I talked about this a bit on twitter but I wanted to say it in a bit more depth (lol) here. I'm not over the closure this has brought. For Dan, mostly of course, but also for us, and Phil too in a sense. I won't stop saying how selfless and brave it was of Dan to share his story, and I won't stop going on about how proud I am of him, but after being thrust into unexpected fame with no guidance, having your private life exposed with a glitch, having people push your boundaries endlessly, and not understanding how to deal with any of it besides lashing out and internalizing, I can't get over how much closure something like this must have in his recovery journey. I've seen many people say that ii being so explicitly queer in both the audience and the show itself must have been really eye opening (as we've heard both of them say!), and comforting for Dan to see what impact he's had. I think that's part of why he was so truly prod of the show, and never dismissed it like he's done with everything in the past. And he's clearly reached a point where he feels ready to share, and help others from it, again, the closure in this after everything we've seen build up to this moment in the last year must be a weight off his shoulders.
That's not to say coming out is easy, and that everything is going to be completely fine for him. That's unrealistic, but like he said about this opening a new chapter in his life--and selflessly thinking of how he can help others--there's so much being closed as this new chapter opens. And again, I'm so fucking proud.
Phil, being Phil, is the master of subtly doing things, and he really did just that with his tweet. Very Phil, and I think very much something that came with his revamp earlier this year, and the walk into this new era. I am also very proud of him and will not stop talking about that either lol. Another thing I love about this is that Dan didn't out Phil or anything. He spoke from his heart about them, and after that Phil tweeted. They, like pretty much everything, went at this together. Not completely, Dan's story is still his and Phil's tweet is still his, but they still worked together and I just adore that. It means a lot, to see relationships like that, queer and romantic or best friends. It means a whole lot.
And for us, especially the people who were around in the early days, there's some closure for how Dan acted because he was scared and hurting. I also think it validates a lot of people's feelings in the community, about being queer and the openness of this fandom in that sense. I'm excited to see what the rest of the year brings. I'm proud of Dan. I'm proud of Phil too. And I'm proud of everyone who came out today because of Dan, and the people who are still waiting to, or are choosing not to
But I'm happy he's at the point now where he's comfortable sharing this with people.
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