My Notebook

Often domestic abuse can be sexual as well.

The trouble is- I found myself feeling like the more things that happened the more crazy and unbelievable my story became.

The more you trust someone and open up the more chapters will be added. And somewhere in the back of your mind will always be this little voice that will be like “now I’ve told them too much, they’ll think I’m exaggerating and they’ll never believe it.”

If someone trusts you enough to let you in- please support them, it takes a lot to peel that onion. And sometimes it has more layers than you may realize.

Okay, folks. So. Tumblr’s jumped the shark in a big way, and I’m not even just talking about indiscriminately blocking all “adult” content on a platform that IS, in fact, primarily 18+.

Many blogs, like the wonderful @blackkatmagic , that are not especially NSFW have vanished.

(And I for one LIKE being able to go to curated porn blogs run by actual people and have a chance of finding stuff to my taste, it was one of the things that kept me on this hellsite, but that’s another issue entirely.)

I know lots of people are talking about migrating, but none of us are sure to where yet. Pillowfort seems to be an option, some people are talking about Twitter. But for now, it’s a mess, and even if we knew where we were going, it’s often a huge process, and a lot of us have stuff on tumblr that ONLY exists there. One possible quick solution to save your blogs, both NSFW and personal, is to import it to WordPress. I found this solution through from frantic googling on how to save an entire blog, text posts an all. There are several apps for downloading all the pictures from a tumblr, (Plently for Windows, but only a few paid ones for mac, of which Tumbelog Picture Downloader is working for me so far) but this is the only solution I’ve seen so far that allows you to save EVERYTHING. I downloaded my NSFW blog in like 10 min. My regular blog, which is significantly larger, is in the process of importing, but I don’t anticipate any problems. I will, of course, update you if I have any.  

This tutorial I found worked really easily. http://quickguide (.) tumblr (.) com/post/39780378703/backing-up-your-tumblr-blog-to-wordpress

I put parenthesis around the .’s like we’re back in FF-Hell, just in case tumblr’s new thing about outgoing links kicks in. You know what to do.  To break it down, just in case:

 Sign up for a WordPress.com account at wordpress (.) com/start You’ll have to create an account, with your email, a username, and a password. They should send you a confirmation email immediately, check it, activate it, and you’re good to go. On the site, it will ask you for a site name. That page asks you a bunch of other information too, but you only have to fill out the site name.

Then you have to give your site a URL. If you’re lucky, your tumblr URL is still available, if not you’ll have to come up with another one, sorry.

It will tell you if that option is still available for free.

Then it will ask you to pick a plan. Free is really good enough, I swear.

Now you’re set up! You can import your tumblr! The only differences from the linked tutorial are that the Import button is now on the first level menu, not in tools.

Hit Import, then you have to follow the link for “other importers”  at the bottom, to find the option for Tumblr.

Then you’ll have to sign in with tumblr, using your normal tumblr credentials. You’ll be redirected there automatically. You’ll have to allow Wordpress permissions on your blog.

Then your blogs, including all your sideblogs, will show up in wordpress.

Hit import, wait a WHILE depending on the size of your blog, and you’re done!

ALSO!!

I made my NSFW blog private for now, since I don’t know WP’s policy on NSFW.

This means that to access it, someone has to have an account and request access. But hey, part of our problem on this hellsite has been people going places they aren’t wanted, so I don’t personally see this as a bad thing. They can send a request from the landing site on your blog, you get an email, click a link in the email, and PRESTO, they have access. To make it private, go to Settings > Reading > Site Visibility. Go back and check, it took me changing the setting twice for it to actually stick. tl;dr, you can import your entire blog to wordpress in just a few steps. 

Edited almost immediately to add that Wordpress allows posting reblogging, commenting, AND following, and so it seems like honestly the most logical next place for fandom in my opinion. It also allows a high degree of customization. I’m going to tag the hell out of this, in no particular order. PLEASE reblog this and spread the word so people know it’s an option. If you’re having trouble, PM me, and I’m happy to help.

@gallusrostromegalus @kaciart @lena221bee @deadcatwithaflamethrower

@norcumi @deandraws @morn-art, @thebisexualmandalorian @kristsune @marloviandevil @punsbulletsandpointythings @protagonistically @cris-art @elfda @fish-ghost @godtierwonder @heartslogos @haekass @iesika @incogneat-oh @itispossibleihaveissues @jaegervega @jhaernyl @the-last-hair-bender @kleine-aster @latenightcornerstore @lectorel @medievalpoc @mgnemesi @me-ya-ri @myurbandream @peskylilcritter @cywscross , @cheshiresense @varevare @victoriousscarf @whatsmeantobe @swpromptsandasks @gabriel4sam @stonefreeak @brighteyedbadwolf @pumpkin-lith @puzzleshipper @suzukiblu @myurbandream @lacefedora @jademerien

This feels like strikethrough and boldthrough all over again and we already have innocent blogs being deleted, so save your stuff while you can peeps and keep your fingers crossed that they won’t come after you.

Tagging more people in the hope to spread this and help others back up their own stuff, as I am doing:

@poplitealqueen @pitviperofdoom @keyofnik @puzzleshipper @sasskarian @the-last-hair-bender @profoundlytenaciousgalaxy (sorry I haven’t gotten back to you yet on the Kakashi thing, but I’m still working on that fic!) @gallusrostromegalus @theshitpostcalligrapher @writingstellar @punsbulletsandpointythings @outcastcommander @lullabyknell @aniseandspearmint @albaparthenicevelut @many-leaves-on-the-trees @obaewankenope @sanerontheinside @tenderwenders @sunsetofdoom @phosphorescent-naidheachd @teapirate @theforceisstrongwiththistimelord @gffa @forcearama @yol-ande @bluntstaples @dornishjedi @myurbandream @swpromptsandasks @imaginaryanon @rohnoc @meabhair @lilyrose225writes @rainglazed @kristsune @booksaresacredspew @demifishblog @ialreadyreadthatfanfic @laughterkey @soleriane @out-there-on-the-maroon @elfda @kanirou-crosshack @kaciart @americankimchi @fandumbandflummery @steel-phoenix @deviantaccumulation @spaci1701

Take good care of yourselves everyone and save what you can while you can.

I’ll keep my fingers crossed for all of you and everyone who has me on their dash and can benefit from this.

- don’t knee jerk delete. I know it’s tempting to peace out immediately but hang on and do the other steps first. Out right ghosting and erasing everything is how fandoms die.

- archive everything on your blog you want to keep

- tell your followers how they can archive and keep your work too. A lot of fic and art were only saved from ff.net and lj because other people saved it first. If you’re cool with other people saving your work for them to personally keep, let them know this. You can absolutely discourage reposting but I really do highly recommend you allow people to personally save fic and art they like and are worried will disappear forever. Digital Dark Ages are a real thing.

- tell people where you’re jumping ship to. Give links. Keep that info up, even if you’ve left the site.

- go through who you follow and find out where else you can follow them. Save their work if they’ll allow it. It’s tedious as hell but if you want to keep up with people on here clicking on their page to check in is the best way to do it.

BUT

We’re making some overdue improvements to the code that powers our login system. When we make these changes, all Archive users will be logged out of their accounts.

To avoid permanently losing access to your account, please make sure you know your password and/or can receive password reset emails by December 13.

i haven’t seen any noise about this on tumblr yet, but a fire has completely wiped out a small town in california.

they’re calling it the camp fire. over 20,000 residents have been evacuated so far, the last area estimates i heard were over an hour ago at 18,000 acres and its still zero percent contained.

UPDATE: 4PM FRI NOV. 9, 2018

the fire has completely walked over paradise, magalia, and much of the rest of butte county. it’s under 10% containment and moving towards chico, which was been mostly evacuated as well. it’s been documented as one of the top 20 deadliest fires seen in california. i know many of the people personally whose lives have been destroyed by this fire. my aunt and uncle’s home, of whom we’re very close to, was demolished last night, same goes for family friends and others who lived in paradise– which is completely gone. there are 5 confirmed deaths, several dozen missing people.

EVACUATION SITES STILL OPEN AS OF 1 HOUR AGO:

Butte County Fairgrounds (199 E Hazel St, Gridley, CA 95948)

Yuba-Sutter Fairground (442 Franklin Ave, Yuba City, CA 95991)

Glenn County Fairgrounds (221 E Yolo St, Orland, CA 95963)

Chester Memorial Hall (22 Gay Street, Chester)

HOW TO HELP/DONATE:

“Currently the best way to contribute is to make a monetary donation via the North Valley Community Foundation website.” -abc7news.com

“Supplies: Hope Center in Oroville (1950 Kitrick Ave Ste. A) is taking donations. Hours: Friday and Saturday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Sunday 9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Needs: warm clothes, shoes, socks, coats (primarily for elderly residents).” -abc7news.com

the majority of those affected by the fire in paradise were elderly people. and having known paradise and magalia myself for years, it’s not a wealthy part of california. these people will need help, and lots of it.

if you have any questions, you can message me personally or seek information online or from the above references personally.

Halloween month is upon us and I really only needed an excuse to compile a list of my favourite chilling reads for all your spooky needs. Here are my favourites, ranging from insidious fear to absolute anguish (in disorder). 

House of Leaves, Mark Z. Danielewski — a hybrid, dizzying tale of primal and metaphysical fear, following the distorted subjectivities of very terrified protagonists as they advance in the pure darkness of a house without end. 

And Then There Were None, Agatha Christie — a controlled series of murders in the stifling atmosphere of a remote house, where predators suddenly become preys to a cruel and cynical little game. 

The Turn of the Screw, Henry James — the original open-ended ghost story, where a new governess comes face to face with the face of evil and discovers that children can be both frightened and frightening. 

The Haunting of Hill House, Shirley Jackson — the epitome of closed-quarters horror. Four strangers come together to investigate and experience Hill House, where a series of ghastly events begin to unfold, and eat slowly, slowly at the subjects’ mind. 

Dark Tales, Shirley Jackson — a plethora of chilling and awfully entertaining tales of social cruelties, ghostly apparitions, and body horror. 

The Bloody Chamber and Other Stories, Angela Carter — less frightening than perniciously eerie, Carter’s short stories merge eroticism and anguish in luscious, gothic prose. 

Seven Gothic Tales, Isak Dinesen — Dinesen comes back to the origins of gothic themes in focusing on existential dread (fear of death and decline), peppered with supernatural elements that push her protagonists over the edge. 

The Nurse’s Story, Elizabeth Gaskell — a very short, very effective family drama that subverts the sweet children fireside story of Olde.

Carrie, Stephen King — King’s first novel is a stellar, raw scream of violence, experimental and insightful, a story of marginality and loneliness and fear, with bloody, terrifying consequences. Also, some of his best prose work. 

Short Stories, Edgar Allan Poe — you don’t need me to sell this to you, do you?

Fantastic Stories, Guy de Maupassant — it seems that Maupassant isn’t that well known abroad, but his fantastic short stories (our equivalent for the gothic) are deliciously chilling, intricately and neatly written, an elegant series of lost loves, ghostly apparitions, and slow-growing insanity. 

Don’t Look Now, Daphné du Maurier — with her usual flair for atmospheric settings and pitiless endings, du Maurier compiles flashes of suspens and sudden bursts of violence in this rather eclectic and creepy collection.

Carmilla, Sheridan Le Fanu — the very first vampire story, full to the brim with looming castles, empty chapels, urgent escapes and dark forests, as well as horror-filled sensuality : Le Fanu literally shaped the whole vampire tradition, it seems. 

And here a few anthologies and short stories compilation I would so love to own. You can find more ideas in their table of contents (Wharton ! Fitzgerald ! Dickens ! Riddell !) :

Classic Ghost Stories

The Folio Book of Ghost Stories

The Oxford Book of Victorian Short Stories 

Come Along With Me, Shirley Jackson

Cue the most terrifying realization of my life.

As Halloween comes to a close, department stores start to deck the halls with blinding silver tinsel, and radio stations play holiday music during the month of the great turkey feast.

But wait! We’re missing an event: Shidgemas, of course!

Shidgemas is a week-long event that goes from December 16 to December 22, 2018. Shippers of Shiro and Pidge are invited to make some wintery shidge content, such as (but not limited to) art and fanfiction.

Prompts will be posted November 1.

Event rules can be found here.