[Ember the Wolf]

Username: Ember the Wolf
Cat Name: tbh
Gender: Female
Rank: tbd
Clan: Willowclan
Age: tbd (probably around 7)
Prompt:
WIP

[Anpu]

Username: Anpu
Cat Name: Wikki
Gender: Nonbinary
Rank: God of Chaos and Technology
Clan: Falling Stars
Age: Really old, uses "back in my day" often despite being a younger god.
Prompt:

Oh man.. here we go. I LOVE essays

Why CSSpace is the Best Theme

Chicken Smoothie, a site where users collect items and pets that grow within a month, has long had a debate. Which theme is the best? Many argue between light and dark themes, but Chicken Smoothie has a whopping 15 themes as of April 17th. While some are popular with many users, there is one that is more of an underdog while still being amazing: CSSpace. There are 3 main reasons why CSSpace is the best theme: it is still dark but has higher contrast than CSDark, space is objectively cool, and who doesn't like an underdog?

First of all: CSSpace is still more of a dark theme, which has many benefits. But it also has contrast that many like myself need to focus on the space that matters. According to sources: "But even for users without any visual impairment, color contrast visibility can be just as important. Users with fine motor control impairments need to be able to see where the focus currently is. So do those with attention or memory limitations that rely on the focus state to more easily keep track of where they are on a page." (Armada) This quote eloquently puts it into perspective that a high contrast can be beneficial to people with physical disabilities. It makes text easier to read, which is not something CSDark offers. CSDark, since it is so dark, could never have a high contrast like CSSpace. Plus, CSSpace helps with focus issues that many face such as myself. I, like many others, cannot focus if the thing I need to focus on is the same as the background. Obviously this would cause issues if I or someone else couldn't focus on the main body of text because there's no disconnect from the background and the "Important Bits" (TM).

Aside from that: space is just generally cool, and who doesn't want to see their interests while hopping on their favorite site? Back in 1969 one of the few surveys went up by Lego: how many kids were interested in Space? The answer was not that surprising, a lot: "According to a Harris Poll/LEGO® survey conducted in the US, UK and China , 86% of children aged 8 to 12 say they are interested in space exploration, and 90% of them want to learn more." (Parker) Aditionally, it was found that often these interests carry into older life, like older teens and adults (the target audience of Chicken Smoothie): "Many respondents also reported carrying over their childhood hobbies into adulthood. From drawing to music to writing, science, and more, the results emphasize that play continues to be a powerful tool at any age." (Toy Association Ink) Which means, even without the high contrast elements, many people probably use CSSpace just because it's cool. Even if CSDark is more popular: those who like CSSpace and the other more unique themes (Like CSChristmas and CSHallow) are way happier and love their theme like one has a favorite color.

To get the obvious out of the way: yes, CSDark and other dark mode themes are more popular and have health benefits. As many people know dark modes are known for their health benefits: "reduces glare and blue light emitted from your phone screen, which could be better for your eyes / uses less energy to light the screen – preserving battery life on your phone / dark mode may be easier to read if you’re visually impaired. / It can also be more comfortable for those with light sensitivity / causes less disturbance for others in lower light environments, such as in the cinema." (Lunn) However as the author goes on to state: "research into the benefits of dark mode on eyestrain and eye health is inconclusive. In some cases, experts say dark mode may in fact increase eye strain." (Lunn) She also says that users don't like Dark Mode, it's less user friendly. This is because of the lower contrast, when everything is the same your eyes get confused on where you have to focus. In conclusion based on this evidence I'd say that the perceived health benefits are null, and CSDark is on equal health benefits par to any Chicken Smoothie theme.

Lastly: who doesn't like an underdog? There's an entire decently rated series from 2007 about this type of heroine (Chau et al.) and generally many plots include a "rooting for the underdog" plot. Everything from Harry Potter to Percy Jackson has an underdog complex which generally people tend to like. It is scientific fact that in our minds we have a deep seated love of underdogs: "This phenomenon can cause people to switch their allegiances between teams in a single series — just based on who’s up and who’s done. In one study, people who read descriptions of two fictional basketball teams playing each other in a seven-game series rooted for the team described as the underdog 88.1 percent of the time. But when these people were told that the favorite unexpectedly lost the first three games of the series — putting them on the brink of elimination and making them the new underdog — about half changed their allegiance." (Stromberg) It's rather obvious that since CSSpace is an underdog it should be more well liked: and it probably is. It isn't like most people talk about Chicken Smoothie site themes outside of the technical uses. That is why I propose us underdog site skins (CSSquiddy, CSSpace and CSChristmas) form an alliance of the themes in our common ground on being underdogs. But with all that said: happy smoothie-ing and I hope that maybe this has changed your view on the site themes.

In the end, it's clear that CSSpace is the superior site theme because of it's contast, cool insparation, and being an underdog. CSSpace is like the quiet cousin at the family function: ignored often but liable to bust out some cool drawings of your favorite fandom or some sweet guitar skills. In the end, I hope this may have changed somebody's thoughts about site themes, and maybe they'll look into Chicken Smoothie themes they like instead of the default.

Work Cited:
Armada, Access. “Designing High Contrast Focus States: A Practical Guide | Access Armada.” Access Armada, 3 Jan. 2023, http://www.accessarmada.com/blog/design ... cal-guide/.

Parker, Erica. “LEGO Group Kicks off Global Program to Inspire the next Generation of Space Explorers as NASA Celebrates 50 Years of Moon Landing.” Harris Poll, 16 July 2019, theharrispoll.com/briefs/lego-group-kicks-off-global-program-to-inspire-the-next-generation-of-space-explorers-as-nasa-celebrates-50-years-of-moon-landing/.

Toy Association Ink. “43 Percent of Adults Report Living out Their Childhood Dream Jobs.” The Toy Association, 21 Sept. 2021, http://www.toyassociation.org/PressRoom ... -jobs.aspx.

Lunn, Emma. “What Is Dark Mode – and Should You Be Using It?” Forbes Advisor UK, 20 May 2021, http://www.forbes.com/uk/advisor/mobile ... -using-it/.

Chau, Frederik Du, et al. “Underdog.” IMDb, 3 Aug. 2007, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0467110/.

Stromberg, Joseph. “The Science of Why We Love to Root for Underdogs.” Vox, 20 Mar. 2015, http://www.vox.com/2015/3/20/8260445/un ... psychology.

[I Like Bees]

Guess who forgot tomorrow is Easter! Extending by 24 hours to April 21st so no one's rushing to finish on a holiday 😭
You're still welcome to request additional extensions too if needed ^^

[DawnDenki]

That being said are late entries welcome?
(totally cool if not)

[I Like Bees]

That being said are late entries welcome?
(totally cool if not)

Unfortunately I don't take entries past the deadline and it's too far past for me to extend the adopt, but thank you for asking ^^