Dan & Phil Part 51: Master of Erotic Massages

[echinodon]

Saw this today while reading an article about In a Heartbeat... smh ships it

[lurker]

this is completely irrelevant to any current topic, but does anyone else get weirdly emotional when dip and dot reference older videos? it happened to me when phil sung the ladders song in the crash bandicoot video as well as when he said "we need a bigger bowl" in last year's halloween baking. i guess it's because with many things in this fandom like, say, the "phanniversary", i just assume that it doesn't hold emotional value for deppy themselves since they in all probability have other stuff that's significant for them. and as an extrapolation of that i kind of assume that it's similar with their content, i.e. that they just put it out there but don't ~think back at the memories~ or something. so it just baffles me to think that the ladders song might be an inside joke for them? or that phil rewatches old gaming videos "for nostalgia" like he said in the second (?) sleepless night video? just in general that things that hold ~emotional value~ for us as fans sometimes hold emotional value for them as well?

and wow @ a newspaper liking phanart, but tbf they probably didn't realize it was deppy since they kind of look like the "in a heartbeat" characters already

[opendoor]

On the one hand I know creepshots aren't particularly great, but I think everyone wanted proof Dan was there, so I can't bring myself to blame whoever took the picture. I don't know, I probably don't have a moral case here, but I'm pretty sure I would have done the same thing so I think it'd be worse if the fan actually went up to them in this situation.

Laughing at the SMH thing- agree that they must've thought it was a drawing of the characters in the video, whoops. Nice find.

[somethingsketchy]

Saw this today while reading an article about In a Heartbeat... smh ships it

Oh my god, that's so funny and cute! On a more serious note, I've had to avoid the Tumblr tags today because it just makes me sad that people are basically fighting over whether the Phandom has a right to make In a Heartbeat-inspired phanart. I would get where the people opposed to it are coming from if someone had actually made fetishising art, but all the IAH!phanart I've seen so far has been innocent and cute like the one above. Can't people just blacklist Dan and Phil if they don't want to see them and let other people have their fun in peace?

[captainspacecoat]

Phil liked this tweet, so I guess he is officially in on the vase discourse

[Philena]

Phil liked this tweet, so I guess he is officially in on the vase discourse

I love #vasegate so much!

[offtopic]I go on a Wicked binge every now and again, so thanks to deps for veering me back into that hole, but, holy shit, I think Alice Fearn is my new fave Elphaba. She is fucking amazing. There is a snippet of her Defying Gravity on yt from last night, too, if anyone's interested.[/offtopic]

[Vanderlyle]

[offtopic]i'm bored and was just looking back at phil's vids - i saw that his video with nanalew has performed significantly less well than other recent videos. interested to see why y'all think that is.
perhaps bc people are there primarily for the ship? or a disinterest in anime? no reason really? am i an adult who needs a to chill?[/offtopic]

[alittledizzy]

[offtopic]i'm bored and was just looking back at phil's vids - i saw that his video with nanalew has performed significantly less well than other recent videos. interested to see why y'all think that is.
perhaps bc people are there primarily for the ship? or a disinterest in anime? no reason really? am i an adult who needs a to chill?[/offtopic]

I would say a combination of disinterest in anime and that it took a hit due to a lot of the hardcore fandom being disinclined to rewatch repeatedly just based on what kind of person nanalew herself is.

[iwishiwasacasual]

[offtopic]i'm bored and was just looking back at phil's vids - i saw that his video with nanalew has performed significantly less well than other recent videos. interested to see why y'all think that is.
perhaps bc people are there primarily for the ship? or a disinterest in anime? no reason really? am i an adult who needs a to chill?[/offtopic]

when the video with nanalew came out there was a lot of drama surrounding her because of some people from the fandom found out she said some homophobic shit (i'm sketchy on the details i probs shouldn't be the one trying to inform) so a lot of people avoided watching them because of that.

plus there's the usual fandom dislike of girls who interact with dnp and yeah in a way it's justified and its not as bad as it used to be (im not defending nanalew i'm pretty sure i've not even seen those videos) but fandoms sometimes try to look for reasons to dislike women.

[rizzo]

[offtopic]i'm bored and was just looking back at phil's vids - i saw that his video with nanalew has performed significantly less well than other recent videos. interested to see why y'all think that is.
perhaps bc people are there primarily for the ship? or a disinterest in anime? no reason really? am i an adult who needs a to chill?[/offtopic]

when the video with nanalew came out there was a lot of drama surrounding her because of some people from the fandom found out she said some homophobic shit (i'm sketchy on the details i probs shouldn't be the one trying to inform) so a lot of people avoided watching them because of that.

plus there's the usual fandom dislike of girls who interact with dnp and yeah in a way it's justified and its not as bad as it used to be (im not defending nanalew i'm pretty sure i've not even seen those videos) but fandoms sometimes try to look for reasons to dislike women.

For reference on why people don't like nanalew, here's a nice thread by spider:

That said, I think I disagree with the idea that the phandom has a "dislike of girls". I find that, actually, phandom can generally be pretty mature about that - I mean, look at the numbers on the Hazel collab. What hindered this video is nanalew herself and the fact that nobody wanted to support that.

Granted, I won't argue that people went after Hazel, but Hazel brought it upon herself on twitter and honestly? Her views are definitely still better. I feel like, if Dan or Phil collabed with like... idk, Melanie Murphy, there wouldn't be all that much anger.

[bee]

Man that's just physically painful to look at. (Dan's face!)

Also vase-gate is all I care about now. I really hope Phil's just fucking with us. I'm amused. I live for slightly-troll Dan and Phil.

[sparkle]

I go for two days and come back to loads of things that are making my heart happy

See, I think this is gonna be Phils mum's birthday and I'm interested to see if we see photos of Lester parents, Martyn and Cornelia, and D&P. Because you'd obviously take your best friend out like that I think if they're photographed as a six, we can maybe infer that they are indeed showing us without showing us?

Deppy spotted at Wicked last night. Damn they got good seats. Just found this on twitter. Aready had a hunch that Dan was with them but having it confirmed is nice!

I love it when I'm right (I'm so convinced they're together at this point you'll have to fight me to prove otherwise)

I'm so happy they went to go and see Wicked, I'm not obsessed with it like some people, but it's still a pretty great musical. I'm jealous of how good the seats were though!

I'm also wanting to formally apply to move in with deppy, like they have rooibos? I promise i'll keep your plants alive if you let me move in

Also #vasegate is my favourite thing ever omg I'm still laughing at it. I just want people to caption pictures of Phil next to the sea with 'Phil Lester's new bathtub' or the Niagra Falls pictures with 'Phil Lester in the shower'

And according to my tinfoil, I predicted #PhanWedding for this weekend. Please deliver guys. Please. Maybe the reason Phil keeps drinking out of vases is to advertise to those who are invited that they would like to be bought new glasses as a wedding present?

[somethingsketchy]

Phil liked this tweet, so I guess he is officially in on the vase discourse

This single-handedly made my day. I don't care about any Tumblr drama anymore now that Phil has reacted to #vasegate.

[iwishiwasacasual]

That said, I think I disagree with the idea that the phandom has a "dislike of girls". I find that, actually, phandom can generally be pretty mature about that - I mean, look at the numbers on the Hazel collab. What hindered this video is nanalew herself and the fact that nobody wanted to support that.

Granted, I won't argue that people went after Hazel, but Hazel brought it upon herself on twitter and honestly? Her views are definitely still better. I feel like, if Dan or Phil collabed with like... idk, Melanie Murphy, there wouldn't be all that much anger.

with that i was talking more about fandom in general and i'm probably just seeing things that aren't there because of my own experiences in fandom, i've seen some shit

[leaveimreading]

I'm so late on all these discussions but here are some thoughts I'd like to share which you might be interested to read. Feel free to disagree with anything or to add your own thoughts


Regarding the 'crossing the line' thing, that's not a new issue at all. There has been more speculation over the past 5 months then there has been since last year, but it's certainly nothing more extreme than all the other years of demonizing. Maybe it does upset them a bit, but after all, the only people who know the phandom as much as anyone who's in it is them. It is their fandom after all. They know what we're like and just how much we like to get details.

I don't believe Dan thought he could simply show us his bedroom and we'd just leave it at that. He must have known it would start discussions. Maybe he thought by showing us, he could somehow subtly 'prove' it's solely his bedroom, but the whole thing seemed pretty inviting to screenshots. Side note, I'm not stating that phan is 100% real or that they are definitely in a relationship with at least someone, but since Dan's live show, I'm a lot more supportive of the 'he's not dating anyone else' team. I think that if Dan was in a serious relationship with anyone that wasn't Phil, the chances of him showing his bedroom so easily on a liveshow would be slim. The other person could have accidentally left something in the room that Dan wouldn't be able to explain if we saw. Whereas if him and Phil are even sharing a room and we saw something of Phil's, it would be easy to dismiss since we know that they live together.


Phil's video: Phil knows by now that we think his room is a set, and yet he filmed a video in which he still claims that that is where he sleeps. (I could be wrong and that is Phil's real bedroom after all but who knows). I think it's too much of a coincidence for him to be posting that video so close after Dan's ls, so I believe his real aim was to debunk some of our theories. But even then, he must have known there would be a lot of different opinions on it. And that we're not that stupid, it was extremely staged

With the Steam thing, my personal opinion is that it really doesn't reveal anything about what time of day he was filming; I think the download was just queued. If he had anything to hide, he certainly would have noticed during the filming and editing process that the time stamp showed. He most likely watched the whole thing after editing as well, so I don't think he missed it, he either didn't realize it might look like he was filming in the day, or he left it there on purpose (I don't see why he would do this though).

I do, however, think that Phil didn't film the video the night he claimed he did. I think he filmed it way before he tweeted about it. Tweeting about a video and creating hype before actually filming it is a risky thing to do. A number of things could have happened that could have resulted in him not being able to film the video, but it'd be too late because the tweet would have already been out there, and then we'd be left speculating even more. He could have filmed it before the release of Dunkirk (amazing movie btw 10/10) and have just claimed that he'd seen it that day.


Realistically, YouTube will someday stop being an actual career that people can solely live off of. That day may be soon, especially with the adpocalypse. I'm not straight up accusing Dan and Phil of queerbaiting, this is just a theory, but maybe coming out is a final tactic for them? People will eventually get tired of trying to figure out whether or not they're a couple, and they know this. After all, a lot of the posts about them (especially on Tumblr) are just gifs of them doing 'couple' things. Staying relevant isn't that easy on YouTube, especially after coming out. Take Connor Fanta, or Joey Graceffa. They're fandoms weren't even built on their sexualities, but they've been far less irrelevant ever since they came out. I don't think this is something that dnp are ready to risk just yet. Especially in Dan's case; I don't think he's ready to be a has-been at 26. He's talked about how he compares himself to what other successful people his age have accomplished, he's still chasing something.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I can't recall either of them ever outright denying Phan. There's that tumblr screenshot of Dan replying to someones ask, but is that real? Even if it is, I don't remember it being a public reply. And it was quite a few years ago, back in the days of 'no homo howell.' They've implied that they're single and Dan has even full on said he's not gay. I don't think they've ever denied being in a relationship with each other on camera during a liveshow or anything though. Is there any motive for them to do that now?

Don't take any of this too seriously^. All we know is what they choose to show us. They could literally be cannibals. Maybe that's why it's Dan's go to excuse overtime someone on the internet asks to be his friend...

(I really hope phil makes a 2017 memes video for himself and makes fun of the vase thing, or at least i want dan to point it out if he makes a meme video, honestly it’s hilarious. Maybe Phil will bring it up if he does a ls tonight.)

[sparkle]

Realistically, YouTube will someday stop being an actual career that people can solely live off of. That day may be soon, especially with the adpocalypse. I'm not straight up accusing Dan and Phil of queerbaiting, this is just a theory, but maybe coming out is a final tactic for them? People will eventually get tired of trying to figure out whether or not they're a couple, and they know this. After all, a lot of the posts about them (especially on Tumblr) are just gifs of them doing 'couple' things. Staying relevant isn't that easy on YouTube, especially after coming out. Take Connor Fanta, or Joey Graceffa. They're fandoms weren't even built on their sexualities, but they've been far less irrelevant ever since they came out. I don't think this is something that dnp are ready to risk just yet. Especially in Dan's case; I don't think he's ready to be a has-been at 26. He's talked about how he compares himself to what other successful people his age have accomplished, he's still chasing something.

Okay so I was talking about this with my girlfriend last night. We basically agreed that it wouldn't harm them, it would only help them, and I wanted to know if I could find evidence to support this theory.

(this would be better explained with the survey data for 2017 but I'm gonna go off of the 2015 survey - hold onto your tinfoil hats lads this is going to be a waffle with a side of sociology - long analysis ahoy!)

So according to the 2015 survey, 62.2% of people ship Phan, rising to 84% if you include people who partially ship it. Also according to the survey, 30.4% of people think they are p l a t o n i c best friends, compared to 14.2% of people who think they are in a romantic relationship. Although this figure rises to 41.4% when you add in people who think they were together in the past/recently got together (basically any option that indicates they were romantically involved). Also relevant is the perception of their sexualities, the VAST majority of people (43.4%) think Dan is bisexual which is interesting when you compare to the initial impression of Dan which is majority straight (28.4%). Similarly for Phil most people read him as bisexual (35.7%) and initially read him as straight (29.8%).

These figures change significantly when you take away the options that are essentially 'I don't know'. So for Dan, he was initially read as straight by 48.9% of people, which changed to 10.7% after watching him for a while. The vast majority of people found him to be bisexual (73.9%) after watching him for a while, whereas only 28% of people got that initial impression from him. For Phil, 53% of people initially read him as straight, which changed to 14.9% of people after watching him for a while. Again after watching him for a while, most people read him as bisexual (62.1%), compared to only 24.4% of people getting that initial impression from him. (As a side note, it is interesting to me that more people currently believed Phil to be gay than they did with Dan (P: 10.2% D: 3.3%) but more people initially read Dan as gay than they did with Phil (P: 17.9% D: 20.6%)). And for the people who think they are platonic vs Phan is real - team platonic was at 42.3% and team real was at 57.7%. (although please note this contains EVERY option for Phan having ever been real - excluding fwb - the people who think Phan was currently real and always has been were at 19.1%).

So this suggests that a large amount of the people who watch them are comfortable with them being queer and having had some form of romantic relationship in the past. Therefore it would seem that it would perhaps be in their benefit, if YouTube is becoming more unstable, to try and generate hype by playing up to Phan. As most people are comfortable with it. Purely based on this data, it wouldn't be a very risky move as the majority of people have essentially assumed as much. It would make them more relevant and bring more subscribers because it would be trending as most of these people assume than Phan is real anyway. It wouldn't be a revelation, it would be a confirmation. Which would probably trend as it got shared across social networks with people being like 'I knew I was right'. Phan confirmation wouldn't turn off the 'core' phandom.

So why wouldn't they come out? Maybe its because a significant number of their fan base watched because they found them attractive (D: 56.9% P: 52.1%) however its important to note that there are OTHER reasons why people are watching them. Or maybe its because they value their relationship to much and don't want to cash in on it, they have to have something sacred. Or maybe its because they aren't together? And therefore there is nothing to come out about.

One theory I have right now is that they are turning up the homoerotic behaviour because they are planning on coming out soon. I think they are watching their subscriber counts and view counts very closely. Some people are going to be turned off by a confirmation (although I can guarantee it would trend), and if they can slowly push those people out, a confirmation would benefit them because those who would leave would already be gone. I think the biggest barrier to them coming out is them valuing their relationship and not wanting to be in a shoebox of 'the gay you tubers' because they are both so much more than that. They have done so much more, but the risk you run with being LGBT in media is being labelled as that LGBT person. I think Dan labelling himself as having no label is very clever as it allows for him to still be acknowledged and appreciated by us, his fans, as an LGBT creator using the subtext he gives us but without the media (who need a big flashing sign before they'll believe you) forcing him into a very small box.

I'm gonna post this essay and in like 3 hours we're going to get a coming out video aren't we

[LtrllySusan]

The problem with the survey (and all arguments that are attached to its data) is that the participation is extremely self-selective. You might be getting a somewhat representive overview of the engaged phandom, but not of Dan & Phil's viewers.

Let's compare sizes (.. that sounded wrong). The engaged phandom might be somewhere between the average amount of LS viewers to the follower size of UpdatedPhan, i.e. 20,000 - 70,000 people, while the active Dan & Phil audience might range around 1.5-2M (based on what videos get in the first week or so).

So, should Deppy really make business decisions based on what a percentile of their audience thinks? Sure, that audience is also financially more engaged with them, probably more likely to buy merch or with visiting the shows, but we can't forget about the casual audience. And we don't know what they think.

[obscureDnPreference]

Realistically, YouTube will someday stop being an actual career that people can solely live off of. That day may be soon, especially with the adpocalypse. I'm not straight up accusing Dan and Phil of queerbaiting, this is just a theory, but maybe coming out is a final tactic for them? People will eventually get tired of trying to figure out whether or not they're a couple, and they know this. After all, a lot of the posts about them (especially on Tumblr) are just gifs of them doing 'couple' things. Staying relevant isn't that easy on YouTube, especially after coming out. Take Connor Fanta, or Joey Graceffa. They're fandoms weren't even built on their sexualities, but they've been far less irrelevant ever since they came out. I don't think this is something that dnp are ready to risk just yet. Especially in Dan's case; I don't think he's ready to be a has-been at 26. He's talked about how he compares himself to what other successful people his age have accomplished, he's still chasing something.

You make a really interesting point about Joey and Connor. They both still have high numbers of subscribers, but their video views have decreased significantly and they gain subscribers at a rate of 100s/month instead of tens of thousands like deppy still do. But Dan and Phil have had a life outside of YT. They have permeated popular culture more than Joey and Connor. Sure, Connor has his music, apparel, and coffee brands, but those aren't as well known as, say, hosting the live stream of the Brits for three years. And personally, I think Connor's content has changed recently and is less appealing to a larger audience. It's very aesthetically pleasing and nice, but it's not the reason he became popular in the first place. That change has been especially prevalent in the last 18 months, which I think coincides with his breakup with Troye. Deppy's content, especially Dan's, has changed over the years, but he has maintained his style and personality which draws in viewers. Phil's content and storytelling has largely continued. I don't foresee that changing, even if they come out. I think the reason Joey and Connor have struggled isn't related to their coming out, but rather to the changes in their content.

But yo, this is just my opinion.

[fancybum]

The problem with the survey (and all arguments that are attached to its data) is that the participation is extremely self-selective. You might be getting a somewhat representive overview of the engaged phandom, but not of Dan & Phil's viewers.

Let's compare sizes (.. that sounded wrong). The engaged phandom might be somewhere between the average amount of LS viewers to the follower size of UpdatedPhan, i.e. 20,000 - 70,000 people, while the active Dan & Phil audience might range around 1.5-2M (based on what videos get in the first week or so).

So, should Deppy really make business decisions based on what a percentile of their audience thinks? Sure, that audience is also financially more engaged with them, probably more likely to buy merch or with visiting the shows, but we can't forget about the casual audience. And we don't know what they think.

All I have to contribute rn is that I literally read that as "the engorged phandom" and I blame you. (But to this post overall because yes we're living in quite a bubble over here and people find that easy to forget)

[alittledizzy]

The problem with the survey (and all arguments that are attached to its data) is that the participation is extremely self-selective. You might be getting a somewhat representive overview of the engaged phandom, but not of Dan & Phil's viewers.

Please keep in mind that it is a survey about the phandom, not about Dan and Phil viewers. The About page states it pretty clearly:

Two years ago, a group of Dan and Phil viewers curious about the demographics of Phandom followed in the footsteps of Nerdfighteria and the Supernatural fandom in making our own phandom census.

The aim is look at who makes up the core viewership and what those demographics are, not to draw conclusions about Dan and Phil's viewers at large.

[sparkle]

The problem with the survey (and all arguments that are attached to its data) is that the participation is extremely self-selective. You might be getting a somewhat representive overview of the engaged phandom, but not of Dan & Phil's viewers.

Let's compare sizes (.. that sounded wrong). The engaged phandom might be somewhere between the average amount of LS viewers to the follower size of UpdatedPhan, i.e. 20,000 - 70,000 people, while the active Dan & Phil audience might range around 1.5-2M (based on what videos get in the first week or so).

So, should Deppy really make business decisions based on what a percentile of their audience thinks? Sure, that audience is also financially more engaged with them, probably more likely to buy merch or with visiting the shows, but we can't forget about the casual audience. And we don't know what they think.

I know the biggest problem - at least in terms of validity in how i'm discussing it - with this survey is that its not tied to D&P - so they're not pushing it, so you have to be involved to find it. The biggest number I had with what I looked at was about 24k - even by 2015 sub levels thats still a very small amount of their subs. Obviously because its self-selected its not necessarily representative, it is more of a snapshot of the core phandom, therefore its not necessarily very valid to apply it to every single subscriber. I'd be interested to see a comparison with the 2017 survey.

I think the biggest argument I can make is that their 'core' fans would be okay with it because I genuinely think it would be expected. If they are indeed planing a coming out and they are judging the reaction, I think the signs are positive for them in the phandom. However the casual viewers and the media as a whole are what I think they would be concerned with which is obviously something that has to be gauged by their contemporaries. I don't think Dan wants to be in a box, and I think a Phan confirmation would put them both in a box and I think that would be unbelievably frustrating for the both of them.

[LtrllySusan]

The problem with the survey (and all arguments that are attached to its data) is that the participation is extremely self-selective. You might be getting a somewhat representive overview of the engaged phandom, but not of Dan & Phil's viewers.

Please keep in mind that it is a survey about the phandom, not about Dan and Phil viewers. The About page states it pretty clearly:

Two years ago, a group of Dan and Phil viewers curious about the demographics of Phandom followed in the footsteps of Nerdfighteria and the Supernatural fandom in making our own phandom census.

The aim is look at who makes up the core viewership and what those demographics are, not to draw conclusions about Dan and Phil's viewers at large.

Of course, I didn't mean to discredit them in any way! I think what the team is doing is very impressive (I have an admiration for well-executed surveys & statistics).
What I meant to say that it's important to keep in mind for those who interpret the numbers - they can't be generalised to the overall audience. So just because the survey population is approving/shipping Phan, doesn't mean the general audience is.

[missemma]

Deppy spotted at Wicked last night. Damn they got good seats. Just found this on twitter. Aready had a hunch that Dan was with them but having it confirmed is nice!

Nice to see that even at the theatre Dan can't put his phone down! That thing must be glued to his hand.

[leaveimreading]

One theory I have right now is that they are turning up the homoerotic behaviour because they are planning on coming out soon. I think they are watching their subscriber counts and view counts very closely. Some people are going to be turned off by a confirmation (although I can guarantee it would trend), and if they can slowly push those people out, a confirmation would benefit them because those who would leave would already be gone. I think the biggest barrier to them coming out is them valuing their relationship and not wanting to be in a shoebox of 'the gay you tubers' because they are both so much more than that. They have done so much more, but the risk you run with being LGBT in media is being labelled as that LGBT person. I think Dan labelling himself as having no label is very clever as it allows for him to still be acknowledged and appreciated by us, his fans, as an LGBT creator using the subtext he gives us but without the media (who need a big flashing sign before they'll believe you) forcing him into a very small box.

I'm gonna post this essay and in like 3 hours we're going to get a coming out video aren't we :lol

I love this theory! The bolded bits excite me way too much It also makes sense as well. If they were to come out, this would be the best way to do it imo. I'm thinking 2018 is going to be the year. Whether there are a couple or not, they will someday most likely have to properly acknowledge it.

It's August 3 and still no updates about That Week In March In a perfect world, they'll do a joint liveshow tonight and announce whatever it is. But in reality, I don't even think Phil is going to do one tonight with his parents still around. And there might not even be anything to announce. Mr. Daniel Hype Howell may have got us again. Guess it's just a waiting game now.

EDIT: I'm sensing gaming video instead of ls tonight. They filmed the other day and it's a great excuse for both of them not doing live shows this week. Dream Daddy might bless us

[dontpanic]

I apologize in advance, I have no idea what I just wrote. Also, fair warning, I'm an economist I find the money side of things interesting...

Realistically, YouTube will someday stop being an actual career that people can solely live off of. That day may be soon, especially with the adpocalypse. I'm not straight up accusing Dan and Phil of queerbaiting, this is just a theory, but maybe coming out is a final tactic for them? People will eventually get tired of trying to figure out whether or not they're a couple, and they know this. After all, a lot of the posts about them (especially on Tumblr) are just gifs of them doing 'couple' things. Staying relevant isn't that easy on YouTube, especially after coming out. Take Connor Fanta, or Joey Graceffa. They're fandoms weren't even built on their sexualities, but they've been far less irrelevant ever since they came out. I don't think this is something that dnp are ready to risk just yet. Especially in Dan's case; I don't think he's ready to be a has-been at 26. He's talked about how he compares himself to what other successful people his age have accomplished, he's still chasing something.

First, I loved your entire post! especially the Phil/Steam thing (I have the same thoughts).

Less of a response and more of a more general thought on the "how long will Deppy stay relevant" question... I don't think the Deppster risk becoming obsolete for quite some time.

ad money
re: current income. Deppy is pampered by YouTube..They got that sweet sweet Google Preferred adverts (they basically get first, high-value dibs when it comes to advertisements).https://www.youtube.com/yt/lineups/united-kingdom.html, so the clutches of the adpocalypse probably doesn't impacted them, there's no shortage of ads for them to use. mostly the smaller channels are impacted, along with the "controversial" channels like h3h3 (especially with YT getting trigger happy with demonotizations). Dan and Phil, however, aren't in danger.

views, money, and shiz
I would argue that the phandom is in one of the best spots it's ever been, especially when measuring Deppy's financial security. The phandom is engaged and Deppy are creating enough content to retain that engagement. People have been screaming "The Phandom is Dying!" since my first (real) immersion into the phandom back in 2012/2013 but like, as long as deppy are worthy of clickbait we can rest easy knowing their popularity is intact.

They do abnormally well, view-wise. As of now, youtubers like Emma Blackery and Even Edinger are career youtubers and they get a small fraction of the views Deppodoo get (and yes Deppy have a more expensive lifestyle, but D&P live quite conservative relative to their income.) Regardless, with how everything is going they prob. wont fall to a Tyler Oakly-esque view count for years, and by then they'd have built up a strong enough financial portfolio where they wouldn't feel the need to monetize their sexuality and exploit their relationship for financial gains (if that's what they were doing, waiting to come out until they needed a way to increase viewership). Or the opposite, if they decided to come out and lost subs for some reason, they still would get at minimum a couple hundred thousand views a vid which, sure isn't the seven-digit-a-year income they have now, but it would still be way above average for a couple in their 30s. Deppy are smart lads, even if their income cut in half they probably have a contingency plan.

All this not even taking into account the merch store, which has been slowly getting more clients--i imagine irl dig. will grow to be a company less reliant on D&P's merch/traffic, continuing to rake in nice cash long after Deppy stops being a top Tumblr ship.

(I really hope phil makes a 2017 memes video for himself and makes fun of the vase thing, or at least i want dan to point it out if he makes a meme video, honestly it’s hilarious. Maybe Phil will bring it up if he does a ls tonight.)

I'm betting Dan will include this controversy in his 2017 meme video. They've been the same entity ever since the BBC Teen Choice Awards, when they were chosen as the best singular best vlogger.