What do Keef and Gretchen think of Perfect Nothing Dib?
Gretchen actually has an appearance in a "chapter" of the story, where she gets to meet Dib again after years of them not seeing each other since middle-high school, perhaps in a social event hosted by Membrane for charity purposes or a visit to an university to promote Membrane Labs' program for potential apprentices where Gretchen happens to be studying in.
It's very bittersweet for her; seeing her long time crush change so drastically leaves her with a sensation that she doesn't know how to describe, Dib doesn't even recognize her at first, and seems to take a moment to remember her. They were somewhat like friends in the past, but it didn't go really far because of Dib's fixation with Zim and thus being inattentive with her.
One thing is clear, Dib is a lot more nicer than the once often rude and selfish teen that she knew him for back in the day, and it's actually nice to hear him apologize for his immature attitude towards her and admit that he was a piece of shit to everyone. He seems to have changed for the better, and that ends up giving her a returning sense of trust.
I have this scene in my head, where Gretchen by thinking that she can open up to him now that he's more understanding and attentive, decides to give him updates of her life and her paranormal experiences, going through the details with a mix of excitement and shyness. But she's just met with Dib's confused look, and a cold, concerned voice: "Do you still believe in those things?"
It gets to a point where Dib comes across as insensitive, I won't get into full detail since I want to write out the interaction but basically it destroys any ilusion of hers to reconnect with him since he calls her a paranoic person that refuses to aknowledge it by blaming ghosts, and it's probably for the best for her to not keep in touch with him. Dib does nothing about it, he just gets back to his father, and when asked about the girl, he just brushes it off as "she hasn't grown up."
About Keef, I'm still thinking about what I could do with him. He has so much potential and I always liked to use him as the punching bag in my zadr scenarios (lmao) but this time I haven't really consider him, idk. If any of yall reading have an idea I'll appreaciate it
I'll soon post the Gretchen scene with the proper dialogue exchange and drawings of it, I just really wanted to share it thanks to this question lol. The more I yap about these ideas, the more convinced I am of writing a fic, a short one at least
["Perfect Nothing" — Invader Zim AU]