mazd: (Enteka)
Nahida ([personal profile] mazd) wrote in [community profile] ellipsanet2023-03-28 08:18 pm

text | un: mazd

Something that's on my mind right now is how one goes about choosing a username. Of course I've chosen one and so has everyone else, but simple observation can't always tell you why someone chose something or what it means. A significant chunk of the population appears to be using their own names and that at least is self-evident - it's their name so of course they'd want to use it! This doesn't account for people who may be using aliases in order to mislead others, which is always a possibility. But the ones that are of more interest and that take more thought are the names that aren't just names. Little phrases or words mashed together...why were those things significant to that person? I can't help but wonder about it.

While observation can absolutely give you a window into someone else's point of view it can never be as good a view as the one you can get simply by knocking on the front door and asking. So I really do want to ask. But is that sort of knowledge something to be given freely? Maybe some of it is private, but also there could be a more fun way to learn than just asking, right?

If you'd like to volunteer the information, please do so. Otherwise...would anyone like to play a game with me? I know there's several going on right now from looking but I don't mind if it's just a few people. I'm just in the mood for something a little more involved than telling a lie and hiding it in the underbrush of truth.

Recently some students were passing by playing a game they called 20 questions. The concept is fascinatingly simple but can get complex depending on how devious your opponent is. You have to think of an object and your partner can only ask yes or no questions to discover what it is. Given our different points of origin, however, we should refine what could count as an object, no?

So, for the purposes of this game please consider the "object" to be "the reason you chose your username and the true meaning of it" or "an animal found in this world". If you're unsure if an animal exists here, there seem to be lists of them at the Guilds alongside our potential powers as creatures we may eventually be able to transform into, as well as an available bestiary. Just specify if you're thinking of your username or an animal. Then players (possibly just me) will ask you questions that can only be answered with "yes" or "no"...if they go over 20, they lose. Apparently the consequences for losing can be quite dramatic among the student body but that seems a bit much to me. Instead I'll tell you something interesting if you win or I lose, okay?

And of course you're free to guess the meaning of my own username using the question framework. That said, those of you who know the true meaning behind it already are obligated to assume I'm thinking of an animal instead. In those circumstances I'm going to include animals from back home, too.

As I said you're free to play with one another, too, but I mostly just wanted to try it out myself. For some reason the students were too nervous to play with me...but you wouldn't mind doing just one round, right? Even just one person would be okay.
monoceroscaeli: <user name="optimisty"> (143)

[personal profile] monoceroscaeli 2023-03-29 03:58 am (UTC)(link)
I don't imagine it is, given that most people in other nations don't even know my name save for those who the Fatui deal with in diplomatic terms, or those who stalk the battlefield.

If you'd like to give up, I'll gladly tell you, but you also have at least nine or ten more guesses before you officially lose.
inspiteful: (skylark120)

[personal profile] inspiteful 2023-03-29 04:02 am (UTC)(link)
I'd say so, yeah.
lonesummit: (eski14)

[personal profile] lonesummit 2023-03-29 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
I see! This is a new game to me, after all. Very well then, I will strive to answer with concrete 'yes' or 'no', even when the answer should have more nuance.

Yes, it is.
nugrass: (📺⇹ 19)

[personal profile] nugrass 2023-03-29 04:03 am (UTC)(link)
i mean
you definitely got a point.
but i got a little advantage in that
this place shares a whole lot with the land of the living
the land of the dead don't
so if i ask someone "hey, does light work in your world like it does here?"
and they say "yes"
then i know we ain't living the same experience!
or afterliving, in my case.
lonesummit: (15)

[personal profile] lonesummit 2023-03-29 04:10 am (UTC)(link)
Yes, it does.
monoceroscaeli: <user name="optimisty"> (86)

[personal profile] monoceroscaeli 2023-03-29 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
It was. ^^
at_heart: (chatty :: in bed but awake)

[personal profile] at_heart 2023-03-29 04:15 am (UTC)(link)
I mean
Funny story
It could be?
Wolf's on the list of animal transformations winters can do

But nah I was still talking about the last place
monoceroscaeli: <user name="optimisty"> (140)

[personal profile] monoceroscaeli 2023-03-29 04:23 am (UTC)(link)
Believe it or not, it doesn't. But I'd gladly test my strength against any of them.
littlesilhouettoofaman: (doubt)

[personal profile] littlesilhouettoofaman 2023-03-29 04:24 am (UTC)(link)
That is quite a specific answer.

Have you ever met someone else who goes by that name?
lonesummit: (18)

[personal profile] lonesummit 2023-03-29 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
[Unfortunately, he is not enough of a gremlin to lie outright. ALAS.

Well, he supposes it isn't like he was secretive in Reverie. And he could simply deny it once he is back in Liyue as some sort of trick of dimensions if anyone else says anything.]

Yes, I have.
leucosis: (pic#16256515)

[personal profile] leucosis 2023-03-29 04:26 am (UTC)(link)
I picked it because it was the work I am passionate about back home and here. But, I'd be glad to play a game of 20 questions with you.

I'm learning that people from different worlds may have vastly different experiences as far as creatures go, but I still have an animal in mind.
disasdeer: (pic#13591004)

[personal profile] disasdeer 2023-03-29 04:30 am (UTC)(link)
No.
rudementary: (Stimulated curiosity.)

[personal profile] rudementary 2023-03-29 05:30 am (UTC)(link)
[ What an unexpectedly difficult game to play, when there were technicalities to be had that one couldn't explain properly. So instead, he considered as literally and accurately as he could. ]

Yes.

Is your creature found on this world?
lonesummit: (eski28)

[personal profile] lonesummit 2023-03-29 05:31 am (UTC)(link)
[Now.

Zhongli is no stranger to telling a story like this in order to teach someone something, or to ask something that cannot be asked directly. But he is usually the one telling it, and so knows the hidden meaning.

He supposes that if he simplifies it down to 'yes' or 'no', and simply takes it at face value though...]

This is a harder one.

I'll go with 'yes', even if I may not be privy to all of the factors.
applehearted: (pic#15789806)

[personal profile] applehearted 2023-03-29 05:35 am (UTC)(link)
No.

Let's see... given the last answer. Perhaps this question? Does the 'concept' have anything to do with belief?
littlesilhouettoofaman: (doubt)

[personal profile] littlesilhouettoofaman 2023-03-29 05:45 am (UTC)(link)
[It takes a bit longer for him to answer but...]

You won, Lesser Lord Kusanali.

[It has to be.]

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