calloused fingers and soft hearts

what we’re not going to do is bombard him with conspiracy theories about how he’s dating phil and how the two of them are secretly dating uwu

you still aren’t entitled to any part of his private life just beacuse he’s a man with a following

i have been following dan for years now.

and i have to say, to this day, he continues to make me the proudest person on earth. he’s shown me love and acceptance to myself and others. he gave me hope, he gave me phil.

so, today, i want to thank him for all of that. and i’d like to let him know that he’s loved, accepted and cherished for who he is and will always be.

so, thank you, dan. thank you for being brave, thank you for being you. thank you for reminding me that everything is going to be fine. thank you for making me feel safe.

i love you, moonlight. i am forever proud of you and extremely glad i get to call you the biggest inspiration i have. thank you for showing me a bit of you, so i can be a better me.

after watching dan’s newest video and hearing his story, i’d 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 we’re solely here to support him.

phil is not a part of this. unless he chooses to bring it up himself, we’re not to draw him in. this is dan’s coming out, not his.

we shouldn’t shame anyone who was in the phandom during dan’s rough patch; it was bad, but there’s 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 don’t even know if they were the problem in the first place. respect each other.

now that we have a “canon” for dan’s sexuality, this doesn’t mean any fanworks are “invalid”. nothing that was generally “disproven” 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. that’s ALL it is.

the most important thing is RESPECT. this openness is truly the beginning of a new era, and that’s something to celebrate, but do it RESPECTFULLY. we still don’t know a lot of things, and clearly dan (and/or phil) doesn’t want us to. that’s okay. we need to respect them, and we need to respect each other. that’s true of now and of before the video.