Gaz Dreams of Genie
is a fanfic based on Invader Zim by Eduard Kassel.
Dib recovers and brings home a genie bottle, which Gaz breaks just to spite him. This counts as opening it, thus leading to Gaz matching wits with a genie, and the consequences of reality altering wishes. Can she beat the odds of wishes gone wrong or will the Genie have the last laugh?
Gaz Dreams of Genie contains examples of:
- And I Must Scream: After wasting her first two wishes, Gaz wishes for the ability to grant her own wishes, thinking it's a case of Loophole Abuse. Instead, the poor wording leads to Gaz and Azie switching lives, leaving Gaz trapped in the restored lamp bottle until someone else rubs it, with nothing to do but nap and plot how she'll get her life back. Which will never happen, as the last scene shows the lamp bottle being locked away in a Secret Government Warehouse. At least, not for a very, very long time.
- Asshole Victim: Gaz more than earns everything that happens to her in this story, with her unabashed selfishness.
- The Bad Guy Wins: Gaz accidentally wishes that Dib was never born, creating a world in which Zim took over Earth and enslaved all of humanity.
- Be Careful What You Wish For:
- Gaz gets hit with this after accidentally freeing the genie Azie from her bottle and being granted Three Wishes in exchange. She wastes her first wish with a Freudian Slip (expressing her annoyance with Dib by saying she sometimes wishes he'd never been born), leading to a Villain World where Zim rules and she's a slave; she then has to use her second wish to hit the Reset Button. Left with only one wish, and specifically being told she can't wish for more, Gaz tries to employ some Loophole Abuse by wishing for the power to grant her own wishes (thus allowing her to tailor things her way), but this just leads to her and Azie switching lives, leaving Gaz trapped in the bottle.
- Invoked by Gaz when she's trying to be smart with her last wish, and lists all the ways her wishes could be turned against her. Ruler of the country? Invaded and conquered. Ruler of the world? Either overthrown in a coup or Alien Invasion. Riches? Gained through crime and she's about to go to jail. Inherit her father's company? Prof. Membrane broke multiple laws and the company's on the verge of bankruptcy. The best at all video games. She's trapped in a video game as the player character.
- Becoming the Genie: This happens to Gaz when she wishes for the ability to grant wishes herself, resulting in her and Azie switching lives. According to Azie, this would've happened anyway when Gaz broke the bottle.
- Bedlah Babe: Azie is described as being dressed like this, which she refers to as "a silk two piece and see through pants". Apparently wearing it is a required part of being a genie as when Azie and Gaz switch lives, Gaz is stuck wearing the same outfit.
- Benevolent Genie: Azie, the titular genie, grants Gaz three wishes after Gaz breaks her bottle. While she's a little condescending to Gaz and trolls her a bit, she's mostly pretty helpful in granting Gaz's first two wishes, and tries to give her honest advice when she's carefully contemplating her last one. Though when this final wish results in her and Gaz switching lives, she smugly gives Gaz a "The Reason You Suck" Speech, informing her that it would have happened anyway because Gaz broke the bottle, but that this curse could have been avoided if she'd only made a Selfless Wish, then leaves Gaz trapped in the the restored bottle.
- Big Brother Bully: As is typical for Invader Zim, inverted with Dib and Gaz's relationship, where she's the younger sibling who is constantly abusive to the older.
- Chest of Medals: In the Villain World where Zim took over Earth, the city streets are lined with billboards featuring him, including one where he's wearing an Irken military dress uniform covered in medals.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: When Gaz refuses to go along with her new role in the Villain World, she's sentenced to the Chamber of Torment... but since it's full, she instead gets put in the Chamber of Moderate Annoyance, where she's sprayed with itching powder, mustard, and skunk stink, gets pelted by live squirrels, and gets wedgied by a robotic arm. And as the cherry on top, while she's dangling in midair from the wedgie, speakers start playing a recording of Zim's autobiography.
- Curse Escape Clause: According to Azie, by breaking her bottle, Gaz cursed herself to become a genie after her three wishes were up, but making even one Selfless Wish would've broken said curse. Unfortunately, this is Gaz we're talking about...
- Exact Words: Gaz uses her last wish to wish that she had the power to grant wishes. She meant that she wanted to grant her own wishes. Azie interprets it as Gaz wanting to become a genie.
- For Want Of A Nail: This fic shows that Dib actually is all that stands between Zim and taking over earth.note
- Freudian Slip: Annoyed with Dib, Gaz impulsively wishes that he was never born.
- Genie in a Bottle: The story is kicked off by Dib finding a traditional genie bottle, which Gaz shatters in order to spite him. According to Azie, the genie living inside it, this counts as opening it, so she grants Gaz three wishes. She just leaves out that when a person breaks a genie bottle, they're cursed so that if they don't make at least one Selfless Wish, then after the third wish is granted they switch lives with the genie. This happens to Gaz in the end (though this is as much due to her attempt at Loophole Abuse by using her third wish to ask for the ability to grant wishes herself), and she finds herself trapped inside the lamp bottle as it's restored.
- Genre Savvy: When she's down to her last wish, Gaz decides to take the time and write out ideas for wishes and how Azie might screw her over with them.
- Grail in the Garbage: Invoked by the Swollen Eyeballs who stick the bottle in a crate labeled "EXPIRED CHEESE!"
- Hate Sink: Being a karma fic, this story presents Gaz as negatively as possible, in order to make sure she earns what happens to her.
- It's All About Me: Gaz doesn't care at all when she accidentally erases Dib from existence and causes the world to be enslaved, only hitting the Reset Button because she herself is enslaved. She also outright refuses to use any of her wishes for anyone else's benefit, because they're hers. What a shame, too, because making even one selfless wish would have saved her from Becoming the Genie.
- Jackass Genie:
- Downplayed with Azie, as while she snarks at and mocks Gaz throughout their time together, she does try to guide Gaz in how to properly use her wishes. Played straight after using Gaz's last wish to swap lives with her, as she gives Gaz a "The Reason You Suck" Speech in which she belittles Gaz and gloats over now having her life.
- Played straight with Gaz after Becoming the Genie, who vows to use her new powers to seek revenge on her family and Azie, or at the very least make her next master's life a living hell.
- Jerkass: There's not a moment throughout the story where Gaz isn't cruel and selfish.
- Kick the Dog: Azie doesn't waste any opportunity to rub Gaz's failed uses of the wishes in her face especially at the end, when she delivers a "The Reason You Suck" Speech and gloats about stealing her life.
- Loophole Abuse: Gaz tries to invoke this by wishing for the power to grant her own wishes. It backfires, BIG TIME.
- Made of Indestructium: The cushions and lamps inside the genie bottle are impossible to damage, as Gaz finds out.
- Morality Chain: Dib turns out to be one to his father, as his nonexistence is what leads to Professor Membrane becoming The Quisling to the Irkens.
- Noodle Incident: However Dib got ahold of the genie bottle, it left him with a black eye. Gaz finds herself mildly wishing she'd paid enough attention to his explanation to know how that happened.
- Our Genies Are Different: Azie is noted as looking like the typical image of a genie, being a woman in a belly dancer outfit whose lower body tapers into a smoke tail, and has certain limits to her powers, such as no wishing for more wishes. One key thing, however, is the curse that comes from breaking the lamp bottle — if Gaz doesn't make a single Selfless Wish (which she doesn't), she's doomed to switch lives with Azie and take her place in the restored bottle, complete with being aged up and stuck in the same outfit (according to Azie, it comes with the job).
- Overnight Age-Up: After becoming a genie, Gaz is aged into adulthood.
- Parental Favoritism: As disappointed as Professor Membrane is that Dib is obsessed with the paranormal, he is still his favorite child. Membrane does think Dib is insane, but he's intelligent, driven, and well-intentioned, while Gaz has none of those traits. In the Villain World where Dib doesn't exist, her being the only child his "superior" genes could conceive caused him to completely lose faith in humanity.
- Pet the Dog:
- Azie trying to convince Gaz to make a Selfless Wish turns out to be this, as if Gaz had done so, she would have escaped her ultimate fate.
- Azie also makes sure Dib doesn't remember Gaz wishing him out of existence and promises to be a good sister to him after replacing Gaz.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: The title is a reference to I Dream of Jeannie.
- The Quisling: In the Villain World, Professor Membrane is a collaborator for the Irkens. As he explains it, he was so disappointed in the fact that his "superior" genes could only produce a child who's an apathetic video game junkie that he lost faith in humanity. So he agreed to work with the Irkens in exchange for access to cloning technology that would let him create his ideal offspring.
- "The Reason You Suck" Speech:
- The Villain World version of Professor Membrane gives Gaz a mild one, referring to her as an apathetic video game junkie and noting that his disappointment in her being the only child his "superior" genes could conceive destroyed his faith in humanity and was the main reason he sold out to the Irkens.
- Azie gives Gaz a more aggressive one after they switch lives, calling out how selfish and ungrateful she was for the great life she had.
- Reset Button: Gaz uses her second wish to undo her first and bring Dib back into existence, thereby getting rid of the Villain World created by his absence.
- Rewriting Reality: Gaz's first wish accidentally writes Dib out of existence and creates a Villain World in which Zim won and enslaved humanity. After using her second wish to fix that, her third wish is for the power to grant her own wishes, which results in her not only switching lives with Azie, but making things so that all memory of Gaz is erased and Azie has always been Dib's sister.
- Ret-Gone:
- Happens to Dib as a result of Gaz's first wish, which she eventually uses her second wish to undo.
- After Gaz and Azie switch lives, reality is altered so that no one remembers that Gaz ever existed, instead believing Azie has always been Dib's sister.
- Sealed Evil in a Can: At the end, Gaz becomes this after Becoming the Genie and being trapped inside the lamp. She's absolutely furious at her imprisonment, and vows to exact brutal vengeance on Azie and on her family the moment she's freed or, failing that, to make the life of whoever she's freed by a living hell, and has the power to follow up on these threats. However, she cannot exit the lamp on her own and is sealed deep inside a Secret Government Warehouse, and likely will remain there for a very long time.
- Secret Government Warehouse: The genie bottle ultimately ends up locked away in one by the Swollen Eyeballs with Gaz trapped inside it.
- Secret Test of Character: If a genie bottle is broken, making a Selfless Wish is the only way to avoid becoming the genie. Gaz fails this particular test and gets to witness her life being stolen by Azie while she's stuck in the lamp and locked away in a Secret Government Warehouse.
- Selfless Wish: According to Azie, making one is the only way to avoid switching lives with the genie.
- Symbol Swearing: Gaz does this when yelling at Azie to let her out of the genie bottle.
- Sympathy for the Hero: Azie seems to feel sorry for Dib having to deal with a sister like Gaz and promises to be a better one after replacing her.
- Three Wishes: After shattering a genie bottle that Dib found just to spite him, Gaz frees the genie Azie to serve her. When Dib tries to warn her about using genie wishes, Gaz impulsively wishes he had never been born, erasing him and creating a reality where Zim has conquered Earth and she's a slave. She then uses her second wish to hit the Reset Button and undo this, before trying to figure out how to properly use her last wish. She attempts to get the ability to grant wishes herself, only for Azie to make them switch lives, leaving Gaz trapped in the restored bottle.
- Throw the Dog a Bone: Gaz's final wish causes her to switch lives with Azie, rewriting reality so that all evidence of Gaz's existence is erased when she becomes a genie, and Azie is and has always been Dib's sister. As a result, Dib's memories of his mean sister and every terrible thing she did to him are poofed out of existence, and he gets to grow up with a nice sister instead who loves him.
- Villain World: After Gaz makes it so Dib was never born, Zim ends up ruling the world. The city the show takes place in is in ruins, billboards praising Zim are everywhere, and all humans are enslaved and forced to perform grueling slave labor under the supervision of Zim's Mecha-Mooks. After dealing with this for a single day, Gaz uses her second wish to hit the Reset Button.
- Waking Non Sequitur: Azie falls asleep on Gaz's bed while Gaz is working at her desk, trying to find a loophole which will let her make a wish that won't backfire on her. When she gives up in frustration, the noise wakes up Azie, who blurts out "The wine is in the mail!", much to Gaz's confusion.
- Wasteful Wishing: When Dib tries to talk her out of actually making any wishes because he knows how badly it can go, Gaz gets annoyed and impulsively snaps that she wishes he'd never been born. After this results in a Villain World where Zim rules over an enslaved humanity, Gaz then has to use her second wish to undo the first one, ultimately leaving her with only one wish for her own use.
- Wishing for More Wishes: After Gaz wastes her first two wishes, Azie specifically tells her she's not allowed to ask for more. Spotting a potential loophole, Gaz wishes for the ability to grant her own wishes. This results in her and Azie switching lives.
