2004-01-15 - 12:59 p.m.

So...Yesterday's entry started trying to answer, as much for myself as anyone else, the question of "What in the heck do I get out of the SCA anyhow?" by analyzing how I've gotten where I am.

So now that I know where I've been, I can start figuring out why I enjoy what I do (or, similarly, *if* I enjoy what I do, and if I don't, why am I still here?).

So, when we last left me, I was working with the concept that there are a number of different vectors of potential enjoyment in the SCA, and not everyone shares the same ones. This is obvious to anyone who takes a minute and looks. There are those who play SCA for the Armored Fighting, and the Armored Fighting only. There are those who play SCA for the ability to recreate a specific time/place period in great detail. There are those who just like the roleplay persona of their choosing (which may or may not be actually *from* the period of the SCA). There are those who play SCA for the Rapier fighting. There are those who play for the opportunity to inmesh themselves in political intrigue in a relatively safe environment. There are those who come to events for purely social reasons. There are those for whom SCA is the perfect outlet for their particular craft. And the list goes on.

These vectors aren't exclusive. You can be on multiple of them at the same time. Some are on all of them. Those who excel on certain of them can end up being "Peers" of the SCA, of whatever type. A very few excel at many of them, and end up being MultiPeers.

So, what are my personal vectors? Why am I here?

Well, the one I've been spending the most time on for the last 4 years has been Heraldry. Plain and simple, there really isn't any other outlet for folks who want to play in that sandbox. Ren Faires are the province of the "What's your name? Ahh...here's your Coat Of Arms" shoppes (never mind that Arms in period were much more restricted than that).

But do I have *fun* doing it? There has been a certain amount of fun in some of it. The times I ended up being the Herald for virtually the entire Emerald Joust tournament were fun, challenging, but fun. The times when I was sitting at a consultation table and was actually able to *help* someone get what they wanted, or figure out what they wanted. Those were fun too.

The immense bureaucracy of being Golden Dolphin Herald? Not much fun. Necessary to enable some of the other fun, yes, but not much fun in and of itself.

So yep, i guess that's a vector.

It's a similar vector to the "Service" thing. I enjoy being able to say, at the end of the day "Wow, that was a lot of work, but it's over, and look at the number of people who were able to have fun because of our work." Yeah, there's literally thousands of other outlets for that, but this is the first one I've been involved in where it has really been supportive of those sorts of efforts.

So that's another one.

Armored fighting? That is fun, at times. I don't have the physical fitness to do it exceptionally well, nor do I have the dedication to do it enough to get to the point where I could disguise my physical shortcomings through superiority in technique and/or experience. But there are moments when I can stand on the battlefield, a relatively obscure piece of the Atlantian Army, and say to myself "Wow...this is cool...I'm getting ready for a battle".

The mere fact that after the battle there isn't much I want to do other than lie in the grass and die is worth it for that moment. Tournaments don't really do it for me. They're just opportunities to reveal my level of skill and/or luck vs whoever the other person on the field is...and like I've already said, my level is average at best. So I've yet to win a single bout in an Armored Combat tournament. Apparently I've been close a couple of times, but I haven't.

Now that I have more time, I can summon up the ability to try more and harder. Unlike many, my body is still in one piece, and isn't all that worn down from the effects of being 33 (okay, technically not 33 for a couple of weeks yet, but close enough). That's a pretty big asset, so far as I can see.

Rapier has a similar, but different, vector. Probably because it is less physically demanding, I can do it longer in any one given pass, *and* I came in with a level of knowledge and skill gained from my class in College. I'm not White Scarf material (although I wouldn't mind working to get there someday). I'm not Yellow Scarf material yet either (but it's more realistic to believe it's a reachable goal, with effort). I can consistently place in the middle of the pack in a rapier list. I can get comments at the end of a bout from a white scarf to the effect of "You know, you almost had it there...". During Rapier Melees, I know I have impact. That's good enough for me.

And maybe, now that a large amount of my time is once again mine, I can pursue it more.

Crafts? Believe it or not, I have some. And, weirdly enough, the reason many wouldn't believe it is *because* of a desire for authenticity. I make paper, attempting to reproduce the look and feel of paper from late period. I have yet to enter any of it in a display or competition because, to be honest, the *way* I make paper isn't at all period. I haven't yet figured out a way to reproduce the effect of a water driven stamping mill beating rags made of old linen clothing into pulp.

I can, fairly well, reproduce the mechanics of pulling sheets of paper. Deckle technology hasn't really advanced in 500 years, so the screen I use is fairly adequate. The press I got for Christmas is a reasonable facsimile of a period paper press, other than scale (and really, I don't *want* a massive screw press capable of pressing 2000 sheets at once, I'm happy with my nice screw press that does about a dozen, thank you).

And drying technology is fairly straightforward. Basically, find a warm, dry place and let the paper air out flat.

But all that's pretty easy, just about anybody could do it, armed with the right tools. Unfortunately, making the pulp is currently a job for the electric blender. It's not period at all. Leaving aside the electricity issue (since I could justify, to myself at least, using electricity instead of water power, since I don't have a stream handy), a blender rips the fibers into pulp, where the stampers in period basically pressed them. I'm told that it results in a completely different look and feel to the paper. Does it? I don't know, I've never laid fingers on a sheet of medieval paper (and the likelyhood of my ever doing so is slim...seeing one, sure, touching it, not likely).

So, I'm not content with my quality, so I don't display. In many folks eyes, that means I don't even *have* an artistic/crafting vector. In my eyes, it means it's minimal at best.

Similarly, I cast metal. I am capable of doing sand casting, and soapstone mold carving and casting. Why haven't I displayed/entered there yet? Well, actually, I have. I cast the tokens that the grail team gave out at Knight of the Heart last fall, and they seemed to have been well received. Likewise, I cast a bunch of tokens for one of the combatant consorts in this last Crown Tournament, although she didn't distribute them because she forgot them at home. I'm told she's going to be fought for again in the spring, and intends to give them out then.

Without the SCA, I wouldn't have an outlet for either of these skills. They aren't really things I can do at an event (papermaking because it's *messy*, casting because it's dangerous, although I have done it at Pennsic), but without the structure of the SCA, I wouldn't be doing them.

The two of you who have actually gotten this far (leave me a note just to say you have, please) have probably noticed that I haven't talked at all about garb, or chairs, or anything like that. That's because I view those as tools that allow me to do the other stuff. Garb keeps me from being arrested for indecent exposure. Chairs give me a place to sit without being on the ground.

I've *tried* to make a "period" chair once. Rhiannon and I spent two weekends trying to reproduce Corby and Thjora's leather seated curule chairs (you know the ones I'm talking about). The project was, quite simply, a failure. Our woodworking skills were not up to the task, our tools were inadequate, the wood we chose was insufficient, and it just basically didn't work. They broke into pieces at the first event we brought them to, and Rhiannon almost broke her back when hers broke and she fell onto one of the screws.

So no, I take no pleasure in making stuff like that. It doesn't enhance my SCA experience. I have a choice of where to spend my time and talent, and that isn't the avenue for me.

So yes, I have the Coleman chairs of doom. Quite simply, for under $20, I have a chair which holds my weight, can be packed easily, and carried easily to wherever I need to be able to sit down. I'm happy with that, as it lets me concentrate on what I want to do.

I don't have an issue with chair covers. In fact, we generally cover our chairs when we are using them for a Court or around a list field (back in our private camp is another story, but that's our private space, you're free to not come there if it really offends your sense of medivalism).

So why don't I support efforts to *mandate* covering chairs? Simple, because as soon as you require a cover, the result is that when (and it happens at every single event) someone has lost their cover, or forgotten it at home, or had to use it for another purpose, or any one of a dozen other reasons why it isn't available, they no longer can use the chair without running the risk of someone coming up to them and giving them grief about "Violating Kingdom Law 5.x.3.j.ii"

That's just not right. Never mind the fact that I haven't seen documentation for slipcovers in period anyhow. (Not to say it isn't out there, just that I haven't seen it...on the other hand, I haven't looked for it either).

It's easy to edit out a coleman chair from your mental picture of a medieval court. It's a lot harder to edit out someone bitching 'That isn't period, it offends me'.

Plus there's the entire issue of having laws that aren't going to be enforced anyhow...I'm of the school of opinion that if you're not going to consistently and constantly enforce it, don't have it on the books.

So I guess there's two ways for me to look at it, I either don't care about "authenticity", because I have no inclination to worry about being perfect, or I can say "I care about those areas of authenticity which I have an interest in caring about and the capability of doing something about it".

I choose to go with the latter of those.

As for time period consistency...I couldn't care less, but that's as much a function of the fact I haven't found the specific time period that interests me enough to delve into it. I've skipped across the surface of early period Norse and later period England, and they both have things that interest me, but not enough to feel the need to specialize.

That and I have yet to find the article of late period clothing that feels as comfy to me as a T-tunic and pants. It may just be a level of exposure kinda thing.

I do know that I have found some of the greatest friends of my life in the SCA. Folks I would literally trust my life with. Folks I look up to, not necessarily because of their rank, but because they are what they are.

I admire the efforts of the hyperauthentic folks, like Isobel. I can't duplicate it, not without going through a level of effort and dedication I am not willing to even consider. But, at the same time, I know thats not what the SCA has been about. There are groups out there for those who wish the level of perfection that entails, and most (from what I have observed) SCA folks who have perfected personas are also active in those "higher level" groups.

Finnr was in MTA, and the Longship company. Isobel, along with a number of other Elizebethan personas, is in Trained Bandes.

There's places to go if you want that level of perfection...so presumably the SCA offers something else to folks, or we wouldn't be here.

So, now that I've settled in my brain why I'm here...why are you here? Not a challenge to defend yourself, just an invitation to examination...what do you get in the SCA that you couldn't get somewhere else? Guestbook is open, or use your own page.

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