Since YouTube is a huge platform for streaming content, it’s no surprise that two big YouTubers coming together would cause quite the stir on social media. Unus Annus is a duo channel that was created on Nov. 15, 2019 and ended exactly a year later on Nov. 15. The duo was composed of Mark Fischbach, also known as Markiplier, and Ethan Nestor-Darling, or CrankGameplays. Both usually played video games on their own channels and occasionally did a random video to change it up.

This pair came together and made videos that weren’t like those on their main gaming channels. Instead, they produced a video each day in which they did goofy acts, whether it was seeing if they could cook a turkey by slapping it enough times or doing at-home spas for each other. It didn’t make sense, but each day was a new adventure. Some weren’t totally appropriate for children, but they still kept it insane. They even had Mark’s girlfriend Amy working behind the camera for some of the episodes.

The phrase Unus Annus is Latin for one year, and when Mark and Ethan came up with the idea for their channel, they thought, “What would happen if you only had a year to live?” They decided to make videos every day for a year, each creating a persona from half of the phrase. Mark was Annus in white clothes, while Ethan was Unus with his black outfits. They came in with the rules that videos wouldn’t be reuploaded after the channel was deleted. Even their merch store and all accounts created with it would die as well, to make sure that only memories would remain. In one episode, they got a coffin that was half white and half black, and Mark called his lawyer, cracking jokes about his plans for life insurance if he were to “hypothetically” die.

Unus Annus was a big deal on social media, from using sounds to make TikToks to creating memes that made no sense on Twitter. I remember seeing them occasionally pop up on my “For You Page” and wondering why they were together for some of these skits, but then I kept scrolling. It wasn’t until a few months after they started that I got into them for a bit before my life became a little chaotic. Watching them made me remember when I was younger and always looked to see if my favorite YouTubers had posted for the day. I followed Markiplier and Pewdiepie religiously back in the day.

Nowadays, I just listen to podcast videos or white noise. I forgot what it felt like to wait eagerly for someone to post a new gaming video. But when Unus Annus came around, I was kind of glad because it didn’t feel so rushed, and I knew that their short videos wouldn’t take up too much time. I was able to watch a few on certain days before bed. I really liked the idea of the channel only being around for a year and making memories for almost 4.5 million subscribers.

With the channel’s reach being so high, it wasn’t a surprise to see all of these memes and videos going around. After Mark and Ethan hosted a livestream of them going through their favorite videos, memes and jokes that they created, they deleted the channel and a flurry of conspiracy theories ensued. Some said that they weren’t going to leave, or that they would come back, while others just reminisced about the videos that got them through tough times.

I will always have the memories of Mark and Ethan doing weird skits and hope that something like that will come again. Maybe it will be weirder than Unus Annus, maybe it won’t, but I’m glad to know other people have the same love for them. I can’t wait to see what the pair will do, or what new games will come out for them to play.