Aloft in the Airway is the Worst Story I've Ever Read.

...I...have...a confession to make.

I've made several complaints and comments in my work, in journals and to others that I really...REALLY...do NOT like stories that completely and UTTERLY desecrate the core of what a character is. Where it goes from beyond fanfiction and into "You have just pissed on the source material". The Invader Zim work Aloft in the Airway" does the latter. I hate it completely.

But above all, I hate what it REPRESENTS.

...now...what is it ABOUT?

Well, I'll break it down like this. Dib and Gaz of Earth sell out their species to Zim, the Irken Invader. Yeah. They go traitor. Earth is conquered. And Dib doesn't even care. He's without compassion or any kind of empathy or sympathy for his fellow humans. He thinks they DESERVED it for making fun of him. Yeah, because EVERY human on the ENTIRE planet made fun of you, Dib! >.<

But it gets worse. See, the humans are trying to rebel, to throw off the shackles of oppression. Dib and Gaz screw up their chances. That's even worse.

But then...then Zim convinces Dib...to SLIP A ROOFIE INTO HIS SISTER'S DRINK SO HE CAN SLEEP WITH HER.

I repeat. He wants Dib. To help him. RAPE. HIS. SISTER.

I don't care if her bearing Irken children will make their lives in the Empire more unbearable, THIS. IS. RAPE. Pure and SIMPLE.

And the worst part of it all is...

THE AUTHOR AND THE STORY TREAT ALL THIS LIKE GOOD THINGS.

I am SO not even freaking kidding! We're meant to think that the enslavement and most probable genocide of humans is a good thing! That what Zim did was right for Gaz and she'll one day thank him for it and that Dib did the right thing by his sister! We're supposed to get BEHIND these...these!

...I...got into IZ...and met Meredith...my old girlfriend...a while back. Some years ago. She was sweet and kind, and she was reviewing my IZ work. We chatted it up. We collaborated. And then I actually began IMing her and calling her and then...I met with her in New Hampshire. She became my girlfriend for about two years and I do not regret the time I spent with her, and she will always hold a special place in my heart. I met her...because of Invader Zim. I made some of my best and most beloved work...both to me and to my fans...thanks to Invader Zim.

And THAT! Is why I am so frustrated with darkfics and with work like "Aloft in the Airway"! Because I CANNOT LOOK AT THE STORIES AND THE SHOW I READ, WATCHED AND LOVED ANYMORE...without thinking of THAT!

THAT EXPLOITATIVE, POORLY-WRITTEN, MISANTHROPIC, SICKENING TRASH!

I...can't...unread it. Any more than I can unread "Cupcakes". It HURT me...to read that story. I kept reading it thinking "maybe I'm being too quick to judge, I've seen other authors turn it around and make seemingly horrible stories into great ones"! But it never happened. And what really offended me was the moral implications of the story. I couldn't understand how the author expected her audience to go along with these people who did such horrible things and who treated them like they were GOOD. It didn't work. And it's forever jabbed a knife into my heart and my love of the fanon and canon.

And yeah. The story's still on Fanfiction.net. If you...if you honestly want to read it...I won't tell you NOT to. I've just told you why I, personally, wouldn't recommend it. I'm a guy with his opinions, just trying to ground them in a mixture of literary criticism and his own personal moral guidelines and cultural tastes, same as the next guy. But...but that...that STORY, I just...I cannot understand why anybody would like it. I do not get the appeal. I do not see any rational, good reason for liking it.

...I just don't.

...JESUS, that damn story.