#anefi

[soundwavereporting]

@anefi them…the boys

[sealdeer]

(hands you an eft)

[vosian-nightmare]

damn I really do love coswave

[mapsontheweb]

The current situation in Mali is complex. The Malian Armed Forces (FAMa) and Wagner have been struggling against the growing AQIM and JNIM insurgency.

Recently, Azawad separatists (MLNA) renewed their fight for independence against the government, capturing several FAMa bases.

MINUSMA (UN) forces are exiting Mali upon the government's demand. FAMa and Wagner, departing from Gao, headed north in multiple convoys into MLNA-operated areas in order to secure the UN bases. The MLNA have employed hit-and-run tactics, halting the convoys at Anefis.

The #UN has completed their departure from Aguelhok and Tessalit. Having successfully delayed and blocked the Army from advancing north, the MLNA have taken control of the former UN bases and surrounding towns.

The UN has commenced the process of departing from their base in Kidal, which is currently under the control of the MLNA and serves as the movement's capital.

by War_Mapper

[storm-and-starlight]

Storm's Fic Recs: Transformers Edition

I was in Transformers fandom from June 2022 to February 2024. Here are the fics that I'll still carry with me, even though I've moved on. (I tried to tag as many people as possible, but I couldn't find everyone -- my apologies to cerkowah, jabberish, & buttface)

Victory Condition and Champion by Astolat (@astolat on Tumblr) Victory Condition more or less rewired my brain, and I don't just mean that it yeeted me into Transformers fandom almost entirely against my will or intention. It... sort of reset the way I saw the world? it's hard to explain. Either way, the poetry is very good. Champion is something of a spiritual predecessor to Victory Condition, but a lot more. just. fun. Ending the war with the power of dance parties. It's great. Victory Condition: Loosely G1, Megop, rated E Champion: Loosely G1, largely gen, rated T

Lonely Signals by Anefi (@anefi on Tumblr) SPACE WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAALES god I love a good space whales story, and not only does this have space whales in abundance it also manages to nail down the impact of a four-million year war perfectly, without feeling too small or like it's going too big to be felt. IDW2005, Cosmos/Soundwave, rated T

Rest Easy by Largishcat (@largishcat on Tumblr) I barely ever read Dratchet, but this one... it's not "so good I read it despite the ship", it's so good I read it for the ship. Like Lonely Signals, it's one of very few fics I've found that actually manage to sell the scope of the war, and the Ratchet characterization is on-fucking-point. IDW2005, Dratchet, Megatron/Ratchet, rated E

the triumph of time (series) by oriflamme (@sunderedstar on Tumblr) I read all 400,000 words or so of this series in about four days. It's a rewrite of the end of IDW but make it epic (as in Tolkienesque) (seriously, idk how else to describe it except that I get the same sense of world-weight and cataclysmic events as I do from a lot of LOTR and high fantasy) but add in poetry and melancholy and history and also repairing everything that went wrong in IDW that never really got addressed. IDW2005, mostly rated T, some G. Check the tags for pairings.

Hazard Light by EatYourSparkOut, Emporianne, & cerkowah (@eatyoursparkout & @emporianne on Tumblr) This one's mostly on here for two things: 1.) doing hanahaki in a way that is like. actually thoughtful and not weird about love or unrequited love or anything like that, and 2.) doing hanahaki with robots. It's an absolutely brilliant setup that's brilliantly executed, and also Brainstorm and Percy are cute and pining and very dumb about it. MTMTE, Brainstorm/Perceptor, rated M

I'm All Full Up on Yesterdays, Don't Sing Me No More Blues by DesdemonaKaylose (@desdemonakaylose on Tumblr) Look, I know I say this a lot, but this fic has got the vibes down. It's exactly the take on Jazz that I've been looking for, all music and motion and city lights. Loosely Transformers: Prime, Jazz/Prowl, rated M

Send us a Blindfold, Send us a Blade by Trinary (@trinarysuns on tumblr) This was the first non-Astolat fic I read in this fandom that actually had an impact on me, and what an impact it was. One of the things that I love most about Transformers fic (especially IDW fic) is the sense of the... the timescale of the war? The weight of looking back and seeing how much has changed, and this fic really nails that specific sort of nostalgia. (Same kinda thing with how Lonely Signals/Rest Easy handle the war, but this one handles the revolution.) IDW2005, Starscream/Thundercracker, Starscream/Thundercracker/Skywarp, rated M

Attaque Composée (series) by neveralarch (@neveralarch on Tumblr) It's a fencing AU, but also they're all still robots, but also it's one of the most heartwrenching takes on IDW Starscream that I've seen (and that's saying something). The twisting of canon to fit the AU is masterfully done. IDW2005, Starscream/Wheeljack, mostly rated G, one T, one M.

Mistakes on Mistakes Until- by jabberish This one's an excellent sci-fi epic with everything that Jazz lends himself really well to in fic? Intrique and plot twists and General Shenaniganery. It's really fun. Transformers - All Media Types, Jazz/Prowl, rated M, currently incomplete but updating

Fathomless by Sroloc_Elbisivni (@sroloc--elbisivni on Tumblr) This is exactly the kind of vaguely-fairytale-magical-realism sort of tragedy-with-a-happy-ending that I live for, and it's especially notable in that that is not, precisely, the vibe that Transformers lends itself to and yet this fic pulls it off so well. Loosely G1, Jazz/Prowl, rated T

Your Own Hands by SatelliteSoundwave (@satellitesoundwave on Tumblr) An absolutely incredible example of non-linear storytelling. Not only is the actual order of scenes non-linear, it's tightly tied to the story itself. Wreckers Trilogy, Taraprowl, rated M

the only thing left out in the light by buttface Literally the only fic I've found that deals with the whole "Rodimus died on the alternate Lost Light and Drift held his funeral" thing, and it does it so beautifully. MTMTE, Driftrod, rated T

[ojamayellow]

Pssst. Welcome to deadceptor hell. I recommend Stonemasonry in Cappadocia by Anefi on Ao3 is a really really good fic

DEADCEPTOR HELL

And THERE'S FIC? 👀

Well, perhaps I will read....Once I actually finish Cyberverse...Thanks for the reccomendation!

[eatyoursparkout]

For the anon who asked about fav authors! I accidentally yeeted your ask before it was finished, my bad lmfao. Anyway, fav book authors are Le Guin and Pratchett. As for fic, an incomplete list of ppl whose work I consistently enjoy:

ckret2 neveralarch Desdemonakaylose fascinationex Trinary FourthFloorWrites helloshepard wallflowers Anefi Slyboots rose3bud009 Dracoqueen22 zuzeca not_whelmed_yet Bibliotecharia_D dragonofdispair spockandawe

[decepti-thots]

@anefi I think it’s juicy if Mins is a monoformer and Dominus is secretly so jealous he could eat his own t-cog

god i LOVE this concept actually. the idea that they're both horribly jealous of the other and that dominus' constant perfectionism was driven by the exact same thing as minimus and they just Never Talk Openly so neither ever realized is, i think, a really great concept, and it extending to this would be totally conceivable. they're both socially in a very odd place with their alt-but-also-outlier combo, and each one thinks they got the more awkward end of the deal. (or, hell, maybe minimus isn't hung up on it at all, and dominus is equally jealous of that.) it's great stuff.

i wanna get a feel for the the fandom on here's opinions these days around this.

[soundwavereporting]

🌻!

new ask game send me a 🌻 and ill just tell you whatever the fuck i want

Starting last Thursday, my dog apparently decided that whenever she doesn't want to go somewhere or do something, she will limp.

However I think she's forgotten about it (at least for today).

[sterekshaven]

ooh for the WIP meme: I'm so curious about Mitch! Ever since AA came out I love the idea of Stiles growing up and calling himself Mitch (short for Mieczysław, of course!) in, you know, certain circles... but it is also great if he (and derek??) MEET this badass Mitch who looks -- remarkably like Stiles, really, hmmmmm :D

Thank you! I already got an ask about Mitch, so I’m giving you another snippet from it xD I really like the idea of him going by Mitch too, and the whole doppelganger badass Mitch thing, but I’m sorely lacking in imagination and skills to write the doppelganger thing, soooo... without actually spoiling anything I’m totally spoiling it, if you read the other snippet too xD Anyway, have the very first paragraph from the Mitch WIP!

Derek was more nervous about meeting John’s son than he felt he should be. John had talked about Stiles, of course he had, but Derek had never met him during the eight months he had known John, only ever seen a couple of old photos of a kid with a buzzcut, and then John randomly asked if he wanted to come to dinner with them when Stiles was home for spring break.

Derek said yes, of course, and then he suddenly and irrationally got nervous about it.

[septembriseur]

anefi replied to your post “Feel free not to answer this, but you're the only person on my dash...”

The hardest part of SGU for me was having things I hated about every single character. That doesn't necessarily make it bad show, and a lot of the moral/social questions were interesting to think about... but it was just less FUN than SGA or SG-1. The ship, the planets, and the aliens were super cool, though.

That’s a totally fair criticism. I don’t mind that; I liked the goofiness of SG-1, and I also liked the goofy-but-with-this-weird-unacknowledged-undercurrent-of-super-dark-biopolitics-and-colonialism-ness of Atlantis, and I like the relentless grittiness of SGU. As long as it’s a well-executed take on the concept, I’ll go with it. For me, the fic has always done a better job of the shows than executing that take, though.

[thepainlessmoustache]

@anefi I've been wondering this for almost a week now so I've worked my way up to finally getting the nerve to ask. We'll see what she says! Thank you for your help :)

[bibliosexxual]

anefi a réagi à votre billet : Ugh, I hate when I finish a ficlet but I’m...

there’s a post going around with writing advice that is basically, “print out your first draft and retype it in a new document.” Sort of re-digesting it like that really helps me identify what’s bothering me; maybe that will help?

anefi a réagi à votre billet : Ugh, I hate when I finish a ficlet but I’m…

or if it’s more structural, try talking out the plot with someone, maybe, even if just a rubber ducky, stuffed animal, or chair, to get the words into the open.

rubyredhoodling a réagi à votre billet : Ugh, I hate when I finish a ficlet but I’m…

*grabby hands*

rita-somethingboring a réagi à votre billet : Ugh, I hate when I finish a ficlet but I’m…

Publish it? Honestly I lile everything you write so I think it could be awesome even if it was just your grocery list(???)

Ahh, thank you guys :)

@anefi I think that’s some sound advice. Sometimes I do something similar to that: I’ll close out of the doc on my laptop and go start rewriting it from memory on my iPad. Usually the iPad version will be better. Idk what it is about writing fic on my iPad, but it tends to turn out better than if I type it on my laptop. Maybe because the iPad forces me to type a little more slowly, but I’m not sure. 

Anyway, I did that with this fic, starting over from a dif. character’s POV. Ultimately I realized it wasn’t really a POV problem. I think it’s more like, I’m just not feeling it emotionally and it feels a bit rushed. Maybe that’s just me. Maybe readers would like it better than I do. At this point I think the way I would fix it would be to expand the fic, but I just want to be done with it, so. Maybe I will just post it as is and see what people think.

[ifeelbetterer]

misa-nthropy replied to your post “Hey could you guys send me nice things for a while, I am currently...”

Put it up on a projector(do you still use those? I'm old) and let the class tear him apart. Also stay strong! Hopefully he becomes the next John Bobbitt

I would except tomorrow is the last day of class and they’re workshopping the next(final) paper. It will literally be the last time I see his face, though, so I take some comfort from that. anefi replied to your post “Hey could you guys send me nice things for a while, I am currently...”

you can squash him a little bit! if the essay's crap then it is literally your job, even though I know it is so draining to give assholes that that even five seconds of your time. stay strong!

I like your style, but I am holding onto my moral high ground by the skin of my teeth here. eak1mouse replied to your post “Hey could you guys send me nice things for a while, I am currently...”

Ooh geez. Best of luck to you. You have to make it though or this dude wins. You got this.

OK, this was literally exactly what I needed to hear to get this done. Thanks! bbcphile replied to your post “Hey could you guys send me nice things for a while, I am currently...”

*all the hugs *

Thanks, boo. moggiesandtea replied to your post “Hey could you guys send me nice things for a while, I am currently...”

Deploy the red pen

Alas, I grade in blue. I was doing it to be less....evocative of blood....but now I regret that choice

[andavs]

anefi replied to your post “Man, how much cooler would it have been if they did the True Alpha...”

who would've been the alpha theo was trying to steal from? besides tank man the only one we see that season is ducalion, iirc

I do like this idea, though; it makes scott and derek not only defeating the alpha pack as betas but letting duke live despite having no alpha left for their own pack an even stronger statement

oh my gosh unless Derek kept or got back the alpha power after healing Cora -- THEN HE WOULD HAVE THE BITE THE NOGITSUNE

sorry for rambling >_< lol

Dude, never apologize for rambling! Especially on a rambling post I made while drinking so much wine. It was a wine ramble. And here’s a hot toddy ramble after shoveling snow:

Hokay. So. In this fantastic alternate version of this show in which everything goes exactly the way I want, Derek would still be alpha through all this Theo business. One of the things I really disliked about 3a was that they tore Derek down, but instead of letting him redeem himself as an alpha, he just gave up and left town. 

I think 3b should’ve been Derek, still alpha, trying to regain Isaac’s trust and improve his relationships with Scott and Cora. I would’ve loved to see him working with Scott through his control issues after the sacrifice so we could actually see them building up to the brotherly mentor kind of dynamic they have in the fourth season. Then by the time Scott does become an alpha, Derek’s there to help and also he’s been a werewolf for more than like six months. Or however the TW timeline works. 

Nogitsune happens, obviously Derek and Scott work together to save Stiles and find a middle ground and it’s all good going into season 4. Maybe deadpool, but probably not because that was a stupid storyline that served no purpose in the end. Literally none. It’s had no impact on anything that’s happened since and I don’t think it’s even been mentioned. I prefer to ignore that season.

But then Theo comes in and Scott is welcoming, trying to be understanding with all the chimeras, but Derek and Stiles aren’t because they both have trust issues like nobody’s business. Scott’s kind of got his ragtag pack, Derek’s got his, Stiles is stuck in the middle as per usual. Maybe Isaac is too.

I think this would be a cool opportunity to explore the difference between (what I’m assuming is) a traditional pack like the Hales, all wolves and humans and family, and the McCall pack. Beyond the alpha pack, the only other pack in the show is Satomi’s, and it’s never explicitly stated whether they’re all wolves or not. I’m assuming they are, but are all other packs all werewolves? Do they have a mixture of supernatural creatures like Scott’s? Are they usually more family oriented or do they just collect people who wander through town like stray cats? No one ever really says whether the McCall pack is normal or not.

So what if it’s really not, and Derek pushes back against Lydia, Kira, and Malia really being pack because they’re not wolves and it pisses Scott off, so there’s already some tension there? Maybe there are literally no packs with kitsunes and werecoyotes and banshees, because it’s just not done, so Derek doesn’t know how to handle that. He’s not even sure if it can be done, and he’s barely keeping it together with just werewolves. He’s not kicking them out of town or anything, but they’re not pack.

So Theo comes in, a total stranger, wants to join up, but Derek doesn’t trust him. Doesn’t even want to get to know him, and Stiles’ spidey senses tingling aren’t helping, so he shuts it down immediately, no discussion. Scott doesn’t handle that well in any situation; Scott seems like the person who needs the reasoning behind an order and a chance to discuss and offer input. But Theo can tell there’s tension there so he starts hanging with Scott and pulling him away from Derek, and Stiles starts siding with Derek a little more because neither of them trust Theo and he needs someone on his side if Scott isn’t.

This would also make the whole Donovan thing really interesting if Derek knew but Scott didn’t, so then Scott feels like Derek’s pulling Stiles down the wrong road, while Stiles feels like Theo’s doing the same, and it’s all one big clusterfuck.

Also how great would it have been if, after all the shit they’ve been through, Scott became a True Alpha through saving and protecting Derek? Admitting he was wrong about Theo, putting his life on the line for someone he maybe doesn’t really like but has come to respect? That seems like a strength of character kind of thing! I think that’s what they were trying to do for season 5 but Scott never straight up apologized or took responsibility.

As for Theo, considering he grew up in Beacon Hills, I think it makes perfect sense for him to be going after the Hale alpha. The show (very vaguely) has painted Talia Hale as just all around an impressive, powerful, and prominent figure among werewolves. Between the prestige of the family and the seemingly genetic ability to fully shift(??), I could see Theo wanting to get in on that.

Actually, would the full shift count as a chimera? That would’ve been a cool angle with the Dread Doctors and the Beast of Gevaudan, seeking out a Hale. Though Theo could also do that for reasons unknown, so who the fuck really knows. Maybe he’s also a Hale somehow--he’s got the eyebrows.

[anefan]

just a little too close

750 words of a deleted scene, unresolved Sterek, ambiguous misunderstanding; warning for Stiles being outed against his will (offscreen)

Derek answered the door in a scrap of a shirt and comfortable sweatpants, soft hair in disarray and pillow creases on his cheek, because he loved to make Stiles’s life as difficult as possible. The careful explanation-slash-apology he’d planned was lost forever as his brain short-circuited.

“Why are you knocking,” Derek said, frowning at Stiles’s upraised fist, frozen in mid-air.

He dropped it. “Sorry, I know you probably don’t want to—”

“Did you lose your key?”

“—Um. No? I just didn’t want to, you know, walk in on you, or—”

Derek’s eyes flicked down to his chest, and the tiniest, most devastating smirk calling out the lie was enough to make Stiles long for the power to discoporate. “Here,” he said, and shoved the translated pages at Derek’s stupid face. “Cursed valley is a bust.”

Derek just stepped aside and wandered toward the kitchen, leaving Stiles to follow him in, or flee. Stiles followed. “Damn. I thought that seemed promising.”

In the process of slowly rebooting, Stiles assembled several context clues and arrived at a startling realization. Derek’s dusty shoes in the middle of the floor and the fact that his GPS last known location at his old house was unchanged since Monday told him Derek had been out late, probably in the woods. Nowhere near anybody spreading spurious rumors about nerdy high schoolers of his acquaintance. The easy tolerance with which he wasn’t ripping Stiles’s throat out meant that Derek hadn’t heard.

As his brain kicked into gear, his feet stalled out. There was a choice, here. Derek didn’t hate him yet. All Stiles had to do was not say anything, and Derek would go on being friends with him for the rest of the morning, smiling at him like an asshole and standing easy with Stiles in his space. If he pretended nothing had happened, nothing would change. At least until some undefined point in the future, when somebody else would say something, and Derek would think—Derek would know. Or maybe—maybe he could just lay out what happened, clear everything up. Maybe Derek would laugh, and he would laugh, and it would be—fine. Just another weird thing that happened to the two of them. Being mistaken for a couple. Ha.

“You hungry?” Derek asked. “I have more cereal.”

“I ate,” Stiles said. The way he stomach was roiling, he was starting to regret it. “Yesterday,” he started slowly.

Derek lifted an eyebrow. “You ate yesterday?” He opened the fridge and started to rummage through it. “Do you like eggs?”

Stiles scraped a hand through his hair in frustration. “I’m trying to say, yesterday at school I got, um. Outed. As, you know. Bi.”

Derek looked up from frowning at the contents of his refrigerator to frown at him instead. “You need me to kill anyone?”

Stiles had to smile a little. “No, it’s fine. I’m fine. I just—thought I should warn you. Finstock has this crazy idea that you’re my boyfriend, so—there’s a rumor going around. That’s all. Just so you’re aware. Of that.” He trailed off weakly. “So, I’ll just—”

“I’m not,” Derek finally said with a strange inflection, face completely unreadable, washed out by the flat light of the fridge.

“Yeah, obviously. I know that. You know that. I don’t know who would believe—something like that. Like I said,” Stiles tried to laugh, but his throat felt like sandpaper. “Crazy.”

“Right,” Derek said, still blank. “Thanks for telling me.”

“Sure,” Stiles said, wishing he felt any hint of relief. The truth is always best, right? So why did his stomach feel like it was about to turn itself inside out? “I’ve got to get to school. So, I’ll—see ya.” He turned to the door slowly, torn between the urge to run away as fast as he could and the desire to just—stay, maybe make breakfast, or heckle Derek as he stood at the stove with a spatula. The long hours of the day they could have spread out before him like an open field: going over his translation, stepping out for coffee, getting lunch somewhere, practicing defensive magic in the afternoon, seeing Derek’s eyes light up when Stiles did something cool, or said something funny, or figured something out. He picked up his leaden feet, one after the other, until he crossed the floor, and climbed the stairs, and hauled open the heavy loft door, Derek’s eyes burning into the back of his shirt the whole way.