Happy (belated) Valentine’s Day! I joined the CB in 2015-ish, on the tail end of the Crowd Sorcery era, and remained active until around 2018-19.

Now, I’m 21 and in my last year of college… I’m majoring in Studio Art with a minor in History. I work at my printmaking studio and volunteer at the campus museum. I’m trying to enjoy my last semester and not stress too much about and searching for jobs post-graduation (yikes)… When not in the studio I spend the rest of my time frantically reading Henry James and playing cards with my roommates. I also love modernist literature, sad indie folk, and alt-comics.

It’s hard to overstate the role that the CB played in my development of a sense of myself as a writer/artist/creative person in general. It was the first place I shared my writing and art with other people. It has also led to lasting friendships– I’ve kept in touch with a group of CBers of the general 2015-19 “generation,” several of whom I’ve now met in-person.

I’m very grateful that the CB provided 11-year-old-me with a safe environment to experience the positive, connective aspects of social media. In a sense, this type of forum feels like a relic of a different era of the internet, which was maybe even already true in 2015. I admit I’m nostalgic for the old look of the CB, but I’m glad that the updates will allow the site a greater longevity. (Also, it’s great that there’s now a search function.)

It’s really nice to hear from all of you who I remember and to learn about those I don’t. Admins, I hope you’re doing well, too. I guess I’m not sure if the Admin team has changed at all over the past ten years (wow), but either way, very glad this site still exists and thanks for doing your part in maintaining it.

Hi everyone! I’m Poinsettia, or Setti for short, she/her, somewhere in the last half of my teenage years (how elderly of me). I joined in 2022. I used to be very active, but I sort of disappeared recently because of my schoolwork. In the past few days I had time to be on here a bit more, realizing afresh how wonderful this community is and how grateful I am to be a part of it.

I’m interested in writing (of course), reading (especially rom-coms), museums, soccer (Julian Alvarez is my favorite player atm), fashion, history, culture… One of my most recent interests is “urban placemaking and management,” which is basically the design of community-oriented public spaces like parks. I love learning about all sorts of things, and though I’m pretty quiet/shy irl, I get very enthusiastic : ) I also love music, especially Carlos Baute’s songs.

In terms of my few writing projects, I recently finished a short story about two people who fall in love but feel like they shouldn’t be together, so they try to resist it; then they go to Paris and realize that ~love is all that matters~ and after a lot of emotional moments, they get together!! yay!! I also wrote a couple of poems. I actually submitted a story to a magazine. It was rejected, but it was so exciting to embark on the journey of trying to get published that I didn’t really mind the rejection.

Some of you returning CBers who knew me back in the day might remember me as a homeschooler; but in 2024 I started mainstream school, and I loved it! I’m learning French, which has been a fun class so far (probably my favorite this year), and I think I’ve learned a lot – I can now read poetry and comic books in French!

At school I’ve been trying to raise awareness about the negative effects of AI, and fortunately many of the students also disapprove about the gratuitous uses of it. I’ve met lots of interesting people, and gotten along very well with my classmates, though still lacking a close friend group. Ooh, and I went to a karaoke night!! Not really a major update, but it was my first time doing something like that and I’d always wanted to have the experience of doing a musical performance.

I’ve also been trying to develop my sense of style a little bit, which mainly means that I have discovered that necklaces can be worn with mock turtlenecks and therefore I am very pleased that I can dress warmly and still wear jewelry lol. I’m planning to start a scrapbooking project, as I’ve been getting interested in scrapbooks and planners and journaling – I love how they can preserve the past in an artistic way and still be organized.

I have also decided that I would love to work in museums/cultural heritage institutions as a career, and though I’m not at all sure of the path to get there, it’s nice to have found a career path that feels right. It combines so many of my interests and has so much scope for the things I love to do.

And now back to my homework, which I didn’t even realize I had until about an hour ago:( I”m really happy to hear from everyone, and it’s great to know how you’re all doing. I hope 2026 will be a happy year for all of us <33

For some reason I have a thing where it won’t let me reply to people, so I’m @ing you instead!

pangolin – I’ve missed you too! Every time I’m on here I try to say hi to you, but I think we always manage to miss each other. I’m so glad I was able to reach you this time. If there’s trouble digging up our old thread, I can make a new one as well

Amethyst – thanks for saying hi! How are you?

@pangolin, tysm for starting this thread – and hiiii! how are you? have you been up to anything in particular lately? i hope you’re doing well : )

Hiiii again! It was so cool reading how everyone is doing! I mean, wow!! O_O
It’s crazy how people are in college, and it’s fund to hear how they’re doing! I even recognized names! This is such a fun thing, and I’m hope I’m still active for next year!! Byyeeeeee!!!

hello, everybuggy! i’m virtue, formerly known as starzzle, echo hollowswift, and jynx. i first joined the CB when i was twelve years old, on october 6th, 2022, and i was most active up until the end of 2024/beginning of 2025 (i had a very bad depression spell, but i’m doing much better now–i try to limit how much i’m on the internet, because although the CB didn’t contribute to my situation, what caused my situation did involve the internet–even if it involved people i knew in real life). looking back, i was definitely a bit overexcited to be on the CB (i was homeschooled at the time and didn’t have any social medias, so being able to post on something that mimicked social media made me a bit elated). thankfully, i have matured since then, although i do still think of myself as a truly silly individual.

not much has changed for me, personality-wise. i suppose i’ve gotten a bit more serious, but not much so. my interests are different, but i still have the same fervor for them that i did when i younger. being a teenager is so interesting, isn’t it? i somehow feel old and young at the same time, and i still feel just as immature as i did when i was twelve–although, i do try to acknowledge how much i’ve grown since then.

speaking of growth, i’m currently a sophomore in high school and enjoy reading, writing, doing art, and listening/making music (i’m sure some of you have read my posts about various bands i love, like my chem, pierce the veil, thursday, and la dispute). i’ve started writing an actual story for once, instead of just leaving my characters to rot (my characters are, admittedly, more evolved versions of my AEs), and i’m currently in the world-building stage. it’s quite difficult, but it’s worth it.

i’ve also discovered the wonderful world of D&D! my twin brother is our DM, and our current campaign is going swimmingly. or…drowningly, i suppose, since my character (i’m playing as a D&D-ified version of my OC) got stuck in a cave and then trapped in a headlock by a muscular old woman in 15 minutes (what makes it funnier is that my character has very high strength and dexterity…luck is just not on his side, haha).

health-wise, i had a lot of health (mental and physical) problems last year and the year before, which is one of the reasons i wasn’t active much. i’m doing much better now, though, and i’ve found a much better group of friends (kudos to my D&D and robotics groups, love them <3).

if i had a chat thread with you open (cough peri cough pangolin cough lonan), i’m so sorry! i’ve been so busy this year since i started attending an in-person advanced high school thing. it’s been a crazy year, but i will try try to talk to you guys every once in a while. :)

anyway, i have class in 15 minutes, so i have to wrap this up–it’s so nice to see so many old and new faces here! stay safe and healthy, and drink a glass of positivi-tea for me :D <3

i hope to read you around!

love,
virtue <3

note: i keep saying i’ll start proofreading my posts…but…you guessed it, i did not proof-read this, my apologies if it doesn’t make sense or if i misspelled some things <3

‘Ello! It’s good to be back 😀

I joined the CB when I was eleven, in late January of 2024. Unfortunately, after the update my device was having trouble reaching the site and showing the captcha (hence why I am posting this on a school laptop). My mental health was also beginning to decline, so I went poof for a little while.

I hope to become more active again but no promises.
Read you around,
Verde

hola amigos isaac g is my name reading cricket is my game I am in 5 grade