#so far majid’s stories have just been him getting help from the people around him but hey

[wondersbeyondcompare]

Majid’s School Uniform Story (R)

aka riddle gets to tutor another unfortunate soul

“The library is an ideal place to nap… Just don’t tell Senior Jamil about this, okay?!”

[Location:NRC Library]

Majid: *yawns* Seems like I’ve studied enough Magic History for today. Haah… If only Mr. Trein would lighten up on the homework. So what if that essay had to be 4 pages front AND back? He should’ve been more clear about that in his lecture.

Majid: …Well, not like I was listening in the first place. *yawns* The sunlight there is always so nice in the afternoons… I can’t help but sleep a little while I’m there.

*rustle* *rustle*

Majid: Ah, and the next subject I have to work on is…Math? What a pain of a class. *yawns* If only… if only I could juusst-

*thunk*

Majid: *snoring*

*footsteps*

Riddle: Is that…

*footsteps* *THUD*

Majid: !!!

Riddle: I thought so. You’re a freshman from Scarabia, correct? The one who’s always getting pulled along by your vice dorm leader because you keep dozing off?

Majid: …Sure.

Riddle: The library is not an appropriate place to sleep. If you wanted to take a nap, then hurry back to your dorm room, and do it there.

Majid: Yeah, okay.

Riddle: You… you’ve been acting rather impudent for a while now. I’m a 2nd year, you know? You should speak to your seniors with more respect. AND no one should be using the library as a place to procrastinate like this. Not to mention the way you present yourself in your uniform… You leave me no other choice. State your name.

Majid: What for?

Riddle: Your actions have been deplorable. I need your name to report them to your dorm leader.

Majid: Haha… It’s not like the dorm leader’s gonna care much about something as small as napping. Can’t you just let this slide?

Riddle: Alright, then I’ll talk to your vice dorm leader instead.

Majid: Ah, it’s Sebek Zigvolt, sir.

Riddle: Don’t mess with me!! Sebek Zigvolt is a Diasmonia student!

Majid: Well, I never said that was my name. I was just pointing out that he was walking right behind you at that moment.

Riddle: …Ah, so he was- HOLD ON A MINUTE.

*rustle*

Riddle: AND WHERE EXACTLY DO YOU THINK YOU’RE GOING?

Majid: Tch. And I thought this would be the perfect time to escape too.

Riddle: TELL ME YOUR ACTUAL NAME, OR IT’S OFF WITH YOUR HEAD.

Majid: SH- SHAHIN, MAJID. MY NAME IS SHAHIN, MAJID, SIR;;;

Riddle: *sighs* So, Majid then. Good.

Majid: ‘What the hell’s ‘off with your head’ supposed to mean??? Is it some kind of decapitation spell???? Was I about to die a couple seconds ago??? Do the library workers have to clean up my splattered remains after this guy’s done with me??? Surely that kind of thing wouldn’t be allowed- No… our headmaster is plenty screwed up; he wouldn’t do anything to help me-’

Riddle: Majid.

Majid: !!! Yes.

Riddle: *tap* *tap* Is this a worksheet from your math class? I saw a couple of my underclassmen trying to finish it in our dorm… You should really get started on it. The deadline is tomorrow, correct?

Majid: Uh, yea- yes. I’ll go ahead and do that… sir.

Riddle: Well?

Majid: Wait, right now?

Riddle: Why not? The library is a valuable spot for information, so you could always use as many reference books as you see fit. Besides, I’m pretty sure the second you step foot in your dorm, you’ll collapse onto your bed and leave your work unfinished until the last minute.

Majid: …Are you sure we haven’t met before?

Riddle: *sighs* I was just generalizing based on what I’ve seen some of your peers do… Don’t tell me that the rest of the underclassmen are this prone to procrastination too… *rustle* Here. Start with question 1.

Majid: Fine, fine. *scribble* *scribble*

Riddle: …

Majid: *scribble* *scribble*

Riddle: Ah, that’s wrong.

Majid: Excuse me?

Riddle: That step you took right there. You forgot to distribute the negative sign to both variables.

Majid: Right… okay. Thanks.

Riddle: And on number 3, you graphed the wrong system of equations. A slope of 3/4 should be less steeper than that.

Majid: Gotcha.

Riddle: And number 2-

Majid: OKAY, okay! I get it! I did everything wrong! I’ll just erase all my answers, okay?! Jeez, you lecture as much as Jamil…

Riddle: This won’t do… At this rate… Alright.

Majid: And why are you sitting across from me now?

Riddle: It seemed like you were struggling on your own. And I have a few minutes of free time. Don’t worry; I’m at the top of my class in all of my subjects. Teaching algebra is hardly a daunting task.

Majid: But I don’t need any help. And should you really be letting your guard down to tutor someone from another dorm? Scarabia’s test scores are known for rivaling Octavinelle’s, y’know?

Riddle: Well, judging from how you answered those questions, it would be foolish to consider you a threat in the first place. Besides, what’s the point of defeating an opponent if they’re not at their best? Just consider this as a kind offer from your upperclassman to unlock your full potential.

Majid: …I can’t help but feel like I was insulted multiple times in those first two sentences, but thank you.

Riddle: Of course. I’ll do everything in my power to make sure you don’t tarnish this school’s good name.

***

[Location: NRC Library (Late Afternoon)]

Riddle: TCH. I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT YOU HAD TO DO THE MULTIPLICATION SECTION FIRST, AND THEN YOU CAN ADD LIKE TERMS.

Majid: …

Riddle: AND HOW MANY TIMES DO I HAVE TO REPEAT THIS FORMULA TO YOU??? IT’S SO SIMPLE. EVEN A JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT COULD HAVE MEMORIZED THIS THE FIRST TIME IT’S TAUGHT TO THEM .

Majid: …….

Riddle: Ah… No, wait… I apologize. I didn’t mean to raise my voice… *sighs* But Majid, it’s been well over an hour now, and we’re not even halfway through your homework. Are you sure you’ve been taking this serio-

Majid: OF COURSE I’VE BEEN TAKING THIS SERIOUSLY!

Riddle: !!!!!

Majid: The teachers, hell, even my own classmates always end up asking me that same question! “If only you put a bit more effort into your studying”,; “You have a lot of potential… if only you could put a little more effort too”! As if I didn’t spend a ton of time already on my homework!! I had a shitty education when I was younger and sometimes I fall asleep in class, so I get that I won’t be as smart as everyone else, but…

Riddle: Majid…

Majid: I thought that I at least had the basics down… I guess no matter how hard I try, it’ll never be enough, huh?

Riddle: That’s not true.

Majid: Are you-

Riddle: I’m not lying to you. We can set aside your homework for now, but in the meantime, let me help you plan out some personalized study techniques. I can’t guarantee you’ll be in the top percentage of your class, but I can definitely save you from hearing those hateful words ever again. We’ll make sure your efforts don’t go to waste.

Majid: Aah… Thank you… Seriously, thank you so much…sir.

Riddle: Heh. Don’t worry about it. This is just another part of my duty as a fellow student of Night Raven College. Also make sure not to yell like that in the library ever again.

Majid: But weren’t you also just… Never mind, I understand.

Riddle: Good.

***

Majid: ‘This guy… what was his name again?’

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

Birthday prompt #4

(I’ll have them all posted in a couple of hours, she’d said. AH! Such naivety. Guys, I swear. Formatting nine stories on tumblr and on Ao3 is killing me xD)

Read on Ao3 Birthday prompts masterlist

@siszx

[Happy coming B day! Yay! (why am I so excited...) I’m thinking it might be a good idea to have behind scene POVs from both Cris and Agnes from ep 6-10 on how they became closer to each other...It might not be difficult for Cris to care about people as it is who he naturally is. But an intimate relationship? I bet he hasn’t been there with anybody for quite long... Well, is it too much to ask???]

Or: Cris and Agnes' relationship is complicated, it's weird, and it's worth it.

The first time they sleep together – the only time, so far – Cris knows Agnes is not just making a mistake. She calls it that, sure – rather unflattering, although he later comes to suppose that it has more to do with her being worried about hurting him than the other way around.

But it’s not just a mistake.

It’s a move. (It’s her trying to fill the void inside, to heal the terrible wounds Oh and her own actions have left on her soul. It’s her trying to distract herself from the fact that she’s just killed her once lover. Maybe it’s her trying to prove that she isn’t a praying mantis. Cris doesn’t know that the first night. He just knows it’s a move.)

They explore each other that night, but their souls remain off-limits. Agnes’ hand strays to Cris’ many scars and there’s a little bit of fear in her eyes, something not quite like horror, or disgust, but something unsettled. “Why do you even have scars?” She would ask if she dared, because her own skin is unmarred, flawless – because dermal regenerators are a thing and some of the scars are way too big and too bad not to have required one.

He wouldn’t answer even if she asked. Cris likes Agnes. He likes her shy smile, and the way she’s so tiny against his chest right now, the way she rambles when she’s nervous and often tries to annoy him into putting down his books. He likes how she’s so much lighter than the rest of them – except maybe for Elnor, although the kid knows death like few do, so maybe he isn’t that light after all.

What Cris doesn’t like is that he can see through the sunshine and the babbling and the cute smiles and make out the frayed edges, the anxiety that shouldn’t be here when you’re adorable and smart and sheltered like Agnes P. Jurati.

It could just be a one-night stand. That’s what they tell each other, that’s what Agnes desperately hopes for as Cris runs a gentle hand on her cheek and pushes her hair out of the way. They’re in her quarters, of course. He wouldn’t have sex in his own. That comforts her, in a twisted way, tells her he’s not actually letting her in. No broken hearts to worry about, then.

It also makes her feel empty, because Cris is so caring and so amazing and so anxious to meet her needs that it makes her wonder if the tough Captain thing isn’t all an act. She knew some of it was crap, sure. She knew that Cris cared. She’s just realizing how much.

And it’s not just about her either. He’s not in love, not at all. She clings to that while they have sex, remind herself that he won’t hate her in the morning. But she’s not that special. Cris just has a big heart, and so much room to fill.

That’s the mistake, in the end. Trying to feel better by sleeping with a guy she could care about. She asks him to leave when they’re done, and he doesn’t look upset. She feels terrible about it, and Elnor picks up on it the next morning.

Cris picks up on it too. He knows she’s not being honest, he knows proper little doctors who have never been to space and laugh in amazement at things like “romulan warrior nuns” and say “I’ve watered your plants” to make conversation don’t just decide to sleep away the pain.

She’s not the type, it doesn’t feel right. Cris is a pretty good judge of character, and when she sends him away he can see the despair in her eyes, the aborted hand motion that betrays her wanting to hold him there.

He leaves anyway, because if Agnes P. Jurati thinks sleeping with him was a mistake, that’s Agnes P. Jurati’s problem. It’s not his first one-night stand. He hasn’t invited her into his quarters anyway, it’s not like this is a heart thing.

He sees the signs when they approach the cube. The way she’s disappointed about not going aboard, tries to tell them it’s relief. Cris doesn’t buy it, because he knows people, he gets them without even having to try. That was part of his job as XO, really, the part that he’s pretty sure Emil inherited and he himself managed to retain. It’s not the same as being good with people, that one trait is a bit more damaged.

When he sees Agnes freaking out, when she says she’s done and that the Romulans will kill the robot girl and good riddance, he’s not sure what to do. He’s sure what to think though. Agnes throws up the cake and the Romulan snakehead is still tailing his Sirena (a snake trying to catch a fish, really, how stupid is that?), and he decides that they need to chat.

He really should have talked to Raffi before pressuring Agnes into admitting she’s the one with the tracker. He really shouldn’t have had the faintest sliver of suspicion towards Raffi at all, because she’s Raf, his big hermana Raf that he holds when she’s crying and stupid drunk, she’s Raf who’s been there for him and who he doesn’t even remember meeting because it’s been close to ten years now. He entertained the notion that maybe she had no choice, maybe she was being blackmailed with that kid of hers – it was dumb. It was dumb and he shouldn’t have.

It’s Raffi and he’s still not trusting enough for about half an hour, on the off chance that he’s wrong about Agnes, and it all goes to hell. He tells himself that he has to. He has to be cautious, because when he gets overconfident people get hurt, and he can’t add that to the blood that has painted the inside of his eyelids red. He can’t add to the nightmares.

So he doesn’t tell Raffi, and he goes to Agnes without realizing that Raf was onto her as well, and between the two of them they manage to push and press until Agnes completely shatters. Fuck him, so proud of himself for making her spill it, smiling at her like it’s an inside joke when she tells him it’s not Raffi.

Fuck him.

When he runs to sickbay, his EMH somberly tells him that another person has tried to kill themselves because he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, and that’s enough to make him shatter bark at Picard when he asks for an ETA. It’s enough to make him avoid sickbay and to shove the memory of his night with Agnes in a dark part of his mind that he only visits against his will – every time he sleeps.

Then there’s not-Jana, and it’s all too much. It’s Raffi who’s there to hold him together when his broken pieces splinter and crack into smaller ones, crumble into dust and leave his soul bleeding and raw. It’s Raf who is family and strokes his cheek and hands him coffee, and it’s Raf who gets to hear that fucking story he’s never told anyone.

When he tells Raf about his P— his Captain, not his dad, never his dad, he has completely forgotten about Agnes P. Jurati and her own shipload of problems. Agnes, he likes. Agnes, he cares about. Raf is his shelter, and there’s no comparing the two.

But when he’s done crying and Raf is done holding him, and he feels the tiniest bit like he can try and be the composed starship Captain again, the caring overflows. It’s the only thing he can do to fix his messes, isn’t it? Caring about the people hurt along the way, and helping them through it. That’s the thing his Captain failed at, opting out of the cleaning up when Cris desperately needed him there to make sense of things.

Cris has failed enough to fail on that.

He gives Soji french fries and ice-cream, asks Agnes if she’s okay, and talks about the Ibn Majid. He lets Soji steal his ship to save her family – and really, what else can he do when he watched the person he cared about most blow is own brains out? – and he lets her risk la Sirena to get to synth planet faster.

He gives and he gives, because every time he tries to get he fucks it up so badly that he’s known for a long time now that he’s better off never wanting anything from anyone ever again.

It’s kind of a relief to know that it wasn’t really Agnes’ fault. It’s enraging to know that the one officer responsible for destroying his dreams and his family is the one who ripped Agnes’ innocence from her. It doesn’t feel fair, and he hates that the universe had apparently enough of a sense of irony to make them meet.

Really? He wants to shout to the stars. Really? Her life couldn’t suck on its own? Everyone’s trauma on this goddamn ship has to be linked to that one time we beamed two synths aboard the Ibn Majid and I gained a lifetime’s worth of nightmares?

That makes him care ever more. It’s not fair and nothing has ever been, and he puts his heart on the line once again and decides that he’ll protect them, all of them. He’ll protect Agnes the brainwashed murderer he slept with, and Picard the grand heroic ass who can’t see beyond his next move and his redemptive mission, and Soji the synth girl he can’t look at without aching and who could possibly be the death of them all, and Elnor the brave kid they thought they’d lost and who looks at them like the hang the stars in the sky. Seven and Raffi can take care of themselves, not like this rest, and he can count of them to have his back as well.

But that stupid crew? He’ll jump between them and phaser bolts, and he’ll grab not-Jana n°2’s hand right as she moves to touch Agnes’ face. Never mind that she’s probably ten times stronger than she is. Never mind that looking at her makes him want to sob, that he won’t sleep for two weeks after this. Never mind that Agnes says it’s fine.

He’s not fine with it, he’s not fine, Agnes is not fine, and he cares.

And then Agnes has a cat in her arms and asks him not to forget her, and she speaks Spanish like she does everything, carefully and looking very cute, and he strokes her cheek. She’s inolvidable, like the rest of that stupid crew.

Maybe, just maybe, Cris regrets not inviting her in his quarters. Maybe that was his mistake. Maybe they could have had something before the world burns, as it might still happen. Maybe he regrets leaving that night instead of holding on to her.

She’s light and she’s cute and she shines like the stars, and perhaps he shouldn’t always settle for the easier relationships, for caring from afar. Maybe his heart needs to start taking risks again, when his body has no problems doing so.

When it’s over, when they’ve managed not to die – except for Picard, oh god, Cris is not sleeping for a month after that – and when it’s time to mourn and to let their guard down, Cris opens up to Seven. They’re so much alike and she reminds him so much of Raffi that it’s not hard. After all, opening up to Agnes was just a maybe.

She’s in that lab anyway, tinkering with Soji and Soong and he doesn’t want to know why.

Then Picard is back. Because of course he is. Of fucking course. (Cris is not sleeping for a long, long month. He can’t bear to close his eyes and see his pops alive and well only to wake up and to remember that people don’t come back to life. Not unless they’re Jean-Luc Picard, too good and too saintly for death.)

Agnes and Soji and Soong bring Picard back, and then it’s all ancient history, and everybody kind of shyly asks Cris for a ride home, and then adds that they don’t have to go straight away, that they could make a few detours here and there.

“If you want to stay, you could just say so,” he tells them.

His voice doesn’t shake, his hands don’t either, but his soul certainly does – because what if they don’t want to?

They all want to.

He maybe cries a little once he’s alone with Raf. And then he remembers another maybe, a more important one. Cris doesn’t want to fall in love. He doesn’t want to play into the worn-out romantic tropes, doesn’t want to risk losing Agnes’ affection over something so trivial as sex or the label “boyfriend,” doesn’t want to risk falling out and making her hate him.

(He doesn’t think she would.)

All the same, they’re a crew now, and as an XO he’d never have pursued a relationship with any of the other officers. He tells her all of that before they leave Coppelius, the two of them huddled beneath that tree where he talked to Seven. Agnes pulls a face.

“We… We don’t have to,” she murmurs. “The sex, and the boyfriend-girlfriend thing, I mean. We don’t have do that, not right away.”

That gets him to tilt his head curiously. Agnes feels shy and nervous and like she might be about to cry, but it’s kind of in a good way. Kind of in a way she’s only ever felt for Bruce, and that she knows was wrong in that particular case but isn’t wrong now. She doesn’t want to mess it up either, not after almost fucking up their crew and miraculously being granted the others’ forgiveness.

She doesn’t want to burn with desire for Cris and promise him her whole heart and soul, and feel too much and too strongly when they’re all so exhausted. She wants to rest. And she wants to rest in Cris’ strong arms, her face hidden in his neck, and she wants to breathe in the scent of la Sirena and aguardiente and real cigars on his skin, and forget everything else.

She wants this to be soft and caring, and nothing like in the holos where people pull each other out from the brink of despair by kissing passionately and making great love speeches. She just wants to rest, and she wants Cris to care about her, and she doesn’t want much more.

“We could just take it slowly,” she clarifies, and there are no butterflies in her stomach because this isn’t some sappy young adult novel. Her skin tingle, but that’s just a hormonal reaction to being this close to Cris, and that’s not love. “I’m don’t think I want to be in love with you.”

He nods. He doesn’t want her to be either. He holds her close, presses a kiss to her temple and blows on her face to get the hair out of the way.

“I just want to love you,” she feels compelled to add. And because she’s nervous, she rambles. “I want to see this grow one day at a time, and I don’t want to rush things or make a mess, or make everything awkward for everybody else by fighting and breaking up and making up and making out and ruining what we have. I want to wake up in my quarters and go eat cereals with Elnor and Soji and everybody without being annoyed at you not being there or waking up too early or too late. I don’t want to worry about any more broken hearts, and I don’t want to see you as just my boyfriend.”

On that, they are agreed. Cris smiles at her and lets her rests her head on his shoulder, and he kisses her temple again, and he tells her that they could make it work. He asks if just kissing is okay, because he’d kind of missed it, and Agnes’ skin is unmarred and flawless and so very soft. She says yes, but not big passionate kisses, just soft ones like he’s giving her now, and that’s great, because that’s just what he had in mind.

He feels great about not being girlfriend and boyfriend yet, and he feels great that she too knows they’re still too raw and too clumsy and too out of practice with that kind of things to make it work. He feels great that this is still going somewhere, and that this somewhere might be a real intimate relationship one day. He feels great that she wants to love him. He feels great that what they have is going to be inolvidable, and not just another one-night stand or a lover that goes wrong.

He feels great that he loves her.

He feels great.

[1dcraftawards]

April Author of the Month

Drumroll please.... our author of the month for April is...... 

@harrysdodgyankles!

Congratulations! Check out her interview with us below! 

1.Did you start writing fanfiction for One Direction, or was there another fandom that you wrote fanfiction for before this?

One Direction is the one and only fandom I’ve ever written fanfiction for. It was my first foray into the fiction-writing world--I’ve been reading fic since 2012 and I initially started exchanging stories with one of my best friends from high school in this email chain we had. We never planned on letting those stories leave our inboxes, but one day I guess I felt driven enough to start publishing my stories on the 1DFF website--and here we are, six years later!

2.How old were you when you started writing fanfiction?

I started properly writing my own fanfiction in 2013, so I was 16/17 years old. It was a while before I published anything I thought was quality (at least, back then), but I wrote pretty consistently until my sophomore year of college. I took a bit of a break, mostly to focus on school and get through my last two years of undergrad, but I’ve found a new motivation for writing and this resurgence has been treating me well so far!

3.What’s been your favorite fic you’ve written to work on so far?

All of my fics are my favorites for lots of different reasons. I love writing Sit Back because of the amount of research I’ve had to do for all of the different historical periods. I know far too much about the fall of the Roman Empire than I’d ever thought I would. I loved writing my various fic exchange pieces because of my love for beginning stories in media res; these challenges are the perfect opportunities for me to create AU worlds from scratch. Each story has a really special place in my heart--I reminisce on my writing processes for them pretty often, especially when I’m looking for inspiration and drive to formulate new stories.

4. Is there a fic that you really wanted to write, but you just never did?

I have a fic I started and never finished. A League of Their Own--I started publishing it, gosh, probably back in 2014. It has such a special place in my heart, but with where my life was at the time and all of the other responsibilities I had, I couldn’t give the story the time and effort it deserved. It was my only OU story and I wanted to do its characters justice--one day I hope to come back to it, but for now it’s sitting in my drafts folder collecting dust.

5. What’s your favorite trope to write?

I’m allergic to angst, so I try to stay away from it (mostly out of self-preservation for my emotions). I love writing friends to lovers and established relationship fics. Dad!Harry, Husband!Harry--anything fluffy involving commitment. I’m really into that.

6. What’s your ideal space to write in?

In my bed, usually at night when the rest of my house is asleep. I like the quiet stillness of my house--it helps me clear my brain and focus on the content of my piece. It’s also because no one knows I write fic, so there’s less chance of them accidentally seeing something on my screen and asking questions.

7. What inspires you to write?

Honestly, telling stories for people who don’t often get their stories told. This was an important lesson that took me a while to learn. I didn’t used to do this, but now I make a point to write characters who are often underrepresented; for me, as a South Asian Muslim woman, I come from a very miniscule corner of representation in the One Direction fan community. It’s important to me that I try to give us a voice in any way possible. Lots of people don’t realize the impact seeing someone like yourself on a screen can have--it’s a little thing, but it says a lot. It makes sure we aren’t erased, that we aren’t cast aside. That’s why all my fics have characters of color, especially characters of South Asian descent. And when people resonate with that--that’s the biggest inspirational motivating factor for me.

8. Do you typically like to listen to music when you write? If so, what do you listen to?

If I listen to music, it’s music that I don’t know the lyrics to. If I know the lyrics, I’ll start singing them, then I’ll start typing them! I typically go for soft, slow, vibey music--Majid Jordan, Daniel Caesar, Miguel, 6LACK. Mostly hip-hop stuff.

9. Do you have any plans for any future fic ideas you’d like to pursue?

I do! I’m currently writing a post-doc Harry fic that I’m SO excited about. I also have plans for a rewrite of ALOTO and an orchestra AU.

10. Do you have any advice for other writers in the fandom?

I don’t know that I’m entirely qualified to give advice, but I will say this. The most important thing is to write for yourself. When you put your writing out into the world, you don’t owe anyone anything--especially in the fic community, where the vast majority of writers are putting hours of effort into content that they post with no expectation of compensation in return. Yeah, it gets pretty easy to get bogged down in the number of likes and reblogs or the number of asks you get after posting something. But in the end, you’re writing because you’ve found a story you want to tell, so focus on telling that story in the best way you can. Everything else will come later.

11. What is your writing process like?

I’m still trying to find what works best for me, honestly. I usually start with one big document that has all my notes, researching, outlines, etc. Then I’ll break a chapter/one-shot down into scenes--I’ll write specifics of what I want to include, bits of dialogue that have come to me that I’d like to incorporate, and the like. Then I’ll write a full first draft in that same document. Once that’s done, I move it to a separate document and start editing or I’ll send it to my betas. So a finished piece for me looks like one big planning/draft document plus individual docs for each part of a story.

12. What inspired you to write “Sit Back”? How did you come up with the story idea?

I saw a prompt on one of those AU posts that was something like “we’re an immortal couple who likes to kill each other for fun.” I thought it was brilliant. I cranked out the first chapter in less than a day because I was so excited about all the possibilities swirling around in my head. It’s been an exhilarating story to write because of all the different AUs I’ve essentially created in this one story--a Civil War AU, a Roman Empire AU, a 1900s AU. And the elements of mysticism sprinkled throughout have been the most fun--I didn’t think it’d be this enjoyable to create a fantasy world, but I definitely wouldn’t be opposed to doing it again. There’s still one part left, and it’s proving to be the most difficult to write mostly because I know it’s going to break me.

13. Tell us about your upcoming story, “All The Things Yet to Come”.

The idea popped into my head after I caught up with my old departmental advisor at my university. He got married last year to a doctoral student in the same department, and I’d often wondered how that relationship came to be. They’re both two fairly quiet, incredibly intelligent, charismatic people. I wanted to explore that a bit more--so ATTYTC was born. Also, I wanted to write something other than a Uni AU since I’ve written too many of those. Harry as an academic is so enthralling, and the Harry in this story is one of the more guarded versions of him that I’ve created. It’s definitely going to be a journey and I’m thrilled to share it with everyone.

14. What is one thing you wish you would’ve known before you started writing 1d fic?

I don’t think there’s anything I wish I’d known about the 1D community, but I do wish I’d known what my own personal limits were in terms of how much I could handle. I think I went into it with unrealistic expectations for the amount of content I could produce. I wish I’d known a little more about my writing process and how long it takes me to be satisfied with something. Probably would’ve saved me a lot of disappointment.

15. Who has been your favorite OFC to write? Why?

I think it has to be Sofia from ‘You’ve Woken Up My Heart.’ There are certain qualities about her that I admire so much--her drive, her wit, her diligence. She knows exactly what she wants and how to get it. Because I’m also pursuing medicine, it was also fun to channel some of what I hope to be my future into her life. (Except I definitely don’t want to be a pediatrician. Yikes.)

16. Would you ever consider writing for any of the other boys?

I’ve written for Niall and Zayn in the past. I think there might even be a Louis one-shot from 2013 floating around somewhere in my drafts. At this point, however, I’ve been writing for Harry for so long, I feel like I’m pretty comfortable here.

[safehavenofmonsters]

I’m just thinking about all the lessons my Tw/st OCs have to go through in their stories...

(💎) Like Majid!!! For example!!! His story arc centers around the theme of having to eventually confront reality.

Especially his fears.

Look, I’ve already said/implied SO many times that Majid would rather throw himself into the sun than willingly enter a conflict. It’s not like Majid would back down from a fight, but if he has the choice to avoid it, THEN HE WILL AVOID IT LIKE HELL. This is why he hides himself on campus, why he sleeps so much and purposely avoids contact with any other people. And this is where the running gag of Jamil being forced to directly summon Majid b/c he has no clue where he is comes in but that’s a different story :,) and just a reference to Jafar and the Cave of Wonders lol

The boy is filled with so much suppressed anger and grief at the world that he felt abandoned him. He hates that he had to grow up so quickly just to survive. He hates that he always has to come up with plans for every second of his life just to avoid facing conflict. And he’s so, so tired of trying to find his worth in this stupid life of his. Isn’t it ironic? The one who determines other people’s worth can’t seem to find his own. He buries himself in expensive items and shining jewelry to distract himself and others from how empty his life truly is. Majid doesn’t even think about giving away parts of his wealth to things like charity, but it’s more out of fear than selfishness. B/c these riches are literally all he has left. Take away his wealth, and who is he? Just another poor, orphaned boy living on the streets.

But when Majid’s story progresses, he starts to encounter more and more stuff that he needs to resolve. And through MC’s help, he slowly comes out of his shell, eventually coming to the turning point in his story where he faces his most significant confrontation of all... the one possibility that gave him anxiety every waking hour of his days...

Finally confirming his parents’ fates after they had left him so long ago.

I want Majid to finally live his life after his arc. I want him to finally make the choice to keep moving forward, and to not stay stagnant in his life out of fear of what he’s left behind and what’s to come.

(👻) Berenice is really similar to Majid in terms of being fueled by grief and spite from her past that led to her pre-arc self.

She believes that she is furious at the society that treated her friend and many others like dirty outsiders, that she should take direct action and kill the evil at its source, making the lives of the most self-righteous people she could find a living hell. All with a cheeky smile on her face.

But no matter how much Berenice boasts about herself, even if it seems like she has a huge-ass superiority complex, she is still very much her old self-deprecating self. Some habits are just too difficult to quit and this is one of them. Her rage is far more internalized than she thinks, and she can try all that she can do to hide this, but some parts of her true feelings will come through.

Berenice tries to convince herself that “yes, it’s the world that’s at fault!!! i must take action into my own hands b/c there’s no way in hell this selfish world will ever change!!!” instead of acknowledging that she once was an active part of this selfish world. And that she was simply too late in realizing how awful it was for people other than herself. She’s mad that it took so long for her to come to this realization, and that it cost her her life and the one true friend she’s ever made.

Basically, Berenice is going through the motions of someone who was disillusioned by the world at an older age and has horrible, horrible coping mechanisms to deal with it. She takes the concept of nihilism and cranks it up to 100. Maybe even more when she realized that she couldn’t die that easily after her curse anyway. She is both physically and mentally stuck in time b/c she chooses to be. She doesn’t believe that the people at Night Raven College can change for the better, no matter how many years go by.

But it’s more like she doesn’t want to believe they can change. Because then all that spite she built up over the years, well, what was all that for? All her plans for revenge on NRC fall apart if Berenice sees everyone becoming all buddy-buddy with each other, and it both confuses and scares her. This is why Berenice stirs up so much trouble on campus. If she causes just the right amount of chaos, maybe NRC will stay the way it’s always been. Made up of kids with harmful prejudices and stupidly high guards.

She feels like this isn’t fair. Why couldn’t she have been born in a more righteous time period? Why did she have to continue to suffer the consequences of her actions from so long ago? Berenice is so, so envious of all the students there, and it takes a long time for her to realize that.

So, Berenice’s story would be based around the theme of??? Letting go??? That just b/c she suffered in the past doesn’t give her the right to make others experience the same fate. What Berenice had been through was awful, yes, and she has every right to be angry at how she’s been treated. But taking out her spite on others, especially on others who have never wronged her in the present, just isn’t the way to go.

And once Berenice realizes it’s time for her to move on... then maybe she can see her friend again...

(🦑) Kodi may have the “least trauma” out of my Tw/st OCs, but he still has some stuff to sort through regardless.

He’s desperate for attention, and I’ve shown this side of him!!! Multiple times!!! Mostly for comedic effect!!! But you gotta understand why I made him that way.

One of the big turning events of Kodi’s life was realizing his father forgot about him and his mother. I may have light heartedly dismissed his parent’s separation as “lol it was just your typical cheesy romantic summer romance; it just wasn’t destined to last in the 1st place”. However, Kodi’s mother still lets it occasionally slip that she’s hurt that her partner left her. Especially with a child she had no idea how to raise. And Kodi can sense that grief from her and feels guilty that he can’t do anything to help.

He sees himself a constant reminder of forgetfulness. Kodi is technically an only child, but he grew up among so many relatives that he sure didn’t feel that way. You would think that with so many people it wouldn’t be hard to get some attention. Well ( ・∇・) you thought wrong. The adults already have so much on their hands with the farm (heck i still don’t know what kind of farm it is yet oh no), so it’s not like they have a lot of time for every single kid there. And Kodi always felt a bit isolated from his cousins anyway. No matter how much he tried to fit in with them, there were always those conversations where he could never find the right time to come in. Or sometimes they would forget about him during games and end up leaving him in the dust.

Kodi’s mom tries to help him as best she could, of course, but sometimes... sometimes it’s just not enough. Kodi always focused on the quantity and not the quality of his attention when he was a kid, so being a “momma’s boy” just didn’t sit well with him.

I know I always have everyone forgetting he’s there as a running gag (or at least in my head I do), but if you take a moment to really think about it, then Kodi’s circumstances just kinda :/ they’re just awful. The boy tries SO HARD to get recognition for anything!!! However his stupid unique magic nearly erases his existence every single time. Even if he’s not using it. Kodi honestly has a god-like patience to put up with all this shit, because if I were getting forgotten all the time, even when I made a conscious effort to get noticed, I would just give up and spiral into depression.

The theme for Kodi’s story arc would center on, *ding* *ding* *ding* you guessed it. Self-worth! similar to majid’s but not quite! Kodi grew up to be a huge people pleaser, desperately vying for others’ attention. He tried several ways to improve himself, but it was always for the wrong reasons. Kodi needs to learn to live for himself for once. That just because others wouldn’t recognize the stuff you’ve done for them doesn’t mean you automatically become worthless. Basically, boy needs to practice some hardcore self-love and grow that spine he’s been missing from his pre-arc self by the end of his chapter lol

[cursedcandyroses]

My 5th Birthday Present To Macklemore & Ryan Lewis’“The Heist”

A gift like this isn’t something you wrap up all nice and neatly in the way some poor bastard working in a JCPenney’s around Christmas time would prefer to do it. This is one of those big gifts your parents drunkenly set up overnight in the backyard, slapped a bow on it, and the next morning said “Hey, go get your sister we have something cool for her”. My gift to “The Heist” is something that isn’t given often. It’s the gift of perspective, the gift of a defense, the gift of an explanation that may sway the still-salty Hip-Hop traditionalist inside of all of us. A gift that will be presented with dignity, grace, and by giving all the projects bed-time-story-book-level equivalents . “The Heist” rightfully won the Grammy for the best Hip-Hop album at the 2014 Grammy’s. Yeah, the Grammy they won over Jay-Z, Kanye, Kendrick and Drake. An album that came out in 2012 and became every soccer mom’s entrance into a world they stand out in (like Macklemore in most Hip-Hop events not attended by execs) Besides how strange is was that the award was given out in 2014, but thanks to the Olympics and the odd Grammy rules made it that way so we’re gonna sit down and like it. This was the year the little Seattle duo should have been honored to even be mentioned in the same breath as artists so many leagues above them. But there was a method behind the impending madness.

THE QUALITY TALK

Now as far as quality of the overall album, the only project nominated that year that was worse than “The Heist” was Jay-Z’s beautifully produced coconut of an album we call “Magna Carta Holy Grail”. Now since we’re on quality Kendrick’s “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” is in a different universe compared to “The Heist”. As far as other nominees went “Yeezus” was seen as one of the most polarizing albums since Kanye’s last experiment, 2008′s “808′s & Heartbreak”, yet was still critically acclaimed, and Drake’s “Nothing Was The Same” was seen as containing some of Drake’s best work to date. The win here goes to Kendrick, but Macklemore and company are no slouch. 

Round 1 Elimination: “Magna Carta Holy Grail”

THE POLITICAL TALK

Now we all know Kanye’s history with the Grammy’s, and that is something he may never be truly forgiven for in White America and the Committee’s eyes. If “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy” can’t win Album Of The Year while being one of the most raved about albums of ALL TIME, do you really think they’re going to give an award to something like “Yeezus” an album comparable to a silverback gorilla when woken from a very wonderful nap featuring a grand dream only to see that his shoes are being eaten by the weaklings of the jungle. As powerful as an enraged sneakerhead ape may be, it is again no match for the crushing strength of the Grammy Committee and its voters, which in this scenario we’re gonna picture as the Justice League if the Justice League was made up of guys who looked like Mitch McConnell and former winners.

Round 2 Elimination: “Yeezus”

THE REALLY BIG NUMBERS TALK

Now the Grammy’s have claimed for years in statements and in the description of what makes an “Album Of The Year” ( “ ..honor artistic achievement, technical proficiency and overall excellence in the recording industry, without regard to album sales or chart position.”) that sales have no influence on the future winner. Yet looking back at past winners of “Best Rap Album Of The Year” up until that year over 65% of the winners either had higher first week & total sales for the time leading to the award being given or more top 10 singles in comparison to it’s competitors. Oddly enough “The Heist” had the lowest first week sales of all the nominees with only 78k compared to 658k (Drake), 528k (Jay-Z), 370k (Kanye) and 242k (Kendrick). As far as singles went is where something strange happens. Kendrick had no Billboard Top 10 Hits, yet 3 singles moved into the Billboard Hip-Hop Top 10. 

*SIDEBAR: DIFFERENTIATING THE BILLBOARD CHARTS*

For those unknowing of the difference between the different types of Billboard Charts here’s a quick breakdown.

Every genre of music has their own individual chart, making it easier for artists to compare themselves to their contemporaries. R&B songs will be put against R&B, jazz against jazz etc. Now there is the Billboard Hot 100 Chart. This chart is a comprehensive ranking of songs regardless of genre, to see who has the most popular songs whether it is a hip-hop record or a rock record. A key thing to realize is that just because you have the most popular hip-hop song, that doesn’t mean you have the most popular song over the entire span of music. For example Migos could hold the #1 spot on the Hip-Hop/R&B charts because it is the highest selling and highest played hip-hop song, but the #1 song on the Billboard Hot 100 could be a song by Justin Bieber. Now back to our regularly scheduled bedtime story. 

Yet compared to Drake and Macklemore, Kendrick was left in the dust. This is the part in the story where our hometown hero, picture Bruce Lee mixed with the great Achilles but way cooler and travels the globe in a balancing out level uncool mini-van, becomes stagnant in the battle for the hallowed Grammy, and by forces against his powers falls to the wayside.Young Kung Fu Kenny has failed himself, yet made his hometown so proud. So now the only competition Macklemore faces is the Lightskin Megalodon in a Raptors jersey we know as Aubrey “Drake” Graham. Drake peaked with his (at the time) second highest charting single behind “Best I Ever Had” (which peaked at #2) with what has become a staple wedding song in “Hold On, We’re Going Home” a track that peaked on the Billboard Charts at #4. Not only did Drizzy hit the Top 10 with the Majid Jordan assisted track, he also hit #6 on the Billboard Charts with the anthem “Started From The Bottom”. Both monstrous and inescapable songs during this time period. Yet the international outreach wasn’t really there. North America loves Drake, yet as far as international chart rankings “Hold On” peaked in the Top 10 in 9 countries. Now this is the part were most people wished they had had a warning before hearing. So here it is; shit’s about to get soul crushing. Macklemore & Ryan Lewis hit the Top 10 in over 20 countries with TWO different singles. Yes, those white boys took Hip-Hop across the globe with “Can’t Hold Us” and “Thrift Shop” (the later of which hit number 1, the absolute peak position, in TWELVE non-North American countries.) You couldn’t even avoid the annoyingly toxicating horns of “Thrift Shop” in Lebanon, a country Drake hit number 2 in which makes me wonder if Lebanon is either a) the ultimate hypebeasts of American music or b) a country of questionable taste, yet i again digress. The Drake-alodon (yeah that’s what we’re going with) has finally met it’s match.The only duo on Earth that, against all odds, can defeat any who stand in it’s way. Mack & Ryan are the Sam & Dean Winchester of this fabulous tale (and to those who have never watched “Supernatural” and don’t get this reference, like, what the fuck guys come on). Thought just mortals in a battle against beings much more powerful than them, they find a way to take down all in their path, though they aren’t motivated in the same “save world” type way most heroes have, it’s more in the “family business” type way. Forging their musical careers in the most ironic way possible, by literally starting from the bottom with no chance of ever making it this far, the tag team has found a way to come out victorious. 

Round 3 Eliminations (The Double Wammy Round): “good kid, m.A.A.d. city” & “Nothing Was The Same”

THE X-FACTOR TALK

Now yes Drake was pummeled thanks to the powers of a European and Pacific terrestrial radio fanbase, but by the grace of Wayne Gretzky Drake is given a second wind. Now we get a smidge serious and look into what led Macklemore here, in a less-then-story-book-level way. Another field Sir Mac crossed that Drake could not, is a message. “The Heist” was a vehicle carrying tales of pain from addiction, ideologies of equality, and being true to oneself over beats that didn’t fit the typical Hip-Hop mold. Though yes Kanye screamed in hopes of being accepted, and Kendrick crafted a story that comes to life to often, they didn’t meet the previous qualifications. Drake and Jay boasted their way threw their tracks with only glimpses into anything more than opulence and success, a characteristic Macklemore rarely touched, and heavily spoke down upon on tracks. A humble, conscious, loveable loser is a storyline the mainstream public can relate to more than a prodigy like Kendrick, a wealthy businessman (and a business, MAN) like Jay, an angry and disgruntled creative like Kanye, or an innovative powerhouse like Drake. That was the X-factor in what has become one of the most controversial Grammy moments in Hip-Hop history. A factor Macklemore and Ryan Lewis may or may not have intentionally used to leverage their way into the hearts and radios of America, and the world. Though the Drake-alodon seemed to have caught our heros by surprise by lashing back once again, they knew far to well to grow comfortable with success. With a final blow to the monsters impeccable beard, the monster was sent flying into the stars, not to be viewed again (at least for a few years anyway). Our heroes have finally reached the pinnacle, with their competitors left deep in the their dust. Now holding the Grammy in their hand, they feel as if they have finally done it. They have reached what they have dreamt of their whole lives, in a moment they’d never give up. At least Ryan wouldn’t want to give up, because within hours Sir Mac is sending a carrier pigeon to The Chosen One, a young Kung Fu Kenny to apologize about not helping him out. 

Final Round Elimination: “Nothing Was The Same” (for real this time)

Now back to reality, where I tuck “The Heist” back into my CD holder and tuck it away for a while until i build up the want to listen to it again, which may or may not ever come back. By all official and unofficial qualifications the indie duo outshined its competitors in numerous ways. Don’t get me wrong “good kid m.A.A.d. city” is an album my GRANDCHILDREN will be given as a birthday present, probably more than once. But “The Heist” crossed international barriers and at the end of the day showed Hip-Hop to parts of the globe the Kendrick’s and Drake’s of the world have only just begun crossing into. Macklemore isn’t the best version of Hip-Hop i personally want the world to see, but he isn’t the worst. An indie artist who crafted legendary crossover songs is still an artist very much who gives props to his backpacker influences and inspirations such as The Hieroglyphics, Talib Kweli, Mobb Deep and Wu-Tang Clan. The duo of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis earned the Award of Best Hip-Hop album in 2014 by filling nearly every box, and leave a bigger check mark then their competitors. It isn’t groundbreaking work, it isn’t life changing work, but it is work that deserved the Grammy that night in January.

[nofomoartworld]

Rendezvous with the CCTV operator

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

Diego Trujillo Pisanty has recently been looking into our relationship with infrastructures, these inconspicuous ‘forces’ that sustain cities. His performance, Finding the Operator, zooms in on the urban surveillance system of Mexico CIty.

The work consisted in a series of attempts to find out who the operator(s) of a specific government-owned CCTV camera are. He first tried to reach out to them by filling in freedom of information requests. Having only received pointless information in return, Trujillo tried a more informal approach. He built an electronic device that broadcasts messages that can only be read by the people behind a CCTV camera, thus establishing an exclusive communication channel with the operator(s) gazing at the video feed. The message invited the operator to call Trujillo and meet him in a bar. No one called him nor turned up at the café appointment.

Trujillo also created a simulation of the camera’s field of view. This simulation was constructed by surveying the camera´s surroundings and from inferences made by analysing CCTV “success stories” published by Mexico City’s government on their YouTube channel.

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

Trujillo looked at works such as the Surveillance Camera Players, Jill Majid’s Evidence Locker, !Mediengruppe Bitnik’ Surveillance Chess, and many more before developing Finding the Operator. His work similarly attempts to acknowledge the existence of the morally accountable human beings that sit at the other side of this otherwise faceless infrastructure of control and surveillance. However, there is something poignant about his work. Maybe because you can’t help feeling as vulnerable as he was when he stood on that street corner sending messages that no one ever answered. And perhaps no one even saw them.

There is always a power asymmetry between a camera’s operator and the subject it photographs. In the case of surveillance cameras this asymmetry is emphasised by the fact that the subject observed has no information on the people operating the camera or whether they even exist.

I asked Diego Trujillo to tell us more about his work:

Hi Diego! You seem to have stood a long time on that street corner. I found it funny that no passersby seems to question what you were doing there holding a white box. It reminded me a bit of Francis Alys pushing a bloc of ice in the streets of Mexico City while everyone around just ignore him. Did no one really approach you? You must have looked odd?

Really, no one approached me, the guys who were filming got some attention at first whilst they were doing exposure tests, but once the action started no one cared about us. I guess we are in a city where people tend to mind their own business and a little strangeness is not unusual either. There is a sense of loneliness built into the project that partially comes from this though, it seems that my concerns about surveillance aren’t shared by the other people who live and work in the area and that both the camera and my actions just seemed mundane or irrelevant.

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

From the video it appears that no one cared about what you were doing on that street and either the operator(s) never got to see your message or they didn’t bother contacting you. Somehow i suspect that it only confirmed what you were expecting about the infrastructures that surround, govern and monitor us. So what do you think you’ve achieved and expressed with this work?

One interpretation of the work is that there is an impossibility of direct dialogue with government workers, even in democracies that boast on being transparent and inclusive it is still very difficult to achieve dialogue outside of the established channels and platforms which failed early on in the project when I submitted Freedom of Information requests. This raises some issues about government workers being accountable for their actions, especially in a country where trust in state institutions and the police is at its lowest point in history because of corruption and abuses of power. The video about the meeting is where this metaphor is more obvious, despite all my efforts to investigate and confront this infrastructure I am never able to have my questions answered, the only option left is the pathetic resignation and disappointment portrayed towards the end of the video.

There is another angle of this which I find interesting and that is the effort to exist for the camera and thus for the government. Unlike what happens with many projects focused on protecting your privacy from CCTV, I actively wanted to be seen and recognised, to the point where it becomes a form of vanity. There is a relationship between this and the broader cultural idea that we photograph ourselves to prove our existence, this has been said many times of social media, but I see some value in exploring this idea in the context of surveillance, a technology that was devised precisely to produce evidence on the existence of certain events. I think there is an interesting tension between my efforts to exist and the absolute lack of response from the surveillance system.

In terms of what I expected would happen this shifted constantly. There were days when I was certain no one even looked at the cameras and other days when I was convinced that someone would at least tell me to stop interfering. I had an interview prepared in case I did get contacted, the questions were orientated at dissecting the operator’s own account on how he relates to the people at the other side of the camera from a position of power.

Diego Trujillo Pisanty, Finding the Operator, 2016

The idea for this project came from a course about Occult Infrastructure you taught together with Mark McKeague and Tom Schofiled at the Architectural Association‘s summer school in 2015. What are these occult infrastructures? What makes them occult? And why should we care about them?

The brief at the AA suggested that infrastructure in general is something we believe in rather than experience. This system of beliefs can then be used to explain how a city works without fully understanding its underlying logic and often leads into conspiracy theories and modern forms of superstition and pseudo-science. The occult works in a similar way, there is a belief in hidden forces that can be used to decipher the workings of everyday life and alter its consequences by manipulating these forces. Some examples of the infrastructures that inspired these thought are the mysterious telephone boxes that occupy street pavements, communication antennas, speeding sensors and CCTV. We never get a full view of these systems but just by the glimpses we get we are invited to imagine how they are supporting and controlling our lives.

CCTV is a clear example, where seeing a camera invites the observer to believe that there is someone who has the power to deliver justice watching, and thus a sense of safety is meant to arises. This is supported by the existence of fake CCTV cameras, the mere fact of having an object that looks like a camera can be a deterrent for those who believe in the camera’s power, this turns the fake camera into a sort of protection charm. When doing the research for this course I found it interesting that photography was actually in the service of the occult through the work of mediums like William H. Mumler who claimed that the camera could capture events that are invisible to us, a similar claim is made by surveillance advocates.

I think it’s important to point out the similarities between the occult and certain forms of infrastructure because as much as it may seem that everything works by magic the functioning of a city requires real, tangible components that are complex and mostly hidden. Rather than believing in them and their efficiency I think it’s important to go out and question how much our of lives rely on infrastructure, to what extent its existence benefits us and what politics (if any) it embodies.

In the context of architectural education the brief intended to sensitise students towards the unseen aspects of architecture and how they are designed to deeply drive people’s lives without most of us realizing.

“My son, every time you walk by take my blessing with you. But take your rubbish too”

That course took place in London. Have you found that these occult infrastructures function and manifest themselves differently in Mexico City where you are working now? Or are they roughly responding to the same dynamics and logic wherever we are in the world?

Yes, I see two main differences. The first one is that Mexican culture is far more superstitious and religious so there are real examples of this being used as a form of infrastructure. A personal favourite is that people will paint a Madonna on their house walls to keep others from dumping rubbish, these paintings inspire so much respect that they become clean and safe islands within the city.

I also feel that in Mexico people have less faith in government owned infrastructure, this dissolves the similarities with the occult a little bit as people will question the efficacy of anything the government does much more seriously. I think that Mexico City’s youtube channel is an effort in evangelising people in the power of surveillance infrastructure to try and construct this sort of faith.

Irena Stoeva and Richard Abbot

Irena Stoeva and Richard Abbot

Could you tell us about some of the concepts and artefacts that the students in the course created to articulate their understanding of infrastructure and the paranormal?

One of the projects that came out (made by Irena Stoeva and Richard Abbot) was the design for an illusion that made the Themes Barrier disappear. The students felt that the barrier protected London from a real danger in a way that is completely invisible to most Londoners. The aim of their project was to create both the spectacle of disappearing a large object and to inspire a panicked reaction when a substantial part of the city’s safety simply disappears leaving London exposed to rising water levles.

Christopher Taylor and Vincent Phoen

Another interesting idea (by Christopher Taylor and Vincent Phoen) looked at time as a form of infrastructure that is also built on collective belief and agreement. They argued that if we don’t all believe in the current time (e.g. 3pm) then standardised time collapses. Their outcome was to create a pendulum clock whose definition of a second depended on the amount of people around it at a given moment, creating a form of relativity that relied on human routine and the liveliness of a location. On a busy street time would pass much faster than in service streets or closed gardens. This relativity caused the clock to either speed up ahead or slow down so that it never matched standardised time, the clock never showed the”right” time and thus trust in its readings began to fade reinforcing the idea that time is a matter of belief.

Thanks Diego!

Other works by Diego Trujillo: Self-combusting communication for the Wikileaks era and The 300 Year Time Bomb.

from We Make Money Not Art http://ift.tt/2nnJKNu via IFTTT