#incredigale

[elastigale]

This zine is set immediately after “Lost and Found” (when Helen finds Gail after 20 years) and focuses on Bob and Helen’s reaction to the awkward situation.  I’ve scripted it and thumbnailed it all out, and I’m very excited to share it with you when it’s done!

[elastigale]

So many people wanted to see them kiss (and so did I) that I went ahead and continued this. <3  Merry Christmas, indeed.

[elastigale]

Thanks! I used to be ambivalent about him until I thought about him in the context of this AU: a bumbling guy who (a lot like Gail) has not had a lot of relationship experience because he’s worried about hurting people by accident, going from being single and having a semi-unrequited crush on his roommate/bff to suddenly having a lot of new/weird experiences with Helen/Gail. 😂💕

Now I will protect Bob at all costs. 💪💪😤

[elastigale]

Thank you!!  I really love them too.  Unfortunately a lot of the art I’ve drawn of them is a little too spicy to post here.  If you are so inclined, you might want to send me an ask (off anon) to get an invite to the Elastigale Discord, where I have a channel to post previews of said art.  👀💦

[elastigale]

Some swing sketches I drew on a long airplane ride. (Apologies in advance if this posts multiple times, I got a lot of errors with my attempts on Tumblr mobile!)

[elastigale]

YOUR DRAWINGS OF WHEN HELEN STRETCHES EXTEND MY LIFESPAN BY 10 YEARS THA NK YOU

This popped into my head when I read your ask, lol.  Stretchy gurl is so fun to draw. I bet her morning routine is really something. <3

[elastigale]

oh and what about the kids? surely they know about the ot3?

Oh yes!  Violet is the first to notice something unusual, because she’s very observant.  She might initially worry that her mom is cheating on her dad while he’s away doing hero work, and get anxious/lose sleep over it.  Seeing him be a bit flirty with Gail would also be really confusing and distressing, until she finally confronts them about it.  

It’s not that they wanted it to be a huge secret from the kids, but at the very start when they were still figuring things out they might have wanted to see exactly where things were going/if they were going to work out at all before making an announcement.

At the point when Gail becomes part of the OT3, she would have been living together with the Parrs for several months and wouldn’t be a stranger to the kids, more like an eccentric long-lost aunt.  Thinking of her becoming a third parent would be an adjustment, but not one the kids were particularly upset about-- Violet in particular had felt a close bond to Gail since the start, and after her initial worries about parental infidelity were proven wrong, she’d be eager to have Gail be official family.

[elastigale]

How open are gail and helen and bob about the OT3? Do their friends know? Do their parents or siblings know? Do even they have alive parents and siblings lol?

Long response incoming!

Honey and Lucius would definitely know, even if they found it all a bit weird.  They would joke about how after 14 years of trying to be a “normal” family, The Parrs must have cracked, because they were never very good at pretending to be "normal.”They would worry about it complicating Helen and Bob’s already sometimes turbulent relationship dynamic.  They might also worry that adding Gail to the relationship was a way to put a bandaid over Helen and Bob’s constant arguing and that it would instead make things worse.  As time passed and  Honey/Lucius saw the Parrs settling into a comfortable routine and dynamic, they’d be relieved it worked out after all.

Edna would figure it out without needing to be told.  During Gail’s therapy sessions with Evelyn (which Edna is hosting at her secure home) she’d alternate between playing dumb and then make smug, knowing comments to mess with Gail.

Evelyn watches the whole thing develop from the sidelines and is initially very jealous of how Gail manages to immediately ingratiate herself to Helen, but over the course of their therapy sessions also feels paradoxically fiercely protective of Gail (who is so stubbornly determined to be her friend), so she’s emotionally conflicted.  I have thoughts about Evelyn initially trying to sabotage the potential romance she senses between Gail and Helen, which only results in exposing her own feelings for Helen and making things super awkward for a while.  Much to her chagrin, Gail is the one who tries her hardest to smooth it over and make the peace.  Ultimately Gail is also the wingman who lays down the groundwork for Helen and Evelyn to make amends.  Evelyn is totally ambivalent about Bob, she has a lot of strong and sometimes conflicting feelings about Helen, but when it comes to Gail, she’d take a bullet for her (although she’d never admit it.)  Evelyn doesn’t really care to hear about the OT3’s shenanigans but she is glad Gail’s happy, and more selfishly, that despite having a huge loving family, Gail still makes time for her and considers her a best friend.

I haven’t really made many headcanons about extended family!  I do think Helen would talk to Cass about the developments with Gail over the phone, and Cass would be shocked and delighted because she remembers Gail from the earliest times Helen used to sneak her into the house, as well as how devastated her sister was when Gail “died”.

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Assuming they keep living in that huge Deavor-sponsored house, the Parrs don’t have to worry too much about neighbors gossiping about their unconventional relationship, just because the place is designed for reclusive billionaires.  As for whether general acquaintances know about the OT3, I think the Parrs don’t make a huge effort to advertise it, but they also don’t keep it a huge secret, either.  Because of the way they work in shifts, Helen/Bob/Gail are rarely all seen out together.  There were probably assumptions by gossiping locals that Bob was cheating on his with another woman because they were seen giving cheek pecks at the grocery store, for example-- until Helen and Gail were seen out and about at a bookstore doing the same thing, causing great confusion among the gossip grapevine.