when/how did y'all first get into the phandom??

[vortexofphan]

I found them in late 2014. The first video I remember watching was Dan and Louise's embarrassing stories vid, and remember thinking who is this girl and her gay best friend...oops
Anyway, I have no idea how I stumbled upon that, but from there I fell hard and fast into Dan and Phil land. Still love them, they entertain me and are easy light generally stress free videos as I've spent the past two years in grad school.

Although, back when I was in undergrad, I was really big into Alex and Charlie and that group (something I had somehow completely forgotten about until I re-found youtube) And I definitely watched Dan's internet shipping video with the two of them back then, cause I saw it again and was like, omg, I've seen this.

[adequate duck]

Early 2009(?) I used to v occasionally watch Phil on youtube. I wasn't really a huge fan, but his accent was kind of comforting (my parents are from Manchester and I am living in a different country from them, so sometimes I'd feel a little bit homesick and hearing that (almost identical) accent make me feel better). Then I got distracted by getting pregnant and having a baby and generally doing my best to keep him alive etc and it wasn't until last year when someone on tumblr posted a screencap of d&p sims video and I was all "Is that that guy that I used to sometimes watch?" and then I watched a few more and googled "So Dan and Phil are totally IN LOVE AND dating right? Are they married yet?" (OK, not quite but ykwim), which brought me to lurk briefly at GG and then I got distracted by something else and then I got sucked into a vortex of youtube watching and found a link here where I was delighted to find a wide range of ppl and not just a bunch of teenage girls (not that I have anything against teenage girls, but sometimes it's nice to talk to someone who is not young enough to be my kid, y'know?)

[districthirteen]

So one day around June 2015 I was rewatching Tyler's Boyfriend Tag with Troye. There was this part in the video where Tyler didn't know Troye's eye colour and thought they were hazel, which shocked Troye so much and he said something like "I have the bluest eyes on the whole of Youtube!!!" I scrolled to the comments section and saw someone say, "No, Phil has the bluest eyes on the whole of Youtube."
I went, "Who on earth is Phil?"
Then I saw this in the suggested videos box: "Dan and Phil Reacts to Teens React to Dan and Phil React" and thought wow that's an interesting concept, clicked on it and never went back.
So, thank you Phandom for invading every comments section of Youtube??? If not for you, I wouldn't be a part of this terrific yet terrifying family that lives in a trashcan?
(Funnily enough, the second video of them I watched was the Squareflakes video. I have no idea at what point I subscribed, but I'm grateful for these 2 dorks making ugly paper snowflakes after my initial confusion passed.)

(Also, one of my close friends of many years recently found d&p because she got curious as to why protip was taking over the world, so thank you irrational section of the phandom for enabling me to have someone to fangirl with irl...?)

[lavenderpetals]

I've been a fan for almost six years. So I assume around the year 2010. I found Dan first but I don't really remember how I found Dan, It must have been through youtube suggestions. But the first video I believe I watched was How to Befriend your Favorite Internet Stars. I guess I was a casual viewer I would watch his videos and think nothing much about it. (I was mostly into anime at the time.) I was young and thought he was "OMG such a cute emo British boy". I also started watching Phil, but didn't actively watch Phil. The first video I watched of Phil was I think toxic lullaby which actually scared me. I know right ok, is it weird I was scared of Phil in the first place?

I've been in and out of the phandom in the last three years. I ran an instagram dedicated to edits of the fantastic foursome for a while back I think 3 years ago but deleted it. After I deleted that instagram I took a break from the phandom but still semi-followed them maybe browsing some social media occasionally watching a video or two but not more than that. I started lurking on GG about 2 years ago (not quite sure). I got back in the phandom 2014 for a good year but left due to being bothered by some obsessed and rude fans. Then, 2015 where I headed down the road to trash and actively started following them again. I lurked more heavily on GG and did a lot of browsing on tumblr and other social media sites. I kept telling myself not to get back in the Phandom but I keep coming back for some reason? I'm just pretty proud of how they grew from just two dudes making videos to having a book, touring, and being pretty popular on youtube.
Plus, I still have a mild crush on Dan Howell, oddly though now that I'm back I'm beginning to like Phil more.

[Phantiful]

I started getting into them at about 2013 December time as Dan's recent video was the Christmas one where at the start he says "Hohoho Motherf-" but I started watching alot of their videos in 2012 so I kinda feel like I was brought up by 2012 Dan and Phil rather than 2013. Then I started making accounts in 2014/15.

[Poe]

I found Dan and Phil somewhere around 2012-2013 through youtube comments and I looked up one of Dan's videos and then one of Phil's (don't remember what the videos I watched were) and subscribed to both of them but then never watched them again because I was very into anime and Pewdipie at that time. I quickly realized that I would end up binge watching all of Dan's and Phil's videos and decided that I wouldn't have anymore time to catch up to everything I was watching at that moment. After this I avoided watching any videos from them, even the one with Pediepie (now that was ambition) until last month when Pewds made a reference in one of his videos about phan and I gave up and took the leap of faith and I became hooked instantly. I watched every (public) video they have ever uploaded or were part of, in chronological order

[ostiral]

I know them from tubmlr, actually. They had flower crowns in one video, and tumblr liked flower crowns at the time, so everybody was exciting. I watched Dan's videos about OTP and Fandoms and i was like "meh, i don't regret my time, but this is just not my thing".
But then in September/October 2015, i was watching Connor Franta. I have found video with Connor and DAP, and i was like "ok who is this pretty amazing Phil guy" and i binge watched Phil's videos. Then Dan's. Then i reblogged everything on tumblr and i decided to ship it too.
And then, only two weeks after, i had my own copy of TABIONF in my hands (paycheck spent well).

[lazy_egg]

a friend of mine was a fan of them and I saw her commenting on one of Phil's photos on fb after getting a haircut. So, the massive stalker I am to this day, I checked out this AmazingPhil-guy and watched a few of his videos ("Eating my first Poptart" and "I don't like cheese"). I enjoyed them but I wasn't a diehard-fan right away. When I somehow got onto Dan's channel I really thought he was (omg I am so sry Dan) a whiny bitch. Little did I know that his "Ironic Aprreciation video" showed him at his peak of being sarcastic but I think I didn't really get it and clicked away a sap bc I thought he was weird (and I didn't like his earring he had at that time). So I basically stayed subbed to Phil, and even unsubscribed for some time if I remember correctly. Somehow, idek how or why I then, probs a year or so after discovering them started watching Dan's videos excessively. I wasn't quite happy at that time and I just enjoyed the videos he made at that time and especially the older ones were quite relatable to me since I'm very awkward, ingoing and socially awkward like him and this somehow really helped me. And that's when I became very obsessed with them. Then during some holidays I was bored and googled them a lot and found out about the forbidden video, Proofblogs, Antiproofblogs and gg that I really enjoyed reading every once in a while. And that's how I became trash in a nutshell.

[bear]

I found them in late 2015 right before pinof 7 ( yes I'm new ) because everyone was talking about them on wattpad when I used to write an astrology book. I remember thinking that phil died his hair purple, they were either dating or not even that close friends, they were gay, and they were very small and still had their 2012 haircuts before watching them. I searched up "danisnotonfire" because I thought phil was dan's sidekick ( ) and I was like "hmm this guy is cool." and I was only into him for about a month until I started enjoying Phil's videos as well. I started to become obsessed in like the binge watching and being in the phantom way. I found out about the voldy video in a youtube comment and when I watched it, I thought "there's no way this is a prank." This was before I was really a shipper and I didn't have any proof.
Than around April someone gave me the link to a blog called phalentines which anylized the voldy video. After that I found the timelines, dictionary, formsprings,dailybooths, etc. By then I was .

[phaniato]

i found them in 2013. i firstly found dan then i found phil. i enjoy their videos but im mostly here because of conspiracy theories and cherries.
i made a tumblr late 2013 and now it's been 3 years in AZKABAN SOMEONE GET ME OUT

i also posted here http://indepthbants.com/topic157-50.html if you want to know more

[DeadlyNova]

I've known of them for quite some time because of hearing about them in other youtubers videos and seeing people mention them in comments, etc; but I didn't start watching them until early 2015, I think. The first video I saw was the Blindfolded Makeup Challenge and it was Dan's latest video at the time I watched it, so I guess around the time that was posted.

I actively avoided them for the longest time because of the repution I had heard about the fandom and I thought it was super creepy shipping real people. (Which is a shame, they would have been right up my alley in 2009, too)

I had a friend that I met in another online fandom(I haven't had the chance to speak to her in quite a while because she's busy with real-life matters) and there was another friend of mine in that same fandom who 'shipped' two members of her favorite band that were best friends, and the first friend and I were so disgusted by that and had lots of discussions about how creepy it was to ship real life people and how weird it would be if someone shipped you with your best friend. If only she could see me now. LOL

I'm pretty sure we actually mentioned Dan and Phil during one of our rants even though neither of us had ever watched them, just because of the reputation the Phandom has. Neither of us knew their history at the time. I feel like if I did know all the details that I know now back then I wouldn't have said that, since speculating if people are together is a completley different ballpark than just shipping people who you know aren't together and are known to be dating other people. (Although a lot of the fandom is super creepy, no offense. xD)

Anyway, when I get obsessed with something, I fall hard. After that first video I quickly fell into Dan and Phil hell. I think it was in the span of only a month or two that I had pretty much seen all of their videos that I possibly could and researched their entire history that's available on the internet.

I think I subscribed to both of their channels the day I watched that first video. It also didn't take me long to drag down my own mother with me, haha. She's also a huge fan. (I'm trying to drag a friend along for the ride as well, but I accidentally ruined my own plan by also introducing her to Good Mythical Morning, which she became a much bigger fan of than I am. But she told me recently she's going to start watching D&P after she finishes all of GMM's videos. Who knows how long that'll take but anyways!)

[nessie]

I got into them bc I saw a person on my now deleted twitter rt a video of phils back in 09 watched it and i got hooked!! dan came along soon after!!

[craftingoverphan]

i got into them because i was trash for the hunger games and jlaw so i saw dan's interview and here i am now in my trashcan form

[danstand]

i found them through a user on ifunny and she always posted pictures and videos of them. i thought they were cute so i looked up danisnotonfire first (idk why) and i thought he was faking a british accent at first because i didnt know they were british. and i had previously only watched american youtubers. quickly fell in love and watched all of their videos

[Pastelrinnie]

Well the first video I saw of them was maybe would you rather? And I totally thought they were dating bcos I mean, who doesn't? Amiright?? I then I soon became a trash can and here I am! Absolute and utter trash

[phannietastic]

i first got in because i saw their collab w alfie days and thought that they seemed cool so I watched them and fell deep into the phan hole

[stella]

Dan's first ISG popped up in my recommended videos sometime in early 2013 or so, and the rest is history

[lavenderhowell]

Well, I have a friend, and I overheard him talking about Dan and Phil going to Japan. I was like, "Who on earth are Dan and Phil?" He looked at me like I was crazy and said, "You don't know who they are?" I shook my head, so he went into an explanation about them. When I had the chance, I looked them up, and BAM, I was hooked. The rest is history. Ive never looked back from then, now I'm trash

[confusedpanda]

Sometime in June 2013, I found one of phil's videos in the recommend section on a jacksgap video. I honestly have know idea how I didn't watch the videos they did with Dan first. I watched a few of his videos and got really confused every time he mentioned Dan. Then one of Dan's videos was recommended and I watched a few of them. I remember watching the end of one of his videos when he started talking about the radio show and I said something along the lines of 'who the hell is Phil' until I realized that was the same Phil I just watched. I don't know how I didn't put it together after hearing him talk about Phil. I remember after realizing it, I watched the first pinof and actually didn't like it and clicked off half way though since made me bored and slightly confused. I didn't understand why they had cat whiskers on or anything. Also, even though I watched Phil's content first, I was more into Dan's content since it was stuff I related to more.

I didn't really start liking their joint content till the gaming channel came out. I remember going on twitter they announced it and was really excited about it since I loved gaming. That's when I really started to enjoy their videos together on their main channels, but I still refused to watched pinof videos for some odd reason.

I knew I was getting more and more into the phandom by mid January of 2015 when I freaked out over the Punk Edits video. That was the weekend that I binged watched all of their collabs and finally watched pinof and LOVED IT. By the end of the weekend, I knew I became complete because I pulled an all nighter when reading a phanfiction then went to school after that all night. Then I started watching the weekly live shows, monthly radio shows and even put them on push notifications for twitter, which isn't something I ever did before in any fandom I was in.

And that's how I'm here now!

[heart-eyes-who]

it was late 2011 and i was in the school musical when my friend turned to me and said "you really suck at acting drunk". so i decided to look some things up. i stumbled across "the 5 kinds of drunk people" and have been actively watching ever since.

[Artdefines06]

My first Dan and Phil video was the sims series. I stumbled on it because I love watching people play sims, and in the transition for sims 3 to sims 4 many of my favorite Sims youtubers stopped making videos and I was desperate for more Sims. I find it really hard to find new people to watch, especially guys, because so much of what I find is "Lets make an ugly guy and have him sleep with all the hot women and make fart jokes hurhurhur" and I have zero tolerance for that. Dan and phil popped up (They were around #20 at the time I think...) and it was so refreshing to just see two guys having fun and being nerdy and respectful of all the other sims in the neighborhood. You could see they cared about the personality and backstory of every sim they came across which is corny but I think it says a lot about them as people.

Then I watched all of their gaming videos. I must say I did not ship them, it did not even occur to me because my husband has a very similar relationship with his best friend. Most days I still don't (there are demon days, I can't lie, but they are far and few between)

I think I saw something in the comments of one of the gaming videos about them being together, which made me consider, and I googled it figuring the answer was out there somewhere, which led to phan moment compilation vids, which made me wonder where all the footage came from, which led me to their individual videos, which led me to the radio show videos. The day I discovered there was 7 years of content to catch up on was not a good day, I nearly had a breakdown because I was so overwhelmed lol.

I was still new to the phandom when tatinof usa was announced, and the one near me in hollywood sold out immediately, and I was ok with that (mostly). Then months later when I was firmly entrenched they announced the 2nd hollywood date, where they would be filming and I couldnt say no... *lets just say the conversation about buying a $75 ticket to go see two british boys faff around on stage was one of the stranger ones I have had with my husband. He knows who they are, and we are the same age as them, but it was still a little embarrassing to explain my need to see them in 3d.*

I haven't bought tabinof or any merch, but I think I will get the go outside book for my mom for xmas ( I just want to look at it once, but she will love it because she likes that stuff.)

NOt sure if there is anything else to say...I probably said to much lol.

[CallMeAyana]

Okay.. So, I met them two months ago (yeah, right, like WATCHED them) when I was still a casual viewer. I have no idea when I went to this side of Youtube (because I was in that part of Youtube where guys make vomit, and hair cakes- pleasedon'tjudgeme), but I suddenly did. I think it was from Connor Franta to Tyler Oakley (oh, the coincidence!), then Dan. At that time, I was more into watching Connor and Tyler's videos (preferably Connor's). I first had an interest in Dan when I watched his collab with Tyler (which is not the Watching Weird Porn video), and.. I soon watched his videos.. casually, at first.
It went to the point that I kinda stopped watching Connor and Tyler's videos (I'm too lazy to check their channels, that's why I always just look at the recommended ones), and Dan's keeps popping up, so I thought, "Hey, I think I should check this guy out." Check I did, and I really like his humor, so.. that is when things got worse (I promise, it didn't).
There are some times in his videos where he mentions Phil or some shiz, and I thought that Phil is just like.. a "casual" friend of Dan's who doesn't even lives with him (how wrong I was!). Then.. I think I watched a video of them together (surely, it's not PINOF), and I.. don't really find Phil that attractive (at first, because I'm now a member of the PLDS).
So, after that, I kept binge-watching Dan videos (completely fangirling over him), until I finally watched PINOF. From there, it just escalated- from Phil, to the comments, to 2012, to the blogs, to the Directory, to Voldy (I'm ashamed to say that I watched it), to GG, to the Links, and now.. I'm here

P.S. I kept bugging my friends about Dan and Phil, and sadly.. they seem to have no interest because I basically told them everything I know about the Phandom, and unlike me, they have things to do, so..

[nephilimcat]

My ex-girlfriend introduced me to them in late 2015/beginning of 2016, but the phandom intimidated me, everyone seemed so young and crazy. I thought Dan and Phil must be some stupid YouTubers that use their fans and make ridiculous videos
It must've been around April this year that I saw all the "PROTIP" and "Don't cry, craft!" comments and read that they came from Dan and Phil. I thought to myself "ok, I'll just figure out what they mean". That was when everything went downhill (or uphill, depending who you are ).
I don't fully remember how I got into them, but I believe the first video I watched was Phil's "CREEPY DOLL WATCHES ME SLEEP"-video and then the newest on DanAndPhilCRAFTS because remember, I just wanted to understand the comments.
Somehow I ended up watching more videos (the PINOFs among them). I realised that they are actually funny and amazing. And since I only had to go to school for my exams and then graduated, I had a lot of free time. So I started watching all of their videos in chronological order and talked to my ex about them. After we broke up, they distracted me and made the free time I had very enjoyable.
Not long ago I started following them on social media and looked at posts about them on tumblr. It took me a long time to accept that I'm trash. Now I'm mostly fine with it

[phannielogic]

started watching dan in june 2012, phil only a month later. thought they were a great pair of friends and then i made the decision to join the phandom in 2013,,,, it was all 'you either ship phan and believe its real or you DIE' hahah fun times i had a great time shipping phan out of pure obligation and crippling fear that i would be shunned but now i have a great sense of apathy and therefore everything i say on here will probably be without hesitation lol

[dansaidphanisntreal]

"the phandom"

no because you're not allowed in the phandom if you don't think phan is real lmfao, unless you enjoy being cyberbullied ofc