#pilot gaz

[dibpng]

I 🩷 the invader zim pilot and show bible

(ALSO PILOT/SHOW BIBLE GAZ DESERVES WAYYYYY MORE ATTENTION ISTG! Especially since I find her dynamic with Dib in the show bible to be SUPER interesting to think about.)

[phantomfray]

So a lot of you valid people have grown an appreciation of pilot Dib, which is epic. But I think we all need to stop and appreciate pilot Gaz too.

Little moments, like when Dib starts gloating Zim onto eating beans and she Just APPEARS like she can smell the suffering and wants in on it. 

When DIb is ranting about his plan to stage a food fight against Zim she’s listening. Sure she’s gaming but they’re hanging out and talking, and you get the feeling that this is a common occurrence. Or when Zim and Dib show up to fight and she goes “This should be interesting” like she’s interested in whats gunna happen rather then apathetic/angry. 

She’s more involved then she is in the show. She seems more positive and aware, just a bit more tuned into whats going on. She has more of a speaking roll. She carries the little sister energy of “Enjoying the chaos and knowing just how far to lend support or disappear to continue to benefit without consequence.” 

In the pilot she asks Dib “Are you drinking my soda???” with an almost “i’m telling dad” tone of voice, and Dib is not afraid at all. In episode one of the show she goes “Dib drank the last soda, he will pay.” While her fists shake with anger, but she doesn't actually do anything about it and I feel like that highlights the biggest difference.

Don’t get me wrong, show Gaz was epic, but it kinda felt like show Gaz’s power was only really there as long as she stuck to the background. She was super scary and apathetic, but with the exception of Tak’s arc her incredible “scary power” is only used once or twice without much lasting consequences or impact. It almost feels like if show Gaz were to use her “scary power” on the Tallest, or on Zim to stop his plans all the time instead of Dib it would loose it’s impact or fall flat. She was also a lot more absent in the show, only really playing a key role in a few episodes, which made it hard for me to pin down her personality other then “scary” and “likes video games” which... dosen’t actually tell you much about her. I never got a good feel for what she cares about, how she interacts with and views things. Trying to write her in fanfiction felt like just pressing a big button labeled “Apathy” whenever I tried to write her doing anything. And most of her canon dialogue was either an insult or a threat at Dib, which while fits with the sibling dynamic and was probably deserved didn’t shine a lot of light on who she was as an individual. 

Basically while I love the amount of attention and characterization Dib and Zim get in the show, I kinda wish that the writers put more attention on other characters, and I feel like Gaz would have been a character that they could have expanded a lot more, but didn’t. Seeing the pilot only highlighted this feeling for me.