(AKA My Week in Atlanta Part Three)

I know that the past two journals have been kind of stupid and crazy and, in all sense of the word, crack. It's what I usually write and it's what gets the best reaction. Plus, that's what Zim is! I figured that to explain my weekend here (I know I write 'week' in the titles, but I'm not gonna fight about it) I should use my own stupid/crazy language to represent the show. But for this one I'm going to talk about more of the emotional experience I had while I was there and that means a very limited amount of crack.

Okay, so I'm going to start this off with my own personal life. I grew up as a pretty ordinary kid. I was a bit of a dork, never really fitting in but at the same time popular with the other ordinary, kinda dorky kids. My humour was more about fart jokes than anything else, as well as the word 'booby.' That was up until Year 3 or 4 and I got Foxtel, including Nickelodeon and all it's glory. I'd have whole day-long marathons of just sitting in front of the TV and watching MyLifeAsATeenageRobot, FairlyOddParents, Spongebob and DannyPhantom.
It was during one of these marathons when I came across the late-night InvaderZim episodes....

_{It was so awesome X3}

In the states by this point (2004) InvaderZim was starting to go downhill and the network was starting to get on Jhonen's back. But for me, it was only just starting. I found it and loved it instantly. The humour was so dark and random, unlike any of my stupid jokes from when I was eight. Whatever problems I had about myself and being 'weird' in the eyes of all the popular kids of my grade just died. I honestly stopped caring about all that. I was a major Zim fangirl, swearing that I'd marry him one day, and basically flipped the middle finger to the world around me. I've had some family traumas and dark patches throughout my life, and I certainly didn't rely on freaking iCarly or Spongebob to help cheer me up. I relied on the madness of Vasquez and seeing that I wasn't the only outcast with a green skin-condition and a bad case of headpigeons. To sum it up, InvaderZim warped me and moulded me into a more mature, darker kid and got me through so many bad stages in my life that I've come out stronger in the end. A bit dramatic, yeah, but it's true and I'm not going to be ashamed of that.

And that's just my personality. Because I was getting into Zim, my whole family was. Including my sister. And because she was getting into writing fanfiction, she started writing Zim fanfics. When I asked her what she was doing one day, she finally told me about fanfiction and how it's creating your own characters in an already established world.
Now, I had done something similar when I was little, but in my own version. I'd sit in the bathroom for fifteen minutes and narrate an entire story about Ash, Misty, Brock and Rainbow (guess who the OC is.) My parents thought I had some serious bowel problem, but it turns out I was just telling myself the adventures of my first Mary Sue. So when Steph finally put a label to that idea, I was hooked. The minute she got off the computer I hopped on and started typing the adventures of Lorna, a leopard-printed Irken who was Tak's baby sister and the Tallests's adopted daughter all at the same time. She had successfully conquered Planet Lionheart through peace, reasoning and love, Zim was crazy over her and she was the most perfectly perfect being of perfect.
Man, I suck.

It's clear to me (and hopefully you, the reader) that InvaderZim gave me more than just a fandom. It was through InvaderZim that I discovered writing, the fact that there's more than one rounded, bubbly art style in the world and that physical pain, trauma and the dark can be hysterically hilarious. It gave me my first serious crush, started a hormone kick in me, and turned me into the mature teenager I am now… *cough*
It's because of this fact that I knew I wanted to go to meet these guys one day. Before I knew that the epic Jhonen was… well, the epic Jhonen… I always thought that he and I would be bestest friends foreverest or, at the very least, keep in touch with Richard Horvitz (a.k.a. eight-year-old Jess's perfect husband XDD).

So when I heard about InvaderCon this became more than just an event. This became, and still is, the only way that I was to fill one of my life-long dreams. To meet the crew and the cast and the artists behind InvaderZim. I brought it up with Mum a good six months ago and it turned out…

Jess: Mum, can I go to the states for a bit?
Mum: How long for?
Jess: The weekend.
Mum: What for?
Jess: Meet strange Americans in their late thirties to talk about a children's TV-show that was cancelled for a good four years or so.
Mum: Not a chance.
Jess: MUM I HATE YOU SO MUCH OMG WHY DO YOU DO THIS ARGH-HARGH-HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGH!!! *sobs loudly in the back of the car, playing InvaderZim OST on a loop*

… not so good.

Luckily for me, my dad is amazing and a bit too generous for his own good.
Jess: Can I go to the states for a bit?
Dad: What for?
Jess: *deep breath* AlltheguysfromInvaderZimarecomingoverexceptforJhonencozhe'stoocoolforusandit'saonceinalifetimeopportunityandI'llneverevereveraskforanythingfromyoueveragainandIreallywannagobecauseit'sbeenmydreamsinceIwaseighttomeettheseguysbecauseIlovethemsomuchandthey'reamajorpartofwhoIamtoday--
Dad: Did your mum say 'no'?
Jess: …. yes.
Dad: Let's do it.
Jess: *squeak*

NOTE: I do not hate my mum. She's an amazing woman who just likes to think rationally, what with taking care of three freak-show children. She ended up supporting me on my trip and I sent her text messages every half an hour to tell her who I had just met and what I was doing. Plus, she made me a badass Irken uniform and helped drive me around on a goose chase for other props. Why should I hate on her?

Though my dad ended up leaving me alone for most of the convention, I'll always be thankful for what he did for me. It was his first time going to a convention and he was pretty nervous about leaving me alone in the hands of a bunch of Americans and sweaty forty-year-old guys. With that in mind, I'm pretty sure he kept his cool as best he could and I'll love him forever for doing this with me.
If you ever read this: I love you, Dad!!

That's another point: the "Americans and sweaty forty-year-old guys". It turns out that my fears of being left alone in the basement of some hotel were completely false. As were those phobias of being isolated because I wasn't a 'true fan' or I couldn't handle your money properly (IT'S ALL THE SAME COLOUR, OKAY?! IT'S CONFUSING!!!) Everyone I spoke to was not only open, but sometimes even a bit too open. And, to be honest, I loved it. I was offered seats next to families who I had only known for five seconds (I was so socially awkward that I never ended up taking them) and people would recognise me without having to wear a showercap. I earned the name "Australia" not only by the staff but by the guests and Richard-little-girl's-imaginary-best-friend-Horvitz himself, too. It felt so… warm? Sweet? It sounds like I'm describing a pastry. I don't know, to be honest. That feeling that no matter where I went I met a familiar face was just overwhelming. I loved it, loved it, loved it! I felt like I was this weird, adopted daughter of a really amazing and huge family. You people were all so amazing and no matter how many times I thank you for your hospitality I'll never get it across just how much you all meant to me.

Crap, I'm sitting in the middle of an aeroplane and about to both take off and bawl my eyes out at the same time. I either have two options:
1. Stop writing
2. Gouge my eyes out
*Sigh* I better get the spork. This needs to be said. XD

Us InvaderZim fans are a powerful lot of people and we're growing slowly every day. Just back home in Perth I've converted two people into becoming InvaderZim fans, however one of them turned out to be a total cow, so I'm only going to count the one. He then went to convert his family and I'm pretty sure he's starting to spread it to our friends at his school. It's like the horrible plague in Dark Harvest where we take out people's sanity and replace it with Zim (and the occasional rubber piggy.) Even the representatives from Nick that were hidden amongst us were impressed by the amount of people at the convention, not to mention the variety of ages. We're not just teenage girls that get GIR-patterned bikinis (I hope they make ones with the Swollen Eyeball or Irken symbol someday), we're also nine year old boys and fourty-year-old mothers. We're straight and we're gay. We're black and we're white. We're lovers and we're children. We're not this brand of clones that Nickelodeon seems to be aiming at nowadays. We're people.

You know, incredibly scary people that can be mentally disturbing at times, but generally amazing people.

I'm going to pull out some of said amazing people just off the top of my head. Ignoring the incredible amount of couples, heart-warming families and amazing cosplayers and artists who I talked to, I want to take a minute to talk about Operation Headpigeons. When I first met these girls it was when they asked for a group photo of myself in my germaphobic outfit. I passed them off as a generic bunch of teenage girls who were very sweet and friendly, but other than that like every other teenage girl at that convention. It was only at the first cast Q&A that I realised these were the girls who were cheering on the InvaderZim fandom from their ever-expanding Facebook page.
As I watched them giggle, cry and scream while they lined up for Richard Horvitz's autograph I couldn't help but think: "This is the face that represents the need for Zim?" At first it scared me a little. A bunch of teenage girls against a million-dollar network? No wonder they're easily picked on by Nickelodeon and even the older InvaderZim fans.
But just think about it. These girls are only fourteen to fifteen years old and they're doing a lot more than some of us other fans. I myself happen to be fifteen (I turn sixteen on October 6th) and all I do is sit at home and make silly little AMVs. Yes, they were simply the starting point and it was the fans that took Operation Headpigeons further, but at least they started something. I know I applauded them on Saturday for their efforts before, but I'll say this again: These girls are incredibly brave for putting themselves out there and facing Nickelodeon itself for the sake of "a stupid kid's TV-show." That kind of dedication, passion, and pure insanity is just the face to represent the determination and attitude of each and every InvaderZim fan. Sara, it was an honour to talk to you personally at dinner. I hope to email you soon and start following the Headpigeons 2.0 page ASAP.

Bravo, girls. Bravo. <3

We've seen the kind of power that us Zim fans can have. I know that my sad little story isn't the only one out there in the world but it's the only one I can tell you all for now. I think if more of us unite as a group and tell Nickelodeon about our stories and how much this show means to us (not order or demand, but tell) then they will listen. And because we have such a strong-willed director like Jhonen who will have it his way or the highway, we won't get some cheap knock-off or a marketing scam. We'll get a new season of a show that deserved a lot more than just 26 episodes.

Or, you know, Invader Zim: The Musical Movie Adventure of Despair.

Maybe, maybe not. It's all kinda... cloudy~
(Sorry, I couldn't help it. XD)

It's been such an emotional journey these past few days. A lot of tears, a lot of hysterical laughter, a lot of dramatic speeches and a LOT of piggies and screaming. Going back to Australia is going to be a long, LONG journey of more tears and sobbing while trying to cover it up awkwardly (I'm still a little teary-eyed as I'm typing this out!) but it's worth it. I promise that I'll be back for InvaderCon 2021, 2031, or even 3051 (I will, just watch me!) Whatever year and wherever in the world I promise I'll be there. I'm already planning a cosplay of Zim's Foodcourtia uniform (and preparing the chains to lock my mum to the sewing machine) and the very SECOND that the next InvaderCon is announced I expect an email from the marvellous Green Mustard!!

To finish this off, I'm going to go back to another personal experience. Just this weekend as I was waiting around for the final ceremonies with my three signed scripts clutched to my chest, I finally realised something. I had always told myself that my dream job would be to get my little comic project turned into a short-time cartoon series (I'll be dragging the Zim cast into working with me, even if that means having to get them out of old folk's homes.) But after reading Eric's amazing scripts, spotting the similarities between his writing style and even my own fanfiction (I'm sorry for comparing your art to my fanwork, I really am!) and looking around at the amazing people all around me I found my new dream job: to write for InvaderZim.
I would take working for Jhonen and being his personal stress-toy as I'm forced to write and re-write script after script over having my own show any day of the week. Even if I'm not even put up in the credits and beaten to a bloody pulp for making little mistakes, I'd love that more than anything else. Not because I'd be working for Jhonen, alongside Eric, and making improvements with the help of Rikki, Andy, Melissa and (of course) Richard…

… but because it would mean that Nickelodeon had finally brought InvaderZim back on the air.

With much love,
Jessica Jean
15, Western Australia.