Dan & Phil Part 47: Do it with Dan!

[Lain]

Came to check out the birthday header, stayed to cry over rizzo's Dan appreciation post.

My sister turns 34 tomorrow so I'll be busy celebrating with family, but also looking forward to whatever birthday shenanigans Deppy choose to share with us.

[SneakyLizard]

...he is good, you guys. he is a good soul. and he tries his best. and sometimes he does stuff that we question, but when you look at the bigger picture, i think there are few people in this world who are so worth stanning.

he engages with and respects his audience. he maybe doesn't upload as often what we'd like on his channel, but he works his tale off to make sure we get the fairest and best experience when it comes to his endeavors, whether it be books, tours, meet & greets, merch. he takes his time to explain himself if he feels he needs to. he encourages people through hardships, but also partakes in phandom stupidity. he's just friggin' great.

THIS

I'm new here, first post. And that's what I wanted to express. I found these two in March, when I really needed a happy distraction. I kept watching because dammit I *like* them. I *like* Dan. He is so much like my little sister, and I see her less than I'd like now she's married. It's so nice to have a secondary source of good-hearted snark and oddly endearing awkward on hand. Here's to a wonderful birthday for Dan, and a year full of good things and growth.

[anime_is_not_cool]

[offtopic]

Any one else appreciate Jon Cozart's transparency/approach regarding his bisexuality? It's easy to draw parallels to Dan, in fact I think Dan drops more male attraction hints than Jon. But Jon did take the transparency one step further, and though he never posted a coming out video or anything like that, last year his friends threw him a Coming Out Party and he posted a pic to Insta with a banner made of the bisexual pride colors...
Makes me wonder why Dan doesn't drop a similar, if subtle, confirmation? I think it always ties back to his relationship with Phil—a connfirmation in either direction would erase some of the plausible deniability that exists now regarding the true nature of their relationship.

[/offtopic]

[offtopic]

I was actually thinking about this today, specifically in context of the DUP/Conservative cluster fuck.

So before I 'came out', I could choose to keep relatively quiet about LGBT+ issues. I was engaged in politics (14 y/o me tried to persuade everyone I could to vote Lib Dem - which led me to discover my grandad was a lifelong Lib Dem supporter. Go figure), but I felt like I could pick and choose? I left my comments on marriage to 'I don't want to marry until everyone can' and I didn't have to say anything more. After I 'came out' (I never said anything about my sexuality, just said I was in a relationship with a female and let everyone accept that), I feel like I have more of a responsibility to comment on things. Like Pulse last year, like equal marriage, like being vehemently against the DUP deal. I never explicitly said I was queer but now I feel like I have to raise my voice to queer issues all the time.

I'm not going to pretend to know Dan in any meaningful way, however he strikes me as being quite similar to myself at times. I feel like for him, if he came out as LGBT+ he would be put into a position that I don't necessarily think he wants to be in. He may surprise me on this, but it is only recently it seems that he's been more open with politics. His fanbase would want him to be an authority on LGBT+ issues, whereas now he can be a layperson. His fanbase would be vicious if he came out and wasn't the perfect LGBT+ role model; and I feel like Dan doesn't necessarily want to be in that position. Currently, if he was out he would probably feel like he'd have to be commenting MORE on political issues publicly, and that is a bad mix when you have a fanbase who are deep in call-out culture, and can and will turn viciously on those who say something even interpreted as problematic. This is without it also potentially outing Phil, and it being fairly hard for him to say ANYTHING about his sexuality without commenting on the nature of his relationship with Phil. Anything other than a confirmation of complete heterosexuality would mean a Phan confirmation, even if they weren't together. Phil would also have to comment, or Phan would have directly be addressed.

However, if we are indeed living in a 'post baking video universe', maybe this is him beginning to drop hints? I feel like Dan is currently testing the waters for something , as he is being more political, he's rebranded, he's addressing a need to be more private, and he is presenting himself as less heterosexual. I have been out of the 'loop' so to speak since about late-2014, early 2015, and current Dan is very different to the Dan I stopped watching. He seems happier, and more sexually ambiguous. Maybe he is preparing to come out as LGBT+, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised by that. Although this isn't the first time I thought a coming out was imminent. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he is testing the waters with politics and the LGBT+ references. It would be a good way of weeding out people who would react negatively to his sexuality.

Sorry for the wall of text - but basically I feel like if Dan was to come out however subtly he did so, even if it WOULDN'T be taken as confirmation of his relationship with Phil, he would be placed into a position that I don't think would be good for his mental health. I don't think he wants the position as LGBT+ advocate, and I think that is now a large part of the reason we have no yes/no on Dans sexuality OR a definite yes/no on if they are anything more than two friends. Furthermore, I think Phil would handle that situation better, as he is SIGNIFICANTLY less politically outspoken than Dan.

[/offtopic]

[offtopic]

just your friendly neighbourhood queer poppin' in because this is personally such a big thing for me

Hasn't he though? I mean, his identity seemed pretty clear from the diss track.

like onetruetrash said, dan has made his identity clear. he doesn't want to be labeled and is not coming out (atm. ofc people's identities sometimes change and if some day daniel realizes that he is only attracted to toasters and dogs dressed as humans and wants to announce that, i'm not saying he couldn't.) if you have been in phandom for a while, you know that dan doesn't want to make any statements (as he has said in live shows multiple times), gives hints and dodges telling facts, and if you compare that to actually putting this into a video on his main channel:

i think it's fair to say that he has made a clear statement about his sexuality (especially when you combine his "formless blob" comments). how is he still closeted? he talks about good-looking men all the time. ofc there may be some people who think that if he was "actually out", he would for example talk about his experiences (like coming out to family and finding out he's not straight etc, you know the basic lgbt+ youtuber video topics) but i think that's part of the whole issue and why he hasn't made any videos focused on his sexuality: he wants to make "quality content" and to be branded as "deep dark and dank", not "that gay youtuber". (not saying that he couldnt for example make a very good danecdote about some personal experiences, i mean that as it would gain a fuckton of attention and he would have all those 14 year old tumblr shippers screaming in the comments, it would move the focus from quality videos (which we all know he is aiming for) to his sexuality)

as a confused teen not finding any label comfortable (even queer is too much sometimes), dan's example made me realize that you don't need to send invites to everyone you know and jump out of a rainbow cake covered in glitter. he's actually the only one i've ever seen (on the internet or irl) to subtly make people aknowledge that he's not straight, and it's been kinda important for me (and, i'm pretty sure, for some other people too). and it's not only about inviduals, it also helps normalizing sexual fluidity and openness, and some day we could live in a world when you don't have to come out at all.

everyone here is ofc projecting 24/7 and analyzes things from their own perspective, so im sorry if this sounded rude, but im just trying to remind you that its possible to be not-straight and not come out officially or use a specific label !

[/offtopic]

i'll do a proper hbd post tomorrow lol

[pastelspectre]

HAPPY 26TH DANNYFIRE

lovin the banner. also apparently my friend shares a birthday with him and i didn't know. aw snap.

[onetruetrash]

[offtopic]

Any one else appreciate Jon Cozart's transparency/approach regarding his bisexuality? It's easy to draw parallels to Dan, in fact I think Dan drops more male attraction hints than Jon. But Jon did take the transparency one step further, and though he never posted a coming out video or anything like that, last year his friends threw him a Coming Out Party and he posted a pic to Insta with a banner made of the bisexual pride colors...
Makes me wonder why Dan doesn't drop a similar, if subtle, confirmation? I think it always ties back to his relationship with Phil—a connfirmation in either direction would erase some of the plausible deniability that exists now regarding the true nature of their relationship.

[/offtopic]

[offtopic]

I was actually thinking about this today, specifically in context of the DUP/Conservative cluster fuck.

So before I 'came out', I could choose to keep relatively quiet about LGBT+ issues. I was engaged in politics (14 y/o me tried to persuade everyone I could to vote Lib Dem - which led me to discover my grandad was a lifelong Lib Dem supporter. Go figure), but I felt like I could pick and choose? I left my comments on marriage to 'I don't want to marry until everyone can' and I didn't have to say anything more. After I 'came out' (I never said anything about my sexuality, just said I was in a relationship with a female and let everyone accept that), I feel like I have more of a responsibility to comment on things. Like Pulse last year, like equal marriage, like being vehemently against the DUP deal. I never explicitly said I was queer but now I feel like I have to raise my voice to queer issues all the time.

I'm not going to pretend to know Dan in any meaningful way, however he strikes me as being quite similar to myself at times. I feel like for him, if he came out as LGBT+ he would be put into a position that I don't necessarily think he wants to be in. He may surprise me on this, but it is only recently it seems that he's been more open with politics. His fanbase would want him to be an authority on LGBT+ issues, whereas now he can be a layperson. His fanbase would be vicious if he came out and wasn't the perfect LGBT+ role model; and I feel like Dan doesn't necessarily want to be in that position. Currently, if he was out he would probably feel like he'd have to be commenting MORE on political issues publicly, and that is a bad mix when you have a fanbase who are deep in call-out culture, and can and will turn viciously on those who say something even interpreted as problematic. This is without it also potentially outing Phil, and it being fairly hard for him to say ANYTHING about his sexuality without commenting on the nature of his relationship with Phil. Anything other than a confirmation of complete heterosexuality would mean a Phan confirmation, even if they weren't together. Phil would also have to comment, or Phan would have directly be addressed.

However, if we are indeed living in a 'post baking video universe', maybe this is him beginning to drop hints? I feel like Dan is currently testing the waters for something , as he is being more political, he's rebranded, he's addressing a need to be more private, and he is presenting himself as less heterosexual. I have been out of the 'loop' so to speak since about late-2014, early 2015, and current Dan is very different to the Dan I stopped watching. He seems happier, and more sexually ambiguous. Maybe he is preparing to come out as LGBT+, and I honestly wouldn't be surprised by that. Although this isn't the first time I thought a coming out was imminent. However, I wouldn't be surprised if he is testing the waters with politics and the LGBT+ references. It would be a good way of weeding out people who would react negatively to his sexuality.

Sorry for the wall of text - but basically I feel like if Dan was to come out however subtly he did so, even if it WOULDN'T be taken as confirmation of his relationship with Phil, he would be placed into a position that I don't think would be good for his mental health. I don't think he wants the position as LGBT+ advocate, and I think that is now a large part of the reason we have no yes/no on Dans sexuality OR a definite yes/no on if they are anything more than two friends. Furthermore, I think Phil would handle that situation better, as he is SIGNIFICANTLY less politically outspoken than Dan.

[/offtopic]

[offtopic]

just your friendly neighbourhood queer poppin' in because this is personally such a big thing for me

Hasn't he though? I mean, his identity seemed pretty clear from the diss track.

like onetruetrash said, dan has made his identity clear. he doesn't want to be labeled and is not coming out (atm. ofc people's identities sometimes change and if some day daniel realizes that he is only attracted to toasters and dogs dressed as humans and wants to announce that, i'm not saying he couldn't.) if you have been in phandom for a while, you know that dan doesn't want to make any statements (as he has said in live shows multiple times), gives hints and dodges telling facts, and if you compare that to actually putting this into a video on his main channel:

i think it's fair to say that he has made a clear statement about his sexuality (especially when you combine his "formless blob" comments). how is he still closeted? he talks about good-looking men all the time. ofc there may be some people who think that if he was "actually out", he would for example talk about his experiences (like coming out to family and finding out he's not straight etc, you know the basic lgbt+ youtuber video topics) but i think that's part of the whole issue and why he hasn't made any videos focused on his sexuality: he wants to make "quality content" and to be branded as "deep dark and dank", not "that gay youtuber". (not saying that he couldnt for example make a very good danecdote about some personal experiences, i mean that as it would gain a fuckton of attention and he would have all those 14 year old tumblr shippers screaming in the comments, it would move the focus from quality videos (which we all know he is aiming for) to his sexuality)

as a confused teen not finding any label comfortable (even queer is too much sometimes), dan's example made me realize that you don't need to send invites to everyone you know and jump out of a rainbow cake covered in glitter. he's actually the only one i've ever seen (on the internet or irl) to subtly make people aknowledge that he's not straight, and it's been kinda important for me (and, i'm pretty sure, for some other people too). and it's not only about inviduals, it also helps normalizing sexual fluidity and openness, and some day we could live in a world when you don't have to come out at all.

everyone here is ofc projecting 24/7 and analyzes things from their own perspective, so im sorry if this sounded rude, but im just trying to remind you that its possible to be not-straight and not come out officially or use a specific label !

[/offtopic]

i'll do a proper hbd post tomorrow lol

[offtopic]Thanks! And I agree with everything you said! It's kind of the "why should I come out when I wouldn't need to come out as straight"
mentality that I think he has as well.

His subtly is great, but I don't understand why the Phandom still theorizes and asks questions when the answers are right there in front of them. [/offtopic]

[droopy]

[offtopic]

just your friendly neighbourhood queer poppin' in because this is personally such a big thing for me

Hasn't he though? I mean, his identity seemed pretty clear from the diss track.

like onetruetrash said, dan has made his identity clear. he doesn't want to be labeled and is not coming out (atm. ofc people's identities sometimes change and if some day daniel realizes that he is only attracted to toasters and dogs dressed as humans and wants to announce that, i'm not saying he couldn't.) if you have been in phandom for a while, you know that dan doesn't want to make any statements (as he has said in live shows multiple times), gives hints and dodges telling facts, and if you compare that to actually putting this into a video on his main channel:

i think it's fair to say that he has made a clear statement about his sexuality (especially when you combine his "formless blob" comments). how is he still closeted? he talks about good-looking men all the time. ofc there may be some people who think that if he was "actually out", he would for example talk about his experiences (like coming out to family and finding out he's not straight etc, you know the basic lgbt+ youtuber video topics) but i think that's part of the whole issue and why he hasn't made any videos focused on his sexuality: he wants to make "quality content" and to be branded as "deep dark and dank", not "that gay youtuber". (not saying that he couldnt for example make a very good danecdote about some personal experiences, i mean that as it would gain a fuckton of attention and he would have all those 14 year old tumblr shippers screaming in the comments, it would move the focus from quality videos (which we all know he is aiming for) to his sexuality)

as a confused teen not finding any label comfortable (even queer is too much sometimes), dan's example made me realize that you don't need to send invites to everyone you know and jump out of a rainbow cake covered in glitter. he's actually the only one i've ever seen (on the internet or irl) to subtly make people aknowledge that he's not straight, and it's been kinda important for me (and, i'm pretty sure, for some other people too). and it's not only about inviduals, it also helps normalizing sexual fluidity and openness, and some day we could live in a world when you don't have to come out at all.

everyone here is ofc projecting 24/7 and analyzes things from their own perspective, so im sorry if this sounded rude, but im just trying to remind you that its possible to be not-straight and not come out officially or use a specific label !

[/offtopic]

i'll do a proper hbd post tomorrow lol

[offtopic]I agree with this analysis a lot. Maybe it's just because I relate to it so much lol,
but like, if this is the case for Dan, then it's really easy for me to see where he's coming from.

Even though, looking back, I was this way my entire life, for the first 20 years of my life, I thought I was straight. With the exception of one person, I've never come out, because I don't know what to label myself. So, instead, I've just recently begun... well, not dropping hints, because I'm not being intentional, but basically I'm open and natural about how I feel about whom. I have no desire to "come out," but I don't have a desire to hide, either. And I 100% understand if Dan didn't want to put himself in the position to be a representative/activist, because I feel the same way. Maybe I'll change my mind, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Anyway, all that to say that I agree with everything said above, and that it makes sense;
I know Dan and I are completely different people, so my personal experience in no way confirms his, but I did want to add my experience to the discussion because I feel like there's this "either-or" when it comes to defining your sexuality these days: either you come out and announce it to everyone and display your experience to the world, or you're in the closet. And I think, because everyone is so excited that we CAN be open about who we are (which is an amazing thing), we sometimes forget that there are also those who just quietly are who they are without any explicit labels or explanation, and that that's a separate, perfectly valid way to live.

EDIT: Also, re: why the phandom still theorizes and stuff, I think it goes back to that "either-or" mentality of either making a big announcement or being in the closet. Plus, a lot of the phandom probably care more about his *cough* relationship(s) than his sexuality itself, and/or they can't stand ambiguity and want a clear-cut answer (which I'll admit, despite relating to and hardcore respecting his decision not to "come out," I'll still remain a tad curious, lol).[/offtopic]

[dontpanic]

Also worth considering that perhaps Phil isn't keen on controlling the games and actually asks Dan to play. It's not a conversation we're privy to so it's unfair to assume Dan's a controller hog. And they're 25 26 and 30 not 5 year olds we need to supervise during playdates. If i was a bit of a clutz with game controls and millions of people were watching, i would actually insist my friend take over.

I feel bad, but I don't want phil to control PC games like the Sims and Undertale.

I love when phil plays games (especially mariokart, can they make another mariokart vid??) but when he controls those type of PC games the view always ends up being super jerky and unfocused (the spongebob version of slenderman comes to mind, I remember feeling a tad carsick when phil was the one controlling the game). since dan's a ""gamer"" (who's apparently good at sex) he's prob comfortable banting and controlling a PC game simultaneously, while for phil it would prob be either/or. I like phil's bants too much, and I'm not too salty since dan's gotten a lot better at waiting for phil's input before clicking on something in-game.

in all, this is why I want them to play more console games.

he is good, you guys. he is a good soul. and he tries his best. and sometimes he does stuff that we question, but when you look at the bigger picture, i think there are few people in this world who are so worth stanning.

he engages with and respects his audience. he maybe doesn't upload as often what we'd like on his channel, but he works his tale off to make sure we get the fairest and best experience when it comes to his endeavors, whether it be books, tours, meet & greets, merch. he takes his time to explain himself if he feels he needs to. he encourages people through hardships, but also partakes in phandom stupidity. he's just friggin' great.

This is a beautiful way to describe him.

Sometimes I forget how differently dan interacts with his subscribers compared to most internet personalities. He may not regularly engage with his audience through vlogs, snapchat, etc., yet it feels like he shares just as much, if not more of himself on a very personal level. he tries so hard to make people feel special, like the "header for dan" thing and the personal way he replies to people on twitter. there's a reason he's branded as #relatable--he doesn't hide how he's a person with feelings who makes mistakes, just like he tries to ensure people know it's valid to have feelings and make mistakes as well.

Today's national "be absolute dan trash" day, so I'm allowed to be sappy tbh I'm just glad I got to see his transformation from melancholy pepe to happy pepe

tldr: Dan's a good egg. Cheers to one more year of curls, kinky tweets, and gratuitous outdated meme references.

(honorable birthday mentions: Shia LaBeouf, Peter Dinklage, and Gene Wilder)

Dan's so lucky, he gets to share a birthday with actual cannibal Shia LaBeouf.

Edit: this header is pure gold, that's some next level stuff right there you all rock

[Moon]

Happy Birthday Dan! (and happy birthday to my mom as well )
I wish him all the best that is in this world and I hope he stays like the person he is right now.
The header is great!

[missemma]

he is good, you guys. he is a good soul. and he tries his best. and sometimes he does stuff that we question, but when you look at the bigger picture, i think there are few people in this world who are so worth stanning.

he engages with and respects his audience. he maybe doesn't upload as often what we'd like on his channel, but he works his tale off to make sure we get the fairest and best experience when it comes to his endeavors, whether it be books, tours, meet & greets, merch. he takes his time to explain himself if he feels he needs to. he encourages people through hardships, but also partakes in phandom stupidity. he's just friggin' great.

Yes Rizzo, yes to all of this. You're 100% right that there are few people in this world who are worth stanning, but Dan (& of course Phil) are two people that I am proud to be a fan off. I love your post *gives 1000 thumbs up*

Happy birthday Daniel. I hope you go somewhere nice (& then tell us about it in the liveshow) and hope you like the banner we made for you

[swofro]

I LOVE THE BANNER! Thanks oqua
Jeremy x Daniel is my otp

Happy 26th birthday Daniel!!
I hope he has the best day ever, full of cake, dinner date and maybe a takeaway and have a snuggle in front of the telly. Or maybe alternatively celebrate with his family and doggo He is a kind and wonderful soul, I wish the best for him in the future.

I also made a birthday art for this happy occasion :

Plus some of my other favourites birthday art so far

More to come as the day slowly unfold for sure

I hope Phil will treat us with a great birthday tweet later

[opendoor]

Happy Birthday Dan!
I love rizzo and dontpanic's posts

tldr: Dan's a good egg. Cheers to one more year of curls, kinky tweets, and gratuitous outdated meme references.

I echo the sentiment, Dan's a good egg. It's honestly been so lovely to see him be so comfortable this year. He's changed so much since I started watching at the end of 2015.

Also, I just noticed Corbyn on the banner. Oh. Oh my God. I don't Twitter, so someone will have to tell me when he pulls a Pete Wentz.

[flarequake]

Happy Birthday, Danny

It snuck up so quickly on me this week, but then all the art and tweets appeared, some of them are so funny, some of the art is so cute, I love the three cube levels so much, her style is unendingly adorable.

I love the new forum banner too. Corbyn with balloons, the branding well never let die and everything

I can only echo what everyone else has said really. He is a sweet one, whether he dresses it up in ironic cynical snark, laughed when I told him their Playlist show was good and then said thank you, or guides 11k people through a meditation at the end of a liveshow. The moment I became a fan I saw behind the sarcasm and he's had a squishy place in my heart ever since.

I hope he has a good day with enough alone time, and food, amongst whatever japes are planned.

[lurker]

aww y'all are making me emotional with these appreciative posts! happy international stan-a-dan day everyone

[sparkle]

[offtopic]

just your friendly neighbourhood queer poppin' in because this is personally such a big thing for me

Hasn't he though? I mean, his identity seemed pretty clear from the diss track.

like onetruetrash said, dan has made his identity clear. he doesn't want to be labeled and is not coming out (atm. ofc people's identities sometimes change and if some day daniel realizes that he is only attracted to toasters and dogs dressed as humans and wants to announce that, i'm not saying he couldn't.) if you have been in phandom for a while, you know that dan doesn't want to make any statements (as he has said in live shows multiple times), gives hints and dodges telling facts, and if you compare that to actually putting this into a video on his main channel:

i think it's fair to say that he has made a clear statement about his sexuality (especially when you combine his "formless blob" comments). how is he still closeted? he talks about good-looking men all the time. ofc there may be some people who think that if he was "actually out", he would for example talk about his experiences (like coming out to family and finding out he's not straight etc, you know the basic lgbt+ youtuber video topics) but i think that's part of the whole issue and why he hasn't made any videos focused on his sexuality: he wants to make "quality content" and to be branded as "deep dark and dank", not "that gay youtuber". (not saying that he couldnt for example make a very good danecdote about some personal experiences, i mean that as it would gain a fuckton of attention and he would have all those 14 year old tumblr shippers screaming in the comments, it would move the focus from quality videos (which we all know he is aiming for) to his sexuality)

as a confused teen not finding any label comfortable (even queer is too much sometimes), dan's example made me realize that you don't need to send invites to everyone you know and jump out of a rainbow cake covered in glitter. he's actually the only one i've ever seen (on the internet or irl) to subtly make people aknowledge that he's not straight, and it's been kinda important for me (and, i'm pretty sure, for some other people too). and it's not only about inviduals, it also helps normalizing sexual fluidity and openness, and some day we could live in a world when you don't have to come out at all.

everyone here is ofc projecting 24/7 and analyzes things from their own perspective, so im sorry if this sounded rude, but im just trying to remind you that its possible to be not-straight and not come out officially or use a specific label !

[/offtopic]

[offtopic]

I do agree with the bolded. And I do think the diss track is one of the best ways of addressing it subtly without making a big deal out of it. I never, ever wanted to come out because I shouldn't have to? So I feel like I did the subtle addressing so when I said 'Ive got a girlfriend' it was pretty natural. Dan has changed his approach to sexuality, and I don't think he'd joke about it anymore. So I do agree with seeing that comment as a 'I'm not straight, but thats all you're getting' if that makes any sense.

I do think one of the reasons that we wouldn't necessarily get more than this though is because of what I said earlier (and what you also said about his quality content). It's not just Dan that gets implicated either; this is in the context of Phil, Phan, and his/their future videos. If Dan's next video was ''hello, my name is Dan, I'm about as straight as my hair' the repercussions would be massive. I don't think Dan or Phil want the questions a 'proper' coming out (by that I mean anything explicitly and publicly stating his sexuality with no nuances, which nobody ever has to do) would lead to, or indeed the invasiveness of it. Especially if Phan isn't real.

Yet, I also think that if he was to 'come out properly' it could impact positively on his channel. And it wouldn't necessarily have to break from the image he's trying to project either. Somewhere like ISG would be a great place to address sexuality quite frankly without breaking from his brand.

However, I do think he might just not want to either.

I definitely understand you're not being rude!! I find sexuality, especially in the context of men, so fascinating that I love having open dialogues about it. I myself don't like to use any specific labels because it can make my head hurt- and it's quite validating to see Dan (more than likely) feeling the same

[/offtopic]

[SquishPhan]

Dan. Hope he has a good day.

Love the banner.
Also all the phanart is just so good.

[plath]

Omg that banner...love. It. Happy birthday to our favourite Kanye stan!

[Catallena]

to our dannyfire

I love the banner

[bluntedclaws]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAN!
Great posts rizzo dontpanic flarequake.
Dan's changed and grown so much over the years and I just keep liking him more and more.

[saffarinda]

The banner is amazing!



Happy birthday Daniel, our giant dorky meme Your thoughts and ponderings have helped me grow so much as a person, and just allowed me to find someone relate to over the years and not feel so isolated, lmao. From slightly insecure, doesn't-know-what-he's-doing-with-his-life Dan from Reading, to Dan Howell - youtuber, british personality, host of awards shows, winner of awards, New York Times Best Book seller, with two movies out, a charity single that charted worldwide, generally incredible successful person; I'm so pleased we get to take every step through your life with you as you continue to achieve more.

Can't wait to see what we have coming in the future

Soppy post over~

[captainspacecoat]

Aw all these posts are so lovely to read, and all of them echo why it is I feel so fond of Dan It's been an absolute pleasure to watch him grow into himself over the past almost five years - I feel like both he and I have done a lot of growing and maturing since I started watching him. And I really do hope he's in a good place in his life right now, and that he has a wonderful, not-too-draining birthday, and that this next year is the best yet for him

Also love the banner, amazing!!!!

+ just wanted to say anime_is_not_cool to your post, I think it's easy to slip into thinking that 'coming out' = loudly and proudly identifying yourself with a particular label, but that's not necessarily always the case. As far as I'm concerned, Dan's pretty open about the fact that he's not straight, he just does it in a way that makes him feel comfortable.

And droopy I relate so much to your post! Your experience sounds literally identical to mine

[karma_yeah]

he is good, you guys. he is a good soul. and he tries his best. and sometimes he does stuff that we question, but when you look at the bigger picture, i think there are few people in this world who are so worth stanning.

he engages with and respects his audience. he maybe doesn't upload as often what we'd like on his channel, but he works his tale off to make sure we get the fairest and best experience when it comes to his endeavors, whether it be books, tours, meet & greets, merch. he takes his time to explain himself if he feels he needs to. he encourages people through hardships, but also partakes in phandom stupidity. he's just friggin' great.

This is a beautiful way to describe him.

Sometimes I forget how differently dan interacts with his subscribers compared to most internet personalities. He may not regularly engage with his audience through vlogs, snapchat, etc., yet it feels like he shares just as much, if not more of himself on a very personal level. he tries so hard to make people feel special, like the "header for dan" thing and the personal way he replies to people on twitter. there's a reason he's branded as #relatable--he doesn't hide how he's a person with feelings who makes mistakes, just like he tries to ensure people know it's valid to have feelings and make mistakes as well.

Today's national "be absolute dan trash" day, so I'm allowed to be sappy tbh I'm just glad I got to see his transformation from melancholy pepe to happy pepe

tldr: Dan's a good egg. Cheers to one more year of curls, kinky tweets, and gratuitous outdated meme references.


Edit: this header is pure gold, that's some next level stuff right there you all rock

dontpanic and rizzo have already eloquently expressed everything I'd like to say. I bolded some stuff, but just YES, YES, YES to all of it!

And I want to add my wishes to one of my favorite people.

I hope he lets himself feel how loved he is today, and knows that people all over the world are celebrating him and appreciating the joy he brings to millions.

Love the header, oqua is awesome! And thanks swofro for sharing the great art! Beautiful art for a beautiful person, inside and out.

[SquishPhan]

[saffarinda]

Phil: posts a picture of dan

Everyone: scurries frantically to analyse the background and their new furniture/living arrangements

[Catallena]

*slides Phil a plate of pancakes* Take that pic again. Without Dan in it. Do it. We need to analyze your interior design it's important.

[opendoor]

It wasn't "as everlasting as the sun" but I'll take it, Phil.

Phil: posts a picture of dan

Everyone: scurries frantically to analyse the background and their new furniture/living arrangements

I feel adequately called out.
I'm comparing with the politics pizza pic (say that five times fast).

The brown things are blinds, and we already know there's a window over the TV. Has Phil finally achieved a life where all the windows are glass
The walls aren't straight, but I wouldn't know what shape they are without more pictures.

So alone was with Phil after all.