#PhinabellaDay

[cjracingpnf]

Was so much fun to be a part of this Phinabella Day animatic project, and to see so many great VA's and artists be a part of it. Thank you @dblmp1 for hosting/running this project, and I hope everyone enjoys seeing it!

[cjracingpnf]

Day Three, Part 2: Let's Talk About Isabella (And why she is AWESOME)

When I decided that this was one of the subjects I wanted to approach in this Mini-Series, I was really excited. Oh, if there was enough time in the day to mention all the reasons why Isabella Garcia-Shapiro is such a good character in P&F, I could be here all day.

And while I cannot give all the reasons and facts that make her so great today, I have here a few reasons why (thank you to my friend Izzy for helping me with some of these reasons!):

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- She can hang and deal with the boys, working side by side to whatever Phineas decides to do that day, participating and many times beating them at their own game.

- She can lead and carry the girls, and is able to bring a group of multicultural people from different backgrounds and ways of life and work toward a different goal almost every day.

- She is a natural born leader, who doesn't take nonsense from anyone. Her optimism and positivity helps push herself and others towards their goals.

- She's extremely passionate about what she believes in, and will follow through with almost any plan that she puts her mind to.

- She is an extremely hard and focused worker who will push herself through many different situations, and is able to adapt to almost any of them.

- She is incredibly multi-talented, and because of her experiences while in the Fireside Girls, she has learned many very important skills that could later help her in life.

- She's a multicultural masterchef (I mean I can imagine the wonder that is the Enchillatke, hmm I should see about making that one day...👨‍🍳😄).

- Despite the many disappointments, she still greatly cares about Phineas throughout the show, and continues to try time and time again to try to get Phineas to understand how she feels about him, sometimes not very subtly🤣😂.

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There was a time when I thought that Isabella should be considered a Disney Princess, and was willing to make the case for it, but her impact is far too great to be put in that box. And really, it's unfair to put her in any box, because what she is able to do goes beyond something you can truly quantify with a word or a phrase. She is a fighter, a warrior, kind hearted but also never backing down from anyone, and will give her all to reach her goals. She is truly amazing, and there is so much to her character that even still remains unexplored, even as many have through some wonderful fanfic stories.

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As we see in "Act Your Age", as Isabella got older, she took many of those positive traits with her, particularly her ability to lead and support/help others, but also those traits that made her an extremely hard worker, considering, as she mentions to Phineas as the reasons why she is going to College two weeks early, "I'm an R.A., and in soccer, debate camp, student government…"

However, there is one point in her life that had clearly changed…

While it isn't mentioned specifically why Isabella decided to finally give up on her feelings for Phineas when she got to High School, I have personally read a few different fanfics that make sense as to the possible ideas for that decision (and also why it's possible that Phineas may have realized his feelings for her at or close to the same time).

Whatever the reason may have been, there is no doubt that the decision at first must have been extremely difficult on Isabella. From personal life experiences… Well, I wouldn't be surprised if tears were shed many a night for a while… If every time she saw him across the street her heart almost broke in two… If there weren't days where she could barely operate and do the things that she needed to do… and if there were moments that made her more emotional and downtrodden than normal.

However, she was able to fight through those moments, those difficult times, to make a life and prepare a future for herself. Despite all the heartache and the pain that she must have had, knowing how much she loved and cared about him, she was prepared to take the next step in her life and possibly close that part of her life away for good...

While we may not know why she made the decision to turn around to say goodbye to Phineas, it was a decision that obviously in retrospect was the best choice of her life, and finally brought them together. I am going to talk more about that specifically in a few days, which is why I won't go into detail here, but even as AYA has its faults and its plot holes, the fact is SHE GOT HER MAN, and "Well, that was worth the wait".

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Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! Tomorrow, we go in a different direction… With a character who, well, let's just say I wasn't so much a fan of in AYA…😶

Until then, God Bless, and Carpe Diem!

[cjracingpnf]

Day Six, Part 5: Let's Talk About "What Might Have Been!"

As we begin entering the crescendo of this mini-series (heh see what I did there xD), we have now reached what in my opinion is one of the greatest songs ever written for Phineas & Ferb, and in my opinion the highlight (or at least highlight 1b) of "Act Your Age". In all the ups and downs that AYA had, "What Might Have Been" was magnificently done, musically, lyrically, and in the story that it told, and I am so excited to talk about it today.

I do want to mention, I really don't know anything about what makes music great or not🤣, or what makes good music lyrics. So instead, I will be focusing on the story within the lyrics, and why it meant so much to me.

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Starting from a macro point of view, the heaviness of the song stands out. The vast majority of the Phineas & Ferb songs are cheery, funny, light-hearted songs, many of them absolute bops that put a smile on your face whenever you hear them.

"What Might Have Been" however… Well I want to say that I've listened to the song probably 8-10 times times over the last 3-4 months, and while writing this have read the lyrics in full, and I've teared up every time🥺😭. It's an incredibly emotional song, reflecting on both the past and the present of Phineas and Isabella's lives, and when we look at it from each of their point of views, creates a picture that pulls at the heartstrings if you at all care about these two.

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While Isabella is the one who starts the song, I want to begin with Phineas, who's life was turned completely upside down by the realization that his best friend of at least 11 years (and in my opinion their whole lives) had a huge crush on him that he had never realized, despite in retrospect even he admitting that she had been "quite overt" about it.

Phineas' solo portion of the song deals mainly with regret over not having realized it until then, including the sorrowful quote,

"I tried to make the most of every day,

But now the years just seem misspent…"

To hear Phineas say that, to show the regret for having been so focused on his daily goals that he wasn't able to the one beside him open her heart out to him, it's a sad and touching moment the realization going through his mind of all that he missed or didn't understand.

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As for Isabella… I know I mentioned it some when I talked about her a few days ago in this AYA mini-series, but thinking about not only the heartache and the pain she must have felt to give up on her feelings for him, but also thinking about the strength she must of had to be able to push through it all and prepare herself to move on without him, especially considering when she sings,

"'Cause I like you more than every other

Thing I like combined…"

To somehow be able to get past all of those emotions, thinking that she was finally "over him"… to then have a single photograph bring all of those memories back… it's a truly heartbreaking feeling to think about, especially putting oneself in her shoes.😭

As we reach the main portion of the song, Phineas & Isabella singing together in unison without them realizing it, going back and forth wondering how their lives could have been different had they gotten together before (including how they would have been called "Phinabella", which is entirely correct and I can totally see their friends teasing them to no end about it🤣), it begins to hit home, everything that they could have been able to do together, all the adventures that they missed, the memorable times they could have had…

And then, as if the daydreams we were having about how their lives could have been were heard, we get hit with a line straight to the heart...

"We could've been together,

All you had to say was when

And though I wanted so much more,

I guess you'll always be my friend…"

… I'm gonna be honest, I've teared up every single time I've listened to or read the end of that line😭🥺🥺🥺, both of them wanting to have been so much more, and them begrudgingly accepting that at least they would always be friends… It hurts a bit to think about how much they cared for each other, the moments that they shared together, the bond that had grown between them…

Am so very glad Isabella made the decision to turn around!!😁👏🧡💗

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Ultimately, if looking at this through a realistic sense, I do think that Phineas and Isabella would have somehow, someway, gotten together even if Isabella had not turned around to say goodbye. It may have been in College, considering Phineas knew through Baljeet where she was going, or it could have happened afterwards, but true love overcomes all, and I genuinely believe that they both cared for each other so much that it still would have happened.

Fortunately, Phineas and Isabella didn't have to wait any longer than they already had, because Isabella did turn around, did wait for him to come back, and come tomorrow, we will take a look at the moment everyone was waiting for!🧡💗

Thank you so much for reading, apologies for this coming out so late in the day, I've had a busy day, but I am so excited to be able to finish this mini-series👏👏😁!

Until then, God Bless, and Carpe Diem!

[cjracingpnf]

Day Four, Part 3: IMO the Most Disappointing Character Development

Before I begin today's continuation of this mini-series, I want to give a bit of a DISCLAIMER. There are times when I write in a bit of an over-realistic way, taking it probably a bit too seriously for an animated cartoon tv series hahaha🤣. Some would call it passion, I would probably lean towards a little bit of insanity😂. But here we are, hopefully I'll get better at it at some point, BUT today is not that day xD

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Soooo, from the picture on the top of this post, you probably know who I am gonna be talking about today as having the most disappointing character development in "Act Your Age". And I just want to say, the child Baljeet character in the rest of the show doesn't deserve what happened to him in AYA. While he wasn't my favorite character, and I found the majority of the "comedic bullying" thread in the show with him in Buford to be less then funny (something I'll talk more about later on in this mini-series), his intelligence intertwined with moments of panic and comedy made for some really great episodes in the series, and I felt that he was used quite a bit and used well for being the 8th-10th piece of the show.

However, today isn't about how Baljeet was presented during the rest of the series… But rather how his character is, in my personal opinion, the very worst part of AYA, and was presented in such a way that it had almost poisoned my opinion of him in the entire show…

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You see, Baljeet Tjinder in the series had a childish charm about him, where his at times overbearing intelligence was turned into comedy or at least made beneficial to the particular episode.

HOWEVER, in "Act Your Age", pretty much every ounce of Baljeet's childish charm is gone, and what we are left with is someone who is too smart for their own good, or as I was told by a friend when I asked for a word or phrase to best describe that, a Narcissistic Intellectual😂.

--- Baljeet has at least four-five major parts in this episode, three of which I am going to talk about here that particularly stand out to me. The first being when he enters the boys' bedroom, with Buford waking in behind him. After he asks Phineas if he has chosen a school yet, he goes on to mention that he has been talking to Buford about Collegiate life, and that because he (Baljeet) has already graduated and been accepted as a professor, that he could "pull some strings", and get Buford into his school, followed by him saying, "Just think, Buford. You could be my student! I would be the boss of you!"

This entire part of the episode feels like the meme, "Weird flex but ok", and it feels even more that way when Baljeet responds with "It sounds pretentious" after Buford says that he is going to film school. Ultimately I don't mind this scene primarily because of Buford's comedic "Thank you" responses to Baljeet😂.

--- Then we get to his second part, and quite obviously one of the biggest points in the entire episode, when Baljeet breaks to Phineas that Isabella has had a giant crush on him for ages. We then have the back and forth between Baljeet and Buford telling Phineas all the ways it was painfully obvious that she had that giant crush on him, to the point where Phineas' mind is broken and he has to go outside and take a walk. After he leaves, Baljeet says that he has come up with an idea to get them both together before Isabella leaves.

ANGER. PAIN. I AM SEEING RED😡!!!

I am trying to decide if I should get mad at the writers for thinking of this possibly being the right idea for Phineas to realize this, or continue to be in character of the story and completely tear apart AYA Baljeet for breaking this news to Phineas and spilling Isabella's biggest secret AS SHE WAS LITERALLY WALKING OUT THE DOOR, and then, after breaking poor Phineas' mind, thinking that he has the bright idea of how to get them both together.

LIKE WHAT. WHY?! What was the purpose of this, why was this the way the writers decided to take one of the most important moments in the history of the show??? And if we are taking this in character, who or what gave Baljeet and Buford the bright idea that it was all of a sudden ok to just spill out Isabella's biggest lifelong secret, ESPECIALLY considering there is a history of Isabella having ominous patch related threats that we know exists.

There's a lot of things one can "agree to disagree" with about how things are done in certain shows to reach an endpoint, but the entire way this scene comes about absolutely grinds my gears to no end. There were so many better ways Phineas could have found out, and fortunately for us several of those ways have been successfully written by wonderful fanfic writers, who I am very grateful for.

--- Moving on from that before I risk blowing a gasket, his third major part in the episode is split into different scenes of AYA, and it goes into his relationship with Ginger, a Fireside Girl alum who had a crush on Baljeet in multiple episodes, and who is now his girlfriend in this one.

The first scene involves them having a back-and-forth text conversation, originally stemming from a disagreement over what movie they were going to watch. Adyson (who I personally wasn't a big fan of in the series lol) tells Ginger to "manipulate the situation" to get him to agree to the movie she wants to watch. Shortly afterwards, the Adyson and the girls decide to, using the same phrase, "manipulate a situation" to get Isabella and Phineas together, an idea that we remember from earlier Baljeet and the boys had.

We switch perspectives to the boys, where Baljeet is sitting on the couch and eating sandwiches with Ferb and Buford. Baljeet receives Ginger's text and tells the boys of the girls' idea, Buford asks, "Wasn't that our idea?", to which Baljeet responds, "Yes, but now I've got to write her back in a passive way that makes her think it's really her idea. She is trying to manipulate the situation. It is how we love."

Wow this is not looking like a very good relationship, with Ginger taking advice that I wouldn't consider very wise, while Baljeet not only knows what is going on, but is in a way toying around with it to make things seem like she is the one making the decisions and choices. And this uh, less the positive looking relationship doesn't stop there…

Later on in the episode, as the group is preparing to make the surprise dinner for Isabella and Phineas, there is a kitchen scene where Buford and Baljeet are talking, and Buford mentions about how "romantic" the setting is outside. Baljeet responds to Buford, telling him that there's "one thing that would make it perfect!", before pulling out Buford's old Cupid costume behind his back. Buford refuses to put it on again, to which Baljeet responds, "But it worked so well for me and Mishti!" On the other side of the kitchen, this response by Baljeet causes Ginger to respond, possibly out of jealousy but certainly out of annoyance, "Hmm, Mishti, Mishti, Mishti!", before Adyson tells her to, "Let it go, Ging."

Woofffffffffff… this relationship has gone from less then positive looking to just straight toxicity. Ignoring the fact that Baljeet brought back an embarrassing moment for Buford, it seems pretty clear from Ginger's annoyed response that this isn't the first time Mishti's name has been brought up and overheard in a conversation. I don't know about you, but if I was in a relationship with someone I supposedly cared about, I wouldn't be talking in such a positive way about a former crush or relationship, even if it was when we were kids.

Taking this from an over-realistic point of view, while Ginger may have some issues that she has to deal with, Baljeet's character in AYA comes off to me as someone who doesn't really care what anyone else thinks or says, and likely believes that he is quite a bit more intellectual and all-knowing then the people around him, which in his mind gives him the license to say and do more without caring what others think.

While a part of this could stem from him getting over some of the stuff that negatively impacted his childhood, including possibly bullying and overbearing parents, it has gone IMO too far and turned Baljeet into someone who's ego and narcissism I personally would not want to ever be around.

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Thank you for reading! Today was the major dip on this crazy rollercoaster ride, but it was one that I needed to get off my chest, and I am glad I did. The good news is that tomorrow's portion of the mini-series will be much more positive, and deals with someone Baljeet has a lot of experience with, but whose character had a much more positive development in AYA…

Until then, God Bless, and Carpe Diem!

[cjracingpnf]

Day Eight, FINALE: Conclusion/My Final Thoughts

Before I begin, I want to thank every person who has taken the time to read, like, and share these silly, long-winded musings of a dude who up to 6-7 months ago had only heard of Phineas & Ferb and had no idea that there was such a community as this one. I have been able to communicate with some amazing people, and even make a few friendships along this journey, and I will forever be grateful for that. I will go more into detail tomorrow, but I just wanted to share my appreciation for you all before I started today. :D

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Now that we are ending our journey (well technically it ends tomorrow but that's more of a special because PHINABELLA DAY🧡💗) through "Act Your Age", it is time for me to give my final thoughts, mentioning the positives and negatives that lead me to giving what I could assume is some sort of grade or score...

To start, I do want to say that I am one that no longer believes that AYA is truly canon. While I am not super well versed in the matter, I do know from talking with others that there are major loopholes created by P&F's sister TV show, Milo Murphy's Law, that open the door for multiple possibilities/reasons for AYA to no longer be canon, including the fact that multiple alternate timelines/universes are a canon thing in the P&F/MML universe.

To add to this as an example, one of the theories I have read, is that because Dr. Heinz Doofenshmirtz found a purpose in life, becoming "Professor Time" in MML, it makes the reasons why he invented the mid-life crisis chain to be irrelevant, which means he never made it, which means that the romantic dinner idea the gang made for Phineas & Isabella doesn't disappear, which means that the surprise could have happened, and the process for particularly the ending part of the episode could have been entirely different. This is just one of the examples that I've heard/read that really makes sense.

This isn't to say that I throw out "Act Your Age" entirely however, not at all. In fact, I am so grateful for AYA, because it helped open up an entire multiverse of fanfic and art ideas, even in those short 22 minutes one was able to see how the characters changed and grew up, and you were able to take a glimpse into particularly Phineas and Isabella's thoughts during that period of their lives. If anything, I take AYA as an official version of a fanfic story (which particularly considering the added Ferbnessa "fanservice" part at the end, and a the cliches during the episode, it makes quite a bit of sense TBH).

Now, looking at "Act Your Age" as a whole in review, there were in my opinion a few different problems that dragged down my enjoyment. I assume most of these have been mentioned by others at some point in time (including by myself in this mini-series lol)...

Starting with the entire premise of how Phineas found out about Isabella's crush on him in the first place, taking this from a more realistic point of view, the fact that it felt like everyone all of a sudden at the same time thought it was ok to tell Phineas that as Isabella was literally WALKING OUT THE DOOR is insane to me. There is no way that the gang wouldn't have been threatened by Isabella with her use of "Ominous-related patches" if they ever told him her secret, however the fact that her Mom was also ok with telling him makes me wonder if there wasn't something else that contributed to them feeling as if it was ok, like some sort of change in the universe... Or that a green ray had been shot in the past and had struck them all to make them stay quiet about it all those years, but for some reason it had a self coded timer that just so happened to run out on that day and all of a sudden everyone at the same time thought that now it was ok to do so😆. I'm just rambling at this point, that's what happens when you have been writing long-winded posts for eight days now🤣

The second big thing that irked me in "Act Your Age" was Isabella's reaction, or should I say lack of reaction, to finding out that Phineas had started feeling things for her too as they got to High School. I mentioned this in yesterday's post, but I felt like it was a bit disappointing that Isabella only had a moment of surprise before being saddened again. It almost felt too realistic in a way for that to be her reaction, like she had been so downtrodden emotionally from the years she spent trying to get over him, that to hear him say that he started having feelings for her around the same time she had given up on him was like a punch in the gut to her. And honestly, maybe that was the emotion the writers wanted to give off, but it just felt like something in her reaction was lacking in that moment.

The third and final thing that I didn't particularly enjoy is something I've already taken a full day (plus parts of other days🤣) of this mini-series to talk about, which is pretty much Baljeet's entire involvement in this episode. However because I've spent soooooo much time talking about it, I suggest just reading each part of the mini-series over again, particularly Day Four, Part 3!😆

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Despite the negatives however, the high notes in "Act Your Age" far outweigh them. Phineas trying to catch Isabella before she leaves, the powerful emotions that come through in "What Might Have Been", and ultimately the revelation, realization, and confirmation of their dreams, even if later in their lives then they both wanted, was incredibly sweet and brought tremendous joy to so many watching for the first time.

One thing in addition that I want to mention here, and it's something I hadn't caught on to until today thinking about it, but the fact that it was Phineas handing Isabella the letter that said he was going to Tri-State State that confirmed for her a lifetime of hopes and dreams being realized, many years after Isabella almost gave a letter to Phineas (well she did before the Un-Retrograde-inator hit him lol) that would have stated her feelings for him, is a small but absolutely wonderful thing.

And then there's the final scene... Which we'll get to tomorrowwwwww🤭🧡💗

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So, in closing, my official review of "Act Your Age" is:

"Act Your Age" is a flawed but yet still beautiful story of two amazing lifelong friends, nearly being separated through time, and the emotions going through their minds as Phineas and Isabella believe that the possibility of their lives being intertwined has moved on. However, through forces unknown, they are given an opportunity to reunite, making their hopes and dreams become a reality. While I do not consider AYA to be truly canon (that honor my friends belongs to @authenticcadence18's "Can't Help Falling In Love"), and while I at times struggle with AYA's imperfections, it is still a lovely viewing experience, ending with one of the most touching and sweetest moments in Disney's long and storied history.

Phineas and Isabella once again prove to the world that, "The only thing that's Impossible is Impossibility!", and as Isabella so elegantly states, with a smile on her face, "Well, that was worth the wait." 🧡💗

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And in closing, once again, thank you all so much for reading, for those who have liked, commented, and shared, both on Tumblr and on Instagram. I especially want to thank my friends Izzy and Guy, as well as Cadence, who have been incredibly supportive through this process and experience. This is something I've never done before, and I am really happy to have had the opportunity to give my small part to this amazing community.

This party isn't quite over yet though, cause tomorrow, we celebrate Phinabella Day!!!👏👏👏🧡💗

Until then, God Bless, and Carpe Diem!