I think what bothers me the most about Ferbnessa, aside from the obvious, is how much Ferb is treated like an adult in canon sometimes?? I feel insane saying it but sometimes the way he's written feels so unnaturally mature.
I will always compare Ferb's crush with Dipper's crush on Wendy (because frankly Gravity Falls is the gold standard for writing a child having a crush on someone significantly older). In Gravity Falls we completely understand Dipper's crush on Wendy is childish and unattainable. We understand why he's having these feelings but it's not endorsing the hypothetical relationship. In Phineas and Ferb, Ferb flirts with Vanessa multiple times and it feels like an adult in a child's body in those moments. Which is funny on a surface level and in isolation, but uncomfortable with a deeper context. Ferb's crush is treated as a running gag instead of an exploration of his character. Which is a shame because there is so much writing potential with Ferb having a crush that can be done in a way that's nuanced and authentic.
YUP. I agree with all of this 100000%. I get what you’re saying with Ferb. Esp with his singing voice in the original show being different than his talking voice!!!! It’s just bizarre in hindsight…maybe he’s wise beyond his years but he’s still a kid :(
I love how Gravity Falls depicts this situation. And as a 12 year old watching season 1 as it aired I TOTALLY shipped Dipper and Wendy. But now as an adult, I just really really love how the show handled that situation. Especially when it doubles down on it with Dipper encountering a younger Wendy and realizing how weird it is for her to think he’s cute AND the fake-Wendy in Mabel’s bubble suggesting to Dipper that they become the same age and him realizing it isn’t real!!!! It’s such a great testament to the reality of the situation. those are the kinds of stories kids need to grow up with, not whatever ferbnessa is😵💫.
like I’d LOVE if they did a build up of Vanessa and Ferb having a little friendship leading to an episode where Vanessa learns he’s got a crush, maybe Candace notices and gives Ferb grief for it and he’s embarrassed, or he sees Vanessa with Monty and gets sad. But Vanessa lets him down easy in a similar vein to Wendy and encourages him. It would be so sweet. And important for kids to see!!!!
like. idk. in my heart of hearts, they’re sibling coded and there’s no crush on Ferb’s part (even though him having a crush isn’t bad in my heart he doesn’t have one), and they’re just sibling or “the two coolest cousins at the function” core.
also. ok. OK. the amount of suffering Candace and Isabella go through in regards to romance in the original run of the show………..Ferb can suffer a bit too. they depict romantic angst really well. (almost too well in Isabella’s case.)
It’s also like!! What if Phineas had a stepsister and Doofenshmirtz had a son. Would they really hint at a romance between a 9-10 smth year old girl and a 16 year old boy?? like I LOVE summer belongs to you but we cannot lie, it has ferbnessa undertones. they’d never EVER have depicted that if the genders were reversed. but it’s weird regardless.
