Dan & Phil Part 94: Year of the Rats

[madzilla84]

I'm already stressed at the idea of having to attempt to buy tickets for whatever it could be, even though it might be nothing like that whatsoever. Finding out things like this is half exciting and half anxiety-inducing; maybe I *am* glad he's being quiet*, if he was around dropping vague hints I don't think my blood pressure could take it.

*breathes into paper bag*

*i'm not actually

[liola]

I’m not sure that it is stand up and am thinking it could be music related but I don’t honesty know that I’d love either tbh

What if... what if it's some kind of nihilist philosophical monologue show. Black background, soft lights, some classic piece as a soundtrack, i can even see some fake smoke. Like BIG but with no color because it's all serious.

Why can I see it perfectly in my mind set me free from this hell.


Also can I just say like he's aware that people who are going to watch whatever this new thing is are his fans right? He does realize that he keeps alienating the people who will support him offline as well, right? DISAPPEARING FROM THE INTERNET IS NOT GONNA PROFIT HIM HE KNOWS THAT RIGHT'??

I need to lie down

[Megancita75]

With all that said, right now is a pretty crap time to be an actor or musician what with all the cancellations. I have season tickets to a local theater and they've had to cancel their upcoming show, and who knows what will happen for the rest of the season. I've had one concert tour I was going to cancelled, not to mention stuff like weddings and conferences, and much more important things that entertainment, on and on. Anyway, I'm sure covid-19 is affecting Dan's near future-term plans, like it is for all of us.

[alittledizzy]

Also can I just say like he's aware that people who are going to watch whatever this new thing is are his fans right? He does realize that he keeps alienating the people who will support him offline as well, right? DISAPPEARING FROM THE INTERNET IS NOT GONNA PROFIT HIM HE KNOWS THAT RIGHT'??

I need to lie down

I really think this is more about him getting some satisfaction from a project that isn't based purely on a fan dynamic. To be clear, I think he loves his fans, I just think for his own mental health and sense of self-worth he needs to be working on this without it being such a close relationship with us. Like... I just fully think this is about more than profit for him, the same way he needed to work on BIG without making other videos, you know? It feels like this whole era of Dan's life is about him figuring out who he is as a person - first within the context of sexuality and now professionally.

[rizzo]

psssst. briefly interrupting your regularly scheduled discussion to note that... if you do a hard refresh, you might find a new banner up for our 4th birthday! (idb is headed to pre-school, folks!!)



a massive thank you to hiwatari for the adorable chibis they drew for us! soso cute!!!

[liola]

Also can I just say like he's aware that people who are going to watch whatever this new thing is are his fans right? He does realize that he keeps alienating the people who will support him offline as well, right? DISAPPEARING FROM THE INTERNET IS NOT GONNA PROFIT HIM HE KNOWS THAT RIGHT'??

I need to lie down

I really think this is more about him getting some satisfaction from a project that isn't based purely on a fan dynamic. To be clear, I think he loves his fans, I just think for his own mental health and sense of self-worth he needs to be working on this without it being such a close relationship with us. Like... I just fully think this is about more than profit for him, the same way he needed to work on BIG without making other videos, you know? It feels like this whole era of Dan's life is about him figuring out who he is as a person - first within the context of sexuality and now professionally.

I think you're right in this and one hand i do understand it.. on the other i cannot turn off my business brain that is going DANGER DANGER DANGER lmao

I also worry that if he puts this much... pressure? meaning? into a professional project that has the risk of not being as well received because of how he's treated his audience... like, I worry that isn't going to go well, for him as a person besides a professional. Like, i'm not his mum or his manager so all up to him, wish you well my dude, but I can't help but see multiple negative things about this idea.

Or it could all be perfect and be the thing he needs in his life to feel accomplished what the hell do I know.

Happy for everyone that is happy about it, I'm sadly one that doesn't forgive or forget easily, but I'm glad people are gonna get some excitement and fuzzy feelings out of this!

[Amiaw]

I’ve been feeling very “eat the rich” lately so I’m sorry for the negativity but dan can still find himself and spare 140 characters to let people know he’s okay because I doubt he’s making his project for completely altruistic reasons. I don’t know what he’s expecting to happen but especially now that money is going to be so precious to those of us that can’t take a year off how can he expect his fans to support his new project when he won’t talk to us? And how is he going to get new fans to support him when he’s unreliable and flaky?
At the end of the day he’ll still have his die hard fans who accept anything he releases so he will have some interest but I wish this whole thing with Dan went down differently because it’s been rough. I don’t understand Dan and I’m not the audience for his project but I do wish he’d do something (for free) so I could still respect him.

[kavat]

I also think that whatever comes out of this is going to be mainly a passion project. The era of maximizing profit seems to be gone (thankfully), they probably have a secure retirement plan by now and can focus on what they actually want to do. Same with Phil, even if he's being more transparent about his writing projects, there's a big chance that it's not going to please most of his audience. And that's fine, great even. I want them to fulfill their creative dreams rather than mine.

[Megancita75]

I have one more thought about this and then I'll hush for a while, but I can actually see an argument for Dan to work on a project that doesn't rely on his fan base being the main audience. Like, I can't think of a ton of YouTubers who have made a successful transition to other public performance careers, and so maybe there is some value in distancing yourself from that phase of your career and starting from the ground up in an entirely new space as an unknown quantity to an audience. Like, if he were to do a one-man show of some sort, he would want to market that to a local theater audience who is interested in those types of shows, and there's definitely an audience for that sort of thing. I guess I can see a creative and a business argument for targeting a whole new audience for future projects.

I also really like dizzy's point about maybe this being more about creative expression rather than fan service.

[alittledizzy]

I also think that whatever comes out of this is going to be mainly a passion project. The era of maximizing profit seems to be gone (thankfully), they probably have a secure retirement plan by now and can focus on what they actually want to do. Same with Phil, even if he's being more transparent about his writing projects, there's a big chance that it's not going to please most of his audience. And that's fine, great even. I want them to fulfill their creative dreams rather than mine.

This is exactly how I feel. I understand people feel more kindly toward Phil because Phil can pursue passion projects/more long term goals while still making youtube content, and that Dan has earned his reputation as being flaky in his communication to the youtube audience, but this is just how they've always operated. Dan never made regular content outside of stuff with Phil and Phil did make regular content outside of stuff with Dan. So in that regard it doesn't surprise me that Phil can multitask better than Dan. I think Dan just has a whole fuckload more issues attached to self worth and audience reception and needs to sort that out, too.

I am more invested in them as people than I am creators so I'm excited just to see what these next dreams of their are, moreso than needing it to be something that caters to me. I do understand that isn't the same for everyone, though.

[madzilla84]

I am too, which is why this whole situation with Dan rankles. I don't want or need regular updates on his work, projects or companies until and unless he's ready, and if that takes years, so be it, and I also don't want or need him to be producing content at all if his heart isn't in it; I want to know how *he* is. Like, he's still living his life (even if it might be uneventful at the moment like everyone else's), and as mentioned above, I don't understand why keeping quiet about potential projects and work means he has to be silent 100% of the time about *everything*. Like he used to post about trips to the cinema or funny filters or games he was playing or whatever, and that was *nothing* to do with work or even deeply personal things, but it just felt like he was still around, y'know?

[alittledizzy]

I am too, which is why this whole situation with Dan rankles. I don't want or need regular updates on his work, projects or companies until and unless he's ready, and if that takes years, so be it, and I also don't want or need him to be producing content at all if his heart isn't in it; I want to know how *he* is. Like, he's still living his life (even if it might be uneventful at the moment like everyone else's), and as mentioned above, I don't understand why keeping quiet about potential projects and work means he has to be silent 100% of the time about *everything*. Like he used to post about trips to the cinema or funny filters or games he was playing or whatever, and that was *nothing* to do with work or even deeply personal things, but it just felt like he was still around, y'know?

I do miss those things but I still feel like he's around. For one thing the twitter likes don't stop - which is not me saying twitter likes are *content* in any way, lmao, they're not. But for me I just get a bit of comfort every day out of checking and seeing what he's liked.

I'm also excited about this company thing for the same reason. It's another way of having some insight into the direction he's going. I like the idea that he might be trying to make a short film - we know he put a LOT production wise into BIG, moreso than his normal youtube videos - especially if it's about queer issues or elements of his past.

[blahblahblah8]

I don’t know how to feel if his project is gonna be some kind of live stage show. I’ve watched Dan and Phil since 2012 but I’ve still never seen tatinof or ii. That kinda stuff was just never really my thing. I’ll be happy for him if he’s doing what he wants but as a member of his audience, I don’t think anything will really change for me as far as my feelings during this hiatus if the only content he’ll be putting out is a stage show.

[Catallena]

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.

So far I'm not wrong...

Anyway I don't know if it's the depression talking, but I've surprised myself with how little of a reaction I have towards this. I think I don't really care about Dan's existence at this moment.

[hello9217]

The thing is lets say dan and phil both released a project right now. With dan having done nothing really since his last merch release and phil still making videos and liveshows and all that. I genuinely believe that dan’s project would be talked about more because of how many people miss dan and because of how many people outside of phandom seem to enjoy him and his content. He doesn’t tweet for weeks on end and says one thing and that easily gets 80,000-100,000 likes. It truly wouldn’t matter in the end that phil is still here trying to make content because people just miss dan so so much.

This really isn’t supposed to be a people enjoy dan’s content more than phil’s or anything like that. I mean I think we have all been loving what phil has been putting out both in terms of liveshows and videos but I think at this point dan could simply take a selfie and it would be talked about endlessly more than if phil did something because of how “desperate people are to just get a glimpse of dan. Like look at this situation, all we have is a company name that was started a month ago and it has already led to more discussion on here than most things have lately.

Do I think it’s right that dan can isolate his audience for long periods of time and come back to still have people so devoted to him? Not particularly. But to think that dan’s project would be unsuccessful due to this isolation is seemingly inaccurate because of how devoted people are to him.

[alittledizzy]

I realize a lot of people have a lot of negative opinions and I'm gonna go ahead and say I'm not trying to undermine them and this forum is for everyone but also I'm probably gonna start lowkey spamming the forum with just happy things too. Let discussions happen around this - I am absolutely fine with that - but right now my anxiety is at an all time high and I need some more diversity in my fandom experience than just the negativity. And IDB is my favorite fandom place, it's the place I helped make. I could just sit out the forum indefinitely - and in the recent past have very seriously considered doing that for my own mental health - but a forum isn't a place you can curate. It's not about that, not like other social media. But I think right now I'm still committed to just trying to help it be a place with balance. My goal is for people who need to vent to be able to vent but hopefully that people who feel okay with Dan and Phil don't abandon it entirely, either. (And if people are upset by this, hey, maybe it is my cue to walk away for a while. But like I said - I love this place. I don't want to do that.)

So hey, here are some super fucking cute gifs.

[Judearaya]

Thank you for that Mandy! I needed it.

I like that so many ppl respond to the positivity Phil is giving us right now in his liveshows and his calming and cute Animal Crossing video. I need that stuff right now. I'm losing my mind over life and quarantine and turning to dnp stuff that makes me happy has helped a lot.

I've also been loving the phandomficfest stuff happening. Constant, lovely content from creators feels so good right now!! That's an awesome thing going on.

[madzilla84]

I did want to reply to hello9217's post but am not sure I should now; but I'll just say I agree and it's a shame it works that way because it means he can treat us however he likes and it never matters.

Bright side, er ... it's Wednesday already, half way to the next Phil Day

[noodlebum]

Ahh the first set is from one of my favourite Dnpg clips, 'ooh, why would someone just go on google, and google... APPLE TREE!'

[blahblahblah8]

The banner is so cute! Thanks to everyone that runs this website and also to everyone that posts as well! I appreciate having somewhere I can visit to share my opinion and read everyone else's opinions too. I find twitter and Tumblr and overwhelming sometimes so idb is my preferred fandom space.

[malday]

I hope whatever project Dan had in the works sees the light of day, i hope he goes big with it and has guest stars and ends up touring if that is what he wanted. Although i have 0 possibility to see it myself, snippets and recordings eventually get around thanks to phandom goodwill. Since i think travel and gatherings are probably not going to go back to normal for a couple of years, maybe a live streaming premiere could become a better option for him. All in all, it's something to look forward to and that feels soothing right now.

[liola]

Sorry last thing that isn't really negative just a thought about this:

But to think that dan’s project would be unsuccessful due to this isolation is seemingly inaccurate because of how devoted people are to him.

Personally I didn't mean that he would flop as in no one would watch because like I said, his audience will support him no matter what (which is unfair, let's be honest) but compared to the numbers he might expect or the numbers that would make it break even or turn a profit or even the numbers that he could get if it was an online thing? Doubtful. This is all speculation but that is just how effect of communication works!

[poweroftriangles]

All I'm hoping for is that his non-European fans aren't shut out of whatever he has planned. If it's comedy or something, he better be looking into Netflix specials and the like because I'm sure they'll be hits.

His main thing was how Online he is, and while he's stepping away from the internet, it'll always be his home as far as I'm concerned.

[missemma]

I’m gonna go all out and say I’m excited for whatever he has planned and I will still support him no matter how silent he stays.

Right now we don’t know what he is going through, his marathon has been postponed and I’m sure he was working hard for that. I guess I wanna say he also doesn’t owe us anything. He’s been very clear that he wants to keep himself to himself. If he wants to tweet he will, if he doesn’t, then that’s his choice. I don’t get why anyone would be upset for him living his life how he wants to.

Also, thanks for all the lovely photos Mandy just what we needed.

[Mia]

I must admit that I did a HUGE sigh of relief that the address on companies house for the company/Dan is a general one that seems to be used by many companies for their correspondence. Looks like its linked to an accountants. Let's hope that information isn't used negatively

I look forward to seeing what comes of this. I'm not sure it'll be something I'll attend unless it comes near to where I live in the UK. I'm hoping its online.