Lemme preface this by saying I'm exhausted, so this isn't going to be the most... coherently assembled forum post lol. But it's something I wanted to say. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong topic.

I've been a member of Subeta for over 10 years, and I've been playing virtual pet sites for even longer. I used to spend hours upon hours on Neo when I was younger, just admiring players' artwork and stories they'd come up with for their pets. I spent a lot of my childhood at my father's shop, so much of my leisure time was spent reading books, writing, playing video games, drawing, and messing around with stuff on Neo. Creating. I had so much fun coming up with characters and comics. Looking back, I think I channeled a lot of what I would later on in life figure out was my body dysphoria (I'm ftm trans) into my art and stories. I kind of lived through my male characters, even though my main one was basically Neo's version of a tiger rofl. I moved on to making my own human characters a few years later, but I can't stress how important these silly pixel pets were to me. They gave me a foundation, something I felt safe building upon. They gave me a sense of control in a life riddled with anxiety and panic attacks.

I remember when I joined Subeta, I was blown away by how damn beautiful the artwork was, how much there was in the form of items and human avatar clothing, how unique and detailed everything was, and how much care went into the pet images. I moved on from Neo and spent a lot of time between Subeta and another pet site, jumping from hiatus to active to hiatus as I grew up and my world changed around me. Subeta grew too, and every time I came back it always had so much to offer. It was familiar and comforting, but alive. I made friends on here by participating in events and holidays, and I have genuinely precious memories that came from those events.

I don't know how they do it, how they manage to keep this place -- well, I'll use the word again -- alive. Other places fizzle out, staff members stop caring, but you guys keep going and adding and refining. Players keep pouring so much creativity into their pets and custom wearables and overlays. The NPCs keep gaining more and more personality. As a gay guy, I smile every time I think about Jaxon and Ian. My heart melts when I visit Emma and think of her and Esther. It's so, so nice to see. It's so nice to be able to come to a place that has stayed a part of my life for so long.

I'm rambling, and I'm sure there's more somewhere in my brain that I wanted to say, but... yeah, I'm hella tired. I just wanted to say thank you, staff and players, for keeping such a genuinely fun site running, and for caring so much about the people who play it. My dad passed away a few years ago, and since then we haven't really spent the holidays the same way. I don't have much family left, and it's been painfully apparent lately. But Luminaire helped turn what could have been a very lonely Christmas into something fun and exciting for me, and I can't express how much that means. Maybe it's silly, but it really did make me happy. This site and the memories I have from it make me happy. I'm excited to finally work on my own pets and collections.

So, yeah, thank you. Really. <3

You have expressed what I love about Subeta much better than I could ever do. Thank you for putting my feelings into words, and I hope you have a new year full of love and hope.

Thank you for your kind words. <3 I hope you have a wonderful new year, too.

AHHH THIS IS SO NICE THANK YOU ❤

Like said, thank you so much for putting words to the feelings many of us have toward Subeta :D The quality of this site, its staff, and players have been a shining light in my life, too, and you articulated that appreciation wonderfully <3

I agree totally. Thank you for your eloquence, I darent think how good you are when not tired!

, I fully agree. As a person within the LGBTQ+ community, I really appreciate that Subeta doesn't shy away from that aspect of life. They don't treat us like children, which is incredible. It's funny how pixels can affect your life, isn't it?