... and found wanting

[wiseheart]

Warning: heavy sarcasm behind the tag. Read for your own peril!

A couple of months ago I applied for membership to the oltramar comm, which is, based on their profile, specifically interested in the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and its leading personalities, especially in the 12th century. With an additional interest for the movie "Kingdom of Heaven". They have very strickt conditions to approve someone - conditions that I apparently cannot fulfill. I suppose, they've checked my profile, and aside my numerous medieval-related interests they found a thing or two that made me unworthy of their exalted company.

I still put the comm on my watching list, because the discussions are very interesting. At least one person seems to have a definite interest in Hungarian history, although I couldn't figure out whether they're Hungarian themselves or not. Too bad that I was identified as part of the great unwashed masses unfit for their ivory tower. :(

Granted, I'm not an historian myself, nor do I have such an in-depth scientific knowledge in medieval history as most people over there seem to have, but I do have an interest in a lot of topics discussed by them. Ah, well, it's the same as the very elitist Tolkien fandom circles where non-scholars with merely love and interest for the topic are not welcome.

Comments

[espresso-addict.livejournal.com]

They might just have reached a fixed number limit. A lot of old fandom mailing lists used to restrict numbers to, say, twenty people to keep discussions general and manageable.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

In which case a simple "sorry, we cannot accept new members right now" message would have been the polite thing to do. Besides, the comm really doesn't have all that many members, nor is it that old. Ah, well, it's their loss.

[jsks.livejournal.com]

sends hugs.

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

That's very kind of you, although I'm actually more annoyed than hurt or whatnot. It's the same effect as with fanfic. Big Name Authors are a small, exclusive circle with an army of devout followers. Other people rarely are given a chance.

[jenn-calaelen.livejournal.com]

*hugs* People are idiots!

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

No, actually, they are snobs. As I said, the whole thing reminds me of the Tolkien fandom, where certain authors have somehow reached such an exalted status that everyone is in constant awe by anything they write (even if it is rubbish), while others get simply ignored.

[missyvortexdv.livejournal.com]

Hmm, sounds more than a bit annoying - just what do they require?

[wiseheart.livejournal.com]

I honestly haven't got a clue. When I applied for membership, a general note popped up, telling me that they won't accept everyone out of the blue; that my request would be evaluated, and if they found me fit, I'd be added to the comm. And that was basically it.