#2 is my fav because Julia is amazing but rewatching it it's kind of long and feels like it should end like 5 times | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

thephancast-blog · 6 years ago

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The Phancast Transcript - Episode Two: Fan Tourism

00:00 Opening & Listener Questions

Julia: Hello and welcome to the Phancast, I’m Julia aka ineverhadmyinternetphase on Tumblr and on AO3 and myalgicjulia on Twitter and I am joined by…

Jane: Jane and I am agingphangirl on Tumblr, Twitter and AO3

Charlotte: And I’m Charlotte and I’m charlottekath on Tumblr.

Jane: So this is episode 2 and at the end of the last episode we asked you to send us questions and comments and things that you would like us to talk about so we are going to go through a couple of those now.

Julia: So we got one from someone called missllamaparty and they said:

‘Hi. 💕 I listened to your first podcast, and I thought it was really interesting and I genuinely enjoyed listening to all your thoughts. I personally haven’t been a fan of Dan and Phil for long, I actually subbed to Dan after the channel name change. Because of that, I’m worried that I won’t fully understand or appreciate Interactive Introverts. Also, I’m going with two friends, one who is also a new Dan and Phil fan and one who I can barely stand being in the same room with now. Any advice?’

Well I’d say if you can’t stand being in the same room as someone then maybe you shouldn’t try and make plans with them

Charlotte: On the other hand though, you’re there to watch the show not talk to the people next to you, but also everyone there is a fan so you could talk to some other fans you meet.

Julia: Yeah, we’re going to be completely spoiler free by the way so don’t worry about that but we have been to the show several times together and we saw people making friends with each other and chatting to each other - people in the interval were making friends.

Charlotte: In terms of understanding it TATINOF was very old school reference, but Interactive Introverts would be fine if you’d only been a fan for a couple of months, it’s all current and relevant things - I mean there's the longstanding Dan and Phil references to...not really spoilers but like to houseplants etc, those things that are iconically Dan and Phil

Julia: No if you’ve been watching them for at least a couple of months then you’ll know everything that comes up in Interactive Introverts - I can’t think of anything that you’d be new to, and even if you were new to it in the context of the show it makes sense anyway so I really don’t think you’re going to be missing out on much.

Jane: Yeah it's really a new Dan and Phil show, TATINOF was really a round up of that phase so if you’ve been a fan since the big rebranding as it were you’ll get everything that's in the show. Being a new fan but having people to go with is amazing, like when I was new it took me a while to make friends in the fandom and I don’t know if they are friends you have in real life or ‘phans’ but I think if you made plans with this person when you did enjoy speaking to them and now you don’t enjoy speaking to them you won’t really need to worry - there’s so much hype and excitement you’ll just get swept along with it.

Charlotte: Also you don’t have to talk about anything personal, like just talk about Dan and Phil. I swear I could talk about Dan and Phil - I don’t have any enemies but if I had an enemy - I could talk about Dan and Phil with my enemy.

Jane: It's always easy to talk about Dan and Phil - we created an entire podcast just to do that so..

Julia: So Charlotte - what was the second question?

Charlotte: So anonymous who signed off as (K) on tumblr had a couple of questions for us, firstly what is your fav dan vid, phil vid, and joint video? Julia what’s yours?

Julia: My favourite Dan video is How I Nearly Blinded Myself because I just can’t watch that video without laughing it’s beautiful! I also think its a prime way of Dan telling a story, one thing i really love about Dan is his ability to tell a story and his ability to kind of draw a picture for you and How I Blinded Myself is a really good retelling of something going wrong and wrong and wrong and not getting any better…

Charlotte: And the pistachio muffin at the end!

Charlotte, Julia & Jane: (in sync) And I ate the pistachio muffin.

Charlotte: I was like so happy for him in that moment.

Jane: Yeah I felt that on a visceral level.

Julia: That’s what I mean I think it makes you react in that way because he is such a good storyteller. My favourite Phil video is A Very Sleepless Night with Phil because I really like the sleepless night with Phil videos, I know there is some controversy over whether or not they are actually filmed at night…

(Others laugh)

I know that but I enjoy them because I do have slight insomnia and when I cannot sleep I put them on because I find them really comforting and refreshing - like what weird things does Phil do in his free time, just show me more of this I enjoy it a lot. My favourite joint video is Google Feud number 2 because Dan is toddler in that video there is no other way to describe him he just throws a tantrum and beautiful.

Charlotte: It’s so funny

Julia: Watching Phil react to that is just really funny. So those are my favourites, so Jane what about you?

Jane: Well I did have I Nearly Blinded Myself as my favourite Dan video written down.

Julia: Sorry!

Jane: I feel like I shouldn’t repeat so I’m just going to go with another Danecdote thing so the Bahamas video which I’ve forgotten the name of temporarily - fake fan! That sort of thing where he takes an instance that has happened to him and spins it out into a sort of a skit story time but without all the drama - I was going to say it’s not dramatic but this is Dan we are talking about so it is a little bit, but that sort of video are my favourite ones. But I will use the Bahamas video as a stand in. My favourite Phil vid this was difficult for me because I like quite a lot of them but I think I’m going to go with Viewers Pick My Outfits.

Charlotte: Stole my one.

Jane: Did I? Sorry! Maybe we should have had a conversation about this before. I mean arguably Dan is also there but it was nice I think it was the turning point to Phil being as confident as he is these days? I hope he does a repeat with his quiff - not likely to happen.

Julia: That’s just you being a Phil stan.

Jane: So badly. My favourite joint video I know on our Tumblr about page I put Monster Pops which is very good but I think it’s We’re Moving Out! It changes constantly. I’ve rewatched it a million times, it’s really nice, I think we’ve all spoken about this before but they sort of had to make an announcement because it was a huge thing and people would have noticed there was a difference but they didn’t have to do it in that way. Charlotte what about you?

Charlotte: So my favourite Dan video…well both of the ones you picked I would have said but is probably Daniel and Depression because it was so well done and I just have no criticisms of that video, I’ve rewatched it a million and one times and I’m just really proud of him for that. For Phil I would have picked Viewers Pick My Outfit but it’s all because I think that was one of the start videos of Phil having his new found confidence and I think one of the defining moments for me is actually in the slime video when he says like you’re not my mum and Phil is just out there doing what he wants to do and not caring what his viewers or other people think of him and that's just such a nice refreshing change to see, he just seems so much more happy with himself and his content now. And for the joint video it has to be the pastel edits because there is this one moment where Phil hands...

(Others giggle as Charlotte is predictable?)

...Dan the glowing unicorn and Dan’s like urgh why are you handing me another prop and then he gets it and it starts to glow and he gets very amazed by it and he’s looking at and he’s so distracted that Phil puts up the parasol behind him and it hits him in the back of the head and everytime that happens it just cracks me up, it’s beautiful. It's just like every single thing Phil hands him Dan’s like urgh I don’t want this and then as soon as he gets it in his hands he’s like oh this is amazing, I want these tattoos…

Julia: It just proves that he is soft and not edgy at all.

Charlotte: It’s just hilarious I love it. Also it’s Phil handing him a plushie and there is a history of Phil handing Dan plushies.

Julia: Yeah.

Jane: Oh, don’t do this to me.

Charlotte: You know he’s kept that on the top shelf somewhere.

Julia: Let’s move on before we break Jane.

Charlotte: Sorry, okay, so the next part of the question was ‘what do you guys think about the way Dan and Phil share individually - I mean how open they are, things off limits, giving opinions, online personas?

Julia: I think that they’ve become more open about their relationship, the way they live and what they do day to day, they’ve become a bit more open about that but they’ve done it on their terms which is what I like and why I feel comfortable. They are showing us things that are not just persona heavy anymore - like TATINOF was so persona heavy and they’ve moved on from that but they’ve done it on their terms and they’ve taken control of the situation and I think that’s really interesting because it’s not longer us trying to forensically try to find out what they’ve done and constantly stalking down everything they do (I mean we do still do that but not in the same way as before) but they are letting us in as much as they want to.

Jane: I think I agree with you a bit Julia but it's not so much a shedding of personas because I think that when they started they didn’t like sit down and discuss and construct these fake people they were going to be online and I think as they’ve said before they’re just themselves but turned up to eleven because they are trying to be entertaining, and I think now they are just a bit more defined about themselves about which parts are included in that.

Charlotte: I think K worded the question to about individually and I think that is really interesting because they both are at different levels of openness and what they want to share - like Phil will talk about family life but for Dan that’s off limits and Dan will talk about other personal things and Phil well, he has actually become more open when it comes to his anxiety, but they still are at slightly different levels but I think maybe that works for them and they need to keep that so they have that individually as well.

Jane: I agree, I think also what’s really interesting is the way that they’ve changed their boundaries like Dan obviously did a big statement that he was rebranding and living his truth and all of these huge moves, whereas Phil has just taken smaller and smaller steps until the only really big climax was actually he changed his hair but if you look at it it’s actually so much more than that. He’s a completely different person to who he was back then he just hasn’t made any grand gestures like I’m a completely different person from now on, put everything that used to be me in the bin and set it on fire.

Charlotte: That just sums up their personalities and who they are as people - Dan is a fan of the grand gesture and sweeping statement.

Jane: Exactly, but what it’s meant is that as Phil didn’t make any grand gestures and any giant leaps if he’s wanted to take anything back at any point, and I don’t know if he has but as I haven’t noticed - but that's the point - you won’t notice because he hasn’t said this is a turning point, this is the line in the sand and once we’ve crossed it we can never go back whereas Dan has done this a little bit and I think I think - well I’m speculating - but I think sometimes he gets a little scared of doing those thing and then he tries to go back over the line and it’s not always successful because he’s made a grand statement of something he’s going to do like DITL he’s going to start running the next year and then he doesn’t do it and then everyone mocks him for it. There’s always these grand I’m going to do these things and then if he doesn’t not only is he guilty to himself he is guilty to everyone else he has told he is going to do it.

Julia: Phil is definitely a lot more subtle, and that can aid him sometimes in that there's never as much drama surrounding him as there is surrounding Dan in the fandom, and for whatever reasons whether that’s good or bad I think there it’s definitely due to the way that they present themselves.

Charlotte: Right, well the final thing they wanted to know was what do we think of Dan and Phil’s future? Career, relationship etc.

Jane: I’ve written one thing in my notes and it’s just that it’s not the end, exclamation mark because I’m fed up of reading that, like everyone speculating it's the final tour, everything will change after this, but its not in the future it will just continue.

Julia: Yeah we’re following real people’s lives and their lives aren’t just going to end after the tour they are going to continue living and doing things and there’s still going to be an interest in what they are doing

Jane: I hope they diversify, I hope they do things that they enjoy more.

Charlotte: I hope they do some more seperate things, this merch has been really interesting in that they have got different creative ideas and I think it would be really fun for them to and explore this, like Phil’s always been interested in reality TV whilst Dan is interested in documentaries - do stuff like that separately as well, they both have the clout in the media industry now to start branching out if they wanted to so if there was things they were interested in learning how to do or being part of it’s not completely out of their reach.

Julia: Yeah and they’ve got the platform to go off now, they’ve sold out two world tours, they’ve got a status now so I think they would be respected in doing other things. Also they kind of caving the way…

Charlotte: Caving?

Julia: Caving the way?

(All laugh)

Julia: Leave me alone I’m tired

Jane: Was it carving and paving?

Julia: Yes carving and paving...caving?

(All laugh)

Jane: Caving the way, anyway, sorry carry on.

Julia: They are used to paving the way for things because they were the first YouTubers to do a tour in the way that they did and they were the first YouTubers to do the radio in the way that they did.

Charlotte: Jimmy was on the radio before them wasn’t he?

Jane: I’m not sure…

Charlotte: I’m pretty sure Jimmy was on the radio before hand.

Jane: Yeah but he’s been doing radio since his student days.

Julia: Well Dan and Phil were definitely early in it..

Charlotte: And like presenting the Brits etc…

Jane: Also I don’t know if Jimmy was ever billed as a YouTuber doing radio, I think he was just a radio presenter who happened to do YouTube whereas Dan and Phil were Internet Takeover, they are YouTubers who just happen to do the radio.

Charlotte: Whilst their career is really interesting, what do I think is going to happen in the future? A DOG AND A HOUSE! Goddamnit that's the content I’m here for!

Jane: I’ve already made my thoughts on that very clear!

Charlotte: I recommend everyone goes and reads Jane’s fic The Brochure because that’s what’s happening.

Jane: Yeah that’s our theory

Julia: It’s taken from a conversation the three of us had one night and Jane said I’m going to go write this and we were all like YES!

Charlotte: Although they could build a house…

Julia: Are we going down that rabbit hole?

Charlotte: I don’t know why they’d build a house, but they could build one..but the dog, the dog is really important.

Julia: The dog is so important! We’ve seen them around dogs, we know they want dogs.

Charlotte: I’ve been completely disappointed this year - slightly unrelated - but Tom and Lance had a baby, and I was expecting really fucking good baby content and I’ve had no baby content. Just the back of the babies head. I’m just so thoroughly disappointed I just need Dan and Phil to get a dog so Dan can do so many good instagram stories of the dog - dog first walking, dog first sitting on pillow, dog first going down the stairs, dog first walking into the bathroom - i want it all.

Jane: Who does the dog love more?

Julia: I’ve written a fic about that.

Jane: Dan trying to have rules for the dog but Phil spoiling it

Charlotte: The extra dog toys Phil would buy

Jane: Oh so many! Do they do dog toys on Firebox?

Charlotte: Why don’t firebox just hire Phil as a designer? Can that be his new foray, he seemed really good with merch. Can he just get a line on Firebox?

Julia: I’d buy it.

Jane: Yeah, hashtag get Phil sponsored by Firebox please

Charlotte: Right what was the last question Jane?

Jane: So the last question comes from phantasticflops on Tumblr otherwise know as Maike - I hope I pronounced that right. So the question was actually in reply to the post and ‘So, I’ve been more or less loudly screaming into the void for a dnp podcast for a couple of years now. Initially I wanted them to do one just because I really miss the radio show and enjoyed the audio book so much (but what would they even talk about??). But this might be so much better. I don’t have any actual friends in the phandom, I have people I talk to occasionally and really like, but nothing deep or solid) and my irl friends, although some know and support me in this, obviously have no interest in listening to me talking about them, so this is probably the closest I will get to an actual (not including tatinof and ii where I was able to talk to people irl about them unashamedly) in depth discussion about them with likeminded people. And then they went on to say some really nice things about how they are enjoying the podcast. So yeah, I think I read it and I got a little emotional reading it because it was really nice and that was the same for me, I didn’t have any actual friends in the fandom before I met your two so it is nice to talk IRL with people.

Charlotte: Yeah it’s different from having online friends, or I’ve been in fandoms where I’ve just been a spectator and I’ve not communicated with anyone and it’s fine but occasionally but it’s kind of nice to have people to squeal about to when they do something.

Julia: Yeah the three of us plan a PINOF viewing party every year

Charlotte: Every year?? Like it’s been going on multiple years?? Just the one!

Jane: We’ve done it once!

Julia: But we have plans to do it a second time and I’m planning to keep you both for a long time so it can become an annual tradition. My point being it is nice to have IRL friends to do this with because I’ve never had that before really but it's nice to have people in my city.

Charlotte: All my friends in the Hannibal fandom were other academics and I could only talk about Hannibal sounding smart, like there was all this pressure to make really good media studies observations about the show and the showrunners and I couldn’t say anything like look theres Will in his underwear which was kind of what I wanted to do.

Jane: I agree with both of you but I think equally you can have a really good time in fandom without IRL friends you don’t need people to talk to, it doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy fandom in the same way, and you can’t enjoy Dan and Phil in the same way because there is a good community on Tumblr if you look for it - it doesn’t have to be just you shouting into the void you can talk to people. I mean we all just started commenting on fic, and talking to each other and instant messaging and stuff like that so you don’t always have to have IRL friends. And there’s always people doing projects like this, or other things people making fan videos or fan art or fic and other fan activities that you can get involved in and then talking to them about that. And group chats and discord servers and whatever else it is young people do these days! I think the community is hard on Tumblr because it only really lends itself to having your blog and your dash of people that you’ve cultivated of people you want to follow and you can only talk to people in that way if you reblog it so it doesn’t really lend itself to very well, so I think you have to work for it a little more but its still definitely doable.

Julia: Yeah I think it all just starts with sending a message, reaching out to somebody is the scariest bit - like leaving a comment on somebody’s fic or sending them a message on Tumblr or DM-ing them on Twitter or whatever it might be. Taking that first step is really scary but it does need to really nice things.

Jane: Yeah and next time you want to say something nice about somebody and you go into their ask box to do it - don’t put on anon and then they will see your username and then they will want to be your friend, I mean it worked for Dan so…

Julia: That is true.

Jane: And for all of us

Charlotte: I also think sometimes IRL friends who aren’t in this fandom but are in other fandoms are just as fun to talk to because you can compare fandoms, hear about what's going on in theirs - like me and my cousin are both in fandom but she’s in different ones at the moment but we can still squeal about the things we enjoy to one another, and is nice to see your friends excited for the things they enjoy.

Jane: Absolutely. I’ve got friends who I met in the phandom who are now vaguely not in it and are reading other things but I still talk to them about Dan and Phil whenever they do something and they get it because they were here but they are not necessarily as invested as they used to be, but then they squeal at me about stuff to do with their fandom and I find it really interesting because…

Charlotte: Unless it’s BTS

Julia: Hey that’s rude!

Jane: I’m sorry there’s too many of them I can’t, I’ve tried.

Julia: They are a great fandom to be part of I’m a strong proponent for the BTS fandom right now.

Charlotte: You do you in the corner.

Julia: They’re great!

Jane: They’ve had a long fic out of you so now you need to come back to us.

Julia: I never left! I’m still doing this podcast aren’t I? I still take part in everything Dan and Phil do, I still stalk them as much as you do!

Jane: So I just want to go back to the first bit of this question because I think we dwelt on the second part a bit too much, but them saying that they would like a Dan and Phil podcast - I’ve always thought that as well and I think it would be a great move.

Julia: Yes!

Jane: Because they had the radio show which was amazing.

Julia: And the audio book.

Jane: And the audio book which is also good.

Charlotte: And you know their live shows are just like podcasts as they keep telling us, if they could bring the live shows back from the dead life would be good.

Jane: And it would combine all the things I think/I assume that they don’t like about liveshows, like having to do them at a certain time, they may get into a ramble and want to edit it out later, with a podcast as evidenced now you can go off on a ramble and then edit it out later. So yeah I think it would be a great format for them honestly, like they could just sit down and have a chat for an hour, like it wouldn’t even have to be that structured.

Julia: I’ve said this before and I said it last time, I would literally listen to them read the phonebook so they literally could do anything in that format and I’d be all about it.

Charlotte: Yeah and I love the audiobook I’ve listened to that numerous times. The best bit is Phil recounting his university days every time I listen to it it makes me laugh so much I have to run down an alley and sit on the floor and laugh because I can’t school my face into something that is acceptable in public

Julia: I listened to it the first time on a four hour train journey and I think the person next to me regretted their life choices because I was just giggling to myself the whole way and squealing into my coat like this is such a good thing.

Jane: I do enjoy the audiobook a lot but I have to skip the fanfiction section

Charlotte: Same

Jane: As we know I’ve never read them, I’ve never watched the videos (here and here), I’ve never listened to them read it. I know what they’re about because I’ve heard people talking about them but I’ve never read them or heard them read aloud and I do not intend to! I don’t want to read their fanfiction about themselves thank you, I don’t know why its just a thing that I don’t want in my life. So yeah they are the only chapters I skip, occasionally I have nearly, I fall asleep to audiobooks quite frequently so I have to make sure I start at a chapter after those so I don’t accidentally wake up and it’s playing or put a sleep timer on so it ends before I get there because I don’t want to wake up in the middle of the night and have Dan and Phil narrating whatever it is they wrote in those fic.

Julia: It’s interesting because that for me was the moment that I felt definitely okay with writing fic about them because they’ve done it so clearly they don’t mind like moralistically they have no problem with it so I’m going to write fic about them because they did!

Charlotte: Can I just stop you there because I think we are going to do a mini episode about this topic after we got an email from Amber about the ethics of reading and writing about real people so I think we should hold this discussion for next time.

Julia: You are correct!

Jane: MIni episode coming your way soon because I think we all have a lot to say about RPF and consent and things like that

Julia: Yes thank you to Amber for that email it was really interesting to read about and we definitely want to make a minisode about this

Charlotte: Yeah we don’t want to skim over it, we want a bit of an in depth discussion for that one.

Jane: So that’s all the questions we recieved if you want to send us questions you can send us them in asks on Tumblr or reply to the post, send us an email or you can even record a question and send it to us, all the details are on our Tumblr page.

Julia: Yes and they will be in the show notes for this episode as well

Jane: So do we want to move onto the next thing.

Charlotte: JINGLE JINGLE JINGLE

Jane: Every time

Julia: It’s never going to end now.

24.45 Previously On Dan & Phil

Julia: Okay so now we’re going to look at this month on Dan and Phil, so we got quite a few videos from them this time around one being the Overcooked 2 gaming video which I thoroughly enjoyed because it was absolutely hilarious watching it devolve into awfulness

Charlotte: I think it's just the fact that for the first three minutes they were just rambling oh look Dan’s wearing a hat, oh look at this and at this, Phil picks up the phone and pretends to call reception and I just died.

Julia: Its that moment where Phil’s on the phone and Dan’s holding a bag of crisps and I was just looking at the screen like what am I watching?

Charlotte: Or when they talk about how they could potentially do this as a Dan vs Phil but obviously they don’t go on to do a Dan vs Phil so if you were a new viewer and you saw that bit with no context…

Julia: You’d have no idea what was going on.

Charlotte: We could potentially do this as ‘noises, noises, noises’ and then they just carry on.

Julia: No explanation.

Jane: To be honest I watch every video and I’m still not sure if I know what's going on

Julia: My other favourite moment from that video is when Phil says he’s going to control and Dan’s like right you have to tell me to do everything then, I’m not going to take a step, I’m not going to pick up a thing, I’m not going to use my brain, I’m just going to sit here until you tell me exactly what to do and just turns into a toddler again - I just really like it when Dan throws toddler tantrums, can you tell?

Charlotte: It's because Phil’s just told him to dial down the Gordon Ramsey

Jane: My favourite reaction to that was like ‘I didn’t swear’ because they’ve obviously had a conversation about demonetization and Dan needs to stop swearing because there are all those categories now, so what's included and what's not and they just want to tick that there is no swearing in this video for once

Julia: What’s so funny is that Dan’s so proud of the fact he didn’t swear, like ‘you should be proud of me’ but you’ve been yelling at Phil for 10 minutes

Jane: Yeah you haven’t considered the fact that you’ve been yelling pretty consistently for a while, demanding things over and over again

Charlotte: Also we got the random shot of the room afterwards when they showed us their suitcases

Jane: Yeah that wasn’t necessary on any level but I enjoyed it

Charlotte: Yeah I was like thanks for that, that’s the content I want

Julia: That was entirely Dan being like look at our messy hotel room, look at Phil being a mess

Jane: I’ve just got images of Phil trying to find the cable going through both suitcases chucking things out

Charlotte: And the other thing that we got was the most recent one which was the Sims video

Julia: Which I loved because I love the Sims series, I watch it regularly, it's one of my favourites bits of content that they put out

Charlotte: It was interesting video??

(All laugh)

Jane: So many things were said

Charlotte: Yeah I’m not to sure if Dan was correct and we’ve all be asking for less Dab and Evan and more Dil?

Jane: I don’t know where he’s got that from

Charlotte: Oh my favourite bit of it was when I clocked that when they cloned her that she had been added to their family and there was a full minute and a half where they didn’t clock it then suddenly….

Julia: My favourite thing about that is as much as I want to get a dog, is that don’t give them responsibility because they will just pass it away as soon as they possibly can, they were like no we’ve made a clone, we don’t want the responsibility of having a clone so we’re going to put her back away where we don’t have to deal with her anymore. Its like guys, responsibility, your actions have consequences….

Jane: At the beginning of the vid when they said Phil had been playing it to level them up and then they come back I was half convinced at that point that point in the video that actually they’d cheated up those levels but later on, I can’t remember the exact thing they say, but it's quite obvious that Phil has been playing it and Dan’s just been watching him play it, because Dan now understands all the dynamics of how they can get the employees at work to do things and he says something about how we’re always making you do stuff and I was like that’s not been in an episode so you’ve been playing together so it’s not just been Phil doing it, and it’s really cute.

Charlotte: Yeah because that’s the first time that they’ve acknowledged playing the Sims off camera isn’t it?

Jane: Yeah...I do wonder if they’ve ever done it before, people have speculated that they may have done

Julia: Yeah if things don’t quite add up or seem a little bit off like maybe they were playing it and did a bad save and so went back to where they were before

Jane: Do you reckon they’ve ever killed Dil and had to go back to an earlier thing?

Charlotte: Probably at the beginning

Julia: I wouldn’t put it past them because they really struggled with doing anything at the beginning. My other favorite thing about that video is that they were both in Phil’s merch and it just warms my heart when they do things like that.

Charlotte: Well that was the other thing that’s this month in Dan and Phil - Phil’s merch!

(All cheer!)

Julia: I’m so excited

Charlotte: It’s so good!

Jane: We’ve all ordered some!

Julia: Yeah we did a big joint order

Charlotte: He dropped the merch when we were on the tube trying to get through London

Jane: We had to stop on the platform to have a look at it and have a bit of a scream and then we were looking at the hoodie and the pins and I was like has he not done a tshirt, no wait he has done a tshirt and we clicked on it and the photo loaded, and we were all like try new things!

Julia: It was a good moment

Charlotte: It’s so nice and it's so Phil and it’s so thoughtfully done, even the website down to the about page he’s put in so much effort in this.

Julia: Yeah the handwritten note is really adorable, it’s such a nice touch and it’s such a thing that Phil would do

Jane: I love how all the things go together, but they’re not really samey, it’s not like the same thing copied a million times, and there’s not like loads of it there’s just enough of it

Charlotte: Yeah it’s like a little pocket collection, and it all matches like it has the same aesthetic and it has some running motifs and stuff, I really really like it.

Jane: There's a tiny throwback with lion

Julia: I know, I love that

Jane: It's really, really nice because obviously Dan did his throwback with the eclipse t shirt, yeah I really really like it - that try new things t-shirt is my favourite

Charlotte: I’m so excited for that to come

Jane: Apparently it's really, really soft. Someone got one from the pop up shop and was tweeting about it, I don’t remember who that was - really sorry - but yeah they were saying it’s really soft

Julia: I can’t wait til the fox jumper arrives, like as soon as I saw Phil wearing it I was like I’ve made a good life decision by ordering this object, I need it.

Jane: I’m so glad they’ve moved into the ceramic pins market because I love them

Charlotte: Yeah you have loads on your bag haven’t you?

Jane: Yeah I do.

Charlotte: I really liked Phil’s merch, it was better than I was expecting.

Julia: But the socks sold out before we could get them which I’m mad about because I wanted those cactus socks, because they are such a Phil object

Charlotte: His merch sold out fast

Jane: It did, I’m so proud of him

Charlotte: Tha must be a good feeling because he’d really put a lot of care and thought into the designs

Julia: I think that's why it took so long to get here like he really did put thought into every single object although I’m still laughing at the fact they really did take those photos in a bush. So he put thought into it but also they did that.

Jane: If you laugh at anything, laugh at the fact he did a countdown of one day. Did you see me reblog that Tumblr post, that was the best thing.

Charlotte: Maybe he didn’t do a countdown because Dan was so offended when he said he was going to do a countdown in that live show and Dan was like what?? We’ve got other things to do, how dare you! And it's like chill, its a countdown on Twitter, it's not going to interrupt you filming your LA show

Julia: I also love when Phil said oh my merch is coming tomorrow and Dan was like but you had all those GIFs ready and he seemed so sad that Phil wasn’t going to get a chance to use them.

Jane: He still did use them.

Julia: We tried to guess when the merch was dropping based on the GIFs and how many of them there would be and we guessed midnight and then it dropped at like 7 when we were travelling, frustrating.

Charlotte: That was bad timing. So yeah, hopefully this means Dan will do some more merch afterwards if this sells well.

Jane: Yeah.

Julia: That would be nice

Charlotte: Because I really preferred Phil’s but I love Dan’s aesthetic so MAKE SOME GOOD MERCH

Jane: I said it last time but if he did some nail polish or like a candle like something different which I know is more difficult to do

Charlotte: Yeah but it's hard to do socks and Phil has managed it

Julia: Yeah there are ways around it, I think Dan just had his ideas around him merch set for several years and so when the opportunity came to do it, he was like I’ve got all these ideas even if they are a bit outdated, but I think he will do an update, not that I hated what he did its just..

Jane: I think he was just aiming at a different target audience that I am, like that particular selection of items.

Charlotte: I’d like some more joint merch, you know with just the D&P like the hoodies and on the back of the phone case, if that's going to be moving forward their subtle branding I like that.

Jane: Yeah if they just put that on the top left of a t-shirt I would wear the heck out of it

Julia: I do like that they’ve both gone slightly more subtle with their merch, it's not like Dan and Phil written everywhere.

Charlotte: Yeah but Phil’s is not subtle like it doesn’t have anything on it like just a plain t-shirt, Phil’s is like full patterned across everything but its not..

Jane: It doesn’t say AmazingPhil

Julia: Yeah like it’s got foxes all over it but it’s such a Phil thing to do

Charlotte: Like the Try New Things design is amazing.

Jane: It's much more adult which is what I like because there’s not like a cartoon lion which obviously as an adult you can still wear that but…

Charlotte: Its cartoon foxes instead!

Jane: Maybe it’s just me, but if I’m at work and we have a dress down Friday I could wear the Try New Things t-shirt to work, I wouldn’t feel weird about that like I’m not going to get anyone being like what is it? It’s just a cute t-shirt with a slogan on it that’s inspiring and motivational.

Julia: I did do a university presentation that counted towards my grade in the galaxy t-shirt and nobody clocked it

Jane: I just like how its a bit more, because you know I’m old in fandom terms, a little more my age demographic

Julia: Janes branding is old and tired

Jane: I’m fine with this

Charlotte: What’s my branding?

Both: Jingle jingle jingle jingle

Charlotte: Bad jingles? Thanks.

Jane: Also getting really high pitched when you’re excited about things that happened in videos

Julia: Yes that is also what Charlotte does. I don’t even want to ask about what my branding is. Coughing in the corner probably.

Jane: Talking about Yu-Gi-Oh when nobody wants to hear about it

Julia: Rude!

Jane: Defecting to other fandoms

Julia: Let me have my other fandom interests but I left Yu-Gi-Oh a long time ago, let me live!

Jane: Then stop talking about it! (Laughs) We were going round Forbidden Planet yesterday and we saw a Yu-Gi-Oh thing and I was like not now Julia

Julia: Shh! It was Yu-Gi-Oh and I liked it, it's part of my past but Jane was like but you’ve moved on to better things. You’re offending everyone in the Yu-Gi-Oh fandom.

Jane: Sorry Yu-Gi-Oh fandom. Apologise if you’ve stumbled here and I don’t know how you’ve got here, I’m sorry.

Charlotte: So the final thing we wanted to talk about that they’ve been doing is the end of the US tour, and now they are in Australia

Julia: And their instagram stories are still going on, although Phil definitely timed the ones the ones on the flight, I don’t think they were actually from when they were in the air

Jane: Half of me things maybe he’d done them all, didn’t have WIFI and then got WIFI or delayed or...either way it was really funny. I think they are just used to delaying posts when travelling so people don’t know where they actually are at any given point which is smart, but it was still hilarious when it came and it was like you’ve actually landed 10 hours ago Phil

Charlotte: I’m glad they are keeping up the instagram stories like we are getting a lot of content

Julia: Although I will question why they were annoyed by the cold on the beach when Australia is in winter right now, do they understand about hemispheres and seasons?

Jane: No

Charlotte: I mean do they have any warm things other than their merch? Are the jackets the warmest things they have?

Jane: Where’s the snazzy yellow jacket.

Charlotte: Yeah Phil’s raincoat!

Jane: That would have kept you warm on the beach, not that I’m complaining about him being in the denim jacket though

Julia: Your Phil stan is showing again Jane

Jane: Sorry!

Charlotte: The US tour just felt so fast I can’t believe that bits over already

Julia: It was so intense how many shows they had in so few days, they went hard on that bit.

Jane: I’m glad they’ve got a couple of days to relax now, is it the 19th the next show?

Julia: I don’t know, that’s bad

Jane: Their in a different time zone so!

Charlotte: It’s just the fact that in the last live show they were talking about thinking about going home, like it’s coming to a close soon.

Jane: Yeah, it is.

Julia: It’s going to be strange!

Jane: There’s not that many shows left and then there’s the TBC ones at the end obviously. The elephant in the room.

Charlotte: Hmm, yes.

Jane: Yeah we don’t know what’s happening, we just have to take it at face value, they’ve said they are working on it so let's assume they are working on it.

Charlotte: Yeah

Julia: Exactly.

Jane: No doom and gloom

Charlotte: I’m hoping now they’re doing some travelling in some countries that Phil’s never been to before like New Zealand and India we’ll get some Instagram stuff from there.

Jane: The India IG stories are going to be so good!

Julia: Also I really want them to go to hobbiton in New Zealand

Jane: They’re so tall!

Julia: I know but it will be so good!

Jane: It will be like Gandalf arriving without the need for perspective.

Julia: That’s why it would be so good, I need it!

Charlotte: They are so big!

Jane: Ooh they should recreate, you know that one they did at the Brits?? Where they were stomping through the mini London.

Julia: That was Phil’s picture for ages wasn’t it?

Jane: Was it?

Julia: On his Facebook? On his personal facebook. Not that I have his personal facebook.

Jane: I don’t know Julia, I’m not a stalker!

Julia: Rude!

Jane: No it was probably just before my time.

Julia: Maybe it was before, but it was his profile picture for ages on Facebook, it was going round Tumblr though I didn’t find it…

Charlotte: Isn’t now it one of the pictures from the dog calendar?

Jane: The green one isn’t it? With the plants and the trowel that was under his bed?

(All laugh)

Julia: Also they filmed the LA show of Interactive Introverts and they’ve said it will be released at some point for everyone to see which I’m really really excited about.

Jane: Everyone is speculating Netflix, which is good but I really want a DVD with extras and behind the scenes.

Charlotte: I don’t own a DVD player.

Julia: We’d get one, we could get one for this.

Jane: I think my only problem with it being Netflix is that it’s really cool that lots of people will see it, if they can get same day worldwide release which I don’t know how hard or easy that is but it would be that it doesn’t exist like permanently, like I can’t own that, so I’d like it to be somewhere where I can own it like not even something tangible but you know like a digital download?

Julia: That’s true, so you know you’re not going to lose it.

Jane: Yeah because I’ve been burned before by Netflix getting rid of things. I add things to my queue like oh, I’ll watch that later and then I don’t and then it’s gone forever. I’m hoping that it is somewhere that lots of people can access it as well because obviously there is - especially if they don’t get the TBC dates - a lot of places where nobody has been able to see it and obviously no matter how many places they go to there’s always going to be people who can’t go because they don’t want to actually go to a show or it’s too far away or they can’t afford to go, whatever, like I think it would be nice to put it somewhere where everyone can see it.

Charlotte: They’ve implied that it’s going to be a fast turn around which would be really nice actually.

Jane: Yeah I hope so.

Julia: Yeah because then we don’t have to worry about continuing to try and remain spoiler free.

Charlotte: I also think that they’ll want to finish it so that will be the end of the chapter of Interactive Introverts and they won’t want to drag that out for 2000 years.

Jane: And if they did it, if they do it a few months before Christmas, then if anybody want to then they could ask for it as a Christmas present.

Julia: Yeah that’s true.

Charlotte: They need to get it out they way before Spooky Week, PINOF and Gamingmas.

Jane: Yes, that is true

Charlotte: Yeah that latter bit of the year, it needs to come before those.

Jane: So September, end of September seems like a good time, would be good for them to release it but I’m sure they’ll release it ‘when the time is right’.

(All laugh)

Charlotte: Oh, when the time is right. Yeah.

Jane: Sometime in the soon.

Charlotte: I wonder what will come first, a DINOF video or the stage show.

(Others groan)

Charlotte: Sorry, sorry!

Julia: We don’t want to talk about DINOF videos.

Jane: No, no we don’t.

Charlotte: No we don’t need to go there.

Jane: Let DINOF go for a bit.

Charlotte: Right shall we move onto this week's topic?

Julia: Yes!

Jane & Julia: Jingle, Jingle, Jingle! (Laughing)

Charlotte: There you go, you guys did it for me, so much for branding.

41.03: Topic of the Week - Fan Tourism

Charlotte: So this week's topic, we wanted to talk about Fan Tourism, kind of because we came down to London to to the Day In the Life stuff (based on these videos) and so we thought it would be interesting to discuss.

Julia: Yeah we’ve literally spent the last day going round London and doing exactly what they did in DITL. So yesterday we went all round like Covent Garden, and we went to Forbidden Planet...and we tried to go to the Starbucks and then then Starbucks was closed down.

Jane: It was so upsetting, we came round the corner and it has all these boarded up windows with signs like ‘we��re working on refreshing your store’ and it was like ‘Nooooo!!!! We’ve come so far!’

Charlotte: And now the thing is the inside is going to be completely different.

Jane: I wonder if it will still have the same condensation problems?

(All laugh)

Julia: I just like imagining you walking in like I like this new refurbished Starbucks but do you still have condensation problems?

Jane: I would really like to go and draw a Christmas tree on your window.

Julia: Yeah but it led to some really interesting conversations about being fannish and how that works in person and how these places take on a new meaning because Dan and Phil have gone there, like normal tourists don’t come to London to go to specific Starbucks

Charlotte: Or to go and hug the ‘Google statue’

Julia: Or refer to it as the ‘Google statue’

Charlotte: Oh yeah it has nothing to do with Google

Jane: Or to go and hang out around the astrology shop and have the person inside be like what are they doing out there, why are they taking so many photos of the front of our window?

Charlotte: That must look quite strange.

Julia: It must, but I’m interested in how this has become a thing that fans do to feel closer to Dan and Phil, like even when filming the DITL was probably something to Dan and Phil that they did like four years ago and they don’t hold the same significance to those places that we do as viewers.

Charlotte: Well 100%, they didn’t film near where they lived, it was somewhere in Central, this is not places that they go to all the time they just seem to have wandered round Covent Garden pointing out places and yet these places have been given significance by the fandom.

Jane: It’s been really cool to go places that are otherwise insignificant like a Starbucks in a random corner….

Charlotte: Or a random pub

Jane: Yes a random pub, or like a bit of art that I’m sure has a lot of actual meaning that the artist intended it to have but not just that some ex-emo tried to hug it once. Like they didn’t expect people like us to turn up and actually hug it.

Julia: Or to go in the black telephone box which had a woman outside it who looked so confused. There was a beautiful photo of Charlotte standing doing peace signs and this woman is just staring at her like what are you doing???

Jane: I think there was a lot of that yesterday like, what are you doing?

Charlotte: There’s points like when we were in Piccadilly like that is an actual tourist spot where people are - Dan and Phil actually comment on it - taking photos of big advertisements so we go there and take the pictures too and become literally the tourists they were talking about.

Jane: Yeah but there’s another layer on that like we are not doing this because of the tourism of the place we’re doing it because of Dan and Phil going there which is just odd.

Julia: It’s an interesting way to do fandom, because it’s not like buying merch, it’s not doing something that they’ve put out there for fandom to consume, it’s like going along with something that they did and feeling closer to them because of it.

Charlotte: Well it doesn’t benefit them, we’re not consuming anything directly related to them anymore.

Jane: Yeah there’s this travelling places and going places that they’ve gone and you feel a bit closer to them, or somehow them going to those places is like a recommendation that it must be good?

Charlotte: I mean look at where we are going tonight.

Julia: We’re going to a sushi restaurant that we know Dan had his birthday at..

Charlotte: And Phil had his birthday at…

Jane: Phil’s in 2016 and Dan’s in 2017…

Charlotte: And it’s the same building that the Duck & Waffle is in which is where they take Cat so…

Julia: We know they like this spot and we’re going there because we know they like this spot.

Jane: Yes and we’re going to spend all of our money because of them because it is very expensive!

Charlotte: Yeah we had to book two months in advance just to eat some sushi.

Jane: Yeah and even down to we worked out which cocktails they may or may not have ordered…

Charlotte: But it’s fun!

Julia: Yeah it’s about feeling closer to them but it’s also about feeling part of something I think, like there’s this secret hidden meaning that when we do these things we are part of a secret group, like not exclusionary like we are part of something…

Jane: Like we’re in the know, like you go to these places and everyone else just views you as being a bit strange in public maybe or enjoying a nice restaurant for what it is but we’re there like oh thats the seat where they sat…

Julia: Or that’s the corner they took the photo in because we also did this with Jimmy, we went to The Ivy Cafe which we know Jimmy goes to quite a lot

Jane: And he geotags that so…

Julia: Yeah he did geotag that so we didn’t completely stalk him!

Jane: He put it on Instagram so…

Charlotte: He geotagged it and I happen to live close by so we went and it was fun!

Jane: It’s a really nice place actually!

Julia: It’s really nice, but when we were sat there we were like oh that’s the corner he took the photo in and we were matching the artwork and Charlotte went to the toilets and came back and was like I saw the dogs, wait not the dogs, what is it?

Charlotte: The owls! There are owl photos in the bathrooms.

Jane: Honestly if that table of mums hadn’t been there I would have probably gone over there to have a ‘look’ at the paintings on the walls. Oh what a nice painting!

Julia: It’s just a nice feeling about being in the know about something and having an extra meaning to where you are.

Jane: Yeah these places are nice by themselves like going to places in London, but having it be a fan activity is also really nice.

Julia: And it translates to what you buy too, like we all own Dan’s horn hoodie because we were all like it looks really comfy - and it is really comfy - but we all had this feeling of oh now we own something that Dan owns independently, or people who listen to the same music that Dan listens to feel like oh now I feel closer to him because I’m listening to what he’s listening to.

Charlotte: Or like when people who don’t live in the UK want to try Ribena because they talk about Ribena all the time, there is always layers.

Jane: Or maltesers!

Julia: I’ve definitely sent Maltesers to an American friend to be like look this is what they taste like.

Jane: Yeah I’ve given them to friends in other countries before.

Julia: And its nice to have that extra feeling of closeness to them.

Jane: And it's not always something that they’ve directly bought like like a branded item like sometimes you get stuff that just reminds you of them like..

Charlotte: Your compression socks!

Julia: Yeah I was saying earlier, I have to wear compression socks because of part of my health condition and I was looking online for some and there was one that was black with white lines crossing it and another that was red with black dots all over it and they looked exactly like Phil’s ladybird jumper and Dan’s jumper with the lines….

Jane: The grid jumper.

Julia: Yeah and I was like I can’t not buy these, so I now own compression socks that are Dan and Phil related. I’m also crocheting a blanket and I was using this wool that was like black with gold specks and I was looking at it like this is a really Dan object…

Jane: Like his phone case…

Julia: Yeah and then I ran out of wool and needed some more so I needed some more and was like I’m going to buy a blue and green one so it can be a Dan and Phil blanket and like nobody else will know that but to me it has that meaning.

Jane: Yeah I get that sort of thing, it’s like a way to be stealthy fannish.

Julia: Yeah like without it being obvious to other people, but other people in the know might be like…

Jane: And it might just be something you acknowledge to yourself as well, like I’m trying not to mention the fact I bought grey jersey bedding and my partner doesn’t know why I bought it but thinks that it’s cool, and that’s not something that everyone else is going to see, I mean grey is obviously the colour scheme of my house anyway but yeah I have maybe a subtle nod to the bedding that Dan has.

Charlotte: I just love that your partner doesn’t know.

Jane: He likes it though!

Julia: Will he listen to the podcast though because he might know now.

Jane: He listened to the first episode but he might not listen to this one.

Charlotte: Do you think that one of the other things that appeals to people about doing things or buying things that Dan and Phil have is that it keeps them very relatable and very close to us, like for lots of celebrities and even other YouTubers who flaunt their lifestyle the things that they do are so inaccessible so you couldn’t copy your favourite movie star, you couldn’t go to the restaurants that they go to, you couldn’t buy the things they buy because it’s just completely out of your budget and reach? Whereas I think with them, yes they go to some slightly fancier restaurants and yes Dan has some more expensive clothes but they haven’t really changed from when they started.

Julia: It’s their original interests but elevated, like we still love going to the cinema but now we go to a cinema that gives us fancy popcorn.

Jane: Yeah but it’s even like other YouTubers, I won’t name names, but other YouTubers…

Charlotte: You can name names

Jane: Well like Joe Sugg and his ilk, they all go to clubs and they’ll do like the VIP bottle service which fans could never hope to create because unless you have a name you can’t get on that VIP list and you can’t do those things. But yeah like Dan and Phil might go to some fancy restaurants and they might have fans might be priced out of it but it’s not an exclusive experiences, it’s not like you have to be a celebrity to do those things, you can go and do them, they are within reach.

Julia: I think that's probably why they do so well, is that they are still relatable, like you don’t look at them and think OMG they’re rich millionaires even if they are

Jane: I mean I don’t think they’ve changed like we’ve heard it from multiple people that they’re just like really nice and really lovely like regardless of how much money they have or how famous they are or what their numbers are or anything like that.

Charlotte: Yeah like some of the other YouTubers are look look at my flashy cars, look at this etc and these are things you can’t emulate even if you wanted to.

Jane: Whereas Phil is like look at this golden pig that I bought.

(All laugh)

Jane: And nobody wants that.

Charlotte: What is the story behind the golden pigs and the moon room mirror?

Jane: I’m going with the theory.

Charlotte: It just cracks me up like why Phil, why do you need that object.

Jane: Yes.

Charlotte: Although Phil’s just such a good millionaire to be a fan of because he just buys so much crap like you know when you’re on the Internet and your like I wish I could buy this but obviously within my budget I can’t buy this or I can’t afford to pay my bills, well Phil doesn’t have this worry so he sees a pair of slippers made of grass and is like I must have these and there is nothing stopping him. It’s great I can like live vicariously through his weird purchases!

Jane: He is the 3am purchase we all wish we could make.

(All laugh)

Jane: Sorry that sentence was not formed correctly and it sounded like I’m trying to buy Phil at 3am.

Julia: Knowing you you probably are to be honest.

Jane: If I could I would. Amazon prime next day delivery.

Charlotte: Dan would not be pleased about this.

Jane: He could come too!

Julia: Shall we move on?

Charlotte: I don’t know is there anything else we wanted to cover I feel like we’ve missing some of the things we discussed earlier but…

Jane: I think we could probably talk about how we get things because Dan and Phil endorse them by talking about them but they are not an official endorsement but we don’t necessarily feel the same way about their actual brand deals because they don’t feel like they are actually related to Dan and Phil.

Charlotte: I mean we know they’re not, like I’ve downloaded some of the app games they’ve sponned..

Julia: Charlotte means that she downloaded Love Nikki when they uploaded that video like 7 months ago now and plays it every single day and has not missed a day since then.

Charlotte: And has spent quite a lot of money on it. But I don’t relate that to them at all like I know posted that video but they never picked that app up again and I’m under no false impressions that they did, it’s very different when they are doing the brand deals. The only thing I can ever think they had a brand deal with a they use is Crunchyroll. Like I genuinely think they use Crunchyroll.

Julia: Yeah I think there is a difference between it being something that they do in their daily lives and fans picking up on it and them doing a brand deal.

Charlotte: Like for instance, if I had to say what cereal I associate them with whilst they’ve done a brand deal with Krave, I don’t associate cereal with them I think of Jordans Crunchy Crisp or Crunchy Nut Cornflakes because they’re the ones we’ve seen them eat. So it’s a slightly different thing - brand deals vs what we know they use in real life.

Jane: Yeah which is why I think that before there were rules about having to tell people that it was a brand deal that sort of thing worked, I think I’m talking even pre-YouTube when you would just have celebrities drop it into conversation in interviews and stuff that this was the brand of cologne they wear like you know Marilyn Monroe saying she only sleeps in Chanel No.5. or whatever perfume it was, it was aspirational selling because people that people looked up to were using these items and therefore if you had that item you might be able to get that lifestyle or be like that person, or be closer to that person. Whereas now because the rules have changed and they have to tell you that it’s a brand endorsement, it may well get you to click on that app game or check it out just click on the link and download it because they might get better link with that brand or more money for their forever home but the choice to keep that app on your phone is because you have played it and enjoyed it and it’s not I’m doing this because I think Dan and Phil play this game.

Julia: That's very different, it's interesting to me because people want to use influencers to sell their things but in selling their things they are doing it in a very different way to fans that just find something they like because they want to be like Dan and Phil, like I don’t think people or we certainly don’t buy their games or look into what they sell because it’s them that’s doing it we might do it because we are interested in what they are, but when it comes to stalking them or going where they went…

Jane: Stalking them!

Julia: You know what I mean!

Jane: Not literal stalking, please don’t put this in the court of law as evidence

Julia: Not actually stalking, just what we did yesterday like going round doing the DITL, like that has a very different feeling to downloading stuff because they played it.

Jane: And we’re going places that anyone can go, like if they go to somebody's house we’re not just going to force our way inside somebody’s house.

Charlotte:...Welll….

Jane: It’s just going to be where they were so those things are accessible, but I know what you mean like you wouldn’t do things just because they did it because it was them.

Charlotte: Like if it wasn’t something that they opted to do themselves. It’s a bit different when we know they are being paid to do it. Like I’ve downloaded all the app games but i don’t really associate them with Dan and Phil anymore.

Jane: But that’s not to say I resent YouTubers or anyone else for doing brand deals

Charlotte: Well it is a good portion of their income so for a lot of them

Jane: And I have had things recommended to me and I’ve been like this is good, and I’m glad that that happened

Charlotte: Yeah I’ve watched a few more like lifestyle vloggers recently and I’ve actually bought a couple of things on their recommendation so I guess maybe I’m just not the brand audience that Dan and Phil are targeting some of these games at maybe I’m not the ideal customer.

Jane: I mean we are slightly outside of their demographic

Charlotte: At least for their paid brand deals.

Jane: So with recommendations of things in mind, should we move onto our recommendations for fanfiction?

Julia: That is a smooth way to get into it!

Jane: Smooth segway.

Julia: Yeah let's move onto our fic recs.

56.50 Fanfic Recommendations

Jane: So we have a bit of a theme for fic recs for this month, but then we’re also going to give some that we’ve been enjoyed recently, but the theme is when Dan and Phil are tourists or when they are not in London or Manchester or somewhere we would say is home for them in whatever universe that happens to be in the fic.

Julia: So I’ll say mine first I picked two that fit with the theme where they are tourists, one ‘So Many Stars’ by @transdimensional-void which is a really long fic that is really slow burn but it’s my most reread fic in this fandom I just went through this phase where it was all that I read and all that I talked about and I absolutely loved it to pieces. The rough premise is that Dan and Phil are teachers in Japan, Dan is new there and Phil has been there a while, Phil is actually in a relationship with somebody else when Dan turns up and it’s his feelings about Phil and Phil suddenly realises he has feelings for Dan and it’s an exploration of their relationship. Plus the descriptions of Japan made me want to go there even more than I already wanted to so I think that was successful.

Jane: I think two scenes really stay with me from that fic, and it was a while ago that I read it, but it was one with the hot springs I believe and then there was one where they go on a trip or something...an educational trip? And they are in a room and they put the sleeping mats down

Julia: Yes!

Jane: And they are far apart and then they get closer. Those two scenes stick with me because I think the descriptions are really immersive.

Julia: Yeah I think the writing is really exceptional in the way that the author describes the scenes, like I have a really clear picture of that fic when I think about it.

So that’s one of my recs, my other fic rec is ‘Letters in Bold’ by snsk who I’m aware that I recced last time but I just really love their work, I just think their writing is really good. This one is set in Malaysia I believe, and it’s a really lovely, fluffy fic - it’s a proposal fic but more than that it’s just an exploration of Dan and Phil’s relationship and they are so in character in it, I was rereading it earlier just to remind myself and they were so in character, I was giggling and laughing as I read it. I could hear their voices in it and it’s like a calming, warm fuzzy blanket fic. It’s just so warm and soft and lovely.

Jane: Is that the one of the beach with the shell?

Julia: Yes!

Jane: I remember it, it’s a good one.

Julia: I just think it’s really warm and happy. Charlotte do you want to do yours?

Charlotte: Yeah my tourist ones, so my first one is not just one fic it’s actually a series…

Jane: Always with the loopholes!

Charlotte: I’ll pick two out of it commonemergency or @nihilismdan‘s ‘as is ever so on the road’ which is their tour fic series that they’ve been doing and there is something about the way they get inside Dan’s head, like not just even in this tour series but in all of their fics - sorry I’m really just going outside the recs her - but it is just perfect and I love it, but particularly ‘confide in the low light’ which is set in Russia and the most recent one which was set in Vancouver which was ‘give me one night (you’re going to see me in a new light’ which was a really good exploration of Dan sort of coming to terms with tour winding down and thinking about the future, it was just really perfect and so I’m really, really enjoying that series

My second one is for travel and tourist is, well it’s not really travelling as much but it’s Campfire by @waveydnp

Jane: Loophole!

Charlotte: Shh! They go camping, I don’t know how far from Manchester it is but they are definitely not in Manchester. So it was written for one of the fic fests I think and I really like it because it’s 2010 them and ridiculously in love, and when I first saw it i was thinking Dan and Phil and camping?!? Can’t really envision this but it’s exactly what would happen if Dan and Phil went camping and were struggling to put up the tent and everything just being a bit of a fail because they are not outdoor humans, and also I love any fic that explores relationships with Phil’s parent’s and Dan so I do quite like that as a background to the fic. And what about you Jane?

Jane: So my first one is ‘Slumbering Heart’ by @cosmogenies, I think I’m pronouncing that correctly. So it’s sort of a slice of life fic where they are on holiday, well Dan is on holiday with the Lester clan and Phil’s got some sunburn then they go for a walk along the boardwalk and they get some fried dough and there are a lot of themes of Dan not being able to express what he is feeling at that moment and Martyn and Cornelia are there and there’s a lot of parallels drawn between the two and there’s some illicit hand-holding in public and how Dan feels about that and it being an act of bravery where it shouldn’t be and it’s really just a nice piece that explores their through processes in this tiny moment between them in Florida.

My second one is ‘english countryside - 08.25.17’ by @nihilist-toothpaste, this is a really introspective piece from Dan’s point of view whilst on a train journey from Edinburgh back home and it’s written in three parts and it’s detailing the exact train trip that you would go on. I think there are two that you could take from Edinburgh back down to London and this one goes along the coast and it’s early morning and there’s footsey, and Dan’s journaling and Phil’s trying to give him privacy to do that whilst reminding him that he is there, and they listen to some music together and it’s just really calming and the imagery in it is really lovely. There’s also this moment in it sort of towards the end where Phil’s taken a photo of Dan looking out the window and he toys with the idea of putting it on his Instagram and he relates back to how he did it in Singapore, how he just put a photo of Dan on his Instagram, and I was just rereading it today so I could talk about it on the podcast and it reminded me they do that all the time now…

Charlotte: Yeah it’s changed!

Julia: It’s normal now.

Jane: It’s not an event for Phil to share a picture of Dan on his instagram or vice versa, they do it all the time.

Julia: It’s interesting how they’ve moved on.

Charlotte: I mean literally they went to Russia and Dan was like here’s some site seeing things and here’s Phil on an escalator, like this doesn’t even have anything touristy in the background, this is just Phil on an escalator.

Julia: Yeah like them appearing on each other’s instagrams now is so normal now, like you don’t even question it when it is just the other person.

Jane: I think the stories allow for them to do that a little more, plus like I love how we know now unless it’s very obviously a selfie that we know that the other one has take it!

Charlotte: I just love that moment in the background of one of Tomska’s vlogs where Phil’s taking the pictures of Dan and he’s just moving his head around and Tom is just like I can’t, I can’t with these two.

Julia: That’s a good moment.

Jane: Also when they are on the top of the mountain in the first one, where are they?

Charlotte: Denver.

Jane: Was it Denver?

Charlotte: Yeah it was when there was Sarah and Martyn up there.

Jane: Yeah and they go up the thing and Dan’s doing a video but Phil doesn’t know he’s doing a video and he’s all like sit on the rock, do the thing, so that’s obviously a normal interaction if Phil didn’t clock that Dan was doing that for a video.

Charlotte: It’s quite sweet.

Julia: It’s a good moment.

Charlotte: So Julia, what was your favourite current fic?

Jane: Or one that you are enjoying at the moment.

Julia: One that I’m enjoying at the moment is Flares by @huphilpuffs, which I’m only a couple of chapters into so far so I don’t completely know the whole plot but I am really enjoying it and the writing is really immersive. Also, for me personally I find it quite relatable because in it Dan suffers from fibromyalgia and it’s basically an exploration of him leaving university because of his Fibro and not being able to work well even though he does get a job but he’s struggling and Phil comes along as his roommate and Phil’s kind of the only one that understands a little bit what he’s going through and actually tries to help him. And I suffer from M.E. which is really similar to fibromyalgia so it really nice to read a fic where some of my issues that you don’t normally read about suddenly come up and it’s wonderfully written as well and I think the characterisation is really good, like I really like the way that she is exploring Dan so I would definitely rec that to anyone whether you have a chronic illness or not.

Jane: It’s nearly finished isn’t it?

Julia: I think so.

Jane: I can’t wait, because then I’m going to read it all.

Charlotte: There is also a good time stamp - the pride one - for it as well.

Jane: Oh yeah that’s in the same universe isn’t it.

Charlotte: Yeah that's in the same universe and had a really cute ending.

Jane: I didn’t read it because I was waiting for Flares to be finished.

Charlotte: Remember to go back and read it, it’s definitely worth it.

Jane: We’ll put notes to both in the show notes. I don’t know why I pointed downwards, we’re not on YouTube.

Charlotte: No we’re not on YouTube.

Julia: So Charlotte what about you?

Charlotte: So my current fave, I’ve realised we’re reccing the same author is by @transdimensional-void as well and was actually finished this morning and it’s called Wifey. It’s a genderswap one that deals with transphobia where Dan is trans or gender non-binary and Phil is a girl and they both work at a Mall, Dan or Dani work at the MAC store and Phil works at the apple store and they end up meeting on their lunch break. But it's interesting because it plays with, well they don’t do YouTube but it’s not their full time careers but by the end of it they have both sort of cemented their relationship, it’s their first good and healthy relationship with one another and also gone if in a different direction with their careers and it uses lots of canon details. I finished that this morning and I’d totally recommend that to anyone but I’m also going to be cheeky and say @waveydnp Dee and Fi series.

Jane: I love that one.

Charlotte: I’m just really enjoying this trend in fandom to play with gender a little more and I really hope that we see a bit more because I love thinking about Dan and Phil and bringing gender into the question brings up many questions like what would be the situation, what would be the impact that it has and I think that's fascinating.

Jane: I think the Dee and Fi does that, like they are literally YouTubers in that, they just happen to be women, like nothing else has changed yet so many things have changed like how their audience interacts with them, views them, how popular they are and I think it is a bit of a commentary on our society and how we view things like that. Yeah it’s really good.

Julia: So Jane, what about yours?

Jane: Mine is Love Yourself by @imnotinclinedtomaturity, so it's not finished yet but Dan a musician and Phil is a YouTube/barista and works in a local coffee shop just down the stairs from Dan’s flat and it has all of the things that you would expect from that dynamic. Dan’s in a relationship at the start with a really awful woman and things slowly develop over time and it’s just one of those fics that you sort of just know what you are getting and it’s really, really good and I’m really enjoying it, it’s just really fun to have something like that. Plus it’s really well written and the chapters are really long so whenever I get a chapter in my inbox and I’m like excited that I’ve got that to read later. And there's lots of cute things and we’re getting to a really good part.

Julia: Yeah I keep seeing that one come by on my Tumblr dash and meaning to click on it.

Jane: Yeah it is really good and we’re all eagerly awaiting to find out what the album is going to be that Dan’s writing, it’s really good. So that’s what I’m enjoying at the moment.

1.08.31 What We Are Looking Forward To & Goodbye

Jane: So that’s it for this episode.

Julia: Yeah that is it for this episode but we will be back next month and we’re looking forward to whatever else is going to happen this month with Dan and Phil, what kind of things are we expecting?

Charlotte: Well the end of the tour, I’m hoping now they’ve got a much slower schedule they might do a little more touristy stuff on the way and especially since they are going to countries that Phil’s not travelled to before, and Martyn and Cornelia have joined them instead of the other merch team, because everyone else has headed home but now we have Martyn and Cornelias so hopefully we’ll get a few more touristy, hanging out as couples dates.

Julia: Seeing what else happens with the tour and how it ends will be interesting I think and how they make is accessible for everyone.

Charlotte: And finally getting back to our timezone!

Julia: Yes!

Charlotte: That’s going to be good!

Julia: Although I am enjoying waking up to them doing things

Charlotte: Yeah it is nice to have Instagram stories every morning.

Jane: Yeah it is, we might by the time we have the next episode know where the filmed show is going to be released.

Julia: That’s true.

Charlotte: Oh and isn’t there a second gaming video that had already been filmed that they talked about in the last live show? They mentioned the Sims and then they mentioned something else as well.

Jane: Oh did they?

Charlotte: So I’m assuming there is a new gaming video very, very soon.

Julia: Which is exciting.

Jane: There will probably be some more live shows because they still haven’t announced the winners of the giveaway yet.

Charlotte: This is true.

Julia: Liveshows will continue to be a mess.

Jane: I’m interested to see how the shout-outs will work, I thought they’d just start doing them at the end of gaming videos the way that they have been but maybe they’re going to do them main channel, I don’t know. We’ll see, we’ll see how that goes.

Charlotte: So next topic that we’re going to look at will be fandom and the fourth wall.

Julia: Yes so we’ll be looking at how much Dan and Phil should know about what we’re doing and where the line should be where they don’t know what we are doing

Jane: And equally how much we should know about what they are doing I suppose.

Charlotte: I think it works both ways, so we’ll be recording that and our minisode where we’ll be talking about..

Jane: RPF and consent

Charlotte: Yeah from Amber’s email.

Jane: Yeah, so that’s it.

Julia: But there will be more from us.

Charlotte: So if you have any questions or comments, asks or anything from this episode you can send them on email, on Tumblr or tweet them to us, and if you want to record an audio clip we can put it in the next episode and likewise if you have any thoughts about fandom and the fourth wall you want to share with us beforehand you can send them to us

Julia: Yeah we’d love to hear from you and we’ll include as many people as possible - probably everyone to be honest.

Jane: So that’s it, thank you very much for listening and we’ll see you next month, bye!

Charlotte: Bye!

Julia: Bye!

#transcript #the phancast #podcast

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