Resolution Time.

When I first started playing Magic, I had one rule: I will only ever date one member of the Magic community. Even if the relationship fails, I will only date one, so I better make it count. I did not make it count, and almost four years later, here I am breaking my own rule (YOU HAD ONE JOB). Why would I even make such a ridiculous and hard to follow rule in the first place? Easy.

For as large as the community is in size, it acts like a small town. Everybody talks, everybody speculates, and most of all, everybody gossips. People will assume if you hang out or talk to someone enough, it means you have slept together. At the very least, you are going to sleep together soon. The number of people I've heard I've slept with from second-hand accounts is insane. But here we are.

I remember back at those first few tournaments when I very first heard rumors of who was sleeping with whom. I sat with an open ear anxious to hear about these "misbehaving sluts" and the tales of how easy they were. Four years later, that's me. I'm the "misbehaving slut." I'm the one who people are gossiping about.

It makes me feel bad I ever listened to the stories, bad I ever passed along what was said, and bad I ever said such terrible things about those women. Before I go any further, I'd like to apologize to all the women...and men I've wronged.

This community has a funny way of turning its woman against each other. There aren't that many of us! Instead of calling each other sluts and allowing the men to do the same, we should stand up for each other. How can we expect men to stop saying such things when we women stand by and let it happen, or even worse, provoke it. I know I've been a party to this in the past, but it's a new year. Let's do this!

Being a woman in a space dominated by men is hard enough. I shouldn't make the experience harder, especially for new women playing the game. I should be there as someone who has done this before. Someone who can help them handle the crowd. Not the most terrifying person in the room (let's face it, mean girls are the worst, and I'm totally a plastic). Every GP I go to this year, I will try not to be catty (even if I feel I have been wronged), I will try to not judge people based on what they wear or how they look, and lastly I will try not to judge people for who they chose to love, date, or most importantly fuck. I think I just wrote this down so you can all hold me accountable for it. This year I'm going to try to be a better member of the Magic/woman Magic Community.
This isn't what I was going to write, but it is how it came out. Happy New Year everyone