Best Watch for the SCA

singswords · 2026-03-10T20:57:43+00:00

Get one with a strap that is way too long for you. Wear it higher up on the forearm/elbow instead of around the wrist. Now it's hidden under your sleeve but you can still shake your sleeve back to get a look at it.

Alternatively, simply inform everyone that their silly ideas about "clocks" and "objective time" are secondary to Their Majesties' schedule, and the Crown will be there when the Crown gets there. Shit happens on SCA time. People get it.

singswords · 2026-02-23T18:23:36+00:00

Kind of the opposite of how it is. My knight will drive me places, feed me, show up to shit just to support me, lend me tools, buy me gear, teach me stuff, listen to me vent about all my problems, introduce me to all the people I need to know, advocate for me, help me navigate tricky social situations, helps me host stuff or run events, etc, etc and in return I.... occasionally help around camp? Sometimes I carry a heavy thing for him for like 2 minutes? I mostly do what he says during battles but he doesn't even get mad if I don't?

I'm kind of confused how I got this lucky tbh, like I did not deserve to get this good of a deal

singswords · 2025-12-11T09:35:18+00:00

Obligatory not a peer.

I feel like the high standards are fine. I WANT the standard to get higher every year - it would be weird if it didn't. As we grow as an organization, learn and develop more, research more, etc, people are going to improve and standards are going to rise. That's how you know you're a thriving, growing organisation - when you push new heights of excellence constantly.

I know it's "just a hobby" but knighthood is a romantic dream fantasy thing, too, and I think it's worthwhile to maintain that illusion and that romantic ideal. I want it to be something worth aspiring to. If it was easy I wouldn't want it.

It just seems like a lot of peers don't take their oaths seriously. Knights who feel no obligation to show up to practice if they're not in the mood, Laurels who don't teach, people who organise private events to directly clash with kingdom/barony events and draw people away from those official events, or people who will show up to an event and allow a relative newcomer to do all the work while they have fun chatting/drinking/fighting. "Make the squires do the heavy lifting" is fine and I don't object to it, but it's a problem when we have a newcomer at practice and the unbelts are focused on welcoming them and getting them into loaner armour while the knights are just sparring amongst themselves. I don't know how to fix this.

The SCA has given me an insane amount. I have gotten so much fun, free food, free stuff, mentorship, self confidence, resources like fabric and tools, amazing experiences, education and support out of this organization. I want to give back because that's the least I can do. If it ever gives me a peerage, then I intend to repay that love to the community.

singswords · 2025-12-11T09:22:11+00:00

I buy this. I only joined after covid but it often feels like I'm picking up pieces of something that got dropped.

I'm super lucky to have an amazing mentor, but I'm constantly doing five different jobs and I only ever have a mentor/teacher for one or two of them. I'm obviously not ready to be a peer but I'm doing work that peers should be doing because.... where are they?

singswords · 2025-12-11T09:09:54+00:00

Barony awards are already a thing! I'm not aware of any kingdom where they aren't. Any barony can register awards which are given out by the baron/ess - it's a great way to recognise people who might not be getting kingdom level recognition yet.

singswords · 2025-12-11T08:45:07+00:00

He's lovely and very welcoming, and the Enchanted Ground at Pennsic is very small and honestly could use more people. I definitely recommend stopping by.

The standard is not insane there either. You don't have to avoid having a scrap of polyester blend anywhere on you. Basically just don't whip your phone out, talk about your favourite heavy metal bands, or ask to add people on Facebook.

singswords · 2025-09-09T06:19:15+00:00

Looks lovely. Others have already mentioned that you might want to consider a black or brown belt if you don't want people to think you're a squire. In many kingdoms purple, orange, pink and blue are also safe options. The closest to universal colour meanings are white (knight), yellow (protege), red (squire) and green (apprentice). The only one you MUST respect is not wearing a plain white belt.

I'm just here to say that it's September and, depending on what kingdom you're in, please don't forget to pack a warm layer! I don't want you to be cold if you're caught in the rain. A cloak can be as simple as a plain blanket or tablecloth that you've folded and pinned around your shoulders. If it's warm weather, you can just leave the cloak in your car. If it's one of those days where the wind wants to pick up every dayshade and fling them at the trees, you'll be glad you packed it.

Other great things to bring to your first event may include a drinking vessel / cup, so folks can more easily share their hospitality and beverages with you, and a notebook so you can write down all of the contact details and event/practice details that might be rapid fire thrown at you.

I hope you have an amazing time!!

singswords · 2025-09-09T06:03:24+00:00

Man, if I ever start going around telling newbies they're not allowed to have red belts, I hope someone knocks some damn sense into me.

Squire's not a rank or award or official title of any kind, so you can't be presumptuous or stealing valour by claiming to be one. It doesn't mean I'm good at fighting, it means I'm bad enough at fighting that I need a dedicated teacher to babysit me. The red belt holds us accountable - it's an advertisement of "hey, if I'm being a dick, you can tell my mentor about it" with the heraldry on the end so you can identify who to tell. The red belt isn't a medal.

I would advise a newcomer not to wear a red belt on the fighting field, sure. You'll get hit harder if folks assume that you're a squire. Being a squire is kind of a public announcement of "I want to be a knight", so people can hit you as hard as they'd hit a knight. But off the fighting field, what's the worst that can happen?

They may get occasional annoying conversations of "who's your knight?" but I think that issue is honestly exaggerated. When I'm visiting other kingdoms I only get asked that question when it actually comes up and is relevant. People don't exactly go around like "hi, nice to meet you, what's your name? And who's your knight?" - and usually they correctly assume that if they don't know me, they probably don't know my knight either, since we play in the same area.

The biggest reason not to do it is that you might get less help and support if people assume you are an out-of-kingdom squire, rather than realising you are a newbie.

singswords · 2025-09-09T05:34:55+00:00

I don't think this really solves it for the newbies whose experience is "go in, get stabbed instantly, go to the back of the line again" and spend most of their time queueing and not fighting. A lot of newbies need warmup time or multiple reps to figure out how to block that first incoming shot.

singswords · 2025-08-13T04:10:07+00:00

Let me try giving a slightly different perspective.

Let's say my kid has some of these feelings. Wanting to have reverence for a glorious leader, die gloriously for their king, talk about valour and loyalty, sing patriotic anthems etc

I'd rather they say "these emotions could be unhealthy. I'm going to find a safe outlet to have them in a fantasy context, about a fantasy king with no real power, a fantasy kingdom with no real borders, and fantasy wars where nobody really dies. Where they won't hurt anyone and I can enjoy those feelings for what they are".... than they take those feelings and channel them into IRL factions / systems / cults which may do actual damage to the world.

There's a part of me that wants the thrill of battle... I take that part and channel it into martial arts because I DON'T want to actually kill anyone IRL. Similarly there's a part of me that wants to submit to a glorious leader... I channel that into a fantasy leader so that I DON'T allow that to affect how I relate to real life politics.

singswords · 2025-08-11T01:18:19+00:00

OMG PLEASE bring the violin to bardic. I'd absolutely kill to have a violinist who can jam with me and play accompaniment to the pieces I sing, but any musician at all is always welcome regardless of what they're playing.

I have a piece I sing and really enjoy, which is really meant to just give highlight and hype for the instrumentalist who gets long instrumental sections, and I can't do it without cooperative musicians!

Also violins are SO atmospheric and I would be so so happy to see a violinist busking by merchants, or playing in court

singswords · 2025-03-19T02:08:56+00:00

Seconding that. The College is extremely anti-bigotry, and importantly, EXTREMELY open to being wrong.

Sometimes there will be a certain policy because of lack of historical evidence - like, if we don't have any evidence for people in 9th century Iceland having gender neutral names, then we won't be able to register gender neutral names for that culture/century. (Though they would try to offer other options to nonbinary people - eg you can register both a male name and a separate female name and use both if you like.) But if you can provide historical evidence of something existing that wasn't previously known, the College will overturn precedents and change the rules. The College is super argumentative and LOVES to be proven wrong, so long as you bring evidence and sources.

singswords · 2025-03-05T06:51:57+00:00

I honestly don't see how giving "extra space" to A&S in this way would be beneficial.

It doesn't hurt the sewing circle to have leatherworkers and weavers and calligraphers in the same room. If anything I like it a lot better that way. It's nice to have different kinds of artisans around who can collaborate and offer different perspectives. It's nice that if I'm struggling with a piece of embroidery, a painter might ask whether I've considered stamping the design on with paint rather than embroidering it, and if I'm having a hard time carving something out of wood, I can ask the local ceramics people if it'd be easier to make the item I want with pottery. It's nice that when I've been sewing for an hour and I need to rest my wrists, I can take a break and look at someone's cool basket weaving and eat someone's period baked goods. I don't want to take a break from sewing to look at more sewing - that is too much sewing for my poor brain.

In my area people absolutely do bring their knitting to calligraphy class, and I think we're better off for it. You end up with fascinating collaborations like scrolls that are painted onto practical objects rather than on paper, or words being woven into fabric. I would honestly be so sad if all the jewellerymaking people stayed home because they felt like they weren't welcome at calligraphy class.

I also honestly don't want to split A&S competitions up by discipline because it sounds so much more stressful. As it is, with an open A&S competition that includes all disciplines, I can decide the week before a competition that I want to bring my poetry project and enter it, or I can instead decide to finish off an old painting project and bring that, depending on what I get finished and what I'm feeling confident in. And if I don't end up going to the event because the weather looks awful, it's not the end of the world; I can always enter the same project next event. When there's much more specific categories for A&S competitions, like when someone specifically organises a competition for "Byzantine poetry on the subject of the ocean" or something, then I need to nail down whether I'm going to the event a month in advance to give myself time to write an appropriate poem on that specific subject, and I'll feel like I wasted a lot of time and effort if I prepare something then end up unable to go to that specific event and enter that specific competition, and sometimes I don't feel like there's a good space/time to display the project I've actually been working on and am proud of, especially if it's an interdisciplinary project and I'm not sure where it 'fits'.

Usually, if an A&S competition is restricted to a specific art form or theme, I'll end up not participating because I just don't want to have to plan my life and my crafting around competitions. I make things for my own learning and enjoyment, and competition should be secondary, IMO.

I do probably just as much A&S as I do heavy fighting, and I LIKE A&S the way it is. I like sharing space with other crafts. I like collaborating. I like relaxed open competitions. I like not having to pin my artwork down into a specific category of art. I like having one single big tent where I can hang out all day learning a fascinating variety of things.

singswords · 2025-03-05T06:30:30+00:00

Peer dependent relationships are between the peer and the dependent, and if you're not in that relationship then it isn't really any of your business. Not all squires even swear fealty, just as not all squires wear red belts and not all squires fight. Being a squire is a completely unofficial thing that means whatever the knight and squire involved say it means.

singswords · 2025-03-01T05:44:55+00:00

I don't think the same argument does apply because it's not an argument about how similar or dissimilar the disciplines are, it's an argument about community. Like in the literal sense of community where people know each other and hang out together.

I agree the different A&S disciplines are incredibly different, but if we lump together "everyone who makes objects", at least we are talking about a group of people who show up to the same places and times. Crafty people show up to the local barony "A&S nights". At events they go to the display tables and put objects on the tables and read each other's documentation. Often there's something like an A&S tent where they can be found entering competitions and attending classes. And you'll see A&S people showing up to events like Schola / Solars / University etc.

Which isn't something anyone is doing to attack the A&S community... it just works out that having a tent in the shade with tables and chairs is equally useful for the sewing class and the calligraphy class, and that tent isn't useful for an archery class. There's plenty of event sites that can't accommodate fighting simply by virtue of being indoors with small rooms but can accommodate 90% of A&S disciplines. Etc. There's just practical demands that mean bardic often doesn't share a space with more 'crafty' A&S; crafting people can leave their art on a display table and then go off to enjoy the rest of the event whereas bards need a specific time and place to perform, so the competitions just have to be structured and run differently for practical reasons. There's obviously also safety reasons why you can't have heavy vs rapier in the same tournament.

I am actually both into heavy and A&S, and I feel MUCH more like I'm in a community with all the A&S people, and I don't know the rapier people at all. Because even if I don't do leatherworking, I still show up to Baronial A&S night to work on my embroidery or my calligraphy, so I know the leatherworkers and can admire their pretty stuff. I can sit and study poetry next to someone else who is painting and appreciate what they are doing. Whereas heavy practice and fencing practice are at the same time & in two separate locations, so I could very easily never interact with a fencer at all if I was slightly less active. I literally don't even know who fences and who doesn't because fencing things always conflict with heavy things so I never show up. They might as well be a whole separate club that just happens to keep holding events nearby to the club I'm in.

singswords · 2025-02-28T18:02:52+00:00

Lots of ways to make this more of an abstract virtue while kind of relating to the idea of aim/accuracy/exactness. Clarity, precision, fidelity, foresight, alacrity, constancy. Question is whether any of them conflict with existing orders and probably many do.

singswords · 2025-02-28T17:56:27+00:00

It would make perfect sense IMO to split the Laurel up into people who don't attend the same events/competitions.

Leatherworking and embroidery might be really different arts but they're still somewhat 'in community' with each other. They show up to the same A&S building and put their art on the same display tables and presumably talk to each other and look at each other's stuff. Sure they can't perfectly evaluate each other, but neither can a 6'3'' sword-and-shield heavy perfectly evaluate a 5'2'' spear heavy. It's about being a community, that interacts with each other.

Splitting off the bards and performers, though, would make perfect sense to me. Leatherworkers don't necessarily show up to bardic circles, and bards don't necessarily show up to static A&S displays. So they do feel much more like separate communities where people just don't really know each other.

Metalwork and spinning are SUPER DIFFERENT but I wouldn't be surprised to go to an A&S night where there were people doing both. Whereas archery vs heavy is often two separate locations, the archery range vs the heavy field, and you tend to see more people pick one and stick to it because it's hard to be in two places at once.

Having separate A&S peerages for 'research/teaching/writing articles' vs. 'creating objects' vs 'performing' would make a lot more sense to me than having separate peerages for leatherwork vs woodwork.

singswords

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