Dan & Phil Part 95: ASS (Aquarium Staff Seminar)

[Amiaw]

People were saying it was a glitch. Apparently quite a few people got notified about that post 2 days ago

[flarequake]

People are happy to get what they missed before

[George]

People are happy to get what they missed before

Some people are not happy because apparently only part of the the profits goes to Young Minds, last time it was 100%.

[kavat]

People are happy to get what they missed before

Some people are not happy because apparently only part of the the profits goes to Young Minds, last time it was 100%.

I'm guessing IRL also has been affected by the pandemic so that makes total sense to me. Plus, they haven't released anything new (that I know of) in a long time, so they have to make money somehow.

[alittledizzy]

People are happy to get what they missed before

Some people are not happy because apparently only part of the the profits goes to Young Minds, last time it was 100%.

I'm guessing IRL also has been affected by the pandemic so that makes total sense to me. Plus, they haven't released anything new (that I know of) in a long time, so they have to make money somehow.

Yeah, I am not surprised and considering the general state of the world right now, not holding it against them.

[kavat]

Also, an added factor of this whole thing is that flights from China, where a lot of goods are made, to Europe have been crazy expensive lately. I think it has calmed down now, but a few weeks ago a shipping that would normally cost maybe 4000usd was suddenly 40 000usd. And that's just in one way costs has gone up during covid.

[Phantasy]

If the book is real, what do you guys think it might be about? The title makes me think memoir or something mental health related. And what kind of book would you like to see from Dan?

I just can't see it being a memoir because I don't think he'd really want to talk more about things with his family and I can't see him talking about his relationship with Phil in great detail either, so I think more likely is about mental health. I was thinking it could be a work of fiction based on his journey but with a fictional protagonist, so he doesn't have to write about anything to personal. I honestly am not on-board the this is Dan's book train yet, I hope I'm wrong.

Whatever it is I just hope that he is paired with a solid editor. The idea of him writing something on spec and unchecked by an experienced editor makes me cringe. I think he knows enough of his limitations and can keep ego in check to work with professionals when he has to (he certainly has before, working with a stage director, various publishers, etc), but I can only imagine how a memoir or work of fiction would look in it’s full unfiltered/unedited glory. Imagine one of his lifeshow waffles and expand that to long form prose. No thank you.

[Amiaw]

20% of the proceeds going to young minds is an interesting choice. I know it’s for charity but tbh a fundraiser or even a straight donation might have been better if it means endangering workers.

I guess my only question is if irl has deemed it safe to have people making more merch does that mean Phil’s going to release his new stuff?

[lefthandedism]

Whatever it is I just hope that he is paired with a solid editor. The idea of him writing something on spec and unchecked by an experienced editor makes me cringe. I think he knows enough of his limitations and can keep ego in check to work with professionals when he has to (he certainly has before, working with a stage director, various publishers, etc), but I can only imagine how a memoir or work of fiction would look in it’s full unfiltered/unedited glory. Imagine one of his lifeshow waffles and expand that to long form prose. No thank you.

Every writer ever needs an editor. Why would Dan be different?

As far as donating merch proceeds goes, "a portion of the proceeds" could mean almost anything. It gives them flexibility: they may hope to donate as much as possible (while allowing them to keep the business going), but aren't sure what a realistic portion will turn out to be. And, if anyone insists Dan/IRL must donate all the proceeds, aren't they demanding something for free?

[kavat]

An actual tweet!

[alien]

Dan's tweets are exactly why I do not want a self-help book from him. That idea never even crossed my mind until people brought it up here lol. But, of course, if it does turn out to be a self-help book...I will support it and find some enjoyment in it.

I'd love fiction from him over anything else (in book form anyway), I think.

I appreciate the restock! And that he's donating even just a bit of it is nice, that was unexpected for me.

[obsessivelymoody]

I just wish they restocked the blankets, either weighted or not. I want one so bad ;_;

As for the book: idk to me it sounds like it could be danecdotes in a memoir-y, feel good way, with a tad of self-help. I don't think that would be too outside Dan's wheelhouse, and I know for a fact he wouldn't go down the same route as his brother and offer help to people while completely unqualified.

Personally I'd be down for anything except poetry. Please let it be anything but a poetry book. Like. I'd still buy it but

[alittledizzy]

Okay, new theory for Phil's younow hiatus.

Apparently younow is rolling out a Twitch-like subscription service. They used to have a general join thing where it applied to the whole site; now it's by individual streamers. Another youtuber I watch went live earlier to talk about it. This only applies to that one youtuber, I don't watch anyone but her and Phil on youtube, so if anyone else finds more information let me know. But here were the terms of her subscription:



I genuinely don't think Phil would go for that. I don't think he'd charge five bucks on youtube and then turn around and also charge five bucks on younow. I think he knows his audience well enough to know people would be LIVID about that. I also don't think he'd be keen to give up the base of paying subscribers he has on youtube, which is a known quantity, just to give younow a shot not actually knowing how many people would subscribe there.

So I now wonder if he knew this was rolling out and his hiatus from younow involves trying to negotiate against this and/or just flat out try and call their bluff.

[Susanisnotafish]

I have always and will always love Dan, but here we go again with merch with no content, even if a portion of profit is going to charity. We’re not talking about covering their increased costs. Profit is what’s left after costs are covered. Then we get some Twitter interaction to smooth any ruffled feathers. Kind of surprised he didn’t throw out a selfie or something domestic to grease the wheels. Not cool Dan. Not cool at all. But unfortunately highly predictable. Really smarts when he tweeted nothing about missing Eurovision or the substitute programming. There are things he could have interacted about, but didn’t. I just miss him.

Also, I’ve got a bone to pick with Phil. Why did no longer collabing with Dan mean he quit collabing at all? He was great with Hazel and Louise. I sure hope after the quarantine he does some collabs again. I was hoping AC could be the new SIMs, but I guess people don’t like it that much.

[madzilla84]

I don't feel like it's quite the same thing as a new merch launch - these are older items which they did a small run of originally and underestimated demand; people have been asking for these to be restocked ever since, and this is a good time to do it alongside Mental Health Awareness Week. The charity items at Christmas (the blanket and bracelet) were 10% to charity but I don't remember anyone complaining about it then. (They probably did, though.) I wasn't terribly surprised to see a Generic Tweet pop up shortly after, mind. I miss him, too; I miss him *wanting* to share with us. I guess a tweet is better than nothing...?

As I have no knowledge about production or supply or anything else, I can't really comment on the difference between producing these and producing whatever Phil's new merch is ... there could be any number of reasons it's possible to re-print/re-make existing stuff and not make new things, but whatever the reasons I'm pretty sure one of them isn't that Dan is less concerned with placing workers in danger than Phil is?? (Thanks for that bizarre hot take, Twitter.)

I would love to see an ongoing Animal Crossing series from Phil in the vein of the Sims series, to watch his island grow, but I don't think it's too likely because ... well, I don't think Phil puts out enough videos (which is fine) to do AC alongside other things with any regularity (because I don't know if he'd want to be a just-animal-crossing channel for the foreseeable). I'm well aware he can't just pick up the gaming channel and use it by himself - it was fine now and then (Pokemon, Shelter, Outlast) but I don't think it would fly on a permanent basis without a rebranding, which I don't think would go over well? He could put it on LAP, but - I just don't feel like he would. It's different for someone like, say, jacksepticeye, who does like 10+ videos a week, so putting a few Animal Crossing vids among all that means if you're not interested in that, you can just watch something else. Phil doing even 3 or 4 Animal Crossing videos in a row means that's several months with nothing else. (Which I'd be happy with, lol, but I appreciate not everyone would.)

I have no idea what his plan is with liveshows, or whether he *wants* to return to YouNow but doesn't jive with their new business model as you say ... Twitch has the same issue of paid subscriptions for a fanbase that's already paying a sub on YouTube (though of course you can watch for free, so perhaps not a big deal). There's nothing stopping him from streaming on YouTube, though - he even set up chat emotes for members.

[bluecaterpillar]

thing is, younow have been offering a pay-per-streamer subscription service for months already. back in october i watched some of rose and rosie's halloween livestreams and their chat was for paid subscribers only. whatever reasons phil had for taking a break from liveshows, i don't think it was because of that.

dan's htcte merch was restocked because tons of people were asking for it. the other week irl found a small quantity of unsold htcte stuff in their warehouse and only a few people got the chance to buy it, there was a mild shitstorm and tons of people tweeting irl and making it very clear that they wanted a proper restock which would give everyone a chance to buy some. i think it's perfectly reasonable for irl to accommodate that demand. dan emerging from his cave to make angsty relatable tweet #389782 (sidenote, dan pls be nicer to your younger self) on the day of a merch announcement was predictable as clockwork though.

[Amiaw]

Idk my .02 on it are that people were asking for the htcte merch but I think if it was tied to charity then more than 20% should have been donated. I think they got away with it during Christmas because that wasn’t the main selling point of the merch but this drop it was for mental health week so it doesn’t sit well with me. That’s my opinion personally.

As far as people asking for it- people also ask for communication and content and dan doesn’t deliver so saying they had to release merch because of high demand is also another thing I’m eh on. Business is business but I wish that came with a side of care for the audience these days

[Birdie]

Restocking merch people wanted is fine but I agree that him tweeting something relatable after the announcement and then disappearing again is a bit suspicious. There's definitely a pattern there and I don't like it.

As for the book: idk to me it sounds like it could be danecdotes in a memoir-y, feel good way, with a tad of self-help.

I'd like that. I really like his danecdotes videos and I can see him fill a book with similar stories. It also seems to be a popular choice of memoir for influencers and such lately. I've read some books like that from comedians and the format usually works well, even for people who aren't the best writers. (I don't know if Dan is a good writer but I think he might be. His videos were usually quite well written at least and a danecdotes book would probably be written in the same style.)

[liola]

God has heard my prayers and is bringing back the black long quiff. Everything is right in the world. The incredly blue eyes will be back to pop as they should. I am alive

[Amiaw]

I’m going to miss the brown hair so much

[rizzo]

Absolutely not down with him going back to black. It's his hair and his life and I'll love Phil regardless. But.... #TeamGinge

[Phanshy]

I like the brown/ginger hair but I love Phil with black hair, I hope it comes out this blue/black



I had a dream Phil dyed his hair last week but it was a split red/black style but he had high pigtails for some reason.

[blahblahblah8]

I wonder if he’s planning to make a video where he dyes and cuts his hair! I do prefer the brown hair over black but I’m kinda excited to see it black again!

[autumnhearth]

Eh change is nice (content is even nicer) I just hope that someday we can see summer ginger Phil (they probably won’t get out enough this summer for that to have been a possibility so I’m not that salty).

[rizzo]

It occurred to me, upon waking up this morning, that Phil is potentially dyeing his hair back to black... while it is also overgrown.

Not that I want to get too excited, but... how cool would a Recreating My Old Hair Styles Because Quarantine video be???

ETA - Also, I just watched this clip from SimplyNailogical's podcast:

And while all of it is fascinating, this line really stood out to me:

Generally, when you look at your monthly AdSense, very little of the money you make in a month is actually due to the videos that were uploaded that month. [...] The majority of your views are residual views from the videos from your back catalog.

And this is Cristine we're talking about, so - while this convo has been had 8 million times already - I think it's extremely safe to say that Dan and Phil don't need constant new uploads to continue getting a regular income. With all the old videos people love to rewatch and the entirety of the gaming channel? I can see how they're nice and comfy.