@freckleyboi has a phan theory that literally has me stuffing things in my mouth to keep me from screaming. this is all her idea, i just articulated it and am sharing it.
so you remember how a few months ago, people were freaking out because dan said he went on a walk with ‘a friend’ who wasn’t phil? and people were kind of split between ‘omg he has a significant other, phan is DEAD’ and ‘wow i’m really glad dan is branching out and actually going outside to meet with friends who aren’t phil.’
well britt has a theory that this ‘friend’ is someone who both dan and phil have mentioned before–wirrow. what if dan went out for a walk with wirrow and they stopped by a jewelry store? what if dan dragged wirrow inside to help him pick out an engagement ring for phil? wirrow would be perfect for this because he knows both dan and phil. he would be able to say ‘yes, phil would love this’ or ‘no, he’d hate that.’
furthermore, wirrow and bryony have been in a long-term, committed relationship for years (married?). if dan was thinking about proposing, he was probably really fucking nervous about it. wirrow would have been able to help assuage these fears and help dan plan out how he was going to ask.
so what if dan bought a ring and hid it away for a couple months, but when he joined the lesters on the isle of man for a few days before christmas, he pulled out the ring out on the cliffs where he fell earlier last year and proposed to him there? and even though phil has said that marriage is just a piece of paper, he’s also said if it’s an unhappy one. and those fools are so ridiculously in love and happy together that phil wouldn’t have hesitated to say yes.
so now they’re engaged. and this really all stemmed from the two photos that we’ve seen so far this year where phil’s ring finger has been covered up. it could just be a coincidence, but this is twice now. if it happens a third time, we should definitely start wondering if it’s deliberate. the sticker placement on the photo phil took to show us his bruise was bizarre, but it really could have just been something he slapped on there really quickly. the photo that dan posted after the oscars, however–that looks to be deliberately cropped so that phil’s ring finger isn’t showing. and if it’s not showing, why?
but an engagement could also explain their absence lately. maybe they really are spending a lot of time working on the tour. maybe dan’s depression is rendering him unable to put out the amount of content that we grew so used to last year. maybe they’re moving. but an engagement? weddings, even small ones, take a lot of effort to plan.
