This isnt a request. I was just looking for some advice for writing for Zim. Your really talented and very good at producing accurate depictions of Zim so I was hoping you could give me a little advice on how to do that, if that's okay with you. Thank you💞❤
Hi! Thank you so much for the compliments, your words really mean a lot to me. I’m so glad you think how I portray Zim is accurate. As for advice, I’m not the best at giving it, but I can try my best!
If it’s been a hot minute since seeing the show or the movie, watching clips with Zim, especially his interactions with others, helps a lot. Tak the Hideous New Girl can be used as a good reference for certain scenarios. Or even just looking at the transcripts available on the Invader Zim fandom wiki.
Mainly just keeping in mind that Zim doesn’t have a grasp on affection, at least in a human sense. But I think the most important thing, at least that I try to incorporate, is that he’s very much a bit of a tsundere type egotist. If he wants affection or contact, he absolutely will not directly ask for it, rather try to make it seem like the reader’s idea, or make his intentions not seem obvious (although usually failing miserably because it’s Zim we’re talking about).
Like previously stated, he’s very much an egotist, but I like to think he’s always trying to impress the reader, or is seeking validation or approval of some kind. It’s like with his Tallest, if he cares about your opinion, he does everything in his power to impress you. He’s also incredibly dramatic at times imo.
Another one of my personal writing headcanons is that he’s very protective, jealous, and possessive, although not to a problematic or toxic extent. In his mind, Zim belongs to the reader, and the reader belongs to Zim. If Dib is in the equation, especially in a love triangle, those traits get cranked up even higher with an added competitive component.
Overall, he genuinely wants to do everything he can to be the best lovepig he can be, even though he shows his affection in his own special Zim way.
I’m in no way an expert for writing Zim or anything, but these are just some little things I do, or at least try to do. There’s no set formula for writing, and I feel like everyone puts their own spin on a character in one way or another.
