You Only Live Twice
EPILOGUE
Main Entry:
1ad·ven·ture
Pronunciation:
&d-'ven-ch&r
Function:
noun
Etymology: Middle English aventure, from Old French, from
(assumed) Vulgar Latin adventura, from Latin adventus, past
participle of advenire to arrive, from ad- + venire to come -- more
at COME
1 a an undertaking usually involving
danger and unknown risks b the encountering of risks
the spirit of adventure
2 an exciting or
remarkable experience an adventure in exotic dining
"Stealth-suit? Check. X-ray binoculars complete with infrared night vision? Check." I listed the items on my bed, one after another, before putting them into my knapsack. "Camera? Check. Extra film? Check. Cell phone? Check. Learning to stop freaking talking to myself?" I sighed, "Working on that one." I hoisted the bag onto my back and made my way out of my room. Today was the day—after four long years I was going to finally beat Zim at his own games. Humming the theme from Mission Impossible, I made my way down the stairs and towards the front door.
"Where are you going?" My sister's voice asked from the general vicinity of the couch. The sounds from the television stopped as she paused her game to look at me.
"Zim's. I'm gonna sneak in his base and see if I can catch him doing….stuff."
Gaz sighed, rolling her eyes, "You know that he's not even a threat to the world anymore. His mission was a fake. He forced his leaders to tell him the truth about it all a year ago after…" she trailed off a minute, her face turning slightly red. She still didn't like to talk about my accident—how close it had been. Neither did I, really. "Anyhow, why are you even bothering sneaking in there?"
I grinned at her, "Because it's fun. Duh."
She rolled her eyes, turning back to her game. "Whatever. You can't go out, anyhow, it's the Annual Family Night, remember?"
I could feel the grin sliding from my face as I felt it contort into something completely unlike me: a glare. "Forgive me if I don't really care too much about this year's Annual Family Night, alright?"
She cast her eyes downward, not meeting my gaze, "Yeah, I know, it's just…" again, she trailed off, "I mean, I'm still mad at him, but this is the one day…it's just hard to stay that way, sometimes, you know? I mean," she chuckled, humorlessly, "I spent the past fourteen years trying to get the man's attention. The one day that I actually get it, well…"
I sighed, "I know, Gaz. I understand, really. I just…I just don't want to go this year. You understand, right?"
She shrugged, a small, fake smile on her lips, "Yeah." She turned back to her game, taking it off pause. I took that as my sign to leave.
"Hey, Dib?" she over the sound of her games.
I paused with my hand on the doorknob, "Yeah?"
"Try not to get electrocuted this time, alright?"
I chuckled, "Yeah, yeah, I love you, too, sis." I answered as I stepped through the doorway. I thought I heard her make a little growly scoffing sound from her perch on the couch, but I was probably imagining things.
oooIIIooo
"Now, Gir, my next ingenious plan is almost COMPLETE!" Zim was ranting, again. Loudly, "Soon, we will have Dib right where we want him!"
"But he's hiding behind the washing machine." Gir replied, as if he were stating the obvious. Which he was, but it was a bit surprising to hear him being that in tune with his surroundings.
Zim turned towards the washing machine where I was crouched, pointing wildly, "The Dib! In my base! Wait a minute…how did that human washing device get here. I have no laundry."
"Piggy and I were making veggie-table soup!" Gir answered, pulling a giant bowl of it out of his head. He threw it at his master, screaming, "EAT YOUR VEGGIES!" before running out of the room, giggling insanely.
Zim must have remembered to bathe in past that day because he just looked irritated at the fact that he was now covered in boiled veggies and socks instead of rolling around on the ground, screaming in agony. He glared in the direction that the robot had ran for a few moments before deciding that there were more pressing matters to attend to. Namely, me.
"COMPUTER!" Zim shouted, "INTRUDER ALERT!"
Laser guns and more robotic arms appeared everywhere from nowhere. I took that as my cue to exit and jumped to my feet, running towards the exit. If I could find an exit, that is. I jumped and dove over and under arms that grabbed at me. I dodged lasers, searching blindly for the way I had come in. Finally, I spotted the doorway and took off towards it, sprinting as fast as I could. I was almost there when I felt one of the arms grab my ankle, pulling me off the ground so that I hung upside down in midair by my leg.
"You…you'll never get away with this, Zim!" I shouted, struggling against the robot arm's grip. I was starting to get dizzy from the blood rushing towards my head and the fact that my glasses were now only secured in place by one arm.
"Oh, but it seems I have, Dib." Zim, sneered back, his upside down eyes glaring into mine.
"Oh, really?" A voice asked from the doorway. Both Zim and I turned towards it, and I cringed as the sudden movement caused my ankle to turn a way it wasn't supposed to.
A thin figure leaned in the doorway, bathed in shadow, arms crossed.
"Who are you! How did you get in!" Zim demanded.
The figure pushed itself off of the doorframe and stepped forward into the light, causing both Zim and I to gasp in surprise.
"The front door was unlocked." Gaz stated, shrugging.
Zim looked disappointed in her answer, "Oh. Whoops."
"Gaz!" I shouted, still struggling against my restraints, "Wha…what are you doing here?"
She shrugged again, "Seemed like fun."
"But…but what about going out to…to eat with Dad?"
Another shrug, "I can eat pizza anytime. Do you want to be rescued or not?"
I could feel a grin stretching my face. I opened my arms in welcome. "Rescue away."
"Never!" Zim shouted, "You have made a stupid move, Dib-sister. COMPUTER! Destroy the humans!"
"Do I have to?" the computer grumbled.
Zim paused for a moment, thinking, "Well, no, I guess you really don't, now that I think about it…" he turned to me, "Why are we doing this again?"
I tried to shrug, surprised at how hard it was to do so while upside down, "I dunno. What else is there to do?"
"Could go to Denny's." my sister answered. Zim and I both turned to stare at her, again, not used to her being involved in our "game". She blushed at little, "What? I never said I wasn't hungry, I just didn't want to miss out on all the excitement."
Zim turned to look at me. I attempted another shrug, trying to ignore the spots that were forming in front of my face, "They have waffles."
Zim scrunched up his face, seeming deep in thought. After a few moments he gave a little nod. "COMPUTER! RELESE THE DIB!"
"Whatever."
The robotic arm that held me aloft suddenly let go and I found myself on the ground, rubbing the bump that was forming on my head from the landing.
"Eh, sorry about that." Zim apologized, holding out a gloved hand to me to help me up. I accepted it without thinking and he pulled me to my feet. "So…Denny's then?"
Gaz and I shrugged in agreement and the three of us started towards the door.
We were stopped, however, by the sound of static as one of the view screens behind us turned on. The three of us froze, looking at each other in surprise. Gaz and I both knew that the only reason the screen would turn on was if there was a call from Zim's leaders. We also knew that he hadn't heard anything from them in almost a year.
Slowly we turned back to face the incoming message.
The screen was blurry and having trouble keeping the picture in tact. Tallests Purple and Red were standing there, both looking rather irritated. Inter-cut between moments of clear sound was the irritating noise of static.
"Shhhh…Zim…shh…..Zim we know you're shhere, answer us." Red demanded.
Zim looked at us with an unreadable expression and then approached the screen. "I…I'm here, my Tall—" He caught himself and paused, clearing his throat, "I'm here. What do you want?"
"Shhh…We need you to shhome back to Irk. We are at shhh with plant Meekrob and are demanding that shhhhvaders come back from their assignments to help defend the planet."
Zim glared at his former leaders, "But I'm not an Invader, remember?" he spit, "And I don't have an assignment."
Red looked a bit more irritated, "Oh yeah, weshhhh did tell you all that, dsssshhhhhn't we?" He grumbled, seemingly to himself.
"Shh We also need decoys to get blown up!" Purple stated. Red shot him a look.
"Yes, well, as exciting as that all sounds, I'd really rather not. Besides, isn't Invader Tenn assigned to Meekrob? I figured that she would be able to handle it."
"Yeah, well, she had a bit of trouble shhhith some rouge Sishhhhnits." Red stated.
"She's also been shhhnapped." Purple added, receiving another look from his counterpart.
Zim shrugged, "Oh well. Sucks to be her. Good luck with that whole war, thing. Let me know how it all turns out."
That said, he turned away from the screen and started to walk away. Suddenly, he collapsed to the ground, howling in pain. Gaz rushed towards him, keeling beside him, trying to keep him still as she looked for any injury that could be causing him that much pain. I turned and faced the screen, glaring at my former foe's former leaders.
"What's going on?" I demanded, "What are you doing to him?"
Red glared at me, "Oh, it's that shhig headed human boy." he sneered. I bit the inside of my cheek to keep myself from protesting about my head size. "It's just a shhttle obedience shhraining. We've tapped into the pain centers in Zshhhhak. He now realizes that he doesn't have a choice in the shhhtter. He either comes, or he dies."
This seemed all too familiar. I tried to keep myself from thinking too much on my experiences in the Tests, no matter how much this reminded me of them, knowing that nothing I learned there would really help me, now.
Zim finally stopped screaming, gasping for air. I quickly glanced in his direction to see my sister helping him to sit up. He glared at the screen, a streak of blood running from the corner of his mouth.
"Fine." He hissed, "If you're going to play that way, fine. I'll come. Send me the coordinates and the battle plans. You," he coughed, clutching his chest, "you have my allegiance."
Red grinned, humorlessly, "I knew that shhh it our way." he answered. That said, the transmission ended, the screen suddenly going dark.
I walked over to where Gaz was helping Zim to his feet, my fists clenched at my side in an attempt to keep in my anger. "You're not seriously going to go, are you?" I demanded.
Zim coughed, "It's my duty, Dib. I have to. I'm a soldier. It's my duty to protect the Massive and my leaders." he answered, not meeting my glare.
Again, I got a moment of déjà vu "That's bullshit, and you know it!" I shouted, "You don't owe them anything, especially not your life; not after the way they've treated you! Don't go, Zim. Stay here. Let them be destroyed."
"I don't really have a choice in the matter, now do I?" he shouted back at me, finally looking up from the ground, his eyes shining with anger and passion, "There is a tracer put into all of the Paks that are connected to the collective. That little shock I just got? That was the Tallests hacking into my programming, making it so that my very essence is telling me to come back. If I ignore it I will be driven insane from the pain. They've left me no choice, Dib. I have to go."
"Then we're coming with you." Gaz stated, quietly. Zim and I both turned to look at her, matching expressions of shock and surprise on our faces.
"What?"
Gaz looked up at Zim, determination in her eyes, "We're coming with you. Dib has Tak's ship. We can come help."
"We are not going to help Irk destroy a planet!" I answered, shocked.
"No, you idiot, I don't mean them. I mean we can help the other side. Just because Zim has to go doesn't mean that he has to be completely loyal, right?" She looked to the alien for conformation, "I mean, you've fucked things up for your leaders without even meaning to, right? Who's to say that any thing destroyed on your side by your ship wasn't just you being an idiot?"
Zim was quiet for a moment, thinking, and then a slow grin spread over his face, "You know, human, I think you're onto something."
The both looked at me.
"This is your big chance, Dib. You're chance to have a great adventure." Gaz prompted.
You are destined for great things, Dib.
I smiled, slowly, my grin matching Zim's. "Alright. Let's do it. Let's go sabotage the Irken invasion!" I answered. All of a sudden my stomach growled, loudly. "Uh…but first…let's go get something to eat."
My sister and Zim laughed.
"To Denny's?" Zim proposed.
"To Denny's." Gaz and I agreed, and we finally made our way out of the room, planning our next great adventure.
The End?
A/n: Ok, guys, that's it: the official end to YOLT.
Or is it?
I've left this pretty open ended. As you can see, I've set it up so that I can easily write a sequel if I wanted to. However, to do so, I will basically be writing "Invader Dib" (what was supposed to be the end of the entire series, had it lasted that long), which is something that many have tried, and…not gotten the greatest results that I could see. So I don't know if I will be continuing this or not. I'm going to think on it for a bit. I need to take a break from this all to focus on my original stuff, anyhow (the novel version of this being one of the projects, as well as the zombie movie short that I've been brainstorming with a friend of mine to get myself into the flow of things for my career). More often than not the little Zim muse will annoy me enough that I'll make an attempt, but I'm not promising anything (though I'm about to dump my cat in the tub if she jumps up on the keyboard one. more. time. while I'm typing this. Sheesh).
Thank you all so so so so so so so so soooooooo much for your wonderful reviews and for reading all of this. Really. You've all kept me sane.
The rest of this note might be boring to some people. I'm going to go through all of the chapters and point out who the Guides/St--- were, the references, and little random tidbits of info that I can think of, if only because I've gotten a few questions and comments regarding such. I'll also be putting a link what I had written of the original version of the Envy chapter, so you guys can see for yourselves if I made the right decision by changing it. If you're not interested in all that, or didn't have a question, you don't have to read it all, but I figure that someone out there has to care about that kind of stuff (and I know I like reading stuff about other people's stories, but I might just be weird), so I'm gonna sit here and write it all out. Sometimes back-story is fun, and I'll be able to touch on some stuff that I wasn't able to in-story, like the other character's thoughts and motivations that I couldn't focus on because of the first person POV.
So, if you're interested in all that, read on, if not, thank you for reading, and I hope to see you all soon.
-j
ACCIDENT (Death):
J: None
Erin: None
S-----: None
REFERENCES : None, really, that I can find.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:The Doominator kitten is loosely based off of the kitten that an ex boyfriend of mine's roommate used to have, Robot the Ninja Kitty. This kitten looked all cute and innocent, but give him the chance, and he would fuck your shit up. He used to wake me up almost every morning that I would stay over there by biting my nose, because my boyfriend at the time would never remember to close his bedroom door all the way when he left for class in the morning. So hats off to Robot, the kitten with the amazing ability to claw the hell out of things and pee in people's beds.
THANK YOUS: Dibsthe1, Senri, Kitsune of Destruction, and Dibmagician.
MAKER (Test):
J: Guide
Erin: Waitress
St----: None
REFERENCES:
:Down Town Café…this is a reference to the movie Monkybone. The main character is in a coma and sent to a place called "Down Town", which is basically limbo. If you haven't seen that movie, you should. It's based on a graphic novel and is directed by Henry Selik, who is the guy who directed Nightmare Before Xmas and James and the Giant Peach.
:Dib thanking the table for being so cool—a random reference to an old Bill Cosby standup. Cosby is really talking about thanking the toilet bowl for being so blissfully cool after throwing up after a long night of drinking, but that's what it reminded me of.
:"Heaven isn't this clean." Of course, this is a reference to JTHM where Nny goes to heaven and it's prolly the dirtiest place on earth. No one bothers to keep the place clean because everyone is too busy sitting in chairs being completely content.
:The movie that Dib saw on HBO—of course this is referring to the movie Se7en.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:I had to write this one out, twice, because I accidentally deleted the first draft. I almost exploded with the effort.
:Other ideas for Dib's Guide: God, his mother, Nny from JTHM (as a type of 'Dib from the FUTURE' that would show him what he would have became had he not had to go through the Tests). I settled on a satire version of Jhonen for various reasons. I feel a bit bad, though, because, as I don't know Mr. Vasquez personally, there is no way for me to write him IC. There were a lot of times when I was thinking, "I don't think he would act that way…" based on what I saw (heard) on the IZ DVD commentary, but then I would have to remind myself that it's not the Real JV, and it's my satire (that is so not the right word, I don't think) of him, and that stupid little voice would shut up. For the moment. I still apologize for using his likeness. Please don't sue.
: Erin is a self insert. The uniform she's wearing is the one that I have to wear for work at the horrible restaurant that is Friendly's. I was a bit worried about sticking myself in the story because of the negative stigma that surrounds SIs. In order to make myself feel better about it, I treated her like crap, gave her the worst assignments, got her arrested, and broke her nose later on. A psychologist would have a field day with the subconscious meanings behind that. On a slightly unrelated note, Erin is my middle name.
:I giggled after writing the small mention of Larry the Blob Guy for about twenty minutes. The image of him I had in my head was hilarious. I wish I could draw.
:I kept spelling Chihuahua wrong on purpose, not because I really had no freaking clue how to spell it enough to look it up, yeah, that's it.
: I wrote a good part of the scene around the fact that I wanted someone to say, "Shut up and drink your Poop."
:I thought out the entire conversation where J tells Dib what happened while sitting at the bus stop after work one night. I was laughing so hard to myself that the crazy homeless guy who was on the bench next to me kept scooting further and further away. From a guy who talks to his socks about how the president is really an android bent on destroying the human race, that's something. (And no, I am not joking about the homeless guy.)
: Limbo is a restaurant in this chapter for my own personal amusement, mostly because I had written most of it after a particularly bad night at work. However, I thought it would be redundant to keep returning to the same place, hence the change in Limbo's form in later chapters. Leans a bit on the "Heaven looks different to everyone" theories, 'cept on a bit more depressing scale.
THANK YOUS: Senri, Kitsune of Destruction, Dibmagician, spectacal, Maran Zelde, Dibsthe1, and bl (whom I'm assuming is blah blah)
MONEY (Greed):
J: John, Dib's assistant
Erin: None
S--: Steve
REFERENCES:
: The reference was both to Steve's cornflower blue tie and to the fact that, when complimented on it, he announces that it's Tuesday. This refers to my favorite book/movie—Fight Club, where Jack (the narrator) only really realizes that it's Tuesday because his boss is wearing a cornflower blue tie.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
An early idea for the alternate realities of the Tests were to borrow from other fic authors. Each version was going to be in the universe of another fic (with the author's permission, of course), like say, Dibthe1's ongoing fic 'verse, or the 'verse of "Pact" by Senri, or "Eyes of a Female" by Dibslyn, etc. While it would have been a different way to explain the nature of fanfics (anything deviating from canon could be considered an alternate universe), I decided against it, partially because it wouldn't have really fit in with what I was trying to do, Test wise, and partially because I knew that I wouldn't have been able to do each author's universe justice. If I had done it, however, I would have tried to imitate the other author's writing style as well. If nothing else, it would have been fun. I like the idea of Dib jumping into other people's fics for some reason.
I see CEO Dib in this chapter as a mixture of Bruce Wayne and the guy from American Psycho for some reason.
The response that I got from this chapter was one of the reasons that I ended up writing the epilogue to the story. Lots of people were bothered by the idea that, while Gaz is sorry Now for treating Dib like crap, once she is healthy again, she would return to her old crappy self (which, in this chapter, would probably happen, though not to the same extent. She would be evil and vengeful, but it wouldn't hold the same malice. Though I do feel the need to state that her attitude towards Dib in this chapter was mainly out of jealousy because he got so much out of their dad's death because of a silly little typo, and she got screwed over for a few more years. She also is a brat further along in the chapter because she's seeing what a horrible person Dib is becoming and she can't do anything about it. I tried to show that she and Dib and Zim had a pretty close relationship before the death of Membrane—the fact that they all went to pick out and helped name Dib's car—but I guess that I didn't fully hit the mark.) I didn't want people to think the same thing about what would happen when the story was over. Does that make sense?
THANK YOUS: Chatwyn, DibMagician, Dibsthe1, Invader Sneakyonfoota, Neko-Metallium, Maran Zelde, sensuallyxcarved, Silver Sands, Moonglo, Kitsune of Destruction, The Fic Lord, Capra Hircus.
DRINK (Gluttony):
J: Officer Jonathan V
Erin: None
St---: Dib's uncle, who gives him his first drink.
REFERENCES:
:"…and a thirty hour nap." This is extremely obscure and is from a web comic I read called "Stubble" (www(dot)stubblecomics(dot)com). Everyone should check it out, it's a good read. I just think that it's a funny thing to say, now, and has kinda become one of my phrases at work…thirty hour nap…heh.
:Dib hit Gaz while on Spooner Street. Who lives on Spooner Street? Why the Griffin family on the TV show "Family Guy", of course. If you've never watched Family Guy you need to watch Cartoon Network at night more often, cos seriously, that is some Funny Shit.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
"Fear the grains" is another little line that made me giggle uncontrollably at an inopportune time. I really need to stop thinking about stuff I'm writing while at work. People look at you funny when you laugh for absolutely no reason.
I had a bit of a problem fitting in the fact that Membrane is not Dib's last name. In later chapters, I just gave up, but here I was still trying to fish out a logical explanation as to why his surname is different, aside from, you know, the fact that he's an experiment and was built by his father instead of born. Yup.
Yes, I know, Zim doesn't have sex organs. There is a good explanation, then as to why he has them in this chapter. You see—OH MY GOD WHAT THE HELL IS THAT BEHIND YOU! (runs away).
I am still horribly amused at the fact that no one really knew what to feel about Dib slapping Gaz in this chapter, considering he was being such a hypocritical jerk. I think I made up for the mind fuck in the Wrath chapter, though, right?
THANK YOUS: Spyden, DibMagician, Maran Zelde, Dibsthe1, Kitsune of Destruction, chickens, Jake, Coco Tapioca, Blahsblah2001
BLOOD (Wrath):
J: Dr. V, the psychologist
Erin: None
St---: Disembodied voice
REFERENCES:
:Mr. Prickley, the principal. Who is he? The principal from the cartoon Recess.
:"That blood isn't your, is it?" "Not all of it." : Fight Club
:Mentioning separating Zim from the Collective: I'd say pretty Borgish there.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:This chapter was probably my favorite to write, and also, contains the scene that inspired this entire story. I had had the scene where Dib takes Gaz's GameSlave and throws it against the wall stuck in my head for weeks before starting this story. I'm pretty sure that it came about from one of the many, many discussions between Dibsthe1 and I about the dynamics of Dib and Gaz's relationship. In the original little "vision", Dib threw Gaz's GameSlave against the wall and she responds by standing up and clapping, saying that he "beat the first level of the game" and that to win back his Soul, he will have to face the rest of his fears/ problems. Everything just evolved from there. (As I'm writing this, there is a full grown cat attempting to balance herself on my shoulders. She's failing miserably. Silly cat.) Originally the story was going to be Dib facing off with Gaz, Zim, his dad, his mom, the kids at school, Miss Bitters, and the possibility of failure. For some reason, I decided that the Seven Sins angle was a bit more interesting, and also would work better if I converted the idea to an original story (which is pretty much my only reason for writing fanfiction to begin with—as a way to practice for the real thing, and work out my ideas).
:Gaz cares in this chapter—she really does—she just doesn't know how to Show it. She does, eventually, save Dib's life by calling an ambulance after he stabs himself (which is a lot for someone to do for a person who just tried to kill and succeeded in permanently disfiguring them), but even in the beginning, when Dib opens the bathroom door, she feels a twinge of sympathy for her brother, she's just also a callus bitch, and it's hard for her to let out her nice side. One of the bad things about writing from a first person POV is that we only see the Actions of the other people around the character, and not their Thoughts. However, actions Do speak louder than words…
: BlahBlah was right in pointing out that if Dib had actually broken some ribs, he would have to go to the hospital. I blame it on Dib's tendency to blow things out of proportion and not the fact that I'm a lazy writer and didn't really do any research on how a broken rib would feel. Yup that's it. Also, I know that it's a slow and painful death for someone to stab themselves in the stomach, however, killing himself was not really what Dib was trying to do—he was more just trying to act Against what the Voice so desperately wanted him to do. Stabbing himself instead of Gaz was an act of pure rebellion, not an attempt at suicide.
:A lot of this chapter I pulled from the pages of JTHM, most notably the fact that the Voice wanted Dib to become a Waste Lock. What's a Waste Lock, you might ask? Here is the part in JTHM (Issue 6) where it basically explains the whole thing:
NNY: Hey, speaking of churros, do you know God's horrible with answering questions? He wouldn't help me understand whets been going on. Rude little man. ((At this point in the series, Nny had successfully killed himself, the creature behind the wall has escaped, the universe has imploded and Nny has been kicked out of heaven for exploding everyone's head.))
SATAN: Of course he didn't. Its a blasphemy to question God, isn't it? Seems to engender blind worship or disillusionment. Bitchy sit, no? I, however have no problem with giving such answers. There is such amusement in seeing the joy in someone when they Think that they have just gotten smarter. Allow me to clear things. You, little man, carry the distinction of being a Waste Lock.
NNY: Umm..that sounds...Bad.
SATAN: Nonetheless, it's all quite necessary. I'm sure you wouldn't argue the point that the Pre-mortem is riddled with pains, traumas, horrors, and other such unpleasantries. Well it's nothing compared to a world without Waste Locks. Know that, for all its troubles, the world is Perfect, flawless in its beauties and turmoils. Violence and nightmares being a natural product of humanity.
If you had proper eyes, you would see more than just the act of the human negative, you would see the residue of it, sewage in a sense, people leaving trails of slime, like slugs. Slugs in Dockers. And like any waste, it accrues. You would see people walking through this sick, unknowlingly wading through it, like leaves from a forest of horrors. And it collects at a manic pace, what with humans incessantly shitting into the ether, is you will. It must be managed, and it is--stockpiled in specially cleared out "spaces", prisons, almost, such pure aggression is a rabid thing, eager to breed, and coat everything in itself. These cells can be anything--objects, points in space, pimples, etc.
Each cell is assigned a lock to stabilize the fluctuations and maintain the seal. Of course, locks, whether human, dogs, or weasels, never know what they've been doomed to be. God, I love that word--DOOM!
Sane or damaged to begin with, they all share a common demeanor--introverted, quiet, and of no threat to anyone but themselves. Inevitably they degenerate, collapsing into a quiet, mental dissolve.
I don't claim to know who runs this operation, but they must have been ill upon choosing you. Seems you were quite sick to begin with, then having all this much go through you set off some new amusement. You were anything But quiet, seeming to become almost an extension of what you were charged to contain. Messy, but I thought it was funny. Still, as always, it works, a system as old as malice, itself. You expired, leaving nothing but nothing for the effluent to escape to, thus effectively flushing it into oblivion. They, then, use a sort of back up disc to reinstall existence. NEAT, HUH?
NNY: I'm a Flusher?
SATAN: Precisely.
NNY: Shit.
SATAN: Exactly!
THANK YOUS: Spyden, Senri, Dibsthe1, DibMagician, Coco Tapioca, Tarifu, Maran Zelde, Neko-Metallium, Tallest Red, Becka, Blahblah2001, Kkwy.
DREAM (Dream)
J: Himself
Erin: Herself (dressed as teacher)
St---: Voice
REFERENCES:
:"Looks like we've got a Van Halen fan on our hands" "The song is 'Hot For Teacher" not "Hot For Librarian": This one was explained (which I did as an afterthought, cos I doubted that anyone reading this would listen to Van Halen to get the reference), but is, in fact a reference to the song "Hot For Teacher" by Van Halen. Go. Download. Now.
:"Hey, Old Dudes!": Defiantly a reference to "Men In Black" (how fitting!). The part where Tommy Lee Jones and the other guy are arguing cos the worlds going to be destroyed and Will Smith notices the mural of the "spaceships" at the Worlds Fair and wants to know if they still work.
:"Well exCUSE me for wanting to be in the spirit of things!" Ok. This didn't work as well, because I couldn't figure out a way to add the "Princess" in there, considering it was Erin talking to J and not the other way around. In my head, however, the "Princess" was there, which makes it a reference to the old "Zelda" cartoon. Link would always say that to Zelda—at least once an episode—"well exCUSE me, Princess". I got into many a playground fight because the boys in my first grade class, or however old I was, decided to adopt this phrase and it drove me Nuts.
:Dib has carved into his desk the words "Big Heded Freak! Go home!": This is a reference to the first (and I guess the third, now that I think about it) Silent Hill games. At the end of the games, in the Nowhere world, you find a desk that is separated from the others that has the words "Go Home. Thief. Drop Dead." carved into the surface.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:I was a bit worried about this chapter. There was a lot of exposition that I wanted to get out, but didn't know if it would be boring. I'm glad that it was taken as well as it was, seeing as how it's not one of the more exciting chapters.
:The school was the second version of Limbo that I had in mind. I doubt there is a single person in the world who didn't think that school was equal to purgatory. I loved school, myself. I enjoyed high school and I enjoying college, but I will never, ever enjoy math class and will always count the seconds till I can leave. I think that could constitute Limbo, don't you? Plus, with the school as Limbo, I could make the Val Halen reference. Heh.
:J and Erin had originally gone and ordered pizza when they left Dib alone in the classroom. It was changed to Chinese after Dibsthe1, my wonderful beta reader, pointed out that Dib would probably be tired of pizza because of Gaz's lust for it, and that not only did Chinese also deliver (a fact that I had actually forgotten myself, since there's a Chinese place across from my apartment, so I don't have to really bother calling) and Dib also was seen eating it in an episode, so it's a pretty good guess that he likes the stuff. Yup.
:The Male and Female sins thing was something that I came up with a long time ago. I don't know if it's been used anywhere else or not. There are some things that Females are more prone to than Males, and vice versa. Girls tend to take more Pride in their appearance (both physical and otherwise), are Envious of other women ("she's thinner, richer, prettier, more popular, etc than me"), and are, of course, the basis of Original Sin, because we have what guys want, which is where Lust comes in. Guys, however, are prone to be more violent and take out their tempers in more violent ways (Wrath), care a lot about financial stability and wealth (hell, the American Dream itself—making your way from nothing to a multi-millionaire if perhaps the Greediest idea ever), and you tend to see a lot more guys with beer guts or, well, guts period, than women (Gluttony). Sloth, however, I think can fit most everyone, because, come on, how many people would rather be up and about all day, work, work, working than sitting around, relaxing or sleeping or enjoying themselves? Therefore, Sloth is androgynous. Yes, it can be argued that all of the Sins go both ways—that women are just as violent with their anger as men, and that men are just as prideful as women, but this is just my own personal theory. I'm not a sociologist, nor am I a theologist (or Christian for that matter), so none of this is based on any sort of fact, but rather, just my own personal observations.
:The nature of fanfiction and the Creator/Author/Trainee relationship is something else that I've been thinking about for a long time. Personally, I write fanfiction as a way to hone my skills and focus on areas that I normally have trouble with (dialogue and plot development). It also helps me because I want to write cartoons for a living, so I should get used to using characters that aren't mine. You guys have no idea what an amazing compliment it is to me when you say that I've kept the characters IC. To me, that means the world because it tells me that I'm capable of writing another person's characters the way that they would act and therefore I would be successful at my future (dream) career. At any rate, that's the way that I see fanfiction—as a way of honing our skills. Of training ourselves for the future. Someone else is the creature, but we're the authors and that makes us God in our own right, but we will never be that character's God. Am I even making sense anymore? It's 5:30am, and I've been awake for an exceptionally long time, so I may just be rambling now.
:Spetacal asked how long the Tests are as compared to time in the real world. This was something that I really didn't give much thought to. I guess I should for the Real version of this. I would say that each test takes about a week and ½ , and each Limbo scene takes another ½ week. That gives us 12 weeks in all, which is about 3 months. The last "Limbo" scene (the hallway) takes place in the last hour or so, so it could still fit into that timeline because it doesn't really count, since Dib had already won by that point.
THANK YOUS: Snickers-03, DibMagician, Coco Tapioca, Senri, Maran Zelde, Dibsthe1, Tallest Red, Spectacal, Blahblah2001
GAME (Pride)
J: None
Erin: Euro
St--: Dark Bootie
REFERENCES:
:"Second star to the right"—Peter Pan. Straight on till morning, ya?
:I still am trying to figure out where I got Clarence Fishmonger from. It just sounds too familiar, but Google says nothing. NOTHING!
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:I don't really like this chapter. It was a bit too clichéd for my taste, but really couldn't come up with anything else that would fit. Ah well.
:Maran Zelde asked what would have happened if everyone had just operated on and killed Zim anyhow, despite Dib's best efforts. The answer is: nothing. He still would have passed. The Test wasn't so much about Zim living as it was Dib giving up everything to do what was right. To tell the truth, though, Zim dying anyhow hadn't even crossed my mind, but now I wish it had, because that would have been an interesting ending to the chapter.
:After I put up this chapter, I realized that I didn't like the original security code that I had Dib use. I used 666777 as a way to show that he was somewhere in between hell and heaven, but then remembered the code to make the would HELL on a calculator (1134 and then turn it upside down), and thought that would have been more fun, but it was too late, then. Ah well. The symbolism in the first way I did it still stands, at least.
:Neko-Metallium asked me thoughts on living in Florida: It's too freaking hot and I was out of work for over a month last year because of hurricanes. Plus there are giant, strange, scary bugs. Other than that, it's not so bad. It gets old after a while. Kind of like living in a post card. Every day it looks the same.
:Thank you so much to everyone who pointed out that dissecting something that is alive is called vivisection, and not an autopsy. Again, this was just kind of a case of Jenna being a lazy monster, and not really feeling like researching anything. She also didn't pay much attention in biology. Whoops. Thank you all, again. :)
THANK YOUS: Spectacal, Maran Zelde, Dibmagician, Tallest Purple, Dibsthe1, Evil Pancake, chickens, Mimsy-borogrove, Neko-metallium, blahblah2001
PAIN (Lust)
J: Voice on the other end of the cell phone Erin is using outside of the club.
Erin: Herself—she didn't get a name, this time. Also was the Email and the phone call, of course.
St—: Stephanie
REFERNCES:
:Talking Bathroom Stall: Daria, of course.
:I originally got this backwards when I wrote it down the last time, and in realizing that, I figured out the missing reference: Dib's email address being iwanttobelieve is a reference to X-Files/the UFO poster that has been around for years that Mulder had in his office, and Erin's being at questionsleep(dot)com is a reference to JV's own email address and his website. Whee.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:I hate this chapter. I really do. I wanted so badly to write Lust as a cutter/adrenaline junkie chapter, if only to work out some of my own problems, and I just feel like I didn't quite make it. Of course, the fact that I was horribly depressed during this period of time for various reasons, and literally had to force myself to write didn't help much, either. Out of my own mind, it isn't bad, because it covers many different types of Lust, but still…it could be better.
:Stephanie's tattoo is based off of one that I had envisioned for myself a long time ago, but seeing as how I recently got something small done on my shoulder ("To Empower" in Arabic for personal reasons), it wouldn't look right, anymore. Ah well.
:The song I used in this was "Strawberry Gashes" by Jack Off Jill. I found it amusing that, right after I posted this, FFN made a no songfic rule. Whoops. I won't tell if you won't.
:All of the "excuses" that Stephanie mentions are ones that I've used myself. None of them really work. Ah well. And, consequencely, peroxide does work wonders on bloodstains. This I know, not as a cutter, but as a woman. Yes, I know. That's gross.
:Maran Zelde had asked if Zim was really involved with Gaz in this chapter. He wasn't. He was just trying out a bit of Human Gross Humor. He found out he's bad at it.
THANK YOUS: Maran Zelde, chickens, Dibsthe1, DibMagician, Coco Tapioca, blahblah2001, Tailfeather, Ura Baen, Capra hircus
UPGRADE (Envy)
J: On the other end of the cell phone that Erin uses
Erin: Error
St---: Stan
REFERENCES: I…don't think there were any. There was supposed to be one from Pulp Fiction about awkward silences, but I forgot to put it in Whoops.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:This was not my original idea for the Envy chapter. The original idea was a slash mini fic involving lots of drugs and partying where Dib came up with this idea for costume parties where people could be their true selves and Zim ended up getting the credit. The decision would come when Zim ODed and Dib would have to either call the paramedics or let him die. I decided against this idea in order to admit to my own Sin and used the "upgraded replacement" idea (which is something I had been feeling in regards to my ex-boyfriend/best friend whom I'm still in love with's ex girlfriend whom He's still in love with. Hello, soap opera). The original chapter (what I have written of it, which was quite a bit, actually) can be found here: www(dot)angelfire(dot)com(slash)indie(slash)forgottenrain(slash)YOLT(dot)html. I had written it after reading lots and lots of Sin City, hence the tense changing and the overall mood in some places. Most of the chapter was meant to be a homage/reference to Sin City.
:the "Boxcar Willy" pizza special mentioned (3.50 for a slice the size of your head and a beer) is real. It belongs to a local pizza joint across the street from UCF called Lazy Moon, which has The. Best. Pizza. for CHEAP. The only problem is that pizza and beer that cheap leads to drinking at noon, but that's a college side effect, I think. My friends and I do find it amusing, however, that we managed to stay away from the college pizza and beer for breakfast lunch and dinner stereotype for three years, and have now, finally succumbed. Ah well. Had to happen sometime, I guess. The joys of being 21.
:There's a mistake in this chapter. Originally, I had wanted Dib to have been gone for 2 years before returning to his hometown, but then decided to change it to only 6 months. I didn't change it in all the places it was mentioned, though. Whoops. My bad.
:I really liked this chapter.
:You guys all really, really hated Stan, didn't you?
THANK YOUS: blahblah2001, Invader Demeter, DibMagician, Dibsthe1, Capra hircus, Call me blue streak, Maran Zelde
TRUTH/LIES (Deception)
J: None
Erin: None
St---: Anyone he had been up to that point. Himself, really.
REFERENCES: None that I can find. I stopped really thinking about them at this point. Whoops.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:This chapter had been driving me crazy to be written for months. I was so happy to get it finally out of my head and onto paper, you have no idea.
:I came up with the first paragraph of this chapter, and this "True" version of Limbo walking home from the bus stop after work one night. I had noticed before that, at least here in Florida, the nights that are the coldest have the most beautiful, clear night skies. I don't know why that is, but I think that it's a nice message: it's always the most beautiful when it's the coldest out. I could just be weird though.
:As I'm writing this, the sun is coming up.
:St--- isn't exactly Satan, just like J and Erin aren't exactly angels. They all exist outside of the normal heaven/hell realms, but do have the same essence as demons/angels. Does that make sense?
THANK YOUS: DibMagician, blahblah2001, Dibsthe1, Uru Baen, Maran Zelde, Capra Hircus, Thepersonthing, Kayla, tailfeather, mimsy-borogrove
PERFECTION (Sloth)
J: Phone call
Erin: Herself, runs to catch up with Dib on the street and then gets arrested and disappears
St--: Dib's mom
REFERENCES:
:I wanted a reference to Back to the Future with Dib waking up from his nightmare to see his mom, but I didn't quite make it.
:I'm sure "Up and at 'em, Atom Ant" is from something. I'm guessing the Atom Ant cartoon. One of my old boyfriends used to say it whenever he wanted me to get out of bed in the morning (well, afternoon whenever he got back from class).
:Pepito (the anti-christ) and the wide eyed boy next to him (Squee) are both from the Squee comics by JV. Pepito doesn't usually have the 666 on his head but there was a panel in one of JV's other comics (I think it was a JTHM, I'm not sure) where a mom is holding the hand of an ugly child that looks like an early sketch for Pepito that has the 666 (and an arrow pointing to it saying that the mom doesn't know her kid is the anti Christ), so I just used it for the hell of it. Originally I was going to reference my own work and have the kid Dib freaks out over be Alyssa from A Sue For Each, but that would have given stuff away that I haven't gotten to yet (I say that like I've gotten to anything seeing as how I've only written 2 chapters), so I decided against it.
:The rooftop conversation with the Filling Stations line is from a piece of fanart I found by "Windchaser". The address for it is: www(dot)deviantart(dot)com(slash)deviation(slash)17233428(slash). I love that person's stuff. It's all awesome.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:Another chapter that was dying to be written.
:I wanted somewhere for Erin's hair to get all chopped off, because I had cut mine super short IRL. Making her have to become androgynous to sneak into a Test was a good a way as any. If anyone was curious, after the Powers "cops" come and take her away, she resists arrest, which is how she got her nose broken. She had information that she needed to get to J and she couldn't do it very well from jail. J ends up bailing her out, eventually, but it took a lot of string pulling to do it.
:I love Gretchen. I'm a super big Gretchen/Dib shipper. I think she would be an awesome match for him. It's not her fault that she's awkward, and she's the only one who seems to care in the series.
:I have no idea if dishwashing gel will bleach your hair. I do know that it ruined the skirt of my favorite dress in high school, though. That stuff is dangerous.
:The earthquake is many things. The reasoning I gave in the last chapter about it being the Test recognizing that there was an intruder was one, St—'s anger at being defeated is another, The realities resetting itself was another…basically, it's just what my head was showing me was happening at the time.
THANK YOUS: DibMagician, Call me blue streak, mimsy-borogrove, chickenleg, tailfeather, capra hircus, Dibsthe1, Invader Mel, Kkwy
END (Human)
J: Doctor
Erin: Nurse
St--: None
REFERENCES:
:Alice in Wonderland, but that was made obvious.
:"Open your eyes". The opening to the movie "Vanilla Sky" and also it's Spanish counterpart, "Abre Los Ojos".
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:J and Erin are always the doctor and nurse. J is the person that Membrane is talking to throughout the chapter. How did they get into the Waking World? Well, the Waking World is just another Dream to them, right?
:The beginning segment with the computer talk was Zim's program kicking him out.
:Yes, I made Membrane unnecessarily harsh. I did this for a few reasons: one, being that I will prolly just instinctively write very stern father figures because I don't have that great of a relationship with my dad, so that's really all I know, and two, Membrane lost his wife and is now about to lose his son because, in his mind, he failed at saving them. He's only human. Part of him is ashamed because he feels useless, part of him is screaming to keep his pride. He's so torn between what he feels is the right thing to do, of course he's going to be seemingly harsh and cruel and angry. At least, that's how I see it.
THANK YOUS: DibMagician, Capra hircus, Dibsthe1, The eclectic ones, chickens, phoenix, Uru baen, Meiko, Kkwy
EPILOGUE (Adventure)
J: None
Erin: None
St--: None
REFERENCES: None.
BACKSTORY/ RANDOMNESS:
:I wanted to show how little ended up changing in the year after Dib wakes up from his coma, but also how much did at the same time. Gaz and Dib are on good terms, Dib and Zim are friends but still continue with the "game", Zim found out that his mission was a joke, but still has enough pride to keep attempting to take over, even if most of it's just for fun, etc. Some things change, some things stay the same, but all in all, it's for the best and everyone's happier because of it. Everyone learned something. Awww. But anyhow, that's why some of it is just copied from other chapters—to have a sense of…balance, I guess.
: Like I said, before, I left it open for the sequel, which will be basically Invader Dib, should I have the urge. And I prolly will. We'll see.
:Final word count: 413. Wow. That's a lot of pages.
THANK YOUS: Everyone who took the time to read this, even if you didn't review. I hope that you all enjoyed reading this as much as I enjoyed writing it.
-j