What is this and how do you get into it?

[dustinfreeman]

We're celebrating my birthday party on January 14th, 2023 [0].
Fortunately, this just so happens to coincide with [100% Fictional Holiday] “Re-Emergence Day”, which we will celebrate at the same time.
In this forum, we will make up this holiday together, by pretending we are sharing our past memories of celebrating it in years prior.

For who can and wants to celebrate in person in NYC on Jan 14, we'll decorate and go all-out.

[0] For trivia purposes, my real birthday is January 11th.

[dustinfreeman]

In 2020, I did a remote Zoom party [1], which I loved (thanks everyone for coming). But I missed in person celebrations. Now, however:
* I have friends spread across many cities
* I don’t want to risk planning an in-person birthday, and then COVID spiking or people feeling left out if they’re uncomfortable attending.

The solution: a “hybrid” event, where in this forum I’m going to riff with y’all on making up a holiday celebration that goes from deep historical traditions until the modern day. In person, we’re just going to throw a party in NYC, but the theme will be this fictional holiday. Let’s nerd into it.

[1] https://escape-character.com/birthday2021

[dustinfreeman]

I’m sure many of us have a nostalgia for a slower, less algorithmic, more anonymous weirdo internet. So let’s do it.

You can either register an account, or make a new username for each post, though for the latter it requires a CAPTCHA each time.

I will be using my real name, as you'll see I have an admin account anyway.
I would prefer that you keep your account name/icon anonymous, something you haven't used ever before. I miss the warm feeling of having a bunch of internet weirdos care about the same topic. If you want, you can reveal the connection between your account name and your name after the event is over.

The board we're going to do the worldbuilding in is called "Memories"; you can find it from the main page. This contains sub-forums that ask questions about the holiday, like “what food do you eat”? I’m setting these up so they “unlock” only for a small range of days, are are read-only otherwise. I've put these questions in a rough order of what needs to be established, worldbuilding-wise.

[dustinfreeman]

We are going to pretend we are remembering a holiday that we’ve celebrated in the past with friends, family and strangers, and are looking forward to celebrating again this January 14. We’re sharing plans, tips, crafts, and nostalgia.

Good:

"I recall when I was a kid, we celebrated [TBD] by choosing the first squirrel we saw in the yard that day, and calling it Duke."

Bad:

"Do people think it would be cool if the holiday involved an animal mascot, like a squirrel?"

Good:

Person 1: "The celebration had something to do with bells..."
Person 2: "Yes! The baking of the bells, where we put fresh buns in upside-down bells and cheers'd each other!"

Very Good: https://twitter.com/fakehistoryhunt/sta ... 7496622080

In the “Memories” section, you should post “in character” speaking in the form of memories. This post is in the Meta section - where you can write however.

[dustinfreeman]

This is my party, and, unlike some billionaires, I don't dream of being a full-time mod, so please don't make me feel like I need to be one.

I will share the URL of this forum by individual emails/messages, and maybe a few subtle posts, but otherwise am hoping I don't have to fight spam.

Be kind and supportive to others here, and avoid the usual suspects of unkindness. Sassiness is acceptable, of course.

And a note on worldbuilding specifically: long-running cultural traditions naturally go through significant changes, where traditions from one group are co-opted and appropriated by other groups. Sometimes this is through a process of colonialism or some other form of cultural or other genocide. This isn't one of those heavy topic LARPs where I want us to try to engage critically in a nuanced way about this. So, let's keep it light and fun (without pretending bad things don't happen).

[dustinfreeman]

Generating text or imagery using AI is very hot right now, though there are some valid reasons to criticize it.

I don't want to ban it, but I also want to encourage experimentation and avoid spamminess in the main memories forum.

Please share any raw output or tinkering in the [AI] Board first, at the bottom of the main page.

Output from generative AI can be shared in the memories section if you feel it's high quality and non-disruptive and you've cleaned it up a bit.