#essential phannie history

[pseudophan]

nora can i just ask… WHAT was he thinking? how was that lie ever going to work when they were doing everything so publicly in 2009? sure you can delete stuff but he must have known it was still out there anyway right? isn’t it pointless to be like i didn’t watch his videos when he was commenting on the interactive adventures like his life depended on it ?? he was trying to convince people he just happened to be in manchester one day with a friend and he just saw phil ???? when we all saw you counting down the days to meeting each other online like WHAT

https://x.com/pinofdnp/status/1855973085771387187?s=46

tweet link (it's one of the infamous 'we met through a mutual friend' claims)

to be fair to them both, if the phandom wasn't as unhinged as it was (is) they could've gotten away with that lie. kind of. dan and phil are hardly pr experts but this isn't really too crazy a move, like yeah the people who know the truth will always know the truth but if you tell a lie enough times then in theory new fans, and people who just never looked into it, are gonna go with your version of events and not question it. the main issue for dan and phil specifically was that their fanbase was essentially built on and around speculation about their relationship and cataloguing any and all proof of it. new fans and casuals often believed the lie at first just because like, why wouldn't they, but the second they stepped foot into the phandom they obviously discovered the not-so-hidden truth, because you didn't have to be a shipper or be looking for Phan Proof in order to come across it, all you had to do is search dan and phil on literally any website with a prominent phannie presence

to their credit they seemed to realise it wasn't gonna work pretty quickly, they abandoned the 'mutual friend' story almost immediately it feels like. then they went with the 'yeah we met online but we met up to collaborate' angle but i kind of feel like they didn't go too hard on that one, probably because they had finally started to learn that Oh My God Say Less Please Say Less Always Say Less Stop Talking Jesus Christ. like by far the most damning part of the clip in the tweet is dan insisting on being like "a lot of people seem to think-" about the actual truth like girl why would you plant that idea in the heads of those who hadn't heard it before. just say you met through a mutual friend and move on like fbsdhjfbdjksf. also at that point they kinda didn't give a fuck anymore, by the time they gave that infamous editing tips interview in 2015 they had long since abandoned trying to convince anyone they didn't meet because dan was an amazingphil fan and desperately wanted to befriend him because of it. the only part they were trying to hide at that point i would say was the whole y'know, fucking and sucking of it all

this whole reply is way too rambly and idk if it makes sense but i guess my point is IF dan and phil had a more casual core viewerbase (and also didn't give up on the lie immediately. and dan was less blatantly defensive about it) they probably could have made it work in the long run, even with the amount of evidence against it. i would go as far as to say that if not every then at least nearly every single influencer/celebrity/public figure of any kind have readily available information about them out there that most people, even fans of theirs, don't know about literally just because they wouldn't think to search for it. like how often does a Major Scandal break about some celeb and some people in the comments are like yea this has been known since 2004 everyone just stopped talking about it, lmao. not that dnp being gay for each other is a scandal but you know what i mean

basically they started telling that lie just as their popularity skyrocketed and i guess the hope was that the massive influx of new people would allow them to rewrite history, but alas...

[adziedoodle]

Hey Adzie! What are your thoughts on people, such as ImAllexx, accusing the Phandom of essentially ruining Dan's life and preaching that we basically shouldn't knowledge their bond/potential relationship at all, if you don't mind sharing?

(just want to apologise for all the commas and dashes -  I honestly have no idea when the right time to use one is i just do it when my brain pauses in a sentence and it makes it easier for me to process what i’m saying when reading back ahaha)

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I don’t really want to watch a monetised discussion video to Dan’s coming out video tbh. From what I’ve seen others who have watched it and have saide about what it involves, it seems Alex is jumping on a misinformation and inexperienced-of-the-phandom-history train to voice an opinion and create more talk about and in a community that already has a bad public image from (understandably not so good) past behaviours of certain individuals/groups of individuals. 

Again, I doubt this was Alex’s intention, and I think without proper pieces to the puzzle, it’s easy to fill the gaps with your own opinions and speculations of the people involved. Heck I may be being a bit hyprocritical here for not .. watching the video but… err … overall, I mainly trust Nora’s @pseudophan​ judgement that she expressed in her reply tweets here because it’s my understanding she’s a fan of Alex’s videos usually and I feel like she’d be able to shape an opinion  regarding his content and new video better than I could :). I also agree with others who are adding to the points Nora gave (the majority seem to be saying this).

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Speaking outside of Alex’s video - There’s been this weird rise of people saying stuff along the lines of ‘DON’T FETISHISE DAN AND PHIL, STOP MAKING THIS ABOUT PHAN’ … and I just wanna add my two cents…

1) in regards to fetishising - I want to argue the majority of folks NOW aren’t sexualising dan/phil/their relationship - from what I’ve seen, solely on twitter mind you, it’s just folks reminiscing or being reminded of on old content that’s already public and applying a new context now that we know more about Dan, and from this, enjoying the idea of two, now out, queer people being happy together (in interactions or in a relationship) ☺♡ That can sadly still be a rarity in this world we live in, so it’s honestly just… heartwarming to see! People should be allowed to enjoy that!

I think I’ve mentioned this before already, but I speak for myself as a queer person when I say I’ve always resonated with both Dan, Phil, their experiences, and their seemingly growing harmonious, happy and safe relationship, even before I really knew I was queer myself, and now I have more knowledge about who they are and what that means to them themselves, it ultimately shines a more validating light over all of what they’ve done together and shared with us ♡ 

I believe if others like me wanna express that joyful reassurance (or any other feeling, or just general joy for dan and phil) in the form of a fan fic, fanart etc. - which dnp, even before they were out, have both expressed multiple times is OKAY, and even taken part in themselves both in TABINOF, their videos and TATINOF, and II. It’s simply a form of creativity, feeling and I honestly think D&P have expressed enough. They GET IT and it’s okay to do.

To reiterate, boundaries should be established and respected, but overall I believe the majority of people are happy for Dan (and Phil) and their relationship they have. If I haven’t impled already -  it’s empathy, it’s relatability, it’s forming a community and expressive art of all kinds in that community around those things. 

I’d also argue, there are those who wanna disrupt all that jazz, those who don’t feel the same way (not the ones who don’t mind/care like y’all chill but the ones who get angry at it all or feel the need to protect Dan and Phil from ??? it??), are usually the ones who ignored and denied this outcome of Dan (and/Phil) coming out / being together ever being a possibility in the first place. 

Yes, there is definitely an issue of folks sexualising online personas of real people, and it’s hard to tackle because it’s still so new in the grand scheme of things… and yes, fetishising queer people in general, outside of the phandom, is very much a thing …but I want to believe most of those/us involved in the phandom have grown from and past the evidence folks (like Alex) used which, from what I’ve seen people say, is dated.  I want to believe it’s different, we’re different now and from that… I want to believe one of the reasons Dan came out now is because he’s felt that change and difference too.

2) In regards to ‘phan’ - Dan made it clear in his video, his queer story, that Phil was a vital part of it. Phil was a vital part of his growth in feeling safe and happy and it’s likely without that, Dan wouldn’t be where/who he is today or out and proud like he is now.  The audience/phandom who’d I’d argue are of a majority queer/LGTBQIA+ which adds a whole over layer I’ve already expressed embracing and continuing to love this aspect of Dan’s life that/who happens to also be Phil, is not on the same level as someone being like ‘omgggg phan is real’ or ‘omggg my ship is canon!!’.  I feel like this is a very common misconception people have of the [demon] phannies/people who appeared to ‘ship’ D&P… in and outside the phandom.

I want to put forward also that generally speaking ‘phan’ is a term used to abbreviate ‘dan and phil’s relationship’, usually in romantic/sexual/whatever contexts, so in a way, yes, at the same time, TECHNICALLY, ‘phan’ is and has been real, but NOW, with new context (and for those who discovered/concluded this for themselves before Dan’s video), it’s not about shipping or our perception of what D&P’s relationship is, so ‘phan’ as a term isn’t necessary – and, really wasn’t ever but !! language is annoying.  – it’s about the reality of D&P and what their relationship is to each other. 

Personally speaking, I’ll say what I’ve said for the last few years when I moved away from ‘shipping’ them and seeing myself and my relationship in them/theirs… I just like seeing two people I care about, care about each other and be happy together. The layers of them being men expressing themselves openly with each other (and us), men who have experienced something ‘more than romantic’ together, queer/gay/out men who describe themselves as ‘soulmates’ is significant too. They’re going to mean something to people and honestly to just say that we’re ‘making it about ‘phan’’ as a ship, is not cool and a misunderstanding of what’s really happening. 

I think, if people want to use the term ‘phan’ for convenience (e.g. I use ‘phan’ as a tag just to categorise any content to do with dan and phil, it isn’t to do with their relationship aside from the fact that they do stuff together) instead of using the clunky ‘dan and phil’s relationship’ phrase like I have been doing throughout this reply - that’s like.. okay.. imo. It’s not ideal, sure, but, it communicates what you’re trying to say clearly! Again. Language is annoying, communication is hard when it is.

here are a few other cool tweets with points that I attempted to repeat but honestly don’t do justice so please read for more insight into all this (and if you’re gonna say anything, be nice to the OP’s pls #nicerinternet):  X , X, X, X , X this one isn’t entirely related but it made me cry so, X , X , X,

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I hope.. I worded this okay.. I may come back and edit it . anyone’s welcome to add what they think in response to anon’s original message! thank you for sending your message anon and allowing me a chance to get my rambly thoughts out!

[pseudophan]

As a newer phannie studying for the tit tour, do you think their live shows are key media to watch to understand The History? Are there just a few in particular that are important?

first of all i'm obsessed with the idea of studying for the tour but like you're so right for it, that's probably a good idea for anyone who's not up on all the lore. as for the liveshows hmm i feel like they're not necessarily essential viewing mostly because there's no chance they remember anything that ever happened in any of those. apart from like, full time internet homo