#Irken outcast

[chaoartwork]

I kept these frames hidden for a long time. But knowing after many years that “Irken Outcast: The Musical” is never going to happen, I just don’t want all that beautiful hard work to go to waste.

I was the background artist for this particular scene in Rainbott’s project. It took possibly 50 frames to do and I put all my passion into make the colors and outlining as appealing as possible. I finished the entire scene before the cancellation announcement. But given there’s too much frames, I picked out the ones I’m most proud of.

I wish I can remember the storyboard artist who did the design, but I unfortunately can’t as of right. But they did such an excellent job making the characters so unique looking and the finished version wouldn’t look so fantastic without them.

I think to this day, I miss doing an animated group project. But hopefully one day, I can find it elsewhere. For now, I can just cherish how fantastic it was working on the IO project.

[spaceboibrainrot]

This artist drawings of Zib in Irken outcasts gives me so much gender envy, look at this boy I love him<3

I wanna look like that :(

(Not my art this is from Irken outcasts episode 4 on YouTube)

[thealienfreak]

Just finished Irken Outcast and oh my

I LOVEEE IT

USHSHIEBEUEUWBUW IS HW

[buyospudlin]

I see no difference in these pictures

[dotsdigital]

OC from Irken Outcasts !!

[emeraldspiral]

A venn diagram of the queer/neurodiverse content depicted in Invader Zim. I've already talked about the inherent queerness of Zim and mentioned a few times that there’s a big overlap with autism/neurodiversity but I thought this would make a handy reference. Note that “neurodiversity” isn’t just autism/ADD/ADHD but also includes mental illness, personality disorders, mood disorders, learning disabilities, and anything else that isn’t “neurotypical”.

On the queer side there is actual canon queer rep in the show and comics:

Irkens are canonically aroace and intersex.

Groyna from the comics was confirmed by Eric Trueheart to be a lesbian.

Commander Poki from the comics may be trans, as she has eyelashes normally only seen on female Irkens, but lacks the curled antenna every other female Irken is shown to possess.

Recap Kid's gender is deliberately ambiguous.

There are also many instances of queer-coding that can be seen throughout the show such as:

The homoerotic rivalry between Zim and Dib.

Red and Purple basically being Zim's two gay dads.

Zim and several other characters having campy and dramatic mannerisms.

Zim using Keef and Tak as beards.

Zim and GIR wearing make-up/cross-dressing and generally not concerning themselves with or even being aware of gender conformity.

That time Dib's personality was copied into the body of a female ship which became very distressed at being told it wasn't really a boy and changed its physical appearance to match its brain.

Other queer elements featured in the show include:

Female characters who aren't love interests/show no interest in romance.

Most characters showing a general lack of visible interest in the opposite sex or romance.

The Membranes being a non-traditional family (single dad with no mom, later acquiring two more dads in the form of Foodio and Clembrane). Irken society not being structured around family units at all.

Satirical depictions of nuclear family units (Zim’s roboparents).

Transhumanism.

Kink/Fetish content including tentacles, bondage, domination, tongues, sadism, mind-control, body morphing, gore, food/eating, bodily fluids/fluids in general, Giger-esque designs, etc…

On the Neurodiverse side we have:

Zim’s food sensitivity.

Zim’s germophobia.

Zim’s dislike of being touched or hugged.

Zim seeming to suffer from sensory issues in general.

Zim getting overstimulated on the bus in Walk of Doom.

Zim and Dib infodumping.

Zim’s idiosyncratic speech mannerisms.

Characters having high intellect paired with poor social skills/low emotional intelligence.

Hyperfixations and special interests.

Zim’s struggles with multi-tasking and keeping his priorities straight.

GIR being easily distracted and unable to focus on anything that doesn’t immediately interest him.

Characters having poor volume control.

Characters having mood swings or trouble regulating their emotions.

Zim’s issues with memory.

Dib hyperfocusing to the point of neglecting hygiene.

Zim’s “problem with listening”.

And in the middle where they overlap there’s:

Zim and Dib being outcasts, misunderstood by everyone around them, and only able to connect with other misfits like Gaz, GIR, Keef, each other, and random hobos.

Zim masking his otherness and putting on performative displays of “normalcy” and having a well-founded fear of the consequences of being discovered.

Dib being open about his otherness and looking for respect and acceptance in the face of overwhelming ridicule and contempt.

Dib being pressured by his father to conform in order to please him.

Dib finding that the social benefits of conformity aren’t enough to outweigh the pain of not being his authentic self in Mopiness of Doom.

Dib’s experiences and perspectives being trivialized, dismissed and medicalized as indicators of mental illness.

Dib actually being mentally ill, but only as a result of not being accepted or supported for being different.

The eugenicist dystopia of the Irken Empire, where Zim is labeled “defective” and sentenced to death rather than treated for the mental health issues caused by the society that created him.

Daddy issues/familial rejection/non-acceptance.

Zim and Dib’s struggles with depression.

Zim and Dib’s need to prove themselves to gain validation and acceptance.

Zim and Dib being victims of bullying and in turn bullying others to feel a sense of power.

Dib’s self-loathing.

Zim’s default state being paranoia and anxiety.

Zim and Dib’s self-image issues.

And of course the one thing that binds us all: alternative fashion.

[mariako-750]

At it again with the character bingo thing:

Norman:

Rio:

Chi:

Taz: (We don't know much of her so I didn't do a lot)

Zyl:

I did the character bingo thing with some of my fav Irken Outcasts characters:

Dib(ik he originates from the OG series, but still):

Zib(Same thing with Dib-):

Cik(I love him so fcking much-):

Mux:

Bolt:

Suggest me more Irken Outcasts characters to do this with:)

[irkendogma]

can i be so honest. i understand and i embrace the idea that within irken society the "defective" label is less an actual concrete descriptor based on any well-defined qualifications than a convenient excuse to separate and punish problem individuals from the general populace, but i just can't get behind the "because [character] acted out against what was strictly, to-the-letter expected of them, it means they're secretly defective and a tragic victim of the cruel society around them" tendency of the IZ fandom

i've seen this applied to tak, skoodge, tenn, both red and purple (usually at the same time), and probably more that i'm not remembering, and while i think there's something to be said for the principle that technically all irkens have potential to be classed as defective in the event their inherent traits manifest serving against rather than for the empire, i feel like the idea that this strictly outcasts and exonerates them from the environment in which they've spent their whole life is just kind of cheap on a writing level. mismatched traits or not, all of these characters act in service of the empire, often enthusiastically, and i truly don't think they consider themselves separate from it - hell, actual defective zim refuses any degree of separation at all, which i would be willing to consider as a coping mechanism if it weren't for the fact he brandishes that coping mechanism and goes in swinging on the empire's usual victims just the same as any non-defective would

like, i feel like people focus too hard on specific characters they like as "exceptions" to the irken empire rather than acknowledging the empire as a whole is a rotten concept mantled by everyone who contributes to it no matter how sympathetic - nearly every irken shown exhibits behavior i've seen used as some evidence for defectiveness or another. larb cries openly, skoodge is unnecessarily pleasant to others, tak places herself above the empire's rulings, tenn loses track of her mission and freaks out on camera, red and purple are openly casually affectionate to each other, sizz-lorr apologizes to a class of human children for interrupting them, bob outright snaps at the tallest repeatedly and ultimately talks back to them so loudly it's more like yelling back, and even background characters like the unseen irken purple commands to be thrown out of an airlock pipe up against authority when they're really not supposed to

any irken could potentially be defective and the reason i don't label them as such is for the same principle i mentioned initially on why the empire hasn't officially given them that label itself: it's used for individuals who cause problems for the empire, and as it is, sympathetic traits or not, these guys aren't doing that

[awesome-normal-heroes]

Headcanons for the 'Dib has a best friend that believes Zim is an alien' AU:

*Dib's BFF is calmer, sometimes sarcastic and more down-to-earth than Dib is.

*Dib's BFF believes in aliens and the supernatural like Dib does, but he's not as loud about as Dib.

*Dib's BFF is an outcast like Dib and Zim, but unlike Dib and Zim who get mocked by the other kids, the BFF gets constantly ignored and forgotten by them (much to his frustration).

*Professor Membrane and Mrs. Bitters also sometimes forgets about the existence of Dib's BFF.

*Gaz respects Dib's BFF more than Dib and Zim, but only slightly.

*Zim constantly underestimates Dib's BFF.

*Dib's BFF actually becomes friends with Gir and later Skoodge.

*The BFF was sick when Zim first arrived, so he doesn't meet Zim until after episode 1.

*In the 2nd episode, the BFF immediately knows that Zim is an alien, but tells Dib that they're might be a chance that Zim isn't an evil alien.

*So when they go to spy on Zim, they see him replace Keef's eyes with hypnotic robot eyes and Dib goes 'I told you so'.

*The BFF is by Dib's side for most of the battles against Zim.

*Although sometimes the BFF helps out in other ways, like when Zim is replacing organs, the BFF runs away from the school to call 911 (since the kids won't survive long without their organs while Dib tries to stop Zim... Or during the hypnotic pimple episode, the BFF tries to convince Dib to find something sharp first to pop Zim's pimple, but Dib got impatient; so the BFF had to wear a blindfold and pop Zim's pimple with a super sharp pencil... Or the episode where micro-Zim is trying to destroy Dib's memories, the BFF is trying to battle Zim's tiny robot to save Dib (in this AU, Zim keeps Dib's arms frozen after destroying the evidence), but the BFF fails and lets Gaz take over.

*In the planet battle episode, the BFF is by Dib's side and tries to battle Gir... In the episode where Zim controls the Tallest's ship, the BFF can only watch nervously as Dib uses Tak's ship to hack Zim's base... In the episode with Tak, the BFF gains a crush on Tak, but it stops after learning she's an irken (although Dib and Gaz playfully tease him about it).

*When Dib and his BFF meet the Tallest through Zim's alien TV, the BFF helps Dib get information about irkens, by complimenting the Tallest into giving them the information.

*During the florpus event, the Membrane Family and Dib's BFF help take down Zim together.

[flight-of-the-sacred-eagle]

Fuck it. New Invader Zim AU

Penpal AU

So this AU, the Irken Empire isn’t… well. The empire we know. It’s far more primitive (more advanced they humans and have colonized parts of their own solar system but haven’t invented ftl travel).

An older Dib and Zim are both kinda outcasts in their respective societies. Zim is… well. He’s Zim. And kinda obsessed with trying to find alien life. Dib is pretty much the same thing. So the pair spend their time trying to find evidence of life. This leads to them using radios, constantly trying to make a call to the universe.

And eventually, Zim picks up Dib’s transmission. And returns it.

There’s a month delay on Zim’s side, but eventually Dib gets the return message and the pair are kinda freaking out. Because holy shit they actually found alien life. Except no one cares (irkens) or don’t believe them (humans)

After about a year of back and forths, Zim eventually manages to create an instant transmission system and sends Dib the blueprints. And it works.

About four years go by with them talking more and more and pretty much falling in love. And Zim, being Zim, decides this isn’t enough. If no one cares, he’ll do everything himself. This leads to him, with Dib’s help, creating basically Skype between the too.

And this is… fine. For a few years, but by this point they really see each other as their only friends and Zim realizes he’s head over heels. So he decides, screw it. He’s making FTL travel. The empire had toyed with it for a bit before giving up, but Zim is determines.

And a decade later, he’s figured it out. So, without telling Dib (or really anyone else) he fucking dips and heads to Earth.

And there’s this really cute reunion/first meeting thing. Idk. I thought it’d be cute

[hermajestytak]

Interaction Ideas - Tak & Tenn edition

It's a tragedy that the Irken girlies never interacted in canon, so here's a list of ideas

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE, ZIM- Oh you're not Zim, you're a real invader!"

Tak landing on Meekrob after escaping because her ship ran out of fuel, but Tenn insists that she should be anywhere but there

Tak insisting Tenn needs to be more careful as she tend to their wounds, but Tenn is distracted by how beautiful Tak is and keeps having delayed reactions to what she's saying

Them learning how to herd and control their broken ass SIR units together like lesbian cowgirls

"You mean you built all this by yourself out of TRASH? That's stunning!"

Both of them venting their frustrations with The Tallest like YES go off!

Tenn actually calling Tak an invader even though that's not in their code to do so

"What? No, i-it's just, I never actually met anyone who listened and understood me before!"

Them huddling together for safety when everyone around them wants them dead

Tak promising to protect Tenn after they suffer from a bad anxiety attack

Tak convincing Tenn to go with her to Earth where all the humans are too stupid to stop them

"When we finally conquer this horrible little planet, let's forget the empire and take what's rightfully ours."

"How will we explain to these humans that we live together?" "We'll lie and pretend to be in a human 'love-adventure,' I'll show you how."

Tak loving how lowkey jealous Zim is whenever she's holding Tenn's hand

Gaz pointing out how they're obviously in love with each other, Tak gets a lil too defensive and Tenn just internally panics

Oops we enjoyed our pretend relationship a little too much and now we're girlfriends and I want to spend the rest of my life with you even though it would make us outcasts in our own empire

[inkmiracle]

General Tak x Reader

At first she's reserved, I mean she's an alien..

But like. She has this weird sense that she gets attatched to people easily.

She's oddly nice to you, something that is a rare occasion when she's not trying to extract information or anything.

Will not and would probably not bomb you.

If you reciprocate her kindness, she's going to think about that forever, I mean - she has been outcasted by the Irkens to Dirt for how long now? No kindness, she's definitely so touch starved.

Hand-holding is a must. If you two have started dating, she's absolutely adamant about flaunting you around.

Not clingy, very independent but enjoys having your time. Being around you is calming, to say the least.

[spaceboibrainrot]

i forgot how much i liked irken outcasts

[zilpy]

thinking of drawing more irken wander and maybe putting a smaller hat on top of his pak.

his pak would totally be filled with like the same amount of weirdness as his hat.

other random wander headcannons cause we wanna share

he is definitely a system/plural to us, and so is his hat

he absolutely has hundreds of xenogenders & neogenders, and uses all pronouns

he is aroace and hyperplatonic

he has adhd and autism

he considers himself a kid

theres more stuff but brain bad at thought rn

heres irken wander (unfortunately if you type that together you get warkin, which sounds like somebody who's kintype is war and thats totally the opposite of him djjdkdks)

he escaped irk to go roam the galaxy

he modfied his pak himself to decode anything from the irken empire

he doesn't tell anybody that he is an irken or what he is

he would absolutely love gir but also be disturbed by him if they met

he is taller than a typical irken

is considered "defective" but never got put on trial for it

was considered as an total outcast by all other irkens for being like, the total opposite of what is expected of our species

if this is in the same world as zim and they were both around at the same time we believe the tallest actually have a soft spot for him cause he is a relief to zim, still considered a problem by the rest of irk but not the tallest.

he would be trying to befriend zim and also dib if he goes to earth.

we would love to see the dynamic of like, wander (and only him) added to the same location as zim and dib and what the three of them interactions would be like. we imagine he would cause chaos for both of them and they would both resist his efforts to befriend them. gir would love him tho, gaz doesn't care. proffesor membrane might adopt him, because we find that funny. he would bring cheer to their gloomy planet.

he would probably be very fascinated with humans and their culture sense irkens aren't social with other species so this would be his first time seeing other creatures than irkens. (irkens likely don't keep pets, maybe attack animals or things like that) we can picture him choosing a "human" name, maybe he wasnt orginally named wander but something in irken language and choose that as his name. Irkens don't have genders and the same idea of identity lables or even an equivalent for some human things so he picks up human identities. He of course helps everybody and that makes the people of earth confused sense that version of earth is so fucked up and nobodies used to it. (it was even weirder to irkens, we are expected to only help the irken empire or ourselves, not others.

He has a whole human disguise with clothes, accessories and makeup, he has access to irken technology but saw zims disguise and decided to not use it and make the disguise himself. He likes to try out different human fashion styles and aesthetics.

ahhhh we love him

[pyromegalomaniac]

Could I request zim x reader where the reader gets anxious during social interactions but being around zim makes them feel more comfortable/confident and he notices?

Always cool to get Invader Zim requests, anon. Though I had a really hard time deciding if I should actually do this one considering it's really hard to know if Zim's an adult or not. He's a completely different species so even if he's 18 or above in human years we have no idea how old he is in Irken time. I think he's like over a hundred, but who knows maybe that's still a kid... anyway I didn't wanna disappoint so I just made them platonic with a kid at the school!! If you really wanna read these as romantic I can't stop you or anything but just keep what I said in mind! Anyway here are your headcanons!! Enjoy!!

(♡˙︶˙♡)

Zim x socially anxious!reader Headcanons (Platonic)🚀🛰🌌

Everyone in school is always screaming and it makes you wanna tear your hair out

Everyone in the world is always screaming honestly

It's kinda hard to talk to anyone or make friends

(At least you're not as outcast as that weird kid who's always on his laptop and screaming about ghosts...)

A new kid shows up one day and makes a pretty big impact

All the kids come to a general consensus that he's weird and also kinda stupid

He doesn't seem to notice though, in fact he thinks he's the greatest being who ever lived

Somehow his own foolishness makes you feel better about yourself

You find yourself hanging out with him and at first he's annoyed by this

But when you try to leave he's like "wait come back you can be my minion if you want-"

He thinks he's the best and you always tell him how awesome he is even though he sucks at everything because it's funny

Also you feel kinda bad for him

If you ever find yourself struggling in social interactions he'll come and scream at you which honestly just startles you more than anything

But it's jarring enough to help you as weird as that sounds

Basically it's like hanging out with a stupid person so you seem smarter by contrast

With your weird green friend by your side there's no challenge you can't face

Actually most challenges are pretty hard

You guys should just stay home and play video games

Those are the headcanons hahaha!! I feel like it might be redundant but whatever, it was fun to write. Thanks again for requesting these, I look forward to doing more in the future!! Much love!!

ヽ(>∀<☆)ノ

[fastenwick]

IZ vs OC

Read below for details of their strengths and weaknesses.

Resisty Zim

From the blog @resisty-zim

Strength:

One of the best fighters of his universe, thanks to his Invader training. Can take on roughly 30 irkens and win despite injuries.

PAK weapons are better than any built in defense a Kiraq Agent has.

Excellent hearing 90% of the time.

Teeth and claws able to slice through flesh.

Weakness:

Emotionally vulnerable 80% of the time.

Can't hear shit 10% of the time, and that's random.

Easily thrown off his guard by well timed negative comments.

Will try to adopt the Kiraq rather than win.

Agent 6K

Physically as strong as an irken.

From the blog @id-agent6031

Strength:

Well trained in stealth attacks and defense.

Viciously sharp teeth.

Hearing is excellent 100% of the time.

Night vision and heat detection.

Resourceful when she's allowed to be, can create weapons on the spot with very limited tools.

Difficult to penatrate skin.

Weakness:

Distracted easily by being called a coward.

Is not used to being allowed to make weapons on the fly, so out of practice.

Absolutely sucks at keeping her mouth shut.

Is technically a child.

Has a tendency to make things explode on accident, which can equally hurt her and her opponent.

Similarities

Both have a soft spot for humans and human culture. They are very attached to their robotic companions and have a love for sweet things.

They have good hearing, though 6K's is more reliable. Both an outcast of their species but very good at denial, and they're both good at getting back up and continuing to fight when hurt.