diff --git a/ssc/iigs/graphics.fnl b/ssc/iigs/graphics.fnl
index d801bb5..fd400c0 100644
--- a/ssc/iigs/graphics.fnl
+++ b/ssc/iigs/graphics.fnl
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@
          (pld) ; restore direct page register
          (cli))) ; enable interrupts
 
+  (macrobarrier drawfn)
   (form drawfn [(lambda [ssc name ...]
     (assert (not (ssc:defining?)) "drawfn must be defined at top level")
     (set ssc.locals nil) ; locals cannot be used
diff --git a/ssc/init.fnl b/ssc/init.fnl
index 14a25bd..dea214e 100644
--- a/ssc/init.fnl
+++ b/ssc/init.fnl
@@ -31,7 +31,6 @@
 ; Expressions are of the form [:function arg1 arg2 arg3]
 ; args are either strings (symbols) or numbers
 
-(import-macros {:sss ! : compile} :ssc.macros)
 (local Object (require :core.object))
 (local lume (require :lib.lume))
 (local Ssc (Object:extend))
@@ -49,8 +48,10 @@
   (set self.globals {})
   (set self.constants {:true 0xffff true 0xffff :false 0 false 0})
   (set self.macros (lume.clone (or opts.macros self.__index.macros)))
+  (set self.macrobarriers {:fn true :far-fn true :do true})
   (set self.setters {})
   (set self.dp-vars 0)
+  (set self.gensym-count 0)
   (set self.LONG_LO (self:alloc-dp-var))
   (set self.LONG_HI (self:alloc-dp-var))
   (set self.ADDR_LO (self:alloc-dp-var))
@@ -61,6 +62,11 @@
     (set self.dp-vars (+ self.dp-vars 2))
     addr))
 
+(fn Ssc.gensym [self ?prefix]
+  (let [sym (.. "<gensym " self.gensym-count (if ?prefix (.. " " ?prefix ">") ">"))]
+    (set self.gensym-count (+ self.gensym-count 1))
+    sym))
+
 (fn Ssc.push [self name expr ?etype]
   (let [opgen (if (= ?etype :register) {:lo #[:flatten]}
                 (self:expr-opgen expr ?etype))
@@ -228,12 +234,13 @@
 
 (set Ssc.forms
   {:asm (fn [self ...] (if (self:defining?) (self:asm-localify [:block ...]) (self.org:append (table.unpack (self:asm-localify [...])))))
-   :asm-long (fn [self ...] (values [:block ...] :long))
+   :asm-long (fn [self ...] (values (self:asm-localify [:block ...]) :long))
    :org (lambda [self org] (set self.org (self.prg:org org)))
    :start-symbol (lambda [self symbol] (set self.prg.start-symbol symbol))
    :form (lambda [self name func] (tset self.forms name func))
    :define (lambda [self name val] (tset self.constants name val))
    :macro (lambda [self name func] (tset self.macros name func))
+   :macrobarrier (lambda [self formname] (tset self.macrobarriers formname true))
    :setter (lambda [self name arg ...]
      (assert (= (length arg) 1))
      (tset self.setters name (self:compile-function (.. :-set- name) arg ...)))
@@ -250,6 +257,10 @@
                  :word [:dw ?const]
                  :long [:dl ?const]
                  _ (error (.. "Unrecognized type " (fv etype))))))
+   :buffer (lambda [self name bytes-or-size]
+             (self.org:append name [:bytes (match (type bytes-or-size)
+                                             :string bytes-or-size
+                                             :number (string.rep "\x00" bytes-or-size))]))
    :do (fn [self ...]
          (var etype-body :void)
          (local c-body (lume.concat [:block] (icollect [i (countiter (select :# ...))]
@@ -363,6 +374,12 @@
    :byte! (lambda [self ref value] [:set! [:byte-at ref] value])
    :word! (lambda [self ref value] [:set! [:word-at ref] value])
    :long! (lambda [self ref value] [:set! [:long-at ref] value])
+   :data (lambda [self bytes]
+     (print "data" bytes (self:defining?))
+     (if (self:defining?) (let [name (self:gensym)] (self:expr-poly [:buffer name bytes]) name)
+       bytes))
+   :pstr (lambda [self str] [:data (.. (string.char (length str)) str)]) ; pascal-style
+   :cstr (lambda [self str] [:data (.. str "\x00")]) ; c-style
   })
 
 (fn Ssc.local-offset [self name-or-index]
@@ -462,7 +479,7 @@
         expanded (match expr
                    (where c (. self.constants c)) (self:expr-expand (. self.constants c))
                    (where [m & args] (. self.macros m)) (self:expr-expand ((. self.macros m) self (table.unpack args)))
-                   [f & args] (lume.concat [f] (icollect [_ arg (ipairs args)] (self:expr-expand arg)))
+                   (where [f & args] (not (. self.macrobarriers f))) (lume.concat [f] (icollect [_ arg (ipairs args)] (self:expr-expand arg)))
                    _ expr)
         _ (when (= (type expanded) :table) (setmetatable expanded mt))]
     expanded))