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Hello CBers!
Chatterbox: Down to Earth
Hello CBers!
Hello CBers!
My name is Arcade. I was originally on this website around 10 years ago - I believe I stopped posting regularly around age 13. I went by Danie, or Danielle P back then.
This forum was very important to be growing up, and with a unique barrage of fresh time at my disposal, I decided to check back on the forum to see how things have changed, or remained the same.
Here is some more information about me:
My pronouns are he/him. When I went on this site originally, they were she/her. A lot changes in 10 years!
I am a computer science major. I am currently going to college for it. I am pursuing a minor degree in music theory as well.
I work at an afterschool program for children. I just started a couple of weeks ago! Unfortunately, I also just recently sprained my ankle, so I haven't been able to return to work.
In my spare time, I draw, play video games, and compose music. I also enjoy board games and table top rpgs, like D&D! (And I'm learning to bake, with ..... marginal success.)
Feel free to ask me questions! I still remember a fair bit from back then.
submitted by Arcade P., age 20, California
(May 13, 2024 - 12:32 pm)
(May 13, 2024 - 12:32 pm)
Hi Arcade! Its so cool to see an old CBer drop by. I'm Moon Wolf, she/her, and I joined CB almost a year ago. What was your favorite part of CB?
(May 13, 2024 - 5:23 pm)
Hello Moon Wolf! My favorite part of CB was probably the Inkwell; I really enjoyed rp and making stories with other people. I still do it, in fact! Just via the medium of D&D. My real favorites on Inkwell, however, were always the ones when people would use CBers in solo fiction - Mostly because I didn't have to do the hard part of writing things myself, haha!
I also loved the AEs. I see that's still a thing!
More importantly though, I loved the community as a kid. It was pretty novel to me during that age to have so many friends to talk to, and they lived miles and miles away.
(May 13, 2024 - 11:39 pm)
(May 13, 2024 - 10:17 pm)
Hi Arcade! Welcome back!! I love your name (reminds me of Arcade and the Triple T Token)! It's so cool that you're a computer science major (not that I know much of anything about the subject) and that you play D&D (I want to play ahhh)!!! Umm... actually, I'm wondering what exactly is music theory? I've never quite understood it, despite playing both cello (for four years) and piano (for like my whole life) lol. Like... theories about... music??
my pronouns are... she/her/they/them (one set, all sets, alternating, it changes so use whatever :) )
it seems like Feiya's trying to calculate interest! She said IPRTT :D either that, or she's thinks she looks especially nice tonight... :p
(May 14, 2024 - 12:37 am)
I’m not sure about theory. For me, music theory is like sharps and flats and rests and other stuff like that. Arcade can probably give you a more in-depth explanation.
(May 14, 2024 - 10:20 am)
Hello Celine! Whenever I explain music theory, I usually say it's math for music! But that makes it sound very boring, so here's a better explanation:
If you play the cello and piano, you probably know some music theory! If you've ever learned scales, minor/major keys, time signatures, and any other kinds of musical notation for reading music, that's the basics of music theory!
In general, music theory is used to compose music. It's the art and study of what makes music sound good! (Or bad, which can be just as interesting to know).
I call it 'math' because once you start getting into the really complicated stuff, making a piece sound the way you want can be like a math puzzle, but fun! I probably won't get into the really complicated analysis during my studies, though - that's for the folks with PhDs, haha!
Anyways, like I said, most of the people taking this degree are doing so because they want to create music. There used to be more divide between researching music and actually making it, but nowadays it's much more combined.
(May 14, 2024 - 11:23 am)
Ohh that makes so much more sense now!! Thank you for explaining! :D and good luck with pursuing your minor on music theory! :D
(May 15, 2024 - 1:49 am)
Hi! You’re 20 already? That feels so far away. I’m Sempreverde. I joined at the start of this year. It’s cool that you compose music
(May 14, 2024 - 12:26 am)
Hi Sempreverde! You'd be amazed at how quickly time starts to fly once you get out of high school, haha! I hope you have just as much fun with this site as I did.
(May 14, 2024 - 11:27 am)
woah, that's so cool! glad to have you back! i'm parody (any pronouns), and it's so cool to meet you. what was kyndom like back then? (if you were in it)
(May 14, 2024 - 8:16 am)
Hello parody! It's cool to meet you too! It's funny, I don't think I ever participated in Kyngdom. I did participate in a very similar thing from before then though, called Crowd Sorcery! That's how I found this site, actually. It was a story for Cricket Magazine where people on the chatterbox would invent and submit their own ideas for villains, heroes, sidekicks, and I believe other worldbuilding effects!
You can read the story here: https://www.cricketmagkids.com/chatterbox/crowdsorcery/node/152915
I believe I submitted both a villain and a sidekick! Neither got chosen, alas, but the sidekick ended up sticking with me - I used him for a 'Shadow RP' that you could probably find if you searched Inkwell via most replies and then clicked through a couple of pages.
(May 14, 2024 - 11:47 am)
Woah! I remember looking back at old threads and seeing your name! It's amazing to see/meet you!
My name's Writing, he/they pronouns :) Is there anything about the CB that influences you even now, maybe even on a daily basis? For me, the CB helped me figure out my gender identity- People here have seen me change and grow so much, it's amazing, honestly.
It's nice to see you! :D
(May 14, 2024 - 11:07 am)
Hi Writing! Nice to meet you too!
CB influenced a lot of my life. I can trace my love of D&D roleplaying and writing all the way to here.
And in regards to how CB influenced your life, I think you might enjoy this funny story: After I got involved with this forum as the name 'Danie', I started pretending to be another person, too, called Squeak! I would always refer to him as my 'twin brother'. I really enjoyed 'pretending' to be a guy! Inevitably I revealed that I was both people, and started using him as an AE, but looking back, it's interesting to connect this to the way I identify now.
(May 14, 2024 - 12:03 pm)
this is so cool! i'm curious what the queer culture was like when you were here. i know there were a lot of wars about it, and even in my time on here (3 or 4 years???) it's gotten like twenty times more accepting. and i really think of this place as a queer haven (the only place i have to be really queer at the moment), so it's strange to think of it as anything else.
also your name is amazing and i adore it. noun names are my favorites.
also i kind of compose music too heh. The best thing i've done is a cadenza for JC Bach/Casadesus's viola concerto in C Minor, which is way harder than the actual piece and more fun XD most of my knowledge of music theory is more just me analyzing music than actually studying music theory though. i play viola and violin. oh but i'm about to start working on Kreisler's praeludium and allegro on violin and it's so cool and i can't wait (but i'm sick right now and usually can't even hold up the viola or violin at the moment *sobs* there's a lot more hours in the day when i can't practice heh). i also got Bach's a minor violin concerto out again to work on for a performance that's coming up but that's pretty easy. it's a really good piece though. I love Bach. Who are your favorite composers? Mine are maybe Rebecca Clarke, Prokofiev, Tchaikovsky, Delibes, Dvorak, Bach, maybe Telemann or Saent-Saens... that's all I can think of at the moment but i'm sure there are more. i've just mostly been watching ballets lately and have forgotten a lot of non-ballet music. I'm watching Coppelia now.
i also bake, so if you have any questions or stuff let me know. umm tips... for starting out definitely follow the recipe as closely as you can. (later you can make changes to the recipe, but if you're still learning that's probably not a good idea) Weight measurements are generally more accurate, but honestly i almost never use them XD know how much you're supposed to mix - too much mixing can cause too much aeration, which can then cause the thing to go flat. also if you use gluten flour (normal flour, i just can't have gluten) then it can make too much gluten and make the thing too tough. oh and always measure flour into measuring cups by fluffing it up in the bag, spooning it into the measuring cup, and then leveling it off with the back of a knife. DO NOT pack it in. also definitely don't overcook or undercook. For many recipes like muffins and quick breads, a long toothpick can tell you a lot of information - like if it comes out with crumbs, what do they feel like (like are they wet and mushy or do they feel done)? tapping the crust/top of one can also be a good way to tell how done it is.
what sort of things do you draw?
(May 14, 2024 - 3:24 pm)
Hi there!
I would say there wasn't really any queer culture. For context: When I first started writing here, I had never even heard the words gay, queer, or lgbt before! It's not like I lived in an unaccepting environment - I simply didn't know anyone from the queer community, and no one around me ever spoke of it. So when we had an incident related to a queer AE, I didn't really know what to think! I suspect a lot of kids were like me back then.
That doesn't mean there wasn't queer people on here, though! In one story I took part in, there was a girl with a crush on another girl, and I'm sure there were other stories! There was just a lot of ignorance, and most of it wasn't malicious at all. We just didn't have the resources you guys have now, about queer topics.
Anyways, for music: I've been getting into operas lately! Mozart has some great ones. My favorite composer would have to be Saint-Saëns, though. I love Danse Macabre! I also enjoy Vivaldi, even if his work is oftentimes repetitive. His bassoon concertos are good.
Admittedly, I bake mostly on 'vibes'. Who needs measuring cups if you can eyeball it? I kid. I mostly find myself biting off more than I can chew, haha! I recently struggled through a trying experience of angel food cake - So many egg whites!
I like to draw my D&D and rpg characters! I also draw characters from video games, TV shows, and books. I've been drawing a lot of Discworld lately, as a matter of fact.
(May 14, 2024 - 11:24 pm)