Its their denials which cast doubt on it for me. There has been no explicit confirmation, (theres been innuendo and assumption) but there has been explicit denial. Regardless of the context, there has been denial. Do I think that we can trust the denial? Not completely, but you can definitely see from his tone and actions that they were angry. I will never be sure of them being together until they confirm it. And tbf, they could get married and say it was for tax purposes and I still wouldn't be sure. A confirmation to me would either be a 'we are not together' or 'we are together', explicitly addressed. No innuendo, no joking, no pranks, no passive aggressive tumblr. (basically a voldy 2.0, that is what would convince me) Without the denials, if they had just let it be, I think this conversation would be very different.Susanisnotafish wrote: I relate to your oscillation and your reasoning a lot. I also rely only on the Halloween gathering arm thing and voldy as Phan "proof" and often find it hard to discount their Phan denials. I won't be 100% sure they're in a romantic relationship unless they say so or have a child (even then, would they not confirm their relationship status? "Can't two bros raise a child without being shipped?")
As far as no one "catching them touching", I can believe that they just never do that in public. After all, they live together and can do whatever they want physically most of their lives. All closeted relationships (even straight ones such as extramarital affairs) are hidden. I personally (with no evidence as to why) feel that if they are a couple and they've told anyone it would only be Bryony and Wirrow and Phil's family. They've been friends with Bryony since they met, but she may not have known since then. Same with Phil's family. They may have only been told in the last few years. These people would be trustworthy and never betray them imo.
I think another reason Dan doesn't even want to expressly state his sexuality could be fear of what has happened to Evan Edinger since coming out as demisexual. I also wonder if not wanting to cause any more drama for Dan's younger brother could even play a part.
Also, what did they lie about about bubble bobble? I'll try doing a search to see if I can find out.
Hope this helps you to know you're not alone in your oscillation. We'll never really know until we know, and there's no prize for the ones who guessed right. The speculation and debate are quite enjoyable/frustrating/depressing depending on the day. I'm glad they are more than just a ship and are really great, caring, and entertaining individuals, so when I'm frustrated not knowing about Phan I can just focus on all those other things. They're my first and only OTP btw, so like a first anything, it's very near and dear to my heart and affects me quite deeply.
True, I didn't necessarily think of affairs, but it IS a possibility that they are both hyper against PDA and therefore keep everything inside? And I also agree that the people that know the definitive truth (complete yes or complete no, which is something we as spectators do not know) will be that very small group of people. Who are obviously extremely trustworthy or simply don't care to be engaged in the speculation.
The point about Dans brother is good too, I completely forgot about that drama. I found out who he was by complete accident, I never intentionally searched out anything on him and yet I found photos of him on Tumblr by accident. If Dan announced he was with Phil, I sadly do think people would search out his brother as a 'back up' because 'he is like a mini-Dan'.
The Bubble Bobble thing was in their video. They presented it that Dan had never played it, but I think it was the week Dan spent at Phil's in December 2009, they got to level 100. If it was a game that went so much to Phil I highly doubt they wouldn't remember playing it together.
I'm glad I'm not alone. I was a pretty big purveyor of Frerard back in the day. But they actually kissed on stage. Regardless of D&P's relationship status, they have a solid relationship, and that is enough for me.