What is NSA lore? This is a question that is frequently asked because lore is a subject that is frequently talked about at NSA, and it is often referred to without a full knowledge of what it is that is being referred to. I ([[Jacob Grady|Jacob]]) know because I've done the same exact thing for 3 years, but more recently the question "What is NSA lore?" has been stuck in my head, and this wiki page will be my argument for the new answer I have found.

== What Has Lore Been Before? ==
The common answer to "What is NSA lore?" is that lore is the story of NSA, but when you think about this answer for a few seconds, you realize it doesn't make sense. If lore is the story of NSA, how is a [[Porkypines|porkypine]] a part of lore, even though it isn't a story, it's an animal? Same goes for every object at NSA, those aren't a story, they contribute to a story maybe, but something things don't, and yet they are still lore. Also, saying that lore is the story of NSA begs the question: what is the story of NSA? And if you ask that, you won't get one answer because there isn't just one story of NSA. You could maybe say lore is all of the stories of NSA, but that still leaves lore items out of lore.

== Why Did I Begin to Want a Change in the Definition? ==
I co-hosted a call once with Nathan that was an intro to lore, and the question of lore came up, and all we could say was "It's the story of NSA" but that is a dumb answer for reasons I have already explained. After that call, I thought long and hard on the big question because I didn't want to keep telling people a false or incomplete answer that has been the answer for a long time only because no one else had taken the time to think on it (or maybe they had and that was the best they go, Idk). And so, here is my answer and the reason why I think it is better, although there are probably much better answers out there, I just haven't found them yet.

== My Idea of Lore ==
Alright, here we go, drum roll please.....no? Ok. The answer I found is this: "Lore is everything that makes NSA what it is." Simple as that. This answer is better in my mind because it doesn't leave questions like "What is the story of NSA?" This answer includes lore items, people, stories, and more, whereas the original answer only included stories and some people. When you say that lore is everything NSA, that broadens the scope of what lore is without you having to figure out what is or isn't lore, everything that makes NSA into the iNSAne, beautiful place it is, is lore.

2024-06-10T12:00:15Z

JmanPowerGames:

Thread series in the HS Courtyard.

Started by [[Shelli Selby]], "Lets Count" was a thread in which people (mostly) counted up (the original thread started at one (presumably- I will not be verifying this))<ref>It did start at one, unless my memory absolutely fails me. I watched it for a while, and then got involved around 400. -[[Owen Behrens|Owen]]</ref> and counting one number per message, with no person going twice in a row. (mostly)

== History ==
The original thread simply had the title of "lets count" and was posted on September 12th, 2022. After quite a few messages, it started to get very laggy. If you went to notifications in teams, and the top one was a reply in the counting thread, it would crash teams, if not your whole computer. So, Shelli created a new thread called "Lets count: CONTINUED" on 4/10/23. However, that thread eventually experienced the same problem with lag. Since Shelli Selby had since left NSA, [[Hallie Griffin]] took up the mantle and created a thread called "Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued" on 10/15/23. At the beginning of 2024, that thread also began to lag significantly. It lagged so much that the participants started talk of making a new thread. On February 3, 2024, [[Jacob Grady]] started a new thread called Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again. After a little over a month, [[Isaac Rivers]] decided that Jacob's thread had become too laggy, and so he made a new thread, Lets Count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again: Round Two. [[Hannah Robbins]] soon got fed up with the lag (recurring theme?) and so she made Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again: Round Two: Round Three.
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible"
|+List of Threads
!'''Name'''
!'''Date posted'''
!'''Number of messages sent'''
!'''Number of participants'''
!'''Number counted to'''
|-
|lets count
|9/12/22
|4183
|79
|3610
|-
|Lets count: CONTINUED
|4/10/23
|3121
|72
|6533
|-
|Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued
|10/15/23
|2621
|50
|9073
|-
|Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again
|2/3/24
|3544
|47
|12061
|-
|Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again: Round Two
|3/13/24
|1965
|31
|13961
|-
|Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again: Round Two: Round Three
|5/13/24
|2203
|15
|16132
|}
''(Update as needed. Last updated 6/10/24 at 7:00 am CST, by Jacob Grady.)''

== Trivia ==

* In my research into the origin of the thread to fact-check this article, I stumbled across a thread posted by Shelli Selby called "lets count again." It was posted on 1/17/23, apparently because the original thread had died off. However, it only got 122 replies, and didn't seem to have much significance. The thread started over from one, and reached 63. Many of the numbers were sent as GIFs. After 63, Shelli said "i only made this one because i couldn't find the other one but now i did find it so the first one is my main focus XDD"
* On 11/7/22, [[Daniel Simmons]] posted a thread titled "LETS COUNT BACKWARDS" It started at 2048, since that was the last number in the normal counting thread. It only reached 1035 before people lost interest. The last message was sent on 11/12/22. It had 24 messages from 7 respondents.
* One interesting thing about these threads is the number of reactions they get. For example, the original "lets count" thread had 30 reactions, of 13 different types. "Lets count: CONTINUED" had 39 reactions, 23 of which were the infinity emoji. "Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued" had 24 reactions with the infinity emoji. (this might be a record for most reactions on a post? I'm not sure.) This is not the largest amount of the ''same'' reaction for one post. A post made by [[Asher Stewart]] obtained 35 laughing emojis, and one heart emoji.
* The record for the most number of numbers posted in a short period of time was set by [[Isaac Rivers]] and [[Jacob Grady]], when they posted a combined total of 534 numbers in ~37 minutes.<ref>(If you have a recorded instance of larger amounts in the same time, please edit this)</ref>
* At 8:49am CST on 2/8/2024, the counting thread (Lets count: CONTINUED: Continued: Again) reached its first five-digit number, 10,000. [[Isaac Rivers]] sent the message.<ref>[[Gabriel Nelson|Gabe Nelson]] claims that his computer shows that he sent the message first. However, I haven't seen any screenshots of this, so unless I do I'll say that Isaac got it - that's what my computers all show, and I've seen multiple screenshots of the same.</ref> To accomplish this feat, [[Isaac Rivers]] and [[Jacob Grady]] sent a whopping 534 numbers in ~37 minutes.
* At some point around two thousand, they began counting backwards - I'm not sure if that is true, or if it is, when they turned around again and started going forwards.<ref>Confirmed by [[Samuel Grady]]: After 2082, [[Keene Elkins]] jumped to 2100. [[Sunda Schwertfeger]] then proceeded to count backwards (probably to correct the jump). Then, after a few hundred backwards-counting messages, the counting continued forwards as normal (is there anything normal at northstar?), with some mild confusion to those who saw this afterward.</ref>
* Lets Count BY SEVENS was a thread created by Isaac Rivers on May 1, 2024. It was based on the popular "Lets Count" thread, and has all of the same rules, with one exception: you have to count by sevens.
* Lets count BACKWARDS was another thread that Isaac Rivers made, posted on May 14, 2024. It started at -1, and is at -973 as of 6/3/24.

== MS Counting Thread ==
On 2/5/24, 7th grader Tripp Tamayo posted a thread in the MS Courtyard titled:

'''"Continue counting until 1000 i changed 10,000'''

baaaaaahhhhhhh

(GIF of minecraft Alex and Steve)

I need to write smth soooooo baah?"

''I think this truly embodies the difference between middle school and high school'' ._ . Anywayyy, the middle school counting thread started at one, and it currently at 30020. There have been 2072 replies from 28 participants. ''(as of 4/10/24 at 11:42 am UTC+8, last updated by Mark Huang)'' However, this thread does nOT have the unspoken rule that one person isn't allowed to send more than one message in a row, so there are many instances of the same person counting up three or more numbers in a row<ref>Word from Evan (Ha-earl) Cho: "Well Tripp said to count, not count by one"</ref>. In fact, the MSers started counting with multiple numbers in one message, with one message counting from 16504 to 20000. However, I don't think any numbers have been skipped.

==Notes==
<references />

[[Category:Groups, Chats, and Threads]]

Red Pen

2024-06-10T11:59:33Z

JmanPowerGames:

The Red Pen is a magical pen [[Jacob Grady]] holds in his possession. It is used write in red ink. The ink has magical capabilities that are not apparent until you are attacked by it. This is the weapon that creates [[Red Penning]]. The use of this pen is strictly under watch by Jacob, as it is extremely powerful.
[[Category:Characters, Creatures, and Relics]]