Dan & Phil Part 52: And They Were Roommates

[Stakhanov]

Trying to figure out where Dan and Phil would be on youtube if they didn't meet is just one of those undertakings that should be banished to the realms of sad AU fanfiction forever

The core of what I think has been summarized eloquently by Elyanie on this page. I would agree that much more than in the early days they've become a bit of a double act, even though It's hard to imagine Dan breaking through if not for the interest taken in him by Phil and his audience. Likewise I think Phil now gets the better end of the deal on a "sub for sub" basis.

I could see them staying relevant if they only made their solo content, but I don't think that they would've made it as far as they have with the books, tour, movie, and everything else. Their success so far I think is largely attributed to that fact that they have a HUGE phandom that is invested in not only their content, but their relationship, and the fandom activities that go with it i.e. speculation, fanart/fanfiction, discussions, etc.

I find it interesting to think about what would happen if they abruptly stopped working together now...
(You know when the truth about Phil's wife with child gets out and their friendship is thrown into an existential crisis, leading to lawsuits and financial mayhem... and in a wild twist of events Dan properly comes out in a couple of months as queer and in a relationship with Anthony Padilla. Meanwhile Phil admits to having divorced his wife, taking his baby with him and he makes a beautiful 'day in the life' where you can see he's living in with Jimmy -and they are wildly in love. Danthony and Phimmy rise !)

Personally I think they would lose a lot of the income, a lot of the things beside youtube were based on them working together as friends(+). As far as viewers go... I don't really see them losing a lot of viewers (but it's hard to gauge the size of the audience that would be so let down they wouldn't watch their vids anymore?), but I'd wager the growth/ replacement rate of viewers would slow down. That's already happened anyway though (compared to 2013-2014) and if anything is threatening their position on youtube now I feel it's their low rate of adding content in combination with 'gaps' like tabinof, tatinof, hibernation, ... [the next project].

Is there anybody here who would just stop watching one or the other if f.e. they moved out separately and didn't appear in each others vids anymore?

[AroboticPhil]

What do people think is Dan and Phil's end game? I like the notion of going out with a bang, but do others think they will just slowly stop making videos? (I'm not really thinking anytime soon but like in 5 ish years? Maybe a whole new generation of fans will be into them? who knows!) What do people think they will/could go on to do after? Its quite exciting to see the potential of where they could go - I kind of see Phil being a uni lecturer on video production way into the future, talking about the 'good old days of Youtube' to the kids who think he's old fashioned but still with that hairstyle

I agree with most of what iihappydaysii said. I don't think they'll ever go out with a bang or anything of the sort and tbh I don't see them leaving youtube any time soon: they seem to be focusing on it and enjoying it atm, plus they're still doing very well and I don't get why they would suddenly stop. But if they ever do quit, I see it as something happening over a few years where they gradually make less and less videos until it eventually kinda stops. Also, I think of youtube as mostly a plateform and even if they do leave the website, I think they might still continue their careers as entertainers on another plateform or do more behind the scenes stuff etc, they don't need to take a completely new career path.
I'm also on team they will probably never explicitly confirm their relationship, whatever they end up doing in the future.
(Also I apologise if I sound very repetitive/not clear sometimes it's a bit hard to correctly express thoughts in another language)

[thephandommenace]

The idea of them going out with a bang makes me feel kind of sad. It'd probably be good career-wise: things that end big or while they're still at their peak keep a lot of hype around them so that when they do a comeback/release a new product everyone freaks out. But it would feel like such a narrative, like their personas on YouTube, and like TATINOF - not only did I not want them to go at the end, but it keeps 'The World of Dan and Phil' a story, a franchise. Ending it with a bang would allow them to keep their privacy and preserve their popularity ("you're only as good as the last video that you make"), but it would make me miss them so much. I guess it's good if it means they can have their forever home and do what they like without constant scrutiny, but I feel people would stay thirsty for updates so they'd still not have 'true' privacy. If they faded away, fewer people would feel inclined to dig, and if there comes a time their videos only gather 100,000 views after a week, they could post way softer videos of them tinkering away with House Files-esque content and nobody would get anywhere near as hyped as they would have when they were uploading once every two weeks. That may be years and years in the future.

Edit: I agree with Stakhanov iihappydaysii and AroboticPhil

[leaveimreading]

Is there anybody here who would just stop watching one or the other if f.e. they moved out separately and didn't appear in each others vids anymore?

this is a really interesting question actually. The reality is that, dating or not, they may very well not even be friends anymore someday. This is totally a thing that could happen. (Or, you know, the rumors are true and they've always secretly hated each other anyway.) If they stopped making videos together, and weren't friends anymore and were just solo acts, I think I'd watch for a little while, but eventually feel weird and stop watching completely. Or at least I'd be less excited about it all and wouldn't be so invested in either of their lives. It'd just be too strange to me. And there'd be a lack of content from both of them if there are no more gaming videos and they each upload once every 3 weeks. A huge part of why I'm in the phandom is because of how active it is. With all the theories gone, it would surely lose a lot of its hype, so that'd be a factor too.

I don't think their careers would be too badly affected if this happened. They would definitely lose some hardcore fans who were there for the ship, but they'd also attract new fans who were never part of the phan generation anyway, so Dan and Phil would just be like regular, solo youtubers to them.


Edit: Somewhere in my mind, Dan makes a video titled 'goodbye internet' and that is the last video on his main channel. He will then continue with monthly updates on his side channel of him and phil's lives as a married couple and they will adopt a child and live in their house that was completed in October and Dan finally buys a Steinway and Sons piano, which he teaches his and Phil's child to play.

[malday]

I don't see d&p going in any other direction than producers. A video game, another stage show, maybe a movie. They have the means and connections to make all that happen.

[Stakhanov]

This all sounds so sweet and interesting i'd almost wish for a calamity to happen to their lives and channels . How I long for the day when they aren't so stupidly private anymore, and their appeal would be long lost on the teen and pop culture crowd... and we'd see some more of their real life and hear some of their not-so-curated thoughts.

If they faded away, fewer people would feel inclined to dig, and if there comes a time their videos only gather 100,000 views after a week, they could post way softer videos of them tinkering away with House Files-esque content and nobody would get anywhere near as hyped as they would have when they were uploading once every two weeks. That may be years and years in the future.

Edit: Somewhere in my mind, Dan makes a video titled 'goodbye internet' and that is the last video on his main channel. He will then continue with monthly updates on his side channel of him and phil's lives as a married couple and they will adopt a child and live in their house that was completed in October and Dan finally buys a Steinway and Sons piano, which he teaches his and Phil's child to play.

[Stakhanov]

I don't see d&p going in any other direction than producers. A video game, another stage show, maybe a movie. They have the means and connections to make all that happen.

Agreed. They've already done most of that anyway. 7 seconds challenge app, tatinof, supergamers, their short appearances in Big Hero X and the Lion King spinoff..

I've always thought more than anything they'd like to work on a 'proper' Disney movie.
They are low-key jealous of Thomas Sanders for deffo
Their story is so Disney really. Two dreamy, geeky emo kids struggling with life until they meet each other and go on a great adventure full of friendship to find themselves and worldly success. You can even just keep the implied sexual/ gay undertones all subtle and Disney

[fancybum]

Is there anybody here who would just stop watching one or the other if f.e. they moved out separately and didn't appear in each others vids anymore?

this is a really interesting question actually. The reality is that, dating or not, they may very well not even be friends anymore someday. This is totally a thing that could happen. (Or, you know, the rumors are true and they've always secretly hated each other anyway.) If they stopped making videos together, and weren't friends anymore and were just solo acts, I think I'd watch for a little while, but eventually feel weird and stop watching completely. Or at least I'd be less excited about it all and wouldn't be so invested in either of their lives. It'd just be too strange to me. And there'd be a lack of content from both of them if there are no more gaming videos and they each upload once every 3 weeks. A huge part of why I'm in the phandom is because of how active it is. With all the theories gone, it would surely lose a lot of its hype, so that'd be a factor too.

I'd keep watching if for no other reason than it would be them doing something different and because I genuinely like both of them as people and their personalities. Obviously the combination of their personalities is a big draw, but it would be so interesting to see them as fully separate people if they ended in some way. Because even now when they're not in each other's videos, they're still a constant presence, either through casual mentions or something as small as Phil using left-handed scissors. Their lives are just fully joined. Seeing them as they un-join their lives and how they deal with it and what they do next (and how much of any of that they show or discuss) would be very very interesting. Sad in the sense that we'd be missing something we'd become used to, but I don't think they'd exactly make crying videos about it so I don't think their content would be sad lol. It would be the same, but different-- a little lonelier maybe until they started to join their lives with new people, and wouldn't that be something to see.

[LtrllySusan]

In other news, Dan hasn't tweeted in 4 days. If there hadn't been an AP video 2 days ago I'd say we get a new DINOF video but I guess they want to space them out more? And I don't think he'd cancel the LS to upload the video since that would postpone the joint LS promise a second time.

[alittledizzy]

In other news, Dan hasn't tweeted in 4 days. If there hadn't been an AP video 2 days ago I'd say we get a new DINOF video but I guess they want to space them out more? And I don't think he'd cancel the LS to upload the video since that would postpone the joint LS promise a second time.

My random prediction based on nothing: we get a Dream Daddy today, and dinof next weekend. (Livestreams in between.)

[malday]

In other news, Dan hasn't tweeted in 4 days. If there hadn't been an AP video 2 days ago I'd say we get a new DINOF video but I guess they want to space them out more? And I don't think he'd cancel the LS to upload the video since that would postpone the joint LS promise a second time.

My random prediction based on nothing: we get a Dream Daddy today, and dinof next weekend. (Livestreams in between.)

I think one of them is going to miss a ls since Phil is going to pop in Dan's .

My prediction is the next dinof is going to be a "my DNA test results", and he'll show the picture of the lady that looks like him.

[Stakhanov]

Please yes let this be true I need content i have regressed to just looking up body parts of them and I don't even know if there is any other creature in the animal kingdom that has be filmed, giffed and compiled into photo sets more.

[Ablissa]

Northerners = Phil?

[LtrllySusan]

Northerners = Phil?

Yes, it's cute cause it's probably about Phil/his family

Yes, it's cute cause he still doesn't like the whole "posh" label

No, it's really not cute cause I don't like that he wrote his grandma used to "smack him". IDK, I don't like that he just puts that in a tweet. Don't wanna start another drama discourse but... couldn't he have just said "used to correct me" instead? (insert shrug emoji) (damn I miss our custom emojis)

[confusedpanda]

Northerners = Phil?

Or northerners= I'm visiting friends (with Phil) in Manchester/I'm visiting phil's family?

[Ablissa]

Yes, it's cute cause it's probably about Phil/his family

Yes, it's cute cause he still doesn't like the whole "posh" label

No, it's really not cute cause I don't like that he wrote his grandma used to "smack him". IDK, I don't like that he just puts that in a tweet. Don't wanna start another drama discourse but... couldn't he have just said "used to correct me" instead? (insert shrug emoji) (damn I miss our custom emojis)

I mean, it probably wasn't traumatic for him if he tweets that, but I can see how someone might prefer different wording. It didn't bother me personally.

Or northerners= I'm visiting friends (with Phil) in Manchester/I'm visiting phil's family?

Please be true, please be true!

[flarequake]

It's interesting in light of that that he pronounces so many words wrong (now I can't think of any examples except towel, but he's just rhyming it with how he says Howell).

[chloek88]

Here's a random question that Phil's ebay video where he'd clearly taped over the addresses on the boxes got me thinking about...do you think all of Dan and Phil's packages are sent to the IRL office/a PO box? Because if whoever sent him those mystery packages stumbled across his video on YT, couldn't they just release his address on the internet for 5 seconds of fame?

This then led me to think about all the takeaway food we know they get delivered to their apartment, and i presume they still get their groceries delivered. What if one of the delivery-people recognized them? (Grocery delivery is especially intimate, since often the deliverers will bring the bags straight into your kitchen for you.) Or what if someone processing the order recognized their names and saved the address to go stalk later?

Obviously d&p aren't hugely famous, but do you think they consider this/ever feel nervous about it/take precautions with fake names? (I'm now wondering this for other, bigger celebrities. how do they get packages/make online orders/get delivery without the risk of exposing where they live??)

[autumnhearth]

The post-YouTube/AU/separating (no thank you to the last!) conversation has been interesting. Phil has said we're stuck with him forever, but I could see them slowing down and then shifting to other media and production, but still posting a PINOF every year.

In other news, Dan hasn't tweeted in 4 days. If there hadn't been an AP video 2 days ago I'd say we get a new DINOF video but I guess they want to space them out more? And I don't think he'd cancel the LS to upload the video since that would postpone the joint LS promise a second time.

My random prediction based on nothing: we get a Dream Daddy today, and dinof next weekend. (Livestreams in between.)

I think one of them is going to miss a ls since Phil is going to pop in Dan's .

My prediction is the next dinof is going to be a "my DNA test results", and he'll show the picture of the lady that looks like him.

Phil seemed unsure as to when Dan's next ls would be/if he was doing one this week. So I'm bracing for that possibility with either a DAPGs, DINOF, or DINI vid tomorrow (unironic candle vlog pretty please!) Feel free to prove me wrong boys. I love the DNA with photo idea, but he didn't seem keen on making a vid on it early this year. He was annoyed with the vagueness of his results, but he could turn that to his advantage.

Yeah the smacking thing makes me uncomfortable as well, but... it does make me curious if he has only the one living grandmother (or even when growing up) as he seems to only reference one, but we really wouldn't know if he switched off and I don't want to pry.

Meanwhile Phil tweeted about Big Ben. I that dork.

[sparkle]

It's interesting in light of that that he pronounces so many words wrong (now I can't think of any examples except towel, but he's just rhyming it with how he says Howell).

copacetic

In other news, Dan hasn't tweeted in 4 days. If there hadn't been an AP video 2 days ago I'd say we get a new DINOF video but I guess they want to space them out more? And I don't think he'd cancel the LS to upload the video since that would postpone the joint LS promise a second time.

My random prediction based on nothing: we get a Dream Daddy today, and dinof next weekend. (Livestreams in between.)

I think Dream Daddy this week - Dans radio silence indicates he's filmed a new DINOF so could that be tonight? Or tomorrow so he can skip his ls and join in on Phil's? But I agree he'd want them to space out -i'm certain we'll be getting a new DINOF this week though.

(in my dream world Dan has had radio silence to launch his new side channel 'dandles' where he does candle hauls and talks about things that keep him grounded)

[liola]

Please please please I'm craving a gaming video

As for the future of Dan and Phil, I think they'll go towards the producers carreer. I could see Dan as a director too, he seemed to really enjoy it when he got to direct the tabinof trailer. I think out of the two, to be honest, Phil is the most versatile - he has the creativity and the most "common" intelligence to take on everything his mind set on, and we know he's stubborn. I almost want to have a glimpse into this distant future just to see what he'll be up to.

One thing I don't understand is why everyone seems to think Youtube is dying. I know adpocalypse took its tool on creators, but I see the future of Youtube as something Netflix-like, in which they expand their Youtube Red to become a more accepted and spread around thing. Youtubers as in how we know them will probably still exist, just like actors, radio hosts and tv presenters still exist, but most creators that are now the big ones will probably be producers and space out of the simple creating space of youtube - just like they're all already doing.

[LtrllySusan]

Here's a random question that Phil's ebay video where he'd clearly taped over the addresses on the boxes got me thinking about...do you think all of Dan and Phil's packages are sent to the IRL office/a PO box? Because if whoever sent him those mystery packages stumbled across his video on YT, couldn't they just release his address on the internet for 5 seconds of fame?

This then led me to think about all the takeaway food we know they get delivered to their apartment, and i presume they still get their groceries delivered. What if one of the delivery-people recognized them? (Grocery delivery is especially intimate, since often the deliverers will bring the bags straight into your kitchen for you.) Or what if someone processing the order recognized their names and saved the address to go stalk later?

Obviously d&p aren't hugely famous, but do you think they consider this/ever feel nervous about it/take precautions with fake names? (I'm now wondering this for other, bigger celebrities. how do they get packages/make online orders/get delivery without the risk of exposing where they live??)

I have had the exact same thoughts as well (both mail and food delivery). I'd be curious to hear everyone's opinion.

[Ablissa]

Here's a random question that Phil's ebay video where he'd clearly taped over the addresses on the boxes got me thinking about...do you think all of Dan and Phil's packages are sent to the IRL office/a PO box? Because if whoever sent him those mystery packages stumbled across his video on YT, couldn't they just release his address on the internet for 5 seconds of fame?

This then led me to think about all the takeaway food we know they get delivered to their apartment, and i presume they still get their groceries delivered. What if one of the delivery-people recognized them? (Grocery delivery is especially intimate, since often the deliverers will bring the bags straight into your kitchen for you.) Or what if someone processing the order recognized their names and saved the address to go stalk later?

Obviously d&p aren't hugely famous, but do you think they consider this/ever feel nervous about it/take precautions with fake names? (I'm now wondering this for other, bigger celebrities. how do they get packages/make online orders/get delivery without the risk of exposing where they live??)

I have had the exact same thoughts as well (both mail and food delivery). I'd be curious to hear everyone's opinion.

I don't know about laws in other countries, but out here every person that deals with customer data (such as names and addresses) has to sign a paper where they promise never to leak that information elsewhere, or they can get sued. My company is super uptight about this and people get fired for as much as leaving a piece of paper on their desk, if it contains customer info.
Maybe something like that?

And for bigger celebrities, I suppose either everything gets sent to a different address and then an assistant brings it over, or it's not made known that that person lives under that address?

[AroboticPhil]

I was watching this video and at 18:45 , Caspar talks about living with someone and working very closely with them at the same time (talking about Joe), and I just thought it was funny because all he said applies exactly to deppy and you can really see the contrast between the two pairs
(and lmao @ Caspar saying it's a bit like "with a wife or a girlfriend" after perfectly describing DnP's current situation).
I also hope we get a gaming video tonight!

[sparkle]

Here's a random question that Phil's ebay video where he'd clearly taped over the addresses on the boxes got me thinking about...do you think all of Dan and Phil's packages are sent to the IRL office/a PO box? Because if whoever sent him those mystery packages stumbled across his video on YT, couldn't they just release his address on the internet for 5 seconds of fame?

This then led me to think about all the takeaway food we know they get delivered to their apartment, and i presume they still get their groceries delivered. What if one of the delivery-people recognized them? (Grocery delivery is especially intimate, since often the deliverers will bring the bags straight into your kitchen for you.) Or what if someone processing the order recognized their names and saved the address to go stalk later?

Obviously d&p aren't hugely famous, but do you think they consider this/ever feel nervous about it/take precautions with fake names? (I'm now wondering this for other, bigger celebrities. how do they get packages/make online orders/get delivery without the risk of exposing where they live??)

I have had the exact same thoughts as well (both mail and food delivery). I'd be curious to hear everyone's opinion.

I think they'd take precautions - I think anything YouTube related would be sent to IRL especially now. Like I see them having a clear separation especially since their move between 'Dan and Phil', and the regular Dan Howell and Phil Lester. I can see all of their everyday business stuff being dealt with in one place. I wouldn't be surprised if they had a PO box either tbh, I could see them setting one up when they did TATINOF/definitely before they moved.

However I really cannot see any delivery driver I've ever had giving enough of a shit to stalk people, especially as it could land them in serious trouble.