#or the feelings zim and dib developed for each other by the time of mopiness of doom

[emeraldspiral]

Wait, so I believe at last year's Florpus Anniversary screening someone said Jhonen said Skoodge is living in Zim's basement and just isn't seen in the movie.

But in the original comic timeline, which we know is meant to cover about a year since Zim experiences his second Halloween and Christmas during that run, Skoodge never reveals himself as intended in the unfinished episode Day of Da Spookies. This comic meanwhile, takes place in an alternate timeline which began the same as the original comic run, then veered into another direction resulting in ETF and 3 other post-movie comics, culminating with this one. Since the post-Florpus run was only 4 issues we can assume that less time has passed in this continuity than the original comic timeline.

In the original comic timeline, even though much more time passed without Skoodge making an appearance, it's still possible that Skoodge was laying low in Zim's base all that time and Day of Da Spookies or some alternative story which would see him reveal himself could still possibly happen at some indeterminate point in the future. But this comic appears to show Skoodge out conquering another alien planet in the name of the Irken Empire at a much earlier point in time. So either he snuck out of Zim's base without Zim ever knowing he was there in the first place, or he was in fact not ever there in the first place.

So is Day of Da Spookies now officially decanonized? Because we have two lines of continuity now, one where Skoodge never emerges from the basement after more than a year, and one where he's clearly shown to not be in the basement at an earlier point in time with no indication he was ever there. Technically it's possible Day of Da Spookies still happened offscreen, but in the absence of any evidence for it, I wouldn't consider that a reasonable argument. It's the same kind of insane, lazy logical fallacy that people like MatPat use to justify literally any theory. "I made up a bunch of stuff there's no evidence for, but you can't prove that it didn't happen offscreen despite absolutely nothing that infers it", which you could say about literally anything one could make up.

It's interesting to consider because I think for a long time the fandom always treated the unfinished episodes as if they were canon since they would've been if the show weren't cancelled. But when the comics started up I remember Jhonen made a statement about not wanting the comics to be a receptacle for old stories. The only comics that ended up being adapted from old episode ideas were ones from scripts that were never released. Like the Pants Aliens comic intended for season 1, which never got the green light from Nick because it was too similar to Jimmy Neutron's pilot episode, or "GIR's Big Day" which was heavily reworked from the description Eric Trueheart gave of the original episode concept.

I can definitely see why Jhonen wouldn't want to use the comics or a series revival to enshrine any of those old episodes into official canon. I think it'd be kinda disappointing for fans to wait so long only to pick up a new comic or tune into a new episode and it's just a story we already got 15-20 years ago with all the jokes and twists and turns already spoiled for us.

This is why I get the impression that stuff like the Virooz arc and Zim's nightmare in ETF exist to be stealth replacements for 10 Minutes to Doom and The Trial. A way to convey that the lore about PAKs and Irken existence evaluations is still part of the canon even though the episodes that were originally meant to reveal that information are not canon anymore.

Bringing it back Skoodge, it may indeed no longer be canon that Skoodge is, was, or ever will be living in Zim's basement. But only because it wouldn't be surprising to the audience anymore if that were the case. If they ever bring him back, it's not going to be in a finished version of Day of Da Spookies, it's going to be in a brand new story.

invader zim really gave us the most fan favorite and long awaited characters after 20 years of waiting, in the last 3 pages of the final issue of the comics ;___;

[emeraldspiral]

Thinking about the progression of Zim and Dib's relationship and who would/did fall for the other first. Like, I know I already said Dib would be the first to recognize and come to terms with their feelings because he doesn't rely on denial nearly as hard to avoid dealing with uncomfortable truths as Zim does. But I'm talking about like, the subconscious development of feelings and how they progressed throughout the show and the comics.

With Dib, it was obsession at first sight. Which makes sense. To Zim, Dib was just some random earth native he knew nothing about and needed time to evaluate. But to Dib, Zim was everything. Zim was proof that he wasn't crazy, a way to win his father's respect, a ticket to the career he always wanted, and the key to unlocking fathomless knowledge about outer space, other worlds, and advanced technology. Zim was everything Dib had ever dreamed of.

So Dib was down bad straight from the Nightmare Begins, but on Zim's end it took awhile for him to really reciprocate. Dib proves to be a problem for him as early as the second episode when he breaks into his house and snaps a photo of him in NanoZim. But Zim has multiple chances to do away with him for good starting with that episode, but never tries to actually off Dib until episode 8. Bad, Bad Rubber Piggy is the first time that Zim makes an actual attempt on Dib's life, and when he thinks he succeeded he doesn't seem to regard it with any gravitas. So I think up until that point Zim didn't really regard Dib as an equal, just a pest he thought he could get rid of as easily as Keef. But by the end of that episode, Zim realized that he'd underestimated Dib. Dib was so determined death only made him stronger, and left Zim with no choice but to completely abort his plan. This is notably also the first time Dib actually beat Zim, unless you count driving him out of his house in Planetjackers. Gaz was the one who defeated him in NanoZim and Zim trounced Dib in Dark Harvest, The Wettening, and Rise of Zitboy. So it makes sense that Zim didn't really take Dib seriously until BBRP.

Then, what happens in the very next episode? He tries again to get rid of Dib in A Room With a Moose, and it's in that episode where he explicitly acknowledges Dib as a Worthy Opponent by declaring him the only one who can appreciate his plan and implying that he enjoys being challenged by Dib.

So Dib's been obsessed from the first episode but it wasn't until BBRP that he won Zim's respect and Zim began relying on Dib's validation to boost his ego. This is further reinforced in the next episode, Hamstergeddon, where their dialog with each other is more relaxed and respectful, like they've really begun to see each other as equals.

The thing is though, at this point Zim and Dib are both fixated on each other, but they don't feel the same way about each other. Zim can see qualities in Dib that he likes, which is why Dib's opinion matters to him. He thinks Dib is cunning and intelligent so he crafts plans that he hopes Dib will admire. He starts hallucinating about the "Gangsta Specter of Defeat" and then gains the resolve to redouble his efforts in Door to Door only after Dib taunted him, because he didn't want to lose face in front of his rival. He's unable to resist Dib's obvious manipulation when he claims to admire the cleverness of his revenge in Bolognius Maximus. By the time of Mopiness of Doom, Zim is completely dependent on Dib's validation to motivate him to continue his mission, and in the comics more the once he outright says his plans are "for" Dib. Then of course, there's the more overt indications that Zim likes Dib and wants Dib to like him back. Most obviously, that time he was baffled that having him for a brother wasn't a dream come true for Dib, or programming Clembrane to think Dib loves him, or posing dramatically just especially for Dib when he finally decided to come out of the toilet.

Dib on the other hand, doesn't seem to have the same sort of open-secret admiration for Zim. He stands up for him to Tak's ship and claims that his Zim is the best since he beat Zib and all the other Zims in the Zimvoid, but it's framed as just him coping because if he admits that his Zim sucks then what does it say about him if he hasn't been able to defeat him? Dib's only ever really expressed any kind of admiration of Zim a handful of times. Aside from the aforementioned instances in the Zimvoid arc, he was impressed the first time he saw Zim's base in Bloaty's, admitted that he liked his boots when pressed to say SOMETHING nice about him, and complimented his work in ETF. Notably, ETF is the only time he really had anything nice to say about Zim. His boots and his base are just things he has, and insisting that he's a genuine threat isn't really a compliment. It's indicated at the end of the Virooz comic arc that Zim takes the fact that Dib considers him a threat as enough of an admission that he must have some respect for him, but ETF was the only time Dib ever verbally confirmed that he thought any of Zim's plans or inventions were any good and therefore that Zim himself has a respectable intellect.

Where Zim's fixation on Dib seems to be based on Dib having actual qualities Zim likes, Dib's obsession seems to be based on pure objectification. Dib does not view Zim as a person, but a means to an end. A way to get his dad's respect, a way to jumpstart his career, a way to get validation, and a punching bag to vent his frustrations. He sees Zim as pure, uncomplicated evil. No redeeming qualities, no feelings worthy of consideration, and no "humanity", for lack of a better term, worthy of any dignity or decency. Which conveniently means he doesn't have to worry about the ethics of wanting to dissect him or experiment on him, let alone bullying him at skool. But to be fair, Zim is entirely complicit in this. He wants to be seen as pure evil. He calls himself and his plans evil all the time. He nods along when Dib outlines to Chammy how they can never be friends because Zim is an irredeemable monster incapable of any emotions except gluttony and warlike ambition. Zim wants to be objectified because he's been socially conditioned to think of himself as an object. A machine with some organic hardware bred and programmed to be a cog whose only purpose is to serve the Empire and those in charge of it.

ETF is the first time Zim is ever vulnerable in front of Dib and it's very uncomfortable for him because it goes completely against how he's always viewed Zim. It's the first time he's seeing Zim as a person with feelings, and feelings he can relate to no less, and that's hard for him to process. That's why he's so quick to accuse Zim of faking it after he betrays him. Because it's easier to go back to that simple, comforting, uncomplicated idea of Zim as pure evil rather than try to integrate the idea that Zim can do the things he does while also being person with feelings and pain that Dib can sympathize with. But this isn't the only time in ETF Dib's perspectives of the people around him are challenged. He thinks his sister just hates his guts but it turns out she doesn't, and she won't kick him when he's really down and will support him when he needs it. He thinks his dad doesn't respect him or have his back and he needs to work for it to get him to be proud of him, but he finds out he was wrong about that too.

Overall, ETF was a big coming of age movie for Dib where his perceptions were challenged and his black and white views became more nuanced. The comic Dib's Dilemma would continue to show Dib's evolving perspective of himself and his father and his quest to prove himself.

So it seems like Dib is on track to shed his more childish views and understand the world with more nuance like anyone else does as they grow up. I know some people like the idea of Maladjusted Adult Dib, and that's a perfectly valid concept to explore. But I feel like the evidence is pointing us in a more positive direction. Like, as of Dib's Dilemma he's already begun to realize that his dad is imperfect and that he can make the conscious choice to be better than him, and specifically better about treating others with more empathy.

So to summarize the evolution of ZADR:

Dib was obsessed at first sight, but the person he's obsessed with doesn't exist. He's only barely begun to see the real Zim through the cracks in his facade as of ETF. But there's reason to believe that he is capable of eventually seeing the "humanity" in Zim and recognizing that he is a victim.

Zim meanwhile, initially didn't peg Dib as a significant threat until BBRP, at which point he began to respect and admire him, which grew into something of an infatuation to the point that the need for Dib's validation is about of equal importance to the Tallest. He even has the exact same reaction to Dib abandoning him as the Tallest.

But Zim is still wrapped up in delusions and denial 24/7 and convinced that he is incapable of love like all good Irkens should be, while Dib is growing and maturing and changing his beliefs according to new information. So I stand by my earlier assessment that even if Zim is the one who started to catch feelings first and Dib's barely even beginning to start thinking of him as a person, let alone a person he has any kind of affection for, Dib's the one who's going to be able to recognize and come to terms with whatever feelings he develops way before Zim will.

[millennialzadr]

WHY I LOVE ZADR!!!

HEY GUYS WHASSUP? LMAO

So this is a whole ass giant long post of me absolutely spewing my feelings of love for ZADR, it was the very first thing I wrote when I made this blog and I think it’s a nice, positive thing for my fellow shippers to inhale and enjoy 👌👌

it was originally a reply to mitarashiart’s post about why HE loves ZADR (link in replies) but I decided to delete that and make my own post since MY WHOLE ENTIRE TEXT WALL WAS SHOWN IN THE REPLIES and drowned out anyone else who was trying to talk (thanks tumblr mobile u fuckin idiot)

I had also posted a summary of an AU that I’m working on in the original post, but decided to remove it since it just about doubled the length (I’m thinking about posting it separately along with the wips I’ve been putting together, we’ll see 👀)

But ANYWAY, here is about a million reasons why I think ZADR is the fucking best, so if you like reading gushy gay ship feelings, please enjoy ❤️❤️❤️

[Posted June 2019][WARNING, LONG ASS THOUGHT BARF]

SOOO, holy hell y’all my journey back into this fandom has been a wild and unique experience for me, i went from adding invader zim to my bookmarks on kisscartoon, rewatching the series, finding out theres a movie coming out, finding out there was a shitload of content i’d never seen before (commentaries, lost episode scripts and audios, panels, the COMIC, episodes i’d never seen because the dvd i used to watch was scratched!! and a FUCKLOAD of quality modern fan art like oh my GOD) and finally curiously googling ‘zadr’ (which i was way into when i was maybeee 13/14) to see if there was any interesting new art, and holy hell, mita (the artist above) singlehandedly THREW me down the hole into modern zadr hell, first with his absolutely stunning IZ art (all his art is dope tho check him out yo), then reading the above explanation put the final nail in the coffin like, 100%

so i wanted to add onto his post here on why this ship got me so fucked up, both for anyone who might be wondering why on earth i’m shipping two characters from a kid’s show (i’m very aware how weird that is at first glance trust me) and also so i can get some ideas down for possible future reference (will i ever draw them? maybe)

(first of all, a disclaimer, and this is not pleasant to write but it’s important to address for clarity’s sake: I have no interest in romantic or sexual relationships between minors, and do not ship zim and dib as they are presented canonically in the show (as children). what i’m interested in is the conceptualized relationship they may have as modern adults, and i view zadr more as taking the concepts of existing characters and experimenting with them with different interpretations, which i personally think is a constructive and fun creative outlet, especially if these characters hold personal significance for you (childhood faves of course). growing up together is an important facet of their relationship, and certainly they were important to each other even as children (see: mopiness of doom) but as an adult i’m personally curious about what kind of adults they might’ve become, and that’s the focus of my interest. i’ll still be reblogging regular IZ art because it’s dope but if you see shippy looking art of them as tiny lil beans its either friendship or chibis (and i personally headcanon zim as getting taller with dib but some people stick with his canonical height when drawing them as adults, which is super short. it still doesn’t mean he’s a kid). aaand i wish i didnt have to write this and it would just be obvious but we live in a sick sad world and it is sourced from a children’s cartoon so i feel its necessary. end of disclaimer)

NOW THAT THAT’S OUT OF THE WAY

- ok, first reason’s a bit obvious - the nostalgia. holy hell, the feeling of rediscovering a ship that was popular when i was a preteen during the mid 2000s and discovering a totally new perspective on it as an adult comes with an almost totally overwhelming sense of nostalgia and comfort, as well as inspiration!! the kind of art that seems so common for zadr, these sketch pages of scenes and expressions and visual gags where artists would just scribble every idea they had and LOVE doing it, this was exactly the kind of art that made me so passionate about drawing as a kid, and it still sparks such a powerful feeling of love and admiration for me to this day. fan content of iz and zadr is simultaneously achingly familiar and totally new and fascinating, and it just makes me SO damn happy to consume, it is most definitely my new comfort content. and just, GOD. THE ART!! SO GOOD. FUCK

- now for the characters themselves: for some reason i just really love the thought of a mid twenties, modern Dib?? lanky goth dork, disaster bi, depressed as shit, uses bad sweaters and memes to cope?? when i was a kid i didn’t even LIKE Dib, but now i totally sympathize with him! he’s just a hyper obsessive nerd wishing there was more to life than the situation he got stuck with, how wildly relatable. he was a pretty big asshole as a kid (even to people besides zim) but he was also totally isolated and constantly bullied, so there’s a lot of room for growth. i feel there’s a lot of juicy character development potential for that boy, and there’s always been a special place in my heart for characters who are totally sad and screwed and hopeless, but there’s one thing, or person, that means the world to them and could possibly save them…

- aliens. Zim. i love nonhuman characters, i love monsters, i love aliens, i love characters that don’t understand human shit (and thus have much less room for shame or fear bc theyre just totally oblivious the negatives of modern society) and need guidance (bonding!!) from their human. i also love morally grey characters and characters with skewed logic, they’re always really interesting, and Zim himself just has such a unique personality and set of mannerisms, he contradicts himself a lot and you can never quite expect how he’ll behave, and i love that in a character, it makes them super versatile and fun, especially since there’s so many different possibilities for their development. Also, Zim is a gremlin, a little shit, and a disaster. I also love those traits in a character. And don’t even get me started on his character design?? big sparkly eyes? expressive antennae? monster teeth? complimenting colors? he’s adorable.

- mutual obsession. for someone like Dib, who seems almost repulsed by how boring and slow the people around him are, Zim quite literally personifies Dib’s  escapist fantasies, both as an inhuman entity from beyond the stars, and as a person who’s knowledge, charisma and mystery far exceeds that of anyone Dib has met in his entire life. (so basically what i’m saying is that for a shunned, jaded misanthropist, an actual alien is terribly alluring, even if said alien is dangerous, stupid, and possibly insane). not to mention Zim vindicates Dib’s entire life passion, the supernatural! Even when their relationship is totally negative, there is not a single inch of room for Dib to get tired of Zim. as mita explained, they validate each other. for Zim, WHO AGAIN, IS TOTALLY SHUNNED, ISOLATED, AND HATED BY EVERYONE HE KNOWS, Dib is the only person in the universe who gives a single shit about him!! he gives Zim credit as a threat, a capable invader, which if you ask me is the sole thing Zim is after (he’s hellbent on his mission because it would win him the approval of the tallest, all he’s ever wanted is recognition from the people he thinks so highly of). He literally gets depressed when Dib isn’t around to pay attention to him, not even the tallest were enough to motivate him before Dib came back. these two have no one and nothing without each other, and while lifelong nemeses is fine and dandy, i personally prefer friendship, affection and love, cause i’m a softie like that. how could they possibly get there after years of actively trying to kill each other?? well, i think under just the right circumstances it could become a possibility after a long, long time.

- growth. i. love. me. some. good. character growth. especially for characters with trauma/mental illness, bc again, relatable. these boys have issues, and as mita mentioned, their canon stories are actually INCREDIBLY sad! but the happy thought is, they could recover! they could help each other recover, for little reason other than the two are the only source of happiness for each other. now of course this also opens the gate for angst lovers, but at the same time offers potential for comforting, uplifting content of the boys supporting and inspiring each other, maybe even to the point of becoming happy and healthy enough to create the lives they want for themselves (as in appreciating life and doing things that make them actually happy instead of the delusions of grandeur they both sought when they were younger). gimme that positive shit and let the poor beans be happy  щ(ಠ益ಠщ)

- LITTLE THINGS. LITTLE THINGS THAT ONLY COME WITH CHILDHOOD FRIENDS. WITH HUMAN/NONHUMAN. WITH THE SHOW’S WEIRD LOGIC. Zim being the person Dib knows best and vice versa. Zim having an involuntary respect/admiration for Dib because he’s tall. Learning each other’s needs, limits, and communication methods, both emotionally and biologically. Sensitive antennae. Affectionate bickering. Being less insecure bc your partner literally has no idea why you see your flaws as flaws. Laughing at the flaws they do notice because they make no sense. Zim only wanting to eat waffles and chow mein. Dib being forced to overcome his depression lethargy and stay hygienic/keep the apartment clean because Zim has a sharper sense of smell and is afraid of germs. Endless conversation about anything and everything because they’re from literally different worlds, and endless intrigue. TOUCHING. TALKING. DOING EVERYTHING LIKE ITS THE VERY FIRST TIME AND ALWAYS NEEDING THE OTHER TO GUIDE THEM. HOLY HELL THERE IS SO MUCH POSSIBILITY FOR TINY LITTLE MOMENTS THAT MEAN THE WORLD. FUCK. GOT ME FUCKED UP.

so that wraps up the why. fuck man. its just such a good ship. if you read this big ass text post, thank you for indulging me, i hope you enjoyed it! because i enjoy it very much 👀 so stick around if you’d like to for a shit load of IZ and zadr content on this blog, possibly (MAYBE) even from me!! come roll around in alien hell with me why dontcha ᕕ( ᐛ )ᕗ its a fun time! thanks for reading!!!

-

SO THAT’S MY MANIFESTO Y’ALL, FEEL FREE TO REPLY WITH YOUR OWN REASONS!! I WOULD LOVE FOR THIS POST TO JUST BECOME A BIG GIANT PILE OF LOVE AND YELLING!! GO NUTS! SCREAM ABOUT IT! INFODUMP! DO WHATEVER YOU WANT! I’LL READ EVERY LAST REPLY! Y’ALL DESERVE TO ENJOY YOUR SHIP BC IT’S LITERALLY THE FUCKING BEST!!! LOVE Y’ALL!!!!!!

[a-crimson-lion]

Analyzing Deuteragonists In Invader Zim

An important question for Invader Zim fans:

Are you Team Zim or Team Dib?

Trick question. No matter how you slice it, you're Team Both.

Let me explain:

So, first episode of Invader Zim. We learn that our so called protagonist is an egocentric alien who's hellbent on conquering the Earth. That same episode, we learn of the antagonist: a kid prodigy with some odd tendencies determined to save the Earth.

So naturally we hate the protagonist and love the antagonist, right? Well yes, but actually no.

For one, Zim and Dib play their established roles rather well. Zim is wacky and incompetent (but also surprisingly clever and oddly endearing) enough to stay in the audience's good graces. It helps that the zany and likeable GIR happens to be Zim's teammate. As for Dib, he has the right amount of exaggerated and creepy tendencies (see him wanting to experiment on Zim) to not have us praising him everytime he's opposing Zim, and both characters are actual threats to their rival's plans and ambitions.

But as much as they play into their roles, Zim and Dib also play well into their opposing roles.

From one standpoint, even as a cliché, Zim is the perfect antagonist: he's an otherworldly alien bent on conquering the Earth for his species. Sometimes the plans he comes up with are comical, but also incredibly diabolical (see Zim impersonating Santa to take over the world). And for all of Dib's more unsettling behaviors, there is a part of him that genuinely wants do defend the Earth, like when Tak plans on pumping out the Earth's magma or when Zim plans to steamroll the Earth with Mars. Plus, Dib's unusually high level of competence (match only by his sister Gaz among a few other characters) makes him all the more relatable in a world where almost everyone else is unrealistically idiotic (though I hear that was Jhonen Vasquez's point).

This subversion of their standard roles is only further emphasized in the Invader Zim movie, Enter the Florpus. Zim has finally stepped up his antagonistic game, and Dib finally gets to be the hero Earth needs (albeit by the end of the movie, things go back to normal, but they still have their minor victories). I really liked how Vasquez decided to develop the characters in the movie, since they feel less like depressing caricatures (even if the show was admittably enjoyable) and more like actual human beings (literally and figuratively). Which leads into my next point...

The relationship between Zim and Dib is surprisingly symbiotically mutual.

Never mind their extreme and often harmful actions towards another, Zim and Dib might actually need each other. Think about it. They're both outcasts in their own society, and they find what they want to do with their lives in their opponents. Dib wants to save the world, and he sees the ability to do so in exposing Zim to the world. Zim wants to conquer Earth, and sees crushing Dib's opposition as optimal for his quest. There are even a few times where they have to work together, like when Dib accidentally drags Zim into his head during Halloween, or when Tak tries to pump out the Earth's core, and Dib and Zim have to team up in order to stop Tak (for different reasons, of course). Their symbiosis is a noteable aspect of the movie, and in the unaired episode "Mopiness of Doom," it's addressed completely that without the other, Zim and Dib's lives feel empty and meaningless.

You could argue that Zim isn't the main protagonist, and Dib isn't the main antagonist. You could even argue that Zim isn't an antihero or a villainous protagonist, or that Dib isn't a heroic antagonist.

Zim and Dib are something I'd like to call: interchangeable deuteragonists.

Neither one is solely the main hero or villain; they both play those roles at different points of time. Remember, there are a few times where Dib happens to be the main star of the show, like "Battle-Dib" and "Gaz: Taster of Pork." Heck, Dib might as well be the main protagonist in Enter the Florpus. Even if Dib is a flawed protagonist during those exceptions, remember that Zim is a flawed protagonist throughout the entire course of the show. They're the prefect foils to one another, as most of the series, and even the movie, likes to display. The show might be called Invader Zim, but it wouldn't as impactful if Dib was cut out of the picture.

TL;DR Zim and Dib are interchangable deuteragonists that act as both the main protagonists and antagonists of the series, and I think that's amazing and really well done. Props to you, Jhonen Vasquez.

-Crimson Lion (21 September 2019)

[mitarashiarts]

I wanna know ur reasons for loving it so much ;w;

OFC YOU DO LOL. But okay, you opened the floodgates!! Also, I encourage people to talk to me about why they ship ZADR, let’s eXPAND ON THIS SHIT AND DISCUSS IT YO! I’m open to more reasons :DDD I may have missed somethin! 

Now sit down and lemme tell ya Mita’s shitty shipping reasons for ZADR (careful, it’s pretty long).

I’ll start off with different reasons from canon and how I view it as a sort of the foundation where the pairing comes from for me v/w/v

-Zim is seen as a failure, a defect and is literally tricked into a suicide mission to an unknown part of the galaxy with hopes of him never coming back. His own people want him dead and they fuckin hate him. I mean they have good reason as Zim’s a loose fuckin’ cannon and he’s dangerous and cannot seem to understand his own flaws (HEAVY WINK WONKS AT THE IDEA THAT ZIM DOES THIS TO DEFEND HIS FEEFEES ON HIS INSECURITY LOL) Dib is just the class freak that no one listens to and people just treat him like a mentally ill loser that can’t tell fiction from reality. No one wants to associate with him, everything sucks once Dib pitches in during class and he’s just an annoyance. Both are outcasts and no one cares about them, despite the fact that they both have untapped potential to be great (Zim is actually so much more capable than he lets on, he just…gets in his own way. Dib is so much smarter than everyone else, like ridiculously smarter, his interests just aren’t socially acceptable??).

-This actually makes me sad, but it’s very telling in Mopiness of Doom (i know this ep is used a lot for zadr but listen) because they finally found someone who matches them evenly, but the moment Dib gives up on it, they both become miserable. Like to the point that Zim actually does not want to conquer earth, hiS PRIME MISSION THAT HE WAS SO HELLBENT ABOUT!! I guess he doesn’t want his conquest to be easy or smth, but he just stopped tryin. Dib actually earns his father’s respect but it’s not worth it compared to the trials he goes through fighting Zim. Could be argued that his life was pretty boring before Zim came around and who wants to have a normal ass life?? Bitch there’s an aLIEN TO FUCK WITH. Their lives are practically meaningless if they’re not battling this… somewhat worthless fight with one another. It’s not as cute when thinkin about it like that imo… like damn. Part of me feels Jhonen wanted people to see that they are living sad, codependent lives on the enemy that they hate so much and their efforts are trivial compared to, say Dib actually doing ‘real science’ and making something of himself and Zim just… has nothing at all. Sadly humorous i guess?? 

-Branching off the one above, they generally believe the other is a real threat. Zim fully believes that Dib is a capable enemy; an 11 yr old kid. He’s actually evenly matched with a kid (motherfuckin child piloting a planet to fight him tho). He fully sees Dib as someone to tread carefully around and treats him as a worthy opponent despite talkin mad shit about humans 24/7, he knows Dib is the smartest among all the humans. Dib sees Zim as a huge threat too cause he finds observing Zim 24/7 is mandatory to keeping him from fucking up Earth. Sure you can argue the excitement he must feel to finally be able to investigate a live alien, but he truly thinks Zim is someone that needs constant surveillance cause he could destroy earth at any time. Even tho Dib has seen some of Zim’s plots as really stupid, he still knows Zim can be horribly dangerous and treats him as such. 

-I guess this summarizes the top two but they validate one another. Zim validates Dib’s suspicions of paranormal anomalies (Which is his life’s passion??? Like damn???), he validates Dib’s intelligence, his worth to society even if it seems like a useless cause (cause no one fuckin’ cares, why does Dib continue anyways?? Self-righteous as Dib can be he IS trying to keep mankind safe despite them being dicks to him). Dib validates Zim’s existence. And I mean this as in, he validates him as what he SEES himself as; an invader. His own people don’t see him as one, his PAK isn’t issued as one anymore, but he believes himself to be an invader, and so does Dib. Dib pays attention to him, he gives him the recognition he feels he deserves. A nemesis that he can count on to always be there to duke it out with him. SuRE THEY FUCKIN HATE EACH OTHER BUT SERIOUSLY MAN.

-They work well together. This could be said for MANY rivals as they’re often more alike than they’d like to admit. Nothin too different for ZADR cause when they do work together, shit gets done. They hate to admit this kind of thing and they aren’t fans of working with one another, but they do it anyways cause they know the other is capable. When Dib needs help, he will go to Zim if he feels it’s necessary and vice versa. Could argue that they only know each other with working labs or other people are too stupid, but idk, they know the other has the potential to help. Who knows, I like thinking they see the other as somewhat of a frenemy even tho they’d never admit it.

-More of a Dib thing, but that boy is obsessive. He is constantly on Zim’s ass every time. Mentioned before, but he watches him all the time. I mean the comic starts out where Dib literally remained glued to his chair wondering why Zim never left his house, and Zim watched Dib too.They’re stuck on one another, but this is way more of a Dib thing cause he goes out of his fuckin’ way. There’s also the fact that Dib literally goes to Zim’s house to check on him when he hasn’t been around much. He gets genuinely curious where Zim is and finds it odd if he’s not around to be do his usual bullshit. 

I guess that’s like from what I gather from the show as to where the foundation for it comes from. I like to analyze shit a lot so I try to make sense of the pairings I ship. If I can’t see the dynamic work, I probably wouldn’t ship it very hard. So… idk, i see those reasons as enough for the pairing, in my eyes, to work gradually. Some other reasons that stem more from headcanons: 

-I like the idea that as Dib gets older he calms the fuck down. Like not as violent or willing to cut Zim up into pieces. He just more or so acknowledges that Zim’s a weird idiot that’s just there to shake up the day sometimes. I really love the idea of him still entertaining the idea of fighting Zim but not seeing him as much of a threat later on? Like he tries to move on but zim is a constant in his life. Even if he tries to stop completely, he can;t stay away for too long. I enjoy them basically being too invested in one another to just give up. 

-Them knowing one another so well that they just… see through the other all the time. I feel this is a lil more ooc as Zim doesn’t feel the need to actually research or study Dib in the same way that Dib does to him. Like … just years and years of fighting and bickering they become so familiar with it that it’s almost endearing. That kind of bond that’s still settled on hatred but mutual understanding of the other just fucks me up?? Also all their insults becoming endearing terms in a way?? 

-HEIGHT. Bonus because Zim’s race bases so much importance on height. Like height differences is a huuuuge thing for me >w>;;;; I think that just speaks for itself honestly. I like Zim developing a crush on Dib specifically for his height as first like b o y . 

-Human/Alien. IM JUST. I LOVE HUMAN/NONHUMAN SHIT SO MUCH?? That potential of exploring the other’s body, culture, etc?? Always fun. Culture shock and generally not understand customs of another’s race/species is always so fun to me. Like wow, I love how Zim is confused 90 percent of the time over human customs. 

I could probably add more shit. I’D LOVE TO TALK ABOUT THIS MORE WITH PEOPLE???