I am a believer in simplicity. So if it really is important that X is done before Y, then set it up with a t b b going to the appropriate places.
well, this works for monolithic systems ... using one loadbang for the whole patch ... but working on reusable abstractions, you will sooner or later have a problem :-/
Building in some hidden determinism seems like a bit of a hack to me...
if you have any better idea or cleaner solution, i'm happy to hear ... for now, i can't think of any (except using an abstraction that would increase the message computing overhead)
cheers ... tim