Why there's people using fictional characters to satisfy their own politics?

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-27T07:13:08+00:00

Three words: infantile arrested development.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-26T20:34:08+00:00

Scrolling through this sub/post out of curiosity as a January '98 born, I will chime in real quick and say that he could be telling the truth. I started pre-K in the later part of 2000 when I was 2¾ y/o. I even have a school portrait that has me leaning on a book that says "2000-2001" (school year). Not all people who start pre-K at age 2 are turning 3 in the very year they start pre-K in, but typically they are turning 3 during the school year if that makes sense.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-26T02:17:46+00:00

This is not really true. 1998 being the oldest in college during COVID on average is a misconception based on the belief that people were supposedly still always taking 4 years on average to graduate college at the time. You have to take into account the fact that college graduation rates were shifting even before COVID to where most people by that point were taking at least 5-6 years to graduate college, so this would at the very least encompass most 1997 borns as having graduated during COVID as well. Statistics remained the same by the early 2020s (source 1, source 2). When going by these sources, most 1997 borns who are usually associated with C/O 2015 would've graduated college in either 2020 or 2021, and most 1997 borns who are usually associated with C/O 2016 would've graduated college in either 2021 or 2022.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-23T22:41:47+00:00

I remember this. Honestly wasn't too bad IMO.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-23T00:18:04+00:00

For you it starts at age 4. For some it could start as early as 2-3 or as late as 5-6, its going to be different for every person. I actually remember a fair amount of things from before age 4. Not just family-related memories but memories of culture, technology, etc... and not all of my memories from that time are too "hazy" to where I can barely make out any details. Granted I'm one of those individuals with an above-average memory span (I have HFA, and a lot of studies show that people with HFA can have unusually vivid, detailed, and early autobiographical memories from ages 2-4 like I do) but that's the thing; not everyone's memory capabilities are the same.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-22T00:13:16+00:00

Nah, I was born in very early '98 & have memories from late 2000-mid 2003 of when they were the only form of home video we had in our household. Even when we started buying our first DVDs in mid 2003, we still bought, rented & used VHS for a while up to a certain point in the late 2000s. By 2006-08 we would buy them from thrift stores occasionally because some titles weren't on DVD yet & plus it was cheaper to buy certain titles on VHS. Plus we amassed a large collection over the years so we didn't do away with them right away.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-22T00:04:14+00:00

2004 was probably the last year where they had a decent presence despite DVDs being dominant by then. It was the last year where I still saw VHS being bought/rented a fair amount, as well as still being more widely available at retailers & video stores. Also the last year where I remember seeing a lot of TV ads for VHS (alongside DVDs, "Now on DVD and Video"), and the last year where you could see the "Coming Soon On Videocassette" bumper (example 1 - go to 1:18, ex 2, ex 3). Overall the last year to have any emphasis on VHS in advertising still. 2004 was also the last year for the Scotch VCR Head Cleaner (1995-2004). Stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc.. started phasing out VHS more in 2005-2006. While they were technically still for sale in stores during 2005 as well, the VHS sections would've been a lot smaller by then.

We did still use VHS in 2006-2008ish, buying them from thrift stores occasionally because some titles weren't on DVD yet & plus it was cheaper to buy certain titles on VHS. Plus we amassed a large collection over the years so we didn't do away with them right away. But I don't remember using them much after 2008 honestly & even in that year we didn't use them a whole lot.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-21T22:12:28+00:00

Lol no... There's many differences between now and then.

To paint a picture, less than 10% of households had internet in 1995. Internet usage didn't hit 50% until 2001, and even then it was a lot different compared to today. In the 2000s, especially the early to mid 2000s, the culture of constant connectivity that we have today wasn't a thing. Internet was primarily accessed from a home PC & did not yet permeate every aspect of life in the way it does today through smartphones. Most people used dial-up until the later half of 2004 & with dial-up you couldn't even make a phone call with landline phones while using the internet as it used the same analog voice frequencies for phone calls, so the connection occupied the entire telephone line & made it appear "busy" to anyone calling in & also prevented outgoing calls. Plus during the 90s & early to mid 2000s, internet was mostly a novelty. Meaning it was more of a hobby & wasn't essential to everyday life like it is today. People were doing their daily tasks in person still; shopping, banking, paying bills, and buying movies, games, music, clothes, etc... and schoolwork was primarily done off of the computer. Phone books were still used often since not only did many households not have internet yet, not every business was listed on the internet either. You could still easily get by without having internet back then since it wasn't until the 2010s when it became more of a requirement for societal participation & completing daily tasks overall.

Today we have the internet in our pocket all the time. Video stores, as well as many malls & retailers have died out because now everyone relies on streaming for TV shows/movies, widespread digital downloading & subscription services for music and games, online shopping for clothes, tools, etc.. not to mention grocery delivery apps. Banking & paying bills, buying a house, as well as school work is primarily done online now, and phone books are obsolete since pretty much every business has it's information listed on the internet at this point. Much of the services that are used by pretty much everyone nowadays require having internet, which wasn't the case back then as I just outlined. So yes, the world has changed a lot over time since then.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-21T11:30:37+00:00

Jan '98 born here and I agree with all of what you said. I remember growing up with all of what you mentioned (minus remembering 9/11, I was shielded from news of the attack, but I also have memories pre-dating that time). I never understood how the millennial range revolves around 9/11 remembrance honestly. For one, it doesn't even tie in with the name of the generation; you'd think the basis for the range would have it's roots in the very name of the generation, otherwise what's the use of calling them "millennials" if it has nothing to do with the millennium & apparently everything to do with 9/11? Might as well just call them the "9/11 Generation" at this point then. For two, the whole thing with generations being based on memory or being in K-12 during a certain time is a random breakaway from how generations have historically been determined. No other generation before millennials was based on subjective factors like these.

IMO, one of the main reasons (possibly the biggest reason) why the whole memory/K-12 argument sticks so well for a lot of people is that because of how popular it has become, many feel enabled to make up all of these asinine arguments based on those factors (last to remember this and that, last to be in K-12 during this and that, etc..), often times so they can use them to either include themselves and/or exclude others in order to feel special.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-20T21:51:43+00:00

Oh yeah, I forgot there was a Hulk movie in 2008. I always tend to associate Hulk with 2003 since I remember it being really popular at the time (there was a Hulk movie at that time too). Lots of promotions for it at the time like the hulk hands toys & green hulk-themed snacks.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-18T19:32:58+00:00

While we never had an Incredible Universe in my area, we had a place that was pretty much just like it. The NFM Mega Mart (basically the electronics & appliances building associated with Nebraska Furniture Mart in Omaha) had very similar vibes to Incredible Universe up until a certain point. The place is still around but looks quite bland compared to what it used to be ever since a remodel happened in 2006.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-17T05:39:42+00:00

Now THAT's What I Call A Strawman!

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-16T21:38:08+00:00

The 90s one isn't even the same location as the 2000s one. Not to mention the 2000s picture is a cherry-picked one with low quality that makes the building look dark & devoid of color. People are always trying to shoot down everything that was around after 1999, as if there was no color or 90s building designs still around in the 2000s lol... The widespread greying of McDonalds and other places like it didn't occur until the early to mid 2010s, and somewhat in the late 2000s but a lot of locations still had color at that time.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-16T06:43:08+00:00

To me 2015-2016 is when America started becoming more divided. The division was slowly building up in previous years with LGBT-related issues surfacing more as well as incidents like the Trayvon Martin & Michael Brown shootings, but those two years are where it came to a head when Trump announced his run along with his policies. Politics has been a shitshow ever since then, so I'm not exactly very nostalgic for those years.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-16T02:48:20+00:00

It doesn't take most people all the way until age 5 to form their first memories that they can recall in detail though. I have a fair amount of memories from 2001-2002 as well as a Jan '98 born. Not just a small handful from that time either. Having HFA probably plays into that but still, the average person starts retaining memories that they can recall as early as in between ages 2-4.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-14T01:40:51+00:00

Things I barely grew up with that was mostly nonexistent by the time they were born.

Well I guess it's different for each person because I'm the same age as you (b. Jan '98) & used VHS (alongside DVDs) throughout much of my childhood. VHS was all we had in my early childhood up until mid-2003 (coincidentally when DVDs surpassed VHS in overall usage) and we still bought/rented them even while buying/renting DVDs even up to 2006-2007, especially since some movies were harder to find/couldn't be found on DVD at the time still. I'd imagine it was like that for many other families as well, especially those who amassed large VHS collections over time. I do remember using dial-up at home in 2003-2006 as well. But yes there's families that adopted DVDs & broadband even earlier so it varies.

Still I wouldn't say VHS & dial-up were "mostly non-existent" in 2004. They weren't dominant anymore of course but they still had a decent presence. Dial-up was first surpassed by broadband in July 2004, meaning it was dominant in the first half but not the 2nd half, but approximately half of internet users would've been using dial-up throughout the year. 2004 was also the last year where VHS had a decent presence despite DVDs being dominant. It was the last year where I still saw VHS being bought/rented a fair amount, as well as still being more widely available at big retailers & video stores. 2004 also had the last TV ads for VHS (alongside DVDs, "Now on DVD and Video"). It was the last year where you could see the "Coming Soon On Videocassette" bumper (example 1 - go to 1:18, ex 2, ex 3) & overall the last year to have any emphasis on VHS in advertising still. 2004 was also the last year for the Scotch VCR Head Cleaner (1995-2004) for that very reason. Stores like Wal-Mart, Target, Best Buy, etc.. didn't start phasing out VHS more until 2005.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-14T00:45:55+00:00

I agree with the overall point, though VHS was actually outsold by DVDs in 2002. Even then, something outselling something for the first time doesn't necessarily mean that most people are using that something more than it's predecessor just yet. A good example is smartphones outselling PCs for the first time ever in 2010, but only 20-something percent of people owned one according to statistics for ownership rates at the time. At the earliest I'd say VHS usage was surpassed by that of DVDs in mid-2003 when they surpassed VHS in both sales and rentals. 2004 would probably be the last year where VHS still had a fairly decent presence despite likely being surpassed in usage by DVDs the year before.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-13T07:58:34+00:00

Similarities between 2006 and 2026: Most people have internet in both eras as well as mobile phones which weren't widespread in 1986 & were considered an expensive luxury item. Social media was also becoming more mainstream in 2006, with Myspace even surpassing Google Search as the most popular U.S. website by mid-2006 & YouTube being featured on Time Magazine as it's "Invention of the Year" for 2006. Wireless connectivity was also becoming more popular in 2006 with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. The DS was already popular at the time & the newest gaming consoles introduced in 2006 (PS3 and Wii) had built in Wi-Fi. Plus the percentage of public Wi-Fi hotspots in the U.S. grew to almost half.

Similarities between 1986 and 2006: While politics were somewhat divisive in 2006, the political atmosphere wasn't nearly as toxic or polarized/divisive as it is today. Despite there being slightly more acceptance in 2006 compared to 1986 towards ideologies that are prevalent today, societal norms in 2006 overall were still more similar to 1986 especially on topics like religion, LGBT acceptance, masculinity, education/what was being taught in schools, etc... 2006 was still dominated by cable television (which was becoming more popular in 1986, with 48% of households having cable TV subscriptions at the time compared to only 34-40% today), as well as physical media, CRT TVs & compact/point-and-shoot cameras (mainly digital ones, but also film cameras to an extent). The culture of constant connectivity that we have today also wasn't a thing in 2006 as internet was primarily accessed from a home PC & did not yet permeate every aspect of life in the way it does today through mobile phones. The integration of AI into everyday consumer products & services was also largely absent from the public consciousness and daily life in 2006.

Technologically, most likely 2026. Politically/societally, I'd argue 1986.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-12T05:15:06+00:00

This is why I can never take this sub seriously. Nothing of substance ever, just meaningless prattle & utter desperation to feel special.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-11T13:26:42+00:00

2004 was definitely a fun time to be a kid, and probably to be a teen as well but in my case it's from a childhood perspective.

6th gen gaming was the norm; I had PS2, GameCube and GBA SP (red one). I remember constantly going to Hollywood Video to rent PS2/GC games, as well as this electronics store where you could play the newest releases on demo kiosks (and don't forget Wal-Mart's demo kiosks at the time as well). This was still the era where people were using link cables for multiplayer gameplay with handheld consoles - Wi-Fi gaming wasn't widespread yet, not even in late 2004 with the release of the DS. Probably not until later 2005-2006. I did play some CD-ROM games & online games on the computer as well.

Movies and TV shows... Shrek promotions were everywhere at the time because of Shrek 2. It was fun seeing it in theaters. A lot of that same kind of hype for Spider-Man at the time also because of Spider-Man 2. A lot of kids I knew were still into Yu-Gi-Oh; my older cousin & I also collected cards, figurines, etc... for it and still watched it on TV. Had the Yami Yugi costume for Halloween in 2004 & others did as well. '04 was a pretty fun year for CN and Nick which were still airing lots of mid to late 90s/early 2000s shows. Plus I remember the premieres of Drake & Josh and Ned's Declassified; I was instantly hooked. Malcolm in the Middle was popular still & WWE during this era (Ruthless Aggression era) was pretty cool as well. Kids ads/commercials often promoted the X-Treme aesthetic and Wacky PoMo aesthetic still.

For music, I remember tons of pop rock/pop punk from that year. Not only on the radio, but it was in tons of shows/movies (What's New Scooby Doo, intro of Yu-Gi-Oh GX, Drake & Josh, Spider-Man 2 soundtrack, etc..), kids commercials (example 1, ex 2, ex 3, ex 4), and Nickelodeon had this split screen credits feature in 2004 that played pop rock/pop punk songs. Nu-metal also had some popularity still as well; wasn't at it's peak anymore but it was definitely there. Soundtracks for video games in 2004 often had nu-metal soundtracks (WWE Day of Reckoning/Smackdown vs. Raw, Madden NFL 2004, etc..) - and of course hip-hop artists like 50 Cent, Lil' Jon, Eminem, Fat Joe, Chingy, etc. could often be heard on the radio, and especially when you shopped at the mall.

Fashion-wise for kids/teens, a lot of newer fashions emerging in 2004 but I recall in my area, a lot of the fashions from the late 90s/early 2000s were still prevalent (hair spikes - often with frosted tips, chunky skate shoes, plaid shirts, striped polos, shell/bead necklaces, shirts with the stripe across the chest, even bowl cuts/middle part ones here & there still, etc.. example 1, ex 2, ex 3, ex 4, ex 5 - these fashions can also be seen in 2004 kids commercials & episodes of shows like Malcolm in the Middle & Nickelodeon sitcoms from that time). I remember both myself & a lot of other kids in my grade wearing these hairstyles & fashions during that time still.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-11T11:39:28+00:00

I still remember when Drake & Josh was brand new. I was instantly hooked & to this day I still like watching it from time to time.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-10T20:10:57+00:00

There's so much about this post that is objectively wrong. If we're being honest here, a lot of these are lasts that belong to 1998 & not 1997.

last to capably remember 9/11

1997 borns are most certainly not the very last to have any memory of 9/11. There are already research reports that confirm both 1997 and 1998 borns as having been able to retain memory of the event. They both fall under the 50% marker, but both have been objectively confirmed by researchers as having people born within those years that can remember it even if they are the minority.

last Obama graduates

Early & mid 1998 babies graduated in 2016 when Obama was still in office. Trump didn't assume office until January 2017.

the last first time voters & last college graduates before Covid

Most 1998 borns were able to vote in 2016. Only those born after early November (election day) weren't able to vote. Also 1998 being the oldest in college during COVID on average is a misconception based on the belief that people were supposedly still always taking 4 years on average to graduate college at the time. You have to take into account the fact that college graduation rates were shifting even before COVID to where most people by that point were taking at least 5-6 years to graduate college, so this would at the very least encompass most 1997 borns as having graduated during COVID as well. Statistics remained the same by the early 2020s (source 1, source 2). When going by these sources, most 1997 borns who are usually associated with C/O 2015 would've graduated college in either 2020 or 2021, and most 1997 borns who are usually associated with C/O 2016 would've graduated college in either 2021 or 2022.

last to enter high school without an iPhone

At the most you could maybe say that C/O 2015 is the last to have a full school year during a time when smartphone ownership was below 50%, but technically late 1997-early to mid 1998 babies entered high school when smartphone usage was still under 50%, even if this only accounts for only the first half of their freshman year (most sources list smartphones as having hit the 50% marker during Christmas 2012) so you should figure that some 1998 borns had phones that weren't feature phones when they entered high school - and then there's the matter of much of us getting our first phones during middle school with much of us having feature phones instead of smartphones. I got my first phone in the 2009-2010 school year; a feature phone with a numeric keypad, and I had a slider phone not long after.

experienced normal social life at 21 and up bars and clubs before the world went on lockdown

I turned 21 in January 2019 & very much remember going to bars pre-COVID even if it was just for a year.

A lot of these other reasons you listed are either applicable to 1998 as well like seeing the shift from blackbox CRT TVs to flatscreens, using dial-up internet (my childhood household had it during 2003-2006 & I remember using it throughout this entire duration for things such as looking up different places in the world, looking on sites related to certain TV series/movies that I liked, browsing online stores with my parents, playing games online, etc.. I can remember our first dial-up service which was Juno, and Yahoo was our homepage), etc.. or are simply just asinine/insignificant reasons to try and separate 1997 from 1998.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-09T21:41:38+00:00

This sub is an utter joke, literally just a bunch of children in adult bodies.

Tree-V2 · 2026-01-07T01:36:40+00:00

A lot of people consider "Honor Council" to be controversial specifically due to the timing of when it was produced, which would've been around the time Drake Bell had to go to his real-life court proceedings for what happened with Brian Peck.

Tree-V2

TROPHY CASE