I think the parallel is also borne from the fact that people compare Vriska and how her behavior is influenced by her antagonism/desire for Terezi's attention and how Dirk does much of the same when it comes to Jake. They're both stuck in orbit around the other.

I don't think we have a similar read of Dirk's motivations though. I don't think he's doing everything he's doing because he wants to hold the spotlight, rather his motivations seem to be a product of the same ideals Vriska had. "You don't have to be a good person to be a hero." His desire is for his whole friend group to not fade into nonsensical obscurity, not just himself. And given how horrifying the events in Candy are, can someone with knowledge of its future be blamed for wishing to avert it happening? He ends his waxing poetic in the Epilogues by declaring that one day he knows his friends will kill him and he's fine with that, because to him the ends of preserving their existence is justified even if it means his own departure.

Calliope tells us that Dirk ends himself in Candy to consolidate his power in canon, I don't think that's untrue either.

Similarly, I don't think Vriska's cloying for relevancy is simply because she wants the attention, I do think it's rooted in always having to be the "Capable" one and thus feeling that the burden is on her shoulder. I'd go as far as to say that when Terezi retconned reality to bring her back to life, it doubled that idea in her head. Vriska basically found out there was a timeline where everything went to shit without her, then Terezi rewrote the whole space just to bring her back, when you're as traumatized as Vriska how can you not read that as "my friend thinks I'm the secret weapon" and act accordingly? She went on a mission which would likely lead to her own death, for Terezi. The tragedy of course is that Terezi just missed her, more than anything. These girls just never talk like they should.

And as much as we discuss the idea of Vriska suffering, the narrative bends over backwards at times to bring her into it once more. She got a whole flash dedicated to her character growth, that isn't really something small or insignificant.

I hope that other characters get an equal measure of that clemency. (Jane, please. Pleaseeeeeuhhhhh.)