Effective December 1, 2022, Nigma Box has been renamed to Natalie.TF and the primary domain name has changed from nigmabox.com to natalie.tf.
Background
The name Nigma Box was chosen impulsively in May 2012 as a relaunch of Natalie Neumann’s original and long-since abandoned BlogSpot site, The Breaded Rump. The name Nigma Box was a reference to a new screen name she adopted in May 2012, Electric Nigma, also abbreviated as ElectNigma.
The idea was that Nigma Box would be the Electric Nigma’s ‘box.’ With ‘box’ referencing both the idea of a figurative ‘soapbox,’ and a form of storage. It was to be a place for Electric Nigma, or just Nigma, to voice their opinions on a soapbox, and to store their writings.
Why Change The Name?
Natalie was satisfied with the name Nigma Box for several years after its launch, but began considering new names for the site in 2020. Despite putting a fair amount of thought into this, she was unable to settle on another name that felt appropriate without limiting the scope of the site’s material. However, she revisited this matter a few months ago after a dedicated reader spoke to her about the name of her site, and highlighted three issues.
- Nigma Box is a vague and non-descriptive name and ‘Nigma’ is not an actual word. As such, it is easy to misinterpret or misread its name.
- The name sounds very close to the term Enigma Box, a branded puzzle box, which is entirely unrelated to anything that exists on Nigma Box.
- The term Nigma Box can be misread as a derogatory term. The word ‘Nigma’ is very close to the N-word, and is one letter away from the alternate version of the word, N***a. In addition, ‘box’ has various slang definitions, the most common of which is a euphemism for a vagina. Because of this, the term Nigma Box can be misinterpreted in various racist and sexual ways.
In light of these issues, Natalie has chosen to change the name of Nigma Box to Natalie.TF (Na-tuh-lee dot tee-eff).
What’s Going to Change?
The URL nigmabox.com will automatically redirect to natalie.tf, as they are part of the same WordPress site. There is no need to alter or update any links, as they will automatically redirect to the correct domain. This is similar to how the original domain, nigmabox.wordpress.com, began automatically redirecting to nigmabox.com starting in 2019.
The identity of this site will not significantly change as part of this transition. The updated 2022 site design will remain exactly the same, but various bits of ‘Nigma Box branding’ will be removed.
- Most references to Nigma Box in previous posts will be unaltered, but I will update the text of certain posts as I see fit.
- Pages will be updated to remove most references to Nigma Box.
- The contents of my novels and TSF Series will be updated to remove all references to Nigma Box, as they are meant to be pieces of evergreen content.
- The logo in the upper left corner of the site will be changed to reference Natalie.TF, stylized as NATALIE.TF.
Natalie Neumann has zero intention of ever giving up the domain name nigmabox.com.
Why Natalie.TF?
The site Nigma Box has two core identities. It is the website and passion project of its sole author, Natalie Neumann, and the most popular subject matter on the site is, by far, transformation related content, specifically TSF (Trans-Sexual Fantasy). Accordingly, Natalie Neumann believes the most descriptive name would be one that references both her first name, Natalie, and the type of content she primarily covers.
Additional inspiration came from the URL used by prolific TSF translation funder, and re:Dreamer co-developer, Espeon, Gender.TF.
Natalie contemplated various names, but believes that Natalie.TF is simple, effective, and unique enough to be memorable. It is the common spelling of a common female name, with a two letter domain, and for those who are invested in transformation content, they will, most likely, recognize ‘TF’ as an abbreviation for ‘Trans-Formation.’
Potential issues with this name stem from how ‘TF’ is used as an abbreviation for many things, including many media properties, such as Transformers or Team Fortress. However, the most common reading of ‘TF’ is likely as an abbreviation of ‘the fuck.’
Natalie currently has no grievances with her website being read as ‘Natalie the fuck’ given how… it is kind of on brand. Natalie.TF contains a large number of reviews, references, and writings that feature sexual content, covering the sexual definition of fuck. In addition, Natalie.TF contains a large number of creative writings that feature weird, eccentric, or dark elements. This content warrants descriptions such as ‘fucked up’ or the reaction of ‘what the fuck,’ covering the ‘ruin or damage’ definition of fuck.
There are also some potential SEO complications, as the first results for Natalie.TF as of writing this are TF illustrations by Stookam, which depict a red haired female character undergoing various surreal TF scenarios. Natalie Neumann is in no way related to this artist or this character… but she does not have any issue with any implied association. Because it is ‘on brand.’
Why Do This Now?
In retrospect, the ideal time to rebrand this site would have been 6 months ago as part of the 10th anniversary of Nigma Box. However, the name was not finalized at the time and, to Natalie, this is ‘close enough’ to the tenth anniversary for her liking. She thought about changing the name back in April, but she was not happy with my options, and it took a reader to get her to think differently and take action.
Let this be a lesson to all of you other readers. If there is something you dislike about Nigma Box, or something you think Natalie should do better, please let her know. Because nearly 11 years into this whole ‘running a website’ thing, there’s still a lot of stuff she’s pretty clueless about.