Well, I never actually did find a solution. I just re-did it. I was using the “beam” effect to create lasers when everything stopped working. So I deleted the beam effects and tried again, this time really looking into and using all the features of the effect. I ended up with a much better looking effect with a lot less effort. I still have no idea what I did to mess things up.
I tried both of those methods, neither of which worked. However, in trying to fix my problem, I found a faster and better method to achieve my goal, so it all worked out in the end. Thanks for your reply!