Hello friends,
Let me start by saying that the view from my soapbox is great! I’d like to take the opportunity, on this, the eve of Queen of Hearts, to share some tips and tricks to have a great time if you are planning on coming out and visiting us in Rhiassa this weekend.
- Bring bug spray, sunscreen, and socks. Look, I’ve never been sorry that I packed these things for any event I’ve ever gone to, and I can’t imagine they will serve you wrong here.
- Follow Omnibus Rule Number 1. “We should all be doing this to have fun.” Seriously. Have fun! You took the weekend off from adulting, you paid your entrance fee, so have fun! And here’s the secret--you are in control of how much fun you have. Make a conscious choice to play in such a way that you have fun. No one else gets to control how much fun you have at an event except you. So if the competition starts feeling particularly intense, or you can feel yourself losing your cool, make a choice to do something differently. You cannot (unfortunately) control anyone’s actions except your own. So rather than letting the event happen passively to you, give yourself agency and allow yourself to have fun. You deserve it!
- Assume the best about people. It’s easy to decide that someone intentionally blew off that shot that could have totally changed the whole course of that super important tournament. But, let me offer an alternative narrative to that situation I just described above. Let’s assume, just for a minute, that the person who just blew off that shot did it by accident. Maybe, they were caught up in the moment and didn’t feel it. Maybe the shot didn’t land exactly how you thought it did. Maybe there is something else going on in this situation that you don’t understand. Whatever it is, you have a choice here: to get upset and angry, or to assume that the person is doing the best they can today to uphold their personal honor. If you want to alert the marshall, by all means, please do so. That’s what we get paid for. But, before you get angry with someone, assume the best about them, and give them the benefit of the doubt. Hey, just maybe, they’ll do the same for you if the situation is reversed.
- Tip your marshall. And I’m not talking about, “Don’t eat yellow snow.” It takes a lot to keep me looking this good. Aeston is getting pretty sick of buying me new outfits at this point, and Nighthawk is looking to buy a new hat. In all seriousness, your marshalls are doing the best they can to help monitor fights, but we are (with a few exceptions), human beings and we make mistakes. We literally cannot see and accurately call every interaction that happens between the teams. You outnumber us (by a lot), and if you can keep that in mind throughout the weekend, you will be happier, and honestly, so will we. We do this because we want you to have fun, so please, cut us a little slack.
Lots of love from yours truly,
Sir Gwen Hawk