#open session

Our first open session of the year was centred around the theme ROOTS.

(Image provided by Cynthia Florek ♥) 

In her blog post 'movements like trees' adrienne maree brown asked, 'where are you growing your roots, who are you intertwined with? these feel like crucial questions right now.' Almost nine years later these questions remain crucial for FKRG, as we embark on a new year of figuring out what it means to work with and through each other. And still, more questions arise. What does it meant to be rooted on stolen land? What roots have we been made to forget due to colonial violence and forced migration? What rooting processes have we been forced to be complicit with? What are the roots we have chosen, and what roots do we want to choose? How are these choices influenced by the lineages that have come before us, these inherited histories, the ways they refuse to be straight? What is happening beneath us, within us, that we can't see or name but sustains us, makes us whole, facilitates our growth? How do these twisted, fragmented, beautifully queer roots tangle together, just as we tangle together? How will this tangled and twisted mess become the foundation for our group?

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Readings

Excerpts from Sara Ahmed’s interview on Lithub: “Once we find each other, so much else becomes possible” 

Oodgeroo Noonuccal - The Past

Music

akka - home as a temporal, not spatial, category

Laurel Halo - Raw Silk Uncut Wood 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Until next time, happy (or not) Feminist Killjoy-ing! 

To join the open session. Yes, it is OPEN to ALL, but to become a piece you must send an application first. This is not first come first serve. Submit your answers when it is completed.

NAME:

PURPOSE IN LIFE:

STRENGTHS:

WEAKNESSES:

FAVORED PERSON:

FAVORED OBJECT:

WHAT WOULD YOU STEAL FROM A STORE:

WHAT WOULD YOU GIVE TO A HOMELESS PERSON:

WHAT DO YOU LOOK FOR IN A PERSON:

Generally, I find Open Sessions tedious. They take forever, and span a wide array of topics only interesting to the speaker of said topic. The speakers, despite their fervor, tend to either be clueless, wrongheaded, and often are unaffected by the topic they are passionately expounding upon. This, mostly, was not the case with the latest Session.

The session opened with an announcement that a Durango Jake was running for office in the Western Commons district, and he was given call to speak first. Now I do not know this man, but I was amused. Not only is the Western Common one of the poorer districts in the city, but it has as the crown jewel of Seraph incident report sites, the Busted Flagon. Yes, yes, you know the place where the drunken Charr go after last call in the Black Citadel to look for fights. Who would want that mess to have their name on it? If he wins the office, I suspect he will find a mound of Seraph reports six feet high where his desk should be of alleged incidents in the Flagon. I do wish Durango Jake the best of luck, he will need it to govern that rat-warren. Maybe the owner will offer him a discount on the ale.

Now, here is where things really diverged from normal. Instead of multiple speakers raising various issues, the entire night focused on one issue, at length and great probing depth. It seems that the lovely Lady Larkspur has in fact formed a colony in the depths of the Maguuma Wastes. They have named it Olivia's Refuge. Free of the Queen's writ, it apparently has become a haven for those tired of Krytan politics. The entire colony appears to have Vice-Legate Thermogan ((see ooc note)) and much of the Ministry aghast. However, the colony itself was not the primary topic, it was merely the backdrop.

Allegedly, a nameless Shining Blade officer, performed an execution on a prisoner awaiting trial and transport back to the Reach within the private jurisdiction of this refuge. The victim, who may or may not have been a White-Mantle Cultist was slain in the colony. The political ramifications of a Krytan citizen being slain in a free-city-state consumed the majority of the session. The Ministry seemed adamant that the situation be thrice investigated: First, to confirm the truth of the death of the captive cultist. Second, to determine if the Shining Blade acted legally in allegedly executing the prisoner outside the jurisdiction. Finally they will investigate, to figure out what part Lady Larkspur played in this fiasco, though the Lady herself was adamant she would assist their investigations however she could.

Unfortunately, the return of the prisoner's remains to Kryta is already being hampered by a downed airship set upon by assassins out that way as well. Mantle Cultists, rogue Shining Blade agents, murders, assassins, airship crashes, truly this Olivia's Refuge is a fantastic tale! Surely this colony, whether it succeeds or fails will fuel the next decade of adventure novels detailing the plights of Lady Larkspur on her quest for fashion and freedom! I can't wait to transcribe them, even if they will undoubtedly be in New Krytan.