#Under Orders

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

Reblog this if you want readers to come into your ask box and ask for the “director’s commentary” on a particular story, section of a story, or set of lines. 

Seeing as I’ve just finished reading part 5 of Under Orders I want to ask you about it.

One thing I love about your stories is that you have what I think is a great understanding of psychology and power dynamics in sexual relationships (I’m explaining this very poorly, sorry) And you manage to communicate these things very well in your stories. I appreciate it a lot because I am totally clueless about these things.

Example is when reader understands what Sy’s place is in her little universe. It’s a couple of paragraphs and, even if it’s in the middle of a pretty amazing sex scene, it is just so RIGHT. Like, I know reader is me but I had the same epiphany as her!

So please give us any insight or info on how the addition of Sy to this little universe came to be or where it’s going?

Thank you so much for this question!!!!! I love it. Let me put this under a cut because it's a little bit of an essay...

Partly because I get to blame @deandoesthingstome without thinking twice, because it's 2100% her fault that Sy even made an appearance in this series! She started this, it's her fault, she did it, it wasn't me, Charlie's responsible, I was powerless against her charms.

(I know damn well I didn't have to write it, like... She didn't put a gun to my head, I was free to do whatever I wanted. And apparently, after a whole ass while... This is what I wanted.)

Now, I'm not denying Sy is hot stuff, okay? I'm not even going to bother pretending that I wouldn't think twice about taking that beard for a ride if I was ever presented with the opportunity.

But he's not my go-to guy, and probably never will be, which definitely didn't help in figuring out his place in this arrangement — which is when I realized that trying to force him into it the way I was trying to do was never going to work, and that there was a strong possibility that reader would be having the same struggle when it came to that subject.

And so, Charlie is still waiting on that hot foursome, and I still have hopes that it will happen some day, but I really do need to stick to my usual approach and let my characters do the talking instead of trying to force them into something they're not ready for.

And to a degree I think the research and understanding of these dynamics make that even more difficult. Because I want to get it right. I need it to make sense.

Because I know August "Will Kill For Her" Walker loves reader and doesn't want to hold her back, so he knew he had to give her the space to explore it. He knows she loves him and he's certain this won't come between him and reader because he trusts her like he's never trusted anyone in his life.

... Except maybe Walter, who he's known for years (since college). He decided to share the woman he loves with his best friend. And he doesn't trust Sy that way.

Walter isn't exactly a quick study when it comes to trusting someone, either. So I know there's a relationship to be built there.

Like, the objective going in was "write porn" but sometimes (most of the time) that's not enough (for me. It's a perfectly valid way to write, of course!!! But I do need to know why they're fucking, and in this specific case there's the issue of how it impacts everyone else involved in this relationship.)

I'm also lucky enough to have a bunch of wonderful queer friends, and some of them tell me all the lovely tales (and the drama! So. much. drama) of their lovely non-monogamous relationships, and it's taught me a lot.

And, in a way, this fic has taught me a lot. Because it was never supposed to turn into this polycule. It was supposed to be a relationship between reader and August, and a more or less platonic arrangement between reader and Walter — until it wasn't. And with the addition of Sy, there's a whole new side of this relationship to explore. One I'm really excited about, and really eager to delve deeper into.

I know not all of their story has been told yet.

So I guess what I'm really trying to say is... Thank you, Charlie!

[hunnicute]

i dont think spotify knows what a genre is

[listen-to-the-inner-walrus]

I love the Leverage episodes where they're truly just psychologically tormenting a guy.

Like obviously they first establish that the guy is a terrible guy who does terrible guy things. And we really do need the terrible guy to be doing a lot of terrible guy things because this is kinda an ethical nightmare, but don't worry, they are reliably doing a lot of terrible guy things.

But then it is just like "hey, let's convince this guy that he's made first contact with aliens and also that aliens are trying to kill him" or "hey, let's make this guy believe he's contracted a deadly disease and is going to die in quarantine because medical staff are abandoning him" or "hey, let's first try to persuade this journalist that the government is secretly creating Guantanamo Bay 2: Underground Boogaloo in your backyards and when she doesn't run with that story, let's then make her think that oops the government accidentally leaked some kind of bioweapon into the waterways and now water is gonna kill you instead."

[hood-ex]

Dick, Donna, and Roy making a snowman together 🤍.

Titans #19

[emoregressioncore]

fall out boy in valentines <3

1/2/3/4 in emo quad valentines series

like or reblog if you use them plz

print pdf link

stickers/magnets (1)(2)(3)(4)(5)

[stealingpotatoes]

Happy revenge of the fifth 😈 specifically to Darth Vader and InquisiCal and Trilla Sundari

its their special day!!

(donation doodles! // tip jar)

[apolaskiart]

Two bros, chilling in a hot tub, five feet apart cus they're not gay negative five feet apart because they're working things out...

[tiger-grace]

Bruce: why do I have 15 separate charges that amounts to 26,000 dollars on my card

Jason: shits crazy

Bruce: why are they all signed under “Amazon wishlist 👅 (for murder)”

Jason, sweating: ..that’s crazy

[egophiliac]

still absolutely losing my mind over Lilia

[assiraphales]

fedra was a fascist dictatorship. the fireflies posed as freedom fighters but just wanted the power fedra had. kathleen sacrificed an entire city for a personal vendetta — kansas city fell bc of her negligence. david controlled his religious cult through starvation. in this whole wide apocalyptic world the only people that were thriving were those who lived for love. bill & frank. the indigenous couple. tommy’s commune. ellie & joel (at times). there would have been so many more survivors and so much more success in this harsh world if people didn’t make it harsher

[raccoon-eyed-rebel]

Was that bit (in Under Orders chapt 5) about the reader not exactly knowing how Sy would fit into her current dynamic with the others a reflection of your own experience in the writing process?

HI ANON!

The short answer: YES. IT WAS!

And then the long answer, in case you're interested:

At this point I think most people know how much I struggled with adding Sy to the mix, and part of that was because for the longest time I thought that struggle was something outside of the fic. And I genuinely don't think it was.

It was always supposed to be something reader was also struggling with. (Okay in most instances, reader = me, anyway, so... but yeah) Not to mention I've written this struggle before. Last time it was Marshall feeling this way, struggling with feelings he developed and the dynamic changing because of that - even though reader and August didn't perceive that change because to them it had been obvious for a while that Marshall wasn't just 'a sidepiece' so to speak.

So yeah, it was absolutely a reflection of my writing experience for that specific chapter, but I also genuinely believe that struggle really belongs in the story, and I'm convinced the chapter wouldn't have been half as good as it is without it.

Tagging some people that may want to read this

@geralts-yenn @deandoesthingstome @ellethespaceunicorn @mayloma

[pan-tran-dndfan]

Been watching a bunch of Shoot from the Hip's plays a lot lately, and I forgot how many amazing quotes there are

"That's pretty much all witches are really, just drug dealers with a bit more, you know, va va voom."

"Everyone thinks we're all nice and friendly so they don't see it coming when you say 'Oh, would you like a nice cup of tea?' And then you stab them."

"They're afraid you're losing your touch" "Oh, Pish" "Yes, Pish is very upset with you."

"My body is a temple to destruction. AN ENGINE OF WAR- I'm not done. A PYRAMID HOUSING THE HATRED OF THOUSANDS. A STADIUM WITH A ROAR OF RAGE, BECOMES THE BITTER JUICE OF DESOLATION. MAKE A CUCKHOLDRESS OF ME. ENGORGE HIM- no, wait- ENGORGE HER, AND HAVE YOURS3LF ENTER HER TONIGHT. I feel a bit faint-"

"HUSBAND! HUSBAND! THE CHINCHILLA'S A FUCKING NAZI!"

The fact they improvise this is genuinely amazing to me, SFTH are a national treasure

[mamawasatesttube]

my ideal timkon don't get together until they've both already done some queer realizations and dated other guys a little bit, in part because on tim's end, i think he's been in love with kon since he was 17, but at 17 tim didn't even know he was bisexual, forget anything else. and his feelings for kon were so big but also so constant that he didn't even realize they were there or significant because they've always been there and been huge. for years. so he putters along and does his time in the torment nexus (the closet) and languishes a bit but slowly starts to figure it out.

meanwhile kon dates someone, mostly like omg im dating a guy this is ALLOWED !??!?! and its pretty lowkey and casual and doesnt last bc like . super identity issues, right. kon would Never just tell someone, but secrets and casual relationships dont last long etc etc. but just the entire principle of kon dating someone and then being like yeah idk im not really feeling it like hes nice and all but i think hes more interested in like… yknow, my hot bod, than me. its whatever tho. and tim just being SOOOOO mad that someone would date kon and not absolutely adore him. tim will not be unpacking why hes so mad about kon having a shitty boyfriend. obviously its just bc kons his bestie and deserves better. (😶)

so he's just grouchily tinkering on some upgrade for his car to get the grumpy energies out. like WHATEVER! (angrily turns socket wrench) he's not saying kon should dump the guy or anything (angrily turns socket wrench) but he's just SAYING, kon can do BETTER!!!!! (angrily turns socket wrench) and kon DESERVES better!!! kon deserves someone who will treat him RIGHT!!!!! (angrily turns socket wrench) like if TIM was gonna fuck kon he wouldn't do it like a goddamn quickie and just fucking leave (angrily grabs the next size socket and scoots further under the car) like kon OBVIOUSLY doesn't like that so why won't this guy GET THAT!!!! (angry tinkering noises) if he's that shallow he can go find himself a sexy body pillow to screw!!! leave kon alone!!!!

and cassie sitting on a chair nearby is just like. sorry what was that? "if i was gonna fuck kon"? did you just say--hey tim? hey. can you go back a step?

and tim's just. obviously this is a hypothetical everyone considers about kon. look at him he's . you know. besides, tim's just talking as his best friend who wants the best for him! ugh stop trying to read into it cassie, that's not the POINT--

[raps-hellion]

more wolf (and ethan)

[sparkletastic-cookiedough]

Nightwing is investigating a traveling circus

There’s a lot of suspicion around it. Every time Circus Gothica visits a town, local accounts of robberies increase.

What flagged Nightwing’s attention was the fact that whoever is committing the crimes is good. Camera footage is corrupted. Theres no physical trace left behind. Local heroes report being attacked by strange glowing green monsters, who disappear shortly after being caught.

That, and Nightwing is feeling a bit nostalgic. An excuse to spend time with a circus? That’s reliving his childhood.

So when Circus Gothica visits Amity Park, Nightwing is there to investigate.

The town is fairly clean, especially compared to the streets of Gotham or Bludhaven. It’s almost strange to not smell smog in the air.

Townsfolk are friendly to the civilian disguise Nightwing is using. He introduces himself as an out of towner here on a trip to get away from the city. He asks about touristy things, but also fishes for information about possible villains or vigilantes in the area.

People complain about ghost attacks happening, many of them centered on the local school for some reason. They mention Inviso-Bill (Nightwing loves that name), local menace who fights these supernatural threats.

Nightwing spots some posters for Circus Gothica hung up around town. He reads the advertisement, and freezes.

One of the acts advertised is none other than The Flying Graysons.

[gaywarcriminals]

Every time I think "Yue QIngyuan would totally hide a body for Shen Jiu", I get the pleasure of remembering that YQY canonically covered up SJ murdering innocent people.