Well, it's been 2 years now since I first discovered this wonderful online community and decided to become a part of it, and although I haven't been nearly as active here lately as I used to be (due to lots of RL complications), I'm still EXTREMELY glad that I found this place back in 2019, and also that I still get to pop in here every now and then, like today!
(And hopefully I'll be able to pop in more often in the near future.)

For those who may not already know, my 2DS broke last year, and although my mom's phone (and this tablet of my dad's that I'm using RN) have freed me of my 2DS's text limit, and allowed me to copy and paste things (both of which have been REALLY helpful), I still miss my old 2DS, and I hope that I'll be able to use it again on here sometime soon.

Like most of the people who found this website, I did so on a DS, and while many of the older (adult) members of this site now have access to devices with better web browsers now, to me and many others here, who rely on their old DSi, 3DS, or 2DS to access this website (like I did for the majority of my time here), this website and others like it are special places that allow us to make friends with people whom would otherwise be out of our reach, and for all of those lonely, depressed kids out there (and lonely, depressed adults like myself) who have no friends IRL, this place is a Godsend.

During this past year, there have been a lot of changes in my RL situation, and I thank God that things turned out how the did, but here on Paint, I've noticed (on those rare occasions that I'm actually online, lol) that things are looking pretty inactive here lately, which is something that I will hopefully be able to try to fix in the near future, by being more active on here myself.

What I actually wanted to talk about in this blog, however, has more to do with Paint than myself, and that is why things are so inactive in the first place.

There are probably lots of reasons why (I'd imagine COVID-19 is among them), but I wanted to focus on one reason in particular: the prominent members of this community who have chosen to leave over the past year or so.

Some of the people who left did so because they had no choice, and RL circumstances beyond their control made it impossible and/or dangerous for them to be online, but sadly, there are a number people who have been on Paint since 2012 or earlier, and who basically grew up on this site, who chose to leave because they feel that Paint isn't the same as it was years ago, and that they (for whatever reasons) don't like what Paint has become.

Many of these people were are good friends of mine, and I sincerely hope that they return some day, but it saddens me that they can't appreciate the website I fell in love with 2 years ago, and still love with all my heart to this day.

Yes, it is less active than it was back then, and there are lots of new people here now (which IMO is a good thing), but rather than trying to help the website they grew up with to grow and flourish, they leave, just because it's different?

Personally, I think that's just plain wrong, and I for one will NEVER leave Paint for any reason (unless I have no choice, of course). Period.

Now, from what I've heard, most of the members who left Paint (and many who are still here) are on the SDK Discord server, or communicate with their old friends from here on Paint via other, more mainstream social media websites (like Discord), but by doing so, they are shutting themselves off from all of the younger (and typically newer) members whom are reliant on their DSi, 3DS, and/or 2DS to visit this website, which is sad, because they are Paint's future.

I only have a few online accounts, and all of them (save for my E-mail account, which I had to set up on Mom's phone) were created using that old 2DS of mine, and if it weren't for me being able to create an account here without an E-mail account 2 years ago, I would hath never found the courage in myself to create any of them.

DSi and 3DS websites are special, and the people who left here because Paint isn't the same as it was several years ago have forgotten that, and they need to realize that they aren't the same as they were back then, either, and simply accept Paint for the wonderful place that it is now, rather than holding it to an unreasonable standard.

Although I never had a DSi, I've had my 2DS since 2013, and I've been sneaking online (via public Wi-Fi, back when we got taken outside of the house every now and then) to do things in Pokémon since 2015, so technically, if I had known this place had existed, I could've been a member here for a lot longer, and I would've known my friends here for a lot longer, too, and I certainly wish that I had.

That being said, I'm just glad that I found Paint when I did, and as much as I would've liked to have been here back during this place's heyday, I'm looking towards Paint's future, not its past, and I hope that those who have left us can find it in their hearts to do the same.

I'd like to thank all of those members who stayed here on Paint for all of these years, and who have tried to help this place in whatever ways they can.

I'd also like to extend an extra thank you to all of those who keep this site up and running, and who take time out their busy RLs to help maintain and improve it.
(Including our resident KanColle enthusiast, lol!)

And last but not least, I'd like to thank all of the new members of this website, and I hope that y'all will stay here for many years to come!

P.S. I believe that the image that I used at the top of this blog is the first thing ever drawn on DSiPaint, all those years ago...
(I thought that it would add a nice nostalgic touch for those veteran members who're still around, IDK.)