#(except I do think a Linda and Lawrence wedding flashback episode could be cute)

[wherevenusholdssomeofficespace]

Lawrence and Candace

I think Lawrence and Candace's relationship is severely underrated. While to a certain extent it's partially because we spend less time with just the two, but what we do see is incredibly sweet.

The first episode we really get of them together is Lawrence teaching her how to parallel park. And then driving together in a Lawrence. While he's initially nervous, he tried to not let it get it to Candace, and by the end he's having fun, and has completely confidence in her. He's really proud of her and it's clear they both mean a lot to each other. They really are father and daughter with a lot of the same expressions throughout the scene. He really is proud of her.

The second episode I can think of is with the father daughter race. They always lose, and Lawrence's laid back personality contrasts with Candace's competitive one. But while Lawrence spent most of the episode, not actually with Candace, it makes it clear just how important Candace and Lawrence's relationship to each other. Lawrence enjoys spending time with Candace. Sure Candace doesn't LIKE losing, but she's still committed to it despite her usual aversion to potentially humiliating events.

In My Sweet Ride, we have Lawrence fixing up an old car just for her. She doesn't even have her license yet. Sure, he falls asleep part of the way through. But he genuinely was like, I'm going to build a car for her. Not only that, the same one he had as a kid.

It's not like they have a perfect relationship. Candace is A LOT and Lawrence is very laid back and often doesn't really get what's going on with Candace exactly. And Candace is often annoyed and impatient with him. But it's clear they care a lot about each other and are more willing to be patient with the others eccentricities. Even when Candace is complaining about her dad's stories she's still usually, somewhat, respectful.

Now I'm going to get a little bit... fanficy but bear with me.

Now in regards to in show, the Flynn-Fletchers are meant to show a healthy blended family dynamic. While this can come in many forms in reality, in Phineas and Ferb it comes in the form of what is functionally a nuclear family. Mom, Dad and three kids. Anything outside of that isn't important and is in fact probably takes away from the message that they are just like any other family.

But that doesn't mean I don't think it's worth completely ignoring. I mean, this is where fandom comes in isn't it?

We know from a line in Skiddley Whiffers that the Flynn-Fletcher kids have known each other for at least 6 years (or since the boys were about 3 or 4, and that Ferb has lived in the US for over half his life (so since he was 4 at most). While it's not clear exactly when Ferb moved to the US, or when Lawrence and Linda got married they've been a family for a while. Ferb and Phineas have known each other most of, if not as far, back as they can remember. To them this is pretty much how it has always been. This isn't true for Candace, who is 5 years older than Phineas, who therefore probably has some memories of a time before Lawrence and Ferb. While Lawrence already had a toddler son, Candace would have been a grade school aged girl. Phineas, at the very least, is very personable and gets along well with almost anyone.

But Candace is a very anxious person, and seems to have been an anxious kid too. "When I was small the world was such a strange place", the first line of Ducky Momo is my friend tells us one of the VERY few things we know about little Candace was that part of the reason for her attachment to Ducky Momo was that Ducky Momo comforted her when she was an anxious little kid. Now, the details Flynn-Fletcher family's backstory are unimportant, but no matter how things went down its very likely that Candace did have some big "confusing" changes in her childhood based on the two things we DO know: She and Phineas are full siblings, and Lawrence and Ferb came into their lives when Phineas and Ferb were at most 4.

This is CANDACE we're talking about there is no way she wasn't anxious about something. Whether it be not trusting Lawrence, or not thinking Lawrence would like her, there is very little doubt in my mind that Candace would take a bit to be completely comfortable with Lawrence. If Phineas and Ferb wasn't, well Phineas and Ferb, it would make for some easy drama for there to be tension between Candace and Lawrence by the time of the show. Phineas and Ferb isn't that kind of show of course, but that doesn't make their relationship any less sweet.

There's no way of knowing exactly how things went down, and quite frankly I don't need the show to confirm anything to me. Whether Lawrence somehow miraculously got Little Miss Anxiety herself to immediately like him and trust that he liked her unconditionally, or if he had to earn her trust because Candace worried he would hurt her family, or that he would leave because he didn't like Candace, the result is the same. Candace could not have been an easy kid to start parenting as an elementary schooler. This is a girl who went to Mars because she thought everyone hated her, got 50 patches in one day and joined the fireside girls to see a band, read all of Sherlock Holmes in one night. She is, quite simply, A LOT. But Lawrence and Candace ended up close by the time of the series.

There is a disconnect between them. Lawrence doesn't really always understand what Candace wants (in part due to the same sort of emotional oblivious Phineas also has). But that same disconnect exists between every member of the family to a certain extent. But ultimately Lawrence and Candace ARE father and daughter. She expresses annoyance with him, but he patiently keeps trying anyway. He may not have realized she still liked her Mary MacGuffin, or that constantly losing upset her, but he still makes an effort. To Candace, Lawrence is just her somewhat embarrassing, often boring, dad. But Candace still enjoys spending time with him and the things he does for her. And he's proud of Candace and loves spending time with her too.

#phineas and ferb #candace flynn #lawrence fletcher #i love pre-series phineas and ferb stuff #I don't really expect or even want anything out of canon #(except I do think a Linda and Lawrence wedding flashback episode could be cute) #but I do think it's interesting to think about