Is a Stanley Cup Hygge? And why are Danes so happy? In today's episode, we talk about the Danish concept of hygge and finding comfort and happiness when seasonal depression strikes. Also, more Dungeons & Dragons!
You done stuffing your face? Yep. For now. Take a 45 minute break to record.
Malcolm:Yeah, I'm actively eating all the time. Everything is just a break. Yes. Whenever I'm not
Tana:eating. That's what my life feels like. I'm
Malcolm:fine with my life being that way. That sounds great.
Tana:I For me, it feels out of control, but you know, it'll
Malcolm:feel, huh? I was just saying it might feel that way in the future, but right now
Tana:you're young enough that you're burning it off.
Malcolm:Yeah. My, my metabolism is still high enough. Doesn't matter. Yeah. I remember eating at, um, Shelby's grandmothers and, uh, Shelby's aunt. Um, what's like, it's like, how do you eat so much and stay this
Tana:skinny? Well, I used to be able to do that in high school when I was playing volleyball all the time. I just burned everything off cause I just was playing constantly. Um, then and when your dad and I first started dating, cause that's how we met. We met playing volleyball and then we just kept playing doubles and um, yeah. Anyway.
Malcolm:So. So.
Tana:So I wanted to tell you about a, uh, a book I read towards the end of last year. Okay. It didn't come out towards the end of last year, but that's when I finally got around to reading it. It's called The Little Book of Hygge. of Hygge? Hygge. It's spelled H Y G G E.
Malcolm:Is it the sequel to Horton Hears a Who?
Tana:Horton Hears a Hygge. Horton here's a hygge. It is, every time I look at, look at how it's spelled, H Y G G E, H Y G G E, I think it should be pronounced Higgie, but it's pronounced"hooga" because it's Danish and they, they, Ah, gotcha. Spell things, um, in different ways than we do, so, um, and it's by somebody, the, the name, the first name is M E I K, and the last name is W I K I N G, and I'm not sure, I know how to pronounce those-it's how it would be in German, um, and I know there's some similarities, but I don't know how it is in Danish. So um, I'm just going to pronounce the first name as Meek because of Thor Ragnarok. It might be Mike. I don't know. But um, anyway, um, so the full name is The Little Book of Hygge, Danish Secrets to Happy Living. And um, the, the guy who wrote it is the CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen. There is an entire research institute dedicated to studying happiness.
Malcolm:That's kind of comforting actually. Right?
Tana:It's kind of funny that you mentioned comforting, but which I'll tell you in a minute, but that's, um, I think it's kind of awesome. Yeah. It's one of those things where it's like, Oh, that's nice. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, the concept of hygge is, you know what? I think I, I think I have an actual definition instead of me trying to. Stumble through it. Well, the term derives from, uh, the word that means to embrace or to hug. But anyway, it's a whole, it's a whole concept about finding, um, comfort and, um, Warmth. And, uh, so it's like, um, some of the examples in, uh, and one of the reviews on the book, uh, is like, um, Falling asleep in a warm bed with rain pitter pattering on the roof, baking cookies just so you can eat some of the raw dough, curling up with a book and a homemade blanket, candles, tea, a fireplace, like these are the kind of, um. A few of my favorite things. Wow, you burst into song from a musical. Mm hmm. Dang. Actually it's not surprising to me because you burst into Hamilton songs all the time. Fair enough. Um. Anyway, so yeah, so it's this concept of like fostering to, it's also fostering togetherness. Like it's, you can do hygge by yourself, but it's also like kind of meant to be a togetherness thing. And coziness is sort of like the rule, right? So, um, Um. You have to be cozy. That's, you, you will be cozy. So like the pictures if you do like an internet search for uh, Hygge, like it's almost always a fireplace, um, people wearing warm fuzzy socks. It's the lo fi girl. There's a, what? It's the lo fi
Malcolm:girl feeling. What's a lo fi girl? Uh, look up lo fi girl. Very popular YouTube channel. She's the one who like, started off the whole like, cat sleeping in the window while someone's studying.
Tana:It, what? It's a music and lifestyle brand, according to Google, that creates comfortable and stylish apparel and accessories for people who are passionate about music, art, and culture.
Malcolm:Yeah, it's so, basically what it is is it's a, it's a stream. That'll be live for like hours on end and it'll be someone Studying at their desk with like a cat in the window.
Tana:Oh, these are animated. Yeah. Oh Interesting
Malcolm:and they like give off that little feeling of comfort
Tana:Yeah, that's interesting. Yeah, but that's, I mean, that's kind of the concept of hygge is, is finding that like comfort and coziness and everything. And the book was really interesting because, um, what, so, I mean, you think where Denmark is and then the other, um, Scandinavian countries like Norway and, uh, Sweden, you know, things like that. They're like way up north, it's colder, it rains a lot, but they are consistently the happiest countries on the planet. Yep. And so it's just kind of like, how? They
Malcolm:also have some of like, the top stuff in the world, like top education. Oh yeah,
Tana:um, Finland. Yeah. Yeah, there's actually, um, there's a, a course, I think it's Finland.
Malcolm:I think part of it's just that they've, they've just learned how to live up there. Like they've
Tana:just. Amen.
Malcolm:They've figured it out. And even though they tell people. No one else listens.
Tana:Yeah. Um, they have a course called Find Your Inner Finn Master in Happiness, and it's free and it's a, a course on how to be happy, like a Finn And so I still have it saved because I want to, um, I want to take this class. Um, but um, yeah, I just love this idea that. They are, they find happiness even though they're in like, they're not in like Southern California. You know what I mean? Yeah. Like it's like, and actually one of the things. Oh yeah,
Malcolm:California man. Did you hear about the woman who didn't get jail time for stabbing someone 108 times or something like that?
Tana:No. Yep. What?
Malcolm:Yeah. So there's, there's, uh, there's that, and then there's Finland!
Tana:So, um, if I Google woman stabbed, no get jail time, will that
Malcolm:Probably. Get me? If you look up California. Uh I mean, the woman didn't get stabbed. I'm pretty sure she stabbed, like, her boyfriend of, like, three weeks or something.
Tana:California woman gets probation for fatally stabbing man she dated, causing 108 sharp force injuries. Two years probation and a hundred hours of community service. No jail time. What? Is he alive? No. Oh, fatally stabbing. Yeah. So how is that? I was like, well, maybe since he's like, if he was alive, maybe. How? Even
Malcolm:accidental manslaughter, you usually get jail time.
Tana:Yeah. But. Oh, her defense was the, uh, psychotic state due to the high potency pot she smoked.
Malcolm:Which is BS, but. That's beside the point.
Tana:She must complete 100 hours of public education on the dangers of THC consumption.
Malcolm:Yeah, I don't think any level of THC consumption will get you to the point of stabbing someone 108 times without some already malicious thought behind it in the first place, but
Tana:Right, also doesn't Somebody, like, even if, if you're drunk and you drive and you like hit and kill someone don't you still get jail time? Yep. What a
Malcolm:weird I mean that's because you're supposed to make the decision not to drive but you should also just, you know, not make the decision to stab people. To murder someone, so.
Tana:Whoa, that is I'm so
Malcolm:Hey, does anyone else want to leave the country with me? Yeah, wow. I don't, I don't want California's and Florida's problems spreaded out through the rest of the country. You
Tana:know, I, um, am normal, I, overall, I am somebody who believes in a, in a justice system that should be more, um, Forgiving. More restorative. Restorative. Like a focus on restorative justice, which is another thing that Finland does well, and, or is it Norway? It's one of those countries.
Malcolm:It's all of
Tana:the Norwegian. They, well, and they always, they do better, well Norwegian would be Norway, but they, they do. Nordic. Ah, there you go. Um. Like, yeah, everybody else does jail better than we do. Like, you know, um, and treats their prisoners way better. Um, we have this very strange idea in our country that if you have committed a crime, somehow you are less than human. And, um,
Malcolm:everything in America is about being less than human. Well,
Tana:yeah, but, um, by that, It's this strange thing where we don't even care about, like, we make jokes about prison rape. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like we would, well, most decent people wouldn't make jokes about rape in any other context, but it's like, Oh, it's okay. Cause they're prisoners. So of course they should be subject to all kinds of violence, including sexual in prison. And that's okay because they committed a crime. They got themselves there. It's such a bizarre freaking sin of,
Malcolm:especially since a lot of prison rape will end up in death for the person. Where
Tana:are you getting that statistic?
Malcolm:Just I I yeah, I'm just gonna remember this whatever it was that I
Tana:Do you mean like cuz I don't know associated with other forms of
Malcolm:violence? I mean a lot as in most I don't know if that's the case. I just know that a lot do because they'll just do lines on someone They'll do
Tana:lines like they will form a line Oh, yeah. Right. Yeah. Um, I'm not sure how that ends in death, but, um, either way, I mean, it's not, it's not okay that that's our attitude in this country that like basically anything that happens to anybody after they commit a crime is somehow okay. Cause they committed a crime. It's just such a bizarre, especially
Malcolm:since our rate of, uh, um, Incorrectly prosecuting someone is so high as well.
Tana:Exactly, exactly. Um, which is also, okay, side note. The death penalty. The thing that I find interesting about the death penalty is it seems to be the only thing that certain people will, um, 100 percent like wholeheartedly believe but they won't apply that same logic to other things. I'm glad they don't. But, um, like It's like, oh, well that person killed a person, so then therefore they deserve to die. And then I'm thinking to myself, well then if that's how you think justice works, then why shouldn't I be able to burn down the house of my arsonist? You know what I mean? Like, like it's just, it's just like that's not how justice works. It's not like this thing happens and so therefore then you have that thing happen to you. You
Malcolm:know? I think it's more, I think the thought behind it is more like If someone did a terrible thing, then we want to remove the possibility of them doing the terrible thing again. Yeah, that's what prison's for. But you burning down your arsonist's house doesn't Remove that puzzle. Yeah, it just, it just sounds petty. I get it. Can we have a petty Keanu Reeves movie? I actually, basically the whole series is a petty Keanu Reeves movie. Do you mean John Wick? John Wick. Yeah.
Tana:You, you killed my dog. I'm gonna, yeah. Um, yeah, it's. It's, I get that, I get that, but it is such a bizarre thing that we think, like, hey, what you did was wrong, so now we're gonna do that same thing to you. The main
Malcolm:thing I'm confused about about the death penalty is I'm confused why there's like a line. You think it would be quick to kill people? Like that sounds
Tana:horrible. You mean why people sit on death row? Yeah. Appeals. Appeals? Mhm. Gotcha. Yeah, so because people can appeal their sentences. Plus, constantly they're having trouble procuring the drugs to do the lethal injection because a lot of companies that make the drugs, um, I think that are used in other capacities, um, refuse to allow it to be used for that. And so Now we've come full
Malcolm:circle back to the whole heartedness.
Tana:Whole heartedness?
Malcolm:Just the, the nice thoughts. Although it's for death row, so.
Tana:Oh, you, you mean like that it's nice that companies are like, Hey, you can't use our drugs to kill people. I mean, that feels like that's shouldn't be that much of a stretch. It's
Malcolm:nice to think that companies are doing that. And they're not just like, sure. Another buyer. Yeah. Right.
Tana:Yeah. True. Bottom line. Right. Yeah. Um, but anyway, wow. That went all over the place. Um,
Malcolm:Blown from comfort to the most severe opposite. Yeah,
Tana:so anyway, my point is, I'm all for restorative justice, but that is, like, that's not even restorative. I don't think what she was sentenced to, that was like, nothing. Um, like there needs to be a process in place. You know, yes, but dang, I was,
Malcolm:although the best restorative justice I've seen so far is the woman that, um, was it that she assaulted like some fast food worker or something like that? And then, so her sentence was either like 60 days in jail or 60 days working at a fast food restaurant.
Tana:That's not really restorative justice, but it's an alternative punishment. I mean, You know, restorative justice is about communicating with your victim and also restoring the person.
Malcolm:But here's the thing is that after doing that, she's probably never going to do that again. Let me tell you,
Tana:everybody should have to work a fast food job or some kind of service job, whether it's retail. or fast food or, um, yeah, I, you
Malcolm:know, I haven't worked fast food, but working at the zoo,
Tana:right? Yeah. Yeah. That's why I'm saying like, I mean, I guess that's not retail either, but, um, amusement parks and zoos as well. High customer and customer service. High con, high contact. Yeah. Yeah. Like anybody ev everybody should have to do that because it's so fast paced and it is, uh, you deal with the worst of humanity. You
Malcolm:deal with the most impatient
Tana:people ever. Oh my gosh, everybody's impatient. And just, they need a little hygge in their lives. Brought it back!
Malcolm:Hell yeah!
Tana:So anyway, speaking of hygge, Um, the thing I always associate the most with hygge is the Danish sweaters, like the cozy sweaters that are super popular. Oh. Um, and, uh, Right
Malcolm:now it's Stanley Cups too, apparently.
Tana:Yes, and Stanley Cup could be hygge. Sure. Sure. Yeah. Anything that brings you comfort and is cozy and I just like the whole concept, like, because they apply it, um, everywhere, like even their, um, stores and restaurants and stuff won't have fluorescent lights. They'll like lighting. is one of the biggest, I think it's the very first chapter in the book on hookah. It's like, it's all about the lighting, um, which makes sense. Candles and fireplaces, like it's like soft lighting. Um, and they won't do like the bright fluorescent lights because they're like, that's not my comfortable thing. Well, yeah, fuck
Malcolm:with your eyes.
Tana:Yeah. Yeah. It's, um, yeah, it's not the nicest thing. So anyway, um,
Malcolm:I hate that we changed the fluorescent lighting. I don't understand it.
Tana:Uh, you know what? I wonder if it's cheap?
Malcolm:I don't know. We discovered how to make the perfect lightbulb in the, like, 80s or 90s. And we just said no because we wanted to make
Tana:money. I mean, I'm assuming there's a monetary thing, but I don't understand what like, what the fluorescent like, how they're cheaper? I guess? I don't know. Oh, because uh, their surface area is larger. So? Um, well if you're trying to light up an entire store, you're gonna get further with fewer.
Malcolm:That's true. I just don't understand it in a house then.
Tana:Uh, yeah.
Malcolm:Like the basement has three giant fluorescent lights in my room. Oh
Tana:my gosh, I never thought about that. Like,
Malcolm:what is the point of that?
Tana:We can replace those.
Malcolm:I just, we just don't really use them.
Tana:Oh, that's right. You just don't turn on your lights, really.
Malcolm:I just, because I have that, that happy light. I just turn that up and it lights up the whole room.
Tana:The happy light. Does that work for you? The happy light?
Malcolm:I don't know if it makes me happy, but it's light. It works. It is a functional alarm clock and light bulb.
Tana:I, I do find that the happy lights, I've noticed, if I use a happy light, I don't like go, Oh, I instantly feel better, but I've noticed like on days that I have it on, I seem to feel better than on days that I don't. Um, when I, when I had one in my office, I don't know why I don't have one in my office anymore, but I don't, but anyway, it's another good way of finding comfort during, you know, the gray blah days of January. Gray blah days. January sucks.
Malcolm:Yeah.
Tana:It really does. Accurate. Correcto. Yeah, it really does. Which is, I think, why I was thinking about the concept of hygge again. Cause I was like, what are some things I could do that would create, like, that kind of comfort and coziness to kind of fight the, you know, if I can't have sunshine, In my windows. You know what? You know. COVID was a
Malcolm:two year January.
Tana:That feels about right. Yeah, COVID sucked. Yep. So what would you find, Hygge? What brings you coziness?
Malcolm:Good snack. Good drink. Oh,
Tana:you make chai. You make your own chai.
Malcolm:I make my own hot chocolates. I would
Tana:qualify that.
Malcolm:Just chillin with the girlfriend and playin or watchin somethin I guess.
Tana:You know, the cat snuggling with you would be Hygge. Oh, that's true. That's one of the things I miss most about June, our dog. Poppy, come here. Uh, who died a year ago. Um She's out. Yeah, she is. Um, June was a good snuggler. June was a very good snuggler. She was like a champion snuggler.
Malcolm:It's because she was her own weighted
Tana:blanket. She was, yes. And she also was just not a very energetic dog. No. So she was like, sleep? Yes. Lay around? Yes. Nap? Yes. But yeah, anyway.
Malcolm:But, yeah, I don't know. There's a lot of things that just, that make me comfy.
Tana:Warm blanket. Yeah. Wetted blanket. I got one of those, oh it's right beside you, it's sitting on the chair there, the comfy. That's like that wearable blanket thing. I have to tell you, it is so warm. It is
Malcolm:so warm. Did they just like kill Snuggie
Tana:and take their Yeah, basically. Except for you don't have to, like, be wearing like a hospital gown of a blanket, you know? It's like, this is, you know, full all the way around you. Yeah. Um, but it is, it is super
Malcolm:warm. Oh, you know what? It's, uh, when I used to, uh, burrito inside of a Oh my gosh! That would be hygge. I used to wrap myself in the blanket like a burrito.
Tana:With June too. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, we used to laugh because we would, like, try to come in to wake you up and you, you really, literally looked like a burrito. Like, it was just like, you're, you were, at one point we were like, why doesn't he just sleep in a sleeping bag? But you would, like, just twist your, that's true, you did. You, you just, like, Curl, twist the blankets around you, and um, and yeah, and then you'd burrito June in there with you, and she would just be like, cool.
Malcolm:Like, this is awesome. Her head would just be next to mine on the pillow. Yeah, it was so cute.
Tana:Um,
Malcolm:yeah, that's not happening with Shelby at all. She gets claustrophobic. Yeah,
Tana:so no burritoing Shelby. Nope. Ha, Have you tried?
Malcolm:It's middle of the night.
Tana:I don't think, I don't think Poppy would put up with that. Cats don't, aren't really as, yeah.
Malcolm:They love tight spaces, but they don't like being put
Tana:places. That's true. That's fair. That's fair. Yeah, for me, I, um, we have the fireplace, which is awesome. And then I still have the Christmas tree up because
Malcolm:It would be nice if the TV was still on the mantel
Tana:though. I sometimes think that and I sometimes don't. I mean, it is, it would be kind of nice to be able to sit like right in front of the fire and watch a movie. Yeah. Um, but I kind of like that the TV isn't over there because you feel
Malcolm:like if you want to sit in front of the fire, your options are more healthy. Yeah.
Tana:I mean, I guess kind of in a way, like it kind of. I don't know, it makes it like, this is the reading area, almost, you know. Yeah. Um, but I mean, you could bring a tablet or laptop and you could still watch something in front of the fire, you know, it's still, it's still nice, but, um, yeah.
Malcolm:Friends doing just like playing games with friends.
Tana:Do you do it by candlelight? Because, I mean, I don't know if you count that as hookah. I mean, I do,
Malcolm:I do like candles in my room, so,
Tana:so yes. Oh, so when you're playing games online.
Malcolm:Yes, I mean, or when people are here, that's fine too. Yeah, which, um. Does it have, is it like specific things, like there needs to be a fire within a vicinity, and.
Tana:I don't know, it does almost feel that way, it almost feels like that has to be. I feel like it's
Malcolm:just gotta be like some, just. like level of consistent comfort for
Tana:people. I feel like there's a specific idea that it's cozy, like cozy, not just enjoyable. Yeah. You know what I mean? I think actually, you know what, that brings, that's a really good point. So I think like for me, the first thing I'm looking for in January to try to combat just the seasonal sadness stuff, um, is the coziness. But the other one is the joy of stuff like hanging out with friends and playing games. And I have to say that Playing Dungeons and Dragons with your friends has been a really great highlight. Like it's really, it has been very fun. It is something that, um, your dad and I both look forward to. Um, and it is entertaining.
Malcolm:Maybe in a few weeks, we'll have a catch up on D& D episode.
Tana:Well, I think we could just talk about Dungeons and Dragons right now.
Malcolm:Yeah, it's true. Um, we've only done a couple other sessions so far because we didn't miss a week from, uh, being sick.
Tana:Oh, yeah, it's because everybody was sick. Yeah, that was terrible. Well, everyone in this house. Yeah. Yes. Yeah. Yeah, not the whole group, but that was miserable, but um Yeah, I the second session was a little difficult for me. It felt a little trudgy.
Malcolm:It was definitely a Um, like a tutorial dungeon, so like the entire session was one dungeon, and like some parts were interesting, but for the most part it was, it was definitely like a tutorial for like how dungeons go. Yeah. And so it was kinda, it was kinda slow, cause, since you guys are all supposed to be low level characters, it's like keep throwing stuff at you, because then you, you will die. Right,
Tana:right, yeah, yeah, and, ooh, yawn, hold on. That kinda snuck up on me. Um, and the, yeah, it was, sorry, I'm like having trouble forming a sentence. Apparently. It, there were a lot of rooms. It was just like we opened and then we, we were like, well, we should look around. And there just really wasn't. You know, anything in there. And, but we would keep looking and there wasn't, and you were like, Oh, it's just a normal object. Oh, it's just a normal. And we're like, Oh, okay. You guys did
Malcolm:manage to like perfectly miss all the rooms. Cause I mean, it's, it's a full like four story
Tana:house. Yeah. And we only yeah,
Malcolm:and so you guys only hit the like filler rooms. Yeah.
Tana:Yeah, which I think is kind of funny I mean, we did hit a little bit we hit that weird thing in the basement With the chanting and all the cult. Yeah And I looted something with Abris
Malcolm:Oh yeah, you guys looted a reliquary, so you were just like, looting a bunch of random stuff, like, um, like a frog on a stick, and like, a halfling skull,
Tana:a weird, cape of ghoul skin,
Malcolm:cape of ghoul skin, yeah, which, uh, the, uh, The merchant thought that you were just giving to him because he was like, why would I buy this when you tried to selling it to him?
Tana:Yeah, so the third session was like,
Malcolm:okay What I will say one of the best parts about the second session was one You just, like, totally tempting fate by lighting the torches next to the armor that you could literally see a magic aura around and it just grabbed you. Look, I'm learning. And then, um Hey, if it's anything that's going to scare you into being like more careful in dungeons, it's going to be inanimate objects suddenly being animated. Like the broom that attacks? Like the broom that attacks my dad, yeah. Which was great. Yeah, he, uh, one person, which this person, he, um, he's played this campaign before, so he knew what this
Tana:was. Oh, really? Yes. Yes. Oh.
Malcolm:And So, this, that was the really funny part, is that I could tell that he was just sitting back and waiting for my dad to touch it. Just waiting for it. Because he opened it, and it was just a normal closet, and he was like, okay, whatever, I'm just gonna walk away. And then, um, Or, or I think he said, like, can I see if it's like a flying broom or anything like that? Somewhat jokingly. And my, since my dad's character is an air ganassi, he can levitate. So he was going to be like, Oh, I bet you it's a flying broom. And he was going to go over and like get on it and like cast levitate on himself to pretend like it's a flying broom. Right. But he grabbed it and then it smacked him in the head and then they had to fight a broom. Yes.
Tana:Yeah. That was funny. That was pretty funny. Oh, yeah, that was very entertaining. And then, um, uh, Abrus found the bones of dead children, which is so nice, um, but returned them to their final resting place, which is what they, they wanted him to do. But I, of course, took credit for that in my song about the session. Oh yeah,
Malcolm:I will say that was like one of the best parts. One of the best parts about the, about the third session was the beginning. And the end. The beginning part was that instead of me doing the, like, like, previous thing on, yeah, it was you doing it in poetry form. Yes.
Tana:But. That was great. But. I loved that. I only talked about myself. Yes.
Malcolm:You were, you said all the, all the heroic things that happened, you claimed to have done yourself. I did And you didn't mention the armor at all that
Tana:grabbed you. Nope, nope. I, uh, which is what my character, my character's deal is, uh, she, um, is like Professor Lockhart from, I think we mentioned this before, from Harry Potter, like, you know, I take other people's heroic things and say that I did them.
Malcolm:You do realize that you've built an expectation now.
Tana:Oh, yeah. Uh, I have some thoughts. No, this, this will come out before the next session. So I'm not going to, I was going to, um, I was going to tell you one of the things I'm going to do, but, um, I don't want to do that. I doubt that anybody's
Malcolm:going to listen to it the day of. Yeah, but,
Tana:um, but just in case. Yeah. Yeah. So, um, yeah. So the third session was a lot of fun. Um, I didn't actually, I, I was just like, Oh, we can take whatever's in this reliquary in the second session. And so I was like, cool. I didn't actually realize like we can then like go and sell these things for money. Yeah. Um, so I was like, okay, I have stuff I'll sell for money.
Malcolm:Which you guys ran into a very, um, non caring. Merchant that owns the only I think you mean mercant.
Tana:Mercant.
Malcolm:The, uh, who own the only mercantile Mercantile. Yes, I kept saying mercantile at first. But he owns the only mercantile in the area, so they kept asking him for like 50 gold for like a gem or something, and he was like, I'll give you 20.
Tana:Right, yeah. Like, where else are you gonna go? Um.
Malcolm:But, yeah.
Tana:Which was pretty funny. But that was funny. Oh, and also, um, I forgot. Abris asked me to include in my next song and gave me a gold coin to do so.
Malcolm:I've got a feeling that's good. That's also going to be a thing is people are going to start paying you to have them in your songs, which is so amazing. Toss a coin to your witcher. Um, uh, and, um, I loved the whole, the whole funeral thing. Uh, that was just a whole mess. I don't think we have enough time to explain it, but it was, it was very chaotic.
Tana:It was very chaotic. Hey, we agreed to help somebody lay their dead father to
Malcolm:rest. Yeah. But there was like, um, an undead in the church that You guys, like, were trying to figure out what to do with, and meanwhile Hulk is just chillin with the coffin out back just waiting for you guys and the priests to come back, uh, and, yeah, it was,
Tana:it was a whole thing. You know, um, I'll refer to them by character names, Tempor was, like, super angry about trying to vanquish this vampire in any way. It's like very much like, let this vampire go. You don't know that it's actually a vampire. Vampires don't exist. You know?
Malcolm:Yeah. Abras, uh, is He's convinced that vampires don't exist. Yes. Um, which by the way, this is a vampire campaign. The main bad guy is
Tana:a vampire. Oh, okay. That's helpful to know.
Malcolm:Um, well it's just that the main, the main bad guy, which you guys have now learned, which is why I'm okay with saying it, is a vampire. So the fact that him saying that vampires don't exist is very funny. It's very funny. Yeah. Yeah. He's like, what? Vampires don't exist. What do you mean? So anytime that somebody mentions a vampire in, in the campaign, he's like, that's absurd. Vampires don't exist. Uh, which this is coming from the person that has DM'd this campaign before. So this it's, which makes it even
Tana:more funny. Oh, that I forgot about that. That's funny. Oh, that's funny. Um, yeah. I have to say, I, I feel like, so I, I, you, what you, from what you've told me, different, Types of people have different types of campaigns. Like, like Oh, for sure. And they play act, you know, um, role play. I keep saying play act, but I know it's a role playing game. I don't know why I don't
Malcolm:say. Yeah, it's literally called a TT Rrp G
Tana:role play. Um, I, I have to say, I. I don't think I would enjoy it as much if I was with a group that wasn't interested in role playing.
Malcolm:Yeah, um, cause there's definitely some groups that are like survival heavy, so they'll do like a lot of survival rules. Like, you know how I have you guys, like, focus on your food and, and water and stuff to, like, but that's just to, to keep kind of the realism going. But a lot of, there are some groups that will like, hardcore be like, you need to eat this time, this time, this time, otherwise you're gonna like, start gaining exhaustion, and you need to like, hunt for your food. Oh,
Tana:okay.
Malcolm:Um. Some groups are like, just combat all the time, which doesn't sound interesting to me. Mm.
Tana:Uh. Well, and I can also see, um. Some people just being like, I go to this and do this and not like interact at all with, like, just kind of narrate their actions, but not really interact with the other players in character. You know what I mean? Yeah. Yeah. So, um, but I think that's what makes it fun is, you know, some of like the side conversations that don't really matter. Like, it doesn't really, you know what I mean? Like you could just. If you were playing a board game, for example, you would just be like, Oh, this happens. And so therefore you move to this square and then you pull this card. And like, you know what I'm saying? Like, it's, it's just very like transactional. It's just, you know. We also had
Malcolm:the first, uh, first whisper, uh, that session as well. The first what? Whisper. So, um. Different, different groups call it different things, but it's something where, uh, a character does something and so the DM will, like, come up to you and whisper in your ear
Tana:something. Oh, yeah, that's right. You, um, private chatted something to your dad. Yeah.
Malcolm:Right. Okay. That was the first whisper of the campaign. Oh. So, there are certain things like that where it's like, cause there was stuff like, That, that one time where you guys saw someone hanging, all of you guys saw the same thing except for Tempore that saw themselves hanging. Right. And, um. But you said that to the whole group. Yeah, I said that to the whole group. Cause I knew it was going to be a quick role playing thing. It wasn't
Tana:like a. Right, cause then he played it out so we knew, like, yeah. And
Malcolm:um, but like, stuff that's going to be hidden for longer than that, I will whisper to you.
Tana:Right, right,
Malcolm:yeah. Uh, but after that, you guys went to the, which this has been very interesting, because this has collided a lot of your, your guys like, um, leads, is what I called them. I called them leads for how you guys started the campaign. Like, you started the campaign. Um, by dancing and singing and drinking with this group of Vistani who are at this camp that you guys had just arrived at. So they were like, Oh, hey, which at first you've, you forgot about it. So you were like, hi. And then I told you, and you're like, Oh, hey. Um, and then two of our characters were also tracking them down, which is how they met you. It's cause they tracked them to your camp. Oh, right.
Tana:Yeah. Um, can I just tell you, I did not know all of that until just now. I did not understand that. That's what was happening.
Malcolm:Okay. I got it. Well, you're welcome for the clarification. Sorry to the, to the people that might've been trying to keep that secret, but, um, I don't think they were,
Tana:uh, well, I knew Tempor was looking for the Vistani.
Malcolm:Yeah. Yeah. Um, And then, uh, so you guys had some interesting connections there. They told you an interesting story about the area with the great wizard.
Tana:Oh, right.
Malcolm:Yeah. Um, actually I should probably send that in the discord chat too.
Tana:Yeah, because I
Malcolm:already forgot about it. Um, but then you guys went into Madame Eva's tent. Yes. Which you guys got your fortunes told. That was one of the best parts about that session, in my opinion. Yeah. Yeah. Um, it was super fun. It definitely left on a cliffhanger, I think, for everyone. Yeah. Because everyone was just questioning themselves. Well,
Tana:also you, like, then revealed some things about, are characters that we hadn't revealed yet. Divination
Malcolm:magic, baby! Um, yeah, so the fortune teller like told a little bit, basically said everyone's names and then told a little bit about them very obscurely. So I don't think anyone actually knows what they mean except for that person that heard it, you know?
Tana:Yeah, but still there were hints of things, I think. Yeah, exactly. So that where we could be like, oh, what's that about? You know,
Malcolm:um, And then you guys got these cards that told you of some Object or thing or something like that that and told you where you might be able to find
Tana:it. Ah Yes
Malcolm:And so all of you guys are trying because that was like a whole riddle And so all of you guys are trying to decrypt it and I remember Abrus was asking Madame Eva who is I was playing And was trying to get clarification and she was like, I told you everything that you need to know. I was perfectly clear about it.
Tana:Yeah, I, I have to say, um, I'll emphasize again how much January sucks. And like when you're in Wintertime and it's gray and it's just also And you're looking to be cozy. It's cold. And, um, right, and you're looking to be cozy. And like, you know, for a while it was like super cold, but at least the sun was out. And then, uh, it's just been raining constantly. Like it's been
Malcolm:raining for days. It's been raining for like
Tana:a straight week. Yes, it has, which really sucks because we got a wood delivery in the middle of that, and yeah, it's
Malcolm:just
Tana:Wet wood now. Yeah So it's not great Um, when I, you know, I feel, I feel like it's pretty common for people to go through seasonal depression, you know? And so if you're looking for something to brighten your day and something to like look forward to and be creative and everything, I think Dungeons and Dragons is a great,
Malcolm:you know, if you know a group of people that are willing to give it a shot, um, Definitely do it. Yeah. And I would say lay out the groundwork too, because there's some people that go into it with expectations. What you want to do is you want to lay out the groundwork beforehand so you can change any misinterpreted expectations.
Tana:Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, that's good. That's good. Um,
Malcolm:Because you want to like make sure that everyone's on the same page on how everyone wants to play. You're on the same page that everyone is new, so people who aren't going to be as quick about picking stuff up, you need to give them a break. Stuff like that. Um, the problem is for you is that we now have like a ton of seasonal people that, uh, or seasoned people.
Tana:That's, um, that was like seasonal people Yeah.
Malcolm:um, that you're playing with. And so you ask a question everyone's answering at once. Yeah, that's true. I
Tana:get like five answers. Yeah. Um, like let the DM speak. Yeah. Yeah. But yeah, I recommend it. Um, and even if you're like, uh, we don't have anybody who really knows Dungeons and Dragons, that feels like a lot. Um, you know, just get, get your friends together, play a game, even if it's, even if it's just like a simple card game. Yeah.
Malcolm:There's some really cheap, but good card games. Um, taco
Tana:cat goat cheese pizza is hilarious. That was, that was funny. That was all one Title of a
Malcolm:game. Honestly, I think some of the best ones are card games. Cause card games are usually
Tana:very cheap. Yeah, card games, they're, they're, they're cheap. They're portable, um, and a lot of times that means they're, um, lighthearted, you know, like, cause you don't have like this giant map and like 5 million little widgets and stuff. And the rules are
Malcolm:usually on the cards. So, You don't usually have to
Tana:Right, there's not a lot of learning involved, um, although I really enjoy the Star Wars game we just got. Star Wars deck building game? Yeah, that's, that's fun. I like that. Um, but yeah, like things like, um, Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza is more of like a party game. It's very simple and it's, it's funny, uh, when we played Monikers is hilarious. Yes. And monikers, I was gonna mention monikers next. You know what, cards against humanity. Honestly, monikers, I cannot recommend that game enough. It is, it's very good. It is so much fun, um, because it's a mixture of like taboo charades. And password.
Malcolm:I will say there is a point where it's like you've owned it for so long and you've played it for so long that you start to get like used to it and so you start to like know all the cards and stuff.
Tana:There's expansions that you can get. Yes, I'd probably get
Malcolm:one of those. The good part about that as well though is that you at that point have created some tradition behind a card that doesn't make any sense but everyone will know exactly what you're talking about when you do
Tana:it. Yeah, it is, um, It always ends in hilarity. That's all I can say. There's just, you know, but anyway, so yeah, so, you know, try to fight those blues with
Malcolm:What's it? Yeah. The
Tana:Higgie? The, the, the, the Higgie. The Higgie. Beat the blues with the Higgie. Uh, yeah, either with little Hygge, or Fun with friends.
Malcolm:Yes. I feel like fun with friends, for me at least, is
Tana:Hygge. Yeah. Okay. I'll let you have it. You'll let me
Malcolm:have it? Thank you. Thank you for letting me.
Tana:As long as you light a candle while you're playing games. Gotcha. Okay. Start the fireplace. Yes. Alright. I think it's about that time. Well. Time to go.