Dan & Phil Part 90: Fish Daddies

[autumnhearth]

Ah nice! Phil liked a pic of Chris Lomas, an OG British YouTuber who was in their circle in 2009. He’s living his pilot dreams. Also cute guys with dogs, very Phil.

Hmm hello Phil’s suitcase. Please take whatever fashion offer they are making!

Socks out for the lads

[flarequake]

Oh, it’s a suitcase. I thought it might be a picnic cooler suitcase does make more sense.

[Amiaw]

I think the suitcase is Phil’s way of “officially” letting us know he’s home we’ll just pretend we didn’t know about it on Sunday

[Becky.rigby]

Just watched Dan's 2012 Halloween special liveshow and it has made me miss liveshows so much it made me feel more connected, now it just seems like we dont get liveshows or YouTube videos anymore and all we get is merch that isnt for everyone. I know they need to do what makes them happy and they are busy doing other things behind the scenes but I really do miss them, they are the only happiness i have and have felt really depressed lately and alone (i know that sounds sad but :/)

[flarequake]

I miss the talking to us connection that liveshows gave us, the glue’s kinda gone without them. I don’t mind gaps between videos, but we’re no wiser about the new normal than we’ve been all year. I keep up with the phandom every day, but the boys are quieter to me.

[Becky.rigby]

I miss the talking to us connection that liveshows gave us, the glue’s kinda gone without them. I don’t mind gaps between videos, but we’re no wiser about the new normal than we’ve been all year. I keep up with the phandom every day, but the boys are quieter to me.

Exactly, they didn't mention we wouldn't be getting liveshows last Christmas either, they just said about gaming videos and pinof. It just seems like we've gone from seeing them a lot with tour, liveshows, main channel videos, gaming videos etc to videos every couple of months, and we are lucky to even get that lately. I know we now get Instagram stories but they just aren't the same in my opinion. I hate how they've let us in on possibly the biggest thing in their lives but then why do I feel I know them even less now then I did even a year ago. :S

[alittledizzy]

I miss the talking to us connection that liveshows gave us, the glue’s kinda gone without them. I don’t mind gaps between videos, but we’re no wiser about the new normal than we’ve been all year. I keep up with the phandom every day, but the boys are quieter to me.

Exactly, they didn't mention we wouldn't be getting liveshows last Christmas either, they just said about gaming videos and pinof. It just seems like we've gone from seeing them a lot with tour, liveshows, main channel videos, gaming videos etc to videos every couple of months, and we are lucky to even get that lately. I know we now get Instagram stories but they just aren't the same in my opinion. I hate how they've let us in on possibly the biggest thing in their lives but then why do I feel I know them even less now then I did even a year ago. :S

I definitely think we know them better this year than last year, or any year before. But I think that's the balance. They're telling us who they are as people, all the things we've wondered and guessed and been curious about for years, but in the same breath they're saying that there are lots of things in their lives they've put on back burner because it was impossible to be as present with us as they were and also as present for themselves in their lives as they needed to be. For me, now when Dan or Phil aren't posting now, I feel much more like I understand it than I would have a year ago. They feel even more like real people having more of the backstory filled in.

But I still think that the live formats (like liveshows) where they can't filter anything out would put them on edge, and understanding how much in the past they danced around makes a difference to me. I think I'd almost struggle to go back to watching them only tell us only half a story in a liveshow. It'd be like seeing them put a mask back on.

[rizzo]

I miss the talking to us connection that liveshows gave us, the glue’s kinda gone without them. I don’t mind gaps between videos, but we’re no wiser about the new normal than we’ve been all year. I keep up with the phandom every day, but the boys are quieter to me.

Exactly, they didn't mention we wouldn't be getting liveshows last Christmas either, they just said about gaming videos and pinof. It just seems like we've gone from seeing them a lot with tour, liveshows, main channel videos, gaming videos etc to videos every couple of months, and we are lucky to even get that lately. I know we now get Instagram stories but they just aren't the same in my opinion. I hate how they've let us in on possibly the biggest thing in their lives but then why do I feel I know them even less now then I did even a year ago. :S

I definitely think we know them better this year than last year, or any year before. But I think that's the balance. They're telling us who they are as people, all the things we've wondered and guessed and been curious about for years, but in the same breath they're saying that there are lots of things in their lives they've put on back burner because it was impossible to be as present with us as they were and also as present for themselves in their lives as they needed to be. For me, now when Dan or Phil aren't posting now, I feel much more like I understand it than I would have a year ago. They feel even more like real people having more of the backstory filled in.

But I still think that the live formats (like liveshows) where they can't filter anything out would put them on edge, and understanding how much in the past they danced around makes a difference to me. I think I'd almost struggle to go back to watching them only tell us only half a story in a liveshow. It'd be like seeing them put a mask back on.

I struggle with this. Because on one hand I completely and totally agree with flarequake and Becky.rigby. I don't like this new normal and some days, I especially struggle with it. I want more content that isn't a quick selfie or a squirrel climbing up a tree. I want more connection in any capacity.

But on the flip side... what would a liveshow look like these days? They're not gonna get all couple-y on camera. They're also not going to go back to calling each other "friends' quite as hard as they did. And just imagine the chat: "KISS!!!" "HUG EACH OTHER!!!!" "How was your date????" I fully understand why they wouldn't want to do those again.

I think where I stand is just... wanting a reliable schedule or something to look forward to.

I'm all for excitedly guessing about what they're doing in their personal life (read: moving), but I want the promise of content with a definitive date. At the end of the day... Yes, I'm excited for them and their personal life. But guessing at it doesn't bring me as much satisfaction as watching them actively banter or one of them talk at me from my computer screen for extended periods of time. IDK what Phil meant by the promise that he'd keep posting, but... I'd like him to do that. I'd also like Dan to get back to it.

Something. Anything. And of course it will be different... but I don't really care about that. I just want more than an IG story and tweet every other day.

So I'm in the grey area with this convo. (I even wanted to keep writing here... like, I get that they don't have to do that this year. And they wanna focus on life. I get it. It doesn't negate what I want though. Mumblegrumble. So... constant circular argument in my head.)

[Becky.rigby]

I agree when you put it like that, I don't even want them to do liveshows together, just individual now and again, doesn't even have to be weekly. I just wish people would be more mature than posting stuff like asking them to kiss etc, but you are right and to be honest I dont blame them for not doing liveshows if that is what they would have to deal with :/ like you I just want a routine, to know when the next video is going to be planned, what does the future hold? It seems like people are being a lot more forgiving of Dan not posting compared to Phil :/ I just really miss them.

[Phanshy]

I agree with a lot of the previous comments about feeling more distant from them and I'm honestly not expecting it to get better anytime soon. I think Phil will probably upload a video every 6-8 weeks, I don't think we'll get a mukbang I just can't see them both wanting to sit down and talk to us for 30 minutes when we can barely get a joint selfie.
I've accepted the fact that any joint spooky content is a non starter this year but I'm hoping Phil will do something, literally anything Halloween related. I expect radio silence around PINOF time just so they don't get questions about it. The only festive thing I can see happening is separate merch and maybe D&P shop being combined for the holidays.
Disclaimer I'm naturally a pessimist.
I did have a dream that they made a video talking about the future of the gaming channel on the 24th of December the anniversary of the last upload, but I'm not seriously expecting any announcements till 2020.

[flarequake]

I assumed they’d just be a little more relaxed now, but still not go there because it’s not part of their content or our business. Just talk to us as usual. Them having come out didn’t occur to me as making any difference, though I understand keeping up weekly liveshows is a lot and maybe they’ve just had enough, shame if they think ig stories really match up, though, cos lovely as they are, not really.

Btw, by them being quieter to me I meant that I realised I think about them less and am less bothered, though I have down times when I miss them too, but they’re less lately.

I’ve been surprised by the gap in Phil videos, though obv being away visiting family fell right as he’d have been making one to go up now, a month after Draw My Life 2, still we thought we could rely on his channel and still no word about a new monthly schedule perhaps, or a new video.

[knq]

My sense is that when they both said they were going to stop regular liveshows and start doing them when they felt like it at the beginning of 2018, that was supposed to be a smoother transition out of doing liveshows. Then it got interrupted by the Rize sponsorship, which turned back into Younow when Rize went under. That made it feel like liveshows had 'returned,' but I'm not sure that was their intent. As we're now back to a stage where they only do liveshows as and when they want to... it looks like they don't want to.

Liveshows have given us some moments I've loved. I wish Dan and Phil wanted to do them. But I can also see why they wouldn't. Just watching a liveshow and reading the chat as an observer, it's a surprisingly disconnecting experience. It's weird. The liveshows themselves made me feel more connected to Dan and Phil, but reading the chat, where hardly anyone is responding to or talking about what Dan or Phil is saying, feels very disconnecting from the other people present. I vividly remember reading the chat when Dan and Phil announced the end of PINOF and the end of DAPG and expecting to see other people emotionally responding to that news as I was. Instead the chat was full of comments requesting a Dan memes video (???).

If that's Dan and Phil's experience, especially because of the lag between when they speak and when people hear them and can type responses, I can imagine them feeling more connected to their audience when they don't do liveshows. Besides which there's all the other elements of being live and unedited and wanting to maintain their privacy of course.

So I think I get it. But also I miss the feeling of everyone gathering together for a liveshow as it made the phandom feel like a more active than passive experience.

[madzilla84]

I agree with so many of the points above, and I've been feeling down about it all year but especially recently, as I (perhaps foolishly) thought things would be a bit different after June and Dan coming 'back from the dead' as he put it, but now it seems we're right back into hiatus, except now Phil isn't posting either. I'm especially disappointed that his member messages got fewer and further between and now seem to have stopped entirely. I actually don't necessarily want the liveshows to return for the reasons stated above, but something pre-recorded but similarly casual might be good, and more comfortable for them. (i.e. needs no/little editing.)

For the record: I don't begrudge either of them taking breaks or striving for a better work-life balance, that's very important - I just wonder what it means. Assuming Project Sphere is intended to be an ongoing, long-term thing in Phil's life, does that mean his content will be as infrequent as it is now, or is this just an adjustment period? Many questions, that I'm beginning to doubt we'll ever get answers to.

[glitterintheair]

I agree with many of you and I am glad people feel the same way as me.

The thing is, I am getting used to not get content and I don't know how to feel about it. I am at the point where I would be genuinely shocked to get a youtube notif from either of them. What I find frustrating is that we don't know if *this* is the new normal for the foreseeable future or not. What are we here for? What are we waiting for? It feels like we're constantly on edge for something but... is there a reason for it? Or are we just convincing ourselves that something is gonna happen soon because that's better than the alternative? I don't know man, I am torn because I want them to happy, I want them to live the life they couldn't live before but at the same time I am sad because damn, I miss them. Especially with my life being a giant mess lately, I'd really use a serotonin boost from them(yeah yeah i shouldn't use two british guys as my unhealthy coping mechanism blah blah blah I know but it's too late now).

[noodlebum]

I agree with many of you and I am glad people feel the same way as me.

The thing is, I am getting used to not get content and I don't know how to feel about it. I am at the point where I would be genuinely shocked to get a youtube notif from either of them. What I find frustrating is that we don't know if *this* is the new normal for the foreseeable future or not. What are we here for? What are we waiting for? It feels like we're constantly on edge for something but... is there a reason for it? Or are we just convincing ourselves that something is gonna happen soon because that's better than the alternative? I don't know man, I am torn because I want them to happy, I want them to live the life they couldn't live before but at the same time I am sad because damn, I miss them. Especially with my life being a giant mess lately, I'd really use a serotonin boost from them(yeah yeah i shouldn't use two british guys as my unhealthy coping mechanism blah blah blah I know but it's too late now).

All of this basically.

[sonicgreen]

I share the same thoughts as a lot of you, and I’ve definitely found other scheduled things to fill my free time (podcasts, twitch streams) but I agree with @rizzo about craving just sOmething consistent. Even if it is a monthly thing. I miss looking forward to them... even though I wish the best for them and their work/life balance and happiness.

[bluecaterpillar]

i would also be surprised to get a youtube notification from either of them these days, and i feel pretty resigned to barely any content beyond some tweets and instastories for the rest of 2019. maybe coming out feels like such a paradigm shift to them that they can't bring themselves to go back to making the usual content they had been doing before. if that's the case, i get it! i find it hard to imagine things returning to the way they were before, now that so much stuff that got tiptoed around before is out in the open. it just makes me glum to think that they're probably never going to be as active and present on youtube again as they were in the past.

i'm ridiculously happy for them as people with all that we know they've achieved in their personal lives this year, and i definitely don't want to turn back the clock to pre-coming out or pre-hiatus. i just wish that i didn't feel so caught in limbo as a dnp fan. i want to hear something more definitive about joint content. i want to have a better idea of what they're going to do individually in terms of youtube uploads vs other mystery projects which have to be kept under wraps. because at the moment i'm just trying to assume the worst to avoid getting my hopes up, but all the while i'm aware that i don't actually have any idea what's going on with them professionally/creatively. am i being unnecessarily pessimistic or am i just protecting myself from disappointment? i haven't a clue, and i wish i did. aaaaa

[autumnhearth]

At this point I’d be perfectly content with a muckbang and festive baking, with a lighthearted Phil video and some Instagram stories in-between.

(I say this after my husband just told me I need an interest completely separate from them as I bounce around aimlessly from one app to another. Yay depression.)

I think we are unlikely to know what the new normal is until spring.

[Susanisnotafish]

Why Spring?

[autumnhearth]

Why Spring?

I figure we won’t get much during the holidays, with no Gamingmas or Dilmas and they are usually low key hibernating in January-February. I don’t actually know anything, it just seems like a good time for new beginnings and getting that forward momentum going. Phil was on a roll this past spring, though I understand if he intentionally decides to do less.

[alittledizzy]

flashback of the day

[parallel]

See, I do think they (especially Dan, only because of his already sparse uploads) need to be making some kind of content.

They're acting like "internet personalities" what with their social media presence, their merch, etc., but not doing anything that makes you an "internet personality". If they want to be known for something else, that's fine. I'm not saying they need to make YouTube videos, but if they want to be "internet personalities", I think they ought to give people a reason to follow them and support them.

I understand that they need a while to find "the new normal", and that coming out was a major change for them. Seriously, I get it. Coming out is a super big thing and it does feel weird for a few months; I know from experience. But life must go on, you know?

People talk about the end of an era, and I know what they mean. PINOF ended, Dan and Phil Games ended, there were so many undertones of finality in Interactive Introverts, Dan went on his hiatus, etc. But I really, honestly thought that this was the start of an era as well. Especially after Dan uploaded and I thought he was coming back; with infrequency as before, of course, but would still resume "normal" content "soon".

I still think this is the start of an era, but maybe it was a slower start than I expected.

Ultimately, I hope that Dan and Phil do whatever makes them happy. I know what it's like to feel obligated to do something you just hate, and if YouTube makes them feel like that, then I don't want them to do YouTube. If being seen as a duo/the joint branding makes them feel like that, then I want them to have more separate branding. Whatever makes them happy. Hell, if being an "online influencer" makes them unhappy, I would want them to take a break from their online presence. But, at the same time, it is ridiculous to promote merch when there's nothing the merch is of.

[nicky1388]

At this point, i'm just terrified of a Finn and Jack situation. Where they just kind of disappear off of youtube. if they're done, i really wish they would say something, so i'm not sitting here, waiting and hoping.

[obsessivelymoody]

The thing is with saying they aren't doing anything is that we have no idea what's happening behind the scenes. I think DML2 and both coming out videos really cement that point. (Also I'm firmly on moving hill so I think that's definitely partly why things are slower than they could be).

I miss them so much, especially joint content, but at the end of the day I like seeing them be comfortable on social media. But also maybe I'm comfortable because fanworks are enough to keep me satisfied, even when they aren't posting. And I know they're not for everyone so I get that it must feel weird atm.

[bluecaterpillar]

i'm feeling a bit more upbeat today and thought i'd share this tumblr blog i found very recently, commemorating ten years of dan and phil.

i am very much enjoying their real-time walkthrough of the 2009 phan timeline. dnp have come such a long way since then but it's nice to go back to the beginning and remember how it all started. i am such a massive sucker for nostalgia lol if 2019 dan and phil are too busy reassessing their careers or getting a life to give me much content right now, i'll take fetus!phan as a welcome distraction instead