Master Aleksandr Ruslanovich and Lady Morwenna Westerne :
In the SCA, you can live out your fantasy -- but fantasy only goes so
far. If you walk around claiming to be the greatest singer in the
world, eventually, people will want to hear you. Conversely, even if
you never say anything at all about your singing talents, if you
demonstrate them, you will be recognized for them -- possibly formally,
certainly informally. The SCA gives participants an outlet to excel
with skills or talents that the 'modern' world doesn't necessarily
reward. It also encourages behavior that is timeless: courtesy,
kindness, and respect for others.
The combination of fantasy and reality. There are many arenas in
which one can be a sword-wielding knight or a master craftsman simply by
saying that he is: role-playing, for example.
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Mistress Caitlin Davies :
Master Justin du Coeur :
Of course, it's also the Society's great weakness -- that "broad tent"
approach means that the SCA has little hope of ever being truly period
as an aggregate. Little isolated bits of the SCA can be very authentic,
but the larger the scale you look at, the less likely it is to match
period models. That's because the Society is basically a gigantic
compromise among many differing interests.
But overall, I think it's what defines the SCA, and makes it different
both from a simple LARP club and from an academic forum. It combines
many different elements in a way that constantly provides new ideas, in
all directions...
Lady Emmanuelle de Chenonceaux :
Master Seamus Donn :
Mistress Gwendolyn of Middlemarch :
Lord Kali Harlansson of Gotland :
Seigneur Jehan du Lac :
This is followed as a very close second by the kindness and generosity
of its members. Complete strangers are assumed to be members of the same
tribe. You can travel across the country and find a welcome, crash
space, a helping hand
anywhere.
Master John McGuire :
Shi Hua Fu and Lady Yelizaveta Medvedeva :
The best thing about our Society is the enormous variety of skills and
arts that we learn.
Probably the creative tension inherent in its rather vague definition.
That is, the SCA brings together folks with a very broad array of
interests in period -- everything from folks who mostly know about
period from fantasy to hardcore scholars who focus mainly on one
particular topic. The cross-pollination of those attitudes winds up
teaching everyone stuff that they didn't know, and leads to a lot of
experimentation.
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The ideals that we aspire to.
I first joined the society because it seemed an interesting way to learn about history. There wasn't a group where I was so I started one. I have since found
many other interesting things in the society. I have learned much about myself, society and the world in general through comparison to historical events and processes. The
SCA presents a very personal way to learn such things. Not just what was done but how it was done.
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The best thing about the Soceity is the people in the
Soceity. The SCA is filled with incredibly talented,
intelligent people who are generous with their time
and energy, are interested in many aspect of the
Middle Ages and the Renaissance, and are willing to
play dress up. I adore doing things I love with the
people in the Soceity. After all, I have met many
people I admire, some of my best friends, and my
husband in the Society.
If you mean, what do I like most about it: it's a wonderfully large group of
friends who have a common interest in the Middle Ages, at a common level, and
who have found a fun way to do it. A small circle of professional academics
in a book club would still count as a medievalist hobby group, but would
certainly not have kept my interest all these years.
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Probably the best thing about the Society is it's inclusiveness, the low
bar to entry that means that anyone can play. And of course, the worst
thing about the Society is the low bar to entry that means that anyone
can play. It means that you can have bunny fur barbarians right next to
the person who sheared their own sheep, spun, wove, dyed, and
hand-stitched their tunic. That can sometimes be frustrating for both of
them. But one of the wonders of the Society is that sometimes the bunny
fur barbarian can become that Bocksten tunic authenticist. The SCA gives
people a place to create themselves in the process of re-creating the
past. For a group focused on a very unegalitarian past, it is the most
egalitarian organization I know. Anyone willing to work hard can become
an honored member of the community. Anyone willing to learn will find
many willing to teach. Anyone with a good idea can find people willing
to try to create a little magic. People's willingness to volunteer to
create an experience for others is a truly wonderful thing in a world
that is often greedy, small, and selfish.
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Despite all our little arguments and internal politics, we are still a
virtual small
town. The vast majority of people are willing to be helpful, friendly and
polite
to anyone. People are amazingly willing to help and give of their time,
energy
and resources for others they barely know.
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We'd have to pick two best things: diversity and tolerance. Without
the first, we lose much of what we are. Without the second, the first
cannot thrive.
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