u/tycoon_irony

I've seen several articles like this about obscure geographic features/small towns which have weirdly opinionated/unprofessional writing. It's mildly hilarious though

I remember in my dream I saw some YouTube video about how "Skype is back", so I downloaded Skype and wasn't able to do anything but observe bot group chats. After a few minutes of actually talking to each other, the bots stopped and began only sending the "Uncle O'Toole" meme, which was apparently a huge meme in my dream for some reason. Eventually, every single message sent on Skype was the image, and because of this, the Skype team made a vague tweet announcing that their "Experiment has failed" and shut down Skype just a few hours after re-launching it. (I spent 10 minutes drawing this)

It's weird to think that something that is today as commonplace and seemingly mundane didn't exist at all until less than 11 years ago.

A follow-up to my post about the 2000's and early 2010's

The "Teens": Early 2016 to late 2019/early 2020

Most people know what happened in 2016. Trump, Brexit, etc. However, many don't know that in 2016 specifically, social media algorithms were first implemented on a large scale; replacing reverse chronological order feeds. By 2016, the 8th generation of consoles was completely dominant, smartphones had lost their "Novelty" factor, and social media monetization had began rapidly expanding. By 2018 or so, streaming had taken off massively and modern forms of short-form vertical video were on the rise, with TikTok launching that year. Trap music peaked. "Soundcloud rappers" went mainstream. This is the last era in which EDM-pop crossovers were a big thing. The "Tropical Pop" sound peaked and Latin American influence in pop music suddenly grew. Alt rock receded into the underground after the mid 2010s. Wireless earbuds became popular. This is the last era in which most smartphones had physical "home buttons".

The "Twenyteens" ("Twenteens, Teentys?"): Late 2019/Early 2020 to mid-2023

Most people know what happened in 2020. However, there was already a change underway by late 2019, COVID-19 and the other events of 2020 just rapidly accelerated it. The "Streaming Wars" began as companies began launching their own services instead of licensing it to Netflix or other previously dominant services. The 9th generation of consoles began but wouldn't reach a large userbase until around 2023 due to severe shortages and a lack of incentive to upgrade. NFTs happened and the Crypto craze peaked. Short-form vertical content platforms like TikTok cemented their dominance. After the crises of 2020, Trump-I-era/etc. right wing political movements seemed to go "Underground" and emerge by 2023/2024 as the "Countercultural" backlash to Biden-Era/Labour Party/(insert slightly left of center political party in any country) policies and against increased LGBTQ representation, "wokeness", etc. that had briefly peaked. ChatGPT launched in November 2022, but the AI boom wouldn't really begin until 2023. Elon Musk bought Twitter, the website that had been the primary artery of the internet for the past decade, and renamed it to X in 2023. Neumorphism blew up, Windows 11 became common, etc. By that point, it was clear that big changes were underway.

The 2020's: Mid-2023 to (Currently Ongoing)

If you're alive today, you know what's going on. Half the posts on this subreddit are about this era. The Generative AI boom, billionaires no longer pretending to be good people, brainrot, wars, strict "age verification" laws, etc...

A follow-up to my post about the 90's/early 2000's

The 2000's: late 2002/early 2003 to late 2007/early 2008

The war on terror finally began to shape culture by late 2002/early 2003, as the Iraq war began and smaller terrorist attacks continued to occur globally. The western economy took a small hit, but was still doing relatively good. Broadband internet widely replaced dial-up by 2003/2004, allowing for the web 2.0 era to begin and for video/image sharing to be done on a mass scale. Cellphones became a ubiquitous consumer product. MP3 players such as the iPod skyrocketed in popularity, but the CD was still strong and sales would remain stable until the late 2000s. DVDs fully replaced VHS tapes, and video rental stores pivoted to DVD rentals. The Sixth generation of gaming was ongoing, and online multiplayer for consoles was a new, novel concept without mass accessibility. The Seventh generation of consoles would launch in 2005/2006 but wouldn't gain a wide enough owner base to be relevant until 2007/2008. The internet was still in its "Wild West" era, with Flash at its peak, individual forums being the primary places of discussions on topics, and social media being in its infancy. Hip-Hop entered a new era defined by heavy sampling. Indie/Alt rock had a renaissance, with subgenres such as garage rock revival, emo, and pop-punk surging in popularity. There was a sense of excess and over-consumption in popular culture which would be ended by the Great Recession.

The Recession Era: late 2007/early 2008 to late 2011

The housing bubble in the US burst in 2007, and by late 2007 signs of a recession were imminent, with the global economy going into a recession by mid-2008. George W. Bush's widely popular Iraq War and his mishandling of the economy led Americans to elect Barack Obama by a large margin. Heavy industry in the US and western world declined and suffered bankruptcies, and associated jobs were "Offshored" to China. Despite these negative developments, music and pop culture got brighter as millennials came of age. Electropop surged in popularity and dubstep arose. Hip-hop, conversely, entered a slightly darker, more experimental phase. Indie pop and electronic music surged in popularity. By this point, social media sites like YouTube, Facebook, etc. began to have a major cultural impact instead of the little-known novelties they were before 2008, with user counts surging. 3D TVs attempted to take off but were rejected by consumers. The seventh generation of gaming reached its peak. CDs died off as MP3 players and early smartphones dominated. The iPhone and early android phones came about, but would not be ubiquitous until 2012/2013, with most people in the Recession era still using flip-phones or keyboard phones.

The 10's: late 2011 to early 2016

The global economic recession had mostly subsided by 2010/2011, and the western economy began to recover rapidly. Smartphones became truly ubiquitous, and people saw them as a new, exciting novelty ("There's an app for that"). Social media was massive, but platforms still used reverse chronological order feeds, with algorithms not being introduced until 2016. World Events seemed less urgent and there wasn't a feeling of immediate crisis, leading to a brief, mild resurgence of the "End of History" paradigm. The Eighth generation of consoles wouldn't gain a wide enough owner base to be relevant until around 2015. Isis, the Russian invasion of Crimea, the Ebola outbreak, etc. occurred but felt distant enough to not matter in the minds of those living in unaffected countries. YouTubers arose as the first major "Internet Celebrities", and the monetization of YouTube views made many begin to pursue online content creation as a career path. Skeuomorphic aesthetics fell out of use gradually over this period. "Hipster" aesthetics and associated acoustic-based music were at their peak, having evolved from late 2000's "Indie Sleaze" aesthetics. Urban gentrification surged. Dubstep hit its peak around 2012, and other electronic genres such as trap, indie house, etc. took over; but electronic music as a whole was still massive throughout this period. MP3 players and the practice of downloading music rapidly fell out of popularity. Streaming services for movies/tv and music took off in popularity rapidly as average internet connections were now fast/stable enough to stream high-definition content. The problems of the 2000's and the recession were in the rear-view mirror, and for a brief moment things were comparatively "boring". Random online controversies like Gamergate and Pizzagate occured, with people at the time thinking these were one-off events; however, these events were foreshadowing the crises and controversies of the later half of the decade.

I put the early 2010's in this category because I feel like it has more in common with the previous era than the era after it.

Follow-up to my previous post about the 80's/"Neighties"

The True 90's: roughly Late 1992/Early 1993 to Late 1997/Early 1998

Around 1993, the 80's cultural influence wore off and the mini-recession in western economies of the early 90's ended. This allowed the "90's" to truly begin. The US had issues with domestic terrorism, Yugoslavia fell into civil war, and Russia nearly fell into civil war. The economy in the Western World began a phase of sudden growth with low unemployment rates. The World Wide Web existed, but it was niche, most people knew nothing about it, and it was extremely hard to use and access for the average consumer. Cellphones existed but were a luxury product only used by businessmen. Cars evolved from the old, boxy style to a slightly rounded, more aerodynamic style that still felt relatively angular. The CD was finally affordable for a large number of consumers, but music still got released on cassette tape due to the format's lower price. China began adopting capitalist policies. The Cold War was over, and the western world began its brief "End of History" social paradigm in which many people were led to feel like there were no major problems.

Grunge peaked and began rapidly declining. Britpop suddenly arose and peaked. Hip-Hop left its early 90's "Golden Age" and entered a more polished style that while still influenced by "Gangsta" aesthetics, had a pop-like veneer and sophisticated production that appealed to a broad audience; this era of Hip-Hop was dominated by the West-East coast feud between Tupac and Notorious B.I.G. The 16-bit era of gaming peaked and the 32-bit era began, but adoption of the fifth generation of consoles wouldn't become truly widespread until 1997 or so. Toy Story was the first 3D animated film, but 2D animation still dominated. Alternative rock began to move past grunge into many different sub-genres. Gen X nihilism peaked and aesthetics were purposely messy, dirty, and weird.

The Turn of the 21st century: roughly Late 1997/Early 1998 to Late 2002/Early 2003

Economic conditions in western countries peaked in the late 90's. The internet boomed and millions rapidly began using it, but the Web 1.0 era was limited by dial-up speeds, and dial-up wouldn't be largely phased out until 2003/2004. Cellphones became a widespread consumer product. CDs were at their peak and cassette tapes completely died as a format. Programs like Napster brought about the first popular use of digital music formats, but the era of the MP3 player and programs like iTunes wouldn't begin until 2002/2003. VHS tapes were still the primary video format, but DVDs were introduced during this era and quickly began rising in popularity. This is the last era in which most pictures were taken on film and which most movies were shot on film.

Pop music suddenly shifted to highly polished electronic sounds, and boy bands were all the rage. Nu-metal and rap-rock rose to prominence. Rap suddenly shifted again after the deaths of Tupac and Notorious B.I.G to a new sound that used simple electronic beats and not sampling. Blockbusters showed off heavy CGI usage for the first time and 3D animation surged in popularity.

9/11 didn't immediately flip a switch and end this era. Most movies, music, etc. released in 2002 were written/went into production prior to 9/11 and the long-term societal effects of 9/11 (the Iraq War, etc.) wouldn't set in until 2003. Even after 9/11 killed the "End of History" vibe, culture wasn't immediately effected and would take 2 or so years to fully shift. Even without 9/11, there were already undercurrents of change noticeable in 2001 that wouldn't crystalize until 2003.

Follow-up to my previous post about the cultural divisions of the 70's and the "Seighties"

The "Classic 80's" or "Core 80's" began around early/mid 1983 and ended around late 1987/early 1988.

The 70's-era economic downturn/mass unemployment era ended around 1983. Synth pop blew up in 1983 after new wave subsided and advanced synthesizers/drum machines like the Roland 808 had reached a point where they sounded palatable to mainstream pop audiences. Even rock started using drum machines and synthesizer sounds to some extent. The Cold War was still tense. Cable TV reached a high enough point of adoption that MTV was able to become a major factor in the music industry. CD's were still an absurdly expensive novelty with very few music releases. The VCR had went down in price enough to become common amongst the middle class, but recording TV shows was really the only purpose at the time, as studios wouldn't start commonly releasing movies on VHS until the late 80's; which is also when video rental stores would become common. Personal Computers went from the command-line only interface to the GUI with the Macintosh. "College Rock" laid the seeds for grunge and alternative rock. New Hollywood was over, and the era of the Blockbuster was in full swing. Hip Hop was in its "Old School" era and was still seen as a novelty by most outsiders, with extremely simple rhyme schemes. The Crack Cocaine epidemic began in inner city America. AIDS became a major crisis but not taken seriously by a majority of people unfortunately. Fashion wasn't the stereotypical "80's" neon style yet (to the small extent that style actually existed outside fashion runways in the first place), which wouldn't come until the late 80s.

The "Neighties" or "Modern 80s" began around late 1987/early 1988 and ended around late 1992/early 1993.

There was a brief economic downturn in the early 90's in the US and Western Europe which dampened the "Greed is Good"/"Me Decade" paradigm set by the 80's. The Berlin Wall fell, the USSR was dissolved, and the Cold War suddenly ended. Hair Metal had a sudden peak followed by a decline, which contrary to popular belief had very little to do with the rise of Grunge. Grunge was born from the "College Rock"/alternative scene of the 80's, but wouldn't peak until around 1993. Hip-Hop was in its golden age, with a sudden, rapid advancement of rhyme schemes and beat/sampling techniques occurring around 1987/1988. Combined with the ongoing crack epidemic/associated gang violence in large American cities, Gangster Rap flourished and shifted Hip Hop's image from a wholesome novelty to a dangerous, provocative genre, but non-gangsta rappers like MC Hammer still gave hip-hop a clean-cut, sanitized side acceptable to mainstream white audiences. Studios began releasing movies on VHS commonly around 1987 and video rental stores exploded in number. "Action Movies" had their peak. Fashion was what most people stereotypically think of when they think of the "80's". CDs finally became a common format for music releases, yet still only the wealthy could access CD players. Cassette tapes had their peak as vinyl sales suddenly collapsed. The Los Angeles riots in 1992 highlighted American racial tensions in a way not seen since the 1960s. Average people began to take AIDS "seriously" in the early 90's when notable examples of non-gay people dying of the disease were publicized. The rapid victory in the Gulf War inflated America's ego, healed the wounds of Vietnam, and fed into the start of the "End of History" vibe felt after the Cold War ended. 16-bit consoles came out and the Sega Genesis/Mega Drive was popular, but the NES would remain more common than the SNES until 1993. Thatcher was voted out and Bush Sr. failed to address the economic downturn of the era, bringing an end to the 80's-era conservative political paradigm and ushering in the Clinton-era neoliberal post-cold war paradigm by 1993. Cars suddenly went from boxy/angular to aerodynamic and curvy around 1992/93. Economic conditions improving by 1993 along with the peak of grunge, the rise of alternative rock, the maturation of Hip-Hop past its gangsta phase, and the death of 80's era hard rock all contributed to a sudden shift around 1993.

Follow-up to my post about the "Three Eras of the 60's".

The previous post's "Sexties" category had it end with Nixon's resignation in 1974, but the Sexties could end and the "Classic 70's" could start at pretty much any point in 1973 or 1974.

"The Classic 70's": Begins around 1973/1974 and ends around early 1977.

The period between roughly 1973 and 1977 saw the 1970's truly become their own thing culturally after the lingering effects of the 60's wore off. Prog rock peaked and began declining, Funk music peaked, Disco entered the mainstream but wasn't anywhere near its peak, "Southern Rock" was popular, and punk rock was born, "New Hollywood" was thriving, dark psychological thriller films, dystopian sci-fi, and lighthearted comedies all dominated the box office, the "Blockbuster" was born with Jaws, Westerns completely died (partially due to the film Blazing Saddles), "Rural" TV sitcoms were replaced with urban sitcoms, American TV commonly had black-audience focused shows for the first time.

US/UK urban centers declined even more, inflation/poverty worsened, Vietnam ended, Mao died, NYC nearly went bankrupt, truckers had a brief moment in the American cultural spotlight, the first computers that weren't "room-sized" were produced, and Americans became nostalgic for an idealized version of the 1950's.

"The Peak 70's": Begins around early 1977 and ends around late 1979/early 1980.

This period is what most people stereotypically imagine when they hear "The 70's". Disco music and its associated aesthetics reached its zenith, New Wave was born, first wave punk rock reached its peak, Star Wars was a massive phenomenon that changed the film industry, "Slasher" films were born, "Yacht Rock" became popular, and electronic music broke into the mainstream.

Urban decline continued with incidents such as the Bronx arson crisis and 1977 NYC blackouts showing how bad things had gotten. China invaded Vietnam. The Iranian Revolution happened. Cable TV became a mass consumer product. The VCR/Betamax systems were introduced and began to revolutionize media consumption, but a VCR was still a prohibitively expensive luxury. 8 track tapes died off and Cassette tapes took over their place, but vinyl still dominated. The Apple II began the personal computing boom, but like the VCR was prohibitively expensive. The Walkman was launched but wouldn't become common until the 1980s.

"The Seighties": Begins around late 1979/early 1980 and lasts to around early/mid 1983.

This period lays the groundwork for the 1980s, but most of what people associate with the 80's isn't really present yet, and the 70's bled over for a long time. The 1970's malaise, unemployment, and inflation continued and reached a zenith. The US reached peak unemployment around 1982, and the UK had similar economic woes; under Reagan and Thatcher respectively as both leaders wouldn't be seen favorably by most people until the mid/late 80's. The western economy would begin to turn around in 1983/84 and the 80's would be allowed to truly begin, but people in the early 80's were living in a recession and thought the 70's-era gradual decline in prosperity would continue indefinitely. The Falklands War occurred, the cold war heated back up, NATO-USSR tensions reached their highest point since 1962 in 1983, and Leonid Brezhnev's nearly 20 years of rule over the USSR came to an end. Personal Computers boomed with the IBM PC in 1981, but typewriters still handled the majority of typing needs. Video Game Arcades and the second generation of consoles peaked before a brief fall-off for Video Games during the "1983 Video Game Crash". The CD was invented in 1982 but was an obscure novelty until the end of the 80's. The "24-hour" news cycle began, and CNN launched in 1980, but the old "Big Three" channels (in the US) still dominated and cable was still too new and expensive for cable programs to reach widespread cultural relevance.

New Wave peaked. Stadium Rock peaked. The "Old School" era of Hip-Hop began when Hip-Hop went from an obscure, unrecorded style of party music in the 70's to a commercially viable genre by the early 80's. The "New Hollywood" era came to an end, and dark psychological/crime thrillers had their final years (These types of films were heavily scrutinized when Taxi Driver drove Hinckley to commit the attempted Reagan Assassination). "Distaster Films" died (partially due to the film Airplane!). Blockbusters such as Indiana Jones and E.T. continued the trend set by Jaws and Star Wars. Disco continued in Europe in forms such as Italo-Disco. "Disco Backlash" in late 1979 had caused labels to begin labeling dance music using other genres, but the genre didn't suddenly die as many people think; it just gradually bled into genres like New Wave and later Synth Pop. Mustaches were still in style. Punk turned into Post-Punk. MTV launched, but wouldn't be a major cultural force until the mid-80's.

The stage was set for the actual "80's" that everyone thinks of to begin by mid-1983 or so, with factors such as economic conditions improving, electronic music technology reaching a certain level of sophistication, and cable TV reaching a large enough adoption base.

(A sequel to my previous post about the "Two Faces of the 1950's")

Classic 60's: Roughly begins with the assassination of JFK and ends with the sudden surge in psychedelic aesthetics and recreational drug use in late 1966.

This period saw a large cultural shift from the 1950s/early 60s, yet in hindsight it was only a half-baked foreshadowing of the late 1960's and still seems closer to the 1950's in some aspects. The British Invasion happened, Surf Rock reached its peak, Garage rock laid the roots for hard rock/punk, the "Mod" subculture arose, doo-wop groups evolved into Motown vocal groups, the "Blues revival" saw British bands attempt to bring Rock back to its "roots", folk rock became large with artists such as Bob Dylan, The earliest forms of Funk music began, the Civil Rights movement achieved its greatest victories, cars began a shift from the 50's aerodynamic "Jet-like" look to the boxy, angular look, and color TV began to shift from an absurdly expensive novelty for the hyper-wealthy to accessible to some of the middle class. The Hays Code was still in effect, and the Golden Age of Hollywood was in its twilight years.

This was the last period in which women commonly wore gloves and hats and men wore hats. U.S. direct involvement in the Vietnam War began in this period, and domestic support for the war was still the majority. The economies of the US, Western Europe, and other "Western Countries" were still in a post-WW2 boom. The Cold War began to cool off after the Cuban Missile crisis and mass scale red scare paranoia in the west had largely subsided. The USSR began to "De-Stalinize" itself and China underwent the "Great Leap Forward". This is the period in which African decolonization mostly concluded (with the exception of Portuguese and Spanish colonies).

Peak 60's: Begins around late 1966 and ends around early 1970.

This period was the peak of multiple crises that had been brewing throughout the decade and became too urgent to ignore by 1968 or so. The mid-1960s laid the seeds for the counterculture, but LSD and other drugs blowing up in popularity in 1966 and 1967 caused the aesthetics most people associate with "The 60's" to fully begin. The "Hippie" movement fully assembled itself and matured into a mainstream cultural force during the 1967 "Summer of Love", most notably in the movement in San Fransisco and London's "Swinging Sixties" period.

Previously established British invasion bands begin a sudden shift to psychedellia and extremely avant-garde, experimental sounds with albums such as The Beatles' Revolver (October 1966), and new rock bands on both sides of the pond such as the Doors, Cream, Grateful Dead, etc. represented a maturation of mid-60's garage rock into psychedelic hard rock. Explicit, unbridled Psychedelia reaches a peak around 1968, and by 1969 is being toned down and pushed into a more "Mature" form of drug-influenced music. Motown reaches its peak. The Hays Code in the United States, which had essentially forced films between 1934 and 1968 to be family-friendly and unoffensive, is replaced with the MPAA rating system and the era of "New Hollywood" begins with subversive, controversial films while the Golden Age of Hollywood comes to an end and classic genres like the western die out. Folk music shifts into explicit protest music. 33 RPM vinyl albums overtake 45 vinyl singles in popularity.

1968 sees a global surge in unrest and "Revolutions", such as the May 1968 riots in Paris, the August 1968 "Prague Spring" in Czechoslovakia, and the April 1968 riots in inner city America sparked by MLK's assassination. U.S. public support for the Vietnam War collapses after the Tet Offensive in early 1968, and protestors engage in increasingly desperate and violent confrontations such as the 1968 Democratic National Convention protests in Chicago.

1969 is essentially the climax of the 1960's, and the turning point for the counterculture. The Woodstock festival is the climax of "Hippie" culture, but the movement has a sudden shift from utopian optimism to anger, radicalization, and defeat by early 1970. The Manson family murders, the Altamont concert shooting, etc. make the public associate "Hippies" with violence and cults, and Nixon's heavy-handed approach to stopping antiwar protests combined with a sudden collapse of the mainstream Civil Rights movement after 1968 radicalizes many into violent solutions. The positive changes of the counterculture, however, by 1970 or so are increased women's rights, a drastic de-formalization of fashion, the end of explicitly racist cultural exploitation in media, and increased environmental protections that begin a gradual decline of industrial water/land/air pollution from its peak.

The "Sexties": Early 1970 to sometime in 1974 or late 1973, end points might be the August 1974 resignation of Nixon, the commercial rise of Disco music in 1974, the global Oil crisis of late 1973, etc.

1970 sees the antiwar movement in the US reach the point at which American leaders see that US involvement in the war cannot continue without complete societal breakdown. The Kent State shooting, New Mexico bayoneting incident, 1971 May Day protests, etc. are a brutal finale to the antiwar movement; while "fragging" incidents in Vietnam itself destroy the chain of command. By 1972 protests subside as it is clear the US is pulling out as fast as it can, with involvement ending in January 1973 and the draft ending soon after.

The post-WWII prosperity in the Western World comes to an end as inflation and unemployment rise, setting the tone for the rest of the 1970's. This creeping economic decay blows up in October 1973 when the Yom Kippur War causes a massive oil crisis in the West and triggers an economic recession, shattering the trend of nonstop economic growth in the West that had been occurring since WWII recovery was done. These factors give the early 1970's a dark, depressing, introspective vibe, as the optimistic side of the counterculture dies. Inner cities in the US and UK decline into impoverished, abandoned wastelands as heavy Industry begins a sudden decline and specifically in the US, "White Flight" to the suburbs accelerates. The cold war cools down, the space race is mostly abandoned, Franco's Spain and Salazar's Portugal (Which had its own Vietnam-like situation in Angola and Mozambique) collapse (the final fascist states from the WW2 era to collapse), Cambodia and Laos have Vietnam-style civil wars, and Bangladesh becomes independent after an attempted genocide by Pakistan. Organized crime in America (The Mafia) is dealt a devastating blow by the RICO act in 1970.

Psychedellia gradually dies out over the early 1970's, and Prog Rock, Glam Rock, and Metal replace previous rock genres. Motown relocates from Detroit to Los Angeles and Motown groups are overtaken by solo soul singers. Funk music enters the mainstream. The "New Hollywood" age reaches its peak. An obsession with "Disaster Films" and dystopian sci-fi reflects the feeling of malaise felt by the public. Late 60's folk music shifts from protest music to a commercially viable "Americana" style. The Beatles break up and several 60's icons such as Jimi Hendrix, Janis Joplin, Jim Morrison, etc. die. British and American avant-garde solo artists such as David Bowie, Lou Reed, Brian Eno, Iggy Pop, etc. begin experimenting with electronic sounds and laying the groundwork for several genres that would emerge in the mid/late 70's. The 8-track tape emerges as a popular format and the cassette tape also emerges in an early capacity; but Vinyl still dominates. Color TVs outsell Black and White TVs for the first time in the US in 1972.

By 1974, the 60's bleed-over is completely dead and the "Disco Era" most people associate with the 70's truly begins. I included the early 70's alongside the late 60's because of the fact that the early 70's were a continuation of many of the issues/movements (Vietnam War, etc.) of the 60's; and the era is essentially "The Late 60's in Dark Mode" prior to the brighter, more unique aesthetics/music of the mid/late 70's. It's hard to distinguish a picture taken in 1968 from one taken in 1972, but a picture taken in 1972 and one taken in 1979 are obviously from different eras.

The Republic of Folk, referred to in casual conversation as "Folk Valley" by most people; (despite Folk Valley being only one of the country's 19 districts) is an island (technically two islands) nation located on an island in the middle of the Southern Indian Ocean; around 38 degrees south and 77 degrees east, roughly equidistant between Africa, Australia, and Antarctica. Folk Island is roughly the same size as Tasmania or Ireland and has a smaller but still substantially sized island called Elites island situated to its south.

Geography:

The country has stunning natural beauty and biodiversity, with the largest area of undisturbed temperate rainforest and on Earth as well as massive glaicers and mountains rivaling the Himalayas in height. Folk Valley split from Antarctica roughly 167 million years ago, and serves as an ecological "Time Capsule", where thousands of species of plants and animals from the Antarctic Jurassic period, although most of the animals that could be considered "Dinosaurs" with the exception of several flightless birds went extinct long before human contact. In addition to prehistoric remnants, many beings that can be best described as "Cryptids" live here. The Folk Island Cryptids are poorly documented and extremely dangerous to humans.

The western, northern, and southern coasts of the island, as well as the interior valley where most Folk live; has an extremely rainy yet mild Oceanic Temperate climate, with over 250 days of rain per year, extremely low sunlight, and temperatures rarely exceeding 22 C (71 F) or falling below 9 C (48 F), with no recorded snowfall or frost at low elevations due to the moderating influence of the ocean. The Folk and Tuff Mountains on the other hand, have an extremely cold alpine climate. The isolated, rugged, fjord-riddled East coast of the island has a drier climate than the west due to prevailing winds putting it in a rain shadow, but is still mild and extremely foggy.

Folk Island is roughly 300 km west to east and 200 km north to south. The country is split into 19 Districts.

Fun Fact: The Republic of Folk has four towns with no name whatsoever.

History:

The island was untouched by humans for millions of years due to its extreme isolated position. The first human to visit the island was Portuguese explorer Messianho Embaphe, who landed there in 1507 while attempting to sail from Africa to the East Indies but being blown off course. The Portuguese would set up a fort at what is now Deal Dough to supply passing ships, but did nothing else in regards to the island for over a century.

In 1611, the Dutch Explorer Rakaai Van Cuckstoel landed at what is now Port Ekber and claimed the island for the Dutch, which the Portuguese were in no strategic position to realistically challenge. The harbor now referred to as Folk Harbor was an excellent deep water port for Dutch East India company ships to stop at and resupply along the route from the Cape of Good Hope to the Dutch East Indies, and the small Dutch colony of Nieuw Assen located near what is now Glossopteris served that purpose for nearly 200 years. In 1795, the French Invasion of The Netherlands caused the island to fall under Napoleon's control. The decline of trade in the area during the Napoleonic Wars led to the Dutch colony falling into disrepair and most of its 200-300 person population leaving by 1810.

In 1813, a man named Ebenezer Ekber living in Chillicothe, Ohio claimed to have had a vision from a deity resembling a cat in which it told him to "Create a generation of Folk and lead them to the promised land of Folk Valley". Ebenezer Ekber proceeded to have 15 children with his wife between 1813 and 1831, and would eventually have over 50 grandchildren by 1850. In 1835, a mob in Chillicothe ran Ekber and his family out of town due to rumors that Ekber was "Summoning demons". Ekber decided to set off on a quest to find Folk Valley, leading his family all over the Appalachian mountains in a vain attempt to find the supposed valley between 1835 and 1842. In 1842, Ekber had another vision from the catlike deity telling him to go to "The Middle of the Indian Ocean". Ekber led his caravan of children and grandchildren to New York City, where he bought an oceangoing clipper. Ekber and his family sailed from New York to Folk Island, which was at the time known as "Nieuw Drenthe".

Upon landing on the island, Ekber's sons overran the dilapidated Dutch fort and enslaved and began breeding (in order to prevent incestual genetic complications amongst Ekber's decendants) with the roughly 57 sailors and colonists there, who were going through a period of starvation. Ekber's Folk quickly began spreading across the island with each subsequent generation. Ekber began farming Soybeans which he had purchased during a stop in Africa, and the soy ended the starving times and gave the Folk food security. In 1845, Ekber established the soon-to-be great city of Folk Valley in the eponymous Folk Valley area along the mighty Folk River. The Folk numbered around 6,700 by 1890. Ekber died at the age of 107 in 1890.

In 1893, a U.S. naval squadron arrived at the island to forcibly seize it after President Grover Cleveland looked at a map, read about the Folk, and claimed that since Ekber was an American citizen, the island is rightful U.S. territory. The Folk were allowed to continue their lives under the eye of the U.S. Navy who set up a base in Port Ekber; but they were often opressed and unfairly treated by U.S. officials.

On February 26, 1937, Ekber's Grandson, Fairs Ekber, led a massive armed assault against the U.S. naval base there, expelling all U.S. officials from the island and declaring the independent Republic of Folk. President Roosevelt decided to allow their independence due to the fact that the US military was too small at the time, the Great Depression was ongoing, and racist congressmen didn't want to impose US imperialism upon white people who spoke English.

Every three years since 1937, the Republic has held free and fair elections. Its legislative body is the Council of Folk. The current president, Uncle Ekber, has been in office since 2011 and is the most re-elected president in Folk history.

Since the 1950s, a small but impactful stream of immigrants (Uncle Ekber has extremely strict immigration laws) from the United States, Canada, East Asia, India, and a few Western European countries has changed the island. The country is most culturally similar to the United States, and a group of a few hundred African Americans from American inner city areas that moved to Folk Valley the 1990s (The Great SimeTok infusion) dramatically changed Folk Culture in a relatively short amount of time. Despite the new arrivals and cultural changes, the core principles of Folk tradition remains intact, and around 93% of inhabitants still have a blood relation to Ebenezer Ekber (due to government programs paying immigrants to marry those with Folk ancestry and grow the Folk family); with around 15% of Folk having the last name Ekber.

The 2003 Cat in the Hat incident changed Folk Island forever. The town of Anville in the Huss Valley district was forcefully taken over by an anthropomorphic talking cat who had illegally immigrated from Ohio and dropped out of a plane onto the town, killing residents and making himself mayor. The Cat in the Hat then went to the district of Looksmaxxia and dug up the "Lost scroll of looksmaxxing", buried by Ebenezer Ekber himself in 1852 and not found until then; the scroll, which read "Raw Milk + Healthy = Holy Height" was hailed as the greatest religious moment for Folk in recent history and led to the founding of the city of Holy Height. The Cat in the Hat proceeded to win the 2003 Folk presidental election in a landslide due to this. During his 2003-2011 administration, the island underwent a violent, supernatural transformation as extreme violence between citizens, natural disasters, public sex, graphic accidents, and humans being harmed by cryptids became more common. Even 15 years after he left office, the island has not recovered, with conditions getting exponentially more extreme and absurd over time. After his time as president, The Cat in the Hat has since committed violent acts all over the island and caused supernatural happenings without being punished.

Fun Fact: "Welcome to BP, brother" is a common greeting to tourists given by Blackpill District residents.

The vast majority of people living elsewhere had never heard of Folk Island until early 2026, when videos showing the insane, disturbing happenings on the island (most commonly the cities of Folk Valley and Huss Valley) caused a surge in global interest and increased tourism to the island.

Fun Fact: The Republic's Sterling Coast is the most peanut butter-obsessed place on Earth, with millions of kilograms being sold there every year as residents participate in sexual traditions involving peanut butter and "Deal Doughs"

The "AI" used by Animaj Studios is not generative AI. It poses human-made models according to storyboard sketches. An artist draws a sketch of the character and the system poses the corresponding 3D model based on the sketch. No diffusion models are used in the workflow. All the models in the show are human made. The only difference between it and any other show is that the models are posed by the Sketch to Pose system. The poses are made and the 3D animation software tweens between them, something which has been a basic feature of 3D animation for decades. https://www.animaj.com/post/animaj-sketch-to-motion-model This system was first created nearly three years ago, and other systems similar to it existed in early forms years before generative AI.

The show looks "Unnatural" and "Stiff" because that's the artstyle. Another one of Animaj's shows, Pocoyo, has the exact same style and has been running since 2005; with the Sketch to Pose system being introduced to Pocoyo in early 2024, long before generative AI was capable of making an "AI Generated show" of any passable fidelity.

I am extremely anti AI, but the blind outrage caused by this incident just makes us look bad and gives genAI supporters ammunition to use against us. The fight is against generative AI such as diffusion models and LLMs, not against basic, rudimentary forms of "AI" that existed long before 2022.

The show was labeled by Disney as "AI-made" because of executives wanting to appeal to AI-rabid shareholders, but that does not accurately describe it whatsoever. It uses a relatively new technology that is not connected to generative AI in any way; but corporate leaders these days tend to label anything new as "AI" to draw attention. Seems like people on pro AI subreddits haven't done any research either, and are just jumping on the opportunity to get a "win" for their side.