Have you been properly spooked? Did you acquire a fear of a procession of mummies coming to pluck a hair from you each night to teach you about conservationism?

Do you have any annual traditions you follow? Haunted houses, straw mazes, or cider making? Do you or an acquaintance go all-out with decorating?

Do you have horror movie marathons? For fun, or to put on your Mary Shelley hat to look at horror as capturing a zeitghost like Them! for nuclear war, slasher films for rising crime, or Us for class issues? (Leprechaun's bi allergory is an outlier)

Do you have a favorite costume, or future costume idea? A shambling uncanny valley girl, group human obstacle course, ensemble of 3/7 dwarves, or reverse trick-or-treat grandparent?

Important: This will be a noisy thread. If you do not wish to see it in your feed, please use the "Ignore" feature to hide it!

It's been a while since we've done one of these, and with the next Steam sale right around the corner, now seems like the right time!

Gifters

Post your available games, the platform and method of delivery, rules for your giveaways (e.g. first-come first-serve, random draw, etc.), and any additional info or requirements. Feel free to get creative!

Giftees

Request giveaways according to the gifter's guidelines!

Rules

Anyone can choose to be a gifter, giftee, or both! Giveaway rules are set by individual gifters, but there are handful of guidelines everyone should follow:

1. No grey market keys! Only giveaway games from reputable sources. If you're not sure what this means, please ask.
2. Requests for games should be done in the thread, but if the gift is a key, those should be delivered by PMs only. Please don't post keys publicly, even obfuscated ones.

Thought I'd post a general conversation thread for folks who might not be spending time with family or friends on Christmas. What are you doing on your own for Christmas, or what are you missing out on?

For those of us in the northern hemisphere, today is the hiemal solstice. Today is the shortest day of the year, and for the next half of the year, the period of daylight will only get longer.

Since ancient times, people have marked this day each year, through celebration and through the construction of buildings that line up with the sun or stars on this day; for instance, Stonehenge in Britain and Newgrange in Ireland both act as solstice indicators. Celtic, Chinese, Indian, ancient Roman, and even ancient Hebrew solstice ceremonies are recorded in various forms, with some (such as Newgrange) dating as far back as 3200 BC.

Today, many of these solstice ceremonies have been wrapped up into the Christian winter holiday of Christmas. For instance, the Celtic tradition of hanging evergreen plants, such as holly and ivy, as a sign of hospitality became the British Christian tradition of hanging mistletoe. Even the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah bears a striking resemblance to the Celtic idea of the Yule Log, a fire that was meant to burn for twelve days without re-fueling.

In addition, the solstice itself remains meaningful to many, both in mainstream religions and in neo-Pagan revival movements. So, to all of you who celebrate, happy Solstice, and may the sun shine warm on your face for the rest of the year.

"It's too early for Christmas", you may be saying, but you may also be a Scrooge and I won't abide by it. Christmas is just about 2 weeks away and I'm ready to listen to some Christmas music. So what are some of your favorites?

Also any non-Christmas December holiday music can be shared as well! I'm just not aware of any of the others having much music (unless you're into that Adam Sandler song).

edit: I put together a Spotify playlist of everything (so far as of Dec 13 @ 1pm EST) -- https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7FY6Ngmo60so3xzy3xCTY5?si=729f98cd8da34283

edit 2: I've been adding songs as they trickle in. Last updated Dec 20

Important: This will be a noisy thread. If you do not wish to see it in your feed, please use the "Ignore" feature to hide it!

2021

Enough has been said about 2020 — let’s put some good out into the world in the form of game giveaways as we welcome a new and hopefully brighter year!

Gifters

Post your available games, the platform and method of delivery, rules for your giveaways (e.g. first-come first-serve, random draw, etc.), and any additional info or requirements. Feel free to get creative!

Giftees

Request giveaways according to the gifter's guidelines!

Rules

Anyone can choose to be a gifter, giftee, or both! Giveaway rules are set by individual gifters, but there are handful of guidelines everyone should follow:

• No grey market keys! Only giveaway games from reputable sources. If you're not sure what this means, please ask.

• Requests for games should be done in the thread, but if the gift is a key, those should be delivered by PMs only. Please don't post keys publicly, even obfuscated ones.

Now that the holiday season is nearly over, I figured it is a good time to share the gifts that we gave this year. If there is a particular reason why you gave what you did, please share!

Edit: Going to plug USPS's Operation Santa. I plan to participate next year since it seems pretty direct with the giving. Found out about it way too late this year!

Eleven more days of this shit year and we're done.

Now I know things won't get better magically right away but ... Fuck it, i don't think I need to justify this.

What's everyone doing for the next two weeks?