girl help i started thinking about how dib's family does care about him in their own stunted ways but they're essentially allergic to showing that love in any healthy capacity that matters so his isolation is confounded and he's stuck underloved anyway
but THEN GIRL GET THIS IT GOT WORSE bc then i started thinking about how zim loves gir (and his other robo minions) but while gir is physically more affectionate both verbally and physically he'd leave zim for dead for a cornchip but zim refuses to be consciously aware of that and and
aghh there's some parallel in here about how zim has the lie of affection that comforts over the reality he's surrounded by machines that won't care when he dies, whereas dib has a family that will truly grieve him but won't love him while he's there. i don't have the eloquence to put it more cleanly atm tho. fuck. these boys are so fucked over by the world i
Some story behind this, zim is told by his tallest that he’s defective and a failure and to never return to irk. This makes him spiral and leaves earth for 10 years. Leaving behind dib who in this time gives up on his paranormal studies and caves to his father’s wishes and goes to college for science. Zim returns and is thoroughly disappointed in what dib’s become and plans to bring his rival back to his former glory.