The if= stuff is normal - it gets transformed in the process/that's how the text tag looks behind the scenes. Can you show me what that line looks like in your script? It has two closing {/if} and I'm unsure if there's a parsing issue there or if you've written something incorrectly before parsing.
tq_t """
{if ec.tide_leak_select()=="sfw"}[er]?{elif ec.tide_leak_select() in ['nsfwa','nsfwb']}He looks familiar...{/elif}{else}Why does this beast feel familiar?{/else}
{if ec.tide_leak_select()=="sfw"}Why is he meeting me here...like this...{elif ec.tide_leak_select() in ['nsfwa','nsfwb']}[er]?{/elif}{else}Is that...?{/else}
"""
Okay, your problem is the {/elif}. Remove that. In all versions of the plugin, you don't need to close those tags yourself unless it's the final clause of the condition. So, valid formats are:
{if}text{/if}
{if}text{elif}text{/elif}
{if}text{else}text{/else}
{if}text{elif}text{elif}text{else}text{/else}or the new format will also take {/if} in place of the ending {/elif} and {/else} tags that finish of a singular condition.
{if}text{/if}
{if}text{elif}text{/if}
{if}text{else}text{/if}
{if}text{elif}text{elif}text{else}text{/if}