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[rediscovering]

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username: fireprince 🔥 text • audio • video

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[rediscovering]

"It's more like a penname than a nickname, I guess," Zuko says with a shake of his head. It's hard to explain things he only knows the functions of, himself. "Imagine it like there's a tiny town bulletin board inside the phone — it's kind of like that. But everyone can interact from far away at any time by posting on it, or responding to things that were posted on it... Whatever you post, there's a name that appears beside what you say, like a signature. That's your username. And anything said that way is called being 'online.' I don't know what it means, that's just what everyone calls it."

The tiny town bulletin analogy has not flown over well in the past with others, but this is how Zuko's made it make sense. Maybe Iroh can jive with these same sensibilities. Truth be told, Zuko's proud of how much he's gotten comfortable with these things, though, that he's needing to backtrack to his initial 'ink, stamps, pamper roll, magic mini-bulletin board' mentality he'd first understood things by. It seems so long ago now, all of a sudden. He lets out an accidental little sigh at the feeling as he digs out the tea leaves he'd brought along and is now put to the test to really prove himself. Technology is not as impressive to Uncle as tea, that's for sure.

[uncle_iroh]

Tea was both more impressive and more preferred. But Iroh came from the same world and time as Zuko. The bulletin board analogy was probably better for him than a technical one. "People post all the time to bulletin boards without being seen. And signatures change over time as the person who signs them change. These.. names.. cannot change as well?"

[rediscovering]

"Well— you can turn anonymity on and off, which is convenient."

Indeed, when Azula first arrived, Zuko only communicated with her anonymously online; which was still perfectly transparent to her exactly who she was talking to, of course, but it gave him peace of mind to be able to have this function. He really likes the ability to be anonymous whenever he'd like to.

He whips his own phone out and opens up the AOL app, holding it up so Iroh can see while he deliberates on his username.

"This is the Network, Uncle," he explains, illustrating by scrolling slowly through some of the most recent posts. Best by example, perhaps.

[uncle_iroh]

He leaned close and squinted. "Who has ever heard of a bulletin board where the writing is so small?" And uniform. Much could be told by a person's handwriting, but that didn't seem to be the case here.

[rediscovering]

"Uncle, you're missing the point," he sighs. "It's not like a real bulletin board, it's like— a portable place..."

Oh, god, the metaphors are already getting away from Iroh's nephew and they've scarcely begun.

"I'll make the writing bigger on your phone if you want, I know how to do that, I think. But you can post to this 'place' and anyone can see what you say and reply, at any time, from anywhere in town, that's the point."

He's a good teacher in his way, wants to help, but patience and even-keel explanations are not his style.

[uncle_iroh]

"Bigger would be of help," he said. "But how can a place be portable?" he asked. "Well, I suppose a tent could be, or a hut if the circumstances were correct." Yes, his sliding off topic was mildly deliberate. He's in a strange new place having to learn fast. He has to have some fun somewhere. Plus it'll be good practice for Zuko to hold his temper, and be good for the boy to feel like the smarter one in the room for a bit.

[rediscovering]

"Uncle! The device is the place, the Internet is not a tent — a-and a hut isn't portable, anyway! Focus!"

He's putting his nephew to a good test. Iroh's unseen pai sho-like conversational moves with Zuko are always on-point. He shakes his head, setting the tea leaves aside to steep.

"Just think of your pseudonym... I'll add everyone you should have into your contacts list while you do, okay?" He reaches for Iroh's phone, keeping his own still in his other hand.

[uncle_iroh]

"This is a place?" he asked, looking at the device. "What? For ant termites?"

He looked at Zuko. "In the Earth Kingdom, I have seen people use Earth Bending to move their huts to higher ground to avoid flooding, and back down again when the rainy season has passed." You were really going to tell him a hut wasn't portable? And yes, he is still amused.

[rediscovering]

That look. Do you see that look Zuko's throwing? Because he's throwing a look.

He just lets the silence speak for him for a moment, then looks back down to their phones, taking one in each hand to set about adding in his contacts. He adds in his own first, "fireprince;" then: katara, boomerang-guy, kyoshiwarrior (wonder who these might be); less obviously, tenjikubotan and smoking_bomb; and finishes, after a moment's hesitation, with another easy guess — fireprincess.

[uncle_iroh]

While Zuko waa doing that, Iroh got up to check on the tea. His nephew could become really focused at times. Many times. Most, even. And tea was delicate, the time it steeped was precise. So if Zuko forgot, he wanted to be ready to serve the tea so that it didn't over steep. He appreciated his nephew's efforts, but that was no excuse for wasting good tea.

He waited until Zuko seemed like he might be done before speaking, "You still have not answered my question, Zuko."

[rediscovering]

"Have you thought of a username yet?"

Touché. Not really. Zuko is not commenting on Iroh's Earth Kingdom factoid. Nor the comment about ant-termites. But he is secretly glad for Iroh to take charge of the tea because the risk of ruined tea was much, much slimmer that way. Better Zuko's focused than not.

[uncle_iroh]

"I still do not fully understand what we are doing," he pointed out. When it was clear Zuko was not going to take the tea duties back, he strained and served the tea for them both.

[rediscovering]

“Setting up your account so we can continue with the lesson. But you need a name first. Pretend as if— as if you wore a nametag like at work, but all the time online,” he explains, feeling satisfied with this analogy for once, and finds a proper seat once Iroh is done with the tea Zuko’d abandoned. He gets quite comfortable right away, phones still in both hands with his eyes glued to them as he finishes up typing in their compatriots’ names. He even crosses his legs and slouches down, making himself right at home as if he were lounging in the palace, or on their ship, or in their apartment, and not some random interdimensional inn room. It’s Iroh’s company that makes him feel at home, though, no matter where they are, relaxed in ways he is with no others. He peels his eyes away at last to reach for his tea, setting both phones on the cushion between them as he does so, and an idea comes to him mid-sip.

“So imagine wearing an invisible nametag whenever you talk to people on the device. Sometimes you can take it off so the person doesn’t know who they’re talking to, but you’re supposed to keep it on so people can reach you again later. But it shouldn’t be your real name because I don’t think that’s wise. For the same reasons you wouldn’t really wear a nametag everywhere.” Oh, god, the analogy is getting away from him already; it’d been a strong start, though. “What about— dragonofthewest? Or, um— westerndragon? Similar, but not obvious... I think only Hikaru knows you used to be called that, anyway. And Azula, obviously.”

He’s also not great at usernames. Sincerely, fireprince.

[uncle_iroh]

"If that is truly the case, prince Zuko, then wouldn't such a name become obvious as people know me?" he asked, sipping his tea. "Besides, if we are truly somewhere new and these are people who would come to know me in time..."

He sipped again, considering, as though he had not trailed off mid sentence.

As if this sentence connected to what he had been saying, he continued. "When we went to Ba Sing Se, we did not go as conquerors, nor did we win any part of a war we cared about winning any longer. Not the first time we were there." He stroked his beard. "We were given a chance to start over there, Zuko. To try to live different lives."

Another sip of his tea.

"There are parts of who I was during the war, when I fought under the banner of the fire nation that I was proud of, that I still am. But there were other parts, other moments, that I learned from but would rather not remind people of, or inform them of, should that be how we first meet. If I am to give an impression not of who I had been, but who I would like to become..."

He set down his tea and slid something out of the sleeve of his robe. He set it down and slid it to the center of the table. "Do you think anyone here knows how to play Pai Sho?" and he smiled, lifting his finger off of the white lotus tile that now sat in the middle of the table, between and apart from their cups.

[rediscovering]

Zuko listens with a curious expression, not following until the big reveal, and though it takes him a second, a wry smile creeps over his face as he peeks over at the tile on the table.

"'WhiteLotus?' Is that what you want your username to be, Uncle?"

Zuko catches his eye, and his smile stays in place.

"I like that for you. That's a good username."

Better than fireprince...

[uncle_iroh]

"I presume once the name is chosen, we cannot switch between it and another?"

[rediscovering]

“I’ve never heard of someone changing their username, no. I think it’s permanent.”

[uncle_iroh]

"Hmmm, the White Lotus is more subtle than I would be if I used that, I suspect. Perhaps simply... Pai Sho. It sounds enough like a name to those who do not know, and for those who do know of the White Lotus, it shall get them to pay attention."

He sipped his tea. "Subtlety, prince Zuko, can be as effective as any attack, when used correctly."

[rediscovering]

"So... You want your username to be simply 'paisho,' then?"

Zuko tries not to make a face. He may have grown enough to appreciate tea on his own, but he's still no pai sho fan. But he gets it. He does. Maybe someday he'll come around...

[uncle_iroh]

"When you rush it together like that it seems so much less than it actually is. Is there no way to make a reader take their time over the words, to savor them properly?"

[rediscovering]

“Sometimes people put a line, like Gokudera’s username is ‘smoking,’ little line, ‘bomb’ — like this,” he draws an invisible underscore in the air with his fingertip then illustrates on Iroh’s phone, picking it up again to type ‘pai_sho’ in the username edit field. “Is that okay?”

[uncle_iroh]

"That is at least better than running it all together. What s wrong with this place if people cannot write properly?"

lol zuzu's such a jerk i'm sorry

[rediscovering]

"Uncle, I don't know, it's another culture!" Zuko sighs, pulling a face, side-eyeing his uncle. He's a good-intentioned, but impatient boy. "Let's see if it'll accept it without the line... I know Taichi has some crazy little face in his username, I don't know how it works."

Taichi's username is 7😆H!TA1 and it baffles Zuko; even if he understood the Japanese language pun (Nanao Taichi, his full name), he'd still be baffled. This is not the best example. The blind leading the blind here.

He gives 'pai sho' a try, and a checkmark appears beside it, indicating it's a valid username. He feels a wave of relief somehow.

"Okay, 'pai sho' seems fine. Properly."

Re: lol zuzu's such a jerk i'm sorNo worries. You are playing him wonderfully, and I thank you.

[uncle_iroh]

"Crazy little... face...?"

Are you just trying to confuse the man more?

"There, very good. Was that so hard?" Yes, he is being a bit of a brat as he sips his tea.

you are playing iroh wonderfully tooooooooo~

[rediscovering]

See this grimace? Iroh earned this face from Zuko.

"Okay, Uncle pai sho, moving on."

He can dish it back now, Uncle — sort of! He's gotten better about giving jabs with all his funny friends; yet somehow still not as much about taking them...

He holds Iroh's phone out in between them so the other can see what app icon he presses to open the messaging feature, and types in 'Z' without needing more, as it immediately brings up his name, printed beside 'fireprince', already saved in Iroh's half a dozen contacts now. He hands the phone to Iroh.

"Write something to me."