Holiday cards · 2:48am Dec 19th, 2018
This has been a year, hasn't it? (Spoiler: It has.) And I'm beginning to suspect that I've spent a little too much of it withdrawn and asocial (possibly as part of the process of recuperating from the rest of it). There's not much to be done about the months lost to that, but I can at least make an effort to touch base with folks before the clock runs out on December. In honor of that — and of Solstice, and the fact that Solstice falls on a Friday and a full moon this year — on Friday, December 21 you'll have a rare non-convention chance to get one of horizon's infamous drunken My Little Pony Tarot readings!
THE DEETS:
* WHEN: Dark o'clock, Pacific time, 12/21-12/22. (Probably starting 6 pm PST [-0800] or so; continuing as long as I can stay awake, hopefully all night.) Basically, in classical Pagan tradition, I'm going to light a candle on the evening of the 21st and stay awake until sunrise to keep a flame going through the longest night. In equally-classic-depending-on-who-you-talk-to tradition, I'm going to haul out the alcohol and the cards. As long as I'm sufficiently lubricated to read and there's a queue, I'll keep going. Later on, if folks want to randomly hang out and wait for dawn, we can chat or drunkwrite or play video games or idk.
* WHERE: The Drunkwriting Central Discord server. If you don't have a Discord client, you can visit discordapp.com in your Web browser to join in without downloading anything! Click the red link above for an invite to the server.
* WHAT: "Drunken pony Tarot readings, serious inquiries only." This means I get drunk (alcohol is 100% optional for you). I grab the My Little Pony Tarot — or, if we're feeling especially feisty, a deck of Twilight Sparkle's Secret Shipfic Folder. You ask a question, I perform cartomancy.
I do this for the entertainment value, but also because I take it seriously. I get drunk to inhibit my tendency toward overanalysis, and to discourage me from "cold reading". You are NOT required to believe in Tarot, only to ask a question that respects the time I put in: something in your life that you're willing to consider actionable advice upon, rather than e.g. "next week's winning lottery numbers". Feel free to treat it as a pareidolia-filtered Horizontal story about your life, or received magical wisdom from the Universe, or anything in between.
Feel free to join in if you have no experience with Tarot at all! No pressure, I'll explain as I go. Feel free, also, to kibitz from the sidelines if you see a cool narrative in the cards! A big part of the drunken Tarot experience is making it a spectator sport. (Private readings are also available for sensitive topics.)
First come first serve, although if you have a cool question or I like you, I might bump you to the front of the line!
No charge. (I have the experience to do Tarot readings professionally, but I don't. Pay it forward if you feel so inclined.)
While we're waiting for Friday, tell a story in the comments of an experience you've had with cards (Tarot, playing, business, or otherwise). Show up Friday and I'll tell the story of how a dragon broke my MLP Tarot deck within five minutes of me pulling off the shrinkwrap. 
I feel obligated to note, by the way: last time I did a drunken event over on the Discord server, I ended up channelling Princess Luna. Some folks got into it, some didn't. It definitely changed the atmosphere of the room in a large (and, in hindsight, semi-awkward) way.
I'm not gonna spring that on folks by surprise this time around. The night is long enough that she can definitely make an appearance IF she's wanted, but IF that ends up being a thing I'll create a side room for opt-in conversation with her, and I'll definitely save it for later after things have already quieted down (since it really eats up my ability to type for myself).
4982885
We would like to talk to your Luna one of these days.
Hmm. I may need to get in on this. No promises, but still, it's a possibility for that night.
4982887
*nights ;)
And yeah, we really do need to talk more deeply about various pagan/headspace stuff, when I get a little less vanishy on Discord. I know Luna would love to (re)meet you.
Damn, that sounds awesome. I'd love to at least watch this unfold, but I'll be with family in L.A. right at that moment. If I can get away with it, I'll sneak in on my phone...
the fuck was I not already on that server
I have too many servers, but that one, I will make an exception for.
4982889 4982894
Because of the Solstice thing, I'll be there all night! Feel free to swing by at crazy late o'clock after your other things are done.
4982918 Thanks! I think I may be able to swing that for a bit.
This sounds cool! Will probably join a bit later in the day,
I definitely recommend this to anyone who can make it! I will try again to unravel the mysteries of Discord and do my best to be there.
I'll be there, in all likelihood!
4982885
Would be interesting.
Card Related Story: I've been playing a lot of Magic the Gathering on their new Arena client, and I managed to beat one of the most obnoxious, oppressive meta-decks with my janky three color hobby horse project. I managed to just oppressively counter every finishing move they tried to make before it could go off and they ended up suiciding on their own card triggers in a desperate scrambled to win the game in the final turn because I'd rolled them so hard the entire match.
Felt good, man. Felt good.
I could set up a stream for Jackbox party games, if thsoe staying up all night feel like doing that at some point.
card stories.... in the Vampire TCG I used to play, there's a card called "Madness of the Bard" that forces all players to speak in rhymes or take penalties. People either loved it or hated it. It was banned from tournament play, not because of the potential to be obnoxious, but because it turns out that judging what counts as a rhyme could be pretty subjective! (and debating rhymes wasted way too much time) My favorite part of it is the flavor text, which quotes Dr. Seuss out of context to make him sound like a dark gothic poet.
4983361
Re your suggestion: that would be pretty cool, actually! Jackbox and Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes were both on my "things to do after the Tarot queue dwindles" list, but I've got a slow rural internet connection and streaming is a known problem (one of my former roommates tried, and the DSL couldn't keep up with it; he ended up paying through the nose for dedicated cable internet just for the stream). If someone else were to host one or both of those I'm fine to watch the stream. I've got copies of both but I don't know whether I have any extra Steam keys. Maybe I could just buy you a copy.
(Of course, I'm not sure how much KTNI benefits from streaming. Maybe if people want to watch but not play, they get to both overhear the chatter AND watch the defuser flail.)
Merry X-mas!
4983461
sure, I can be the video host! My connection's decent enough and I already have Twitch set up, so it'll be no problem.
I have the first 3 Jackbox packs. I kinda want to pick up #5, just for the robot rap battle game; a bunch of drunk writers might enjoy that. KTNE would be fun to stream, though I think it'd work equally fine over Discord voice chat. Then anyone else who has the game can also play as the defuser (and it's really cheap on Steam right now).
Thanks for the fun event!
Now to see if my sleep schedule is capable of, uh… well… 