Save The Blogs!

barberwitch:

shadow-spires:

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.

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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.

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

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

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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.

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

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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.

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

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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

There are a whole bunch more, but that’s a start. Please reblog the hell out of this, so people are aware of this one simple option.

EDIT: We’re not sure yet about wordpress’ stance on NSFW, so definitely mark those blogs private for now. I had one person tell me they got nuked for one NSFW post on a 7 year old blog. Definitely look into other solutions for backing up your blog just in case Private isn’t good enough. There seem to be lots of options for Windows, including Python. A quick google search will turn up several. I’m still looking for a good option for Mac. Anyone know any?

SPECIAL NOTE: due to the volume of people importing, wait a full 24 hours before Clearing the Account, or Disconnecting from Tumblr from the import page.

This is from the wordpress staff and the imports are being worked on via queue, so be patient.

afronerdism:

White women on tumblr claiming that men cannot be witches because of historical persecution without addressing the ways in which white People have systemically persecuted and destroyed the pagan practices of people of color for centuries proping up their own narrow view of white paganism as the face of modern witchcraft is peak white feminism.

You don’t make the rules. Not this or any other day.

masterpost of tumblr alternatives

olderglow:

this post will be updated as I find more websites to add! please check with the original before reblogging to see if there’s an updated version, and message me with corrections or more suggestions if you have them!!

websites in red have explicitly forbidden the posting of NSFW content. websites in orange allow certain types of NSFW content or have questionable / unclear guidelines.

for general use

  • friendproject.net – built on myspace, great blog customization
  • gab.ai – added for completeness, but has a huge alt-right + racism issue
  • joinmastodon.org – basically like if twitter and discord had a child??
  • mewe.com – privacy-focused, has groups and private messages
  • minds.com – allows you to exchange traffic for being promoted (??)
  • myspace.com – yes, it still exists, i’m just as surprised as you
  • nibblebit.com – similar to tumblr with reblogs / likes / customizing of blogs
  • pinterest.ca – easy sharing and collecting, but has many issues with theft
  • swarmr.com – an exact tumblr clone down to the default images (??)
  • twitter.com – allows posting both text and photos in sets, allows retweets

geared towards writers and bloggers

  • archiveofourown.org – specializes in hosting fic, excellent tagging system
  • dreamwidth.org – a blogging site similar to livejournal or wordpress
  • fanfiction.net – another big name in fanfic posting
  • livejournal.com – technically an option, likely unsafe for LGBTQ peeps
  • mibba.com – for creative writers, centered around community feedback
  • quotev.com – decent website for original / fan fic and fandom quizzes
  • royalroad.com – hosts webnovels and other fanfic, nice dark theme
  • wattpad.com – modern pretty fic site with direct links to irl publishers
  • wordpress.com – old and well-established, often considered the default

geared towards artists and photographers

  • artstation.com – excellent website for posting professional art portfolios
  • behance.net – meant for professionals posting various visual media types
  • deviantart.com – huge community, allows posting art + sorting into folders
  • flickr.com – great community for photographers, can join groups
  • furaffinity.net – similar to DA but for furries, easy to display commish info
  • galleria.emotionflow.com – very similar to pixiv, with imo better tagging
  • instagram.com – photo and video posts, excellent tag search
  • newgrounds.com – an oldie but a goodie, allows a ton of media types
  • piczel.tv – allows both streaming and posting art / photosets to a gallery
  • pixiv.net – huge anime art community, allows livestreaming
  • vero.co – app only, similar to insta but with MUCH more privacy control

chat or forum based

  • aminoapps.com – community-based, has blogs + chat, custom themes
  • discordapp.com – great chat app, text + voice, can join infinite servers
  • reddit.com – literally a community for everything, SO MANY CAT PHOTOS

18+ only

  • bdsmlr.com – microblogging + social media for people into kink
  • blogr.xxx – a tumblr clone created specifically for sharing porn
  • fetlife.com – considered one of the biggest kink communities online
  • libertine.center – beautiful + modern site for posting irl nsfw and kink stuff
  • thefetlibrary.com – for posting of erotic stories, replaces bdsmlibrary

paid platforms

  • patreon.com – subscription-based access to many diff types of content
  • typepad.com – similar to wordpress but with reblogging and a dash

up-and-coming platforms

  • pillowfort.ioclosed beta. should function almost identically to tumblr but with many many improvements
  • poizen.medevelopment alpha. gorgeous website for artists to post art AND track comms
    • this one’s still early in development but looks incredibly promising as a platform and super pretty to look at!! go snap up a username before all the good ones are taken! favouritism what’s that
  • qink.copre-alpha. 18+ only. plans to be a kink-oriented replacement for tumblr.

defunct platforms

(so people will stop telling me i forgot them)

  • jux.com – shut down in 2014 due to lack of funds
  • shoandtell.me – now redirects to someone’s personal blog
  • soup.io – more or less closed down this year due to GDPR issues

ways to save your current tumblr posts

  • use the wayback machine! you do have to archive each page of your blog individually but once you do all the content, including media, will be saved exactly as it was at the moment you archived it.
  • wordpress allows you to directly import whole tumblr blogs, and if i recall correctly it’s something both dreamwidth and pillowfort have said they are working on.
  • tumblthree is a great tool with a ton of functions including downloading whole blogs, only posts tagged with a certain tag, all the posts you’ve liked, etc. etc. along with being able to download every type of media hosted on tumblr (pictures, videos, audio, everything). it also has a proper GUI so no computer knowledge required beyond downloading and running programs!
  • if you have some knowledge of computers you can try this github solution which uses a python script to download your whole blog to your computer. even if you don’t know anything about programming or the command line they give a very good beginners tutorial on how to use it so you should still give it a shot!
  • here’s another python script that should allow you to archive all the images from your blog or your likes, though it requires some knowledge of python and the command line or very very good google skills.

some notes

edit: please stop commenting on this post to self-promote your porn accounts on other sites. those replies / reblogs will be deleted or hidden.

please note that every site on this list will have pros and cons, and i haven’t listed them here since this post would be a mile long otherwise. please do your research before moving completely over to another site in case they have policies you disagree with.

also, because I see a lot of misinformed people ranting about this: deviantart does not own the art you post. some years ago hot topic stole a ton of art from DA and sold it on merchandise and people assumed that DA gave them permission to do it despite there being literally zero evidence for that claim. DA explictly states in their TOS that you retain copyright and sole license of the art you post.

and related, mastodon does not allow or condone CP or pedophilia. the people spreading this info are misinformed about what mastodon is. it is not an exact twitter clone; anyone anywhere can host a mastodon instance using their personal computer as a server, which means mastodon as a company can’t do jack shit to moderate them. what they DO is permanently block all users from every other instance from viewing or interacting with that instance, and add that instance to a publicly viewable list along with the reason for the block. please give their post about anti-abuse measures a read before making snap judgements.

post version 5.1, 2018-12-04 23:46 AST

Old coal mines ‘perfect’ food farms

biestcallisto:

probablyasocialecologist:

Mine shafts and tunnels are seen as “the perfect environment” for growing food such as vegetables and herbs.

The initiative is seen as a way of providing large-scale crop production for a growing global population.

Advocates say subterranean farms could yield up to ten times as much as farms above ground.

President of the World Society of Sustainable Energy Technology, Prof Saffa Riffat, believes the scheme would be a cost-effective way of meeting the growing need for food.

It could also breathe new life into many mines that have been closed since the decline of the UK coal industry in the late 1980s and offer a cheaper alternative to vertical farming in giant greenhouses.

@konstruktivenachrichten

Old coal mines ‘perfect’ food farms

Creating Character Arcs with the DCAST Method

theliteraryarchitect:

Hiya! In this post, I’m going to show you how to create a story-level character arc using the DCAST method. For a bonus printable workbook, head over to my Free Resource Library. Sound good? Super. Let’s get started.

Intro: Character arcs defined

So… what is a character arc? A character arc is the transformation, growth, or inner journey of a character over the course of a story.
Character arcs are related to and tied up with plot arcs. Whereas plot
arcs are about a character’s external journey (save the castle, get the
girl, avoid prison); character arcs are about a character’s internal journey (fearful to courageous, shy to boisterous, miser to philanthropist).

Character-driven stories focus heavily on this internal arc, whereas
plot-driven stories may only lightly touch on it, and that’s okay. Every
story doesn’t need to be about a deep excavation of a character’s soul.
But even plot-driven stories can benefit from incorporating character
arcs.

Character arcs come in different shapes. They can be positive, negative, flat, ambiguous, bittersweet, or any combination.

  • Positive character arcs are the most familiar,
    since they are used so often in mainstream fiction and movies: Through a
    series of events, a character improves their situation and themselves.
    Examples: High Fidelity, Harry Potter, basically every mainstream book and movie
  • Negative character arcs are about characters who transform in an unsavory way by the end of the story. Example: Crime and Punishment
  • Flat arcs happen when a character encounters a series of obstacles and remains steadfast and unchanging, for better or for worse. Lolita, The Hunger Games
  • Ambiguous arcs are more common in literary stories.
    They present the reader the opportunity to interpret the arc for
    themselves—was it positive? Negative? Flat? Examples: The Road, We Have Always Lived in the Castle
  • Bittersweet arcs are similar to ambiguous arcs,
    except, well, they’re less ambiguous. In the end, the reader is clear
    what both the positive and negative aspects were, but feel that the
    positive outweighs the negative. Examples: The Fault in Our Stars, The Outsiders

Why character arcs are important

Good characters are essential to a good story. Imagine To Kill a Mockingbird without Scout; The Hunger Games without Katniss; Harry Potter without Harry, Ron, or Hermione; or Everything is Illuminated without Alex. This is not to minimize the importance of good plot. But a plot without good characters will fall flat.

That’s because readers don’t care about your plot by itself. They care about how your plot affects your characters.
If your plot is full of crazy, exciting events but your characters are
stiff, cardboard cut-outs who watch blankly from the sidelines as the
story passes them by, your story will feel lopsided and unsatisfying.

That’s where character arcs come in. But, as you’ve
probably figured out already, creating a character arc isn’t the easiest
thing to do. I invented the DCAST method because I was frustrated and
overwhelmed with all the “character development” sheets and checklists
that were a mile long… but didn’t actually help me get to the heart of
my character’s arc. Now, I’m able to get clear relatively quickly using
the acronym DCAST to remind me of the most important character arc
elements.

In this post, I’ll introduce you to the basics of creating a
story-level arc for your character using the DCAST method. To apply this
method to your own characters, get the companion download Creating Character Arcs: The Workbook over at my Free Resource Library.

How to plot a story-level character arc using the DCAST method

We’re going to look at giving your character an overall, story-level
arc using the DCAST method. That means we’ll chart their internal
development over the course of the entire story. They may have smaller
arcs and changes within the story, but this top-level arc defines their
overarching purpose and change
(or lack thereof).

I stress this because often writers lose sight of the forest for the
trees. They focus on all the smaller internal shifts their character
goes through… and forget to define their character’s story-level
journey. This can make for a story that lacks focus and drive.

Whew. Okay, I think we’re ready.

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Keep reading

magathapai:

gallusrostromegalus:

songofkeys:

vr-trakowski:

joey-wheeler-official:

joey-wheeler-official:

joey-wheeler-official:

there aren’t enough posts going around about the swedish cryptid known as the skvader which is a rabbit with pheasant wings and also a very good boy.

like this one dude just made a fake taxidermy and spread it around as a hoax for a good ass while and it lead to this really cool fantasy creature and i am genuinely dissapointed that it never gets used in anything

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THE BOY

Rabbirds, by the amazing @tkingfisher/Ursula Vernon (source).  

The lack of skvaders is particularly frustrating when you realize it forms the third point of a wonderful cryptid trifecta.

You got the jackalopes, which are rabbits with antlers.

And you got the wolpertingers, which are rabbits with antlers and wings.

And then… what? Do you escalate? That’s unbalanced, those two rabbit cryptids don’t have the same number of extra things, the wolpertinger is clearly the jackalope But More.

BUT with the skvader on the other side, balance is restored. Antler rabbit, winged rabbit, winged antler rabbit. It’s a classic Venn diagram of imaginary lapine beasts, and it’s only complete if you acknowledge the fucking skvader.

Good thing Ursula’s got our back, at least.

This is a really excellent point and I applaud your advancements in Cryptid Theory.

Gentleman, if I might add: