« i've lived my whole life in eorzea, but being half garlean has always made me feel as if i'm half fascist. »« i was running away from the empire so long that i forgot to heal from the scars it left on me. »« i couldn't just go back home and pretend everything was normal. not after everything that happened while i was conscripted. »« there's a level of individual control the empire exerted on you... our very names were determined by how much compliance we gave them. it's hard to connect sometimes with people who aren't aware of the depth of that. how that changes a person.»

Anyone with a desire to learn how to adjust (or re-adjust) to life outside the Empire is welcome, regardless of race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, income or profession. And it’s free.You can just sit and listen and learn more about recovery, or you can share about your situation. It’s completely up to you.We are people who have discovered and admitted that we cannot live without acknowledging the impact that our time under the Empire left on us. We have learned that we must acknowledge that weight and change how we conduct ourselves in a world healing from the Empire's campaigns to to live normal, happy lives.

1 ‣ There shall be no endorsement of the Empire or any of its facets. Anyone who desires for the partial or whole reconstruction of Imperial Garlemald will be shown the door - with force, if necessary.2 ‣ Views that may be ignorant or insensitive holdovers from time spent within the Empire will be challenged by others in attendance.3 ‣ Staff or attending guests both may contribute to discussions of how to move forward in the wake of the Empire.4 ‣ The Broken Collar Club's primary purpose is to understand our place as remnants of the Empire in a world without it, and to find out how to conduct ourselves with respect for those who lived outside it.

4 ‣ We do not believe that blood makes or unmakes an Imperial - only one's actions and words.5 ‣ It can be difficult to connect with others and reach genuine understandings with others who do not have personal experience with the Empire's abuses toward its own citizens. We understand that our ability to adjust and develop normal relationships depends on our processing the scars left on us by Garlean rule.6 ‣ Speak no ill of those who are not Garlean themselves, including those who have committed violence against us, even if we perceive it to be "unprovoked". They are justified in their hurt.

1 ‣ THIS IS NOT A GATHERING PLACE FOR GARLEAN OCS. Please do not attend under the assumption that this is a "Garlean get-together". This space was created with the intent of bringing together writers who are explicitly interested in imperialism as a depraved, irredeemable system, and exploring what it means to have once participated with or without one's consent.2 ‣ We are not particularly interested in having writers bring characters who are sympathetic to the empire or who endorse its systems. If your intent is to bring a Garlean or Garlean-adjacent character who enjoyed their time in the Empire or would see it return: don't.3 ‣ OOC bigotry ( racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, etc ) will result in you being shown the door. Our staff are BIPOC and queer and will prioritize the safety of marginalized groups.

4 ‣ If you are the kind of writer who, out of character, believes things like "Ala Mhigo deserved it" or "the Empire brought stability to regions that needed it", you are better set not attending. While IC and OOC are not the same, we believe that holding these kinds of beliefs that justify Imperial Garlemald out of character undermine your ability to write a respectful and nuanced story about fascism and its impact on people. Without comprehending the very real impact of these systems on people in the world around us, we would not be able to address these themes in a way that accurately represents the effects similarly had on characters present at this event. These uninformed or unaware writing choices are simply not the kinds of narratives that we are interested in exploring, and other spaces would be better for you.5 ‣ In case it's not clear at this point: this event is hosted by those scary "left-wing extremists" grandpa talks about at thanksgiving. This event similarly ascribes to those values. If you take significant issue with this, we suggest doing what we did and making your own event.

Yora Caarvelian | former pilus prior, former alaudae

"i did everything right. still, it wasn't enough. every privilege i thought i earned for giving everything to the empire had... contingencies. fine print. so many never reached the point where independence became a threat, and they stripped you of every comfort you thought your hard work had paid for. no one was truly exempt. but that loss wasn't the end of it - no. bodies have use, even without autonomy."

HALF-GARLEAN, HALF-ELEZEN | 39 YEARS | IVTH LEGION → ALAUDAE
Daughter of a Decemvir, she thought her rights were assured, once. Naïve. The Empire's promises were always half-truths. She thought her devotion to her Legion would earn her security. You'd be hard pressed to think of a more brutal way to be humbled than to fall into the Alaudae, framed for a crime by a cohort who couldn't tolerate taking orders from a mongrel like her. She understood, then, that even the Empire's most loyal hounds would only prosper as long as they followed orders.

Vieu Greystone | former magitek engineer

"i kept my head down, once upon a time. offered no kindness nor action to those needin' it most. that cowardice will always be a part of my history, but lending an ear to folks now – it's kinda healing, yeah? understanding what the empire was has given me the means to process and grieve. "

GARLEAN | 37 YEARS | XIVTH LEGION → VIITH LEGION
He was a troublemaker in the Academy. One brawl too many, a few absences here and there – it added up, eventually. It got him expelled, as things do, and he was tossed into the waiting arms of the XIVth.Van Baelsar’s "sensible" rule was no less brutal than any other; he would learn this well enough to cast any idea of doing right onto the blood-stained land he stood on. Withdrawn, silent, compliant— such behavior deserved a reward. He was transferred to Project Meteor within a few years of service.

"WHAT IS THE ORIGIN OF THE NAME BROKEN COLLAR CLUB?"
"Broken collar" refers to the event running character, Yora, having the collar she had to wear in the Alaudae get snapped off. In the Gunbreaker quest line, you get to meet a unit of convicts called the Alaudae, who were forced to fight using electric shock collars. It's a very explicit, brutal portrayal of Garlemald's total authority over a person. You're only a citizen until you do a crime, but even after committing a crime, your body still belongs to them. You can still be forced to do their will. Representing people who are irreparably scarred by their time in the Empire using that imagery felt especially poignant.The "Club" at the end just made it sound more complete, but it also seemed like a very tongue-in-cheek way of referring to this group of Imperial runaways who all had one thing in common: they were traumatized by that experience. It's not a club you really want to be a part of, but it's what they have."YOU SAY YOU'RE LEFT-WING. WHAT SORT?"
Personally, I'd describe myself as an anarcho-communist, but I use the term a little more loosely than some others who might also identify the same way. Our community has a lot of other members of anarchist denominations, socialist denominations, communist denominations, etc. We talk a lot about sociopolitical theory and practice, as well, which is a little unusual in the XIV venue space. A lot of us have special interests in political theory, sociology, or are pursuing (or have) degrees in psychology, anthropology, history, cultural theory, etc."I'M STILL NOT CONVINCED. CAN YOU POINT TO SOME SPECIFIC BELIEFS ENDORSED?"
ACAB, Free Palestine, Land Back. We completely understand that many people who write Garlean characters - and further who intentionally seek out writing with more Garlean writers - hold some questionable beliefs out of character; many writers gravitate toward Imperial characters because of aesthetic reasons, or because they want the opportunity to write a villain, but often do not accept retaliation against those villains. Some of them are ignorant to real-world parallels to their actions and writing and do not understand how systemic oppression works. That, or they comprehend how it works in theory, but do not seem to acknowledge that these axes of oppression affect the people around them as well. Some of them engage in more subtle forms of discrimination in avoiding BIPOC in their spaces, or repeating orientalism that is commonly used in the roleplaying community. We hope with this event to eliminate some of those concerns when writing about the Empire's more challenging themes.

"DOES THE EVENT OFFER OTHER RESOURCES ASIDE FROM MEETINGS?
The event is hosted in the venue belonging to the Wyld Hunt. There is a kitchen available for those in need to use, rooms for the unhoused, and jobs to take for those in need of employment. So long as those in attendance will to better themselves, those organizing the event will do their best to provide those supports."HOW DOES SOMEONE JOIN?"
Just arrive on the date of the event at the address, and feel free to come in! There isn't an official membership. No subscription, no fees, no need to write your name down on any lists or records. The concept is inspired by Alcoholics Anonymous, so there is no formal bind to the group as an organization or structure."WILL CHARACTERS IN ATTENDANCE BE VETTED?"
At present, there are no plans to do advance vetting for those attending the Broken Collar Club. If it becomes necessary through whatever unfortunate means, we can look into it, but for the present moment, anyone is welcome.If you are concerned about how sensitive or appropriate your Garlean character may or may not be, you are more than welcome to join our Discord community to receive advice from other writers on how to handle themes of Imperialism and like concepts with respect."BUT THE EMPIRE DID HELP SOME ECONOMIES. CAN I NOT SAY THAT?"
Repeating this concept is a red flag. It's indicative, in our opinion, of deeper misunderstandings of sensitivity on a more fundamental level. Why is this a good thing, to you? Why, when an economy of a "disadvantaged" country is struggling, does that suddenly justify the incursion of another society to take over and impose their own standards upon those people? The concept of sending in a foreign military to "stabilize" countries populated by a less white population invokes less discomfort to most people than the exact same thought, replaced with a majority white population. You may look the other way or say "they needed the help" if I were to mention western intervention in Iraq or Brazil. Would you be as comfortable with the same idea, with no changes made, if it were France? The UK? The US? If you react any differently to the idea of "intervention" to Iraq versus to a European country, this is an internal prejudice you need to be willing to evaluate before coming to our events.The parallels present in FFXIV are not exactly hard to see. Garlemald is a clearly European culture. Ala Mhigo, on the other hand, is far less so. The concept that Garlemald had the "right" idea and needed to "help" any other "less fortunate" culture is one that plays into real world white supremacist parallels. The economy is not a "benefit" that overrules the right to sanctity of a nation's culture, practices, and ability to self-determine.That aside, this simply isn't true. Encyclopedia Eorzea makes quite clear that the Empire put the majority of the populations of their conquered nations into living conditions hardly above those of slaves. If you've bought into Garlemald's propaganda as a writer, we have little faith in your ability to address these topics narratively in an encompassing and informed manner.