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Welcome back! *high-fives* Congratulations on getting your certificate and your BA!

It does help to know there are other people. I suppose I could do the math, but the thing is I don't want to.

The Marshmallow is adorable and fluffy! Thank you! :D

My sincerest thanks for the bolter, and I shall take the Splot, though I won't drink it immediately. Who knows, it might come in handy later!

Ah, fandoms. Tolkien, Chronicles of Narnia, Star Wars, Tolkien, Redwall, Tolkien, Tolkien again for good measure, the MCU (not Marvel in general -- I've read some comics but not enough to risk fanfiction of any sort yet), Tolkien, a bit of Doctor Who (while I've written fanfiction, I'm not familiar enough with the canon to publish it), and most recently the Elder Scrolls. And Tolkien.

I love writing and reading. They're my absolute favorite things to do. Page layout comes as a close second; there's a little rush of satisfaction to be had from taking words and making them look good. I enjoy other kinds of art as well, though I'm really just passable at most of them.

My ambition is to be an editor of fiction; I want to help people tell good stories well. I'm loud, but not necessarily a jerk; crazy, but not necessarily stupid; and stubborn, but not necessarily obstinate (though it would be wrong to say I don't stray into the more negative traits at times). I'm the sort of person who quacks like a duck just to see how people react. Sometimes I quack like a duck just because I want to quack like a duck. And sometimes I type three sentences in a row that contain the phrase "quack like a duck" just because it feels funny to move my fingers that way.

If it helps, I'm not sure how long ago you were around, either.

Have a Marshmallow! It looks like a normal marshmallow, but it has a face and acts more like a cat or dog. All the fluff, none of the allergies!

I saw your message on my Wiki page after I very clearly told you to not do that.

I will not write a mission because you told me to. So knock. It. Off.

... it looks like on Saturday, 8pm to 10pm is the time I CAN'T do. So can you do earlier?

hS

As per usual, I offer a Bolter, and a drink. In the past, we've had Mjød and Klatchian coffee, but we've been expanding! You can have Splot. Or, if you're not totally insane, klah. Or Amasec.

Anycase, fandoms? Tell us about yourself! (at least, those of us who weren't around last time).

Call me Snowy. Some years ago -- never mind how long precisely (primarily because I do not remember how long precisely) -- I came to the Board and hung around for a few months before becoming distracted by college and vanishing.

(I am now done parodying Moby Dick.)

A few weeks ago, my roommate made some comment about fanfiction which had the unfortunate effect of reminding me that That Series exists (her description of my face slowly twisting into a look of abject horror was a thing to hear) which in turn had the significantly more fortunate effect of reminding me that the PPC exists. (Me trying to explain it to her was also a thing to hear, primarily because I kept on stumbling across three-letter acronyms that I had to stop and explain, such as PPC, CAD, OFU, and so on and so forth.)

Naturally I immediately looked up a mission and had a great time reading it, and since then I've been lurking occasionally around the Board and the Wiki, gathering up the courage to rejoin the community. A lot's changed for me; I'm now the proud owner of a certificate of computer graphics and in eight days I will be the somewhat less proud owner of a BA in English. (Why the less proud, you ask? Well, primarily it's because I've decided that one of the greatest enemies of good creative writing is higher education. I spent three years learning college level English and now I shall have to spend some time unlearning it.)

I'm eager to get back into the community again! If memory serves it's a healthy, respectful, and fun community and those, I've found, are hard to come by.

What they ended up doing was a threefold approach - first step was shielding, then disinfecting the words of the Lone Power's influence (since just because Marisa didn't like them didn't mean she had the right to destroy them!), and then erasing this iteration of the Lone Power from the Net (as on this level of reality, It was just code. Really annoying malevolent code, but still just code).

So, two spells, with the second spell in two stages.

/I can't keep the shield running once we start the other spell./

Marisa's eyes narrowed, but she nodded. When you're ready.

The shield spell flashed into place, and Marisa had to brace herself while she powered it. As the disturbingly rhythmic thud thud thud of the attacking words resounded about them, Marisa drew up the nerve to ask one more question.

/What happened, yesterday? I mean-/ she cut herself off. /You don't have to tell me or anything. Worst comes to worst you can call it 'adult stuff' and I'll drop it./

Her Manual gave her a funny look. /'Adult stuff', colloquially, can also apply to subjects considered 'boring' - and while what happened out here qualifies for many things, more than a few of them unpleasant,/ it shuddered.

/I would not call any of it boring. Later might be a better time to explain, however./ It pointed out. Marisa nodded, and smiled.

/All I wanted to know. Thanks. Now, run!/ she said, the command that would start the second spell running and kill their shield.

There was a second flash of light, this one much brighter, and-

---

Funny, it still seemed too bright to open her eyes. And she was lying down, now, too; had the spell knocked her flat? And then there was a mysterious beeping noise...

"Marisa? Are you awake?"

"Mooom, I'm tiiired," Marisa said - then she blinked her eyes open wide.

Was she in the hospital?

A few quick glances (and, even though she didn't even try sitting up, some vertigo) later, and she learned that yes, she was in the hospital.

At least she could talk?

"Mom, what happened?" Debbie looked as if she wanted to lift her up out of bed and hug her - but there were other people in the room who looked able to prevent just that sort of thing.

"... You fell out of bed."

Marisa just stared.

"You hit the bedframe hard enough to leave a gash, and then the dresser fell over..." Debbie grit her teeth.

"If we could get you and your brother separate rooms, we would."

Well, that all made more sense, then; Marisa nodded.

"Soooo, why am I here?" The last time she'd gotten an injury anywhere near as sever, it'd been because she had taken a carpet staple to the knee, and she hadn't gone to the hospital for that.

Her mom sighed. "Your brother woke up and told us to call 911; when we got here the doctors insisted they treat you here instead of just giving you antibiotics to take at home." She didn't sound regretful about that last part, though.

Marisa thought of something, and her eyes went wide again.

"Wait, how long have I been out? Have I missed school?"

Her mom laughed - possibly because she'd said something normal for Marisa instead of anything related to errantry.

"That's for your Dad to sort out. Though, I do have some homework for you to look at sometime..."

Marisa rolled her eyes, something vertigo didn't prevent.

Things were going to be just fine.

(And if, the day Marisa went back to school, she found a familiar program 'Ready for Re-installation' in her email, well.

She was more than happy to open it up. Dai Stiho.)

((AN: A bit abrupt, I feel, but I managed to put every scene I had already envisioned for this fic in it, so I feel very accomplished~!))

I love how the two chords across the descriptive loops make a wedge pointed straight at the naming-circle- that's a wonderful nod at how it's all about to go horribly wrong.

The Knots are lovely, too- trim and simple, I really like how they look!

I would love more detail on what you've put into the naming circle, if you have further thoughts! There's so much structure there, my engineering instincts (wizardly instincts?) want to know everything. (I have no idea what James would have actually written down, for hopes and fears for the future? Probably something... rather bland.)

This is the beginning and plan of Julia's first big spell. Or rather, according to the name, it's James's big spell... which is rather the problem.

Different Knot design, and you can see the two overlapping circles sketched in on the far side. The small circle I'll get to next is the power circle - it's no accident that its two chords point right at the main part of the spell.

(And yes, that opening text is Delta Juliette's spell as written - it just fits!)

hS

I've tweaked a few things along the way - the wording is different in a few places - and I think I'm finally happy with this.

Next up, trying to make the single-line concept work on Julia's spell, while still drawing every circle in its entirety. Hrm.

And of course you don't need to work in a formal diagrammed spell! Given the computer-based nature of your story, I could easily use an idea I've been pondering of writing it in pseudo-code format.

This is an anti-virus spell
cast autonomously by the Manual
{digital-adaptable-Oathgiving}
on behalf of user Marisa
{datastream past:
mid * read online
origin = NorCal
father = Mike
mother = Debbie
dob ~= JD.current - 10
status = female
datastream present:

&c &c. The 'circled' data would probably be XML/HTML-style, with the spell itself formatted slightly differently.

(This is of course the spell not!Spot casts to quarantine the virus attacking it back in Unexpected Resolutions.)

hS

And it gets worse, too- "Sif-10" is also a reference. Good luck!

(Also, fair warning: Rosemary is a reference to a specific canon, and I do not know if you have read it or not.)

It's my own stupid fault, though - I built my team for singles combat and couldn't be bothered to change it up for a doubles tournament. Oh well. My team got bodied by Trick Room pretty hard anyway, which, well, I knew that was a thing but I didn't expect it. =]

Does anyone know of any good MLP generation crossovers?

The first three books together really paint a picture of the setting as a whole. SoYouWiz is literally the textbook Ordeal to work from, Deep has always been Kaitlyn's favourite, and High is mine. With those three under your belt, you should be able to write an excellent Ordeal.

And yes, I'll render a spell for you too. ^_~ Good grief, at this rate I'm going to have a Manual of my own making...

hS

So it looks like the goal of her Ordeal is to kick the Lone Power off the internet, which is definitely a worthy cause! I'm wondering now what trouble It has been causing (other than writing erotic fanfic, obvs). There's a lot of problems on the net, and the Lone One being partly behind their growth feels right.

hS

While the paralysis had faded, Marisa still felt like she was dreaming - and horribly lost. So, she grasped for routine, protocol.

"F- Fairest and Fallen, greetings and defiance!" she exclaimed - though it was really more of a squeak. It didn't even echo, not that that was the worst of her problems.

"Oh, come now," the Lone Power said; from where It said this, she couldn't easily tell. Not that she often looked at peoples faces in dreams, anyway, but if It wanted her unsettled It was succeeding. "I thought you loved this place? Not that you're willing to participate in it - or do you think you can't contribute?"

Marisa's eyes narrowed, and she crouched into a protective stance on the not!ground. Protocol followed, she did her best to focus and not just rise to the bait. /Where. Is. My. Manual?/

"Aawww, straight to business, you don't even want to talk? Such a shame. You know," It went on, "You could make a great attack dog! That is, if They ever feel like using you that way. All 'how do I solve this' and 'how can I make this person give me what I want' that! Even when you learn more about what 'good' is - and how silly the notion! It's just substituting 'being less entropic' for what you want! Now tell me," And suddenly they had moved, nearly knocking Marisa off her feet. In front of them was something that almost looked physical, now - a line, a stream -

Data? Marisa thought, then quickly refocused. There was a stomp - whatever form It was taking here looked to be turning more humanoid as the conversation went on. All around them were now familiar words - familiar HTML-

"How does this make you feel?"

The text mess resolved itself into comments - the sort of comments that Marisa didn't like looking at, and with them came all the emotions Marisa didn't like feeling. The disrespectful sort, the unintelligible sort, the kinds of people who got what she liked all wrong- Hate crimes, disgust, falling just short of getting the point-

"See? You're shaking already." It was true - the reminder of humanity's dregs did her no favors, and she realized she'd clenched her fists down tight.

"They're- they're just you, aren't they? The parts of you that are in other people?"

She got the impression that she'd made It smile - not that she liked that feeling, either. "All people, but yes. And what would you do to them, if you could?" It was pushing Marisa for an answer, she knew, so she said the first thing she could think of that would frustrate it:

"Not kill them." Now the comments went away, and the remaining empty space grew cold with the Lone One's temper.

"Oh really? And you think that you know what I know about you? Such a blunt answer for a complex question! Think carefully, now: what good is anger when it can't change people's minds, when there's nowhere left to go that makes a difference? You'll find yourself running up against that wall sooner than you think, little wizard - and when you go scrounging for answers, you may well think twice!"

Marisa tried to remember to breathe, calm and evenly. But it was hard.

"Besides," It said, cutting off her thoughts - or her attempts thereof. "Hate is only half of the equation. You wanted to know where your Manual is? Well," It said - and this time, there was just enough of Its form to perceive that Marisa could see It smile.

"Let's have a look. Just remember, these were your ideas - I just, how you say? Improved on them." Again the movement took hold, only this time Marisa was ready. She jumped, looking to tackle It to the "floor" in her anger-

She couldn't move, again.

"Ah, ah, aah~" the Lone Power taunted her.

"Naughty wizard. Besides, it's not me you want to be aggressive toward now, is it? Well, not now now, just for a while now- Anyway." It rolled its eyes.

Despite that confusion, Marisa tried to close her eyes - but couldn't.

---

Marisa had long ago concluded that her reaction to, well, almost anything biology was odd. She didn't like sneezing, she hated being ill (and had vowed to do what she could so that she wouldn't get sick in the future, though that had been back in second grade), and her habits and notion of Not Being Seen in tasks of daily hygiene (oddly enough, not including brushing her teeth - dental hygiene was just fine somehow) could have lined her up for an OCD diagnosis, if her parents had ever thought something was up.

So, when it came to sex, or physical intimacy in general? She could not think about it in those terms. Certainly she would never be able to watch any - reading was more than enough to supplement her fantasies.

What Marisa was seeing right now? Was some horrible hybrid of reading and watching.

Words, words, words, words, Words. Only, they weren't acting like words. Some of them slithered, twined around each other like lovers. Some were, quite literally, exploding. With passion? she thought, surprising and disturbing herself.

Others had seemed to have conglomerated into shapes - suspiciously people-like shapes. The more Marisa looked - away, away, away! - the more there was to see. And the louder it all became.

"It's just lust; what's wrong with that?" the Lone One said dismissively. But Marisa's mind was not on Its words - even as she kept trying to not see, there was one being she desperately wanted to find.

The thought of any of this happening to her Manual- to him - made her stomach curdle.

Well, why?

Because it felt Wrong?
Because no one else was doing it?
Because, even if she knew her own feelings on the subject, she felt she could never, ever, know enough to mitigate the existence of this? What seemed like the default, what love inevitably led to?

There was a shudder throughout the landscape, shattering her possibly-circular thoughts - and she turned and there was a glowing-bright presence, suddenly there.

For her. To do what? she thought, in growing horror.

And then something clicked into place, and she realized she didn't have to be passive about all this, to just stand there and react.

Don't waste time being afraid! This was her bug, her trial, the thing that always grated on her - would, perhaps, always grate on her. This was the next step to empathy - to not be overwhelmed by it.

She didn't have to do what everyone else did.

"ENOUGH!"

The cacophony cut off - all at once she could feel everything focus on her. Even the Lone Power stood waiting, amusement having turned to shock.

And her Manual recognized her.

Was that my voice? Marisa had to shake off the moment of awe; she couldn't afford to waste time.

/First things first: I'm sorry./ she said to her Manual, quickly and quietly.

/I'm sorry, too./ came the reply - which took Marisa by surprise.

/Well, we can both do better now; from now on, I'll ask questions even when I'm afraid of discussing them./

Somehow, she knew the reply she was getting was in the form of a smile. /I trust you./

The thought went straight to her heart, and warmed it. And with that new strength, she turned back to the Lone Power and said,

"We're clearing you out of this place!" What say you that this guy qualifies enough to be a virus? she added silently to her Manual.

/I believe I know what you are getting at./ it replied - and grinned.

/Better lay out that diagram, then!/

And just then, because of course the Lone Power wasn't taking this lying down, the uncleared words around them surged forward to drown them.

((AN: Yes, another cliffhanger. :V Next part should be the last, though!))

This is going to be great!

(Also - next chapter of mine is in the works! Also hinging on how much of my paper I write today. >.> And I hadn't initially planned on there being a formal spell, though I can think of one idea to work in...)