#especially the ones from the 90s early 2000s or early 2010….

[thanatos-moon]

there’s something so magical about sitcoms…..they bring me so much comfort….whoever invented sitcoms thank you for your service I literally don’t know what I’d do without them god bless

[nerdygaymormon]

The LGBTQ community has seen controversy regarding acceptance of different groups (bisexual and transgender individuals have sometimes been marginalized by the larger community), but the term LGBT has been a positive symbol of inclusion and reflects the embrace of different identities and that we’re stronger together and need each other. While there are differences, we all face many of the same challenges from broader society.

In the 1960′s, in wider society the meaning of the word gay transitioned from ‘happy’ or ‘carefree’ to predominantly mean ‘homosexual’ as they adopted the word as was used by homosexual men, except that society also used it as an umbrella term that meant anyone who wasn’t cisgender or heterosexual. The wider queer community embraced the word ‘gay’ as a mark of pride.

The modern fight for queer rights is considered to have begun with The Stonewall Riots in 1969 and was called the Gay Liberation Movement and the Gay Rights Movement.

The acronym GLB surfaced around this time to also include Lesbian and Bisexual people who felt “gay” wasn’t inclusive of their identities. 

Early in the gay rights movement, gay men were largely the ones running the show and there was a focus on men’s issues. Lesbians were unhappy that gay men dominated the leadership and ignored their needs and the feminist fight. As a result, lesbians tended to focus their attention on the Women’s Rights Movement which was happening at the same time. This dominance by gay men was seen as yet one more example of patriarchy and sexism. 

In the 1970′s, sexism and homophobia existed in more virulent forms and those biases against lesbians also made it hard for them to find their voices within women’s liberation movements. Betty Friedan, the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW), commented that lesbians were a “lavender menace” that threatened the political efficacy of the organization and of feminism and many women felt including lesbians was a detriment.

In the 80s and 90s, a huge portion of gay men were suffering from AIDS while the lesbian community was largely unaffected. Lesbians helped gay men with medical care and were a massive part of the activism surrounding the gay community and AIDS. This willingness to support gay men in their time of need sparked a closer, more supportive relationship between both groups, and the gay community became more receptive to feminist ideals and goals. 

Approaching the 1990′s it was clear that GLB referred to sexual identity and wasn’t inclusive of gender identity and T should be added, especially since trans activist have long been at the forefront of the community’s fight for rights and acceptance, from Stonewall onward. Some argued that T should not be added, but many gay, lesbian and bisexual people pointed out that they also transgress established gender norms and therefore the GLB acronym should include gender identities and they pushed to include T in the acronym. 

GLBT became LGBT as a way to honor the tremendous work the lesbian community did during the AIDS crisis. 

Towards the end of the 1990s and into the 2000s, movements took place to add additional letters to the acronym to recognize Intersex, Asexual, Aromantic, Agender, and others. As the acronym grew to LGBTIQ, LGBTQIA, LGBTQIAA, many complained this was becoming unwieldy and started using a ‘+’ to show LGBT aren’t the only identities in the community and this became more common, whether as LGBT+ or LGBTQ+. 

In the 2010′s, the process of reclaiming the word “queer” that began in the 1980′s was largely accomplished. In the 2020′s the LGBTQ+ acronym is used less often as Queer is becoming the more common term to represent the community. 

[a-dinosaur-a-day]

What's most amazing about people who hate that birds are dinosaurs is that, without the discovery of birds being dinosaurs in the 1960s, none of y'all would have ever actually cared about dinosaurs

the history:

dino craze in 1800s. people thought, birds are very similar to these guys. Dollo fucked it up, made a bad theory, and people stopped thinking that

Early 1900s, dinosaurs deemed sluggish, stupid, pointless evolutionary failures. most people not really into dinosaurs anymore. this continues until

1960s: Deinonychus discovered. suddenly, dinosaurs interesting again: vibrant, lively, warm blooded animals. Also... birds might be dinosaurs?

from the 60s through the 70s, a slow buildup of dinosaur culture - both in crappy stop motion movies, but also in children's books and other media

80s cladistics revolution shows birds are living dinosaurs, though not without flaws. documentary after documentary is made, causing the major dinosaur boom of the late 80s and early 90s

the peak of this boom are the A&E and PBS documentaries, which both outright state birds are dinosaurs

cartoons like land before time and other dinosaur content keep coming out too, especially at the end of the 80s and the earliest 90s

the book jurassic park, referencing the birds are dinosaurs thing, is written in the late 80s. in the early 90s, is adapted into one of the greatest blockbusters of all time. now dinosaur interest is MAINSTREAM.

jurassic park isn't the start of the dinosaur boom, it is the apex

90s becomes the decade of dinosaurs, with tons of new discoveries, television shows, documentaries, and other programming

1996 first feathered "nonavian" dinosaur discovered. birds are dinosaurs is the closest thing we have to proven phylogenetic fact

1999 walking with dinosaurs premieres, revolutionizing the dinosaur-documentary genre.

early 2000s becomes the age of Period-Type Dino-Docu-Dramas

velociraptor is determined to have feathers

suddenly, dinosaur mania starts to die in the later 2000s

even though discoveries keep happening and we learn so much in the 2010s, the 2010s becomes a very regressive time - a sort of reactionary response to the birdification of dinosaurs and the dinosaurification of birds. the height of this is jurassic world

we may be in the middle of a dino-docu-drama revitilization thanks to prehistoric planet. stay tuned on that one

like, everyone was fine with the birdification of dinosaurs up and until they looked "feminine" on the outside, because of feathers.

It's just all such transparent misogyny and homophobia and people who react against feathered dinosaurs or birds being dinosaurs are just... so transparently parroting conservative talking points

Anyways, yeah. without birds are dinosaurs, you wouldn't have jurassic park. Sooooo

[luckykiwiii101]

What I Will Be Manifesting This Week :

What I will be manifesting this week:

- Desired Body (Revised)

- Always Waking Up In The Void State Aware

- That my 3D always conforms in under 48 hours

What Will I Be Doing?

- Embodying the state of having my desires.

- Fulfilling myself in imagination whenever I think of my desires.

- Fulfill through visualisation and inner conversations because that is what feels most natural to me.

What Will I Manifest In The Void State?

- Desired Face & Body but with some finishing touches. (doll - like, kind of like Karen smith from mean girls)

- Desired Height (5’7)

- Desired hair (doll - like)

- Desired Name (so elegant and pretty!)

- Desired Personality

- Desired voice (singing & speaking)

- Desired Vibe (90s Supermodel)

- Desired house (so luxurious)

- Desired room (Barbie x Gossip Girl themed)

- Desired Wardrobe (Blair Waldorf type outfits)

- iPhone 15 Pro + Desired Phone Case

- New Desired Biological Dad + New cousins & aunties etc to match

- Revising that my parents got married in Paris

- Rich Family

- All my family members are happy and have everything they want

- Privacy

- Pretty School Interior & Exterior

- Desired School Uniform

- My best friends to live on the same road as me and to have everything they want.

- Perfect mental and physical health for all my loved ones.

- Desired Career to start early (Supermodel for when i’m 17)

- Perfect Posture

- Perfect Eyesight

- Perfect Culinary & Baking Skills

- Fluency in French & Dutch

- Piano Prodigy + being able to play desired songs on it

- Good at playing electric guitar

- Changing Appearance of my family members

- Revising my family’s names

- Always knowing what to say

- Family celebrates holidays like Christmas & Halloween

- Revising my memories to align with my dream life

- Photographic & audiographic memory

- Perfect grades

- Whenever I listen to a song, it feels like listening to it for the first time again.

- Desired Items

- Immune from embarrassment + Revising that any past embarrassing moments never happened

- Life feels like the early 2010’s again

- Life feels like a Gossip Girl Episode (You know I had to XoXo 💋)

- Life feels like a barbie movie (like princess charm school or smthg idk)

- Looking like desired songs

- Can Choose To feel hot or cold

- airport and plane processes to be always extremely fun and quick for my family, friends and I

- Teen Wolf & The Originals to be put back on Netflix

- Season 3 of One Of Us Is Lying to come out

- Some cute things for my pets

- Always know what my pets want

- My whole family to have good taste in fashion

- Go on nice holidays every year

- Materialise something instantly by affirming for it x3

- Kind, Respectful & Secular Family

- Disgusting Roadman fashion in London to be stopped (ew if u saw that shizz)

- Fashion to go back to the 90s and early 2000s

- People At School Don’t annoy me

- High Spice Tolerance

- Always Wake Up Feeling Fresh & Energised

- Never late to school

- Desired ear piercings

- Scary Insects never come near me (especially spiders AAAAH!!!)

- I appreciate all aspects of life

- Never abuse my manifesting abilities

- Everything i manifest manifests 10x better than how i imagined

- Basically revising my whole entire life top to bottom

+ much more personal things

Things I Will Be Manifesting For The World:

- World Peace in all realities

- No wars in all realities

- Palestine being free in all realities

- World healing

- Healed society

- Righteous justice system

- No corrupt leaders

- No corrupt governments etc

- Healthcare everywhere is free

- People are good people

- People treat eachother with respect and kindness

Guys, I will definitely go into more depth when i actually materialise all these and post my success story. + Will probably post some picture proof of materialistic things in my home and outfits etc but not my face or anything personal like that.

I wrote everything i’m going to manifest on here because I know i’m not going to be bothered to type it all out when i’m actually living my dream life in the 3D 💀

Share what you guys will be manifesting and stick to your new story so we can all post our successes together!!!

[ghxstlike]

i love loving you

leon kennedy x reader content/warnings: petnames (baby), leon being awkward, leon antics, awkward flirting, teasing, cigarette mention, leon’s music taste, anxiety mention, nightmare mention. authors note: i am down bad for this man. he is rotting my brain and i am very okay with it. these are personal headcanons :)

leon's smile always starts out as a smirk. it's very cute.

always has a hand on you. around your shoulders, holding your hand, lightly gripping your thigh. he wants other people to know that you're taken- you're his.

he is a slightly possessive and jealous man. if someone is flirting with you, his eyes are narrowed at the person who is way too close to you, and his leg is bouncing with anxiety.

sooner or later, he saunters over to the two of you and wraps an arm around your shoulders.

"hey, baby," he whispers in your ear, but it was loud enough for the person in front of you to hear. you shiver, slightly leaning into leon's embrace.

when you first met leon, you were immediately attracted to him. so, of course, you started to flirt with him.

though, he isn't dumb. he knew you were flirting with him (he was flirting back, after all). he teased you for it, obviously.

"are you flirting with me?" he says with a smirk. leon leaned down to get closer to your face, tilting his head.

people say that leon is a flirting machine and is good with women. no he is not.

i mean, yes, he does flirt a lot, but he is not good with women at all.

you found it very charming and cute when he asked you out. a huge smile was plastered on your face, staring at the nervous man in front of you.

“i- hm, i was just- fuck. i was wondering if you, i dunno,” he clears his throat. his face is slightly pink, but he thinks that his face is a deep red by how hot his body feels. “do you want to go get dinner with me sometime?” he manages to get out. he sighs out of relief- he did it. he feels a drop of sweat roll down his temple onto his cheek, shoving his clammy hands into his jean pockets.

of course, you said yes. i mean, who wouldn’t?

y’all aren’t gonna like this, but he definitely smokes cigarettes.

i mean c’mon, he was born in 1977. though, he didn’t willingly start smoking. his friends in high-school peer pressured him.

he tried to stop smoking before his first day at rpd, but it failed miserably. he felt antsy and he was more on edge- angry. he hated that he got easily frustrated with people. he’ll try again someday.

he smells like cigarette smoke and leather. occasionally he smells like coconut & patchouli (his cologne).

always has a stress toy with him. i like to think he wears a fidget ring on his middle finger or thumb. playing with a stress ball or twirling a pen makes him more focused and calm.

bites the inside of his cheek when he’s deep in thought. he doesn’t even notice that he’s doing it, it just happens.

his music taste is decent!

he doesn’t listen to the radio, thinks 2010 music is trash and it’s annoying.

it’s mostly a combination between 90s alt & grunge and early 2000’s rock. his favorite band is radiohead.

always gives eye contact. never looks away when you're talking, especially when you're talking about your long day at work or something you're passionate about.

as we all may know, he's bad at communicating his feelings. you can tell he's getting better with it, but it's still a challenge for him.

he never talks about raccoon city. you only found out about this from overhearing a conversation he had with claire. you brought it up one time, but he fell silent and never looked up at you. ever since then, you never talked about it with him.

mans suffers with frequent nightmares, so obviously he never sleeps. when he's with you though, he doesn't have any nightmares. so, he stays up until you're ready for bed.

when you're out late, he's waiting for you in bed.

leon loves to get his hair played with. he loves the feeling of your nails lightly scratching his scalp.

if you take meds, he always reminds you to take them. he also watches you take them, just in case.

leon always wants the best for you. he just loves you, so so much.

[bisnes-socks]

Terve! Would you consider doing a Mic Mac write up? I would be so interested to read it! When I first found Jere I listened to CCC and Party, and then I went to search things on him and the Mic Mac video was one of the first I listened to. I think I was in love after this. Kiitos!

Sure i can! Click right through ->

Mic Mac is early 2000's nostalgia to the max. I'm not sure how common knowledge it is with international fans, what Mic Mac actually is, so i'll go over it briefly.

Mic Mac, sometimes styled as MicMac, was a finnish clothing brand (not to be confused with a french luxury fashion brand of the same name). Mic Mac clothes were particularly popular with young people and teens. They became popular in the 70's and remained super popular with all young people until the 80's. In the 90's Mic Mac became more associated with hip hop inspired fashion, as they were the only local brand that managed to really score with their loose fit baggy jeans etc. They were still popular in the early 2000's especially with hip hop kids. Mic Mac closed down in the 2010's.

So the fact that he talks about Mic Mac loose fit clothes, and then all of the sound effects in the beginning of the song, like landline phones and dial-up internet, it all immediately takes us to like the turn of the century, maybe like 1999 or 2000 at the earliest, 2005 or 2006 at the very latest. So his childhood from maybe 6 or 7-ish to about 12 or 13-ish..? Immediate nostalgia!

He uses some clever language in this song. I want to give an example from the first verse: "olin merkillinen enkä esimerkillinen" meaning "i was weird, not exemplary". But as you can see, merkillinen (weird) and esimerkillinen (exemplary) are quite similar words in finnish. in fact they are built around the same root word: merkki. merkki means sign (a sign like a symbol or a sign like "give me a sign". not a street sign).

If you break down the word merkillinen, it actually means "with signs", but in practice means odd, weird or strange. Now, esimerkki has that same word in it, merkki, but it's a compound word: esi + merkki. Esi is a prefix that means pre or fore. so if you break down esimerkki, it means "fore sign" or "pre sign", but the meaning of the word in practice is example. And as i said, esimerkillinen, which would literally translate to "with fore signs", means exemplary.

So, he gets a very clever bar, being able to rhyme merkillinen with (esi)merkillinen, and getting a looot of information across like that.

In the first verse he also uses a word you might come across in his other work too: morkkis. His song Morgan means the same thing, morgan is a slang word for morkkis, which is short for moraalikrapula, meaning a moral hangover. Not sure if that term exists outside finland, but a moral hangover is feeling ashamed and not at all good about something stupid. Usually it's to do with drinking: you have both a physical hangover from drinking, and a moral hangover over the amount you drank and also doing dumb shit while drunk. But morkkis can be used quite flexibly to talk about other things you're ashamed of and recognise as being stupid things to do - as in this case, trying smoking as a kid. Again, a simple word but very informative, once you know what it means!

The chorus about the clothes and the whole second verse of him describing himself as someone intentionally annoying bigger boys, getting into fights and doing stupid shit like setting his friend on fire for a trick of some sort, stealing pokemon cards etc.- all of this is paving the way to understanding songs like Takavoltti. I so know this type too, i knew boys exactly like this when i was a kid lmao. But he's telling us he's always been mischievous, wild and a little bit crazy - and in this song he says the apple didn't fall far from the tree, saying his dad is like that too.

So i think Mic Mac is probably one of the more personal songs of his, those key songs to understanding the character. Mic Mac is all about him remembering the past, and i guess Takavoltti is like.. how did the crazy little boy from Mic Mac cope with everything that happened to him.

All in all, Mic Mac to me is a very sweet, very nostalgic song, that paints a lot of vivid pictures about Käärijä - or maybe Jere - as a person.

Let me know if there is anything specific in the song or any other song you'd like to know about, any questions or anything 💚

[best-underrated-anime]

Best Underrated Anime Tournament Information

What kind of anime are eligible to join this competition?

Although I’m using the term “anime,” I don’t actually mean only Japanese anime. Donghua (Chinese) and Aeni (Korean) are also allowed. Any other “anime-style” series also count.

I’ve decided to use the term “anime” and not “animated show” or “animation” so that nobody will submit cartoons like Adventure Time, Gravity Falls, etc. (Not that these are underrated, but you get the point.)

Anyways, only anime that reach the following criteria is allowed to join the competition:

It is underrated. No MP 100, Ouran High School Host Club, Yuri on Ice, and whatever other anime is popular (especially if it’s popular on Tumblr).

It is a series. No movies, short films, and the like.

It is recent. There are probably a lot of underrated shows from the 80’s, 90’s, and early 2000’s, but I’d like to only include anime from 2010 onward. Why? Because I feel older anime will have an unfair advantage in being more known because they’ve existed longer.

It has at least one complete season. New anime that are currently airing and has no prior season are not allowed to join.

It’s in “anime-style.”

Note: Anime with multiple seasons will be counted as one. The year its first season was released is what will be checked to determine if it’s a recent one.

blogs that inspired this blog: @ultimate-anime-tournament @best-anime-tournament @animemusicbrackets

----

Credits

All dividers used in this blog are by @/saradika

Trophy icon is from Freepik

[repurposedmeatlocker]

I've recently gotten really into this genre of ARG that is based around classic nostalgic late 2000 and early 2010 video games. These don't seem to get half as much attention outside of their dedicated communities and I find it a real shame, because if anything I connect more to the timeframe these supposedly take place in comparison to other nostalgic types of video game horror ARGs based on early 2000 and 90s platform video games.

Thought I would list a few of these out. Most of them seem to be incomplete/abandoned unfortunately, but who knows. I really like the stuff that is built up here and hopefully more people start to consider exploring it in a more fleshed-out manner!

Old Minecraft Reuploads - This series hasn't been updated in 2 years, which is super unfortunate because it probably has to be my favorite of the approaches to this format! It is so effectively frightening without depending on any obtuse jumpscares. A majority of its eeriness comes from the ambiance already displayed in early Minecraft games. If you are familiar enough with playing them, you can kind of get the gist that something isn't right here. The immersion is super effective too. I'm not a fan of ARG's that hammer in their fictional and "otherworldly" elements too heavily. It takes me out a bit. All the glitches and discrepancies here feel like things that could actually happen, which makes it more scary! The last episode is especially frightening from the acting of the player alone. I never thought I could actually read fear in a faceless and voiceless screen recording, but it is SO impressive what evoked here. It is sad to me that I haven't heard much about this until now, and that it appears to be inactive. For what it's worth I would love for it to get more attention, even if just to see what is already there!

Gunslingerpro2009 and BadwaterVideos2009 - These two are not connected in any way, but they explore similar subject matter, so I feel it is appropriate to put them together. The format these base themselves on are classic TF2 gmod videos/animations. With the twist though that the ragdolls used in the game are sentient and being tortured/mistreated by the player/uploader. It is a cool concept I am surprised hasn't been played around with more with this genre. Absolutely recommended if you are a fan of that era of gmod content and psychological horror.

gmod9fan reuploads - This one kind of ends in a whimper and I don't think it is being continued (last update was 4 years ago), but the ideas being explored here are interesting. I think of the gmod ARGs it is the one that felt the most "scary" to me. Mostly just creepy stuff happening on someone's old gmod videos.

Classic GM Videos - I'm not the most invested in this one, but it feels worth mentioning nonetheless, and actually appears to be actively continuing compared to a majority of these. I would say my biggest complaint is the narrative that appear to be built here kind of fluctuates and doesn't have a strong amount of focus between the uploads. There is a sense that the creator is still figuring out what they want to say, but the Bob and Bill stuff is really captivating to me enough to keep an eye on it.

Minecraft Alpha 1.0.16 Versions - Still watching this, but it kind of appears to be an account under the pretense of uploading videos of a non-existent variant of Alpha 1.0.16. It feels a bit like a Herobrine-centered ARG, so if you are into that subject it could be fun.

Anyway, just thought I would find a way to bring some of these more into the spotlight since I find the approach really unique and fun. Not that I have a huge audience or anything, but anything to get the word out. I think the effort put into them deserve way more attention. Also, if you know of any other ARG's that fit this bill PLEASE feel free to let me know. I love this stuff.

[identifying-cars-in-posts]

Hey what would you say is the most unkillable car? Last time i had a car and it started sounding weird i ADHD'd so close to the sun it literally died mid-drive and never got back up ;u; (Admired cars from a distance in the 10years since, and the guilt is strong, but i really need one now and a 'needy' car is the worst possible car for me lol) Love this blog <3

i will always stand by toyota and honda as good brands to default to. it’s like a meme at this point how reliable they are. especially toyota, whatever you need out of a car, toyota (or lexus, same company) probably has a version that will go forever while staying cheap to maintain and relatively hassle-free, especially if you don’t know much about cars. the default is the corolla. honda civics and accords are also up there, and hondas in general tend to be pretty solid, just less consistently than toyota. mazdas are also pretty solid, as are 90s volvos (though with these when problems do come up they tend to be pricy to fix) some mid to late 2000s and 2010s hyundais, 90s and EARLY 2000s saturns, and 90s subarus

the thing with cars though is that they’re only as reliable as they are well maintained. toyotas and hondas can usually take a bit more neglect than most but they have their limits. a friend of mine just bought a 90k mile toyota corolla from one of its best generations (she got a ‘98) and it’s already presented with a bunch of weird random problems. they are complex machines and things can and will eventually break. conversely, sometime the most notoriously unreliable cars will go forever - a friend of mine got a trouble free near 20 years out of a chrysler pt cruiser because it was babied

all that to say, i highly recommend a toyota or honda, but finding a car with a good maintenance history in good shape is more important than anything. if you can, bring it to a mechanic or if you have a friend who’s mechanically inclined bring them with you to check a potential car out before you buy it, assuming you’re buying used. even if it’s from a dealership, unless it’s from an official manufacturer dealership that’s the best way to guarantee something’s gonna be in the best shape for the longest time

[tremendouskoalachild]

Wookiee Jedi: A History

Wookiees. Jedi. Wookiee Jedi. How could you not love them? I’ve decided to compile a hopefully exhaustive little list of all Wookiee Jedi in Star Wars, canon or not. They are ordered chronologically by their introduction and sorted by decade.

The 90s or: Lowbacca, a category of his own

The first Wookiee Jedi in Star Wars was Lowbacca, nicknamed Lowie, introduced in 1995. He was Chewbacca’s nephew and one of the principal characters in the Young Jedi Knights book series, where he trained as one of the students at Luke’s Jedi academy alongside Han and Leia’s kids. He remained a quite frequent side character in later books, especially the New Jedi Order series.

Lowbacca was literally and figuratively exiled in the Dark Nest trilogy (2005) after Lucas banned Wookiee Jedi (we’ll get to that). He did appear in books since then until the cancellation of the now-Legends timeline, although less frequently than before. His appearances in late-stage Legends content are usually related to Wookiees and Kashyyyk specifically, rather than as just another Jedi knight, and mostly reserved for Troy Denning’s novels. Important fact to know about Lowie: I love him.

The 2000s and The Ban

The early 2000s saw the introduction of several Wookiee Jedi, although always as very minor characters. The first one we need to discuss for completeness’ sake is, no joke, Unidentified Wookiee Jedi. We know next to nothing about them: they appear briefly in the background of a 2000 book as a student of the new Jedi Order. This is contemporary with Lowbacca’s time but due to other storylines we can rule out that this Jedi is him. I suppose you can decide for yourself whether this is a simple continuity error, or a random background character used to characterize the setting of Luke’s Order as a harmonious multispecies organization (while utilizing a well-known Star Wars alien species).

For more senior – and named – Jedi we have Master Tyvokka, member of the Council, introduced in 2001. He appears in the flashbacks of a single issue of the Republic comic line by John Ostrander, though he is mentioned in several following issues. He is technically canon despite only appearing in the old continuity due to a mention in reference to Plo Koon, who was his student in both continuities. I think he’s cool for the simple fact that he used a yellow lightsaber. We know Lucas was familiar with the Republic comics (he famously incorporated Aayla into the prequels) but it isn’t entirely clear how much of them he read.

Next we have RPG Wookiees. Master Kirlocca was a prequel-era Jedi in the campaign Living Force, which started in 2001 and concluded in 2007. He has appeared in many installments and supplementary materials of the campaign but never outside it. Living Force also “introduced” Wookiee Jedi Knight Vorlocca as a corpse players find in one of its adventures. Whatever, he counts. (the RPG also introduced Force-sensitive non-Jedi Wookiees named Kuce and Furellas, who is notable for being a lady.)

At some point in the early 2000s Lucas banned the introduction of more Force-sensitive Wookiees. Apart from Lowie this affected Hanharr, a member of your party and playable character in KOTOR II. The devs were supposedly not allowed to include the option of making him a Dark Jedi for this reason. When working on ROTS, concept artist Derek Thompson "wanted to try at least one Wookiee Jedi on the off chance that George would go for it. He didn't go for it."

The 2010s or: maybe we can get Wookiee Jedi again?

Quite possibly the most widely known on this list is Gungi, the first Wookiee Jedi we’ve seen on screen. He made his first appearance in a 2012 episode of The Clone Wars’ fifth season as one of the Jedi younglings gathering crystals for their lightsabers, in an arc that was at one point considered for its own spinoff. He has since also appeared in The Bad Batch season 2. His nature as a Wookiee Jedi is specifically referred to as rare by Huyang and since Lucas was still involved in making the show at that time we can assume he either went back on his distaste for furry Jedi by then, or wanted Gungi to be all the more unique.

Also in 2012 – suggesting Gungi’s introduction might have loosened the ban – we have another comic Jedi, Ruhr. More accurately, he was a Je’daii, a predecessor organization to the Order we know. He was part of the Dawn of the Jedi series, also by Ostrander for Dark Horse. That series ended 15 issues in because the comic rights were transferred to Marvel after the Disney sale, so no more Ruhr.

We also absolutely have to mention Kitmum. She (!) is not canon and never was – unlike the other books and comics discussed here her 2013 book was explicitly non-canonical even before the impending canon reboot of 2014. We love her for her outfit, teaching children how to exercise, and being the only girl Jedi on this list.

The 2020s and the High Republic, golden age for Wookiee Jedi fans

Star Wars publishing over the last several years was largely focused on the High Republic initiative, which is so far a great time for Jedi Wookiees (or, more accurately, for their fans – the Jedi are not doing so good), with more to come soon in The Acolyte, set in the same era.

The first and most prominent is Burryaga Agaburry, one of the principal characters in the adult novel trilogy in Phase I, introduced in Light of the Jedi (2021). He is both a POV character in his own right and the best friend of the main teenage Jedi in the adult novels, Bell Zettifar. Apart from the novels he appears in the audio drama Tempest Runner and is often mentioned or shown in the background of many other High Republic projects. He is also one of the characters most often depicted in children’s media of the era, probably due to his adorable cuddly appearance. His fate in the wake of Phase I’s ending was a major cliffhanger leading into Phase III, leaving the readers hanging for over a year and a half. You love Burry.

The other major Wookiee Jedi in the High Republic multimedia project is Arkoff, technically first introduced in the same book as Burry due to a single mention of his name in a list of notable Jedi. He is the teacher of Lily, herself the protagonist of the Edge of Balance manga, and appears more notably in the manga’s prequel volume set 150 years earlier during Phase II. Ah, the advantages of Wookiee life expectancy.

2023 saw the introduction of Krrsish, an initiate in the flashback sections of the Yoda comic. He has a hard time.

The first Wookiee Jedi in live action is set to be Kelnacca in The Acolyte. He is played by Joonas Suotamo, the actor who took over the role of Chewie for Solo and TROS. He’s also getting a comic one-shot by Cavan Scott later this year!

I can't wait to meet him.

[edge-oftheworld]

I can’t remember who said it but someone floated the idea that calm was released in the wrong era to get the recognition and popularity it deserves and I do see that, the more I look into it the more I notice a technical expertise that I’ve seen in very little else (like 5sos5 is good, in a softer way, and youngblood is too in a more fun, adventurous way) but there’s something about them having perfected their youngblood sound and just taken every side branch off it they could think of with the same foundation and practiced their instruments so much that the confidence is noticeable and then also the fact that the first six songs people heard and they were so diverse that they didn’t really realise they were by the same people and those people were 5sos. and then the fact that the album tells one of the most cohesive stories I’ve ever heard and sonically gets pulled together in the second half by not in the same way and thin white lies and lonely heart and the cohesiveness is incredible, especially with its encore kill my time which draws everything together from the lyrics and imagery to the self deprecation to the industrial pop rock sound with incredible vocals in from the low to falsetto ranges and they worked so hard with so many people to create it. was the diversity what prevented some sales or was it the pandemic? or was it always meant to be a masterpiece that was never a piece of its time but timeless like the influences from the 90s and early 2000s that we would come back to every time they release a new album showing the skills they picked up in this era and more and go wow they did this, they were doing this even then?

but it makes sense doesn’t it? youngblood came after the likes of reputation and evolve where we were just getting into that bass-led slightly darker than the early to mid 2010s pop sound and calm is more a twentyteens than 20s album, in my far from expert opinion they shouldn’t have sat on it that long and released it in 2019 before we stopped going down that route, but I think they learned that lesson and they made a point not to hold onto it any longer and weren’t we blessed to enter the pandemic with this? maybe we weren’t ready for how dark and emotional it is and maybe we still haven’t learned how to feel it as much as we need to. but here is a piece of work that is going to last and be discovered again and again and can be enjoyed at any age and that’s the beauty of it.

[catofoldstones]

The bemoaning of s@nsan's loss of popularity by shippers fascinates me because iv'e seen a lot of ancient fans stance on it was that sansa's flaw is liking pretty things/people so her lesson should be to marry the hound for humility yet not ONE of them look inside the text that all the men that attack/abuse/molest sansa all find her pretty or are infatuated with pretty women worst abuse them, the double standard of fans against sansa fascinates me as they ignore one of sansa's character traits is to treat people with courtesy,they also ignore every character has been attracted to pretty people even j0n yet not one person says that hes vain for liking val based on her attractiveness, the only person iv'e seen thats been as criticized is d@ny simply for her infatuation in daario and dismissal of quentyn and while we as readers didnt like that she did that she's also a teenager(and doesnt know quentyn) again there's huge double standard for girls and boys in this fandom yet no one saw it

im getting off track but basically s@nsan's loss of popularity shouldn't be such a surprise when there's a whole new generation of readers that might not have the same readings or bias from previous years especially when a lot of it was just misogynistic undertones

Has san/san lost popularity? It’s still heralded as one of the most iconic ships to come out of the game of thrones and late 2000s/ early 2010s in general, isn’t it? And the san/san posts I see have a good number of notes, always around and upwards of 400, which is a hefty number to me. But yes, it has definitely left major pop-culture discourse centres.

I have heard a lot about this “flaw” you are talking about and I consider myself extremely lucky that i didn’t join the fandom earlier. I absolutely cannot imagine being in the fandom from the 90s to 2018 as a Sansa stan, when hating her was the norm. I was just about to bring up this point you mentioned, that all men, who are full grown adults btw, lust after Sansa based on her looks. They consider her pretty and want them all for herself, and all the while she’s a 12 year old.

“Why should I be guilty? My wife wants no part of me, and most especially not the part that seems to want her.”

Tyrion VII, ASOS

“Give your Florian a little kiss now. A kiss for luck.” He swayed toward her. Sansa dodged the wet groping lips, kissed him lightly on an unshaven cheek, and bid him good night. It took all her strength not to weep.”

Sansa IV, ACOK

And these are just two people, with one out of many such instances each, among a hoard of men who think of her like that. A very simple answer to all of this is misogyny, in and out of the universe. Of course the entire san/san fandom has no hive mind, they were apparently the first ones to come up with the qitn Sansa theory while also coming up with the cottage theory, but shipping a 12 year old with a grown man who almost raped her at knifepoint is an open letter invitation for haters to find a settling point for making sansa suffer without actually getting called out for it. It becomes such a perfect cover for actively hating a 12 year old because even the haters realise how insane that actually is.

I think the “flaw rectification” argument was birthed to fuse the thought that yes, sansa did bad things, here’s how we can still enjoy her character while the undercurrent of unfounded hatred runs through the ship while we conveniently never acknowledge it. Obviously new readers came along who had never interacted with the fandom and realised “hey, what the fuck?” and had a different opinion of “that’s a defenceless 12 year old girl who actually did nothing wrong”. I’m sure there were voices who expressed such opinions before but were silenced. Internet is such a friendly place after all.

The “courtesy” thing is so true. She literally has no option but to respond the way she does. One wrong word and she might get beaten or killed. That girl is terrified and only trying to survive. Considering Sansa’s action as anything but survival mechanism is so superficial. This is so analogous to how women today are polite to men while because they’re scared that the men might hurt them/kill them. It’s the same shit, times ten, with Sansa. This also goes for when San/dor catches her during the battle of black water and demands a “song” from her (which is a thinly veiled euphemism for rape), and Sansa sings him a hymn of Mother’s mercy as a way to protect herself.

As for the Dany thing, I just want to say, what exactly is wrong about a teenage girl having a crush? Why is she termed as “lovesick” and “stupid” and “annoying” anytime she shows any interest in a guy? And it’s always the dudebros screaming this the loudest. Obviously, Daario is not a good choice and Dany herself acknowledges that.

“Daario might whisper words of love when the two of them were as one, but she knew it was the dragon queen he loved. If I gave up my crown, he would not want me.”

Daenerys VII, ADWD

I mean, the other shoe will definitely drop with this guy but this the first time we see Dany have a consensual relationship, which I feel is important to her arc - the relationship and the man she has the relationship with. Moreover, she has bigger fish to fry like her governance/dragons/moving towards westeros etc.

And berating her over Quentyn? Wasn’t she supposed to get married the next day to Hizdar? Didn’t she herself say that she’s not sure if Quentyn is the real deal or not? Moreover, she remembers Quaith’s prophecy about the “sun’s son” and double backs (Dany and prophecies are a whole another thing which we can talk about later) and solidifies her decision to go forward with her wedding with Hizdahr.

“Enough,” Daenerys said. “Prince Quentyn has crossed half the world to offer me his gift, I will not have him treated with discourtesy.” She turned to the Dornishmen. “Would that you had come a year ago. I am pledged to wed the noble Hizdahr zo Loraq.”

“The sun’s son. A shiver went through her. “Shadows and whispers.” What else had Quaithe said? The pale mare and the sun’s son…”

Daenerys VII, ADWD

Although, the Martells will not understand that Dany didn’t order Quentyn’s death and might antagonise her so that’s a chekov’s gun waiting to go off. Clearly, Quentyn was clearly the first leg of a bigger arc that we’ll likely see in TWOW (consider Quaith’s whole prophecy) and a part of a bigger theme Dany has to fulfill. Her decision to make Quentyn wait was not based on whether she found him ugly or not, it was based on being right in the middle of a political crisis with another volatile variable being added that has the potential to uproot a lot of what she has struggled to maintain (which ultimately does happen). Dany does have a knack of picking the worst option and that does not bode well for her governance/politics but that is not the point here. The point here is how dare a 16 year old doesn’t find a guy attractive and another guy too attractive (which is a part of a bigger theme btw) and sometimes, it’s a thin line between misogyny and valid criticism. Let’s stop flattening female characters into digestible one-dimensional beings, especially when it comes to teenagers. The fact that they have more than one motivation to act a certain way, makes them so much more enjoyable and interesting and honestly, human, like you and me.

Let’s also stop pigeonholing (12 year old) female characters into high-school mean girl clique leader trope who is so shallow and superficial that she needs to be assaulted by an “ugly” middle aged man to come to her senses. Also, that is called projection. The character that we are talking about isn’t like that at all. But whatever 🙄

Sorry I got carried away and got angry, things like these piss me off so bad. Never change, fandom, never change.

[moth-tunes]

Everything But The Girl- Walking Wounded review

Surprise surprise i follow up a Billie Eilish review with an album you've likely never heard of. Told you.

Meet Everything But The Girl, made up of Ben Watt and Tracey Thorn. They were a staple of 80s and 90s indie pop in Britain who never really did much here stateside until the late 90s. In 1995 they charted here with their hit "Missing," specifically a remix by Todd Terry, reaching number 2 on the Billboard charts here in the US.

Before this song, they were in a genre called "sophisti-pop," which quite frankly I am under-qualified to discuss and I encourage you if this album and songs and band sound interesting to you to explore on your own. I definitely plan to at some point.

Anyways, back to the 90s. Imagine you are EBTG. This is a band who was on the margins on the pop charts in Britain for more than a decade at that point. Suddenly you get a pop success off the coattails of a triphop remix of one of your acoustic songs off your 8th album. What would you follow up that album with?

If you said "with an electronic album," you were thinking just like they were. In 1996 they followed up their smash hit single with their first album departure from the more sophisti-pop style of their 80s and early 90s work to embrace the electronic scene of the time in Britain. This takes influence mostly from the trip hop and drum and bass scene.

This is where I enter the picture. For reasons I won't discuss, I've been trying to listen to more electronic music lately. Especially songs with a drum and bass or jungle vibe to them. I have a long history with electronic music, going back to the early 2010s with my interest in electronica, chiptune and dubstep music. But lately, since the turn of the 2020s, I've become more and more interested in late 90s early 2000s techno, jungle and drum and bass music. Or anything that would be classified as "Y2k" these days. Which this album definitely qualifies as.

Yesterday, I found this album at a Half Price Books while out with my girlfriend. I had known who they were before, but hadn't actually sat down to listen to a full album of theirs. And I'm definitely happy that I did. It's the kind of lowkey late 90s vibe that I am looking for right now.

Unlike the Billie review, I won't be dishing out the fawning praise that that album got. This album doesn't have the immediate punch you in the face quality to how good it is. And it's in a genre I'm not super familiar with. It's not a sweeping folk song nor is it a banger indie rock song, so I am a bit out of my depth. However, this album did really impress me and it felt like a natural album to give the spotlight on this blog.

I will say that it is a bit back loaded? The first half of this album kind of didn't really grab me, but the second half was really my style. And the first half is where the two big "hits" off that album are. Maybe my perspective on the album will change. Who knows? Here's my favorite song off the album:

This review feels a lot different than the last one. The Billie review came out of a need for me to unload about an album I thought was really good, but this review comes out more out of respect for this album and the artists behind it. I imagine this album isn't for everyone who follows this blog and reads this post, but I'm sure if you search their discography you might be able to find an album or song that does!

I'm still trying to figure out what I'm doing with this blog, so I'll be using it for a variety of purposes as I figure out a groove here. Hope you enjoy what's to come, whatever that is. And give Everything But The Girl an explore, if you'd like!

[duckielover151]

The One Piece Diaries

Episode Count: 450

Holy shit, guys... I'm back. I took another several months-long hiatus from One Piece... Mostly unintentionally... (I've been bouncing between a lot of other fandoms these past few months but have been brought back by the live action.) Where to start...

We've been in Impel Down for most of the last 40 or so episodes since my last update post. And not to go off on a tangent, but you know... I've noticed One Piece lumped in as one of the shows that's swamped with filler. And that really hasn't been my experience so far.

What I have noticed is that, around this point, the pacing gets pretty atrocious. There's a lot that happens in the journey to try and break Ace out of Impel Down... But is there 40 episodes worth of stuff? I have to argue no. It gets to the point where the first third of the episode is all recap, and barely anything is actually getting accomplished each episode. So that is a little off-putting.

But! There is a lot of good to be found in this arc too!

Okay, admittedly... Buggy was never my favorite... (outside of some brilliantly written fanfiction by stereden on AO3) And I would have been content to never see Mr. 3 again... But it is really cool to meet back up with so many of the old villains who only met their downfall and ended up here because of Luffy and to have them be on our side now. Really puts into perspective the morality of it all. Luffy's always fighting for the right things... but in the eyes of the government and greater world, he's a villain as well.

I've finally met Jimbei... (Jinbe? Jinbei? I've seen all 3, but Crunchyroll's subtitles use the 'm' spelling, so that's what I'm going with.) I haven't seen a lot of him yet, but I like him so far. He's tough, clearly, but also almost goofily polite, in a way that really complements Luffy's general blunt insensitiveness. I think it's still a while before he joins up as the last member of the crew, but I'm looking forward to getting to know him better.

This arc makes it really clear how Bon Clay came to be as beloved in the fandom as he is. And there's a lot that could be said about Ivankov... A lot that would very quickly derail this update and which I'm not totally, personally qualified to weigh in on...

Listen, One Piece's portrayal of queerness isn't perfect. But it's a hell of a lot better than the way so many other shows handle it, especially given the time this aired. (The Impel Down arc was originally adapted throughout late 2009-early 2010. Frankly, the 90s often included more and better handled LGBT+ characters than the 2000s era anime did, up until pretty recently.) Just the fact alone that this group is so out and proud about it and undeniably allied with and wholeheartedly accepted by the main protagonist is a fucking statement all on its own. It's beautiful. I can't underplay that by nitpicking the places the representation fell short by today's standards in a storyline that's 15 years old now. (I know there's a lot of shit in the future that goes down with Sanji in particular... So I may have less generous things to say later, but that's where we stand right now.)

And as for the arc's villains... Magellan's okay. This last episode particularly, the venom demon attack was pretty badass. (That image of the mushrooming skulls as it formed it was so good.)

And Hannyabal... Okay, there were some early moments that made me laugh. The gag about how he's clearly lusting for the warden's job and not great about hiding it could be pretty funny. But by the time he's defeated... and the anime starts in on a dramatic backstory for this asshole, trying to make him sympathetic... All I could say was, 'You've gotta be fucking kidding me...' I know it's kind of One Piece's thing to try and redeem everyone, but I was so bogged down by the pacing at that point... I did not have the patience for it. Good riddance to that dude in particular.

Episode 450 ends with our ragtag group officially making it out... And man, it's cool to see some of these older characters again, but I already miss our crew so much... Especially knowing what's coming...

I'm sure I've already mentioned that I know the bigger Marineford spoilers... But I'm still not sure I'm ready to see it firsthand.

Wish me luck.

[mysterious-prophetess]

Things to keep in mind when writing works set in other decades PART 2!

Part 1—I touched on Tech

Part 2—Culture/Pop Culture

Culture

This part is a potential minefield, but it does bear commenting, so here goes.

Culture has shifted a lot between different decades. Especially the last fifty years.

A lot has happened in the past ten/fifteen years that would be unthinkable in the early 2000's, let alone the 70's, 80's, or 90's.

So, just keep in mind that we—as a society—are different now than we were then.

So, onto a less fraught topic: Pop Culture!

Make sure certain Pop culture things actually existed in whatever time your work is set.

E.G. social media (I consider this more pop culture than tech).

Prior to the late 00's, the only major "social media" was MySpace. Facebook wasn't a big thing until just before the 2010's, YouTube was brand new in 2004, our beloathed blue hellsite(affectionate) didn't exist until 2009, and Twitter(I will never call it anything else) 2013, and TikTok didn't spawn out of hell until 2016. Ergo, any works set before certain years should not have different combinations of these.

One should also check to see if certain books/movies/games/songs/tv shows were out too.

We fans can often know a lot about a LOT of things, and nothing is more jarring than seeing someone in a work set in the 2000's talk about watching a movie from years later.

Slang is something else to consider.

Unless it's part of a catchphrase or particular speech pattern, it can also be a bit jarring. That's why I often avoid using slang, when possible, because it is the quickest way to date a work.

This happened to the 2007 film Juno.

BONUS ROUND—Fashion!

Fashion is also part of pop culture and I gotta say, you really need to double check this too because it has fluctuated the most!

For example, with all the 80's nostalgia, I have to rain on parades because I've seen pictures of 80's fashion from family albums of the era, and the neon stuff they like to push as "totally 80's" was toward the END of the decade and overspilled onto the early 90's.

Again, Tl:Dr—Do the research if your work is set in our world, but not the current day, because it can really show in a bad way.

[kaoarika]

I basically said "I dunno what to do about going downspiral of an old fandom", but I got curious and found this pic from one of the Sukedan anime DVD volumes for rental stores and I'm, like...

I never reached this part of the anime (this is around ep 60-smth?), but it's the infamous School Trip Rhapsody arc adaptation of the also infamous arc from the series. From my understanding (digging around old blogs, actually), the arc was butched (and VERY compressed) in the anime because of (also understandable) quite risky? and quite awkward scenes that makes me scratch my head of "were these steamy/fanservice scenes all really necessary? to be there in the manga itself? I understand the AWKWARDNESS of the whole situation, but... let's be real...???"

(yeah, this coming from the same WSJ magazine that published ecchi series like Video Girl Ai or I's from Katsura in the 90s or, To-Love-Ru in the 2000s... and the controversial? Ayakashi Triangle in 2020... heck, City Hunter by Hojo in the late 80s; I know Sukedan was never free of fanservice, but I mean, wow, this arc...)

So, I went to reread the whole arc and... okay, yeah. The Sket Dan trio totally are there, Yabasawa makes her appearance as well in some moments of the arc itself, even... but who is this girl? She is not Saaya and definitely isn't any of the other (quirky) girls from their class(es). So... who is this or what happened here? I don't think there is any other (random) girl from their class that fits a similar appearance... unless...

Was this girl supposed to be Yuuki Reiko?

(EDIT: turns out to be a friend of Yabasawa that I barely remember about :P -side, side characters I don't even remember for one reason or another- and in fact, I feel like this supports my possibility number one, as it's possible she is also one of the girls in the manga picture I mention below. Anyway, if you still want to read my overthinking post, go ahead, lol, even if it's been debunked? as the mystery is solved, lol. However, the conclusion I DO reach is: GOD, do I even miss this kind of home media releases? Two different covers for a single volume that contains 2 or 3 eps for a long series like this??? No, no, I don't.)

Please, don't go away, lol. Let me explain:

This is how Shinohara drew Reiko in one of the manga color chapters ALL the way back in 2012 (ch 200, I believe)?

And this is the random girl from the rental DVD cover:

They seem to share a hairstyle and a somewhat similar hair color that Reiko used in the anime (and I daresay, even similar color tones of clothes, from what I remember Reiko seemed to wear, which were kind of plain tones?). So, I'm wondering myself that something happened here. Three things, actually:

1) There's a part of this arc in the manga where "Himeko" is asked to take a pic with the girls from her class' group dormitory in the school trip, and I mean, the manga cover for this specific chapter (ch 138) with that photo is mostly composed of random girls from Himeko's class (plus Yabasawa).

(the quality doesn't make it justice, but that's quite early 2010s scanlations for you)

So I would understand if it's a random girl... (Yabasawa is there, too) however I feel it's just too out of place for a (rental) DVD cover to have a smth similar concept like this for a cover? I know the anime staff or the one(s) that made the llustrations were asked LOTS OF TIMES to remake some manga covers in the anime style (especially for both of the renta and retail DVD covers) , buuuut... Switch and Bossun are out of the equation in this manga picture (and yet they are in the cover). Am I that too pedantic? It's just... weird to me, I guess. I would have chosen Saaya (especially Saaya for what this arc ALSO entails for her, but she already had too many forced appearances in the anime at this point, so what gives) or Captain or any other of the quirky girls they are all friends with, you know? Not just a random one? Or heck, another concept for a cover that covers a similar idea of a picture of the trio with other ppl from their class (not just Yabasawa and a random girl whom I don't know who she is???)

2) Something got mixed in the artist's request from the anime staff in charge for home media releases and they used the settei model for Reiko as a reference and/or turns out they were asked to add a random girl instead because Reiko was not what they were asked for initially. I wouldn't blame them (the artist), tbh. Especially knowing how, *sigh* imagine doing over 90 different illustrations for the DVD releases in total (rental, retail with 'limited edition composing of TWO extra images for the box and the extra content). I mean. I MEAN. (And I'm pretty sure this was handled to different illustrators and not just ONE of them, but... ugh... you know? it's not exactly a walk in the park)

3) Maybe the anime staff did ask for Reiko to be on that cover, but they backtracked before the illustration was finished. She appears in that arc, afterall (although her interactions in the arc aren't TOO meaningful besides a few lines but, hey, it also explains why Yabasawa is in this illustration) but, the little I do remember seeing of screencaps at the time leaves too much to be desired about her appearance.

A personal conspirative hypothesis? that I still have all these years is that the anime staff, at a point after Reiko's "make over" ep, wanted to make her "scarier" and "uglier" than her manga counterpart, whom already was looking scary and ghostly-like, because biases, I freaking guess... and she specifically standing up to Switch's side (w/o bickering or not getting along) was... maybe ship teasing/inducing? (when it was clearly obvious whom THEY shipped him with... HUH, who said that?) Part of me wants to pick up the crumbs and be a little delulu, because I mean, the possibilities of this random girl originally being Reiko is just... too good to be true, I suppose. But this whole thought somewhat.. fits too much to be a coincidence, I guess? The appearance between them is similar (she is around that height if she isn't hunching, as well) and I imagine this would be how she would look like (or dress, even) if she wasn't drawn all ghostly or "plain" like. The girl in this "photograph" like cover being a random girl that wasn't heavily featured in the (manga) arc itself seems a little suspicious to me?

The thing, again, is that I don't have any further context from the anime adaptation of this arc and trying to look back into it is hard these days because this is an early 2010s anime and many ppl that were fans have moved on (blogs are abandoned, some are still available to look at) while newer watchers/readers are becoming lesser because they prefer to watch newer or more popular "content" (also, something about availability, I don't know if CR STILL has it... and definitely I will not be paying for Anime Onegai just for satiate my curiosity since I think? they got the (re)license of this anime for Latam in the past few years; I could try to find this specific anime arc and watch it myself through less legit ways, but I admit I am a bit lazy and new laptop stuff is...).

Why writing this now? Well... tbh, I know no one will care about this specific observation, and it is just me making it because I do find it curious and perhaps I'm just delusional about things. I just wanted to let it out there, because I do find it interesting and I find it a shame that there weren't more observational posts about the home media releases of this anime, especially because I find it interesting that the ED album cover that homages one of the Red Hot Chili Peppers' albums' cover is not the only homage the anime staff did to real stuff out there (tbf, this still being released in the "2-3 eps per single volume" home media release era, and costing over 5000 yen each and the JPN copyright stuff about not reproducing certain things unless crappy pics from early 2010s phones... social media accounts disappearing from the face of earth for a variety of reasons, etc...).

(also, I do find the retail DVD limited edition front covers kind of ugly, like, not all, but... lmao; some look a little sexualized for my liking and the ones from the second season that are head profiles from a certain angle are TRYING to get the whole concept for them, but MAN... do they TRY)