#elysianfieldsarchive

[elysianfieldsarchive]

As you know (or ICYMI), our Events Coordinator, EllieRose101, announced last week that she has stepped down from the admin team. In the course of making this decision, Ellie was kind enough to give us advanced notice, which allowed us to plan for how best to proceed.

We are beyond pleased to announce that MillennialCryBaby has joined the Elysian Fields Mod Team as Events Coordinator! MCB has been one of our stalwart behind-the-scenes champions for a long time now, creating art for site skins and our current Features on socials, as well as doing the occasional troubleshooting whenever we need someone to try to break features we’re working on before we unveil them. And extra lucky for us? Events management is her jam.

Many of you already know MCB, but just in case you don’t, here she is in her own words:

Hey everyone! 

I’m MillennialCryBaby (or MCB if you’re into the whole brevity thing), and I’m super excited to be joining the Mod team here on EF! 

I first got into Buffy by deciding on a whim to rent the first three episodes of Season One from Blockbuster (RIP) and rushing back the next morning to rent the rest of the season. I was instantly hooked. Now, 25 years later, I have what can only be described as my own Buffy shrine—an ever-growing collection complete with in-universe props, wacky 90s merch, a 6’ coffin-shaped bookshelf that sparks mild concern from visitors, and a dedicated Spuffy shelf that brings me more joy than Riley ever brought anyone. 

Outside of the internet, I’m an event planner, so I’m used to organizing chaos and coordinating vibes. I’m hoping to bring those skills to EF, just with less tent-hauling and more fic-tag-wrangling. 

You can often find me deep in a new fic, cuddling my cats, and enjoying a damn good cup of coffee. 

Please join us in giving MCB a warm welcome and try not to scare her off, please! We want to keep her.

[elysianfieldsarchive]

Yesterday, EllieRose101, who has championed EF events since 2022, announced she was stepping down as an Elysian Fields Mod following massive (but positive) life changes.

For us, this is bittersweet. Ellie helped redefine EF events and was one of the forces that led the community into a new, wonderful era. We're so happy for her, sad for us, but most of all thankful for the work she did. Elysian Fields as it exists today is thanks in no small part to her hard work and contributions.

Read her announcement here and join us in wishing her nothing but the best as she embarks on a new, exciting chapter of her life.

[elysianfieldsarchive]

So, things on the archive have been a bit dicey the past month as the Mods have been investigating the ongoing DDoS attack and various options available to us to mitigate both the current attack and future attacks. I’ll lead with the big thing.

Planned Archive Downtime

The archive will be down for a bit as we configure the new security settings on the back end. The downtime could be as little as a few minutes or up to 72 hours and we anticipate some people will get access sooner than others. We don’t like it, but it’s for the best, and will hopefully allow us to resume full accessibility to all members.

When Is the Site Going Offline?

Approximately 9PM EDT, May 13 (Tuesday evening). While you have a couple of days, you should start preparing immediately.

Prepare? What Do You Mean By That?

Mostly, just be forewarned that the downtime is coming. Don’t panic if you can’t access the site or receive an error message.

You might want to take the time to download any ePubs for fics you are reading or plan to read soon. Likewise, while we don’t anticipate this will impact the site’s content, it’s never a bad idea to back up important things, such as story comments.

What’s the Security Solution You’re Implementing?

A very common, highly trusted, and broadly used security solution called Cloudflare. It’s the same that AO3 implemented following their DDoS attack. We have completed troubleshooting this solution on our test site.

How Did You Troubleshoot?

Once we got Cloudflare up and running, the Mods went to the test site and tried to break it. We wanted to replicate the errors we initially experienced, like the Forbidden/Forbidden 403 error message. A solution that works for only some people isn’t a viable long-term solution.

This is an imperfect process, but we were able to post stories, comments, news items, images, emojis, and all other normal archive activity without incident, while maintaining the strictest security settings available on the back-end.

What Happens if I Still Experience an Error Once Everything Is Back Up?

All members should continue reporting any unusual errors, messages, and so forth as they occur to [email protected]. 

How Do I Stay Updated While The Site Is Down?

Important updates will be made on all of EF’s active social platforms: Instagram, Bluesky, Threads, and Facebook. You may also join our Discord server. Please note that only EF members are allowed in the Discord server, and your server name must match your EF username.

Why Was EF Targeted?

No clue, and we’re not going to speculate on who is behind it or their motives. Doesn’t matter — Spuffy always walks through the fire and emerges stronger. So will we.

[elysianfieldsarchive]

hello! I've recently joined the fandom and I heard that the archive was the only one active that focuses solely on spuffy. however, I am not able to access the site. I tried to use a VPN and it worked, but the last post on tumblr is about problems on the site, so I thought it was fit to send a question about it.

I will send an e-mail to the address that is provided on the post also, to make things easier.

Thanks for the attention!

Right now, we encourage you to continue using a VPN. The site has been under a DDOS attack for a week and some of our countermeasures have temporarily impacted accessibility to certain people. We're working on a full fix, but for the time being, a VPN is your best bet.

Also, feel free to join our Discord for updates as they come. Just note you have to be an EF member to join with your server name matching your EF username.