Username: Archaeopteryx.
Cat Name: Darkforest
Gender: tbd
Rank: n/a
Clan: Enurian Age: tbd
Prompt: Why CSDark is the Best Version of Chicken Smoothie
xxxxChickensmoothie, often abbreviated to simply "CS," is virtual pet site. Once a semi-popular site (racking in 6116 users on December 17th, 2017) (“Index Page - Chicken Smoothie”) of the younger days of the internet, its main feature is the collection of still jpegs of pets that slowly grow over the course of a month. It has slowly declined in usage. Whereas once it was populated and marketed towards kids, nowadays, most users are adults or older teens drawn towards the on-site drawing program, which allows for limitless (limited) creativity and features a built-in anti-tracing software, in that the program does not allow one to paste in anything that does not originate from said program. The forums are also a large draw towards the site, where users are free to; participate in roleplays, scam each other out of valuable pets (“View Topic - the Trading Advice Thread (Previously FTT) - Chicken Smoothie”), bully people religiously off-site (I can't link to this one actually) and create new NFTs that aren't NFTs. Because of this, the Chicken Smoothie board theme a user picks is one of the most integral decisions a user can make on this website, and out of all of them, the CSDark one is the best.
xxxxThe primary argument for CSDark is a matter of health; dark contrasted website skins have had a noticable health benefit compared to standard high-contrast website skins, such as CSBusiness and CSGreen. Atanas Bogoev M.D. writes in the article
The Pros and Cons of Using Dark Mode for Your Eyes; "By reducing screen brightness and glare, it becomes easier for your eyes to adjust to the surrounding light. Also prevents them from getting too dry. This display settings mode is a simple but effective way to reduce eye strain and improve your digital well-being." For users who spend several hours on Chicken Smoothie, CSDark is a gamechanger.
xxxxAdditionally, the low-contrast feature of CSDark (versus other modes such as CSHallow, which feature bright yellow site elements on a dark background) allows all design elements to truly shine. CS user XxAnubisxX writes; "I’ve noticed the CSdark background can bring out uniquer features of designs [...] [S]ometimes the color palettes can be more vivid[.]" (“View Topic - 2024 Halloween Event - Casual Chat - Chicken Smoothie”). CS user viles also adds in another forum topic; "[I] switched to csdark recently, and i forgot how much better some cs pets look against a dark background,, it's like,, a game changer o.o" (“View Topic - the <^> Game | v. Twenty-Three - Chicken Smoothie”) This is especially true when it comes to partially transparent collectable pets, such as the Halloween ghost deer set from 2024.
xxxxThough CSDark mode has multiple benefits, there are some drawbacks. One drawback is that, visually, CSDark is not as interesting as some of the other board skins. In recent years, there's been a push to make every website look the same, and CSDark is a step towards helping to gentrify the internet. Unlike themes like CSHallow, CSSea, or CSSpace, there is nothing unique or interesting about CSDark. It is simply a darker version of their original CSGreen skin. Despite all this, I believe CSDark is still the best board skin out of all the options available to us at this moment.
xxxxIn conclusion, while everyone has their own preferences for what board skin they prefer, CSDark remains the best. The health benefits are numerous, and because it is so boring the interesting parts of the website—the ones users come and stay for—are the centerpiece of the show. This more than makes up for its bland, uninteresting web design.
Works CitedxxxxCholakova, Maria. “The Pros and Cons of Using Dark Mode for Your Eyes.” Ophthalmology24, Ophthalmology24, 27 May 2023,
http://www.ophthalmology24.com/using-dark-mode.
xxxx“Index Page - Chicken Smoothie.” Chickensmoothie.com, 2015,
Forum/index.php. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
xxxx“News - Chicken Smoothie.” Chickensmoothie.com, 2015,
news/news.php?id=959. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
xxxx“View Topic - the Trading Advice Thread (Previously FTT) - Chicken Smoothie.” Chickensmoothie.com, 2015,
Forum/viewtopic.php?f=135&t=5012039. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
xxxx“View Topic - the <^> Game | v. Twenty-Three - Chicken Smoothie.” Chickensmoothie.com, 2015,
Forum/viewtopic.php?p=145145781#p145145781. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.
xxxx“View Topic - 2024 Halloween Event - Casual Chat - Chicken Smoothie.” Chickensmoothie.com, 2024,
Forum/viewtopic.php?p=147133966#p147133966. Accessed 2 Apr. 2025.