Dan and Phil Part 105: Gay 🧡

[Note]

Did something happen here? Everyone suddenly stopped posting.

[BrothAndBrine]

Maybe sign-in issues or personal issues/growing older and out of D&P or people just simply forgot about this place for a bit. But also, what is there to talk about that has not already been hashed out. Dan had another birthday, we have all seen the videos on YouTube, they went on another phaycation…we all know how we feel about it all (!!!!!!) and just nothing to talk about. If you have a topic from 2006 onward that you wanna talk about, by all means!

Someone recently wrote this, which is relevant:
“I realised I haven't had much to say recently about the content as it's literally exactly what I always thought it could/should be. It just makes me laugh, the absolutely stupid AF Tabitha's tattoo shop that also sells drinks and has a hot tub, the what do you meme, they just make me cackle, even split fiction or friction or whatever it is, the only part of that game that I found interesting in any way was that monkey dancing bit but they made the rest of it so funny too. Bless em, they seem to see be in the right part of their life now, where they should be, being who they are. Said the giant sap apparently “

[literally_formless]

I'm still here! This is what I get for joining a fandom years after its peak, I guess...

I totally agree with what BrothAndBrine quoted; their content right now has just been so fun and carefree and light. I'm hoping for something meatier from 2.0 but Phil's commitment to Light Entertainment makes me also a little doubtful about that?

[000dia000]

I remember this place at its peak when you would log in on a dry Tuesday after being away for 24 hours and see 2-3 new pages to catch up on. Or, if there are 10 new pages, then you knew some shit went down. Those were the days... I guess there's not much to comment on? They're certainly gay (speculation no longer necessary), are most likely in a relationship (what's the point in prodding that?), and they don't get into any drama (they debatably have no friends and don't go outside). So, I guess everyone has just retired and is quietly tuning in just to watch them play their little games.

[000dia000]

I was the last poster here and it's been a month lol

I am a little disappointed that they are concluding the Date Everything series at video #5. I kind of just have to accept the fact that it is a miracle for them ever to finish anything.

I wonder if they ever finish games in their own time, or whether the experience is tainted by playing the game originally for "work". It would be great for them to play some of the games that they enjoy playing in their free time, so that we could get an actual idea of how they genuinely interact with something they enjoy.

[parallel]

Soo. Seems like the "Dan and Phil" rebrand is about to drop?

Just putting some disjointed thoughts I have re "hard launch" discussions since there's no other conversation going on here.

I think what some people find interesting about their content is not the ambiguity of their relationship (you can't really claim it's ambiguous) but the ambiguity of boundaries and privacy. What are dnp publicly presenting their relationship as? It's not clear. The last explicit statement they've made on the issue is that they're private people and don't want to address their relationship—which I think a lot of people took to mean that things would sort of continue as before, just with the elephant in the room acknowledged with a "we know it's there and we don't want to talk further about it". But then obviously dnp make a lot of comments in edited videos (i.e. they could have easily cut them out) that make no sense unless you take them being a couple as a given. This isn't interesting because people are debating whether or not they're a couple; they're interesting because they contribute to the conversation of "what are we mutually acknowledging dnp's relationship as, as an audience towards these YouTubers?".

Like to take something from the latest Date Everything as an example—Dan saying that the emo character was endgame because he was doing Phil's awkward hand thing. That wouldn't be interesting or noteworthy at all if it had happened on a regular "couples channel" (and I do think if dnp "hard launched" these moments would become pretty uninteresting, the same way it's not very interesting now when they talk about being attracted to men). But because there is an ongoing dialogue of "what are we acknowledging", it's an interesting tidbit that helps us answer that question, that they're just putting that in a pre-recorded video.

I hope I'm being clear. Another way of putting it is: if you met Dan and Phil and you were talking to them, would you know how to refer to their relationship when speaking to them? I think we're currently in a situation where it would be at least somewhat awkward to call them "friends" to their face, but due to mostly historical reasons we would probably not want to refer to them as a couple in that situation either. People find the coupley moments in their videos interesting and discussion-worthy because it contributes to answering the question of "what are Dan and Phil wanting us to say they are". A question that is answered for good if they hard launch.

Anyway. I'm intrigued to see what they do next. And, whilst "Dan and Phil" may have been the more professional channel name to go for, I do wish they had just rebranded to "Phan" because it would have been pretty funny.

[nilidh]

Anyway. I'm intrigued to see what they do next. And, whilst "Dan and Phil" may have been the more professional channel name to go for, I do wish they had just rebranded to "Phan" because it would have been pretty funny.

Your entire post was very interesting, but I did pure buckle at that last bit. Imagine.

After the resurrection of DnPG, it's felt very much to me like a You Know, We Know That You Know situation. The example you gave about the endgame romance is interesting as it feels like there's been a few Moments like that that would have caused an absolute storm here had they happened years ago (that's your brand / shut up, Dan writing D♡P in the Make a Wish livestream), but they don't feel seismic as much now because we all kind of... know? And it's much more an affectionate eye roll like you'd give to any other couple on YouTube you're a fan of, rather than something needing analysed to death. It just feels normalised, and wonder if cultivating that was intentional pre-rebrand?

I wonder how long far away the actual rebrand is? I can never tell how organised they are when it comes to things like this:

[princesstalsy]

I think we're currently in a situation where it would be at least somewhat awkward to call them "friends" to their face, but due to mostly historical reasons we would probably not want to refer to them as a couple in that situation either.

Interesting to read your perspective on this, because I've been thinking about this whole kind of thing too - how despite everything about their new content, it's still a question. I don't agree with people who say, "yes we know they're together, yes they've basically confirmed it", because those two are clearly actively making a point NOT to confirm their relationship.

And I previously didn't get WHY they still care about keeping their shit under wraps. Why choose to say things in videos that require them to refer to one another and say "friend"? They are making a point to call each other their friend instead of avoiding it altogether.

Another thing is they still act opposed to PDA and I wondered why. Like there's a clip from that Overcooked fundraiser thing they did recently, where they're standing in such a way with their hands tied together where Phil's arm is hovering awkwardly around Dan as to not touch him. My thought was, what is putting an arm around each other's shoulder going to confirm about their relationship so much more than like, their joint vacation Instagram posts?

Aka, you're obviously together, so why still maintain these little things and not just outright say it?

And I really think the answer is they want a level of control over what people know about them and so they draw lines that appear to be all over the place (at least to me) but that's them taking back control. Yes we will talk all about our domestic life together, make all the jokes and comments, but you don't get to hear us say partner/boyfriends etc. We'll say everything except for actually saying it.

Because.... I think they're making the point that it's not for us to know and they're going to keep it that way. When people talk about a "hard launch" ....... please. You really think Mr. & Mr. "You're not entitled to our private life" are going to outright say We Are In A Relationship and kiss on the lips?

They're not "hiding" anymore, but these two have clearly carefully constructed a level of ambiguity that they feel happiest with and comfortable operating under, and feel strongly about not giving people the satisfaction of knowing.

[Grey]

I wonder if "the phandom" on average has some collective shame around the outing stuff from 2010 onwards since they've both described how uncomfortable they made them starting with BIG and culminating in TIT. And because of that shame, "we" as a collective went the other direction from trying to out them to putting "our" hands over our ears and going "lalalalala I can't hear you" when Dan does things like writes D P on a plate.

I guess I don't think them not embracing on someone else's charity live stream is them trying to keep it ambiguous necessarily. In the same live show was the condiment heart thing. Sure, you could argue Dan just wrote the heart to indicate love for the charity cause, or Dan just wrote it to indicate he loves Phil in a platonic friend way... but I think both of those explanations are reaching in a "lalalalala. Can't hear you" kind of way. In other words, it's not really ambiguous, it's just "us" reaching for the least "phan proof" type of explanation to avoid repeating the past.

It makes sense to not want to repeat the past. And also their actions today are very different than in the past.

Disclaimer: I tried to put things like "the phandom" and "we" in quotation marks to indicate that I realize there are individuals within this group for whom my hot take does not apply.

[helvetica]

I discovered my real life friend is a casual ex fan who occasionally watches and interestingly, they don’t think Dan and Phil are together! My friend is queer so there’s no homophobia involved.

They acknowledge there’s a “platonic love/soulmate” bond strong enough to build a house together. But they jokingly speculated that deppy tried to hook up “at least twice” in the past, but that ultimately Phil is too shy and Dan is too horny to make it work.

So long story short, I think that with D&P keeping what little ambiguity they have is good for their own privacy, and it may not be as transparent to casual fans as we might think.

[fruitcriminals]

Maybe sign-in issues or personal issues/growing older and out of D&P or people just simply forgot about this place for a bit. But also, what is there to talk about that has not already been hashed out. Dan had another birthday, we have all seen the videos on YouTube, they went on another phaycation…we all know how we feel about it all (!!!!!!) and just nothing to talk about. If you have a topic from 2006 onward that you wanna talk about, by all means!

Someone recently wrote this, which is relevant:
“I realised I haven't had much to say recently about the content as it's literally exactly what I always thought it could/should be. It just makes me laugh, the absolutely stupid AF Tabitha's tattoo shop that also sells drinks and has a hot tub, the what do you meme, they just make me cackle, even split fiction or friction or whatever it is, the only part of that game that I found interesting in any way was that monkey dancing bit but they made the rest of it so funny too. Bless em, they seem to see be in the right part of their life now, where they should be, being who they are. Said the giant sap apparently “

Aw that was me! I've not been around as, I just get to enjoy watching them now, they seem to be themselves and that's why I watched in the first place. I started watching Phil first, so got introduced to Dan through him and back then for a short time it was well you can see the videos as few as they are, like it is now, free and easy. I had no clue at the time they weren't open about things you know a lot of people were on social media as 'bi' they were that on their socials I saw so I just literally took it as that like oh cool they are together I guess I had no other frame of reference it didn't at the time before the denial stuff ever register to me I was like oh cool they are really funny good for them they're so cute. And now it's finally back to full circle and I love that for them, not that I mean you know their relationship or sexuality or whatever, is by the by (to me I should add not to them or anyone else), they just seem happy in their videos and I love that for them they have brought me and more recently Mr FC a lot of laughs and happiness over the years so I and I would assume speaking for Mr FC I'd say we, just wish them happiness.

[Susanisnotafish]

I just came back here after actually forgetting about this place for quite a while to say about the 2nd Date Night video - I’m sure they must spend more of their money on travel/holiday than on food? Maybe not though. They eat at least twice a day and only travel once a year.

[parallel]

I just came back here after actually forgetting about this place for quite a while to say about the 2nd Date Night video - I’m sure they must spend more of their money on travel/holiday than on food? Maybe not though. They eat at least twice a day and only travel once a year.

Yeah, that can't have been right. Surely the thing anyone spends the most money on is housing... especially in London.

[alittledizzy]

The second date night video is my favorite thing they've done in a long time. Whatever that vibe was, I need more of it.