Themes: ptsd, fighting, escapism, guilt
When the Kims adopted little Nuri, the child had been mute, shellshocked by the war atrocities that had orphaned them in Co Hoi. Years of therapy and a stable, upper-middle-class life had allowed Nuri to put that past behind them, to block off those memories for what they had thought would be forever. Their adoptive grandparent Kiran, a famous Lo Manthang stick fighting champion, had encouraged them to pursue martial arts, and violent Sam bo boxing had become Nuri’s way to meditate, to silence the voices in their head. They had been slated for a place at university when the Kims fled the war at their doorstep, and between the sudden descent into poverty, being labelled a “dirty refugee”, and flashbacks from the Pale, Nuri is struggling once again with memories they had thought were long forgotten. They joined the Fight Club to help silence those voices from the past and found a new friend in Reine Gessle, someone who also introduced them to the rougher side of drillslam. As Nuri’s family and future crumble around them in La Cage, will they be able to leave the past in the past again and move on, or will they give in to ever more violent coping mechanisms?
FULL GROUP TEXT
(mandatory for members of the group and Immigration Officers, optional for others - for example various other foreigners)
The immigrant housing occupies one whole wing of La Cage, the more decrepit one, hosting families that are far from home. People love creating distance between one another. Migrants from Graad and Oranje and some undocumented poor souls live here, stuck between horrible jobs in local sweatshops and old dreams. All together, squashed under one roof, the various cultures are clashing and mixing with each other, while everyone is still trying to maintain a sense of belonging. But is it even possible to call La Cage home?
The North Wing Crew is a fresh local La Cage street posse, that took on a legacy of a previous crew during a power vacuum, centered around the Immigrant wing. Always sporting the orange color and patched jackets, keeping it fresh and always reciting some experimental dope bars while blasting loud and aggressive music on the corners of their turf and having a life-long rivalry with a South Side Crew group. They spend their time not only spray-marking their territory and coming up with lit insults and rhymes, but also often making bold claims about how they will fuck the South Side Crew up, and then have to fulfill that promise. After all, they fight from the position of the underdogs, who are going to show the fancy-ass Apartment people, who are the real deal here.
“Come by and watch the spectacle! Watch adults pummel each other bloody! Watch the gladiators of our modern times face off for your amusement!” So read the worn posters and flyers every week. The Fights are happening weekly, and are one of the few entertainment establishments in La Cage. Everyone knows the story of the rise of the “Red Bannerman” and the “Twirling Moustache” - glorious fighters in a bloody sport. As part of the Fight Club, you might be one of these fighters, facing off with wooden sticks, some bringing the finesse of ancient samaran martial arts, while others beat down their opponents with brute force.
