so i just read a story on ao3 but i didn't really check the tags, just the rating (G) and completion status (Complete) so I go to read it and...
it's literally porn? like when I checked the tags after they whipped a dick out it literally had "handjobs" "kink discovery" and "porn with feelings" tagged
so obviously i let the author know that they had misrated their work (obviously with compliments thrown in, it was well written)
they come back with a thank you and an "i was unsure how to rate it"
idk man, NOT G. G IS GENERAL AUDIENCES. E IS WHAT YOU RATE SEX STORIES BECAUSE THEY ARE FOR ADULT AUDIENCES.
so obviously i think they must be a new user that just doesn't know anything about the system so i start typing back a reply, something along the lines of "don't worry about it! in the future this is what i think of when rating" and i'm about to send it off when i check their profile just in case and...
?!?!?!?!?!?!
they had 17 fics already, and had been on the sight since 2018. how do you spend 5 years on that site and not "know" what to rate something with explicit actions in it? like i would have taken "oops! good catch! i rated it incorrectly!" as a perfectly fine (and true) answer but wdym "i didn't know what to tag it" PLEASE that's so confusing
anyway i got a good chuckle out of it and i hope that author continues to write, they had a solid style.
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5, 9, 14, 20, 30, 39, & 44 for the writing asks? -megs 💙
@igarbagecannoteven hi megs! thanks for stopping by!
5. What are your fanfic pet peeves? Do they have a huge effect on whether or not you decide to read something? I don't like first person pov for fic, and i think it's because when i already have such a clear view of who the characters are in my head, having an intimate viewpoint like that makes it a lot more apparent when the writer and i have different characterizations, so i'm not likely to read a fic in first person pov. in this fandom specifically i have strong opinions about characterizations of luke (don't like when he's written as overly ditsy or like a baby who can't take care of himself) and if the rest of the fic is great and luke is a background character i can handle it, but otherwise i'll click out of fics like that. there's too much other fic in this fandom for me to read two-dimensional characters and unfortunately he's the one that i disagree with characterizations of the most. also, at this point i need the spaces between the paragraphs on ao3. i know that normal books are not published like that but for some reason on my computer it's a lot more overwhelming if the spacing between paragraphs is the same as the spacing between lines and i'll click out of a fic over that
9. Tag 3 fic writers you think are underrated/unknown in the fandom/fanfiction community. ahhhh i was kind of hoping no one would ask this one just because i don't think i read the underrated/unknown fic writers! the vast majority of the fics i read are by people i follow on tumblr or other pretty well-known names (although i have been looking at the 5sos tag on ao3 a lot more recently!) but! here are a few newer fandom writers who i've read!
@4thbrighteststar has a wonderful luke character study
@babush-cat has such fun ideas and dynamics!
i'll be honest i haven't read anything by @bandsanitizer yet but i'm so enthusiastic about her fic exchange fic that on premise alone i'm saying she's underrated as a writer
14. Do you have a personal word minimum that you hold yourself too? Why or why not? I do! for ask box prompts it's 750, for ao3 fics it's 1k. i am not the kind of person who can tell a good story in less words than that. some people can (you're actually the person who comes to mind first) but i simply can't. it usually takes around 1k for me at the bare minimum, but if i'm writing an ask box prompt i won't push it just because for me prompts are less pressure and have lower standards
20. What’s your favorite part about the fanfiction writing process? probably moments when things come together! whether it's coming up with a really satisfying detail in an idea, finally writing a scene i've been looking forward to, or writing the last sentence of a wip and feeling good and final about it, i really like moments where it feels like i'm doing something right.
30. Post a snippet from your current WIP without context - no more than 300 words.
some words that i wrote while answering these!
“Got a hot date?” she asks when he lets her in, gently removing her shoes.
“Ah, no,” he says, bringing a hand up to adjust his hair again. “Just a friend’s night. Well, Luke and Ashton are dating, but It’s not a double date, or anything.”
Oh no, is this supposed to be a double date? No, it’s not. Surely that would’ve been mentioned explicitly if it was, right? Calum’s not going into this expecting a double date, is he?
No, of course not. He’s massively overthinking this and he hasn’t even left the house yet.
39. What’s something about your writing that you pride yourself on? that it makes sense! i feel like the choices that characters make and the way that events unfold makes sense in my stories rather than coming from out of the blue or having a bunch of loose ends that don't do anything, and I like that
44. Rant about something writing related. oh hm. well. geez i'm struggling with a topic lol let's see. i think i am frustrated with the amount of words that some stories take! i'm very bad at judging how many words a fic will be but i think it's stupid that a lot of my ideas take over 20k of words in order for me to properly execute them! i don't have time to write that many words! i don't have the focus for it! some people don't have the focus to read it! i also hate when i'm writing something and i'm like "oh i'm going to do this in 6k it'll be fine" and it's at least 10k, or it's a 15k fic that i thought was going to be 10k, or (the worst offender) when it's a fic that should've been no more than 3k and is instead 6k!!!! the differences in words there may not seem like much to some people but with the rate that i write and the fact that i rarely can stick to one wip for more than a few days in a row means that every word over what i anticipate is a decent amount of time until the fic gets finished. if fics were the number of words i initially predicted they'd be i'd have 3 more fics published by now, and those are just the ones i'm thinking of off the top of my head. idk maybe i also want some ideas that take less words lol i would love to write more fics in the 4k-12k range because those wordcounts are the ones i typically enjoy reading most but i simply seem incapable of not adding other words and descriptions and building the relationship more which takes more scenes and. you get the idea. etc etc etc.
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honestly as someone that browses SU AO3 a lot that isn't far off lol. there's some weird crap there, ngl. very glad tags can be blocked lol. there's some nice stuff if you look but I cant blame people for not wanting to dig. good things there's tumblr, where there's plenty of good fic authors, like you ♥
I do love AO3! And I honestly don’t begrudge anyone for writing whatever stuff they want. You know, they’re free to live their lives. No one’s getting hurt, etc, etc. I actually have a guilty pleasure of reading fics I hate, lol. I don’t comment on them or anything. I’m not an asshole. I just love giggling at some of the fucked up stuff people write.
It was more just like “ah, fuck. the fandom’s really dominated by stuff i really don’t like right now” and being pouty. i’d like to emphasize that no one should go around sending hate mail or trying to cancel anyone over whatever’s happening on AO3.
Though I will say I think AO3 is in desperate need of a permanent blacklist feature. I’d absolutely adore having my own little list tied to my account of things I just don’t wanna see no matter what fandom I’m in. But out of all the tagging systems I’ve experienced, I’d definitely give AO3 my #2 spot. Number one is tumblr with xkit, blessed be, lol.
And there’s definitely good fics on there! I don’t want to roast my fellow authors, lol. There’s plenty of good stuff - wholesome, angsty, whatever you like!
Honestly, for anyone searching - if you just cut out explicit and mature you’ll lose some edgier/angstier stories if those are your cup of tea, but I don’t think I’ve seen anything mislabeled or misrated, so you can browse SU with all the insane stuff hidden if you search by T and under.
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Now that the LNA has been bolstered by Russian mercenary power, things are moving very quickly in Libya. It is now likely for a Greek, Egypt and Russian backed Libyan National Army to face a Turkish intervention on behalf of the failing United Nations and western established Government of National Accord in Tripoli.
>Ok what the fuck does any of this mean, I havent been here long and i only care to smack deh belly and like paper
In 2012, the first election was held in post-gaddafi’s Libya. The General National Congress, or the transitional government, held until 2014. Unsurprisingly, secular and islamist militias began to resent eachother and in some cases, intimidate people from going to the polls. Kidnappings and militia violence became particularly bad in North East Libya, where the LNA would eventually begin it’s war against them and the GNC, because the GNC was turning a blind eye to it (tho likely from the failure of the traditional democracy to produce.. well, any results because more repressive, Islamist laws).
Even more unsurprisingly, the youth and pro-democracy camp were disillusioned and upset to find that no one held their election promises and that some areas like the city of Derna failed to even hold a vote because of the outbreak of Islamist rebellion there and in parts of Benghazi. Only 18% of the people came out to vote that year in August. Subsequently, Islamists and the Islamic Brotherhood lost even more of their share of the Congress, so Misrata based Islamist militias abducted political opponents, raided hundreds of homes and then seized the Tripoli based General National Congress in a coup because they refused to be a minority in the now majority Nationalist and Liberal legislature.
Once Tripoli became dangerous, the new parliament formed without the Islamist factions in Tobruk called the “House of Representatives”, essentially producing a west and eastern Libyan Government. The House of Representatives, to distinguish it apart from the GNC or post-coup Islamist National Salvation Government, is sometimes called the “Tobruk Government”. Later in 2014, the Libyan Supreme Constitutional Court declared the HoR as been unconstitutional and to be dissolved, which the HoR shot back with saying that the Supreme Court was being forced to declare that “at gunpoint” by the Islamist militias.
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Part of the reason why the unified 2012-2014 GNC failed is because the largely independent assembly and it’s Islamist minority factions were constantly in gridlock over efforts by the Islamists and the leader of the assembly (an elected Islamist) to ram constitutional amendments like Sharia Law, gender segregation and mandatory hijabs; and ban Gaddafi loyalists and government officials from holding office, which was popular with the people. The one about banning participants of the Gaddafi regime from office was a doozy, because many of the Liberal party leaders, elite expatriates were part of the Gaddafi government. Many of these Liberals and elites were right to say that this law, while popular, was foolish because it preempted anyone with technocratic experience from office in a new, unstable democracy. The Islamists loved it because, like any political body, they saw how it would enlarge their share of power.
Finally, the GNC tried to do away with elections also by failing to run an election by unilaterally voting in 2013 to add another year to it’s mandate. This was when a former 2011 commander of the Gaddafi revolution, General Khalifa Haftar of the Libyan National Army called on the GNC to follow through with the elections. The GNC ignored him. So he launched “Operation Dignity” on behalf of the House of Representatives to immediately bring the nationalist, secular (liberal and moderate salafi) army into war with the rebellious Islamist militias and eventually ISIS, which by 2015, established territory in north east Libya alongside the creation of the Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. A week after the beginning of Operation Dignity, that’s when the GNC called the elections, which the Islamists lost by August 2014.
So the Second Libyan Civil war began, and so I don’t end up writing a shitzillion paragraphs on the decisive multi-year battle of Benghazi (Ansar al-Sharia established a revolt here aka the dudes who killed that american that media used to gloss over Obama’s war crimes and the folly of turning Libya into a failed state) and the LNA’s capture of most of the oil fields and then territory of Libya, I’ll just defer to this video:
After a year of conflict (including ISIS), in December 2015, the United Nations intervened and the Libyan Political Agreement occurred, which brought the GNC and the HoR together into a new transitional government: The Government of National Accord. This government would hold for two years and then produce another election.
Over the next two years, power would slowly and with resistance from the GNC and the HoR, transfer to the Government of National Accord or the GNA while the GNA took down the Sirte ISIS territory. The HoR was to become an advisory and legislative body to be subject to the elected body of the new GNC. Even though (and maybe people on different sides opposed this) the GNA offered Haftar leadership of the legitimate, unified Libyan army if he switched allegiance from the HoR to the GNC, when the two years rolled over and no election was planned by December 2017, Haftar declared the Libyan Political Agreement void and resumed his assault on the GNC and now the GNA by defacto.
For the next year and some months, Haftar completed his operation against Islamist and ISIS pockets and captured the rest of Libya’s vast oil fields, allowing him to commit to a total onslaught of GNA/GNC territory in northwest Libya by April 2019. At this time, he was joined by russian and gulf arab state support like Egypt (clandestine arming ops) and the United Arab Emirates (drone strikes and scouting).
It is confirmed that the Russian PMC Wagner Group (same dudes obliterated by US gunships in an assault on syria’s Conoco gas plant near Deir Ezzor) are on the front line with LNA troops outside Tripoli.
Why are autocratic gulf states supporting Haftar? Well, because Egypt’s el-Sisi is himself a military man put in power by the army because their recent democractic project was threatened by islamists and the Muslim Brotherhood. Like Haftar, el-Sisi sees it as necessary to be a strong man to protect secular interests of the whole country because the liberal and secular factions are too easily outpaced and outfunded by the Islamist factions.
However, Haftar represents a secular and liberal legislative body. Unfortunately, at the end of the day, when Haftar seizes total victory, who’s to say he won’t just assume power like any other MENA military coup d’etat before him.
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An important fact about Libya is that the coast is where most of the population is, that it is Arab (78% of the total pop), and that inland, like Gaddafi before, the leaders of any central government has to balance Berber/Amazigh and Toureg tribal alliances, which the LNA excels at.
But beyond that, there are other ethnic divides. Earlier, I mentioned the Islamists of Misrata exacting violent influence over the GNC and the government in Tripoli. Misrate was a city founded by Circasians from Egypt. Misrata, itself, is a name that is derived from “Misir Atah” or “The ones who came from Misr(Egypt)”
Contemporary Misrata is now the 3rd largest city of Libya (after Tripoli and Benghazi) and two thirds of it’s 400,000 population are ethnic Turks. For this reason, it’s consider the centre of Turkish culture in Libya.
Now here’s an excerpt from a former Gaddafi loyalist/officer from the New York Times:
So, the idea of “Islamists from Misrata manipulating power balances in the Tripoli governments” takes on a deeper meaning with ethnic, not just religious contexts (remember, there are salafists in Haftar’s army, but they are ARAB Islamists)
What’s more, with Haftar and the LNA’s recent offensive with Russian backing now threatening the Tripoli power base, suddenly it starts to look like ethnic Turks are under threat of annihilation by an Arab warlord.
So now....
In the last week, Turkey signed a deal with the GNA (Government of National Accord) to be given resource access rights off the north east coast. Now there are rumblings that, besides logistics and munition support they already give to the GNC/GNA, that the Turkish army will intervene and prevent the collapse of the pseudo-turkish power bloc in the north west. Last June, Erdogan threatened Haftar after six ethnic turks were arrested.
It is not beneath Erdogan to continue his neo-Ottoman sphere of influence project into Libya.
So we should be keen to anticipate such a turn of events in Libya. Especially now, since the Turkish intervention in Syria has ground to a halt with the Kurds allying themselves with the SAA.
And of course, all of this is complicated by the fact that Haftar and the LNA’s response has been to ally itself with the state of Greece. HoR and LNA officials have been to Greece to discuss matters already. This folds over quite nicely with a rise in violations of Greek air and naval space by Turkey.
Anyway, this took hours to write
i started at liek 9 adn now it’s 1.....
I hoipe yall are satisfied
Body of the first article:
Libyan Foreign Minister Mohamed Taher Siala warned of the possibility that retired Major General Khalifa Haftar could enter Tripoli, especially after the recent Russian intervention in Libya.
Siala explained during a press interview that the ongoing escalation in Libya is due to Russian mercenaries’ support to Khalifa Haftar in bombing Tripoli by various means, noting that this matter will lead to civilian casualties and the displacement of thousands of migrants to European shores.
“I live in Tripoli and many believe that it cannot be taken over. However, chaos can worsen the city’s situation, so the public in the city are now asking: Why isn’t the international community that worked to protect civilians in 2011 doing the same now?” added the Foreign Minister.
He indicated that what the Russians say about their support for UN initiatives cannot be taken for granted because the problem lies in Russian prevarication, as Moscow declares a matter and does a completely different matter.
“I think Libya has strategic importance for Russia. They want to tighten their grip on our lands, and perhaps they are working on a strategy that cannot be currently implemented, and that is why their tactics are currently considering the use of mercenaries only,” continued Siala.
For his part, UN Special Envoy to Libya Ghassan Salamé said that “Russian support” for the forces of retired Major General Khalifa Haftar has intensified his attack on Tripoli during the past few days, warning that this may cause a “bloodbath” in the Libyan capital.
Salamé explained that the Russian military forces, who are called “mercenaries or young contractors”, have contributed to changing the strategic balance, pointing out that “since the Russians joined Haftar’s forces, the attack on Tripoli has regained its power.”
“In the last ten days, the war has moved to the urban district of the capital. I do not rule out the possibility of a new deadlock or overwhelming progress,” continued Salamé, stressing that “if this continues, there will be more civilian casualties, more displaced people, and more suffering.”
Salamé did not rule out that the sudden entry of Haftar’s forces to Tripoli would hinder efforts of the preparation for the Berlin International Conference on Libya.
He added that “there will be a bloodbath, a terrible situation of street fighting and indescribable massacres and destruction in the heart of urban areas. It is, therefore, necessary to accelerate things up. The method of dialogue must immediately impose itself to stop the war.”
“In these hours, the fighting has intensified with a number of airstrikes on the Libyan capital. Haftar is advancing,” indicated Salamé.
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