angst hc about second dimensions with human!perry from someone who hasn't seen second dimension: the difference between the two dimensions is that cyborg!perry couldn't kill 2d!Doof when it came down to it, while reg!perry would do anything if his kids were in danger, and 2d!Doof would be willing to do anything to accomplish his evil schemes, while reg!Doof wouldn't do anything to seriously hurt perry. (Basically, the mindsets of Doof and perry are switched in 2d, which is why Doof takes over in
One, I LOVE THAT. It makes so much sense.
Two, an absolutely excellent fic that I love (arguably the fic that got me into drawing for PnF, it's that good) that explores that premise.
Three, a sketch I made based on my personal hc (that Doof wiped Perryborg's mind) that should have a little transparent thing as well (since I've been wanting to try that anyways):
I think if Perry and Platyborg were to ever meet again, they would start to become secretly envious of each other: Platyborg is allowed to properly interact with his family and show off his human sentience, but Perry's never been separated from his family since his adoption and has a close friendship with his nemesis
I definitely think there would be a lot of jealousy at first. Perry would see Phineas and Ferb playing “throw the stick and watch Perryborg fuckin obliterate it” and he’d be like :((( because he has to just sit around while the boys have their fun -- and sure, he likes just hanging out with the boys so he really shouldn’t complain, but he can’t help but wish he was able to join in the games.
Meanwhile, Perryborg would hear stories about Perry hanging out with his boys pretty much all day, every day for five years whenever he wasn’t at work, and Perryborg would feel like he missed out on years of his kids’ lives, and you can’t make up for missed memories.
But I think in the end, they’d both decide they’re happy where they are in life. Perry wouldn’t want to be riddled with guilt over what he did under the control of an evil dictator, which I’m sure haunts Perryborg constantly. And I don’t think Perryborg would want to give up experiencing this period of rediscovery in his dimension. The first dimension takes their freedom for granted because it’s always been guaranteed for them, but in the second dimension, all the kids are still learning what it means to be free. I think Perryborg would decide he’d rather play sports incorrectly with the second dimension kids than spend his whole life just sitting on the sidelines.
2nd Dimension Candace's talk with 1st Dimension Candace about growing up quickly to make sure her brothers didn't have to and doing whatever it takes to protect them really makes me wonder if she would arguably be more closer with 2nd Dimension Perry than even 2nd Dimension Phineas and Ferb are with him
I can definitely I see where you're going with this and it’s 100% valid, but now that you’ve got me thinking about it, I can't help but think it might go the other way. There is not a chance in hell that Candace Flynn, the leader of the Resistance, did not know about Perryborg. There’s a decent chance that some of her soldiers have faced him, and that maybe some of them didn’t make it back. I don’t see a presumably years-long rivalry -- and I mean genuine rivalry, not like the Candace/Perry lighthearted feud on the first dimension -- going away once 2D Doof is in jail and Perryborg is back with him family. I think Perry would have a lot more respect for Candace, knowing that she’s been looking out for their boys every step of the way, but I see Candace being really cold towards him, at least for a while. She may not be able to stop this killing machine from spending time with her brothers, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to let it slide without intense supervision.
... I might have to write a fic about them coping with life after Doofenshmirtz’s rule is over and adjusting to each other 👀
You know what’s really interesting to me? The only one from his dimension that we ever really see 2D Doof interact with in the movie is the Platyborg. He admits that he barely sees his “ex” wife with the line “We spend so little time together, conversation’s never forced,” which, to me, makes it look like Platyborg’s not just 2D Doof’s second in command; he’s also the guy’s best friend (or the closest thing he has to one). Personally, I don’t think they ever truly liked each other, but I would have thought 2D Doof would at least see Perryborg as someone to monologue at confide in. It’s just really weird to me that somehow, despite Doof (at least in the first dimension) being prone to oversharing, Perryborg presumably had no idea that 2D Doof and Charlene were still together. It blows my mind that it never came up in exasperating ramblings about how hard it is to rule the tri-state area with an ex-wife constantly on his ass, or as he was trying to find the time to talk to her without having to put it on the schedule Monogram kept for him. You’d think he would have at least heard it from Vanessa given that the two Doofenshmirtzes were presumably sharing custody of her. I just don’t understand how he didn’t know? Was he locked up in a soundproof box when he wasn’t actively in use or something?
I read one of your asks where someone theorized that 2D-Doof sent the Normbots to kill all platypuses to get rid of 2D-Perry (I guess the enemy of the platypus really is man) and that's how he recognized 1D-Perry, but thinking about it, I have a different idea. 2D-Perry probably had his own locket even after becoming Platyborg, but what if 2D-Doof confiscated it and took a good look at the picture of the two kids alongside his nemesis? He only recognized Agent P because he recognized his owners.
I’ve given a lot of thought to both Perryborg’s transformation and what happened to his locket in the process, and I never really came up with an answer; I had a few theories, but none of them really stuck out to me. Then you came along with this one and holy shit I have not been able to get it out of my head.
You know how half of these asks end with I should write a fic about this? Well, this one’s gonna start with I should write a fic about this instead -- or, more specifically, Look, I just wrote a fic about this. I wasn’t even going to write a fic about it at first, either; I started writing an actual answer and then bam it became fanfic fodder.
Anyways, here’s a link to “You’re Not Theirs Anymore” on ao3, and now that I’ve gotten that out of my system, here’s an actual, semi-normal response lol
This idea literally gave me all the feels the first time I read it. I don’t know if it’s just because Perryborg’s locket in general gives me feels, but I got a lot of feels and now I must share my feels with the world.
Obviously we don’t know all the differences between the first and second dimensions, but from what we’ve seen of 2D Phineas and Ferb, I would be absolutely shocked if this alternate reality didn’t come with an alternate Perry locket. And 2D Doof essentially tore Perry apart limb by limb, so if he was wearing a collar, Doof obviously would have found it.
But I think it’s a safe assumption that 2D Doof turned Perry to the dark side a while ago, which means that if he did recognize Phineas and Ferb from their baby pictures, he’s probably been keeping an eye out for them ever since he built Perryborg and stole his locket. I don’t doubt that he has been looking for them -- Phineas and Ferb seem more than willing to stay inside for the rest of their lives, so if the Normbots were programmed to look for them, they certainly wouldn’t have found them -- I just have to wonder why.
Is 2D Doof the type to keep an eye out for these kids whom he know Perry loved with everything he was as a means to keep them safe? That even if they broke the rules, 2D Doof would let them off with a slap on the wrist because he cares for his Perryborg?
Would 2D Doof want them dead? I mean, it’s just a reminder of the life Perry had to give up, and who needs that, right? He clearly had no qualms about going after the alternate dimension versions of the kids, after all. Would he treat the real Phineas and Ferb from his dimension with the same hostility?
I just have a lot of Thoughts and Feelings about this and I already know it’s going to haunt my every waking moment for at least a week.
