I'm sorry if you already answered this before, but I saw your vids on yt and it really made me wonder why do people ship phan so much. It looks like Dan is getting more and more bothered about all the questions asking if he's gay. But I was thinking about it, and I remembered that one Video that we don't talk about in the phandom (the v-video, just to be clear:d) So what do you think about it? A joke, as they said? Or maybe were they together and broke up?
I think a big reason why people ship phan, from what I observed, is that it’s mysterious. It’s a lot different from other ships, because there’s a possibility of it being canon (it has it’s own proof dedicated blogs, how many other ships have that?) and that’s what keeps a lot around. Also, the phandom is a huge active community, so it can be a lot of fun to ship phan because there’s a lot like-minded people who you can talk to.
As far as the “video” goes, I honestly can see both sides being plausible. I don’t think it’s impossible for them to make a prank video and to be able to pull it off. Dan and Phil where very different back then, so it’s hard to tell what they would be willing to make or how far they would be willing to go. They wouldn’t make that kinda video now, but back then when they didn’t have as big of a fanbase and yt wasn’t their career yet, they could get away with making a prank video like that. Also, for being ytbers, using a video format for a prank doesn't seem too unrealistic, actually it’s more logical. And the fact people use that "Phil can't act" or "Phil can't lie" for it not being a prank is a bit silly. It's not like it was an Oscar worthy performance.
For it being real, I honestly think that video reflects what their relationship was like at that time. Dan didn’t even want to do anything for valentines day (for an unknown reason?). Phil seemed so shy, embarrassed, and nervous like he was just admitting something for the first time. As it has been said before, that the video only includes things they made public, and lacks real intimate private moments or things more personal, and I think the reason being that they didn’t have any that stood out. The video to me doesn’t scream they’re in a serious, official relationship, one reason being, Phil never addressed him as his boyfriend nor did he define their relationship (“you are the best person in the world”, why not say boyfriend?). It comes off like some kind of puppy love, that most likely never took off nor became official, it just turned into a meaningful friendship. Also, Phil comes off as a very loyal, affectionate, caring, sincere, loving guy (just look at how he hugs people), so maybe making a video like that isn’t out of character for him to show his appreciation for someone who had been a big impact in his life.
I could go on, but… ~Cori