The Dark Days in November

[Likesn]

About a month ago, a few days after the forum had been taken down for a reason which was, at the time, unknown to me, I had an idea. "If the forum ever comes back" I though, desperately wishing for it to happen "people might want to talk about the time it was down and how it affected them. I know I would". So, now that the forum is back- I thought I'd do just that. This thread is for everyone who wishes to share their feelings and experiences from the time the forum was down.

I'll start. To me, it felt almost like losing a close friend. The cliche is true- so many times we don't know how badly we need something until it's gone. This forum had been an imported part of my life, more so than I was even willing to admit to myself before it was gone. Like many others, I had spent a lot of time and energy creating and sharing content on this forum. The thought that all of it might be gone forever (since I created everything directly in this forum and had no copies outside of it, for paranoid reasons), along with all the great content created by others here, was both terrifying and depressing. This forum, being a part of such a great community and not feeling alone, was one of the best things in my life, even though I kept it secret from everyone who knows me in real life. The thought of living without it made the world seem very bleak. It was such a relief to find out that the forum was back.

Feel free to share your own stories, feeling and thoughts. 

[Snzlover]

I completely agree with your post. When i saw it was gone, i panicked a lot and felt really upset. I did feel like I had lost a friend or a part of me even though I am mostly quite on here. I love to read and I really love all of the stories on here. I really thought it would be gone forever after a few weeks so I just would take the time to close my eyes and imagine all of my favorite stories I have read on here. I wasn't even going to keep looking, but when I saw it come up yesterday when I incognito searched "sneeze forum", I cried a happy tear of relief. I really felt for people who had written many stories on here and knowing their work was lost forever ( i assumed most people also did not keep any copies.) I also was feeling a bit desperate to talk about it whenever it crossed my mind. I am so happy its back, it really was one of those "you don't know what you have until its gone" scenarios. 

[•.*°•☆. Q .☆•°*.•]

i felt kind of aimless tbh! i know a lot of people don't really like the forum too much, but for all its flaws it's come such a long way from how it used to be and the thought of having to find a new forum to meet up on, not knowing whether i'd be able to find everyone i like DMing again, not knowing what the environment would be like in a new place-- it was pretty dismaying! plus i've been hanging around here in one way or another for basically my entire adult life, so when it was gone all of a sudden i barely knew what to do with myself

[3-26]

I'm so glad it's back! I didn't know what happened or where to turn to shout my dismay.

[jano]

I am more of a longtime lurker than poster. I do most of my browsing of the forum while not logged in. But I have come to cherish the incredibly specific and tailored to my taste content the forum provided me for years (years!!!), that I felt a bit lost when it was down. The forum has really spoiled me. I have yet to venture to other sneeze related websites or places where the SFF community gathers, like Tumblr. In fact, I almost made the jump when I realized the site was back under .com instead of .org. I still might, but this site will always be home to me. 

The site being down made me begin to archive and save my favorite stories/obs/other things just in case it happens again, as I have learned nothing lasts forever.