IDB

Sorry for double-posting but I wanted to add that while I find finebros content largely quite boring, there were a few gems in the video (imho). Mainly as a USWNT stan, I loved seeing so many people gush over a team I've loved since I was young. Especially Hank and John because they're clearly fans who knew player's names and everything but I also really, really appreciated Dan's appreciation for how openly queer the team is. (Also highkey loving how talking about his appreciation for queer women has become a very on brand thing for him to say recently.)

Also also Dan and Phil filming separately but having identical reactions/responses to the Mulan trailer was cute as hell.

i dont wanna be a terrible person and i havent watched the video yet but deppy have filmed fbe together more than they havent in recent years... honestly i find it more strange that they chose not to do it together... i think im worried it seems as though theyre maybe returning to angsty 2012 deppy... something doesnt feel right to me... idk how to explain it... am i completely off kilter here? please dont hate me i dont mean any upset or offence

wells.kai wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:18 am i dont wanna be a terrible person and i havent watched the video yet but deppy have filmed fbe together more than they havent in recent years... honestly i find it more strange that they chose not to do it together... i think im worried it seems as though theyre maybe returning to angsty 2012 deppy... something doesnt feel right to me... idk how to explain it... am i completely off kilter here? please dont hate me i dont mean any upset or offence

i need to add to this... please dont get me wrong i always have and always will hope deppy are doing what they need because it there own personal lives... TOTALLY 150% respect that... at the same time something just doesnt feel right and maybe its just the fact im used to seeing gaming vids at least once a month with regular collab... things have felt off this whole year but idk sorry PLEASE dont hate me

wells.kai wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:18 am i dont wanna be a terrible person and i havent watched the video yet but deppy have filmed fbe together more than they havent in recent years... honestly i find it more strange that they chose not to do it together... i think im worried it seems as though theyre maybe returning to angsty 2012 deppy... something doesnt feel right to me... idk how to explain it... am i completely off kilter here? please dont hate me i dont mean any upset or offence

Wouldn't it be weird if their first joint video of the year was this boring FBE crap? (honestly, why do they even do it, do they get paid? FBE is insufferable to me. I'm not even watching this one.)

I don't understand the panic whenever something like this happens, tbh. This is not directed at you, but just the general mood in the phandom right now. Phil literally told us that they put everything on hold to allow Dan to work on his sexuality video, which he did, and since that was posted, they've started reintegrating themselves back into the youtube community.

We can't forget that along with their sexuality, Dan confirmed their relationship while emphasizing how much they want to keep it private. As such, they are now navigating a completely new territory, and while they have a very supportive fanbase (mostly), they can't fully trust other people to not take advantage of their relationship.

Honestly, I think their first joint video will be something a bit more meaningful, something they have full control over that will allow them to sort of set the tone and (not outright) tell us "this is how it's going to be". Obviously, they couldn't do that in an FBE video, and I can't see them wanting to do it at Vidcon, because Vidcon is not just their convention, it has loads of people that don't even know who they are.

What about them do you find angsty, by the way? Because they both seem happier than ever and supportive of each other. Phil's Q&A was just a love letter to Dan, Dan posts insta stories of Phil looking cute, etc. They're finally free to be themselves, but it's going to take some time for them to settle into that, I think.

TL;DR: I think Deppy want their first joint video to be fully theirs, so if they suddenly filmed FBE together, it'd be weird and stupid, imho. However, I am surprised they chose to do it at all because those videos are SO BORING AND POINTLESS.

(Please don't feel attacked, I'm just presenting my thoughts here & trying to reassure you.)

P.S I think their first joint video of the year will be a mukbang, but this is just a guess of mine. Like I said, I don't think they'll come back with something 100% pointless, because they have to find their footing in this new situation.

I agree with most people who have said that they didn't want to do the react video together for their first joint content PCOU simply because it would be weird.

I'm confident joint content will be back when they've figured out how they're going to navigate it, I'm sure they know that fans are very very anxious to see what they do next and there's a lot of expectations so I think it may be a while before they are happy with what they first post together.

I still can't really predict how joint content will return (anything can happen in this world) - If I had to predict anything, Dan has been very more open about general queerness (for obvious reasons) so I think it would make sense for him to do some kind of follow-up solo main channel video where he can be more open, maybe discuss life after BIG and generally set the pace for the future? I think once Dan has had the chance to discuss life post-coming out in a less intense video setting I think joint content will naturally be easier to segue back into existence.

Joint content (gaming or any other form) is in the same boat as Dan’s channel... in other words, I serious doubt they’ve had any sort of discussion on it whatsoever. Call it procrastination, call it kicking the can, but it simply seems like a maneuver to give the coming out time to breath.

They might not have even begun to think about how they want to present themselves as a duo again... if they act as if Dan didn’t confirm they were life companions and soulmates, then it might feel as if there’s an elephant in the room, and on the flip side if they change their on camera interaction with each other to be more couple-y then they would feel like they’d be monetizing their relationship instead of their content and personalities.

Joint content will return, but I’m not holding my breath for right away—cute road trip pics will have to hold us over for a while.

Gosh, that FBE video was boring. I agree that the React concept is played out at this point, but it would have been infinitely better if DnP had reacted to the vids together. John and Hank were the best part of the video because they were able to play off of each other. Dan and Phil, by themselves, weren't that entertaining. It felt, I don't know, a bit hollow. The camera would cut to one of them and there'd be this awkward beat of silence and then a subdued reaction. It was all very underwhelming.

I don't take this as a sign of "trouble" for Dan and Phil, but that's only because I know what they've been up to this year. I know the backstory. If I were a casual viewer, I wouldn't know what to make of this. If you read the comments under the video, every third one is asking about why Dan and Phil aren't reacting together? Doing something like this, content that will go out to a much wider audience (an audience that hasn't been parsing every tweet and instastory for subtext for the past 7 months), I've got to wonder just what their game plan is going forward. I can only assume that they want to attempt to establish themselves to the wider YouTube community as solo acts.

If that's their aim, this wasn't the best way to accomplish that goal. This video had a dull premise and they did nothing to elevate it. The vlogbrothers came off as witty and fun, Dan and Phil came off as sad, awkward Brits. If I'd never heard of them before watching this video, I wouldn't feel compelled to check out either of their channels afterwards.

Coming back to this idea that they want to establish themselves as solo acts. I really want to hear them talk about this in some way. I know everyone keeps going back to their last liveshow, but as it served as a sort of state of their creative union, that seems appropriate. At that point, December 2018, we learned that they were putting a pause on the gaming channel while they had a creative think about it but that nothing else would be changing. Of course, 7 months later, we now know that while the fist part of the statement may very well be true, but the second part was a load of malarkey (translation: everything changed).

I think it's high time they addressed this properly. No hints, no insinuations, no offhand comments. They need to sit down and let their audience know what's up. Why have they stopped making videos together? Why have they stopped doing liveshows? What's happening with the gaming channel? I know Phil answered that question during his Q&A, but his half answer won't reach the larger audience. As much as I'd love to see and a Road Trip Themed DITL as their first bit of joint content, I think it's more important that they film some sort of general update before anything else. Properly explaining what's been going on this year and, to the best of their ability, what their plan is going forward.

wells.kai wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:18 am i dont wanna be a terrible person and i havent watched the video yet but deppy have filmed fbe together more than they havent in recent years... honestly i find it more strange that they chose not to do it together... i think im worried it seems as though theyre maybe returning to angsty 2012 deppy... something doesnt feel right to me... idk how to explain it... am i completely off kilter here? please dont hate me i dont mean any upset or offence

I was just thinking the same thing, it particularly reminds me of the "we're not a duo" thing, I think maybe they don't know how to go back to posting joint content on Instagram or YouTube like they use to without it being viewed as a couple thing, I'm not expecting them to post romantic stuff or give us insight into their relationship, I just want joint stuff on Instagram like when they were on tour, cute, fun jokey little moments and pretty pictures together.

I also feel like Dan doesn't really want to do joint content on YouTube because he wants to move his career in a different more serious direction, I felt like in some of the more "recent" joint videos on Phil's channel Dan was kind of reluctant, I know it's partly a joke but a part of me thinks there's some truth underneath the humour. I hope I'm wrong because it makes me sad.

okay i see everyones POV here... if this is the case and they wanted their first collab to be more meaningful then i TOTALLY get it... until we get more content we wont know... i think my mindset is im just thinking about last time and assuming they just want to go back to “normal” but ive stepped back and i dont think things can or will... actually everyones POV and response helped me so thank you... GENUINELY... apologies for being overdramatic or anything... im a very hormonal emotionally unstable teenager and i know thats not an excuse but the fact is half the time i act out of emotion ... sorry everyone but also genuinely thank you for a different view point... i just hope you are all right in they want to make it more special... i guess i just am almost feeling like they haven’t actually come out like its not processing in my head properly? idk

sapienveneficus wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:43 am Gosh, that FBE video was boring. I agree that the React concept is played out at this point, but it would have been infinitely better if DnP had reacted to the vids together. John and Hank were the best part of the video because they were able to play off of each other. Dan and Phil, by themselves, weren't that entertaining. It felt, I don't know, a bit hollow. The camera would cut to one of them and there'd be this awkward beat of silence and then a subdued reaction. It was all very underwhelming.

Not fully relevant but the react video didn't do many favours for anyone in that video (except John and Hank). I really really like Kurtis Conner who was featured, he's a really funny dude, but that react vid showed nothing of his sense of humour - which I'm putting down to the mostly boring things to react to. Honestly, I think Dan and Phil being together in that vid wouldn't have made that much difference, it was generally just a bad video aha (why they do them I don't know really).

sapienveneficus wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:43 amComing back to this idea that they want to establish themselves as solo acts. I really want to hear them talk about this in some way. I know everyone keeps going back to their last liveshow, but as it served as a sort of state of their creative union, that seems appropriate. At that point, December 2018, we learned that they were putting a pause on the gaming channel while they had a creative think about it but that nothing else would be changing. Of course, 7 months later, we now know that while the fist part of the statement may very well be true, but the second part was a load of malarkey (translation: everything changed).

I think it's high time they addressed this properly. No hints, no insinuations, no offhand comments. They need to sit down and let their audience know what's up. Why have they stopped making videos together? Why have they stopped doing liveshows? What's happening with the gaming channel? I know Phil answered that question during his Q&A, but his half answer won't reach the larger audience. As much as I'd love to see and a Road Trip Themed DITL as their first bit of joint content, I think it's more important that they film some sort of general update before anything else. Properly explaining what's been going on this year and, to the best of their ability, what their plan is going forward.

I think they will address this in the long run, but I disagree with saying it's 'high time' for anything. They're not on anyone's timeline but their own. Phil's video came out two weeks ago. They left the country about a week after he came out. When would they take time to make that statement? If they'd done it right after Phil's video it would have overshadowed his coming out, which I don't think either of them wanted. Should they have done it from a hotel room before Vidcon? Now, while they're on a road trip?

I think we'll get this when they're back home and they've finished releasing that deep breath I'm sure they were holding for months.

I also think it's a staple of Dan and Phil, and to be honest a point of Dan's video in a small way, that they refuse to feel beholden to an audience if it's at the detriment to their mental health. There is no 'just fill the audience in' for them. Every step of their career has proven to us and to them that giving one answer will just make people demand to know why you aren't also answering every other question. Like someone else said upthread, if they had told us six months ago joint content was stopping because Dan needed to focus on making this video, his life would have been pure hell for six months while people speculated and hounded him for details about the video and spammed him daily asking if it was done yet and when he was going to post it.

I think they've probably come to realize that the easiest way to deal with us as an audience is not to let us have too much input into the decisions they make, and that might feel really frustrating to us when we're being impatient but I think it works really well for them and understanding how much trauma Dan has gone through over his years on youtube just makes me more sympathetic to letting them do things as they're ready.

alittledizzy wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:02 am

sapienveneficus wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 12:43 amComing back to this idea that they want to establish themselves as solo acts. I really want to hear them talk about this in some way. I know everyone keeps going back to their last liveshow, but as it served as a sort of state of their creative union, that seems appropriate. At that point, December 2018, we learned that they were putting a pause on the gaming channel while they had a creative think about it but that nothing else would be changing. Of course, 7 months later, we now know that while the fist part of the statement may very well be true, but the second part was a load of malarkey (translation: everything changed).

I think it's high time they addressed this properly. No hints, no insinuations, no offhand comments. They need to sit down and let their audience know what's up. Why have they stopped making videos together? Why have they stopped doing liveshows? What's happening with the gaming channel? I know Phil answered that question during his Q&A, but his half answer won't reach the larger audience. As much as I'd love to see and a Road Trip Themed DITL as their first bit of joint content, I think it's more important that they film some sort of general update before anything else. Properly explaining what's been going on this year and, to the best of their ability, what their plan is going forward.

I think they will address this in the long run, but I disagree with saying it's 'high time' for anything. They're not on anyone's timeline but their own. Phil's video came out two weeks ago. They left the country about a week after he came out. When would they take time to make that statement? If they'd done it right after Phil's video it would have overshadowed his coming out, which I don't think either of them wanted. Should they have done it from a hotel room before Vidcon? Now, while they're on a road trip?

I think we'll get this when they're back home and they've finished releasing that deep breath I'm sure they were holding for months.

I also think it's a staple of Dan and Phil, and to be honest a point of Dan's video in a small way, that they refuse to feel beholden to an audience if it's at the detriment to their mental health. There is no 'just fill the audience in' for them. Every step of their career has proven to us and to them that giving one answer will just make people demand to know why you aren't also answering every other question. Like someone else said upthread, if they had told us six months ago joint content was stopping because Dan needed to focus on making this video, his life would have been pure hell for six months while people speculated and hounded him for details about the video and spammed him daily asking if it was done yet and when he was going to post it.

I think they've probably come to realize that the easiest way to deal with us as an audience is not to let us have too much input into the decisions they make, and that might feel really frustrating to us when we're being impatient but I think it works really well for them and understanding how much trauma Dan has gone through over his years on youtube just makes me more sympathetic to letting them do things as they're ready.

i feel bad about some of the stuff ive said previously on this page... if i implied that deppy owe us something etc i NEVER wanted to imply that... before anything else i love and respect abd care about these guys... if time is what they need time is and support is what theyll get from me... hope this clears any discourse that i caused

I don't think anyone needs to apologize for expressing how something made you feel. If you were bummed out that deppy didn't react together then you were bummed out, it's ok to feel that way. And as long as it's not rude or against the rules you shouldnt feel bad for expressing an opinion.

As for the video- I don't watch FBE react videos because they're usually boring. Do I think things are changing? Yes, but that doesn't neccesarily mean the change will be bad. For now I'll wait and see what comes next.

alittledizzy wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:02 am I also think it's a staple of Dan and Phil, and to be honest a point of Dan's video in a small way, that they refuse to feel beholden to an audience if it's at the detriment to their mental health. There is no 'just fill the audience in' for them. Every step of their career has proven to us and to them that giving one answer will just make people demand to know why you aren't also answering every other question. Like someone else said upthread, if they had told us six months ago joint content was stopping because Dan needed to focus on making this video, his life would have been pure hell for six months while people speculated and hounded him for details about the video and spammed him daily asking if it was done yet and when he was going to post it.

I think they've probably come to realize that the easiest way to deal with us as an audience is not to let us have too much input into the decisions they make, and that might feel really frustrating to us when we're being impatient but I think it works really well for them and understanding how much trauma Dan has gone through over his years on youtube just makes me more sympathetic to letting them do things as they're ready.

Respectfully, I'm not sure we know enough of their thought process to know that this is their current mindset. And that's kind of my point. We, like Jon Snow, know nothing, and I believe that should change.

I don't think it's unreasonable, 7 months in, to expect an explanation or general update. At the end of the day, YouTube is their job. I've seen people raise this point every now and then this year, and have the point get shot down as being rude or overly demanding, but I think it's a valid critique. You can look to other exemplars on the platform who have taken prolonged breaks and have kept their audiences in the loop. Lilly Singh is the first person who comes to mind. She made a video last year talking about her need for a prolonged creative/mental health break. She understood that while she didn't owe her audience content (breaks are important), she did (as a professional entertainer/entrepreneur) owe them an explanation. Or, think of it another way. Imagine Dan and Phil were the Cadbury Company and, one day, they just stopped making candy. Maybe their shipment of cocoa beans got intercepted by Somali pirates, maybe one of the key mixing machines at the factor broke, maybe all their oompa loompas went on strike. The Cadbury Company wouldn't owe their loyal customers candy while they sorted out these issues, but, as a business, you'd expect them to issue some sort of statement letting people know why they wouldn't be finding dairy milk bars on the shelves for the time being.

It's the same with Dan and Phil. They don't owe us content if they're not ready, but it's reasonable to expect proper communication.

I agree with alittledizzy - I definitely don't expect any kind of statement or update about the future until after they're back home and the dust settles after their coming out. This is arguably the biggest, most attention-grabbing thing they've done in a while (possibly ever). There are a lot more eyes on them now than before the hiatus. I can totally understand if they just want to [Phil voice] keep it lowkey for a little while. This is probably the most free they've felt in a long time, and I'm willing to let them exhale for as long as they need too.

As for the FBE video - as empty and pointless as any other react video put out in the last 4ish years. Glad to see the return of opinionated, ramble-y Dan though!

sapienveneficus wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:23 am

alittledizzy wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:02 am I also think it's a staple of Dan and Phil, and to be honest a point of Dan's video in a small way, that they refuse to feel beholden to an audience if it's at the detriment to their mental health. There is no 'just fill the audience in' for them. Every step of their career has proven to us and to them that giving one answer will just make people demand to know why you aren't also answering every other question. Like someone else said upthread, if they had told us six months ago joint content was stopping because Dan needed to focus on making this video, his life would have been pure hell for six months while people speculated and hounded him for details about the video and spammed him daily asking if it was done yet and when he was going to post it.

I think they've probably come to realize that the easiest way to deal with us as an audience is not to let us have too much input into the decisions they make, and that might feel really frustrating to us when we're being impatient but I think it works really well for them and understanding how much trauma Dan has gone through over his years on youtube just makes me more sympathetic to letting them do things as they're ready.

Respectfully, I'm not sure we know enough of their thought process to know that this is their current mindset. And that's kind of my point. We, like Jon Snow, know nothing, and I believe that should change.

I don't think it's unreasonable, 7 months in, to expect an explanation or general update. At the end of the day, YouTube is their job. I've seen people raise this point every now and then this year, and have the point get shot down as being rude or overly demanding, but I think it's a valid critique. You can look to other exemplars on the platform who have taken prolonged breaks and have kept their audiences in the loop. Lilly Singh is the first person who comes to mind. She made a video last year talking about her need for a prolonged creative/mental health break. She understood that while she didn't owe her audience content (breaks are important), she did (as a professional entertainer/entrepreneur) owe them an explanation. Or, think of it another way. Imagine Dan and Phil were the Cadbury Company and, one day, they just stopped making candy. Maybe their shipment of cocoa beans got intercepted by Somali pirates, maybe one of the key mixing machines at the factor broke, maybe all their oompa loompas went on strike. The Cadbury Company wouldn't owe their loyal customers candy while they sorted out these issues, but, as a business, you'd expect them to issue some sort of statement letting people know why they wouldn't be finding dairy milk bars on the shelves for the time being.

It's the same with Dan and Phil. They don't owe us content if they're not ready, but it's reasonable to expect proper communication.

I'd argue that Dan and Phil did do that when they said the gaming channel was going on hiatus.

I think this is like the third time I've said this in response to someone, but it really is the only answer I have: Dan and Phil both told us why Dan needed that break, and having heard the reason it makes every bit of sense to me as to why they wouldn't have given us the reason (hey guys, Dan needs to make a coming out video! or even from Dan himself - hello internet, need to process some trauma before I clarify my sexuality to you, back when I get my shit sorted out!) before Dan had the video ready. I don't find the comparison to other youtubers to hold much water, either. Lilly Singh wasn't taking a break in order to make an important video that would hold a life revelation, she just burnt out.

To the Cadbury comparison - Dan and Phil might do youtube as a job, but ultimately they're people not companies. Expecting them to turn off the human elements of themselves like depression, anxiety, trauma, and the need for personal growth in order to cater to the business front is unrealistic and usually just ends in youtubers leaving the platform altogether because they can't satisfy what fans want while also being the people they want to be.

(I do respect your right to to have your opinion, by the way. I appreciate debate on the topic because even if ultimately I decide I still don't agree it's good to see other well thought out opinions and to check myself.)

I truly don’t think that the REACT model is feasible on YouTube any more. Viewers are getting smarter. FANS are getting smarter. (Of course, not smart enough to stop watching Jake Paul after all of this time, but I digress.) Half-assed and, frankly, boring content like FBE’s REACT series is going to be left behind.
With that being said, I honestly have no clue where Deppy are gonna do next. That’s up to them, and I support whatever they choose to do. However, I do fear that they might get left behind.
But that’s just my two cents.
(EDIT: I’m a crusty sponge now, lol)

sapienveneficus wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:23 am

alittledizzy wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:02 am

I also think it's a staple of Dan and Phil, and to be honest a point of Dan's video in a small way, that they refuse to feel beholden to an audience if it's at the detriment to their mental health. There is no 'just fill the audience in' for them. Every step of their career has proven to us and to them that giving one answer will just make people demand to know why you aren't also answering every other question. Like someone else said upthread, if they had told us six months ago joint content was stopping because Dan needed to focus on making this video, his life would have been pure hell for six months while people speculated and hounded him for details about the video and spammed him daily asking if it was done yet and when he was going to post it.

I think they've probably come to realize that the easiest way to deal with us as an audience is not to let us have too much input into the decisions they make, and that might feel really frustrating to us when we're being impatient but I think it works really well for them and understanding how much trauma Dan has gone through over his years on youtube just makes me more sympathetic to letting them do things as they're ready.

Respectfully, I'm not sure we know enough of their thought process to know that this is their current mindset. And that's kind of my point. We, like Jon Snow, know nothing, and I believe that should change.

I don't think it's unreasonable, 7 months in, to expect an explanation or general update. At the end of the day, YouTube is their job. I've seen people raise this point every now and then this year, and have the point get shot down as being rude or overly demanding, but I think it's a valid critique. You can look to other exemplars on the platform who have taken prolonged breaks and have kept their audiences in the loop. Lilly Singh is the first person who comes to mind. She made a video last year talking about her need for a prolonged creative/mental health break. She understood that while she didn't owe her audience content (breaks are important), she did (as a professional entertainer/entrepreneur) owe them an explanation. Or, think of it another way. Imagine Dan and Phil were the Cadbury Company and, one day, they just stopped making candy. Maybe their shipment of cocoa beans got intercepted by Somali pirates, maybe one of the key mixing machines at the factor broke, maybe all their oompa loompas went on strike. The Cadbury Company wouldn't owe their loyal customers candy while they sorted out these issues, but, as a business, you'd expect them to issue some sort of statement letting people know why they wouldn't be finding dairy milk bars on the shelves for the time being.

It's the same with Dan and Phil. They don't owe us content if they're not ready, but it's reasonable to expect proper communication.

But, they have communicated with us now? They've told us multiple times over why they took the hiatus and made it fairly clear why they had to wait until now to give us more information about the reason behind it. Dan even gave us an explanation for how producing weekly joint contact was specifically negatively impacting his mental health and delaying the production of a video that was important to him. Like alittledizzy said, Dan's life would've been hell if he tipped us off months in advance that he was working on an important video. Hell, remember the pandemonium that ensued during the hour after Dan tweeted that his video was something he had worked hard on before BIG was posted? Imagine that tweet coming in January and chaos we and he would've had to endure for months.

The Lilly comparison is fairly apt but it should be noted that Lilly has expressed regret over the attention that video got and the fact that it opened up a can of worms of people she didn't know writing thinkpieces about her mental health break, theorizing about why she took it, and often saying nasty things about her in the process. It's not exactly something that I would want to emulate if I was someone who wanted a peaceful break to make an Actual Career and Life Changing Video.

CapriciousCrab wrote: Wed Jul 17, 2019 1:16 am I don't think anyone needs to apologize for expressing how something made you feel. If you were bummed out that deppy didn't react together then you were bummed out, it's ok to feel that way. And as long as it's not rude or against the rules you shouldnt feel bad for expressing an opinion.

As for the video- I don't watch FBE react videos because they're usually boring. Do I think things are changing? Yes, but that doesn't neccesarily mean the change will be bad. For now I'll wait and see what comes next.

Absolutely. Personally, even though we're living in this glorious timeline (that no one ever expected), I'm still bummed that we've lost joint content. Am I happy to see the phandom thriving once again? Yes. Am I happy to see Dan and Phil happier than ever? YES! Am I sad that we still have no idea what will happen to joint content? Of course.

It's super easy for me to listen to people and believe them when they say joint content is over, but I check myself with what Dan and Phil said. I mean, Phil's response at Vidcon gave me hope, even if not for immediate future, but somewhat soon.

Also, this is something I've been saying since the beginning of the hiatus: them dropping joint content would be such a bad business move. I'm biased because I really prefer them as a duo, but they do have amazing chemistry and bounce off of each other really well. As such, it'd be dumb to get rid of that.

I think they're just trying to find their footing right now and things should become clear soon enough. But until then, trust me, I'm just as upset as most of you because I miss seeing them together in videos or liveshows or just... anywhere. On the other hand, I understand the hiatus better now and while I think they can end it now that they've achieved what they had planned (I think?), I'm okay with waiting a little longer if we need to. (As if we have a choice)

Please Deppy, give us a joint selfie at least.

The Final Google Feud seems like it could have been filmed in the post coming out universe. They both seem tired, but so relaxed and playful with one another. Their interactions in the video seem the most "married" that I can think of with these two. Sitting in each other's space, talking soft (and then obnoxious), rock/paper/scissors to get the food, Phil most likely slapping Dan's butt as he tells him to get the food, Dan getting mad and rough because Phil clicked without seeing the answers, Phil telling Dan to be quiet because they are in a hotel, Phil attempting All of Nothing and being shot down, etc. It has an "everyone knows we are so in love and we don't care; we are just going to be us" vibe. I can see this dynamic continuing with joint content. It is not direct but causal.

Also, at 4:23 Phil mentions a secret file on his computer with game show ideas. Could this be his mystery project? He has had many ideas brought to life in other medias. Bonus: Dan points to himself while they talk about what is in the secret file.

I am definitely not interested in convincing anyone to like react videos, they're not real content as far as D&P go, and they're pretty vapid, but I do feel like I should mention that I enjoy watching them. They're hugely popular and that doesn't make them good or important, but it's also a bit weird for me to see people here going off about them and the people who watch them, especially because it's only been a few weeks since opinions on IDB and throughout the phandom were (to me, surprisingly) quite positive about the React video reacting to Dan's (and Eugene's) coming out.

Sorry if I mostly come in to ask people to maybe try to have opinions without insulting other people, but like, smart people sometimes enjoy vapid entertainment. I'm totally fine with people talking about how boring the vid is (not that that opinion hasn't gotten a bit boring at this point) but just, like, that doesn't make the people who watch and enjoy react videos stupid.


Re: Dan, I was fully pissed at him about the hiatus, but BIG told me enough to see why he needed time for a very personal journey, and Phil spelled it out, and it's now super clear to me why we couldn't get clear communication earlier. Immediately after I watched BIG, I needed a little time to let go of my bitterness, but man, did he make me feel totally different about the hiatus and glad to let him make that journey out of the spotlight, so that he could be here and queer and happy the way we're seeing him now.

Thanks for answering! I hope to see it someday for myself

On an unrelated note, does anyone else who watched youtubers like a decade ago experience something like culture shock when remembering how different it was compared to now? This is maybe just a self-indulgent nostalgia trip, but when my friends and I were 14, the biggest names to us were charlieissocoollike, nerimon (hindsight yikes), communitychannel, meekakitty, nigahiga, Phil and eventually Dan, etc. A bunch of weird funny nerds with shitty-quality toaster cameras, joking about how they could never tell anyone irl what their job was because "I make videos on the internet" only sounded like porn. And idk I guess it was a more innocent time because people were just beginning to connect with the world via video from their bedrooms but it was still so obscure that they felt comfortable freely sharing themselves online without worrying about repercussions or building barriers between them and their audience. There was a lot of stuff that's completely cringey now but the innocence and intimacy was kinda charming. It feels strange now that there are kids who have grown up with youtube being a huge mainstream business and zillions of youtubers making polished flawless videos with expensive equipment.

Just adding the so far unmentioned fact that either the Fine Bros. are as enamored as we are with Phil’s beauty or they just threw the Phildom a bone, but there was a shot of Phil saying nothing. That doesn’t seem like a good shot in a react video, except for the previous explanation. Also, no one else was filmed reacting silently.

Just editing to mention that I didn’t know any of the other reacters besides John and Hank. Am I really out of touch?

I'm personally not worried at all about the current situation or the future. We now know what led to the hiatus and it ultimately turned out to be a good thing. And I believe they've told us as much as they genuinely could have.

I do crave content but right now I am ready to be patient. I think to us it feels like such a long time since their videos that they should have had the time to produce at least an announcement but the boys have been so busy the past few days that to them it might be "I blinked and it's almost August and we still haven't got around to sitting down and discussing the fine details."

What I am worried about is that a lot of people might be disappointed by whatever the first post-coming out video might end up being. I suspect Dan and Phil will want to return to their usual content and I worry that for a plenty of people, following up the "Coming out to you" video with one of Phil's "things I regret buying" ones will be a letdown to a lot of people.

Ultimately I'll be happy with whatever they do as long as we know they are alive and well.

On the subject of why deppy keep doing Youtubers React vids, I was just watching an old Dan liveshow where he mentioned that he wanted to unfollow like 100 people on Twitter but was afraid of hurting their feelings. So maybe he doesn’t want to do React anymore but is too awkward to turn them down. This may be the last year though, depending whether deppy ever go to Vidcon again. I also think Dan probably felt he should do it this year bc they used BIG in Generations React.