#director's commentary meme

[kybelles]

HELLO HI HELLO I AM HERE FOR THE DIRECTOR'S COMMENTARY MEME:

"There is a reason why Damen put Pallas and Lydos in charge. They are a terrific pair, so in sync without even needing to communicate verbally, and to this day they have never failed to manage one of the tasks Damen has assigned to them. Perhaps it’s vain of him but they also remind Damen of his youthful days with Nikandros and the thought fills his chest with fondness.

Fondness and some other emotion. Damen doesn’t dwell on it."

hello hi hello love 💕 💕 thank you so much for asking!

OH BOY THIS PART…… idk if you can tell but whenever i write about damen and nik in my fics i’d like to portray their relationship as ambitious as possible. there’s always a very strong implication that nik does feel something for damen, something more than one would feel for a beloved friend or god forbid a brother but for various reasons he knows it’s not going to go anywhere. especially after damen meets laurent and he marries sibylla. (i’d also like to point out that nik does love sib! it’s just that damen will always be his the one that got away)

damen is very aware of those feelings but he’d rather die than acknowledging this situationship cause he loves nik sooooo much (just not in the way nik hoped) and acknowledging it would mean damen is actively hurting nik even if that’s not his intention at all.

so i’d say that “some other emotion” damen doesn’t dwell on is mostly guilt 🥲

[snailwitdamail2]

[marcandreyuri]

dvd commentary for tarnished but so grand pls! you can discuss anything you want but also i would love to hear your favorite part in it!

i actually did one of these for this fic already but ahhhh im always excited to talk about this fic

i really waffled back and forth at first on whether to make nate a dom or not in this fic. i knew i wanted to write infidelity with these two because theyre just soooo primed for it, but i thought sub4sub would be really hard to write haha. ultimately i wanted to challenge myself and ask "what would one sub submitting to another sub look like" and i think i struck a good balance!

they have a lot of history in that universe and they really understand what each other likes, exactly as they like it. nate's been subbing for jo since before they even knew for sure he was a sub. speaking of which, my favorite paragraph is:

“I know,” Jo purrs in his ear. Nate opens his eyes for a second to find Jo staring at his face, a little look of mischief in his eyes that reminds Nate of when they first started doing this and Jo would drag it out for hours as he watched Nate squirm under him. They were both so sure he would be a dom.

I felt like that gave a really interesting wrinkle in their relationship, the way that they both once saw a future together with Nate as Jo's sub. Nate in this fic is still very much clinging and holding onto that dream, thinking that hey we could still make this work, it doesn't ever have to end whereas I see Jo as having a much more realistic view of the situation in that Jo isn't thinking they'll actually be together someday. he's much more.... i was originally going to say happy but I think settled is that right word for it. He knows the score, understands his relationships both with Nate and with Marie-Laurence whereas Nate is still sort of living in a fantasy.

I wish I could pick my favorite section, but honestly that entire fic is really special to me. its one of my favorite things ive ever written and even though it didnt do numbers like i wanted (lol sorry to be uncouth but i love attention) its really close to my heart.

[liobi]

about that director's commentary thing

i'm curious if there's anything on that scene in the beginning of always where lappland has a weirdly charged discussion with kal'tsit in her room

Oooo, The beginning of always!

Background on this fic, I cannibalized two other WIPs that got incredibly jossed by the release of Il Siracusano (One of them a TexLappSora fic where Lappland took Popukar to a concert of her favorite idol, only to discover that under the lupo disguise, Sora was the little bunny girl whose journalist father Lappland had offed under her and Texas's boss's orders. She had let the little girl who witnessed the deed go, but their boss found out and ordered Texas to liquidate Lappland leading to her expulsion and infection). But anyways, on to the setup!

Both Lappland and Kal'tsit care deeply for the vulnerable. We see as much any time they are the focus of various events, but they go about it in different ways. Kal'tsit is methodical, scheming, and uses her long life and connections to accomplish her needs. She's got plans upon plans, irons in the fire galore, a Machiavellian master sitting atop a mountain of fallen foes and destroyed obstacles.

Lappland on the other hand is a bundle of unrestrained id, packaged and fired like a bullet on a path set by either herself or others, a genius at improvising and legitimately charismatic, if only used to get under people's skin. Lappland is the MacGyver of mob heroes. Lappland is also very consciously trying to be the opposite of her father. It's why i think under the right circumstances she'd be good with kids actually!

While she may believe that once she returns to Siracusa she will be helpless but to eventually become what she fears, in the meanwhile she is fighting tooth and nail to be kind and friendly and open to anyone that will have her (despite everyone thinking she's got sixteen layers of malicious plans and mindgames going on), but also she kinda sucks! She DOES sometimes have sixteen layers of malicious plans and mindgames going on! She CAN be mean and kinda nasty in fact she intentionally digs into people's sore spots constantly! She contains multitudes.

So with the fact that Kal'tsit and Lappland have opposite styles of operating, it's only natural that Lappland sees at least on a superficial level some similarities between Kal'tsit and her father.

Kal'tsit is also super hot and manipulative and leaves nothing to chance so!

PREAMBLE OVER, ON TO THE SCENE ITSELF

~

Lappland had no idea how much of this was actually Dr. Kal’tsit and how much was a carefully constructed facade to convince other people she was just like them.

Kal’tsit motioned across the room. “Sit where you like.”

Some small part of Lappland wondered where exactly the night would go if she chose to sit on the bed.

~

Right from the get-go Kal'tsit has the intention of measuring Lappland's... everything. Looking for any foothold that will give her power over the negotiation, some way to maneuver Lappland into giving her exactly what she wants; a teacher for Popukar who can handle the little berserker and an operator with a talent for improvising and resourcefulness that would absolutely be willing to cross names off a list if Kal'tsit needed her to.

The conversation is a game of chess, of battleship, right from the start and they both know it. Lappland thinks back to the mafia sit-downs her father brought her to for a reason! This is one, in its own way.

On top of all this, we know from Il Siracusano that Lappland despite everything still wants her father's approval and affection. So when she's confronted with a woman who on a surface level reminds her of her father who is not so subtly asking if she wants to get into bed, she's gonna have a boner that's hard (lol) for her to examine all at once (lolol).

The rest of the scene really consists of them testing the water, trying to gauge where the other person is at and what they're getting out of it. Lappland is set up to both care about kids and also Amiya, and Kal'tsit cares about both of her daughters and keeping Rhodes Island alive and running and sometimes you need assassins and terrorists to do that. So they find somewhere in the middle to meet and Lappland doesn't rip her stitches because of ill-advised sex.

[indignantlemur]

The Directory!

🌟This blog is focused on my fics and lore! If you're looking for my art/commission blog, click here -> @lemur-with-a-tablet

Emigre: link

Pairing(s): Original Andorian Character/Original Human Character (Dagmar/Shral), Andorian/Andorian, Andorian/Human/Andorian/Andorian

Rating: Explicit (as of chapter 44)

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

A tear in the fabric of space and time has consequences that echo across ages; an unexpected arrival from the twenty-first century challenges a nation's perceptions and sets a most unlikely precedent. An exploration of Andorian culture from a Human's POV.

The Stars Keep Watch: link

Pairing(s): Va'Al Trask/Original Human Character (Va'Al/Mira)

Rating: Explicit

Status: In-Progress, available via AO3

Mira Vos signed up for Starfleet only to find herself posted to hell. Undersupplied and overstressed, the fighting on J'Gal threatens to wear her down. The arrival of a special forces unit led by a handsome Andorian promises a break in the routine... A classic wartime romance - but In Space.

Deck the Halls (and Not the Vulcans): link

Pairings: Dagmar/Shral (background)

Rating: Teen

Status: Complete, available on AO3

It's winter time in San Francisco, and the Andorian embassy has just been challenged to participate in a friendly competition between the Federation's founding species' embassies. The objective? To see who can best decorate a Terran Christmas tree. The prize? Nothing less than deeply coveted bragging rights for the coming year.

Dagmar Gunnarssen has never been so ready for anything in her entire life.

Hoarfrost: 🚧🛠️

Pairing(s): Dagmar Gunnarssen & Ambassador Thoris th'Kor, Background relationships from Emigre

Rating: Teen

Status: In-Progress, not yet available via AO3. (Pssst! Sneak peak available: link)

An unusually powerful ion storm forces Ambassador Thoris and his retinue to abandon ship over a largely uninhabited planet. Some of the last to make it to the escape pods, Thoris and Dagmar wind up separated from the others. Together, they must navigate a frozen, eerily barren landscape - and survive.

Emigre artwork: HERE

Looking to commission?: HERE

For a list of previous asks and commentaries on Andorian lore in general and Emigre lore in particular, head over HERE!

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Advice For New Writers

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[nonagesimus]

🌟 for the director’s cut game!

we're gonna talk about chapter one of hood training since i've been working on that fic so much my head is full of thoughts.

Illario learned to hold his tongue at funerals.

The one for Lucanis’ parents probably wasn’t the first he’d been to, but it was the first that stuck out as important in his mind. Maybe it was the sight of the mostly empty front row of the chantry, only his cousin sitting next to their grandmother. It was difficult for him to picture the difference in how she looked back then; obviously she’d gotten older, but all Caterinas formed into one in his mind. The same heavy streaks of grey in her hair, the same ever-present frown lines, the same weight of her cane as it hit the ground. Or hit him. Lucanis, though, he could always picture as a child perfectly.

He remembered being confused because he knew Lucanis was older than him, but he was also shorter. A mean corner of his mind had thought it wasn’t very fair of the Maker; taking away Lucanis’ parents and making him short.

But it hadn’t been the first funeral and it wasn’t the last.

so the opening to this fic went through a few variations but it was pretty much always this scene. first there was a tiny prelude from Illario-choosing-to kill-Lucanis which then flashed back to this funeral, and the rest of the fic was chronological from that moment, then the ENTIRE fic was non-chronological but this was still the first moment we saw. Ultimately I decided on the plotline from meeting zara through to the end of the game would be presented in chronological order, but everything else would jump around. i also didn't want to provide too many hints on what was happening when, obvs there are pieces connected to the wigmaker job that we have more of an idea of, there are pieces where they're clearly in training, pieces where they're crows, bits where they feel younger or older, but i really didn't want to make feel like there was a definitive order all the scenes of them as kids and teenagers happened in, because i don't think that's what remembering childhood is like, it's all just a mess when you think back (at least for me)

also, people always comment on the dramatic lines and i do love a good dramatic line but A mean corner of his mind had thought it wasn’t very fair of the Maker; taking away Lucanis’ parents and making him short is still my favourite thing i've written for this fic.

“What terrible company we’re in,” he said, holding out one of the glasses, “That they’ve left the hand of such a beautiful woman empty.”

She smiled. There was an edge to it. She liked the flattery; she didn’t accept it at face value. But she did take the drink. “Thank you.”

“You must’ve arrived recently, that I haven’t met you before,” he said, nodded towards the embroidery on her sleeve. “From Tevinter?”

“We do like our national pride,” she said. Point towards her being Venatori. “You are?”

He looked into those pale eyes, guarded and cold. The smile on her face. The air between them begged for a risk to be taken.

“Illario Dellamorte,” he said, and he watched the guarded look flare into interest.

i STRUGGLED writing zara because we get so little of her in game/in TWJ, and also i am terrible at noticing flirting irl so writing it always feels like i'm coming on too strong, but i really wanted to show them meeting as like. a chess game that zara hasn't realised has started yet.

also illario, scolding lucanis for risking himself, have similar tendencies to put himself in danger in very different situations

“Did you ever talk back?” Illario croaked, painfully, “Before I got here?”

Lucanis made a complicated expression that he took to mean no. Then he pulled a jar of salve out of his pocket and said, “This will help with the bruises,” and started tugging the back of Illario’s shirt up without asking so he could get to them.

“Where did you get it?” Illario asked, sure that Caterina hadn’t given it to him.

“One of the maids,” Lucanis shrugged. “I hide it in the plant in my room.”

The jar was small, already half gone. Part of Illario wanted to tell him to save it, but he kept quiet. Lucanis’ fingers, spreading the salve on his back, were confident. Like he’d already learned exactly the right pressure to apply it without making it hurt worse. By the time he finished, Illario was mostly asleep. He felt Lucanis pull his shirt down, and then his blanket up over him. Heard that door click so softly shut again.

i wanted to show lucanis' want to take care of people starting early, and also just. his level of adjustment and resignation to what was happening to them when illario was still pushing boundaries. i really wanted to show kind of situation where, not counting caterina's punishments, they are the ones both hurting and helping each other (it's also in chapter 4 where lucanis main injury is from illario not caterina), because i feel like that breads so much resentment and loyalty at the same time, and that's kind of key to their relationship.

“There’s one name in particular I heard most,” she said, soft and coaxing. Her eyes had dilated a little. He let his thumb sweep teasingly back and forth close to the apex of her thighs. “Last time I was in Vyrantium. With the surname Dellamorte. Lucanis.”

He’d known she knew it. It was what had made her stand out to him at the party. Still, there was a jolt of adrenaline hearing a Venatori name his cousin. As overdramatic as the Mage Killer title was, it was a symbol. That it wasn’t just The Crows in abstract haunting the Magisters, but one in particular who sought them out. But they weren’t supposed to know Lucanis’ real name. That should have been a secret long held.

“A relative of yours?” she prompted.

“The name sounds familiar,” he said, keeping his tone light. “But my family is large. I barely see all my cousins.” His thumb slid a little higher; her breath caught. “Especially the serious ones.”

a few things to talk about here! this was also a scene i initially really struggled with in regards to illario's approach until i was like oh. he's just going to straight up lie. why would he tell the truth lmao. he really feels like he has the upper hand here! and tbf he does; he's doing a lot better at teasing out what he wants from her than she is with him. i really wanted to be able to feel how much disdain he has for her; both in how much information he can get from her, and how little she's getting herself.

i also went back and forth a lot about how explicit the fic was going to be. like i said in the after action report commentary; i hadn't written smut since 2021 until i started writing veilguard fic. but it felt so specifically part of illario's toolbox, and so integral to the relationship, and also so important to show how disconnected illario feels from it. the sex scenes are definitely intended to feel less sexy and more uncomfortable, especially further into the fic.

He should’ve known better than to try the silent treatment, really; Lucanis was better at it than him and liked the quiet.

this was just funny to me. i do think it effects lucanis more than he lets on but there is definitely part of him that's like. i'm not being yelled at. ok. yay.

Lucanis’ coat was lying on the cot, folded with the hole and the great dark patch around it on top.

“I won’t see you martyr yourself to Caterina,” Illario said, tying off the first stitch.

He meant it. If someone truly got the better of his cousin, that would be one thing. If he set himself against an opponent who won fairly. If their ship wrecked. If it were from nowhere. But not what had happened in Vyrantium, not Lucanis handing his enemies weapons because it made the battles Caterina sent him to sweeter, not holding this sense of superiority because it was the only way he could also hold a knife. Lucanis twisting himself into pieces to be what Caterina made him.

Illario just was what Caterina made him.

He’d kill his cousin himself if it kept her hand out of it.

originally i was intended to put much more conversation in this scene, but then the conversation happens in TWJ and it didn't feel much like i could add it it. so it ended up being more of a vehicle for a nice piece of dramatic irony and illario's vow to not see lucanis dead at caterina's hand. the last line is almost hyperbole from his POV, but he is much closer to making that decision than he would ever admit to himself.

[butchlifeguard]

who up traveling they octopath

[ID: 2 images. the first is a whisper post of a cowboy sitting sadly with his elbows resting on his knees and his head in one of his hands. the caption is "is it really possible for a emo girl and a country boy to be in a relationship?" the second is a traditionally sketched redraw of alfyn from octopath traveler in the same pose. the text has been cut out from the original photo and overlaid. end ID.]

[woodswolf]

⭐ for dogs leading dogs!

Director's Commentary Ask Meme

Okay we're actually going to do something a little different for this one — not commentary on a specific scene, but on a very specific recurring detail that either nobody has noticed or that nobody has commented on yet. Let's talk about numbers :)

There are very very few numbers in the text that are random. If a number is specified, it usually means something, except in some cases where specific numbers are important are important for conveying What's Happening in an understandable way (such as group sizes for Pikmin, especially in chapter 4). But even among those instances, most of them are not random. And if you go back through and look at the numbers, you can start to see patterns.

In particular, I would like to point out two particular numbers: thirty, and combinations of five and four.

Let's start with the combination first, because it's easier to explain for how difficult it is to describe. The five-four combination (perhaps easiest expressed as 5 = 4 + 1) is specifically associated with the wraiths. This is actually pretty solidly established in the games themselves - the Submerged Castle has 5 floors of which 4 of them are sprawling hazardous labyrinths and 1 is the Waterwraith's boss arena.

The Plasm Wraith is also heavily associated with the number 5 for a lot of reasons. The Formidable Oak is the fifth of five areas in Pikmin 3, and is made of five rooms, two of which can alternately count as the wraith's boss arena depending on whether you consider the player's perspective or Olimar's. (Either the top of the Oak is the boss arena for Olimar, or the bottom for the player.) Additionally, the Plasm Wraith's boss music is basically Five: The Musical, with the most obvious and applicable bit being this section, where the Plasm Wraith's 4-bar motif starts minimally but grows over 5 repetitions until it takes over the entire body of the song. There's a lot more five-and-four that you can pull out of this theme but it's a bit more of a reach.

Arguably in the context of the games, this five-and-four pattern is more strongly associated with major bosses. In addition to the aforementioned points about the wraiths, the Titan Dweevil has five phases for removing each of its four offensive treasures until it's left with none; and the Ancient Sirehound also has five phases, of which four are elemental (ice/electricity/fire/gloom). I may or may not exploit this fuller context of the five-four's scope - no matter what, it isn't going to be relevant again until several sequels from now (namely until I start writing DLD's direct sequel rather than catch/cradle, which is more of a highly relevant side story) so I have a lot of time to think it over.

As for how this combination has been used in-text so far, there is one major instance:

“...The initial shaft descends for 625 millimeters before leveling out,” it eventually begins. “From there, it begins to rise until it emerges into the bottom of an underground lake. After that, the path should be dry, and will eventually lead to another chasm that drops into the cave system itself. It’s rather like…” It trails off for some reason. “It’s rather like a sink trap.”

625 can also be written as 5×5×5×5, or 5⁴. :) Shoutouts to Five Five Five Five Five and the rest of the SCP Antimemetics Division tales, though there is no relation other than incessant fives. (All of those stories are just a very cool read especially if you haven't read them before.)

Thirty, on the other hand, is a very different beast. Where the five-four combination is actively malicious, thirty is something closer to inevitability. This is very often a bad thing (the thirty day time limit, combined with several instances so far where either thirty Pikmin die/are predicted to die/are the only survivors of mass death), but it isn't always. Thirty may be inevitable, but it also is complete - thirty survivors that will no longer suffer, thirty sacrifices to prevent more deaths, thirty seconds or minutes of waiting before something miserable is over, 330 hours of travel time between Hocotate and PNF-404, thirty pills to heal, thirty ship parts in thirty days for a (thirty) perfect ending.

Thirty is powerful. It can be all of a weapon and a tool and a source of comfort. It is assurance. It is a time bomb. It is both the gentle hand of death and the rallying cry of life. It means many things, but if it means anything, it means hope - hope either that things will end, or that they will begin again.

There was only ever one way that dogs leading dogs was going to end. It's been in plain sight since the first chapter. It always comes back to thirty.

If you want to break things down exceedingly far, you can combine both of these important number combinations and notice that both of them involve five - thirty can be prime factorized as 2×3×5. So if I had to break things down very specifically:

2: Pairs, particularly where the parties involved in the pair are somehow foils or can be heavily compared or contrasted in another way.

3: Repetition. (There's actually an even more specific concept that I could use for what three means, but if it isn't already evident between all of my emphasis on the "riddle" and now all of the rest of this, using that word would be spoilers as of this moment in time.) Can also be read as luck and/or virtue and/or lessons learned through repetition.

4: Death, as the common trope goes :)

5: Endings, as something both inevitable and complete.

So we can essentially read the five-four pair as ending in death, and thirty as pairs repeating for an ending, which is basically the theme of the entire story.

Thanks for the ask! :D

[onekisstotakewithme]

for the writing meme, i'd love director's commentary on as much of the last section of "Beautiful to Take a Chance" as you'd like to provide! that's one of my favorite of your fics

I didn't know! Good old "Beautiful to Take a Chance," I'd be glad to offer director's commentary on this story 💜

Apologies in advance if this is like, less than coherent, the story is four years old... 😅

(but to spare everyone else, I'll do it under a read more)

Okay so it's obviously just a basic 5+1 structure, and this is actually a fic I don't think about very often! 😅

It starts with snuggling because I'm a soft-ass bitch at heart.

There are actually more parts to this universe, backstory pieces that demonstrate how Hawkeye has come to be this way (involving Carlye, primarily, and how she's the root of some of his insecurities.)

“Where do you get off always telling me I’m…” He chokes on the word. “Is that supposed to be funny? Cause if you look closely you may notice I am expressing zero mirth.”

This part particularly - Hawkeye doesn't believe he's beautiful. The whole story is kind of inspired by Alan being mildly self-conscious, and by Hawkeye not looking like a conventional "hero".

“See, there you go again!” Hawk says. “Look, pal, I’ve looked in the mirror a handful of times in my life, and I can tell you, it’s never Gene Kelly looking back at me.”

Why did I pick Gene Kelly? Because at the time I was mildly obsessed with Singin in the Rain. Although, personally, I prefer Donald O'Connor.

ANYWAY EVERYONE SHOULD TELL HAWKEYE HE'S PRETTY.

“Well why didn’t you lead in with that?” Hawk asks, certain he’s bright red by now. “I’d have believed you much sooner if you’d brought up sex.”

Don't you love when he says something upsetting and means it? I do. But like Hawkeye reducing himself to a tired old lech (this is particularly on my mind at the moment having watched That's Show Biz the other night. Hawkeye ties his worth to being good in bed.

Idiot.

“Too long nose. Too many limbs that are too long and gangly. I look like a stick insect. The wrong face.” Hawk gestures to himself. “Extra fat in the wrong places and skinny everywhere else. A small cock.”

And here's where i confess something: i don't like that last line. At the time I wrote this, the server I was in LOVED Hawkeye having a small cock and I kind of ran with that based on their influence. On my own merits, I wouldn't have written that because it feels cliche to me, a way of making him the "woman" in his and BJ's relationships. So anyway, this is an average Hawk cock truther blog.

“Yeah,” Hawk says. “In the same way Igor is a gourmet chef.”

On your left, you'll see me never missing the chance to take a jab at Igor, who I irrationally dislike.

“Shush.” BJ says, giving Hawk a searching look. “Your face is just right, dummy. Maybe your nose is long, but it gives you character that Gene Kelly could only dream of. Skinny arms and legs, so what? The food’s bad and you happen to be tall. I’ve heard women - and men - like that.”

Someone commented this on the fic i believe - and I agree wholeheartedly - that it's important that BJ doesn't dismiss how Hawkeye feels. He acknowledges those feelings and then proceeds to say that he loves them. That matters to me at least (also my nose is slightly too big so <3 )

“No,” BJ murmurs. “It’s the curve of your ear, and the silver in your hair, and the scar you have from falling off your bike when you were six, and the blue of your eyes and the scar on your lip… you’re beautiful, Hawkeye.”

I'm quite proud of this line! (most of the time I look back at older writing and go 'ehhh what's so special about it' but this line...)

anywayyyy I love them. Thank you!

[meyerlansky]

⭐️!!!!!!

this one's top of mind purely because it makes me laugh every time i think about it, and no one's commented on it so i'm gonna point it out. from moon's low:

“What crawled up your ass when I wasn’t looking?” Bucky hisses at him.

it's funny because bucky's always looking at curt's ass. 'cause they're fuckin'.

director's commentary meme!

[kybelles]

⭐star⭐

hello loml thank you so much for sending this 🫶🏼 i thought about it a little and i think i’ll go with this section:

i remember being so excited to write this bit because we were so close to actual catharsis! laurent was simply furious in this part (and humiliated and crashed and 0.5 seconds away from bursting into tears) and yet he was still willing to pretend like everything was okay just so he wouldn’t lose damen. 💔 i think it was very interesting to write about laurent’s (unnecessary) endurance on being subjected to emotional horrors in the name of love. i just loved portraying how much control he had over himself even when he had every right to comfort damen with a screaming match.

[glacialswordsman]

ᴛᴀɢ ᴅᴜᴍᴘ 𝟏 / ?

☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ behind the scenes. ⊰ ooc ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ on stage. ⊰ ic ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ beneath the mask. ⊰ headcanons ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ fanmail. ⊰ answered asks ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ pass the script. ⊰ ask prompt ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ shine the spotlight. ⊰ promo ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ intermission. ⊰ queue ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ character study. ⊰ musings ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ afterpiece. ⊰ dash games ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ between engagements. ⊰ dash commentary ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ break character. ⊰ crack ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ center of interest. ⊰ self-promo ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ cinematography. ⊰ video ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ artistic director. ⊰ my art ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ expository scene. ⊰ closed starter ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ curtain time. ⊰ thread ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ curtain call. ⊰ thread end ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ death at the box office. ⊰ dni ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ dramaturgy. ⊰ aesthetic ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ encore. ⊰ music ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ aesthetic distance. ⊰ wip ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ mise-en-scène. ⊰ art ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ improvisation. ⊰ open starter ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ melpomene. ⊰ introspection ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ dressing room. ⊰ visage ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ soliloquy. ⊰ one-shot ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ public address system. ⊰ psa ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ theater program. ⊰ pinned ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ slapstick. ⊰ meme ⊱ ☾⋆⁺₊⋆ ⸺ callbacks. ⊰ saved ⊱

[marcandreyuri]

could i have some dvd commentary for 'settled into you'? 🫶

director's commentary ask

ahhh that fic was such a labor of love - which is so strange because its such a grimy nasty fic LOL.

ultimately i really wanted to explore toxic masculinity in that story and look at how someone who is in the trenches of it would interact with their partner both in public and then when it's just the two of them in their home where its "safe" to "drop the act" (even though its not really an act). i obviously dialed it waaay up from what you would maybe "expect" to see in our world, but i like omegaverse for giving a little bit of leeway and a chance to explore those extra-yucky worldbuilding ideas.

ultimately that led me down the path of sidney being very controlling of geno and wanting to have ownership of him. he stops geno from speaking in his native tongue because he doesnt want geno to be saying anything that sid wouldnt approve of, he doesnt let rusty celly with geno because geno is his and (of course) hes very controlling of geno's sexuality and experiences.

speaking of geno i also really wanted to explore the partners of these ultra-masculine guys. what kind of person would choose for that to be their partner? this world is definitely more conservative and warped than ours, but flower certainly isn't as rigid as sid when it comes to gender roles and tanger flaunts that he and cath are very different. so that got me thinking about where geno was coming from and i wanted to make it clear that while (yes) sid holds the outward power in the relationship, geno enjoys their dynamic and feels comfortable in their relationship. he's thriving! he doesn't want a relationship like tanger because he's not like tanger. him and sid are on the same page for nearly everything.

(just as an aside - i dont think anyone picked up on this but during the second sex scene when sid is punishing geno for losing them the game, geno is specifically manipulating sid.

“Sorry, Sid, sorry,” Geno prattles, spreading his legs as wide as he can, like Sid will get stupid from the smell of his open pussy.

sid is the POV character and his narration sort of brushes the idea aside that he could be persuaded by geno's scent, but if you read between the lines, geno gets exactly what he wants [even if sid does control how he gets it].

geno does pump out more of his scent, it does make sid stupid, and it does make sid fuck him. geno asks sid to mark him up [because thats what geno wants], but he does it in a way where sid thinks he's getting what he wants [to show ownership of geno]. and so sid does what geno wants! ultimately geno gets everything he asks for in that scene.)

all of that led to the end, which was inspired by someone in the sidgeno discord saying that omegas should top more often. i really wanted to contrast when they're in "public" vs when they're home, in their safe space. they would never ever do this on the road, this ultimate taboo, but when its just the two of them, they're allowed to be more vulnerable with each other and sid is allowed to want things that he could never ever admit to. its really quite soft in a strange way.

just touching on toxic masculinity again, i wanted to explore a lot of different aspects, which is why rusty is being "indoctrinated" by sid throughout the fic and why tanger is such a sticking point as someone who is outwardly pushing back against sid's ideals.

thanks for asking! i guess i had a lot to say about that fic! everyone in the comments seemed to really connect with tanger and enjoy his scenes the most so sorry i didnt talk about him hardly at all, haha!

[liobi]

Stars!

Every one of my fics has a secret playlist! Many of them have chapter names pulled off of lyrics from one of the songs, and I always at the very least put the final song (which on my playlists is like a closing statement almost. the emotional climax etc) in the fic itself. Some of you know these playlists are available on request for completed fics but until this point it's kind of been a secret menu thing.

Also when it comes to fic topics, previously my blorbos were beagle and popukar but Lappland just came in like a dark horse candidate and swept me away. Also im glad my fics make people think about my galaxy brain pairings and characters they hadn't really considered because arknights has a lot of fucking characters!!!! More love for the 2&3*s please

[gerec]

Last question, this time for director's cut of The Hideaway and specifically chapters 42 and 43. Usually vampire stories aren't my cup of tea but I like that dark!Charles too much.

For The Hideaway:

I love vampire stories, and I especially love writing Charles and Raven as monster siblings who enable each other's bad behaviour. I'm generally neutral to uninterested in Raven as a character, except in this one type of situation where she's almost always his co-conspirator lol. And I think an unhinged and unleashed Charles is much more frightening than a similarly inclined Erik if only for how his power can be twisted to take free will away from his victims completely.

In this verse, I imagine Erik has lasted longest out of all the 'victims' the siblings have become obsessed with, because of his resilience, his smarts and his strength of will. So they play a game with him, letting him 'get away' until he starts to think he's finally free and then they swoop in and claim him again for a while before the cycle continues. I imagine they've been dragging this game on for decades at this point and will do so until they finally turn him against his will...

Fanfic Writers: Director’s Cut

[nonagesimus]

Ooooh a director's cut on "after action report", if you feel like it? 👀

the way i hadn't written smut since 2021 and this dialogue exchange from the game hit me like a sledgehammer:

“You fought darkspawn.”

“None of them touched me.”

“I will inspect you later.”

“All right.”

like??? they're so. let's continue with the actual fic under a cut because i may ramble.

“Strip.”

For all the context between them, the word doesn’t leave Teia’s mouth with the coy emphasis it usually would. She’d led Viago to her rooms, gloved palm curled warm around where the split of his own glove left his thumb bare, but she’d dropped it once the door was shut. Is watching him now with a serious expression in her dark eyes. She’s so rarely serious, especially alone with him, that it makes the air feel charged.

“You know my armour as well as you know your own,” he complains mildly, stripping out of his gloves. “Do you think I’d lie about them getting their teeth into me?”

(i'm not gonna copy and paste the whole thing just relevant sections)

there's something special to me about flipping a dynamic, teia and viago needle at each other a lot but it's pretty clear, in both the game and in eight little talon's, that viago is generally more serious than teia. her saying "i'll inspect you later" is so light but it belies a lot of real concern, so i wanted to show that lightness falling away very quickly once they were alone. making him strip is about as much of a joke as she can make it.

They’ve been getting closer again. The first time it’d happened it had made him angry—Not that it was unusual for being around Teia to make him angry. Just after that bitter fight, after he’d said, “So, I’m a footnote after all,” and she’d spat, “That rests on you, not me,” he’d found himself comfortable in the aftermath. He’d spent most of his life unhappy; it was familiar. It made sense that joy had been a deviation from the norm. And then things between them had warmed, and he’d realised maybe he was to blame for the misery, and the entire thing had felt pointless.

Then they’d fought again, though maybe more by rote than the first time, and now coming back together just feels like he’s been waiting for it.

the line in the ELT where viago says he only cares about her history if he's footnote KILLS me, i had to reference it. the fight they have in that story is a LOT i can only imagine their breakups are similar. and the 'he'd spent most of his life unhappy; it was familiar' line is like. viago definition to me. he has to be convinced to feel good, he's too much of a pessimist.

He unbuckles his sword belt next; has to break the staring context to lay it down gently on the piled cape, give his weapons the care they deserve. When he straightens, Teia’s expression has warmed a little.

teia, even as worried as she is, losing her ability to hold onto a straight face because viago's being prissy about something. love them.

“Did I tell you to coquettishly undress? No, I told you to strip.”

“I submit myself to your examination.”

“I remember the first time I saw you like this. All sprawled out, and beautiful, and half-dead.”

“I was changing."

“Yes, and then there was a snake, I understand. Knowing you, it’s a wonder you were ever able to take your clothes off again.”

“I had motivation.”

“Let me give you more. If you do not hurry up and take off the rest of your clothes, I’ll find whichever of your little vials will knock you out, and make sure you’re all in one piece that way.”

dialogue is my favourite thing to write. also another ELT reference; the fact that viago is like. literally dying from a snake bite, and when teia says he's naked he uses nearly the last of his energy to point out that he's still wearing pants. what a man. i don't actually have anything interesting to say about this exchange i'm just very proud of it.

“I told you they did not touch me,” he says. It comes out quieter than he intended. Solemn. Like a vow.

It’s been easier, maybe, to approach it like Teia was teasing him. So often that’s the core of every word between them, so it makes it simple to dismiss the bedrock of worry that’s settled underneath. They can talk about their fears for Treviso, but themselves? He thinks, as she stands again, takes his right hand this time to pull it out from his body and inspect, it is hard to admit when they’re scared for each other. Her free hand runs from the bones of his wrist to the ball of his shoulder, rucking up the hair on his forearm, and he shivers. He’s watching her face when it lifts towards his again.

“You know I always like to confirm things myself,” she says.

the actual inspection is probably the piece of the fic i was least happy with, which is annoying because it was the moment that inspired me to write the fic as well, this whole vibe where she got him to strip and he was kind of expecting them to fuck immediately, but then she LEGITIMATELY take the time to check him for damage. i wanted to draw it out more but i spooked myself because i felt like every second word in that section was 'hands' and i couldn't figure out how to fix it.

The belts drop with a clatter of metal that feels like an afterthought.

“Careless,” he says, thumbs stroking up and down her hipbones.

“Only with my things,” she says. Unhooks the clasps that hold her own armour closed at the front and tugs it over her head. “Not with myself.”

i wanted a moment to contrast with viago being all gentle with his things and teia not, and also an opportunity for her to scold him because that's hot.

“Do you think that absolves you?” she says, voice low, hand on him sure and steady.

He presses his forehead to hers, tries to gather himself to do more than pant against her mouth. Manages, “You know I’m not careless.”

“I will not let them have you.”

There’s something ragged in her voice, something vicious that only breaks through when she’s close to the edge. He kisses her again, wants to taste that desperation. Goes up on his knees so he can be closer when she won’t be shifted, her hand on his dick pressed between their bodies, he cradles her head, tilts it back to kiss her deeper.

“They can’t have me,” he says, breaking the kiss but keeping their foreheads pressed together. “I’m yours.”

more scolding; teia implying that viago going down on her was an apology; viago being like i was NOT apologising i just wanted to go down on you; also 'they can't have me; i'm yours' they are still technically broken up rn. this is them getting back together. they're insane.

also, more on the vibe of the whole fic that a specific section, and i've said this on bluesky, but even thought there's a line in ELT where teia asks if viago is subby in bed, i don't think he is. they are so very dom4dom in my head. but even with that, teia is the most in charge.

“I thought I was no longer welcome in your quarters,” he says, lazy and warm. “Shall I consider the order rescinded?”

“I thought you were finding better things to do with your mouth than talk,” she responds, but she doesn’t move.

i think this is the closest they ever come to talking about it. they're just together again. de riva rook is so sick of them being like this.

ultimately i very much view this fic as like. viago realising how affected teia is by something, and doing his best to look after her, and my other teiago fic currently published is the reverse, which is funny because i don't think either is necessarily a common vibe in their relationship. it's much more common that they are just menaces to each other at all time. i am working on some fic of them being menaces to each other

idk if any of this was actually interesting or fun to read, i hope it was!!