Dan & Phil Part 91: A Decade of Deppy

[Amiaw]

And people on twitter have already forgiven all because he painted his nails. I am curious about why he’s announced a specific time. Is he going to announce a line of clothing or is he just being dan Howell extra?

[noodlebum]

Oh man....

[liola]

At this point he's so predictable that it would be funny if the time of the year didn't make th the juxtaposition of what we're getting so awfully different

I just want to sit him down and possibly smack his head with one my business texts from uni, you know the ones who weighs just as much as him. Maybe he wouldn't learn anything but he'd feel a bit of the pain the phandom is feeling

maximum pettiness level achieved

[Phanshy]

I didn't want to believe that the reason for the photo yesterday was because of merch I feel kinda yuck now.

[CapriciousCrab]

And people on twitter have already forgiven all because he painted his nails. I am curious about why he’s announced a specific time. Is he going to announce a line of clothing or is he just being dan Howell extra?

Are we even sure those are his hands? They don't look like it to me but I could be wrong.

Maybe he's announcing a time to get everyone hyped for his latest cash grab merch drop?

[hello9217]

So he’s releasing black nail polish called ‘my soul’ and a black long hoodie that sarah was wearing in Cornelia’s insta story yeah? And that’s why Cornelia deleted? Ok cool. And people will forgive him bc he paints his nails and probably will wear the hoodie and nothing else yeah? Already know what tomorrow will bring. Release merch all you want but how can people not understand it’s a bit rude to disappear for two weeks and only come back when you want their money. He’s had as many merch drops as phil this year and phil has released 99% more content. Like come on dude. I don’t even care if it’s a video but maybe don’t alienate your audience for long periods at a time and then reappear only to sell them shit

[Amiaw]

I’d be happy with him being so confident if it didn’t feel so manipulative.

[liola]

Also can I just say I read the lasts posts and I had the weirdest feeling of deja vu and that's bbecause we keep having this conversation over and over every time Dan releases/prepares to release merch because, how surprising, nothing has changed?

Like I honestly can't tell if all these posts have already been written before or not it's wild

[Phantasy]

Ugh. It's a merch drop.

*siiiiiiiiiiggggghh*

I guess were just a consumer audience now.

[Birdie]

I’d be happy with him being so confident if it didn’t feel so manipulative.

This is what I meant when I said "performative" but manipulative is the better word for it.

[blahblahblah8]

I don’t get how he doesn’t see that it’s a bad look for him to be completely mia until he wants to sell something. I also don’t think it makes sense to treat it like a clothing/goods line bec that’s not how they’re selling it. The stuff doesn’t have his name or face on it but it’s part of his brand, he’s targeting his audience as his buyers. A regular business isn’t trying to sell to an audience of ppl who are invested in their wellbeing. He knows his fans are invested in him, if he doesn’t want to interact with them otherwise he shouldn’t be trying to sell to them

[Becky.rigby]

When I said Dan didnt care about us I didnt expect this :/ I am actually disappointed in Dan so much, first of all with the critising fans for wanting some normality and for Dan to have a spooky traditional layout. His tweet left a bad taste to be honest, especially when he hadn't been interacting with us for weeks. And now the merch drop. To be honest I dont blame youtubers for releasing merch, but when all you release is merch and you don't bother with your audience until you want them to buy something that doesn't seem right. With BIG I thought things were going to be better, but it has turned out worse. And I dont see how black nail varnish is Dan to be honest :S I think this is it, I feel I am done with Dan. I also didn't agree with him tweeting depressive tweets to his fans who some may be perhaps young and vulnerable, saying how pointless life is!! What impression is that giving. I know he suffers/suffered from depression so he should know better to be honest. I will still watch and support Phil, but Dan really needs to sort something out whatever is going on.

[CapriciousCrab]

I don’t get how he doesn’t see that it’s a bad look for him to be completely mia until he wants to sell something. I also don’t think it makes sense to treat it like a clothing/goods line bec that’s not how they’re selling it. The stuff doesn’t have his name or face on it but it’s part of his brand, he’s targeting his audience as his buyers. A regular business isn’t trying to sell to an audience of ppl who are invested in their wellbeing. He knows his fans are invested in him, if he doesn’t want to interact with them otherwise he shouldn’t be trying to sell to them

Because he knows people will buy it, especially if he paints his nails and shows a bit of leg (flesh on show, and all that). Look at how many people are already squealing about the nails... that's the audience he's targeting. Not the more critical ones who are making the connection between his increased social media usage the day before a merch drop.

[socksparadox]

Remember when we all had such high hopes for the content in the PCOU? All we've really gotten so far is just the same regurgitated merch every few weeks - from Dan at least. Phil sweetie you're doing great.
I guess I would have less of a problem with merch being his new ~artistic venture~ if there seemed to be any sense of artistic inspiration in it.

[Phanshy]

I honestly hope it's not nail polish, he knows nothing about it, he's painted his nails a handful of times that we know about. I doubt he knows anything about what regular wearers want from a nail polish and he certainly hasn't formulated it himself, at most he's looked at a few different blacks picked one and selected the packaging. I would understand a candle because he loves candles even clothing because it's something he is passionate about although not at this time but nail polish would be annoying to me.

[glitterintheair]

So he came back (after ghosting us) with selfies, tweets and a tumblr queue just to release his merch? Wow that’s a new low and the worst thing is that I am not even surprised. Anyway I am just gonna say what I said on tumblr because I am too tired and annoyed to write my thoughts again:

Dan’s releasing more merch than videos and okay, to each their own I guess, but for god’s sake that guy has barely interacted with his audience lately, he’s uploading even less and he’s out there releasing merch? Merch of WHAT exactly? Look, if he’s interested in clothes, he could create his own clothing line - that has nothing to do with HIM as an Internet personality - and leave it at that. This is my opinion of course, but I can’t help rolling my eyes at his choices this year.

[Philena]

I don’t get how he doesn’t see that it’s a bad look for him to be completely mia until he wants to sell something. I also don’t think it makes sense to treat it like a clothing/goods line bec that’s not how they’re selling it. The stuff doesn’t have his name or face on it but it’s part of his brand, he’s targeting his audience as his buyers. A regular business isn’t trying to sell to an audience of ppl who are invested in their wellbeing. He knows his fans are invested in him, if he doesn’t want to interact with them otherwise he shouldn’t be trying to sell to them

Because he knows people will buy it, especially if he paints his nails and shows a bit of leg (flesh on show, and all that). Look at how many people are already squealing about the nails... that's the audience he's targeting. Not the more critical ones who are making the connection between his increased social media usage the day before a merch drop.

Absolutely nailed it, @CapriciousCrab. He knows what he's doing, and it hasn't failed him yet.

[alittledizzy]

Dan’s releasing more merch than videos and okay, to each their own I guess, but for god’s sake that guy has barely interacted with his audience lately, he’s uploading even less and he’s out there releasing merch? Merch of WHAT exactly? Look, if he’s interested in clothes, he could create his own clothing line - that has nothing to do with HIM as an Internet personality - and leave it at that. This is my opinion of course, but I can’t help rolling my eyes at his choices this year.

I'm not sure that's not what he's doing, in his mind. Trying to make it more a clothing/accessories line than "Dan Howell" merchandise. We know Dan's never really loved things with his name and face slapped on them and he's always been the first one of them to say don't buy something if you don't want to. So I can still believe he thinks that this style of merch that isn't advertising him as a person is content in and of itself.

(It also seems like Phil is doing the same thing, tbh; making the kind of clothes he wants to wear and not just throwing "AmazingPhil" on something and calling it a day.)

[flarequake]

Well, enough people are tweeting their ever-loving understanding with the vague shame to the rest of us that we’re not supporting him in whatever he’s happy doing. Can’t have a f-ing feeling in this phandom.

[Becky.rigby]

I'm glad everyone here is sane, a lot of people on Twitter just seem to be freaking out about the nails and grateful he is back?? The best way to describe this is a musician, if a musician stopped doing music even though that is what you enjoyed and then started presenting I'm sure a lot of people would be upset. He started off as a youtuber and that is why I started subscribing to him etc, I didnt know he was now a fashion designer

[Amiaw]

I really miss the phandom when we were getting regular content featuring both of them. I love Phil and his content but I am disappointed in both of them at this moment. They don’t want to film together anymore and we all thought it was because they didn’t want to monetize their relationship but every time a merch drop comes around they drop a little something that shows them together. What’s the point of that? Someone take the salt away from them because my wounded heart can’t take it anymore (that was way too dramatic but you get the point)

[onceinaugust]

Remember when we all had such high hopes for the content in the PCOU? All we've really gotten so far is just the same regurgitated merch every few weeks - from Dan at least. Phil sweetie you're doing great.
I guess I would have less of a problem with merch being his new ~artistic venture~ if there seemed to be any sense of artistic inspiration in it.

This is how I'm getting to feel. Everytime he disappears for weeks and then comes back with a tiny bit of content before a merch drop, I flash back to the mukbang and how he said he doesn't enjoy being a full time YouTuber, but likes being funny on social media and being an entertainer. I know he might have a ton of stuff going on behind the scenes but at some point, if he wants to be an entertainer, he has to do...something entertaining right? His merch hasn't felt that personal to him, his tweets are just recycled grim-dark copy-pastes from last year, and he's disappeared off all other platforms unless he has merch to promote. Merch can definitely be a form of content if he becomes fully invested in it, but it doesn't feel like he's doing that either. I don't need videos (although it would be nice), but if he's putting out merch that is solely based on the tweets/personality he's portraying, it would feel more authentic if there was more to base it off of.

[danphil333]

I don’t get how he doesn’t see that it’s a bad look for him to be completely mia until he wants to sell something. I also don’t think it makes sense to treat it like a clothing/goods line bec that’s not how they’re selling it. The stuff doesn’t have his name or face on it but it’s part of his brand, he’s targeting his audience as his buyers. A regular business isn’t trying to sell to an audience of ppl who are invested in their wellbeing. He knows his fans are invested in him, if he doesn’t want to interact with them otherwise he shouldn’t be trying to sell to them

Because he knows people will buy it, especially if he paints his nails and shows a bit of leg (flesh on show, and all that). Look at how many people are already squealing about the nails... that's the audience he's targeting. Not the more critical ones who are making the connection between his increased social media usage the day before a merch drop.

i was saying the same thing since 2014. everything dan is doing these days makes me feel validated. feels nice

[wesleywyndcm]

Ughh. I'm irritated because Dan's merch ~aesthetique~ is a lot closer to my taste than Phil's and yet I don't want to give money to someone who's presence this year has been more minimal than my mental health. I wish he'd figure out what he wants to do; this weird limbo he's in can't be all that sustainable. Youtube seems to be out of the equation, which takes me to him as an influencer, but I don't know. Clearly he's passionate about stuff (mental health, queer rights, what have you) but a few tweets a month don't an advocate make.

Thank god for Phil for providing steady and enjoyable content, and now the weekly live streams, too? He's really carrying the phandom on his shoulders, bless.

[glitterintheair]

Dan’s releasing more merch than videos and okay, to each their own I guess, but for god’s sake that guy has barely interacted with his audience lately, he’s uploading even less and he’s out there releasing merch? Merch of WHAT exactly? Look, if he’s interested in clothes, he could create his own clothing line - that has nothing to do with HIM as an Internet personality - and leave it at that. This is my opinion of course, but I can’t help rolling my eyes at his choices this year.

I'm not sure that's not what he's doing, in his mind. Trying to make it more a clothing/accessories line than "Dan Howell" merchandise. We know Dan's never really loved things with his name and face slapped on them and he's always been the first one of them to say don't buy something if you don't want to. So I can still believe he thinks that this style of merch that isn't advertising him as a person is content in and of itself.

(It also seems like Phil is doing the same thing, tbh; making the kind of clothes he wants to wear and not just throwing "AmazingPhil" on something and calling it a day.)

If that’s the case, then I think he shouldn’t have advertised it as merch right from the start but just as a clothing line instead because the word ‘’merch” is generally associated with content and yeah that ain’t happening in Dan’s case. Unless, you know, we count twitter likes as content.