after watching danās newest video and hearing his story, iād like to share a few things i want us all to remember going forward.
nothing is changing unless he asks us to change it. he clearly feels comfortable in this community, which is something to be proud of, and weāre solely here to support him.
āphanā is not a part of this. weāre now aware that dan and phil were together in 2009, but we know nothing about now, and thatās not the point. this was danās big coming out, and phil added that heās also not straight on twitter afterwards, but that doesnāt say anything about their relationship. they havenāt said anything about their relationship, and itās clear that this is intentional. they want to keep these things to themselves, and we should respect that. in no capacity does their coming out mean phan is real, and we shouldnāt treat it as such.Ā
we shouldnāt shame anyone who was in the phandom during danās rough patch; it was bad, but thereās nothing to be done about it now, and these people have grown into modern times. most of them probably feel bad enough about it already, and hell, we donāt even know if they were the problem in the first place. respect each other.
now that we have a ācanonā for danās sexuality, this doesnāt mean any fanworks are āinvalidā. nothing that was generally ādisprovenā by this video is now invalid. again, nothing needs to change unless dan (or phil) says it needs to.
this video is not something to argue about. this video is not something to speculate about. this video, and dan, is something to celebrate. thatās ALL it is.
the most important thing is RESPECT. this openness is truly the beginning of a new era, and thatās something to celebrate, but do it RESPECTFULLY. we still donāt know a lot of things, and clearly dan (and/or phil) doesnāt want us to. thatās okay. we need to respect them, and we need to respect each other. thatās true of now and of before the video.
beyond everything, iām so proud of dan and so happy for him being willing to live his truth; heās absolutely worth it.