Hello all!

[ValyceNegative]

Hello there, forumgoers!
Thank you so much for accepting my application to the MelonLand boards. I'm Valyce Negative, freelance illustrator and die-hard fan of personal websites and creative webmaking!

I spent a lot of my childhood surfing on Neopets and Pokemon fansites in the early to mid 2000s which have shaped my preferences on web layouts and aesthetics. Due to my career choice I had a period in which I unfortunately had to smash my head against social media as proper art sites were dwindling in popularity, but after a while I just gave up trying to understand that world. Social media pages feel like a cage, they're the worst environment one could ever choose for art! So, with resources and knowledgebase finally at hand, I purchased my domain!

https://www.valycenegative.it/ hosts my art, universe and musings since mid 2021. As most personal pages, it is a project in constant evolution and during these months I'm working with my brother (who does programming for a living) on a whole new overhaul, checking what needs to be improved and hopefully adding even more fun, interactive and interesting thingies.

I've been missing the forums format since the late 2000s and I'm happy to see they're making a comeback (just a few months before I joined a newly-opened forums pertaining to another topic that interests me)! Can't wait to meet new friends here!

Off to make my profile page colorful and pretty <3

[Slix]

Welcome! I too spent a lot of my childhood on Neopets and Pokemon sites, and it also shaped a lot of how I view the web even still today. I totally get what you're saying about social media feeling like a cage in some ways. Forums making a small comeback recently is super fun though. :)

I checked out your website, it's pretty snazzy! Keep up the good work!

[ValyceNegative]

Thank you! Yeah, it's been quite a relief to see a whole community moving back to personal pages- or even keeping it alive since the beginning! The best thing is that it's not only a movement held by veteran surfers, there's a lot of "new blood" around.

Oooh, you got a Poliwager egg on your signature. Clicky clicky :3

[Paprika]

Hello and welcome to the Melonland Forum !

Glad to see you've joined us ! Your website is clean and clear, it's very nice. I love your your "90's" and "Notepad" badges ! Pokemon and NeoPets combo seems common within a generation, it's fascinating ! I hope you'll enjoy your time with us !

Have a violet ribbon as a welcome gift !

[ValyceNegative]

Thank you so much for the ribbon badge, @Paprika ! <3
I can't remember where my Notepad badge comes from but the 90s one I did it myself based on this screencap:

Even I am still surprised it translated so well to pixel!
(Of course, all my banners are free for everyone to use- I'd love to see them travel around the web!)

And yeah, it's amazing how many people have become interested in art and nature/biology thanks to Pokemon and web design/coding thanks to Neopet. You'd think they were just kid stuff but instead they inspired many important careers ^^