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white and brown mackerel tabby

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Let’s Talk about Zim and an Interesting Trend...

With the release of the latest comic (and conclusion of the 4-part Zimvoid arc,) fans have been avidly discussing their favorite parts, breaking down characters, picking out Easter eggs, and writing countless analyses. One thing I thought would show up a lot more in said analyses, however, has been relatively overlooked. It’s Zim’s behavior immediately after being told by multiple people that he was “the worst.”

Look at him. The very concept of this renders him into something akin to a catatonic state. He doesn’t even care that he’s being led to a prison cell. 

He just… goes to pieces.

And yet, his previous zeal and self-confidence are restored instantaneously as soon as he makes the connection with the portals.

This part gave me some serious whiplash. It’s like Zim just had some internal “off switch” to what was previously an all-consuming identity crisis. One moment, he was practically unresponsive, and the next, his trademark moxie was flooding back to him tenfold.

There’s also a palpable sense of déjà vu in this string of scenes, and I just recently realized why. Zim does this exact same thing in Enter the Florpus. He unwittingly stumbles upon a reason to believe he isn’t as spectacular as he’s built himself up to be, and this news ends up leaving him completely despondent. However, all it takes is one little spark of inspiration for him to be back up and in the game, working doubly to prove himself.  

This interaction with Dib is particularly interesting.

Zim outright admits that his depressive episode wasn’t feigned, and I am inclined to believe he is telling the truth. Afterall, what would he have to gain by lying? If anything, he just passed up a perfect opportunity to save face by just agreeing with Dib.

Zim has an interesting and unusual ability to nosedive into depression and then immediately dive back into his comfortable state of egotism.

I once described this behavior as “resilience” when breaking down Zim’s character. However, I did a little more research on it. I quickly discovered that resilience theory is grounded in psychology and has certain attributes attached to it. Further research made me second guess my original assumption that what Zim was displaying was, indeed, a healthy sense of resilience.

Resilience theory has a broad conceptual framework that is pretty widely discussed. 

One peer-reviewed author describes resilience as “…a stable trajectory of healthy functioning after a highly adverse event” (Bonanno et al., 2004)

The American Psychological Association defines it as “the process of adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats or significant sources of stress.”

Another article on resilience theory features several traits that come with healthy adjustment following a hardship. These are social support, realistic planning, self-esteem, coping skills, communication skills, and emotional regulation.

That said, Zim displays very few of the circumstances/qualities associated with well-adjusted people who are good at bouncing back from hardships. He does not have any stable support net, unless you count GIR (or, in a very roundabout way, Dib.) For all he boasts in confidence, his self-esteem bends like a storm-stricken sapling at the first sign of adversity. His coping skills (i.e., lying around the house and eating junk food) are unhelpful at best and self-destructive at worst. And last but not least, he doesn’t display proper listening skills a vast majority of the time, making any sort of communication largely ineffective. 

Overall, there is nothing particularly healthy about any of Zim’s behaviors in the face of hardship. It usually takes some form of outside intervention (in both cases, an idea sparked by Dib) before he manages to dig himself out of the pit of despair he has dug for himself.

So is Zim actually “resilient” in a positive sense? Or is he just using unhealthy coping mechanisms to hide from a reality he doesn’t want to face?

Rather than admit he has character faults, it’s easier to cobble together a scheme and pour all his time and attention into regaining control of his surroundings. After all, throwing himself into work serves two purposes: 1) He is able to put his efforts into making his peers believe he is competent. 2) It’s a way for him to run away from his own feelings.

His methods make me believe he is in deep-seeded denial. The aforementioned behavior in Issue #49 and ETF are instances of Zim being backed so far into a corner, he has no option but to experience the feelings of crippling inadequacy he’s spent so long trying to repress. It’s disturbingly easy for them to be brought to the forefront of his mind. His coping mechanism of choice is to grasp at something—anything—so that he doesn’t have to feel that pain any longer.

But that’s simply my take on it. I would love to hear any further thoughts!

Keep reading

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u can try again tomorrow

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I realized today that Zim would fit into clothes from Justice and could not stop from doodling this potential FASHION ICON

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Eat ur food 😡😡😡😡

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AUGHH here’s emo dib 💔💔 (still drawing scenecore zim) 🔥 also yayaayayayay there’s the attempt on me trying to draw dib in the artstyle 💔 (edited so you can see better and the smear is gone) also my handwriting is so messy aughgahahahagherr

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Cooking up a zadf au where they’re both just silly teenagers who become friends after realizing zim’s mission was fake. I have no plot details for you yet, I just have designs😭

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Silly Gaz doodles

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Hehehehe! I am so happy today cuz I did a cool character trade with someone named Disenchanted on TH today! I traded an oc I had named Pizza for an oc they made named Zero! I instantly connected to Zero and now he is one of my sonas! I just love him and is more simple design! I like simple designs with not too complicated patterns! :3

Btw, he also came with four animation memes! One of my childhood dreams was having an oc with animation memes and I guess it finally came true! :D

All art, animations, and character design are by Disenchanted on TH

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Having a Minotaur Boyfriend would be so fucking funny

Like imagine crying on the couch and you hear his thunderous, big body SUV built ass footsteps approach you.

"Baby, what's wrong," he says tenderly as he rubs your shoulder.

You look up to explain how bad your day was with tears in your eyes and you fucking see this:

I made a small drabble based on this

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Art by Apofiss

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Winter Quagsire ❄️

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busses are herd animals. at the bus station saw 7 busses standing around each other. being sooo soo scared. herd animals

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I really like winnie the pooh, Can you draw winnie the pooh pleaseeeeee

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New outfit idea

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old timey doctors were on to something i *do* have evil ghosts in my blood