Far too often, I end up with a (seemingly) good idea getting into my brain, and I can tell right away that I won't be using it for anything spectacular. My new plan is to post these up here, no matter how lame they end up being once they're on (figurative) paper. The working name for these things is "Spores," and they're somewhat in the vein of "What You Hear," the snippets based on Greg Stolze's Unknown Armies RPG.
This will serve two purposes: to get these things out of my head and to spur me to write in this damn thing more.
One of those useless bits of trivia everyone hears - I think it was mentioned first on 60 Minutes sometime in 1997 - the most common first name in the world is "Mohammed," and the most common last name is "Wong." But, as they say, there isn't anyone actually named "Mohammed Wong."
Actually, there is a Mohammed Wong; lots of them. Or there used to be, at least. The funny thing about that useless trivium is that it has a way of affecting how we think. Ever since that 60 Minutes episode aired, no one who's heard and actually believes this fact is capable of recognizing Mohammed Wong. Any Mohammed Wong. If a Mohammed Wong walked up to you right now and said his name, you wouldn't even hear it. And you'd never think to actually ask him his name if he didn't offer it. He'd always be "that guy" or "hey" to you. He could give you a fake name, though, and you'd just treat him like that was who he was. Even if the fake name was Sally Prendergast or Thorvaar Eriksen.
So, when you hear someone say that thing about Mohammed Wong, don't believe it. It makes Mohammed Wong's life very difficult.
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