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Tubbo stood there, under the lights, panting as the pink, blue and white (the transgender flag colours, she thought with glee) lights fading out. On the front, she could see the cheers and proud smiles of her friends, who she knew would go on stage as soon as they were allowed. Backstage, she could see her friends, family at this point, coming to ask her a lot of questions.
Now how did this happen? How was she, standing in a room full of her friends and family and random people, clapping. She saw people crying, standing up and clapping, congratulating her. Some people are getting ready to leave, but she didn’t mind them.
How did Tubbo, the streamer, come out via a ballet story. WIth Ranboo and Purpled as back up dancers? And using the Ugly Duckling, but rewriting it to make it trans, to come out?
Well, let’s just start at the beginning.
Tommy’s coming out.
Now, Tommy, he started out subtle. Well, as subtle as a loud person like Tommy can be.
He first said he liked the ace of spades card in a conversation that probably evolved from Wilbur’s afterlife character talking about solitaire to favorite card of the deck. Which was nothing out of the normal. Kind of, but then Tommy in a vlog touched the ace flag over and over again, which was a bit weird, but not that alarming. Then, he wore a black ring on his middle finger in another stream, claiming that Fundy must be jealous because 5up sent him a ring and that he will establish his “dominance using this newfound power.”
By then, a lot of ace folks knew something was up. Which was proven true literally a few days later.
Because, around two days after wearing the black ring on his middle finger, midway through a stream, he left his room for quite some time, and then busted back into his room with an Ace flag wrapped around him, like a cape, posing like a superhero. The Asexual flag painted on his face and holding a megaphone. He stood there and yelled into the megaphone “I’M THE ACE OF SPADES BABY!” and then said right after “If you don’t understand by now, I’m asexual.”
Of course, we didn’t care if he was asexual or not. We still loved him. But that was where it started, kind of.
See Fundy came out first but it didn’t kick the rolling hill until Tommy came out. But it would be rude to ignore him in this whole, how did this whole thing happen??
Fundy’s coming out.
Wilbur sat Fundy down. And asked the simple question of, “Do you like boys?” And Fundy replied, “I like girls but not in that way.” Wilbur expected a lesbian conversation, but instead what he got was a trans conversation.
It was nothing big. And unlike Tommy’s, it didn’t really have a big impact. Because of Tommy, we have Purpled’s coming out story.
Purpled’s coming out.
Purpled opened his group chat, which basically everyone in the SMP, and typed: I’m grey and demi-hetero, before just turning off Discord right after that, started the stream and then told his chat the same exact thing.
Like Fundy’s, it wasn’t big, nor was it grand Just a simple text message to warn them before a stream but it still helped to where they are now because, without Purpled, they wouldn’t have had Ranboo’s coming out story.
Ranboo’s coming out.
Ranboo has his monthly The Trevor Project Charity Streams. Or the TTPCS for short. Ranboo started off the stream by greeting everyone, as usual, talking about the subgoal and the Trevor Project. Then it deviated when he told the chat “so, I need to tell you guys something,” with a serious, nervous tone. He then turns on his face cam, to show him sitting there, holding the non-binary flag. He smiled, though you couldn’t see it under his mask, which was also changed to match the flag in his hands.
“Hey, guys! I’m uhhh non-binary! They/Them, please!” And that was it for Faceboo (facecam ranboo).
Twitter went absolutely bonkers. First, Tommy coming out as asexual, then Purpled as grey and demi-hetero, and now Ranboo as Non-binary. Who’s next? It’s not even pride month yet! Everyone was wondering, quaking in their seats, making theories.
Yet no one really expected Tubbo’s coming out. And how fucking grand it was.
Tubbo’s coming out
It was a ballet show. Tubbo was amazing at ballet and has been dancing for quite a while. One day, an idea popped up, and she asked Ranboo, Purpled and Tommy, having came out to them a long time ago if they could help her with this play. Really, it was going to be the Ugly Duckling, but making it trans. Rewriting it, so it's about her story.
Courtesy of Purpled’s and Ranboo’s writing, the script and scenes were amazing. Tommy did all of the music, never resting until he got the best one to represent each scene, not accepting anything less than perfect. Ranboo and Purpled also played double duty as back-up dancers, with Eret as the costume maker while Sam worked tech, who then brought (read: dragged) Dream and Technoblade to work on lights.
Everything was going great. They have the story, the dance choreography, all somewhat memorized. The costumes done, looking ethereal as ever from Eret’s craftsmanship, all of the lights and technical equipment working as they should. They just needed for the people to fill the theatre seats, and Tubbo had her family and friends reservations for the best seats, the one on the balcony, while everyone else got the, in comparison, shitty seats.
Tubbo was scared, anxiety swirling around her chest. She could have done it any other way, hell it doesn’t have to be this grand, a simple message and a stream would be enough, but this was the way she decided it would be, and it was already too late anyway. The crowd was filling up the whole theatre, seats filled, with the tickets that sold out in a mere 4 minutes after the announcement.
She wasn’t backing out, she couldn’t. Ranboo and Purpled were there, waiting for her, learning the choreography alongside her. Tommy took so much time making every song perfect for her, even making some remixes and revisions of classic songs. Dream and Techno took so much time on lights and learning to move said lights, Sam came all the way to help with all the tech, and Eret spent so much energy and time on the costumes. Everything was done, complete, but it wasn’t the performance day yet.
She could back out now! Her friends wouldn’t judge, her family wouldn’t judge, they were going to accept her for what she is even without the grand scale she decided to stage her coming out. They would understand if she backed out now.
And she didn’t.
She was on the other side of the stage, the mirror she needed to go to was on the opposite side of the stage. That’s fine, she’s got this! She practised a lot, letting the familiar steps be in tune with the song. She spun over there, stopping at the mirror. Looking right into the mirror. As Ranboo and Purpled got props and moved over.
Surrounding Tubbo with themselves and the props, giant white wings with cloth to cover her and her friends, Tubbo fell down, taking the separate tutu and headpiece Eret made from their hands and changed slowly into a new look, as a way to show her transition, and she took her time, calming herself down. Just sitting there was Ranboo and Purpled and all of the props just surrounded her, faces of encouragement. The music building up, yet also relaxed, not at all pressuring, as if Tommy knew she needed time to take deep breaths right at that moment.
She waited, it was a couple of minutes before she even moved, although it felt like an eternity to her, besides the changing. Ranboo and Purpled nodded, before removing the props to grandly reveal herself. The music that had gone all fast-paced as she spun to mirror and slowed down as she got covered and basically almost stopped. Picked back up again but yet, with Tubbo standing, everything became its loudest.
A symphony erupted as she stood up and looked in the mirror again. As Purpled and Ranboo grabbed the props. Moving away from Tubbo as she hugged herself, looking in the mirror for the final time before she turns away, and goes after Ranboo and Purpled, who went off stage, with the props as well. The curtains closed as she and everyone else who helped walked back now, bowing. As Eret drags Techno and Dream backstage, the curtains open as the set is clear, there is nothing but pure acceptance on the stage. Everyone left the stage, leaving Tubbo at the centre, a microphone in her hands.
She stood there, thanking everyone. Smiling widely and brightly. When the colours shone down. Blue, Pink, White, Pink, Blue. The colour of the trans flag. She was crying, and she didn’t even know. People were clapping. She was out of the closet and….came out the best. Ranboo, Purpled and Tommy ran out and hugged her, And as the curtains fell and the lights turned off, they bowed, glad of what they did.