a definitive ranking and analysis of my top5 fav phan formsprings
this i love for a lot of the reasons i love their early tweets and their dailybooths and (of course) formsprings bc it was a clear beginning of things that would become a part of their repertoire for the next decade and yet here it was new and giggly and just as precious. teasing phil for his wild northern ways, upping his southland poshness, we see that constantly in their banter even into today and the best part is that whoever is making the joke is the one who gets the upper hand of course. here it’s dan bc sounding like the queen is obviously what quintessential british accents require right? but when phil does it, dan’s the uncultured one bc phil has all his slang (made up or otherwise) that dan is missing out on so thoroughly that he just has to take phil’s word for it (orrrr as a waffling that @ahappydnp and i were engaging in, he tries to ask kath or nigel if their son is full of shit and of course without missing a beat they back him up “oh yes, uggies, we use that all the time!”)
i also think it’s adorable when they point out things that make them different, since they of course have so many damn similarities. it’s nice– it’s a good formspring!
this makes me feel things on many levels. on one hand this is an early example of people poking at them to find out exactly ~what~ dan and phil are to each other, and it’s early enough that it doesn’t quite feel like knives yet, but it’s clearly the beginning of a pattern that would continue and build and grow invasive and that’s :/
but, let’s focus on what i love about this formspring, bc there’s plenty to love! first this is a classic example of phil deflection (make em laugh, make em laugh, make em laaauuuugghhhhh!) and it works! he doesn’t have to say a goddamn thing that he doesn’t want to. privacy king! but also just what the joke he’s gone with implies: all of the above. they are, they always have been, everything to each other all at once. he loves dan and would date dan and is clearly already married to dan, and has to problem fondly laughing out an “i hate you” to dan. they just threw themselves into the deep end right from the beginning, as soon as it was clear what they meant to each other there was no holding back– all of the above.
so much with so little ;__; it absolutely kills me! it’s just not even a question. i think there’s a few options people’s mind jump to with this kind of question and usually it’s achingly human like “grab the nearest person and smooch them” or “eat an entire thing that i’m allergic to and never get to enjoy” or the most tender example that dan gave which is “tell my mother/child/person that i love them”
but hey let’s think about that ,, what would that 30 second phone call look like?? is he calling to ask for help? phil is someone who wants to help, he’s someone who has helped dan many times before. is he calling because phil can at the very least calm him down? take away the panic? or is he calling because the thought of those final thirty seconds being spent with anyone but phil is just impossible? would he even tell phil he’s dying? would he just call to say something stupid, just to ensure the last thing he hears is phil’s laugh? it’s melodramatic and too much too soon but wow if dan doesn’t mean it when he says ringing phil is his first and last instinct, and god do i love that for them
there was never going to be any doubt that this is my top phil formspring! it’s just ,, wow can you believe phil invented tenderness? i sure can!
because let’s ponder for a moment what that means: dan smells like warm. he smells like comfort and safety and home. he smells not like something tangible, something bottled, something replicated. he smells like life and closeness and midnight whispers. phil, king of lateral thinking, didn’t say he smells like whatever deodorant middle class white boys were drenching themselves with in the early aughts. he didn’t say dan smelt like something out of their in-jokes (cherries, caramel macchiato) or even something simple but Nothing like “idk he smells fine, he smells good, he smells whatever”
it’s why small animals fall asleep the second they’re in his arms. it’s why cuddly tactile phil gravitates towards him. dan’s warmth radiates through him, out of his goddamn pores.
oof <3 ten years on and this one hurts so good! we give phil a lot of credit for his knight of wands prediction (and rightfully so) but this here hurts in a different way. the intentionality of it all– that’s the plan, if dan has anything to say about it then yes, he and phil will be best friends forever. there is so much good meta about the different ways that both dan and phil approach the concept of fate, and when you think about what it takes for dan to sit there and say he doesn’t believe in soulmates but accepts that phil is his that’s like …… that’s telling. but fate is something dan doesn’t think just happens– as with everything in life, it has to be worked for. he and phil are compatible, but he had to work to get his attention in the first place. they had to work that first year to see each other when there was the length of the country in between them. they had to work to balance their careers with their private lives, they had to work at remaining a strong unit despite the stressors of the closet, they had to work to overcome various family tragedies, mental health struggles, and the wear and tear of daily life. it’s part of the plan, a plan where the details change all the time based on where they are in their careers or what their personal life goals are or whether they now have to adjust their travel schedule to the needs of their darling son Norman. but the barebones of the plan, the fact that it was, is, always has been and always will be, dan&phil vs the world? that’s been the plan from the beginning. top tier formspring– unparalleled!
Meta for @phandomficfests Bingo Fest, prompt: formspring
yousharknotpass
titsay
kaledo-art
areudirty
andulkaphoto
ellievsbear
