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A somewhat belated entry for the Dib X Gretchen Shakespeare Club, after I saw the update here: [link]

The quote is from Shakespeare's Othello, Act Five, Scene Three: I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this! Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.

I chose Othello for two reasons. Firstly, because it's the only one of Shakespeare's plays I've seen performed live. Secondly, because while Romeo and Juliet is all well and good, they are a poor analogue for Dib and Gretchen. Their parents would have no problem with them getting together; Gretchen's parents are highly attractive people whose perfectionistic appearances suggest they would approve of a union to a rich family like Dib's. And Dib's father would be relieved his son was doing something vaguely normal.

They are, I think, more of a gender flipped version of Othello and Desdemona. Gretchen, like Othello, has always been an outsider and never truly in union with someone until Dib. Therefore, the very idea that Dib was cheating on her would, like Othello, send her into a jealous crazed rage. To those of us who have had relationships in the past a break up isn't such a big deal, but to a young person who has never lost love before, it's too much to take. Rationality goes out the window.

And like Desdemona in the play, Dib is not in fact cheating with her. That's what makes this a tragedy. It's all about jealousy taking over. Romances in the Jhonen Vasquez universe are never fairy tale affairs. I know something this dark probably won't win, but it's at least an unusual idea, so I'm happy with the piece as it is presented here. I hope it's been interesting to think about. (Their outfits are period-ish without losing their appropriate color schemes. I think. I tried.)

Invader Zim is owned by Jhonen Vasquez.

Description
Base: [link]

A somewhat belated entry for the Dib X Gretchen Shakespeare Club, after I saw the update here: [link]

The quote is from Shakespeare's Othello, Act Five, Scene Three: I kissed thee ere I killed thee, no way but this! Killing myself, to die upon a kiss.

I chose Othello for two reasons. Firstly, because it's the only one of Shakespeare's plays I've seen performed live. Secondly, because while Romeo and Juliet is all well and good, they are a poor analogue for Dib and Gretchen. Their parents would have no problem with them getting together; Gretchen's parents are highly attractive people whose perfectionistic appearances suggest they would approve of a union to a rich family like Dib's. And Dib's father would be relieved his son was doing something vaguely normal.

They are, I think, more of a gender flipped version of Othello and Desdemona. Gretchen, like Othello, has always been an outsider and never truly in union with someone until Dib. Therefore, the very idea that Dib was cheating on her would, like Othello, send her into a jealous crazed rage. To those of us who have had relationships in the past a break up isn't such a big deal, but to a young person who has never lost love before, it's too much to take. Rationality goes out the window.

And like Desdemona in the play, Dib is not in fact cheating with her. That's what makes this a tragedy. It's all about jealousy taking over. Romances in the Jhonen Vasquez universe are never fairy tale affairs. I know something this dark probably won't win, but it's at least an unusual idea, so I'm happy with the piece as it is presented here. I hope it's been interesting to think about. (Their outfits are period-ish without losing their appropriate color schemes. I think. I tried.)

Invader Zim is owned by Jhonen Vasquez.