Annotated 21-9
Original alt text presented this idea as Phil’s headcanon, but pretty much all of these alt texts are Phil’s headcanon, except when he’s just kidding.
In light of that, it’s fun that this is the one strip where something that originated in those alt texts becomes continuity. I kinda wish we’d done a story with the Gastonian Leisure Squad. We could’ve put them in quasi-medieval leisure suits, even.
Phil’s and my discussion of this page’s original draft probably touched a bit uncomfortably on our own romantic histories. Without giving too many details, let’s just say there’s a point in one’s life where comfort with each other starts to feel more romantic than being still a bit of a mystery to each other.
Well, wherever that balance was struck it came out very well I think. Their relationship is one of my favorites in the comics, and it does that in part by being uniquely comfortable. And while that might be bland at times, it stands out in contrast to the lack of such stable relationships in most media, at least that start on screen/mid text/several chapters into the fanfic