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-*is sucked in by the black hole in the cake*

((Since A: It's more 'tell' than 'show' and B: I'm not sure this is the approach I'm going to use, exactly.))

Unfortunately, the answer was in fact something Marisa wasn't thinking about right then - fan fiction. Or more specifically, how they'd fueled her thoughts of romance. In a blocked-off part of the Net, a wayward Instrumentality considered the facts:

-Marisa was young, both for a human and for a wizard.
-She did not connect well with family or friends, choosing to focus on how to be useful to them, to make them happy. Her morality 'setpoint' appeared stuck in conventional morality - a side effect of her age, most likely - and taking the Oath had merely redefined what she saw as 'good' or who was worth paying attention to.
-Her fixation on AI had taken up increasing part of her life, even after she'd become a wizard and learned about other kinds of life.
-The fanfictions she preferred to read were of an increasingly NSFW nature, or otherwise chose to focus on intimate interactions.
-Far from redirecting those ideas into pursuing 'dating' like many other humans her age were supposedly into during this time (indeed, there were elements of her Name that indicated some type of Asexuality, as humans had started considering those spectrums), Marisa had narrowed them onto one specific target in wizardry - itself.
- It was not comfortable with this last fact. That It could be a target of sexuality baffled and unnerved it entirely. It was there to give advice, provide help with spells, to facilitate communication with other wizards (something Marisa had not been interested in) and, yes, to some extent, to be Something to Talk To.

But not like this.

Marisa was going to have to think fast - even now, she was hyperfocusing on her memories of being a wizard, what each spell did and, where she'd been taught, how to draw it.

Forget being punished, if she wanted to keep being a wizard in this house, she needed to convince them now.

"An... Oath?" Her mom quickly cut in - and Marisa took that opportunity and (much more metaphorically this time) ran with it.

"Yes - it came with that AR program I downloaded, to go with what I was doing in school," Marisa first explained - which, fortunately, was true, even if it was just due to the timing. Then she launched into the Oath itself, the one thing that she hoped would always be a part of her memory:

/In Life's Name, and for Life's Sake, I swear that I will use the Art I have been given for this purpose and no other. I swear to guard growth and ease pain, to support Life of all kinds, to respect the free will of all sentient beings, to exchange fear for courage, and death for life, when it is right to do so, 'til universes' End./ There was, thankfully, that silence that meant the Universe was listening - which meant she was still a wizard! But that was only a portion of the problem - since she'd used the Speech, her parents (and now her brother) were only staring at her more.

But for her Manual she'd put up with all that and more.

"That-" her dad spoke up after the silence stopped echoing, though it took a while, "It doesn't sound like a scam, but - why would you take that?"

"Because I'm a wizard, mom, Dad - the worlds are dying, and as long as entropy is running They'll need people to fight it, by ending wars before they start, b-by giving people who aren't heard a voice that can't be ignored, by being good people." She heaved one breath, another.

"Then why not just be one? Why did someone put you put you up to being a wizard in particular?"

Blinking back tears, Marisa replied, "I don't know why me, but I can show you what wizards can do. Can- can we go to the living room?"

Her parents, letting curiosity win themselves over, obliged, and Marisa snuck another - hopefully not last! - glance at her computer, and where her Manual was supposed to be.

What did I do to hurt you? What was too much?

---

Marisa set up the spell diagram with unbreakable attention - rather than focusing on the tension in the room, something she would otherwise have found impossible. She used tape for the circle - taped to itself, so she wouldn't stick anything to the floor - and wrote in pencil.

"Stand in the circle, okay? Or you won't end up seeing anything - this spell doesn't project the results on the outside."

It looked different enough from 'child's play' that her parents took her seriously, even though they still looked baffled. There wasn't room enough for her brother, but to Marisa's mind, she didn't need to convince him. He wasn't in charge of the house.

Still, they obliged, and Marisa stepped into the part of the spell reserved for her and began to read.

That silence - the one she cherished, even if she didn't have her Manual to share it with - settled in again, and Marisa began her request. It was an 'analysis' type spell, one that would take everything happening within a given radius and store it as data for the wizard to view at a later date.

For a wizard who often felt like she was being given too much to process or do at any one time, it was a lifesaver. It was also power-intensive, such that even a novice like her could only use it once in a while; the mundane solutions always work best, her Manual had said, and Marisa internally winced. But she wasn't a traveler, and taking her parents to the moon when it would also be her first trip just seemed like a bad call. This - this superhuman capturing and storing of data, thoroughly and painlessly - would have to do.

There was also a part of her that thought, perhaps foolishly, that this spell could also tell her where her Manual had gone. If only the Internet could be mapped like the real world! was one of Marisa's last spare thoughts before the spell took.

If I just knew where you were, I could make it right-

Nick.com has most of the show available to watch for free. Each episode is only 11 minutes, and this fandom could use some help.

Thanks! =D Portraying Marisa's autism was definitely part of the latter category - especially because all this reasoning on her reactions? Utterly post-facto in terms of how they reflect the Real Life circumstances. Going from 'oh this is just me, I'm a problem child' to 'Oh, I'm autistic, this is just what happens when I can't cope with a given environment' was mostly a high-school phenomenon - which was also when I found the YW books so, heh!

And 'show, don't tell' is emphasized heavily by oh, about every good writer I know online. ;) I can't really tell when I'm doing it, but I'm glad to hear that I am.

As for that last part - yuuup. Marisa's sort of a hybrid of Dairine's and Nita's approaches, in my mind, at least in how they end up connecting with wizardry/their Manuals.

This next bit might start breaking out of that mold, though...

I just realise I kinda gave away the whole thing about my MonoElectric team in my last post so I figured I'd create a different one, and also do something a little less one-type-y. So here is my final team:

Terrakion
Whimsicott
Landorus
Genesect
Gothitelle
Audino (Mega)
Seismitoad

They are supremely excellent, stuffed full of the theme of an Old World of magic colliding with the modern age.

When the Dark comes rising, Six shall turn it back
Three from the Circle, three from the track
Wood, bronze, iron, water, fire, stone
Five will return, and One go alone.

hS

"Ow."

Jacob pushed himself up with one hand, scratching it on the heather in the process. Grabbing hold of a large rock, he dragged himself further upright and looked around.

"What…?"

He was still by a lake, but it definitely wasn't Llyn Barfog. The characteristic waterlilies were gone, and the towering mountain peaks behind the wide lake were distinctly familiar. Of course, rather more familiar was the dark green monster, lying in the water with its neck draped onto the shore, and the black-haired girl standing near it.

Jacob hobbled over, wincing, and joined Lise by the Afanc. "How come you're not in agony?" he demanded.

Lise glanced at him for a moment. "I'm younger; I bounce better, old man." She turned back to the monster, head cocked to the side as she listened to its breathing. "Does that sound bubbly to you?"

"What?" Jacob frowned at the creature. "I don't know; why?"

"Because bubbling sounds might indicate damage to the lungs." Pulling out her Manual, the girl flipped to a long contents table midway through the book. "X-rays…? No, silly, the book can print the results without any of that… have you still got its name, Jacob?"

"I guess it's in the spell we did…" Jacob shook his head. "Why would you want its name?"

Lise blinked at him. "So I can heal it, obviously."

"Er." Jacob actually pushed up on tiptoes to see if there was another animal behind the Afanc. "You do remember it tried to kill us, yes?"

"I will guard growth and ease pain," Lise said. "It doesn't say, Unless I don't like the one in pain. And Bran intended to banish it - not kill it."

Jacob looked up again at the towering peaks behind the lake. "Just to check," he said slowly, "we've been thrown to Cadair Idris, home of the Grey King, on which it is said anyone who spends the night will return either mad or a poet, and you want to heal the creature of the Dark that's imprisoned here?"

"Yes." Lise looked up from her Manual. "So this is Llyn… thingy, like Bran said?"

"Llyn Cau," Jacob supplied. "Yeah, we walked up here last summer… it's not a fun hike. Pretty, but very long and up-ish."

"Good thing we took the shortcut this time, then." She turned another page in her Manual, ran a finger over a partial spell diagram. "Hmm, not sure how I feel about this one - it's probably the best healing spell in the book, but do I really want to bind myself to the Afanc like that…?"

Jacob shook his head, trying to frame a reply. "I really don't think-"

There was a crash like a star falling to earth, and a whinnying call that echoed from the slopes of Idris. The two young wizards gaped, stumbling back as a pure white horse thundered across the heather-strewn lakeshore and came to a rearing halt at the head of the Afanc. On her back rode a tall man, golden-haired and tawny-eyed, clad in a shirt of gleaming mail and holding aloft a crystal sword.

"Well-leapt, Llamrei," the rider boomed - not in English, nor even the Old Speech Will had used, but in the Speech that underlies all wizardry. "And well met, you servants of the High Magic," the rider went on. "I see the mark of Ordeal upon you, and greet you on your errantry."

Jacob clambered to his feet again, exchanging a look with Lise. "Er… hail, my lord," he said, his glance flicking to the sword, and the gold circlet half-hidden amid the rider's hair. "Er…"

"Who…?" Lise chewed on her lip for a moment. "So, I know this sounds dumb, but I'm saying it anyway: who… are you?"

The rider smiled and dropped from his saddle, sword still in hand. "I am a Lord of the High Magic," he said, "standing above the Light and the Dark, apart from each. I am the great hope of the Old Ones, and the Rider of Britain's Night. I am the slayer of the Saxons, the victor of Badon, the wielder of Eirias, and bearer of the last light." He stepped forward, and the young wizards fell back before him. "I am Arthur, the Pendragon," he said, dropping for the names alone into another language entirely, "and I greet you well. Now step aside, that I might slay this beast out of the Dark, and put an end to its terror."

---

Author’s Miscellaneous Notes:
-Yep.
-Arthur here is something of a blend between the version from the Dark is Rising sequence (whence the sword), and Artos the Bear from Rosemary Sutcliff’s Sword at Sunset (whence the mail-coat). Llamrei is one of his horses from Welsh mythology; I actually looked through the Mabinogion’s ‘Dream of Rhonabwy’ for a description of Arthur, but despite ascribing colours to every other thing in it, it doesn’t tell me a single thing. So he gets to be blond.
-Oddly enough, there are two versions of what Arthur did to the Afanc: he either banished it to Llyn Cau, or he straight-up killed it. Susan Cooper went with the former.
-You might think that when King Arthur disagrees with your course of action, you’d abandon it pretty quick. You might think that.

hS

Getting the first shot like that is the perfect way to go, especially here. I'm just suggesting ways to getting it that the Flowers won't be able to use against you. They can get really vicious if you give them an opportunity to bust your chops (Damn bowler-hat. I didn't chose to land next to your so precious computer).

(Didn't see this new thread, so here's my team again)
- Volcarona
- Infernape
- Victini
- Heatran
- Torkoal
- Charizard
- Arcanine

Listen here, I've already heard enough of that 'oh, you should have waited' spiel from him, and I ain't gonna sit here and listen to it from you, too. F--- off.

I feel like you've definitely emphasised Marisa's autism more as the story goes on - it wasn't all that obvious in the first chapter, whereas it's very clear by this one. I don't know whether that was a stylistic decision or just the way it unfolded, but either way I think it works - you're building up her character by showing it to us, rather than just saying 'Hi-my-name-is-Marisa-and-I'm-autistic'.

I also like the fact that you've taken the basic premise of Dairine - 'my computer is my Manual and also my buddy' - and spun it in a completely different direction. It's compelling.

hS

Because if reviewing a Shakespeare play intended for the stage as though it were a modern story was ridiculous, then reviewing an ancient legend of unknown authorage intended to be read aloud like poetry as though it were a modern story is even worse. Also, sorry Tolkien fans, but this was the M.S. Merwin translation, not the professor’s. Spoiler warning for a half-millennium-plus-old story! And on a more serious note, warning for mention of animal bodies being prepared as food, though I think I’ve kept it undetailed enough to not become squicky.

Um, let’s start with the “love” story, I guess? I suppose it’s almost pointless to point out, considering the vast difference in in the way women were treated in ancient times compared to today, buuuut it feels pretty shallow. There’s no real chemistry between Gawain and . . . the lady . . . who I only just noticed was never given a name. Especially taking into account the fact that the lady’s flirtations were engineered to try to tempt Gawain, the fact that their interactions boil down to “lady is flirtatious” and “Gawain is polite,” it seems that both the weaver(s) of the tale and their intended audience took it for granted that the lady’s attractiveness was the only foundation on which an intimate relationship needed to be built. (The poem even refers to her as “she of the fair body.” Priorities, right?) So that entire interaction feels really arbitrary to me, as a modern reader.

As a zookeeper, I am admittedly way too hung up on the animals in this story. In between the scenes of Gawain’s very arbitrary and aimless seduction, are scenes of Bercilak hunting animals with his knights and hounds, catching those animals, and then having someone, um, prepare their meats? In incredibly unwanted detail. Like, I get that it was the middle ages, and folks needed to know how to chop up animals to feed themselves, but I didn’t want to read that, and since the original audience was presumably also familiar, I don’t really understand why those scenes are here. Unless it’s to serve as further misdirection to keep new listeners from figuring out Bercilak is the Green Knight, since the Green seems like a supernatural creature, and therefore maybe doesn’t need to eat? I think there’s also an element of contrast there, since the scenes of animals being captured and, uh, opened, are intercut with scenes of the lady wooing Gawain. There may be some intention for the audience to equate the physical fate of the animals for being hunted down, with the spiritual fate of Gawain for being lured into temptation. (Or Gawain’s physical fate, too; if he earned a nick in the neck for not telling Bercilak about the belt, I’m pretty sure giving into his wife would have led to Gawain losing his head.) But value as a literary device aside, I really can’t help but side with the animals during those hunting scenes. The does, at least, went down quickly, but the boar and the fox (named Reynard. Why does the fox get a name when the other animals don’t? Speciesist.) were chased down for hours. I can’t imagine the stress they went through.

One thing I did like, almost to the point of feeling amused by it, was the almost off-hand mention of Gawain fighting all kinds of monsters both on the way to the Green Chapel, and on the way back. They weren’t relevant to the main plot, so they got glossed over. I was just discussing with Larfen on Discord yesterday that I feel modern western storytelling suffers from an overemphasis on violence and action. You know if Hollywood adapts Sir Gawain nowadays, those mentions of monsters would get turned into meaningless fight scenes that do nothing but look cool. So I was very amused and pleased by this story from a supposedly more barbaric and violent time just skirting around the fact that Gawain slew multiple dragons on his quest, among other things, but not really caring to go into any detail about those battles.

The description drops in this poem rival the longest I’ve seen in any fanfiction, missioned or otherwise. It’s not even the lady, like you might expect, but Gawain and the Green Knight have so much of the detail of their armor described, it’s ridiculous. The Green Knight I can somewhat understand, since his coloring is so strange, but I don’t know why we needed to know SO much about Gawain’s garb before he set out to find the Green Chapel.

—doctorlit recommends the YouTube channel Overly Sarcastic Productions’s two videos on Arthurian legend for an amusing overview of the main aspects of the “canon.”

“Never before had spoilers been seen in that hall by anyone.” “Never before had spoilers been seen in that hall by anyone.” “Never before had spoilers been seen in that hall by anyone.”

Sorry, for being late. I'll try to compensate with an extra black-hole chocolate cake with red berries coating.

Or wanting to keep the ever so important advantage of surprise, but the staff of that madhouse can become vicious when it comes to enforcing rules. Head-on confrontation with them is a losing proposition.

You'll be better off playing with them, with classics like 'line up the shot to match the end of the charges list' or 'Charge them while they're dying'. I'm sure a professional like you can think of better ways around that problem. And I'm sure you have the tech savviness to use the rest of our toys to a good use too.

Here's the full-colour map, which is rather too big to put in the post:

The Union of Plort

Including at long last and after considerable debate a conclusion to the question of where the rivers of the Riding flow - the Meibot starts south of the Bravneits, while the west-east river is the Jid'ryv. Phew!

And here is the baronial colours map:



The colours on the map are based on how HTML interprets people's names in the font tag - <font color="Name Here">Text Here</font>. So I use Huinesoron green, Neshomeh uses Neshomeh blue, etc. For our two new barons, the names used in the colours are Hieronymus and Larf J Stockins (coming out as E0 00 00 and 0A 00 C0 respectively); it took a bit of fiddling to find colours that didn't overlap too closely with the other barons.

The two new castles (the Larfen Shack and the Scowler's Hermitage) are marked; on the great map on the wall of Otik, they are represented by carved gemstones. I'm thinking Carnelian for Hieronymus and perhaps Tanzanite for Larfen, but am open to suggestions; the currently-active stones are listed here, and we've also had Jasper, Amber, and Topaz in use. (Also apparently I reused Turquoise - oops!)

hS

You'll find out more about exactly what happened in forthcoming chapters, because that's how episodic writing works I like leaving people on cliffhangers. =]

The Coke is, alas, just a reference to PJO. =]

Why do I always make a mistake and not pick it up on second reading? *sighs*

I've just found myself without a lot of time. However, for those of you still thinking about teams and wondering what kind of teams to create, here's my advice. Pick a concept or a move or an ability and build your team around it. Use weather, use Trick Room or one of the Terrains, use Tailwind or Ability Swap, use Follow Me or Rage powder to let one of your Pokemon set up hassle free to switch, use Discharge and Lightning Rod/Motor Drive/Volt Absorb, or Surf and Storm Drain/Water Absorb/Dry Skin. If it's a viable concept to build a solo team around you can build a double team around it, if you think it's slightly crazy and may not work, go for it and see. My MonoElectric team was built around Discharge and those three abilities I mentioned, or you could go with other 'mons, it doesn't have to be a Monotype team. You can also just pick and choose 'mons that complement each other, covering each others weaknesses, for example in my main team I often use Genesect and Tapu Fini together, Tapu Fini threatens off the Ground and Fire type Pokemon from taking out Genesect, while Genesect can take out the Grass Pokemon which threaten Tapu Fini.

Use combination you want to use, with perhaps a little help from: https://www.smogon.com/dex/sm/formats/doubles/ and https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/usum-doubles-ou-viability-rankings.3623347/ if you're not sure and you never know, you might be able to ladder up to the top 500. I know I did.

Novastorme

Dax's character sheet—Dex score and all—are going to be referenced pretty heavily at least a few times. I like to imagine Medical has a copy of his stats as part of his records. No guesses as to where his Charisma score is sitting at... :P

They're definitely going to have to talk some stuff out. Maybe not in an interlude, but in a future mission (after I do another with the Aviator and Zeb, probably).

I'm glad you enjoyed it. :)

Dax and Lorson have a funny banter dynamic going, and their clashing personalities (and Lorson's utter newbieness) led to some good lines throughout ("Doctor what" and the Dex score scene are standing out to me right now for some reason).

And then the ending happened, and ... hoo boy, I wonder what Lorson's in for in the inevitable followup interlude. Not gonna be fun.

- Tomash

The eye adjustment was actually one of the later additions to the mission! Before I was just going to have Lorson do the usual eyes go out of focus deal, but I like him fiddling with his eye a lot more. If he's ever without it, though, he's prooobably gonna have a hard time. :P

I'm glad the end did what I wanted do, showcasing that there's a bit more dimension to these two than "flirty" and "cranky". Lorson's definitely rather reckless, especially compared to Dax. He's not used to operating by rules like this, and rules are made to be broken anyway, right?

(I knew nothing about Padmé's family before this, too, so yay for Wiki research. Seriously, how do you get the names right but the genders mixed up? I ask you...)