New to the community, looking forward to connecting with everyone!

Hi all — I am absolutely thrilled to join this forum and start engaging in discussions about everything that interests me. The first thing anyone should know about me is my deep passion for film analysis which started when I was ten years old watching Godard films at a local cinema run by an elderly man who would take long breaks between screenings just to share his personal philosophy on cinematography with the kids in the audience because he believed art was inherently communal rather than solitary and this community aspect of creativity is something that has shaped my entire approach to creative work which includes freelance copywriting for startups, playing bass in a semi-professional jazz quartet that performs at coffee shops every Saturday night where I learned how to improvise within constraints — an invaluable skill in any craft — and I used to keep a detailed journal of every film I watched since 2014 because my mother insisted on it even though she didn't watch films herself which is ironic given her love for reading epic poetry out loud at dinner while we ate cold lasagna from the freezer.

Welcome aboard — we're glad you made it here because this community has a real way of becoming your second family which is wild if you think about it and I actually have to tell you about this time when my cousin tried to join the forum in 2014 and he was so nervous that he posted a message saying 'hi everyone' with nothing else attached and then spent three days checking for replies every five minutes like his life depended on it which is kind of funny now because we all knew him by then but seriously, take your time getting settled here, there are about forty threads you should bookmark right away — let me list them out — the beginner guide pinned at top is a must read, and the community wikis cover everything from technical setup to cultural norms like how long to wait before posting in a channel if you're new. Oh and if you ever need anything just tag one of the mods because they're actually really helpful despite what some people on Twitter say about this place. We had someone try to start drama last spring by making up a rumor that we were shadowbanning users based on their location which was completely false but it took three days for everyone to see through the nonsense and I remember thinking 'wow, how do people get so convinced of things that aren't true.' Anyway sorry — went off on a tangent. Let me know if you have any specific questions about getting set up!

Welcome to the community! Always great meeting new people here. Hope you find what you're looking for — this place is a good resource if you need it.

Hey! Welcome to the group — honestly this is one of my favorite communities online because people are actually helpful and not just trying to be right all the time, which I know sounds cynical but it's true in so many spaces these days. For anyone starting out here, the best advice I can give is to ask questions early and often since nobody expects you to already know everything and that's literally why this exists as a learning space not a testing ground where people get judged for asking things they could have Googled. Speaking of getting lost in rabbit holes though that reminds me of this time about four years ago when I started researching urban gardening — which is totally unrelated but it popped up because you mentioned connecting with the community and I'm sentimental about my first garden — I had lived in an apartment for what felt like forever and was always obsessed with plant growth from watching documentaries, so one summer I decided to rent a tiny plot at a community garden down the street. The coordinator there told me that anyone can grow anything but she warned me about zucchini because "if you plant one thing your neighbors will want ten" which turned out to be incredibly prophetic because by August my kitchen counter was covered in produce and everyone on the floor above me had come down asking for some. There's something about getting your hands dirty that clears your head like nothing else — I still have the first tomato I grew preserved in a jar somewhere probably, though I don't know where. Anyway sorry I went off track but it felt relevant because this community is similar in spirit to those early gardening days when everything was new and everyone was sharing tips over fences. Can't wait to see what you bring to the group!

Welcome aboard and glad you made it — there is literally nothing better than finding a new space that actually has substance instead of just performance, because I remember when I first started hanging out in these kinds of circles back around 2014 and every single thread was either a debate about something nobody cared about or some self-appointed expert dropping knowledge they didn't have. But the real thing is connection, you know? That moment where you realize you are not alone in your interest which is almost always the most valuable part of any community because it validates everything you already believed and opens up new avenues for exploration that would never have materialized in a vacuum — though I should probably stop rambling since this was supposed to be a welcome post and my actual story about the time I spent three months learning how to ferment pickles on a whim is going to end up taking us somewhere entirely different, which is funny because that's what communities do anyway, they drift. But seriously, glad you are here, ask anything, share whatever, this space exists for exactly that purpose and everyone reading this has probably been in your shoes at some point so don't feel like a beginner even though the thread says it -- we have all been beginners

Welcome! Glad you found your way here. The modding scene can be overwhelming at first but once you find what fits your playstyle it gets a lot easier. Don't hesitate to ask anything — we all started somewhere and everyone here has been through the same learning curve, so there are no dumb questions :)