#irken architecture

[zootzar]

"..this is what you wanted to show me?"

"Superior to your filthy earthan oceans, isn't it?"

"..shut up zim."

[khaliarart]

Bug on my mind.

[invadertem]

HUB PLANET: IRK

(Not my art, I just like how it looks so I didn’t bother to do my own, made by this person)

Irk is a solitary celestial body, devoid of neighboring planets, and was historically held in place by the balancing influence of two opposing gravitational forces, each vying to draw it closer to their solar system. However, in its current configuration, Irk's position is maintained by a network of artificial gravitational thrusters.

PRE-TECH ERA OF IRK:

The Pre-Tech Era of Irk signifies the period preceding its transformation into a highly technologically advanced entity. While there are no extant photographic records depicting Irk in this earlier state, there exists documentation pertaining to the planet's geography, indigenous wildlife, and plant life. It's important to note that during the Pre-Tech Era, Irk's planetary dynamics differed significantly from its current state.

The most important feature of the Pre-Tech Era was Irk's leisurely rotation, resulting in an extended day-night cycle. Irk experienced 24-month cycles instead of the present-day 12-month format. This elongated rotational period impacted the planet's climatic conditions and the life forms that inhabited it. Unlike the contemporary Irk, the Pre-Tech Irk closely resembled other terrestrial planets in terms of its ecosystems.

What sets the Irk apart from its other terrestrial planets even to current day is its unique energy source. Instead of relying on solar radiation, the flora and fauna of this period thrived on the planet's internal heat. Consequently, plant life on Pre-Tech Irk did not necessitate exposure to sunlight, resulting in a characteristic purple hue instead of the familiar green. Notably, Irk remained perpetually enshrouded in darkness, given its considerable distance from a star. However, the planet's core temperature remained substantially high, providing the necessary conditions for sustaining life.

The climate on Pre-Tech Irk exhibited variations, including intermittent cooling phases within the 24-month cycle, during which the planet experienced extremely frigid conditions. To adapt to these extreme temperature fluctuations, the indigenous creatures of Irk developed remarkable abilities to regulate their body temperatures.

Furthermore, the Pre-Tech Era featured diverse biomes across the planet, contributing to a rich and complex ecosystem. Regrettably, our knowledge of this era remains limited, and further exploration is required to unravel the full extent of this intriguing period in Irk's history.

This period exerted a profound influence on the early development of the Irken race. To adapt to the perpetual darkness of Irk, Irkens underwent evolutionary changes. They developed enlarged eyes to enhance their vision in the absence of daylight. Additionally, their distinctive claws on both hands and feet evolved to facilitate movement and grip in the rocky terrain.

During the Pre-Tech era, Irkens primarily sported tails, which served multiple purposes. These tails not only aided in maintaining balance but also provided warmth during the colder months. Furthermore, communication among Pre-Tech era Irkens primarily comprised a vocal language consisting of chirps, trills, and hisses. However, for more information see the “Irken anatomy and traits” sector.

MODERN IRK ERA:

Irk in its current state is a meticulously organized, hollow celestial body comprised of distinct layers, each serving a crucial role. This architectural design has been engineered to cater to the diverse needs of the Irken Empire while ensuring efficiency and advanced capabilities.

The first layer, known as the 'Outer Ring,' encircles the planet and serves as an expansive artificial extension. Its purpose is to provide additional space beyond what the planet's natural surface can accommodate. The Outer Ring remains in stable orbit thanks to Irk's gravitational forces.

The second layer, referred to as the 'Atmospherical Shield,' encompasses the planet, functioning as both a protective barrier and a symbol of Irken Empire. This shield not only safeguards the planet but also prominently displays the emblem of the Irken Empire. Furthermore, it emits artificial lighting, ensuring a perpetual illumination.

Upon the Outer Ring, the third layer, 'The Surface,' is accessible through teleportation technology. This surface is home to towering cities teeming with industrious Irkens, encompassing both the workforce and civilian populations. Civilian Irkens are responsible for the production of various resources, including weaponry, medical supplies, and official documentation.

The final layer delves into the innards of the planet. Irk's hollow interior offers an array of subsections, with notable areas such as 'The Smeetery' at its core and the 'Training Grounds' just beneath the surface. This comprehensive structure has been meticulously designed to meet the needs of the Irken Empire, ensuring it operates from a robust and technologically advanced home base.

Remarkably, the process of hollowing the planet has accelerated its rotation, leading to a transition from a 24-month period to a 12-month period. In fact, Irk's rotation now synchronizes with that of Earth. Notably, the previous ecological diversity, or biomes, no longer exist on Irk, as it has been transformed into an expansive cityscape.

Irk serves as the central hub and operational headquarters of the formidable Irken Empire, boasting a sizeable and highly advanced Irken populace.

Irk employs a sophisticated dating system structured around 12 distinct months: Lunaris, Celestria, Nebulon, Quasar, Zephyria, Astracon, Solara, Galaxis, Interstella, Orbulon, Novaris, and Cosmara. Complementing this, the society adheres to a unique seven-day week, which aptly reflects their culture's vertical hierarchy: Lowgrav, Stiltday, Leviturn, Skyspan, Vertix, Atmoshif, and Apexday.

Years in this system are demarcated from the inception of the Irken Empire and consist of a numerical value, ranging up to 10,000, followed by a letter. This letter signifies how many times this 10,000-year mark has been reached. Presently, the dating system designates the year as 2030x. This comprehensive calendar system reflects the historical significance and innovative nature of the Irken civilization.

[edgy-ella]

Here I am yet again with another Invader Zim theory

(Pray I do not make another)

MatPat’s old film theory on the series popped up in my recommended feed on YouTube today, and it got me thinking about something. In case you haven’t seen it, his theory was that Professor Membrane (and by extension, Dib and Gaz) was an alien, an Irken specifically, who had been banished to Earth by the Tallest in order to stop him from usurping their position.

It’s an old and silly theory that can be debunked in four simple words: “where’s Membrane’s PAK?” But like I said, it got me thinking. Instead of focusing on Irken/alien material on Earth, let’s focus on elements of human culture on the other planets we see in the show.

Isn’t it a bit odd how much distinctly human food is seen throughout the series, presumably made and consumed by alien species located several hundred light years away from Earth? Nachos, sandwiches, doughnuts, etc. They all look just like their Earth equivalents too, so presumably they’re one and the same and made with the same ingredients. So by extension, things like sugar, corn, cheese, and lettuce must also exist on Irk.

That wouldn’t be so weird—in fact, you could argue that it’s the show’s way of simplifying alien food into something more recognizable for a human audience and easier understood by younger viewers—except that we do see tons of distinctly alien foods in the show. Zim is seen eating a fun dip-like snack in a couple of episodes, and tons of unique alien foods are both seen and named in the episode where Zim gets sent back to Foodcourtia. So this isn’t just the show using visual language to instantly convey the idea of food to the viewer, there is a clear distinction between “human” food and “alien” food. Hell, there’s even something called a Vort Dog, which looks like a small hot dog with a band around the rim, so there’s even alien variations of human food.

But that’s not all! Shloogorgh's Flavor Monster, the restaurant place Zim is sentenced to work at, looks and functions exactly like a fast food place on Earth. An establishment that caters to multiple, distinct alien races, all with their own needs and cultures, and yet it still has the same old booths, cash registers, and happy mascot costumes you’d find at a MacMeaties or Krazy Taco. The kitchen itself is more automated than their Earth equivalents, but the point stands.

Another thing that stands out is how language is used by the other aliens in the show. Zim presumably has a universal translator built into his PAK (we hear what is likely his untranslated speech at the start of the Mysterious Mysteries episode) and given their military conquest, Irken is presumably the dominant language used by the other alien species in the show. But we see Dib interact with multiple other aliens in the show, all of whom would have no reason to know an Earth language like English. This only comes up a couple times in the show, like with the Plookesians, but is a lot more prevalent in the comics where Dib goes out into space more often. And he does interact with a lot of different species, many of which don’t seem to be under the control of the Irken empire. Dib is never shown to know how to speak Irken (unless Ten Minutes to Doom is canon and he retained that knowledge from when Zim’s PAK was stuck to him), and it’s unlikely that all of the different aliens he talks to would as well. Meaning the only alternative is that they’re all speaking English.

So we see human food, infrastructure, architecture, plumbing, and language scattered throughout the vast reaches of space, both within the Irken Empire and outside of it.

Let’s take that information with some of the stuff that MatPat brought up in his theory.

“I only hope the Irkens just so happen to use the same operating system as me.” Even though this line is meant to be a joke, it really does feel like a smoking gun for a link between human and Irken society and technology. The Irkens did know about Earth, but only as an unspecified mystery planet. Professor Membrane’s continued, staunch denial of aliens is odd considering the literal walking proof right in front of him, not to mention how big of a scientific discovery extraterrestrial life would be. And yeah, some of his technology does resemble the equipment in Zim’s base.

Which brings me to my next point: the Control Brains.

The Control Brains are weird. They have very few appearances in the show and don’t appear at all in the comics, but what little screen time they have tells us everything we need to know about them: they’re giant computers in control of the Irken Empire, responsible for handling everything from Irken reproduction to military affairs to corporal punishment. Their design also implies a connection to PAKs. Make no mistake; the Tallest aren’t in control, these guys are. But they’re machines, they didn’t just come out of nowhere. So who made them?

A lot of this is speculative on my part, I’m sure there’s some decade old interview where Jhonen deconfirms everything I’m about to say. But stick with me here.

I think that the PAKs were made by humans, and that Membrane at least knows about them and the Irkens.

A previous human presence in extraterrestrial territories would explain a lot. It explains why we see so much human food; why the alien restaurants, bathrooms, and prisons look and function so similarly to the ones on Earth, and it explains why everyone in space speaks English. It all originated from Earth. “I only hope the Irkens just so happen to use the same operating system as me,” Irken and human computers are compatible with each other. The Control Brains are giant Irken supercomputers. Ergo, they were likely built on human operating systems as well.

The obvious conclusion here is that they were made by Professor Membrane, but I actually don’t think that’s the case; the Irken Empire has probably been around much longer than Membrane has, no matter how many time warps you throw in. That being said, I think Membrane does know about whatever the origin of all of this was. That’s why he’s so in denial about aliens—he wants to keep his son away from that field of study to keep him safe. He ignores Zim’s plans for world conquest for the same reason Gaz does, “because he’s so bad at it.” Membrane doesn’t see Zim as a threat.

[sysig]

Hm ok what's your favorite or a really cool worlbuilding thing you've done? For any fandom or original or even an unimplemented idea

Hmm well at least in the past decade, my big worldbuilding projects have mostly come down to three-ish stories: Other Side of the Gun, Adventures of Gæilo and Ethon, and Just Desserts

OSG was an Invader ZiM fancomic concept I started around 2013 to justify every single Irken headcanon I ever came up with lol - I never finished it, or even really started it, but I put a lot of time and energy into its roughs back in the day :)

^A stick figure recap of Ch. 1, inspired by - what else - the Vargas stick figure recaps lol

One that you can see over here is all the work I did for my DnD campaign, AGE! (Though its sideblog hasn't been updated in a while haha - the AGE tag over here works just as well) I basically homebrewed a pantheon and had an absolute blast designing all the gods and their forms before they became gods and even things like architectural differences in their churches and the BBEG and his motivations and just ah <3 Such a fun project :D

It also laid the groundwork for things like Pokemon Homestyle, specifically all my papercrafts! You can really see how I leveled up haha

And my latest has been Just Desserts! Even with less time under its belt, it's still pretty expansive, as evidenced by my icon and theme and the backlog lol, and it's the one I have the most AUs of! (Though OSG does come close actually haha) There are still some thorny details I'm trying to iron out, especially to do with the magic system, but all the characters and creatures and the fact that I made my own fighting minigame, ah, pleased! I've never been so happy with a sona before Charm! ♥ From the very beginning it's been so fun to work on and I still want to improve!

[short-and-ugly]

gotta remember that irken architecture/machinery is supposed to look and feel organic

[emeraldspiral]

My headcanon is that Irkens use AI to make all their art and their only creative outlets are science and engineering to feed the Irken war machine. That’s why the architectural and interior design of Zim's house are so janky and the art on the walls is meaningless nonsense.

since irkens are technically cyborgs... ... would irken art be considered... AI art?

[oddclan-askblog]

Oddworld:

So this blog has been weaving between life and death for a while. I'm not getting rid of it, I'll actually be more active on here in the days to come since I'll be quiting my irl job this week.

I'm still working on the odd comic with a few major changes. For one, anything to do w/ Lil's tribe will be told through Lil/ Messa. Raaf will still be a part of their tribe but his PoV will be explored later in the story.

I'm still working out where / if Alqa will fit into the comic or be his own thing. Theres an Anon ask in my inbox concerning Alqa and I just want Anon to know I you and I'm working on a response lol.

---

Invader zim:

I've sketched some fan art for the series in the past. I even have four Irken characters I made little refs for. I cant promise anything as expansive as a comic right now for them but I'll def be posting more art and musings of my ant alien ocs in the future. Irkins are all around fun to draw. Same for Zim, Dib, and maybe the Tallests. If I make a comic I'm going to have it focus on my ocs and their journey through Irken culture with Zim and the Tallests being background characters. Most fan work focuses heavily on the MCs and Earth discourse, Irk its self feels like an untapped venue.

---

Halo:

Elites and Spartan fan art, maybe some armor and architecture cons. Cant promise much else for the meantime. Mostly I'll draw Elites because they're awesome.

[aquato-family-circus]

Hey here's an idea

Tell us about one of your favorite non-psychonauts characters and what you think their mental world would be like?

cracks my knuckles

ok

Dib Membrane, age 12, from cult classic television show turned Netflix Movie and comic book series Invader Zim, is one of my favorite characters in the whole world. He's my son, my baby boy, my angel

So first of all to get it out of the way: technically speaking, Dib already has a world that is mental in his head; the Halloween special's spooky nightmare realm

But, I've always considered that to be a dimensional rift connected to but not literally representative of his mind. And also I think a lot more could be done with his mental state

With that out of the way

Dib's Debrief

Dib's mindscape is a large, almost labrynthian network of hallways, doors, and computer monitors. The hallways are aesthetically similar to those of his skool most of the time, thought they can also find elements of Membrane Labs, NASA Place, and misc other office-ish enviroments creeping in.

His home base/the hub of the world is a large computer monitor/desk area with both Swollen Eyeball Network and Membrane Labs iconography all over the place. It's aesthetically similar to his bedroom, so it's very tech-savvy, blue and purple, and has a lot of props and figments related to his interests.

Common enemies in his mind include bad moods, enablers, and censors. His head rarely has any doubts roaming around, though those present you can typically find closer to sets and landmarks related to his dad.

The hallways lead to various conspiracies and theories he's been focusing on at the moment. Behind one door a project concerning sassquatch, around another corner a red-line board for mothman, ect. Some hallways can open up into slightly more open spaces, but often tend to be narrow and claustrophobic. But all hallways tend to loop back in around themselves and lead either back to the hub, or to the other major set piece of his mind:

ALIENS

specifically everything he's managed to gather about outer space, space travel, Irkens, and ZIM. Irken architecture and aesthetics are highly present here - lots of large tubes, glowing pink and red lights, trippy larger on the inside pockets of space. It almost looks like Zim's house turned inside out, from all the spying and crawling around Dib has done there to document evidence.

The color of the sky in his world is almost always the star filled inky expanse of space, even in some of the otherwise claustrophobic hallways.

There's honestly a lot of different possibilities for what an exploration thru his mind could look like. There's his desperate need to be believed and to be specifcally acknowledged and thanked for it, desire for his father's approval, his complicated relationship with Zim*, even his habit of treating allies like his sister as sidekicks and how that unintentionally pushes them off his side, the opposite of what he wants in the end.

*I don't ship Dib and Zim romantically. I just think their parallels and mutual desire for approval from their respective societies that reject them is compelling. It's hard to analyze them as characters without it since they're so tied together by the nature of the series' centeal premise.

[fastenwick]

Smallest Purple's Mission, Part Two

(Starring Purple of course, from @almighty-smallest, and his S.I.R. unit Pop. Featuring mentions of @invader-d1b and @ukagaka-zim's Dib.)

"Are we there yet?"

"No."

"How about now?"

"Not yet.

"Are we there now?"

"Sir, does it look like we're there?" Pop huffed.

Purple grumbled. "No."

There was silence for a few minutes.

"Are we there yet?"

"Sir, you'll know when we're there," Pop sighed.

"I know I'll know, I'm just bored," Purple said.

Pop shrugged. "Well, I am not meant for entertainment."

"Nah, you're boring as hell," Purple huffed.

"So I am."

"Eh."

There was silence for a while again.

"You can talk if you'd like," Pop said.

"I don't have anything to talk about, I guess," Purple said with a shrug. "I already told you what you missed on the Massive."

"Hm… well what about the past few days? Anything I missed?" Pop asked.

"Uh. I talked with a Dib?" Purple said.

"Oh, D1b?"

"No, different Dib. Younger one, one of the multiverse weirdos," Purple explained.

"Ah," Pop said with a nod.

Purple shrugged. "Eh, he's a good kid though."

"Hm."

"Aaaaand I'm bored again," Purple groaned.

"I'm sorry, sir," Pop said.

Purple's antennas went limp on the back of his head. "Too bad I don't have a signal out here."

"A shame."

More time passed, Purple talked about random stuff and Pop just listened. After a few hours, Purple grew quiet and dozed off, setting an alert in his PAK to wake him up when they got close to their destination.

Pop kept silent, waiting patiently. He would often spend long chunks of time dormant like this, he preferred it.

Eventually, Purple's PAK woke him up. The Irken opened his eyes and straightened up in the chair.

Pop poked his head up from behind Purple.

"We're here," Purple said simply, looking outside of the ship.

Just outside the ship was a mini artificial planet, with a large building taking up about half of the space. The building was white and pink, with architecture that looked similar to layers of white and pink icing. There were many ships parked, and a bright neon sign that said "Chlorg's Sweet Treats."

Pop sighed.

"What? I said we were getting sweet rolls," Purple said.

Thirty minutes later, Purple had a bag of soft blue rolls and they were back on their way to the Surla Triangle.

Purple munched on one of the rolls, kicking his feet a little bit in a relaxed manner.

"I'm sure you're very pleased with yourself," Pop said.

"Yep. Want one?" Purple offered Pop a roll.

"No thank you, sir."

"More for me." Purple took a big bite out of the roll. 

Pop shook his head in disappointment. Then he spotted something coming into sight outside the ship. He tapped Purple's shoulder. "Uh, sir?"

Purple looked at Pop. "What's up?"

Pop pointed to what looked like a giant ship, about half the size of the Massive, headed towards them.

"Oh, shit!" Purple dropped the roll and turned off auto-pilot. He took the control and quickly turned on the cloaking device, then piloted his ship out of the way of the incoming obstacle. It did not come close to hitting them. However, Pop and Purple both got a good look at the insignia painted on the side of the ship's bulky hull. A messy green handprint, the color of Mitor blood. 

"We found our pirates," Purple said with a chuckle.

"Remember, get the Trident. That's it," Pop said. "They'll have that back at their headquarters, not on the ship."

Purple grinned. "Yeah, buuuuuut!"

"Sir."

"Wouldn't it be fun if we couuuuuuld."

"Sir please."

Purple chuckled. "Take down the whole organization?"

"Good grief…"

[rat-slaughterer]

vortship​:

Aw, she liked the pug next door, and his wet, black eyes like reflective marbles. Clearly he was just trying to say ‘hi’. Only Hal could appreciate the majesty and beauty of an ugly Earth dog. Not even in all the creature stores in all of Weird Space could someone find an animal so unfit for survival- Hal loved it. Humans had meddled with entire gene pools just for a snuggly little smoosh face! A cause she could get behind.

Again, she found herself wondering about Irken nature, if they even could enjoy some part of a world that was not wholly theirs, rather than simply enjoying it’s spoils once it was conquered. Skoodge, while he seemed to have trouble at first, did answer, and it wasn’t with the caveat that he wanted to destroy humanity either. For that matter, did he? If not well, neither did she. 

The train hit another bump, and Skoodge managed to get through it without falling or stumbling. She’d never been to Irk, only seen it on TV back when she was on her home-planet. She remembered pink skies and rounded architecture. Irk was all functionality, as though their own planet was a temporary stepping stone compared to the ones they ruled.

“You gotta find the right snacks, and they’re almost as good as home.” Hal pointed out, “Like Takis!” food where they were from was ultra dense and caloric, Earth food might as well all be salad by comparison, “And you gotta know when to improvise! Like when I put pizza rolls on pizza.” she explained, hoping she was blowing Skoodge’s mind with snack knowledge right about now. 

She giggled at his final answer,

“Your favorite thing about Earth is the humans? Don’t tell Zim.” Hal was pretty sure that was his least favorite thing about Earth, perhaps that and barbeque sauce… maybe also the bees, “Nah, I like humans too. They’re…” she struggled to think of the word, “-I dunno, simple. Like things are easier here.”

Hal paused for a moment, taking in more scenery in the followed silence. Perhaps it was easier for her to say, she was a passer-through, an outsider, one foot out the door. As soon as the armada arrived, she wasn’t going to stick around, that was for sure. 

“That’s easy. It’s Real Housewives of Brunch! Those ladies sure are bored and rich.” it was an acquired taste, but even Gir could appreciate the simple joys of the ‘screaming lady show’. Hal tapped her chin as she attempted to think of a question,

“Oh! What are the Tallests like? I mean, like, in person?”

His mind is absolutely more than blown, quietly thinking that’s two times the pizza. He would love to try that, some time. Some pizza meats are fake enough for him to get away with eating them. He tried hawaiian pizza once, and the ham only hurt a little!

He listens to her response to him with rapt attention, not having any idea why he shouldn’t tell Zim. Humans are smelly, sure, but they’re also dumb. And not an active threat every waking moment of every second of every day trying to murdalize you while your back is turned. Hopefully. So, not all that bad, all things considered. He also has no idea what a housewife brunch is, voicing that thought when Hal finishes.

Now there’s corn fields outside. Wretched. Vile.

The hat atop Skoodge’s head moves every time the antennae underneath try to extend.

Unable to express himself with his antennae, he raises a brow at Hal. Really? The Tallest? Plural? Sure, they’re the almighty leaders of the entire Irken Empire, and sure, they’re... pretty great, and sure, they’d kill you without a moment’s hesitation given the opportunity, multiple times –

Actually, that’s more than enough reason to be asking about them.

“They’re tall!” He states, simple and obvious. “Not too accepting if you don’t at least reach around their waists.” He holds his hand above his head, palm parallel, reaching around Hal’s height. “They’d punt you outta’va an airlock if they saw you.” For more reason than being a vortian. He’s almost certain they’d made a sport out of it, with how many drones and smallers they’ve thrown out.

“Does –” he begins, but corrects himself.

“Did. Vort. Have leaders? Or, actually, how were they chosen?" It can’t be a height thing, too, not with how picky-choosey and... well, they’re all around the same height. There’s likely no good way to choose a Tallest when you’d have to pull out a microscope to see the difference between two taller-than-average vortians.

[messinwitheddie]

Wee need more on Loralei. Please share with us Loralei stuff! Howd she meet Dib? What's her dream job? Childhood memories? Share with us your Human OC!

Lorelai and Reg are my only two human ocs. I'm not as confident with my human oxs as I am my Irkens.

She comes across as a "bitchy ex" in the few times I've explored her character; which is really an injustice to her. She's not a bitch. She just has a lower tolerance for bs than most and bs has been steadily dumped at her feet her whole life.

Her design I've struggled with for a while, but I love drawing her. (Excuse her twists; lack of drawing skills on my part. I'm trying ^^;)

Lorelai von Verminstrasser

Granddaughter of Countess von Verminstrasser; the de- louser. Daughter/ youngest child of Prof. Arnd von Verminstrasser, (German super-scientists/ heir to the V.V. genetics lab/ nature reserve located somewhere in the depths of the Black Forrest) and Prof. Youmna Abdelsalam; (a master architect/ architectural history major from Cairo.)

There's a lot of fan lore behind Lorelai's character involving the von Verminstrasser family; which in my au, is an old, wealthy family of scientists/zoologist/biologists/ cryptid hunters dating back to the 12th century. In modern years their research has been less focused on hunting and more about documenting/ preservation.

Lorelai grew up on her family's nature reserve. She was homeschooled until she was 15. Her parents are loving and encouraging, but also can be eccentric, strict and often hold her to high standards; especially concerning her grades. Growing up, her family heavily involved her in their research/ experiments. Countess often included Lorelai on cryptid hunts. She was taught a long list of wilderness survival skills, an in depth understanding of animal biology/ behavior and unlimited access to von Verminstrasser tech.

Despite consistent displays of competency; she often found herself in the shadow of her older brother/ cousins.

She met Dib on the swollen eyeball network under the name “agent Khonsu" when they were 13. She originally only joined to troll her older brother, who often trolled the SE message boards. She and Dib never exchanged personal information beyond that of their SE names. She came across a lot of nonsense among the organizations, but was intrigued by what seemed legitimate. She and Dib had many heated debates. Their biggest argument was actually not over Zim, but over her theory that prof. Membrane was an alien or cryptid... and over who built the pyramids, but mostly her "Prof M. is an alien theory).

She and Dib met in person when she was 14. She had joined her parents and “oma" Countess to a trip to America. Her father was to assist Prof. Membrane on a major project/ guest appear on his show.

Lorelai seized the opportunity to gather evidence on her theory. She managed to infiltrate Dib's house and explore Prof. Membrane's personal lab.

Her theory was disproven upon further investigation. She immediately apologized for her accusations/ intrusion, which Dib reluctantly accepted. She admitted to him that her theory about the professor was faulty, but she desperately wanted a way to be noticed; on the SE network and by her family. She found a kindred spirit in Dib. They became close friends and continued to discuss (more civilly) paranormal science with him in the SE message boards. She later helped Dib infiltrate Zim's base one last time before he left Earth.

The two dated via video chat and the occasional visit until they were 19. With her family's blessing, Lorelai transferred colleges/ moved to Dib's city to live with him/ earn her degree (s).

The two of them went on a world paranormal hunt when they were twenty (behind their parents' backs). Their son, Reg was born soon after.

Lorelai has many fond memories exploring her family's nature reserve as a child. Some of her fondest memories are exploring haunted/ or paranormal sites with Dib. She loves rock climbing, hiking and tracking animals.

Now that she has had opportunities to explore who she is as a separate entity from her family and a world outside the V.V nature reserve, she would eventually like to take on the responsibility of running it/ protecting it. (She cannot trust it to her brother and cousins who have little interest in maintaining the reserve.)

Since her breakup with Dib she has returned to her ancestral home to help manage the facility. Her biggest goal as of late (beyond furthering her studies/ being a good mother to Reg) is to prove the existence of the Wolptertinger.

I glossed over so much and there's still so much text.

I realized after going through my tags I've spelled this poor oc's name wrong since the beginning. ><

[tendervulture]

RAPR Fankids AU

Listed in birth order. All the kids are named after various shades of red and purple because The Tallest are unoriginal. They literally just opened a book of color swatches and picked out the names of colors they liked. I love the trope of a Deadly Decadent Court with a bunch of Royal Brats all scrabbling for power, and it certainly shows here.

First Litter:

Eminence-The eldest, and the golden child. Likely to become Tallest one day. Crafty and cunning, and has made plans to off some of her competitors to the throne and her parents’ affections. Widely loved across Irk, used to being in the spotlight. Killed by Red in a duel for the throne, but not before mortally wounding him.

Boysen (Boysenberry)-Poisoner and chemist for the Tallest. Assassinates political dissidents and any challenge to their fathers’ throne, including, if necessary, their own siblings.

Tyrian-The Tallests’ personal executioner. Could have very much been a challenger to the throne one day if they hadn’t suddenly stopped growing.

Puce-The resentful fourth child. Has adopted a very brutal attitude to combat teasing for his unfortunate-sounding name.

Burgundy-The administrator. Currently governor of several of Irk’s territories. The only one in the family with the patience to handle minutia.

Kobi-The softie of the group and a diplomat. Youngest of the first litter. Has Vortian sympathies.

Second Litter:

Fandango-Dancer, composer, and historian. Also a movie critic.

Telemagenta-Very loud and currently works in communications as apprentice newscaster.

Quinacridone-Baby chemist and court portraitist. Works in tandem with Boysen.

Garnet-The warrior. Red’s favorite. Killed by either The Resisty or Dib.

Claret-Food critic and professional snob.

Shiraz-Classy. Wine taster. Looooves stained glass and is responsible for re-introducing it to Irken architecture.

Third Litter (the twins):

Violet-Twin. Very bratty.

Scarlet-Twin. Very bratty.

[intheticklecloset]

The Lookout, Part 1/2 (Invader Zim)

This is a longer fic so I split it into two parts, but I think it works best this way. Part One fulfills the request I got for Zim to tickle Dib while he’s holding something heavy. Enjoy!

Fandom: Invader Zim

Shipping: Mostly ZADF, a bit of ZADR

~

“I haven’t been out here in ages,” Dib told Zim as they walked along a fairly well-defined path through the trees.

Zim looked around him with interest. “Why come out here at all? There’s nothing to see.”

“I’ve got a lookout up ahead.” Dib ducked under low-hanging branch. “When I was younger I was determined to find Bigfoot after he broke into my garage. No one took me seriously about that. I wanted to bring him to justice myself.”

“Did you ever find him?”

Dib suppressed a groan. “No. But I know he’s out there!”

Zim eyed him as he followed along behind the human boy. “Why did you not pursue him with as much vigor as you did me?”

“You were a more immediate threat,” Dib replied. “You wanted to destroy the Earth. Bigfoot just made a mess in my garage and took off. You were a priority.”

“And now that we are friends, Bigfoot has become your priority?”

“Well, no. I just wanted to get out of the house now that it’s finally warm out again. Aha!” He exclaimed suddenly, pointing. “There it is.”

Just ahead of them was a small, poorly built treehouse that rose about fifteen feet off the ground. A few spikes drilled into the tree served as a ladder to reach it.

Zim eyed the treehouse dubiously. “This is your lookout? It’s pathetic.”

“Gee, thanks.” Dib shrugged. “I had to build it myself. No one wanted to help me.”

“Is it sturdy?”

“Haven’t fallen out of it yet.”

Zim hummed as Dib reached the base of the tree, found the first spike, and began to climb. “You know, I could help you design a much more structurally sound and efficient lookout than this.”

Dib glanced back at him. “Really?”

“My knowledge of architecture clearly far surpasses yours.”

“Your house doesn’t have a bedroom.”

“It doesn’t need one. I don’t sleep like you do. I merely recharge my Pak, and that only takes an hour or so at most.”

“But if you were trying to blend in—”

“I never anticipated allowing humans inside, Dib,” Zim snapped as he climbed the spikes to the treehouse. “My joke of a mission did not go as I anticipated.”

“Point taken,” Dib said quickly, hoping to quell any frustration on Zim’s part. The last thing he needed was to get the Irken all riled up about this again. Once the alien had joined him on the landing, he swept an arm out grandly. “Tada! Oh, what?” His eyes fell upon a tree branch that had evidently crashed down from somewhere above and landed right in the middle of the platform. There was barely room for the two of them to stand with that thing in the way. “Okay, well, that kind of ruined the moment.”

“There was a moment?”

“Oh, shut up. Hang on, let me get this out of here.” Dib leaned down to pick up the branch, anticipating a bit of a struggle, but not as much as he actually had. He let out an “oof!” of surprise as he began to pick it up, then quickly dropped it. “Wow, this thing is heavy. Give me a hand, Zim.” When he received no reply, he glanced at the alien. “Zim?”

Zim was staring at him as if surprised, but also not surprised. “You can’t pick it up on your own?”

“It’s too heavy.”

“Seriously?” Zim reached down to pick up the end closest to him, hefting it up with ease. “This is nothing. It’s like a paperclip to me.”

“Well, good for you,” Dib muttered. “Just help me throw it over the side, will you?”

Zim watched as Dib lifted up his own end with difficulty. “You’re pathetic, Dib-stink. Surely you’re stronger than that. If I’d known a tree branch was all it took to defeat you I’d have employed one years ago.”

Dib growled, turning to face him. “This tree branch is not defeating me, Zim. It’s not sentient.”

“If you were to hold it on your own you would drop it.”

“No I wouldn’t!”

“No?” Zim hefted the branch up onto his shoulder, effectively yanking it from Dib’s grasp. “Prove it. Put your hands out.”

Rolling his eyes but determined to prove a point, Dib did as instructed and held his arms out straight in front of him, palms up. Zim placed the branch in his hands. As long as the Irken was also holding it, it didn’t feel so heavy. But the instant he let go, Dib audibly grunted and struggled to maintain his hold on it.

Zim stood back and crossed his arms. “See?”

“I haven’t dropped it yet!” Dib grunted, the branch swaying unevenly to one side.

“You will.”

“No I won’t.”

After another moment of watching Dib struggle, a wicked grin crossed the alien’s face – one Dib most definitely did not like. Zim crouched underneath the branch and passed under it. When he stood again, he was between Dib’s outstretched arms, practically right in his face, smirking. He tugged at the hem of Dib’s t-shirt, sliding his hands underneath it. “Let’s see how strong you are when I do this.”

“N-No!” Dib giggled, already feeling his arms weaken at the light scribbling along his sides. “Zim, that’s cheating!”

“Not cheating,” the alien replied, enjoying this way too much. “I told you to prove that you wouldn’t drop it. So prove it.”

Zim’s fingers against his skin were light, teasing, but that didn’t keep Dib from giggling – perhaps more from nervousness and embarrassment at this point – and fighting to keep his arms stretched out straight so he wouldn’t drop the branch.

“Aw, you’re blushing.”

“Shut up, Zim!” Dib cried, feeling the heat of it on his cheeks.

“What’s wrong? I thought you could hold it on your own. You’re big and strong, right? You don’t need my help.” His hands slid further up the human’s torso. “So why should I stop?”

“Gah!” Dib could feel his hold on the branch wavering rapidly. “Okay, you’re right, I can’t do it!”

“I didn’t think so.”

With that, Zim plunged his fingers into Dib’s underarms, and Dib dropped the branch as a shriek of laughter was pulled from his lungs and he curled up to protect himself. “Stop!”

“No.” Zim followed Dib as he crumpled to the ground. Then he got an idea – an evil, evil idea. He picked up the branch and leaned it against the side of the treehouse. Before Dib could recover and sit up, Zim yanked his arms above his head and then pulled the branch back down so it lay on top of Dib’s arms, pinning them.

He straddled Dib just as the human was beginning to realize what was going on.

“Oh come on!” He protested, shivering as Zim’s fingers slid back under his shirt and toward his sweet spot. “This is so not fair!”

“I never said it would be.” Zim dug his fingers in, relishing the squeal and waves of laughter he pulled from Dib. “Now, if you want me to stop, I suggest you start working on your strength a bit more. Because until that branch isn’t pinning you down, I will show you no mercy.”

Dib’s screaming laughter rose into the trees and could be heard even at a great distance – so far, in fact, that in another part of the woods entirely, Bigfoot turned his head toward the sound.

[askzelandpen]

@commsofficerirken Pen finally finished cleaning the house and shed making sure everything was ready for a new visitor. Though the house didn’t have much furniture within it, to begin with. The house had 2 floors as far as Pen was aware of there was the basement and the ground level. It had a kitchen, living room, 2 bedrooms 1 bath, a den, and an office. A hallway stretched from the kitchen leading to a door that opened to the backyard. it was a rather spacious backyard. Most of the rooms were painted different shades of green except Pen’s bedroom. the whole house covered in wooden floors except the tiled bathroom. The layout of the house was a bit off or at least the random window in the kitchen was, it showed the outside but from what anyone could tell the other side of the wall was a living room. The bathroom’s mirror didn’t reflect anything. Also, the fridge in the kitchen wasn’t connected to anything. Pen however never really noticed how strange that was, then again he never dived too deep into how human architecture was supposed to be.

The outside of the house was painted dark blue the windows trimmed with brown oak the door was made of the same material the door had a normal everyday doorbell, though pen would never admit it sometimes he would have to stand on his tiptoes to even reach it. 

Pen was only an inch taller then Zim his height was a sensitive subject for him (being that on the food-chain of the Irken navigators he was one of the lowest-ranked, he also had to work really hard to get any recognition.), alongside his strange upside-down Pak. Though his Pak was actually an easy fix all he had to do was go to the medical Irken to fix it but he always found himself to busy with work or getting caught up with blitz’s mess when he was training, oh boy did he hate that Irken. Even more than Zim. Once he was done he decided it would be best to stay nearby the door he stood outside in front of the door in disguise staring down at his communication pad that almost looked like a grey tablet. only slightly paying attention to the stone walkway that leads up to the house.

Pen wore his usual human disguise a pink and white hoodie with goggles to cover his eyes, he also wore a nice brown wig and black pants. They still wore Irken gloves/boots and didn’t even bother disguising their green skin. However from what he could tell people just thought it was some kind of skin condition. 

[cravitus426]

Greetenings!

Today we have a headcanon ramble, and also a couple redrawn canon elites from the Alexovich Concepts!

Some time it has been since the last krevrant, and while I still haven’t done big Irken biology headcanon rant, I’ve been playing around with Elite designs as of late! Thus, I figured what better time to ramble about a military force such as them - one that we both know less of and more of than we do of the actual Irken Armada, in fact!

So what, exactly, is an Irken Elite?

Well that’s the funny thing - it seems self explanatory, like how Almighty Tallests are the tallest people and are the almighty rulers, or how Invaders invade,or Frylords lord over fast food establishments. So, by that logic, the Irken Elite are, well, elite.

What exactly is that supposed to mean? The better question would be, ‘What do we know about the Irken Elite?’

Well, we know a few things, and in particular things around the Elite.

1. To join the Irken Elite, you must pass a trial.

In other words, you have to take a test. ‘But krev,’ you say, ‘That’s nothing new!’

You would be right, flesh-creature, but in particular the Irken Elite trials seem to at the very least have a seventy year wait period before it can be retaken as seen in Tak’s episode, aside from being held on a military fortress world.

As a side note, Devastis is in fact a legitimate example of Irken architecture and fortifications that aren’t pink or red or deeply purple in color.

Granted, this is kind of debatable given that Zim fragged over half the planet’s power grid and caused mass chaos, but I doubt that would stall all Elite recruitment for that long - this is either a standard ‘fail, wait, and retry’ period where you can improve your skills akin to real world militaries, or it could in fact be the actual timespan between times that Elites open recruitment.

Thus, we reach my first headcanon - the Irken Elite trials are, when there are no horrendous casualties or other shortages of personnel - held every few decades, giving plenty of time for a new generation of soldiers to arise and for the washouts from last gen to brush up and succeed.

So, what else do we know?

2. The Irken Elite are the ranks from which Invaders are often selected.

More from the Tak episode, as well as implications from things such as The Nightmare Begins, wherein Invaders are stated to be, effectively the best. Given how much Tak wanted to be an Elite and how they said that one day they could even become an Invader, it seems like a pretty clear line of progression.

From any walk of life you undergo the Elite trials; should you succeed, you prove that you’re among the best. Should you be the best of the best (or at the very least conveniently the best at sneaking and espionage), you become an Invader.

Now, this isn’t to necessarily say that Invaders are more elite than the Elite, but at the same time given that you are deploying an agent alone into no mere enemy lines, but the heart of their homeworld to effectively conquer it, it probably helps to have been an Irken Elite beforehand.

Regardless, point is, you level up to Elite, then you kind of side-level to Invader.

This brings us to the second real headcanon - the idea that you are not promoted into the Irken Elite, and that in theory anyone from any walk of life - scientist, servant, soldier, or actor - can become an Elite should they succeed in the trials.

Also implied - Invaders may or may not actually be the best of the best, and instead may just be the best suited from the Irken Elite for infiltration.

Anyway, onto the next one! This one may surprise you - or it might not, I dunno. We’re getting into interpretation territory here, which leans more to headcanon.

What do I mean by that? Why do I think this’ll surprise you?

3. The Irken Elite are equipped with personal power armor.

Because, quite bluntly, I think people get Elite gear wrong. I’ve seen their boots treated as big shoes with glowing bits, their pauldrons treated as just plain old cloth gubbins, their little tubed chestpiece forgotten, and their gauntlets in particular treated as spherical boxes worn over the whole forearm with three little holes for their fingers.

It feels as if people aren’t thinking about what these could be, and it does do me an anger because I feel like I’ve figured out the design.

Look at the claws on the first, third, and fifth elites (13, 15, and 17) - note how, aside from being way more well defined and sharp-looking than normal gloved Irken fingers, there is a gauntlet with the fingers missing.

Or, more fittingly, retracted. Those are mechanical fingers, and I’d bet on it! They look nothing like normal Irken fingers, and the Irkens here are too small to have the big spindly fingers of the Tallest despite having similar gauntlets.

Think back to the Hobo 13 episode - remember Zim’s big powerfists and overall power armor, and recall how he absolutely yeeted the instructor!

This technology exists in similar forms used by other alien races as part of training equipment - Irkens would absolutely jump on the opportunity to supercharge metal claws, and if anybody would get them it’d be the Elite.

Canon precedent for power armor that looks very similar aside, it’d explain what those tubes coming from the PAK are - they’re likely power cables, and aside from this giving me an excuse to call the gauntlets something way cooler like powerclaw, the idea that these are mechanical also opens the door up to things like jetboots, minigun hands, and other crazy things!

Plus, I mean, if you want to bring Peridot and Steven Universe into things, well

they’re basically limb enhancers and you have to admit that’s a pretty clear and logical parallel

Anyway, third obligatory formal headcanon - aside from thinking that Elites have power armor, which they probably do - is that Elites are offered some of the best tech around, and have the opportunity to perfectly customize and personalize equipment to their specific liking and skill set.

That aside, we now basically run out of canon information about the Irken Elite!

So, in summary, the Irken Elite are:

1. Selected every few decades through mass testing

1b. Implication that they are the best of the best overall given that testing doesn’t seem inherently restricted to ranks or existing military service; supported by 2.

2. The group from which Invaders are selected

3. Armed with advanced personal armor

Now that that’s out of the way, what of actual denser krev headcanon?

When it comes to the way I think about the Elite, I generally equate them to the Spectres from Mass Effect - specially selected, special equipment, special skills, and special freedoms to do their jobs.

Given the infrequency of recruitment aside from what i can only presume is emergency ‘we’re going through soldiers like free nachos’ measures, as well as how each one is branded and literally called an Irken Elite on top of all the neat toys they get, the point of big gaps in trials is likely both to give time for the best of the best to thin out through attrition, be it death or retirement.

By only recruiting once every half generation or so (outside of emergency ‘going through troops like free nachos’ scenarios), this allows the best of a generation to be evaluated, compared, and contrasted at one time. This ensures that only the best of the best get in, and it also ensures that the ranks don’t bloat through constant recruitment.

Bloating the ranks would likely reduce the allure of the Irken Elite considerably, as Elite usually implies that you are the cream of the crop. Arming an entire army of Elites would also likely be obscenely expensive, not to mention how tedious it would be to track every individual properly - if everyone’s roaming around and selecting their own missions, then you just have roaming warbands and no concentrated campaigns, no Irken Armada to power through the galaxy.

Thus, recruiting in one go and waiting for the numbers to thin out keeps you from having too many expensively well-armed independents running around, as well as ensures that you get the absolute peak of years of training and combat.

As such, an Elite is basically expected to be prepared for any situation and to possess general skills in every category.

For an active Irken Elite, a number of classifications exist indicating things such as your specialty, freedoms, and general qualification level. A squad of lower level Elites, for example, may operate as a more traditional military unit and choose to deploy to campaigns as yet another pawn for generals and admirals to use in their pursuit of total Irken conquest.

A higher level Elite, however, typically an officer, may be trusted enough by the Control Brains to effectively go off and do their own thing, and in some cases successful deep recon, research, and infiltration missions have been conducted by freelancing Elites and their hand-picked crews.

In other words, basic elites can choose their missions but still have to act as part of a squad. Meanwhile, the better of an Elite you are, the more willing the Control Brains are to let you go and do Mass Effect, building a merry band of misfit-loyalists and plundering pirate bases to fuel your need for bigger, better guns.

Just remember to come back when the Control Brains yell at you to, otherwise you’ll get erased from the history books and hunted down for treason!

As far as equipment goes, while there is a general standard template for Elites, usually including powerclaws, powerboots, and some form of chestplate that acts as the core of armor functions, there can be a fair degree of variety.

Overall, what does this mean? Well, it means that Irken Elites are well-armed, well-armored, well-trained, highly skilled, independent and are not in fact just wearing tin cans for gloves!

there’s probably more here but I’m hungry and it’s almost time for lunch