Sure. Where I'm from it's an old phenomenon in which a message is created with the express purpose of convincing people to keep sending it along to others to keep a chain going, hence why it's called a chain letter and why it has a requirement to send it to a certain amount of people. It was commonly used to spread hoaxes or to perpetuate urban legends. A lot of time they promised that terrible things would happen if you didn't send it along or that you would get money or have something positive happen to you if you did. It's the sort of prank that takes advantage of people's gullibility and superstitious beliefs. Ultimately harmless though.
[ urgh. now she feels like an utter fool. but after everything that's been going on, with werewolves and the bogeyman, she thought it was a genuine precaution... ]
Thank you for informing me. Although I don't see the humor in it. I was really worried!
It does. I must say, I didn't think 'internet culture' could be so... shabby? I was told it was a tool used for exchanging information at incredibly fast speed.
Trust me, it definitely could. It's true that the internet was created for that purpose and it did that well enough. But it was also used for simple communication like this. And well, people can be really stupid. Especially bored people with nothing better to do. There were a lot of those.
Interesting. The wandering mind, without any place to go, occupies an unlimited stream of information to relieve themselves. Though I can think of a lot of better things to do than spend hours on the internet.
There probably were. But I can't really judge when spending hours on the internet and researching dead civilizations and cultures was all I had. Maybe it was the same for some people back then too.
It's fine. You weren't. I imagine the internet must be hard to understand when you've never experienced it before and it's kind of hard to explain. But it had everything ranging from the kind of information you'd find published in books to whole pages solely dedicated to cute cat videos. It also provided a separate space outside of people's regular lives where they could express themselves however they liked. It's a kind of freedom that's not always found in the real world.
Reality can often be cruel. If the internet can provide a reprieve from that, then I can see the appeal of it much better. It's certainly a tool, and any tool can be applied in many ways.
[ hm. ]
I guess it isn't possible to make our own internet here?
We sort of already have it in the form of the forums and this messaging system. It's just that we're locked in and we can't go beyond either of those two which is frustrating. But starting a whole new network from scratch would be very difficult to do. We simply lack the necessary technology. We don't even have electricity yet and that's the most basic of the basic.
I wonder if it would be possible to upgrade what we already have then. Maybe in the future we could find a means of adding more forum areas, and create our own pages of information.
Though that would mean learning more about the technology this world really is capable of. I think the existence of this machines and the forums prove there is a greater level of technology capable than what we currently think.
Who knows. I've tried and I've had no luck so far, but it's also not my area of expertise. The presence of laptops and the network does appear to indicate a certain level of technology. But then these seem to be powered by magic and governed by whatever rules that come with said bullshit magic which is near-impossible to understand because it's magic.
Now, now, even magic has a set of rules to it that must be obeyed. Technology mixed with magic is a curious thing, but in time we can come to understand it.
In the meanwhile, the internet will have to come from within our own communications and imaginations.
[ maybe the real internet is the friends we make ]
[ he 100% wants to meme at her, but he knows she wouldn't get it and it kills him inside a little. a true tragedy. ]
You're right. We just have to make the best use out of what we've got and start our own brand of bullshit no one else is going understand unless they were there for it. Not unlike what Okuyasu is doing. We'll have the true spirit of the internet here in no time with efforts like that.
[ one day she's going to hear the word 'meme' and will come to dirk with a hundred questions, and then his time will come. ]
You mean like an inside joke? I see. If new arrivals are to come again through the well, then it may be possible to do something like that! I don't enjoy tricking people, but a good joke isn't so bad.
True enough. Also the arrival of newbies is something we could and maybe should look into more. Nothing is ever truly random. There might be a pattern to when people show up in the well. If we can uncover that, we could predict whenever we get new blood and be more prepared.
The best indication of a pattern could have something to do with the state of the world. As more color shows up. Passage of time. The change of the weather and/or seasons. It could also be an indication of how much power the powers that be have in them. From what I know, the group you and I arrived with was smaller than the one that preceded us.
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[ or rather, she took it as a very literal message, and protecting the town from danger is of the utmost importance. ]
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Ah, I see.
I'm guessing he didn't explain that it's basically a joke then?
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I don't understand. Can you explain?
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Where I'm from it's an old phenomenon in which a message is created with the express purpose of convincing people to keep sending it along to others to keep a chain going, hence why it's called a chain letter and why it has a requirement to send it to a certain amount of people.
It was commonly used to spread hoaxes or to perpetuate urban legends. A lot of time they promised that terrible things would happen if you didn't send it along or that you would get money or have something positive happen to you if you did.
It's the sort of prank that takes advantage of people's gullibility and superstitious beliefs.
Ultimately harmless though.
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Are you telling me that I was fooled then? Lied to?
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Essentially, yes? I suppose so.
But I don't think he meant anything mean-spirited by it.
It's just a dumb joke thing people used to do back home.
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[ urgh. now she feels like an utter fool. but after everything that's been going on, with werewolves and the bogeyman, she thought it was a genuine precaution... ]
Thank you for informing me. Although I don't see the humor in it. I was really worried!
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Internet culture can be really incomprehensible and stupid.
But I'm glad I could put your mind at ease, at least.
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It's true that the internet was created for that purpose and it did that well enough.
But it was also used for simple communication like this.
And well, people can be really stupid. Especially bored people with nothing better to do. There were a lot of those.
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But I can't really judge when spending hours on the internet and researching dead civilizations and cultures was all I had.
Maybe it was the same for some people back then too.
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My apologies. I didn't mean to be insensitive.
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I imagine the internet must be hard to understand when you've never experienced it before and it's kind of hard to explain.
But it had everything ranging from the kind of information you'd find published in books to whole pages solely dedicated to cute cat videos.
It also provided a separate space outside of people's regular lives where they could express themselves however they liked. It's a kind of freedom that's not always found in the real world.
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Reality can often be cruel. If the internet can provide a reprieve from that, then I can see the appeal of it much better. It's certainly a tool, and any tool can be applied in many ways.
[ hm. ]
I guess it isn't possible to make our own internet here?
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But starting a whole new network from scratch would be very difficult to do.
We simply lack the necessary technology. We don't even have electricity yet and that's the most basic of the basic.
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Though that would mean learning more about the technology this world really is capable of. I think the existence of this machines and the forums prove there is a greater level of technology capable than what we currently think.
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The presence of laptops and the network does appear to indicate a certain level of technology.
But then these seem to be powered by magic and governed by whatever rules that come with said bullshit magic which is near-impossible to understand because it's magic.
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In the meanwhile, the internet will have to come from within our own communications and imaginations.
[ maybe the real internet is the friends we make ]
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You're right. We just have to make the best use out of what we've got and start our own brand of bullshit no one else is going understand unless they were there for it.
Not unlike what Okuyasu is doing.
We'll have the true spirit of the internet here in no time with efforts like that.
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You mean like an inside joke? I see. If new arrivals are to come again through the well, then it may be possible to do something like that!
I don't enjoy tricking people, but a good joke isn't so bad.
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Yeah, an inside joke is a great way of putting it.
Those newbies won't know what hit them.
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Also the arrival of newbies is something we could and maybe should look into more.
Nothing is ever truly random. There might be a pattern to when people show up in the well.
If we can uncover that, we could predict whenever we get new blood and be more prepared.
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The best indication of a pattern could have something to do with the state of the world.
As more color shows up. Passage of time. The change of the weather and/or seasons.
It could also be an indication of how much power the powers that be have in them. From what I know, the group you and I arrived with was smaller than the one that preceded us.
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