid of the castle. Wipe it from your minds.

Making Gaz and Zim essentially infallible, unbeatable, and just boring in how completely dominant they inevitably were to any problem that arose. It just sucked the tension out of every situation because I got too bored or impatient with scenes that otherwise could've been much more interesting than they were.

This ended up a lot longer than I anticipated, but I hope I answered everything sufficiently!

[sillymilly12]

Did a quick fan art of @amyisherenowitsokay fanfic

Re:MHNY if you haven’t read this already you most definitely should it’s amazing!

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30716906/chapters/89217040#workskin

[mamajake]

Me reading the latest chapter of RE:MHNY

Holy shit what a chapter it was and all

[mizzztery]

E, you know I gotta ask about that RE:MHNY sequel 👀 (if there is one)

You got me confused with @amyisherenowitsokay but let's just say I DO I'm now things lmao I'm not sure if she's okay with me sharing though :'(

Believe me MHNY 2 was my FAVORITE so I feel ya

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Whenever I see you put re:mhny

I internally, unconsciously say "ReMinHoyNoy!"

Yanno, like doodlebob. I-

I'm sorry.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Howdy-hoo! Back for seconds!

🌧 Rain.

Please and very much thank you!

Here is your dessert mother of the sea, happy harvest

🌧️ rain: share a sad or emotional scene from your wip!

Because most of the dm's I get are regarding Re:MHNY and its sequel, here's a teaser for the sequel!

Spoilers inside! Readers beware! You have been warned!

A/N: One of the big themes that I've mentioned before that is getting reworked from the original MHNY series is Gaz and Dib's relationship. Originally, Gaz just sort of bullies him, and their closeness is more controlling and artificial than sincere. In the rewrite, I wanted to acknowledge and really get elbow-deep in the legitimate grievances the two of them have with each other, their choices, and the inherit dynamics of an older sibling incapable of looking out for a younger sibling who feels she knows better. As mentioned, while the story is primarily about the sweet sweet ZAGR, Dib and Gaz's familial relationship is also going to be addressed. Not mentioned is the fact it's going to be one of the central themes of the sequel. Huehuehue.

Re:MHNY2 Spoilers (LAST CHANCE TO DIP)

“Zim was the only thing that gave you any consistent attention outside of this family, or a counselor,” Gaz pressed. “And then I come along, and I get in the way—!”

“—I don’t even know what you’re talking about—!”

“And suddenly, this thing you’ve had for a decade is just,” she lifted her arms. “Gone. Poof. No more fighting, no more rivalry, because your stupid little sister has to take everything from you, because it’s not like she cares about this guy. Nooo, she just wants to torment you because she’s just as evil as her fucking boyfriend!”

“Are you kidding me?!” He shrieked, his voice rising. “I’m relieved to have Zim off my back! He took up so much of my free time!”

“You hate him, and you think I’m naive to have feelings for him,” she hissed. “Say it.”

His hand went to the bridge of his nose, sighing deeply. “Gaz—.”

“Say it!”

“YOU ARE,” he shouted, hands thrown wide. “You’re seventeen, Gaz!”

“Just because you’ve never been ‘interested’ in anyone—!”

“THIS ISN’T ABOUT YOUR SEXUALITY, JESUS,” he shrieked, his hands dragging down his cheeks. He held up a finger, taking a deep breath. “I need to say something. Let me say it.”

Gaz crossed her arms, seething. She widened her eyes, wiggling her head, a mocking acceptance of his request.

He brought his hands together in prayer, eyes sliding closed. He took another presumably calming breath before opening them, pointing his folded hands in her direction.

“I know about the mating thing,” he began.

Gaz froze.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Sorry for MIA.

I got stuck in Re:2 and realized I was starting to experience writer’s block. As a wise post I saw once said, essentially, if you’re writing yourself into a hole, reconsider why you’re still digging it.

I realized I wasn’t super in love with the story the way it was originally going. Existing parts won’t be rewritten, but I am changing the path of the narrative. Without revealing too much, the original themes still stand, but I’m adding a character who I’ve historically liked reading about but never considered writing til I realized that their inclusion actually made this story so much more interesting. And came with the benefit of all the hints I’ve been dropping still fitting.

Anyways, since committing to the change, I’ve been chugging out pages again no problem. This was definitely a needed revision. Re:2 is now technically on hiatus, but one I expect to be resolved within a month or so to rebuild my chapter buffer.

If you’d like any teasers or hints in the meantime to make up for it, I’ll gladly accommodate as best as I can without spoiling too much! I might give hints to themes/new character(s) in the form of songs. Definitely not just as an excuse to push my hobby of finding really specific songs about my characters/ships onto people. Totally.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

whispers 5 days

Just a heads up that the sequel might end up ao3 exclusive due to fanfictions basically nonexistent comment moderation. Sorry to ff readers, but I can’t keep up with the bullshit going on in my fic comments on that website. 💜💚

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Re: My Hostage, Not Yours 2: Winner Takes All

(ao3 exclusive)

[amyisherenowitsokay]

[amyisherenowitsokay]

Re:MHNY2 update

Had some downtime yesterday and finally started organizing all the chunks of writing I have in linear order, and discovered I have 4 chapters finished without noticing lmao. Each of the 4 chapters has maybe 5% more editing needed, but I’m really happy to have found out I’ve been way more productive than I thought I was.

In an ideal world, I’d like to get to about 10 chapters totally or at least mostly finished before I start publishing, but I could be happy with 6, depending on my mood, and depending on if I feel like the chapters I do have, even if they’re not finished, have a clear enough direction that I won’t sit there changing one scene or another and hemming and hawing about it for a month til I’m happy. I like to have lots of buffer room, and also, having concrete chapters written gives me a better idea of what lil bits of foreshadowing I can drop into the earlier chapters.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

would it be too greedy to ask for a snippet of mhny 2 since you posted a prev of 3...?

greed is a virtue anon

re:mhny2 banter (spoilers in the barest of ways) under the cut

cw // suggestive

[amyisherenowitsokay]

so tumblr wouldn't let me ask w/o an account so here i am-

so. hi. listen. i need to know. because i read re:mhny and a BEAUTIFUL Chekhov's gun stared me in the face just waiting to be fired??i think??- please tell me the control brains will have a role in re:mhny 3/4??? bc you're the only person i'd trust to do the concept justice and i understand if it's too late in your planning to play with but like, idk pls take my poor ideas perhaps you could be inspired-

wouldn't the control brains imply that irkens are a slave race? imagine Gaz having the AUDACITY of saying this to the Tallest, or Dib of all people not only learns of those specific dark facts (brains as overseers, irkens are grown not bred, pak holds so much more than gear, their minds, memories, abilities etc), comes to the realization, and it rips a chunk out of his view on irkens? or he looks at Zim with pity? in horror?

or something more interesting. The Control Brains use Zim's PAK against him. Zim doesn't realize, because he isn't the ''system administrator''. Maybe he's controlled, or thoughts/memories edited? Dib notices the subtle quirks, the loss in personality, Gaz notices the unnervingly nonsapient differences? Until Zim removes it for maintenance. Imagine the slowly dawning visceral terror as it hits him that he's much more aware, awake, alert without it drugging him? but- disconnection pens the 10 minute death warrant. I doubt he could constantly dis/reconnect, either.

oh yeah, first idea that hit me and i had to tell you- The Control Brains calculated the danger of Zim coming anywhere near the position of the Tallest. It's an objective fact such an outcome must be prevented. (if the irken race is slavery sanitized, perfection via calculating precision-free will is an illusion-, then leaders are knowingly produced. How else would the status quo be kept?) The Tallest know this. Zim knows this. Thus, not only the Tallest, but the Control Brains, must be removed. How, if murdering Zim where he stands is the automatic consequence for the thought? Easy, til the end. Deactivate the kill-switch. Pull the literal plug. Ten minutes to win.

Alternatively, with less 'me-editing-while-i-type-these-ideas-out-to-sound-coherent/add-more/sales-pitching-you':

Gaz stands where Zim once stood, staring at the irregularly sized and scattered crimson lenses of the Control Brains. There's a clarity that she's lost track of the remaining minutes.

Oho! Oho ho! Delighted! So delighted at fan theories ohoho!

I'm still MAD hungover from a lovely thanksgiving but I've long since honed the ability to type and not look at a screen so here we gooo.

SPOILERS/TEASERS UNDER THE CUT

First off, just to get it out of the way, I don't have any intention of trying to make a 4th Re:MHNY addition, mostly because of how my initial attempt at the 4th addition was so heavily entrenched in peer pressure and other ick. I won't go into it, but essentially, the series is going to stay a trilogy. We stan a trilogy.

The Control Brains are not going to rear their lil bulbous heads anytime soon, but I can confirm they're going to be in Re:MHNY3, as are the Tallest. I am most excited to redo the relationship between the Tallest and Zim.

The Irken Armada in fics as a whole is usually treated as a stepping stool for Zim to be King of the Hill, or for his Hero's Journey Redemption Arc. Which, don't get me wrong, some of my favorite fics have Zim end as a Tallest or Zim end as hero of Earth, but I personally HC something else that's going to be gently established as the story continues. I am still warring with the final cleanup, but I DO know some of it.

For your initial question, yes, absolutely. I think it might be canon (?) that the Irkens are a slave race, but don't quote me on that, brain is dehydrated and crispy. Regardless, for me, yes, I do think of the Irkens as enslaved, but heavily propagandized not to notice. According to them, they're not slaves, they're soldiers, when in fact they're both.

Gaz's 'audacity' in particular is a theme I'm looking forward to writing, and have actively already brainstormed. I do intend for Gaz to end up meeting the Tallest again, but unlike the original MHNY, you'll note that the Tallest are far less favorable to Zim at the end of the first story. They don't look at him with awe and admiration as they did in the original. They don't even know he has a mate, and that information is deliberately kept from them. They treat him with disdain, and Gaz notices and loathes it. They're not besties, they're dictators speaking to a subordinate they'd prefer was dead, and since he's been disillusioned, Zim knows that. The really fun thing about Re:MHNY is Zim doesn't have to imagine what Gaz does when face-to-face with someone with as much Absolute Authority(tm) as a Tallest. He's already seen it. Have a blurb from Re: 3!

It's not a question of "can you imagine how they'd react?" because Zim already knows. He's counting on it and accounting for it. And that's going to be the fun part!

Now onto Dib! I can't say too much without actually spoiling Re:2 actually, but I can say that Dib IS going to find out more about Irken culture than Zim ever wanted to him to know. He brought up multiple time to Gaz in Re:MHNY how much he really doesn't want Dib to understand or know Irken business the way she does. The curtain being pulled back for Gaz doesn't mean the offer extends to her sibling, but Dib's never been one to know when to keep himself out of other people's business. How he does so is where I'll let the mystery sit.

Regarding Zim being beaten up by a CB, or in some way ctrl + alt + deleted, I borrow a lot of my lore from unpublished episodes too, including The Trial. It's therefore my HC that the Control Brains themselves can't touch Zim, and have in fact been infected to view him favorably. I'll go more into what happened in Re:3, and what attempts were made to fix any errors Zim caused, but the events of that unpublished episode are important enough to keep in mind when I get around to writing it. At this point though, the Armada has become afraid to try to destroy Zim without the CB's on their side. It's best for everyone if Zim is dead, but they'll settle for keeping him as far away from Irk and their leaders as possible, and keep humoring him to make sure he doesn't want to leave, which is where the end of MHNY: Re lands.

Brain is now slushie but I hope that tickles your fancy. Tysm for making a whole account just to share your enthusiasm about the direction of Re's future installments with me. I love and cherish every single one of my ao3/ff comments, but tumblr let's me go on monologues like this/gives me a place to upload teasers/art whenever I want to satisfy my readers during fic update gaps. Your username made me laugh audibly, but before you delete your account, I'd recommend perusing through my blog here if you're looking for more teasers.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

I've just realised upon reading again, I don't think you ever stated if Tak got any taller. Does this mean we get Tall Dib and Short Queen Tak romance in the mhny sequels?

Ooh good question!

My excuse for Zim getting taller is that there is decreased gravity on Earth in comparison to Irk, making it more favorable for growth. My rationale is that most of Irk hunches, especially the Tallest, which could arguably be attributed to the fact they carry around heavy metal backpacks fused to their spine, sure, but if that was the case, wouldn't they lean backwards, not forwards? It could definitely be argued that they lean forward to overcompensate for the weight, but this is the lore I'm using for re:mhny.

During their encounter with the Valkians, neither Skoodge nor Tak had grown taller since their show-heights. The art of IZ creates very dramatic differences between adults and children, but if you want to think of it in terms we understand better, I imagine Tak's probably around 5ft-ish and Skoodge is around 4ft 7in-ish.

I won't answer your question directly, to avoid spoilers, but theoretically, if Tak were to spend a substantial amount of time on Earth in the future, she could also experience height growth.

[amyisherenowitsokay]

What is your favorite thing about each of your fanfics?

This is such a hard question omg. I don't think I've ever been asked anything like this, damn. Got me pondering n' shit.

I think, even of the fics that are not my favorite, the thing I always like is writing the romance. The action is fun, creating new lore is fun, writing OC's or developing side-characters is fun, etc., but I have never written a fic that wasn't a build up to and/or explicitly a romance. I love romance.

Even when I was a cynical teenager dangling boys on strings, determined to never take a relationship seriously, I loved the oncept of romance.

My current relationship has surpassed 6 years now, and I love him so dearly that his characteristics even show up in some of my fics, whether I mean them to or not. I consume a lot of media, but my absolute favorite thing to see and experience within it is love.

I love the slow burn of misunderstandings and peril that is Dead Weight. I love the found family of What We Become and Paradorx. I love the "I don't have much, but I know I have you" of Re:MHNY. The "you were destined for me" of That Thing on Your Wrist.

Thank you for this ask anon, it's got me in a very thoughtful, very sentimental mood now. I'm going to go text something unbearably mushy to my boyfriend. <3