[Ansteorra] Events in the Last Five years

[Melissa Baxter-Kosub]

When I first started participating in the SCA the idea of high persona 
events freaked me out.  I wouldn't go to one because I felt that I 
wouldn't fit in or totally mess something up and be humiliated in front 
of everyone.   So, when several years later someone told me that here in 
Bjornsborg we had high persona events I stared at them like a deer in 
headlights.  What?  We were just having fun and being silly.  Yeah, 
sometimes the event called for emotional, passionate dialog between 
personas but that was just us having a good time.  Then I realized that 
it wasn't something scary.  High persona was the ability to play make 
believe, adopt words and phrases that were not necessarily our own, and 
be transported to another world.

Today, if I witness persona exchanges going on, I will stay to the back 
and try not to intrude.  I am not good at the language part of it, but I 
love to see the whole plan unfold.  I can go to the event, try to keep 
modern issues and items in check and enjoy the magic that is being 
created around me.  When I do try my hand at persona play I am who I am, 
I just try to do it in a different manner.

High persona events are no longer scary to me.  They are actually 
something I look forward to as I know that the magic that everyone seems 
to be missing can be created there.  To give an example, the very first 
event I attended was a Viking wedding.  During the course of the evening 
I was scooped up by Master Ragnar and carried away.  He was "in persona" 
and I was a bit shocked but quickly figured out what was going on.

YIS,
Lady Branwen

Jean Paul de Sens wrote:
> I think I'm going to say what some others are thinking, but might be
> uncomfortable saying.  I think it's almost a dirty secret for someone to not
> think persona play is wonderful.
>
> I don't particularly care for high persona events.  I do not role-play well,
> and it's not something I particularly enjoy doing.  Event's that have large
> amounts of persona play make me feel uncomfortable and weird.  JP is really
> the same person as Carl Chipman, although they dress totally different.  The
> few times I have played D&D or other role-playing games, I am usually unable
> to play someone who's not similar or exactly the same as myself.  When
> someone forces persona play on me, I am usually extremely discomforted.  I
> usually enjoy *watching* great persona play, and consider some of my
> favorite people those who do a great job of persona play, but I don't care
> to participate.  For me it's a spectator sport.
>
> Now, I try to be as good as a person as I can, but I do that at both event
> and mundane life.   I love seeing good clothing, eating great food,
> simulating un-armoured and armoured combat to the best of our safety, and
> generally being in the company of people who still think that your word
> means something, and that honor has a place in the world.  For what I love,
> the role playing just gets in the way, for it obscures the truth of people.
>
> So the thing you lament going away, I have mixed feelings about.
>
> I think that there are others that feel this way, or similarly.
>
> JP
>