Triptych: Truly I Am AMAZING

"Doom Be Doom Doom" by Chito Arellano

"You Wormbaby" by Samy C.

"ZAGR: Steampunked?" by Jasmine Alexandra

So maybe you already knew this, but scratching the surface of the internet reveals that it is full of FREAKS and WEIRDOS. I learned this today while I sifted through art websites looking for Invader Zim artwork to post. Not only did I learn that the majority of Zim fan-art is awful (seriously, just really, really terrible) but I also learned that there's this whole creepy subculture of people who like to draw themselves in Irken form, and then inject themselves into the Invader Zim universe and interact (sometimes in... questionable ways) with established characters from the TV show. It's like a cross between cosplay, slash fic and manic, hardcore fandom and even though it's not nearly as explicit as some other fan followings, something about its single-minded obsessive fixation really grosses me out.

I love Invader Zim as much as the next guy. I think it was a great show, and rewatching it lately, I'm reminded at how hilarious and surreal it was and how there's really nothing else like it on TV nowadays. But these Rule #34 nutjobs are just ruining it for the rest of us. I don't want to come off as mean-spirited and I can respect dedication to a cult TV show or comic or whatever that ended too soon, but no matter how fervent a fan you are of Invader Zim, for the most part you got over it as time went by. The only people left were the fringe element, who fetishized their obsession and went in a really weird direction with it. Sometimes I wonder what Jhonen Vasquez thinks of this, if he thinks about it at all.