So I'm doing some worldbuilding for my first DnD campaign and remembered my old attempts at worldbuilding on this site. Thought I'd take a look back and then I find this thread and... man, that's a lotta memories. I know I'm way late and I wish I'd found this thread a year ago, but y'know what, why the hell not.
First off, hi to all the people I remember! Lizzie! Exethalion! Anna! Aralonia! Bunch of other folks I don't remember, because it's been slightly over 10 years since I made my last post to this site. Something strange happened to my memory of this place, or rather of myself: I remember myself being a lot younger when I was active but nope, I was 19 years old when I made my last post.
I'm glad to see that most people are doing okay, despite the struggle. For those of you in the process of going through College or Uni, good luck! It's a hell of a ride and you tend to come out the other side not just packed with a new understanding but also a different person, usually for the better. I know I sure did.
For Anna: holy crap, you transitioned! I'm happy for you, and I hope you're happy as well. I remember you not being in the best of places when I was around here, and I hope that's turned around for you. Also, figures you'd be the one most likely to still be kicking around
When I was active on this site, between 2008 and 2011, I was very much in the formative years of my personality. ADHD-induced social incompetence and a complete lack of ability in conflict resolution made my behaviour somewhat... difficult to some and got me rightfully kicked off the mod team. In my post history I can see my own struggle with having grand ideas and then never seeing things through to the end (yeah, the "Great War" was never gonna happen...), something I still have issues with. My social skills have vastly improved though (I think). It's shocking to see that my relationship with the woman who is now my fiancée started while I was still very active here: in my head, that relationship and my stint with BSF didn't overlap at all, but they did.
During my active years I was in my last years of what in Belgium is called 'middelbare school', comparable to Highschool. The next step for me was university. There I got my bachelors and masters degrees in History and the next year a Teachers Diploma. The job market for history teachers being what it is and wanting to go and live together with my SO, I decided to start looking for something more stable, and have ended up working in communications and as an Ombudsman for a regional company. Currently I'm working on getting a diploma as a professional mediator. Yes, me, with my famous "skills" in conflict resolution! Skills that have improved markedly, not in the least thanks to my SO (and some very thorough mediation courses). We own a small but lovely house, and I'm sitting in my freshly renovated office space, which I've done a job good at if I do say so myself.
Perhaps it's selfish to say, but I'm at least partially relieved that apologizing for past behaviour is a theme in this thread, and it's relieving to have a chance to say sorry as well. I do apologize for some of my past behaviour, not in the least for the shenanigans that got me kicked off the mod team, and undoubtedly a bunch of other stuff I don't remember. I know I had some issues but jesus fuckin' christ, 18-year old me was a fuckin' moron!
But, this was the first online forum I partook in. The name 'ArcaneDude' was the first thing that popped into my head when I was asked to type a username, and I'm still ArcaneDude everywhere online. This place was special, and seeing signs of life from all of you makes my day.
And yes, I will gladly join that discord, but now it's 11 o' clock, my fiancée's asleep and I should be as well. A lack of sleep really starts diggin' in when you reach fuckin' thirty, holy shit.