Dan & Phil Part 94: Year of the Rats

[glitterintheair]

I’ve nothing more to add to the topic either, deep down I know that we are not his priority anymore, I just wish he had told us instead of leaving us to figure it out on our own. I would have respected him more, that’s all.

Also, if people’s reactions to Dan’s postings or lack thereof are mostly out of anger... there’s a reason for it. People don’t want to be mad at Dan because it’s funny, I am fairly positive that’s only ‘cause they are frustrated - I didn’t see any complaints about him posting Japan content, for example. If people are mad now it’s because they’re reaching their limit, imo. What was he expecting, really?


Edit: top of the page with this, I am sorry but don’t worry I am gonna go back into hiding now, stay good, stay safe and wash your hands

[liola]

All that I have to add to this convo (since I was the one to start it which i would apologize for but sorry y'all, not in the mood) is that... this is making me re-evaluate who Dan is as a person. I think that is what makes me most sad out of all of this. The disappointment stings.

I'm glad for Phil, however, I'm glad that this hasn't changed.

[flarequake]

At this point it’d be nice to have closure, though we’re waiting on the project instead so since there’s still something he’ll want to us to see sometime, that’s doubly not happening.

Dan doesn’t just get requests/demands or negativity, he gets tons of people telling him to take care of himself and take his time, also daily cute animal videos (as does Phil) from at least one cute person. I don’t know the ratio, though it all is quite a lot.

[Catallena]

I stand by this joke lol.

I'm not waiting for a project anymore tbh. Maybe Dan truly has something up his sleeves that has gone beyond pitching stages, but I'm not holding my breath. We know something fell through last year and things can always fall through at the last second, especially now with this pandemic.

That's the only thing that puzzles me, that Dan thought it'd be wise to just... quit? And then work towards other ~things. It seems so reckless. Opposite of Phil, who is pitching new things he wants to make outside of YouTube while still doing his normal YouTube work. Phil has always had a more genuine love for YouTube and video making though. Maybe that's what makes it hurt more. Dan didn't start YouTube for the same reasons Phil did. He kinda started it to belong to a successful group of people he admired. I can only conclude that he wants to belong to a different group of people now.

I've had many thoughts on Dan's relationship with his audience over the years. Some positive. Some quite negative. I can't be bothered to repeat them but I'm not gonna lie, I do think about some of the things that have bothered me in the past a lot more again these days. Maybe his audience doesn't fit into the picture he has of his future. Maybe he feels like it holds him back from achieving what he wants. And I hate thinking those things because other days I think about that one line from theInteractive Introverts song and am convinced that Dan does care and that we are important to him as a creator and person.

In conclusion: I don't have one. This sad ramble was brought to you by a depressed person who recently went back on meds.

[malday]

i'm done speculating on this forum long ago, but just as an exercise In empathy I can imagine Dan being in the worst scenario right now, maybe some of his family is directly affected, in bad condition, maybe he's trying to patch things up with them because the world is going to hell. If you were in this position even with the privilege he has you wouldn't the able to talk to and soothe an audience. Or maybe he is actually working on something and that's why he's quiet.
Idk, i'm exhausted, helpless, anxious, i've worried, cried, broke down, i don't have a fraction of an ounce of dnp's privilege or maybe even of others here but i can't muster any energy to resent anybody i'm just grateful for the happy times, and memories Dan and Phil gave me.

idb peeps.

[knq]

I stand by this joke lol.

I'm not waiting for a project anymore tbh. Maybe Dan truly has something up his sleeves that has gone beyond pitching stages, but I'm not holding my breath. We know something fell through last year and things can always fall through at the last second, especially now with this pandemic.

That's the only thing that puzzles me, that Dan thought it'd be wise to just... quit? And then work towards other ~things. It seems so reckless. Opposite of Phil, who is pitching new things he wants to make outside of YouTube while still doing his normal YouTube work. Phil has always had a more genuine love for YouTube and video making though. Maybe that's what makes it hurt more. Dan didn't start YouTube for the same reasons Phil did. He kinda started it to belong to a successful group of people he admired. I can only conclude that he wants to belong to a different group of people now.

I've had many thoughts on Dan's relationship with his audience over the years. Some positive. Some quite negative. I can't be bothered to repeat them but I'm not gonna lie, I do think about some of the things that have bothered me in the past a lot more again these days. Maybe his audience doesn't fit into the picture he has of his future. Maybe he feels like it holds him back from achieving what he wants. And I hate thinking those things because other days I think about that one line from theInteractive Introverts song and am convinced that Dan does care and that we are important to him as a creator and person.

In conclusion: I don't have one. This sad ramble was brought to you by a depressed person who recently went back on meds.

I hadn't realized I'd been working under a different assumption until I read your bolded statement. I've been assuming (and I still generally hope it's true) that part of Dan pulling away from a public persona was the result of character growth and maturity on his part.

I think Dan is insightful enough to have come to the conclusion that the audience-creator relationship he had wasn't good for him. I see him discovering the same thing over and over in the themes of II, on the coffee mug rant, in the Mukbang and BIG, and honestly all the way back to the beginning of his career.

(Though he's also sent messages that he benefited from and liked what he did and intended to keep doing it, etc, I'm absolutely not here to present one perspective as the only true one.)

I look at his withdrawal from social media over the last year or so and think, good, he's made it from the initial awareness allllllll the way back in 2012 that "I don't have a very healthy mind so being a youtuber probably isn't the best career choice for me" to aligning his actions and career choices with what is healthy for him 7-8 years later. Good. It took you long enough you horrible, precious idiot.

I assume that's growth. I still assume that's growth. But the thought that it could just be Dan shifting from forging one path that isn't right for him because it's what his partner does, to forging a different path that still isn't right for him because it's what a different person he idolizes--or even his brother--does is just... A new thought I hadn't had. It makes me want to laugh and cry at the same time. Not so much for Dan, because who knows what Dan actually experiences or intends, but for the circular nature of people and the choices we make generally.

[alittledizzy]

[yellowsubmarine]

This is gonna be a SUPER unpopular answer and I already know it, but I think the fact that all Dan gets when he does anything on social media are complaints that he's not doing more is probably why he's shying away from that as well. He tweeted and the main response I saw were people being sad and upset, he did the wish thing and the main response I saw were people being mad he didn't post himself. If he did an instagram story I think people would just be upset he wasn't doing a video. I don't expect phandom to not do what phandom does, but it's one of those actions = consequences cycles. Dan's actions, and fandom's actions, making a cycle that it's easier for Dan to step away from than handle.

I agree with this part of your post. Always been phandom's treatment of anything Dan does. It's not a new thing and I totally get why he hasn't said anything. Y'all are scary. He's pulling away from you don't you see? Sorry to the ones who don't do this and are rationally expressing their sadness.. but sadly your voice gets drowned in all the negative ones.

[glitterintheair]

I check Dan’s mentions on twitter quite often and all I see are messages of support and questions about what he’s up to. He’s very rarely mentioned in negativity and I don’t know how he could see it unless he actively looked for it. Also, we tend to say ”negativity” but criticism is not necessarily negativity, though. It can be, but also it can be just... criticism, which is very different from plain negativity.
Honestly, I feel like the phandom tends to blame itself for literally everything all the time (don’t get me wrong, the phandom is not full of saints, it has done so many questionable things, I am not being irrational here).

Okay now I am going, I promise. Just wanted to say this because it’s one of the rare cases where I wanted to stand up for the community, lmao.

[rizzo]

This is gonna be a SUPER unpopular answer and I already know it, but I think the fact that all Dan gets when he does anything on social media are complaints that he's not doing more is probably why he's shying away from that as well. He tweeted and the main response I saw were people being sad and upset, he did the wish thing and the main response I saw were people being mad he didn't post himself. If he did an instagram story I think people would just be upset he wasn't doing a video. I don't expect phandom to not do what phandom does, but it's one of those actions = consequences cycles. Dan's actions, and fandom's actions, making a cycle that it's easier for Dan to step away from than handle.

I agree with this part of your post. Always been phandom's treatment of anything Dan does. It's not a new thing and I totally get why he hasn't said anything. Y'all are scary. He's pulling away from you don't you see? Sorry to the ones who don't do this and are rationally expressing their sadness.. but sadly your voice gets drowned in all the negative ones.

The only parts here I really agree with are that people will find something to complain about (valid) and also that it's cyclical. But it's cyclical for a reason.

The Wish thing was not content for us in any capacity and Dan never intended it to be. Phil posted some of it because Phil wanted to and Dan happened to be in it. So, I think that as a whole should be set aside as strictly not content for us, Phil was just sweet enough to share.

So, once you've excluded that, it's pretty fair to say Dan has.... essentially done little but tweet on occasion. And as an entertainer, a youtuber who vaguely promised future youtube videos, and Generic Host and Ambassador for Shows and Charities and Things.... he's really done VERY little of that. And he's got an audience of millions that isn't just gonna shrug and be like, "Hm... yeah. I get it. Doing your job sucks. I'll leave you alone now." People are gonna ask questions and some of those questions are gonna sound complain-y and that's honestly just the way it is. Nobody's criticizing Phil, are they? (Well, mostly.) No, because he's doing a thing he promised he'd do.

Phandom is scary, yeah, but... Dan's seen it all before. I don't think we're scaring him away. I think he's made an active, pointed choice to walk away and these are the consequences of that, unfortunately.

Also, what glitterintheair said.

[loveparanoia]

sooo Lauren from IRL merch voted Biden... what are we thinking?

[Amiaw]

I thought she removed IRL from her profiles and started her own business at the end of last year

[blahblahblah8]

I don’t know where you guys are seeing this but I don’t see anyone being scary or negative? The only site he’s on is twitter and when I looks at his tweets all the replies under it are kind. I haven’t seen anyone say anything negative directly to him or somewhere he’d see it. His choice to not interact with this fandom has nothing to do with fans. I don’t think it’s a punishment. I wish people wouldn’t say that it’s his audiences fault he isn’t posting.

[knq]

sooo Lauren from IRL merch voted Biden... what are we thinking?

Personally I'm thinking that I wish Biden, Bernie, Bert and Ernie or literally anyone else was currently in charge.

[dontpanic]

sooo Lauren from IRL merch voted Biden... what are we thinking?

is that, like, a bad thing? If it was the republican nominee that would be one thing, I think most of us here would be reevaluating dnp and who they choose to associate with, but I don't think someone's suddenly a horrible neolib shill just bc they voted for biden at this point in the primary season? sure I'm not pumped to have to vote for Biden in the general, but I'm not going to disparage someone for voting for someone more moderate than I'd prefer in such an important election

[Susanisnotafish]

Some interesting Dan thoughts on liveshows at the beginning and end of this one. Also he tells the story of his hamster towards the end and I always love seeing him flesh out the story live and be inspired after to make it a dinof vid. Good times. (Coincidentally 6 years ago today.)

[loveparanoia]

sooo Lauren from IRL merch voted Biden... what are we thinking?

is that, like, a bad thing? If it was the republican nominee that would be one thing, I think most of us here would be reevaluating dnp and who they choose to associate with, but I don't think someone's suddenly a horrible neolib shill just bc they voted for biden at this point in the primary season? sure I'm not pumped to have to vote for Biden in the general, but I'm not going to disparage someone for voting for someone more moderate than I'd prefer in such an important election

well, working for major queer influencers and voting for a homophobe puts a bad taste in my mouth.

[scientia]

Off-topic question!

I have never listened to the Stephen Fry narrations of HP, only the Jim Dale versions...I can't seem to find the Fry download editions online here in the US. Are there any Americans here who have found where to buy the Stephen Fry audiobook download versions of Harry Potter?

This may work for listening, but probs not for download..
https://hpaudiobooks.club/series/stephen-fry/

thank you!!

[Megancita75]

I'm looking forward to this and feel like it may be relevant to our interests:

[poweroftriangles]

Late to the party (?) but Dan is quite visibly done with YouTube and being in the public eye in general. Of course I miss him and DAPG, terribly, but... c'est la vie? I'm very much enjoying Phil's content over the past year or so and his liveshows.

Dan definitely has a uniquely creative mind and it would be a loss to the world if he didn't continue to create in some form, like screenwriting or whatever he went to LA to do. We do know his first love was theatre and the skits in his old videos continue to be some of my favourite things he's ever done. So I hope something comes of that but I'm not gonna sit here with a stopwatch, I know there's no point to that.

Guys,,, Biden is no different from Trump. I mean this completely literally. He's a creep, he's anti-choice, he deported migrants and he's, er, incoherent. Voting for him in the general election is one thing, but I fail to see how someone (esp young) could prefer him over Bernie now lol

[lefthandedism]

Guys,,, Biden is no different from Trump. I mean this completely literally. He's a creep, he's anti-choice, he deported migrants and he's, er, incoherent. Voting for him in the general election is one thing, but I fail to see how someone (esp young) could prefer him over Bernie now lol

Please don't say things like that. It's not true (except maybe the incoherence lol).

This is a good time to point out that IDB has loads of side threads to keep all sorts of conversations going, that are not directly related to D&P.

For instance, the Sociopolitical Issues thread has had very interesting discussions in the past, and would be a great place for further political discussion.

Also, the Happiness thread is a great place to check for a little relief from the oppressiveness of life right now. And since I've been looking there for a bit of happiness each day, I'd love it if folks added to it!

Hang in there, everyone.

[Phantasy]

It almost feels like an unresolved breakup with Dan... this limbo relationship waiting for one last interaction to finalize it and put it in the past, except he strings you along by checking in every few months to tell you he’s well and hopes you are too, before ghosting you again.

Without communication I feel like a consumer audience, forever waiting for the next sales pitch—if he really valued the community he (and Phil) built over all these years, then just be honest and release us from the burden of waiting if there’s nothing on the horizon.

And if there is something on the horizon, say something and give us some context for what it is and at least let us decide if it’s worth waiting around for—even if I’m frustrated sometimes, I still have this lingering notion that there’s some next-big-thing or a return to some semblance of steady creative output, because I’d be royally pissed off if this entire “hiatus” was filled with 10% nebulous creative project (and/or fitness goals) and 90% Guild Wars and artist’s struggle.

[rizzo]

If Phil wanted to drop a video today... I wouldn't be mad.

In other news.... during these rough times when nothing is certain, I'd like to remind everyone that one thing is and that's Dan saying: "obviously we were more than friends but it was more than just romantic." Outloud. In a video. With his own mouth. 10 million views.

I'm shooketh like once a day from this, still.

[Megancita75]

I do wonder about how this whole situation will affect the thought process of creators in terms of the videos they want to produce. On one had, business as usual could be comforting to them and their fans. On the other hand, their motivation might be absent or different.

Personally, a typical Phil video is what I want and expect, and I hope he's had the energy to make one. Lord knows I've been extremely low energy this week, which for me is the first real week in the U.S. where we are spending more time indoors. I know other people on this forum in other countries have been doing this for a lot longer, so kudos to you. It's harder than I thought it would be.

And yes, every time I think of BIG, it really is still astonishing that he made something so decisive.

[alittledizzy]

If Phil wanted to drop a video today... I wouldn't be mad.

In other news.... during these rough times when nothing is certain, I'd like to remind everyone that one thing is and that's Dan saying: "obviously we were more than friends but it was more than just romantic." Outloud. In a video. With his own mouth. 10 million views.

I'm shooketh like once a day from this, still.

i see that and raise you: "what phil and i had was ours, and personal"