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The Practice War [Complete]

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I have a lot I could say about this. About all the pages - almost seven hundred - that have made up more than three years of my life. Of how many votes and words have poured out across them, the discussion and the discovery and the few (thankfully very rare) arguments. All of it leading to here. The end. Practice War was my first piece of fiction on SV - I've written a little more since. It's a world that is so much more than the pieces that make it. The characters you read about, Amanda, Iris, Mary, they're not just characters to me. And that marks a change in my writing.

Before, characters were just that. Now, they're people. And that makes my writing...I like to think it makes it deeper. To recognise in narrative what I can see in myself and the world around me. I write fiction for the hope of tomorrow, for what I believe we can become. And it's no secret that I have made humanity in Practice War all that I think we could, and might yet be, given enough time.

More thanks than I can possibly express go to my technical team in helping me make sense of this universe. @Coda and @Baughn have done so much work behind the scenes to make this world make sense - both for you and me. @Queen Kit and @Coda have worked to create the outline at least of a functional wiki, only an outline because I still need to fill in most of the rest. @Serafina isn't a member of the technical support group, but she was responsible for me actually posting the opening to Practice War here. Without her, all of this wouldn't exist. There are others I could thank, but that would make the list go on far too long, I feel.

This is not, however, the end. There is a sequel to Practice War, which you can probably see coming from the way it ended. It's called The Secrets' Crusade, and if I'm not mistaken, I've finished its opening. I need to do some other work on that to get it ready, but if all goes well, it'll premiere (is that the right word?) this weekend. I hope you've enjoyed this story as much as I've loved writing it, even if it maybe could have stood to be split after the Second Battle of Sol. If you do, well, we're not done yet. And I guess I might as well reveal the banner and alt-text that I've been keeping in reserve for years now. This moment has been a long time in coming.


Alt-text: It's time we discovered the truth.

If the internal ads system was working, I'd have that up shortly on it. Sadly, it is not. SoonTM.
 
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If this IS the 'Uninvolved', or even another race that the Shiplords pulled their shit with a long time ago, it gives me the feeling those so-called 'Lords' have Dun Fucked Up. And the can of Whoop-Ass is large and plentiful. When the payback has a chain reaching back millions, even BILLIONS of years in the past?!? Yeah, I suspect the Galaxy's going to be calling what we call the Darwin Award, 'Doing a Shiplord'. What you guys think?
 
Forgot to add this to the big post, but for those interested in more visual representations, this is what the place that Amanda has found herself in looks like:


I have had this image saved for about two years.
 
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One very interesting thing is how they gave a rather human impression for something so different. Which could say a lot about the nature of Practice and what the Dragons + some humans did.

.........Or it could just be an imperfect attempt at 'a form you're comfortable with', but that seems unlikely given that its Amanda.
 
Iceflame55 said:
If this IS the 'Uninvolved', or even another race that the Shiplords pulled their shit with a long time ago, it gives me the feeling those so-called 'Lords' have Dun Fucked Up. And the can of Whoop-Ass is large and plentiful. When the payback has a chain reaching back millions, even BILLIONS of years in the past?!? Yeah, I suspect the Galaxy's going to be calling what we call the Darwin Award, 'Doing a Shiplord'. What you guys think?
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I suspect they are being Hard Men making Hard Choices in Space. Which we as magical girls will proceed to laser them into admitting they are wrong and there is a better way.
 
True, Hard Men DO have a hard time hearing past themselves screaming, "We Big-Time HE-MEN! We are doing this for your own good!!". That's why Mystic-Chan made the Friendship Beam!!! To clean out all the blockage in their ears!! It's not like they're using what's between their ears that much anyway!
 
Torgamous said:
Don't you dare ascend before you've finished the sequel.
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I shall instead transcend ascension and return to you with the secret to turning humanity into PW humanity. Immortality included.

Iceflame55 said:
True, Hard Men DO have a hard time hearing past themselves screaming, "We Big-Time HE-MEN! We are doing this for your own good!!". That's why Mystic-Chan made the Friendship Beam!!! To clean out all the blockage in their ears!! It's not like they're using what's between their ears that much anyway!
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*screaming sounds*
 
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I must admit, I clicked that banner in your post multiple times hoping it would bring me to the new thread.

On a more serious note, be proud of your work in writing this. Quest formatting aside (I didn't really participate), it stands up incredibly well as a story, in content and in character, as well as the technical aspects. There are better works out there on the internet of course, but they're a significant minority compared to the number of works that this is better than, and Practice War is an excellent piece of work. I applaud you.
 
One hell of a ride Boss, can't say I've been here as long as others can but I'll stick with you till the end.

See you this weekend.
 
Well, I was never the most active poster on this thread, but since I found it I was always lurking and loving every minute of it. Can't wait for the follow up, just don't rush into it and burn yourself out.
 
I haven't participated much, but I certainly enjoyed my time as a lurker here. It was a pleasure being a part of this in what small ways I could.
 
Thank you, @Snowfire.

This was more than a quest, it was an Experience.

And a ray of positivity in partly sad times.

Far too often fiction is used to show us a dystopia, a warning of the worst humanity could become, or showing basically unchanged humans with more advanced toys.

Seeing this, an utopia, a humanity truly living up to its potential, was something else, and just felt good. It was what attracted me to Star Trek in the past. I am honored to have been a small part of this.

Thank you.

It was a great ride, I am very much looking forward to the next one.
 
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