Invader Zim OC - Alara Ota

When she was a child, Alara Ota was just like Dib. She's always been a fervent researcher of the paranormal, but - also like Dib - she was met with contempt and derision from her peers for it. This led her to eventually abandon her paranormal studies, instead opting into the career of a hard-shelled FBI agent.

She holds a bitterness towards everyone who ever derided her for her love of paranormal studies - which is still very much alive, even if she does have to keep it under wraps. So when real evidence begins to show up that a certain little green alien has landed on Earth, Alara jumps at the chance to finally prove what she's known to be true all her life. All she has to do is get enough evidence of the creature to alert the military - but there's a catch. Specifically, an 10 year-old boy with a big head who's had the gall to find the alien and try to hide him from any authorities.

Alara plays the coquette with Professor Membrane, flirting and alluring into his good graces in order to keep tabs on every move Dib makes. It quickly becomes a battle of paranormal minds as Dib struggles to protect Zim and Alara fights to catch him in the act - all while the two quietly glare at each other from across the dinner table. Selfish, spiteful, and sly, Alara eventually reaches the point where she doesn't care who she has to force out of the way to reach her target - even if it is a young boy.

***

So when I first started writing Little Lost Invader (for those out of the loop, my ZADF retelling of The Iron Giant), I just had Bill from Career Day fill in as Kent Mansley's role. Realized quickly that I was missing an awesome opportunity. Also, I always hated Kent. And not in a good way. Yeah he was a jerk, but not exactly fearsome. I wanted a stand-in for him that would be just as dangerous as she is a jerk. And since I'm being a lot more inclusive with an absence-of-a-mom storyline, I knew she had to be a kinda Catherine Zeta-Jones/Angelina Jolie-ish kinda agent. Foxy but fierce and NOT to be trifled with. (And you can't really tell from here, but she's got a long black ponytail down to her hips.)

Tech Brushes (c) redheadstock
Alara Ota (c) me!