Dan & Phil Part 82: now onto the future

[glitterintheair]

We’ve talked about dnp’s web silence but I wonder if Phil specifically asked people to wish him happy birthday offline like Tyler, Louise, and the other youtuber friends that usually tweet him or if the tour has caused a big disconnect.
It just seems like maybe that’s why yesterday seemed sparse as well- only dan, Martyn, and Cornelia tweeted him.

Yeah, I noticed that as well. Not that it's a big deal but it's kind of odd. The only youtuber (that I know of)who publicly acknowledged Phil's birthday was Hazel Hayes by retweeting Dan's birthday tweet.

[liola]

Guess i'll have to cancel #facegate after all. Unless of course she's in the conspiracy and is covering for their lack of faces

[Ablissa]

Praise this person for bringing peace to the fandom and confirming that 1) Dan exists, 2) spent Phil's birthday on IoM, DUH.
Was this taken at the airport in IoM?

[glitterintheair]

That girl is my new favourite person in the world, seriously. They look beautiful and god I really missed seeing Dan's face, good to know he still has one.

@Ablissa the girl is from IoM, so I guess so

[Phantasy]

Well, that at least removes the 0.01% doubt they weren’t together on IoM, but my question is: WHERE THE EFF IS THE CUTE COUPLES BEACH BDAY PIC??

If last years theme was all about “giving the people what they want”, then this year better not turn out to be “taking away everything you ever loved”.

[alittledizzy]

I hope phandom feels well fed for today. I have been pretty zen about not getting content, aside from just doing my best not to leech anxiety from other people, but I'm quite happy to see their faces.

I wonder how delayed the pic going up on twitter was? And now that the seal is broken and Dan knows everyone knows he was there, maybe he'll post some after the fact photos?

[lilabet]

We’ve talked about dnp’s web silence but I wonder if Phil specifically asked people to wish him happy birthday offline like Tyler, Louise, and the other youtuber friends that usually tweet him or if the tour has caused a big disconnect.
It just seems like maybe that’s why yesterday seemed sparse as well- only dan, Martyn, and Cornelia tweeted him.

Yeah, I noticed that as well. Not that it's a big deal but it's kind of odd. The only youtuber (that I know of)who publicly acknowledged Phil's birthday was Hazel Hayes by retweeting Dan's birthday tweet.

Cat wished him happy birthday on his Instagram picture.

[opendoor]

Aww lovely pic. I've been having a bad week and it's always nice to see them together.

The way I see it, last year they gave us regular good and shippy content that would have been beyond our wildest imaginings a few years back, but that became the new normal. Like we still enjoyed the stuff a lot but we were used to it, and stopped appreciating the moments to the same extent as before. But now they've pulled our new normal away, and we're back to the point that the above photo was enough to provoke feelings in my cold dead heart dammit.

I think most of us thought Dan was there, but as there's a lack of certainty about a lot of things in phandom rn it's really nice to have certainty Dan was with Phil on IOM for his birthday.

[autumnhearth]

Well, that at least removes the 0.01% doubt they weren’t together on IoM, but my question is: WHERE THE EFF IS THE CUTE COUPLES BEACH BDAY PIC??

If last years theme was all about “giving the people what they want”, then this year better not turn out to be “taking away everything you ever loved”.

This shouldn’t amuse me but your phrasing tickled me.

The guys look great! Nice to see Dan’s face.

I wonder what the next stop on “the royal tour” is? I know it’s most likely that they are just going back to London to have a few nights out with friends, but a girl can dream.

[kavat]

Good to see that Dan still has a face. It's a good face and I've missed it.

I've been thinking that maybe Dan has been in a depression spell during january, and that's why we haven't heard from him more than necessary. I have no way of knowing of course, but it makes sense to me. Leaving a very big and busy year behind and starting a new year (perhaps without big plans) can be quite existential crisis-educing. Idk, him giving 0 shits during the ii watch party (even mentioning depressive episode) and then going radio silent matches with that, at least in my head.

Either way, I hope they're both well and have been well fed by Kath.

[rizzo]

Good to see that Dan still has a face. It's a good face and I've missed it.

I've been thinking that maybe Dan has been in a depression spell during january, and that's why we haven't heard from him more than necessary. I have no way of knowing of course, but it makes sense to me. Leaving a very big and busy year behind and starting a new year (perhaps without big plans) can be quite existential crisis-educing. Idk, him giving 0 shits during the ii watch party (even mentioning depressive episode) and then going radio silent matches with that, at least in my head.

Either way, I hope they're both well and have been well fed by Kath.

Agreed 1000% to missing Dan's face. I feel fed for the week after having seen it at last.

I had a similar thought to you earlier, but concluded that I don't think that's the case. We obviously can't assume Dan's situation either way, but the exercise montage comments lead me to believe he's okay and even moreso, his notable silence appears to be a sort of social media detox for himself. Both that and exercise are very much a self-care move that I think is nothing but positive.

And like others have noted, I think we have some kind of video coming our way about the importance of taking a break from social media and focusing on yourself. Maybe his brief phone-less period in Russia really inspired him, but much like the vegan argument between him and Phil, Phil's not about it.

[alittledizzy]

Good to see that Dan still has a face. It's a good face and I've missed it.

I've been thinking that maybe Dan has been in a depression spell during january, and that's why we haven't heard from him more than necessary. I have no way of knowing of course, but it makes sense to me. Leaving a very big and busy year behind and starting a new year (perhaps without big plans) can be quite existential crisis-educing. Idk, him giving 0 shits during the ii watch party (even mentioning depressive episode) and then going radio silent matches with that, at least in my head.

Either way, I hope they're both well and have been well fed by Kath.

I agree with this. I think that it's likely that January has just been hard for Dan and he's retreated. I also posted something along these lines on tumblr, so apologies for the repetition if you follow me both places, but I think the overwhelming force of the negativity/upset/demand of information from phandom might make Dan want to just avoid it/us, too. I think it's hard when you know someone is upset at you and there's no answer you can immediately give them to make them feel okay, it's easy to veer into just avoiding the situation that triggers guilt/shame/etc. Dan has thousands and thousands of people all very unafraid to tell him that their mental health depends on his uninterrupted presence and that they're not going to feel good until he gives them something that they can find reassuring. That's pressure. If he's already feeling bad, or even just in that kind of situation where he can't give an answer yet for whatever reason, I can see his just blanking out the things making him feel bad until he can handle it or give a satisfying response.

He is a professional entertainer and there is an expectation of content from his fans based on the creator/consumer capitalistic relationship, the type of career he has basically requiring fans have that emotional investment. So I am not saying phandom is wrong for wanting to know, wanting content, wanting answers, having the emotional response, etc. Just that it might be a lose/lose situation on both sides right now.

[moon-boye]

Good to see that Dan still has a face. It's a good face and I've missed it.

I've been thinking that maybe Dan has been in a depression spell during january, and that's why we haven't heard from him more than necessary. I have no way of knowing of course, but it makes sense to me. Leaving a very big and busy year behind and starting a new year (perhaps without big plans) can be quite existential crisis-educing. Idk, him giving 0 shits during the ii watch party (even mentioning depressive episode) and then going radio silent matches with that, at least in my head.

Either way, I hope they're both well and have been well fed by Kath.

I agree with this. I think that it's likely that January has just been hard for Dan and he's retreated. I also posted something along these lines on tumblr, so apologies for the repetition if you follow me both places, but I think the overwhelming force of the negativity/upset/demand of information from phandom might make Dan want to just avoid it/us, too. I think it's hard when you know someone is upset at you and there's no answer you can immediately give them to make them feel okay, it's easy to veer into just avoiding the situation that triggers guilt/shame/etc. Dan has thousands and thousands of people all very unafraid to tell him that their mental health depends on his uninterrupted presence and that they're not going to feel good until he gives them something that they can find reassuring. That's pressure. If he's already feeling bad, or even just in that kind of situation where he can't give an answer yet for whatever reason, I can see his just blanking out the things making him feel bad until he can handle it or give a satisfying response.

He is a professional entertainer and there is an expectation of content from his fans based on the creator/consumer capitalistic relationship, the type of career he has basically requiring fans have that emotional investment. So I am not saying phandom is wrong for wanting to know, wanting content, wanting answers, having the emotional response, etc. Just that it might be a lose/lose situation on both sides right now.

longtime lurker finally coming out of the woodwork here to say that this has been the main thing on my mind during dan's hiatus. i still think all the time about the part of the isg mug rant that says "i am merely a highly flawed individual that for some reason is burdened and privileged with the responsibility of managing the emotions of millions of people anonymously online."

i'm absolutely of the mindset that content creation is their jobs and so we as consumers can criticize the severe lack thereof, but thinking about how difficult it must be to walk the line between his own mental health and ours always makes me a bit more sympathetic.

[glitterintheair]

I think that the phandom's reaction was rather intense this time because a lot of things happened all at the same time. Dan and Phil's (but mostly Dan's) absence from social media + just one video uploaded + no liveshows + no dapg + uncertainty about the future just made the phandom explode. And then you just know that all it takes is one person saying something negative and hell breaks lose fast.
I am a negative person but I also try to be rational and not dwell into negativity too much or spread it, but this time I found it a bit hard because of what people were saying, causing all sorts of thoughts in my mind, no matter how ridiculous they were.

[knq]

Someone on tumblr pointed out that Dan saying in his diss track that he procrastinates making videos because 'being judged is scary' probably fits into Dan's hiatus as well. I was watching the liveshow he did just after the pastel edits video yesterday, and he said something along the lines of if he'd done that video on dinof everyone would have unsubscribed (and then went on to argue that Phil invented pastel edits and also pastel colors, what an inspiration to us all).

While it's very much the responsibility of every person who considers themselves a part of the phandom to treat Dan and Phil like any other humans they respect, I personally don't think too much of the judgement Dan's afraid of actually comes from us. I think it's there in his head and it doesn't much matter what the feedback Dan gets after he posts is, because at that point he's already worked through his fear of imagined judgement (which is always harsher and more harmful than any actual judgement can be) to post the video. Which isn't to say phandom feedback doesn't matter to him--I'm sure it does from a business perspective, but fear of judgement isn't a business decision.

You know what I'd love to see Dan make a video about? Why he's afraid of his channel. I don't think it would go over well, especially because Dan tends to externalize/blame others or the audience in a joking way, but I also wonder if being upfront and direct about the anxiety and fear he feels around posting to dinof on dinof wouldn't make him feel less afraid, the same way discussing 'imposter syndrome' can make you feel like less of an imposter.

Which brings me to the thought that dinof videos are rare and painful for Dan to make because he makes them by flaying himself open to poke at the squishy icky bits of his psychology. They're like therapy breakthroughs in a video format, and you don't have a therapy breakthrough every week, or month, or year, on any kind of schedule. So actually, what I'd love to see Dan make for his channel is 1 minute talking about why he's afraid to post to his channel, and the next 9 minutes and 5 seconds doing a candle haul.

[rizzo]

So actually, what I'd love to see Dan make for his channel is 1 minute talking about why he's afraid to post to his channel, and the next 9 minutes and 5 seconds doing a candle haul.

I'll take it. I'll take it. I'll take it.

[flarequake]

Yes, a candle haul would be amazing. Some insight into his thoughts would be great, but focusing on candle opinions would make for a great video too.

Also, to modify what I said the other day (yesterday? What is memory) that it’d be great if he talked about stuff related to himself, I realised later than he could of course make something good that’s not related to him or his experiences (arguably isg is the only type of regular video he’s done that isn’t?), new format or not, just intrigued for what he’ll come back with.

[kavat]

A couple of great tweets liked by Phil recently:

[Ataraxia25]

Someone said it on twitter : they need to burn the house down.

[plinthofmylife]

So actually, what I'd love to see Dan make for his channel is 1 minute talking about why he's afraid to post to his channel, and the next 9 minutes and 5 seconds doing a candle haul.

I'll take it. I'll take it. I'll take it.

This is the content I'm subscribed for.

[Stakhanov]

By zeus that would be the most boring video ever. The content I unsubscribe for I'd rather watch a real candle burn for 9 minutes.

Well, it's February. The general expectation from the fandom seems to be that they will return shortly, make some video's and offer a bit of clarity about their future plans. No idea if they'll actually do that, my guess is another slow month with AP still being the only channel that offers *some* sort of semi-regular content (1-3 vids a month maybe?). The long awaited return of Dan would be welcome, but I don't really see any signs of that yet. The same goes for any sort of organized collab channel.

[bevioletsky]

Someone said it on twitter : they need to burn the house down.

Did this happen on this latest trip? Because if so, all I want now is a Dan take on this story (so basically all I want is a liveshow. One can hope, right?).

[Elemancy]

Someone said it on twitter : they need to burn the house down.

Did this happen on this latest trip? Because if so, all I want now is a Dan take on this story (so basically all I want is a liveshow. One can hope, right?).

By apollo that would be an enjoyable anecdotal snippet to include in a liveshow/video, just to hear both their perspectives on it. Something along the lines of a complete analytical breakdown of possible technological explanations from Dan vs. a benefit of the doubt nod of plausibility to the supernatural from Phil.
(Shane and Ryan meets Dan and Phil)

It reminds me of that one Halloween liveshow I've always loved where they both exchanged stories of possible supernatural events they either experienced or had been passed down from their family.

[alien]

Someone said it on twitter : they need to burn the house down.

Did this happen on this latest trip? Because if so, all I want now is a Dan take on this story (so basically all I want is a liveshow. One can hope, right?).

dan slept through a car crash it wouldn't surprise me if he also slept through the doorbell lol but man i would love a liveshow

i love how nonchalant phil's parents are. i wonder where phil got his anxious tendencies from.

[SpikyLeaf]

Phil looked quite aged in the photo from Ciara. I know he’s 32 now but it makes me wonder, when do you think they’re gonna stop youtube? And how?

Wow that feels like doomsday talk. I think they will stay on YouTube at least another 2 years minimum, if not more.