u g h.

..was there actually a ghost in here-?

she shook her head. don't get distracted. if there actually was a ghost here, she'd be able to feel it.

" ..well, i'm sure the ghost didn't mean to. we all get a little clumsy once in a while. let's just hope they don't bump into anything else, for safety's sake. " her tone is the furthest from condescending or threatening, but entirely genuine.

she really shouldn't be encouraging it, but it's better to let him come to her naturally than to try to force the truth out of him. plus, it was fun to play along.

she gets it, y'know? hes a kid. he doesn't wanna get in trouble. he feels like he has to lie in order to feel safe. very concerning when put into perspective.

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But - the jester would be a liar if she said his confession hadn't made her heart pick up in speed. Just to crash and slow down soon right after; an endless war of emotions. Flashes of memory seemed to momentarily pass: the good, the bad and the treasured; it keeps her smile ever present despite.

his hat tips upward as he reaches to scratch his head, barely narrowed eyes just staring at the smaller jester in front of him.

" mmh.. 'fraid i don't, sheila. but it's a'right. i remember y' face well enough, that's gotta count f' somethin'. " the croc gives a toothy grin in an attempt to reassure her.

so, she remembers him telling her his name.. why can't he?--

he shakes his head. maybe he just hit his head or something. he's had quite a few hard falls in his time, after all. a hand goes to his chin as he examines her again.

The entire Irken race is canonically aroace.

Even among the Irken race where being aroace is the equivalent of being straight, Zim is still queer. He is in the closet and in deep denial about wanting relationships the rest of his species consider abnormal, like parental love and friendship. He is constantly insisting that “Invaders need no one” but we all see him keeping GIR around even though he messes up his plans more than he helps, or squeezing the cold unfeeling robot arm, or programming Clembrane to think that Dib loves Zim, or in the comics insisting that Prisoner #777 is his friend.

Within the show’s subtext, the main premise is two people who don’t fit in with their respective societies desperately craving recognition and acceptance.

Zim represents the closeted, repressed queer experience. He wears a disguise in public and is constantly putting on performative displays of normalcy and denying that the parts of himself that deviate from social norms exist. Dib meanwhile, is openly “different” and enduring the struggles of not being accepted, respected, or understood, particularly by his family. Part of Zim’s public masking often includes piling on the ridicule Dib deals with in order to deflect attention from his own “abnormality”, which rarely works and only makes it more acceptable for people to shit on both of them.

Literally the first time Zim and Dib meet, Dib identifies Zim on sight and tries to out him, only to get called out on being prejudiced himself. Zim hates Dib for trying to expose and endanger him. But to Dib, Zim is indisputable evidence that he isn’t crazy for believing what he believes and its the rest of the ignorant world who refuse to see the truth who are wrong. Zim’s existence validates Dib’s.

Certain episodes make this theme almost explicit.

In the unfinished episode Mopiness of Doom, Dib pretends to be something he’s not in order to fit in and enjoys the social benefits for awhile but ultimately becomes depressed and realizes he can’t find true happiness without being his authentic self. The subtext isn’t even subtle here, they straight up code Zim and Dib’s unhappiness with their separation like a romantic break-up, ending in a reconciliation that confirms that they feel attachment toward each other.

But that wouldn’t be the first time Zim did an entire episode with gay subtext. The very next episode after Nightmare Begins is Bestest Friend, a story that begins with Zim attempting to dissuade speculation about his single status by recruiting a beard. A beard who happens to be another boy wearing a rainbow shirt, who is part of a group of outcasts. Keef is even explicitly stated by GIR to “love” Zim. In Return of Keef not only is he still crazy about Zim, he becomes fixated on Dib as well, and becomes so excited about the two of them hugging he explodes. That’s the true power of finding solidarity with other gays.

Keef would not be Zim’s only beard in the series either. With Tak, it’s barely even subtext, he straight up dated a girl to “pass” at Skool, not knowing she was doing the same thing.