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Post by Kheisa on Jan 8, 2018 13:15:34 GMT -6
Okay, this is pretty self-indulgent, but I'm curious and I wouldn't be surprised if I wasn't the only one! Lots of folks here have changed character name (and so: username) over the past few years, and I know I was last active in ~2011-2012, which was a pretty long time ago. Plus, doing any of this in the cbox it gets lost really quickly, so why not have a full thread for it?
So, hi again everyone! I'm Kheisa, I've always been Kheisa, but I'm 24 now instead of 18 or 19.
When I stopped being active I was just starting a Psychology BA at UNC Chapel Hill, but I quit after a couple of years because I was getting more and more stressed and depressed. I took a break by having a semester abroad taking whatever classes I wanted at Cardiff University in fall 2012 (now I know some Welsh!), then started making fursuits in 2013, took a gap year taking some fursuit commissions in 2013-2014, then fully dropped out and applied to art school in London. Did a foundation year in London at UAL, mostly for theatre-type things, but ended up frustrated because I felt my tutors were pushing me not just to expand my comfort zone but to give up on my interests, so rather than stay there for my Bachelor's degree I applied to a different art school in Cardiff and am now in my second year of my degree in a program called Artist Designer : Maker that's geared towards skill acquisition. It's a relatively new program so apparently they couldn't find enough actual "makers" to be our tutors (rather than "artists" and "designers" who are more concept-oriented than most of my year group), which means I butt heads with them sometimes, but overall I'm enjoying it and learning a fair amount. Like, I got to cast bronze in a foundry and make a stop-motion film last term! Even if I never do those things again they were really cool to do once!
In early 2013 my family adopted a second Papillon named Charlie, who was a puppy mill rescue and already a senior (~13 y/o) when we got her. Unfortunately she passed away in October 2016, just from old age basically, but she was the perfect dog for me, 100% matched my lifestyle, and I love and miss her. My parents just adopted another rescue Pap named Merry (brought him home last week!) to keep Pooka (if y'all remember him) company. Papillons are totally our breed now and I can't imagine not having a Pap in my life (aside from, you know, living overseas right now in a no-pets-allowed flat haha).
Aaaand now I'm in a long term relationship and living with my boyfriend (also a full-time student, but studying computer science online) in Cardiff. We like to go to the local park and feed the pigeons, several of which we can identify and have named. :P
So that's me! How have y'all been?
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Post by Vixen on Jan 8, 2018 14:36:12 GMT -6
Hello hello again! Still Vixen / Destiny. I'm 22 now, in Kentucky. My life has literally gone to to the dogs, lol.
Basic synopsis of the past few years: I was a herpetology major, had a very large reptile collection that I did lectures and such with, but someone bug bombed the temperature-controlled, customized shed I kept 95% of my collection (and breeder rats) in, and I lost all of my animals literally in just hours, including the one I'd had since I was 13. I tried to get a collection going again, but it just took a lot of wind out of me, and I could never get as excited / engaged to start breeding again. While that had been happening, I got an Australian shepherd puppy, Maple, since I was 18 and moved out. I'd had Maple since she was four months old, and despite puppy classes and doing everything right from the time I got her, she's just... a bit not-right in the head. Maple struggles with anxiety problems (same though), in the extreme, to the point of requiring medication and (now) a behaviorist. HOWEVER, during our first year together, I didn't know what was wrong, and I thought it was just me failing her. As a consequence, I essentially became a human library on dog reactivity, and fell into a rabbit hole of training books, videos, etc.. so much so, that my school studies switched to animal behavior, and now I'm dedicated to dog training, have a client base, and study under a couple of very prominent people in my area.
SINCE Maple was such a disaster because of her bad breeding, and I'd since educated myself on the matter, AND had fallen in love with a particular breed, I got my second dog, a Belgian Tervuren by the name of Silas (also my profile picture), from a reputable breeder, and we are now doing AKC conformation, herding, nosework and tracking, obedience, and learning bitework and other sports. My long-term goal is to breed dual-purpose Tervs that excel in both work (be that police work, military, herding dogs, sport dogs, etc) and show. He's been an incredible handful, but I love him deeply, and he's developed me as a trainer. Most of the time I'm gone, it's due to dog-related absorption. However,
I've also made strides in my mental health, and by strides, I mean understanding better. I have major depressive disorder, C-PTSD, and anxiety issues, and on Wednesday I have a psych appointment to screen for personality disorders, because there's aggressive reason to suggest borderline personality disorder, and I'm learning to be okay with that. I avoided medication and diagnosis for a very long time because of a... I guess weird mental block? about it. I come from a very extroverted / neurotypical family, and there hasn't been much understanding my whole life on that front when it comes to mental health, but my partner of now five years, Patrick, has helped me through it a lot, as well as a lot of wonderful online friends / support groups on Facebook, and now I'm at a point to where I'm accepting that I am how I am, and I'm just focused on improvement/adapting now. New medications should also be helping with my motivational issues, which brings me back to HxR.
I'm hoping to write more this year, return to where I was athletically before my knees and depression slapped me down for over a year, and continue to improve as a trainer / handler and put more titles on my dogs. I also have a black-headed caique named Fern, two kitties (Nessy and Lena), and a spider (Gryffin), and that about sums up my nuclear little family, ahaha.
TL;DR. "what have you been up?" Depression and dogs. : D
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Post by Jack on Jan 8, 2018 14:51:59 GMT -6
Formerly Obsidion, I'm just trying to keep this place together along with Ashe and the rest of this wonderful family I've grown to know and love in this place <3
I'm turning 30 next month and I now have a 6 year old daughter and 2 year old son with my husband of 6 years, so you might have seen me at the tail end of my first pregnancy before you left. Last May I started working at the Veteran's Home here in town and became a CNA (Certified Nurse Assistant) and I love my job, it's just stressful working for the state. I can't complain about the benefits though, lol.
We tried to have a dog for awhile but she got so big my daughter got scared of her and we had to re-home her, I still miss her and it's been a year now since we had to get rid of her. We got a guinea pig for my daughter but she ended up never spending time with her so we donated her to a friend of mine who teaches at a Montessori school in Kansas City, and she has become fat and spoiled and well loved by all the kids, something that's doing her some good I think. Now we have a cat, Shadow, and I love her to pieces, she's great with the kids, she sleeps on our bed, and she's always in the thick of things even when there's a lot of people around. She's not cautious really, but she does like to keep her distance at times, and she knows where her safe spaces are, so that's great I think.
Other than trying to port this site over, I've been working my tail off at the Veteran's Home, I've started sewing a lot again, and I've been gaming quite a bit as well, having just started Horizon: Zero Dawn and I LOVE it so far. Between work and the family, however, there's not much time for me to have down time to do the things I want to do, so I've been trying to squeeze everything into a nice little bundle, which hasn't been working very well, lol.
About a year ago I finally saw a psychiatrist after my doctor went a little overboard with my medicine and I was diagnosed with fairly severe bipolar disorder (I have both visual and auditory hallucinations and I have since I can remember) with focuses on paranoia and anxiety, so I've been heavily medicated since then and things have been great. I would like to take this moment to apologize for how I behaved awhile back before I was properly medicated, because I know it was rough on some of you with the way that I acted and I'm very sorry for anything I may have done in the past.
That's about it! Work and family, family and work, and I squeeze this place into my life every second I can <3 I love you guys and wouldn't trade you for the world.
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Post by Amelia on Jan 8, 2018 17:44:31 GMT -6
I'm Amelia, but formerly was Gentle. My real name's Daisy, and I'm sure you can find me on Facebook as I'm friends with some of the other members. I'm 21, and finishing my fourth and last year of my Bachelor of Science in Nursing. It's through the University of Alberta, but I'm taking it at a college near my hometown. This will get me to being a Registered Nurse. Oh yes, I'm Canadian. Born and raised here. Started in the province of Ontario, now I'm out in Alberta. It's okay if you need to look it up on a map. Yes, it is very cold here. Last week was extra cold, and it was sitting about -40, which if I recall correctly is the same in Celsius and Fahrenheit. We had our first snowfall this year in September, but typically snow doesn't stick until closer to November. Like every other user I've struggled with my mental health. I really started to notice it in my first year of college, and it's been a constant struggle since. I've struggled with depression and anxiety, and I'm finally on a good dose of the right medication which is starting to help. Not to mention that a big part of it is my own self care. I was in a relationship starting the first month of my first year of college, ending near the end of my third year of college. I didn't realize then what I realize now, and it was toxic and he was far from the person for me. My partner managed to make my anxiety and depression worse. So here I am, almost single for a year now (aside from being a serial dater whoops,) and happier than I've been in a long time. I'm so close to starting my career which is my passion. I could talk about nursing forever, and if anybody needs just a nursing/medical perspective feel free to give me a shout. I joined back when I was probably about 12 or 13, left for a number of years. Something made me come back a few years ago, and I've been rather active ever since. Writing helps as a way to cope with my mental health, and typically is not something I do to please other members of the site, (please don't read any of it.) I think I came back around the time I realized how bad my mental health was (you mean it's not normal to not have the physical or emotional energy to get out of bed every single day??) and this site has done wonders for me. I still live at home with my parents and my sister. We're identical twins and inseparable. She works away a lot as a medic in the oilfield (oil is big in Alberta.) We've got a 7 year old golden retriever who is probably the biggest suck but we love her anyhow. I've managed to collect a couple of fish and a crested gecko of my own. Living at home has saved me tons of money and because college is actually affordable in Canada I'll be finishing with not only no student loans but some money in savings as well. That's about it. I'm pretty transparent about myself, and you may find me sharing school or dating woes in the CBox Shoutbox now and then.
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Post by Lethalia on Jan 8, 2018 18:38:45 GMT -6
My name is Zabrina and I'm 26.
Hm. I've done a little bit of college, finished a certificate for industrial baking and a wee bit of an associate's before I couldn't afford it. I married the sweet bear I've been with for ten years, and have been horribly boring just working since. I want to go back to college hopefully soon if I can figure out the means, maybe even make enough money to get some of my medical issues looked into! Like others - quite the group here, aren't we? - I also suffer from depression and anxiety, and have slowly come out of my shell the last few years. It just sucks being a 'late bloomer', hah.
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Post by Touj on Jan 8, 2018 19:58:30 GMT -6
Hey guys!!
I'm Touj, I've went by Touj on here from way back on V1- although my character has changed a lot since then! I just turned 21 last week- I've been on here since I was about 10, so its good seeing that I'm not the only one who stuck around from their youth, haha. I go by Touj or Rob, but feel free to keep just calling me Touj as its what I go by online on pretty much all non-real life sites.
I'm a little younger than other folks on here, and I'm finishing up my last year of college right now! I'm in a dual degree program for Journalism, and I'm going to graduate with both my bachelor's and master's in the spring, so I'm pretty psyched to be done. I am kind of nervous about job stuff and paying off a seemingly-insurmountable pile of debt, but hey, it seems like that's what everyone's going through right now. I've been working various jobs and internships to get experience and help pay the bills. I still live in Midwest America, but I'm lucky enough to have gotten the chance to live in California and D.C. for work over the past few years. I definitely want to keep trying out different places to live and go to because I get pretty claustrophobic and freaked out being in one place for too long and feeling like I'm stagnating, haha.
In terms of adversary I'm kind of along the lines of a lot of people here- I have severe depression and some p bad social anxiety issues that have gotten in the way of my functionality, both in writing for fun and irl. I'm always trying to do better and I haven't found the perfect concoction of medicine and habits to keep me entirely in the clear, but hey, it's a process. One of the good things in the past few months that I did start and am pretty happy about is hormone therapy - I'm 3 months on Testosterone and feeling better about myself than I can remember.
Come chat!! Sorry if I was an annoying teenager to you!! I'm glad everyone's doing well!!!
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Darky
Flea Market Artist
Veritas et Aequitas
Posts: 1,268
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Post by Darky on Jan 9, 2018 3:33:51 GMT -6
Hoo boy. Not one to usually do these, but screw it, its 2018, the year of Getting Yourself Together.
Hello, I'm still Darky much as always have been, admittedly the character has evolved to have much more substance and definitive.. aesthetics/thematics I guess, one could say? Than before x3 Otherwise known as D'Arcanlan, otherwise known as Maiken, sometimes called Miki. I'm one of the rare non-Americas dwellers, living in Tallinn, Estonia and have existed on this earth for a grand 28 years.
Events of interest of the recent decade may include: finishing gymnasium (essentially 'high school/college' combined here) and proceeded to take Animation BA at the Estonian Academy of Arts (or EKA), which I finished three years later. Just a little before the graduation, however, a pretty nasty divorce happened between my mother and step-dad which left me basically taking care of her and my half-brother for a very chaotic year, while trying to find work post-graduation. Got some odd-jobs with brief animation projects, but eventually landed a customer service job for a couple of years. It sucked balls, but the family needed the income, admittedly I didn't need the help to my social anxiety. Sometime during that I managed to get a try out at Eesti Joonisfilm (one of our main/bigger animation studios) and was later hired part-time, then after quitting the customer service thing for full time. And I'm here to this day~
Unfortunately the customer service position did a number on my health so for the foreseeable future I'm having to deal with anaemia and gradually unlearning/recovering from the crap that it heaped onto my social anxiety. Both are going fairly well and it's nice to find time for yourself again.
I've been living on my own for almost a third year running, still sharing the small but cozy apartment with Mirri (cat) who recently had a fright with his thyroid acting up, but is otherwise still pretty spry for his 19-year old age. Somewhat befitting irony we're both looking at needing meds/suppliments these days x3
Otherwise gradually getting back to reviving old headworlds half-forgotten, de-stressing with games, tumblring, finding the time to just sketch and draw on the regular again (and for no reason other than feeling like it) and being my ace-ass self. As the internet has decreed, 2018 is the year of Getting Things Together so I've begun tackling what feels like ancient things left untouched since the Chaos Year began and it's been pretty invigorating~
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Post by Sevyrn on Mar 5, 2018 16:00:32 GMT -6
Once upon a time, way back on v1 and the early v2 days (aka like a few years of it) I went by Lii, then some other name I don't even remember at this point, and now Sevyrn. I haven't been active in years but I figured I'd at least join up here to stay on top of things... The muse to write comes and goes and once in a while I pop in for a bit.
I'm no longer 12 and technically too young to be even on forums and instead I'm 22, technically a veterinary technician (I'm currently unable to get a job in clinic in my area) aaand yeah. I'm a big fan of both rats and cats, though recently I lost the last of my ratties until I'm out on my own properly. As soon as I can I'm going to have more c:
Seems like poor mental health runs in the family here - I've got me a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. I knew I had it when I was about seventeen but I didn't actually do anything about it until I was twenty - and over the last couple years I've been finally working on it. Tack on some major depression and social anxiety and I'm pretty much just a ball of unadulterated stress.
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Post by Fiera Ferella on Mar 5, 2018 21:19:53 GMT -6
Oh damn, nice topic idea! Gives us all a chance to re-introduce ourselves, lol. I'm FF- formerly Fallingfeather, currently Fiera Ferella (though I still prefer to be called Fallingfeather). Joined back when I was 11 (and had quite a panic when the mods started actually cracking down on the age limit. I just kinda tried to fly under the radar till I turned 13, lol), and I'm currently 20 (21 in April!). I grew up in Florida surrounded by nature and a crapton of animals, but I moved out in 2015 and now I live in New York (though I hope to get a betta fish soon...)
Frankly, I ended up dropping out rouuughly in 2012 not out of health or disinterest but because I discovered deviantart and it. Consumed my life. Nowadays, I'm trying to stay active in terms of at least popping in and making some posts from time to time, but I've got a lot of irons in the fire. Most of my time is consumed by school (going for my bachelor's in biology, then later my masters in forensic genetics), followed by work (making rent in NYC is... not fun...), and even then I have a bunch of animation, art, and website projects I'm trying to polish off. XD It's a lot! Which... doesn't help with the anxiety disorder I have as a free addon to my autism. XD Whatever though, I'm sure I'll live.
Still though, I'm really happy with my new character, it's given me a lot of renewed interest in this place! For a long time I was afraid to play characters with any negative traits at all because I worried that people would perceive it as my real personality. Nowadays though, I'm quite eager to play as a bitchy middle aged cat lady. Come at me.
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Post by Ashe on Mar 22, 2018 1:44:43 GMT -6
Still Ashe. Or, Heather, if you know me on FB. Bronz, if you know me on Xbox. I'm 27.
I've struggled with anxiety over the years, especially since I sunk into a depressive hole in 2008-2010, and I've been climbing out of it ever since. I never went to the doctor's and I've been improving in a mind over matter routine, so I'm not sure how that stands compared to everyone else. I'm well known offline for eating Taco Bell, literally, daily. Sometimes multiple times a day. Tacos and burritos aren't that bad for you, but add in the pop and chalupas, and the price of eating out... Really working on this as well. I've never cooked, so I'm leaning into it by starting with canned veggies, cut fruit, and things I can do with ground beef and rotisserie chicken.
My boyfriend, Dan, (about 1.5 years) has helped ground my anxiety and brought out a caring nature I didn't even know I had. He is gluten free by choice, very health conscious, and got me working out regularly (4x a week at the gym, but I also try P90X, Insanity, and Zumba - work makes it hard to have a steady routine at home though) in addition to going to all of his kids' sporting events, which means out of the house and sometimes outside. He has 6 kids, 5 adopted, mixed races and ages, and I adore them all. Plus I didn't really want to have any myself, and this takes away the pressure! haha Other activities include nature hikes, driving the countryside, and hopefully more bonfires this summer.
I work for the USPS, I sort mail and packages for the northwestern Ohio area. I work at night and sleep by day, which I've prepared myself for ever since my high school years. 3x a week, I venture into the morning daylight to visit and ride Belle, a beautiful "mini clydesdale" looking gypsy vanner. Her owner and I have basically trained her ourselves (owner used to train her own horses, and gave dressage lessons), after buying her at 3 years as "green broke" and she is coming along beautifully. My handsome, people-pleaser boy, Andrew, passed a year and a half ago with a broken leg, and things just haven't been the same. Not sure what I would have done without Dan, Andrew was my favorite thing and we lost him so suddenly. I still plan on one day buying my own 16hh or taller warmblood and learning more about jumping - cross country is my favored sport - but that will have to wait until I pay back all my student loans.
I'm learning Spanish through Duolingo (and several other apps), and a few school textbooks. One day, I'd like to know Spanish, French, Italian, German, and maybe some Japanese. And eventually, I'd like to become an author and move to Kauai, Hawaii. Dream big, right? I used to write stories and poetry, then suffered my first heartbreak in high school and I haven't had that "spark" return yet. Ashe's been my only outlet, really, since Avidgamers went out.
Not much has changed, I just like constantly having something to do, without being overwhelmed.
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Post by Riku on May 16, 2018 4:27:02 GMT -6
I haven’t really thought of this place since right before the old site went weird, however I randomly had a nightmare the other night that everything was lost and it broke my heart. So of course I had to stop by and say hello. I don’t really know where the shoutbox is, and I just made this account, so I haven’t even looked around yet. Hahaha! Always been Riku, but my real name is Joshua. I joined when I was 12, and it’s really great to see so many of us still clinging to this home away from home that we all grew up with. It is truly a part of who I am, in a way, and I show it to all of my friends (who roll their eyes because they can’t possibly understand what it means to us). My life has changed a lot in the last few years. I went from being hardcore Christian to realizing I wasn’t straight. That was an adventure. Now I’m extremely spiritual, but not in the “usual” way - and I’m pretty comfortable with my sexuality. It took a long time. I’m also very focused on health now. I try to only eat healthy - vegan when I can - and exercise very often. I live a very active life now and get very restless if I’m ever just sitting around - whereas a year ago all I did was lie on the couch and play video games or watch tv while eating. So I went from a very unhealthy lifestyle to a very healthy one. My actual physical health demanded it, as a bunch of issues came up that forced me to make better choices. I’m grateful that it happened, tho.....because now I feel a lot better in general. I also suffer from mental health issues. A year and a half ago I dropped out of college after having a mental breakdown, (shortly after realizing my sexuality mixed with family problems and health issues, etc) and started therapy and medication. I stopped those a year ago and have learned to cope with my life without needing them. I feel a lot better without the crazy side effects - and I lean on my friends for emotional support. Most of my time outside of work is spent with them. I did end up going back to school almost a year ago, and I fell in love (which was and still is a complicated story) with an amazing guy who brought me back to life. He reignited a fire in my heart that had long been dead, and now I am finally fully pursuing my dream of being a musician. So I’m working on my music and I’ll be going back to school again (after a short break for financial reasons) in a few months until my music career takes off. It’s a long and hard process but only part of it is the talent. Mostly it’s about not giving up. So I continue to try to stay encouraged and I just have faith in myself. Right now I work as a server (sort of) full time and I spend my free time with friends. We play DnD once or twice a week, and that’s the only game time I get now. (Versus 6+ hours a day before) Other than that I’m at work 30+ hours a week and the gym almost every day. I probably won’t have much time at all to role-play on here for a while, but I still want to stay updated. You guys can find me on Instagram and snap: Joshua_Spazz It’s the best place to reach me.
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Yang
Flea Market Artist
Posts: 1,001
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Post by Yang on May 16, 2018 13:54:22 GMT -6
Oh dag!! 0: I'm super happy to see so many old-schoolers still comin' around! ouo
Always been Yang, always will be Yang, 25 years old, and still floatin' about the boards taking sporadic commissions as I finish up old orders.
These last few years for meself have been fraught with job-loss, dissociation disorders, moving, BPD, depression, and general life-upheavel as I move into a room thats being covered out of the goodness of my uncles heart. No relationships or schooling (outside of artwork and a future tattoo apprenticeship; super exciting stuff). Figuring out personal gender-dysphoria type things in between it all; those on FB might've caught wind of that, but it's not something I'm taking super hard atm. :U
As for personal projects, I'm working on my own forum that is v.story-intensive :3c It's been a few years in the making, and still in the works, but it's something I'm super excited to get off the ground in the near future!
For now I can be found/tracked down on Deviantart (pure-decay) , FB(I'm Alexander Tomlinson for now, the name will be changing to Abel in 60- days), or Khimeros (puredecay #32320) for uh..whomever plays there :V
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