Unus Annus

memento mori (Latin) /mə-ˈmen-tō-ˈmȯr-ē/

noun (plural) - "remember you must die" or a reminder of mortality

Taking inspiration from this well-known Latin phrase, YouTubers Mark Fischbach and Ethan Nestor, aka Markiplier and (formerly) CrankGamePlays respectively, created a YouTube channel in 2019 by the name of "Unus Annus." In Latin, this phrase literally means "one year." If you are searching for it now, I'm sorry to say you will not find it. The guys deleted it. Yes, on purpose.

I have been subscribed to Mark's channel for ages. Well, it's really been about 8 years now (almost 9), which feels like ages in terms of YouTube. I've had so many phases when it comes to what YouTube channels I watch, but for some reason, when it comes to Mark, he's kept my interest from my teenage years into adulthood.

I remember vividly when he posted a fairly cryptic video with a black and white spiral in the background about starting the Unus Annus channel with Ethan. I knew who Ethan was but wasn't a subscriber (sorry, Ethan). A cool new channel with a friend about the passage of time and how none of us can escape it where they post one video everyday for a whole year? 365 videos?! Sign me up. I subscribed immediately. The caveat, however, was at the end of the 365 days, the channel would be deleted. Like I said, the channel was about how all of us will run out of time eventually and how we should remember death. Memento mori.

The first video goes up. I excitedly look and it's...cooking with sex toys.

Yes. That was the title. They cooked breakfast using sex toys as spatulas, mixers, etc.

The hilarity of it all, however, quickly drew me in. The banter between Mark and Ethan was familiar from when I had seen Ethan in some of Mark's videos in the past. The shock of the absolute absurdity of the video wore off, and I fully accepted what this channel was going to be. Two friends doing whatever they wanted without worrying about YouTube's monetization rules, which meant they had a lot more freedom about the content of the videos. They could just create.

Oh yeah, I am in, baby.

All of the laughs and goofs were bookended by a slightly sobering reminder, though. Every video started and ended playing the sound of a ticking clock showing a countdown timer that started at 365 and would eventually end at 0. Like so:

A reminder of the passage of time and how the channel would come to an end.

The year was filled with videos equally as silly as the first. I'd say the first decent chunk of videos on the channel were just absolute bangers. I'm talking about creating their own sensory deprivation tank, summoning a ghost (not really), doing a very cool escape room, making nude paintings of each other, and my personal favorite, a DIY geriatric simulator.

I will not be explaining that one. You had to be there.

I could go on. They had a very good rhythm going, which is no small feat considering they putting a video out every single day. Just imagine how much time they have to dedicate to the whole process of just one video: from setting aside time in the day to film, to editing, and everything in between.

I said this channel started in 2019. Well...it started in November of that year. And we all know what happened at the beginning of the next.

I really wondered if the guys were going to be able to continue with this project or if they would pause and pick back up when we were all no longer required to quarantine. I was honestly okay with the latter as long as we got content eventually. But I was pleasantly surprised to see that they kept going. They filmed remotely in their usual recording studios for their individual channels and were able to create some pretty entertaining videos by doing just about anything you could think of from their computers. Internet scavenger hunts, Googling each other, Mark taking Ethan through Hooked on Phonics as part of a running joke that Ethan can't read, and another inexplicable favorite of mine, eating only onions for 24 hours.

Again, you had to be there.

Thankfully, as we all know, quarantine restrictions were lifted and requirements were changed. The boys were able to come back together. By that time it was June 2020. 5 months left.

I'd say the channel really got back on its feet with Camp Unus Annus, a series of videos the boys did at this cabin? (you know what, I'm honestly not even sure) out in the middle of nowhere. We got tips on how to bury your friend, team building (ironic after that first one), how to rescue a cat from a tree, etc. Great tips, guys.

They also paused briefly to somewhat seriously address whether or not 2020 was a bad year to do a project like this. It's fair to say it might have been, but they disagreed. They said it seemed fitting to take on a challenge like that in an already challenging time. Plus, the world needed some laughs, right?

Before I knew it, it was November, and we were hit with a video titled "Accepting the Truth." Unus Annus was coming to an end. And then, we got arguably my favorite video.

"Being Brutally Honest with Each Other"

You may think this was just Mark and Ethan roasting each other, but no, it was actually a pretty serious and sobering video. Ethan said some pretty touching words about how Mark inspired him to be better as a YouTuber. Quick backstory: Mark has been a YouTuber for a long time and now has over 30 million subscribers. Ethan actually started out as a fan of Mark's channel before creating his own, and he's now doing pretty well with over 2 million subscribers himself.

But here's why I loved this video: Mark talked about how he knew Ethan had so much potential. He was already creating some pretty good content, but he could do more. Like Mark said, he's got the potential with his talent and his work ethic. And he was right! Ethan has since done a comedy tour and made some excellent projects.

Mark is my all time favorite YouTuber for a lot of reasons, but his belief in others' potential is up there at the top. He has always preached how everyone has potential and how they shouldn't waste it. He's said this to his audience for years. And yeah, I had heard it a million times, but hearing him saying it to Ethan struck me in a way it hadn't before.

I truly think this was the straw that broke the camel's back when it came to me finally getting back into writing. I remember hearing Mark say it to Ethan, and I thought, "Okay. I hear you, Mark."

The channel went out with a bang with a 12-hour livestream on the final day, November 13, 2020, where they hit the delete button at midnight. They reflected on the year, watched some of their personal favorite videos, watched compilations, and more. I remember watching that stream and thinking how a year ago, I never would have thought this channel would come to mean so much to me, especially when it all started with cooking with sex toys.

Here we are, nearly 3 years later. I still think about this channel all the time and how I was there for every moment.

We were here.

Memento mori.

Unus annus.