Borderless

i-D's 40th Anniversary Issue, no. 361, Winter 2020

Photography Mario Sorrenti Styling Alastair McKimm

It depends on the race, culture, and region that you’re living in! It’s more common to take on your spouse’s name the more North you go. Most of the time, however, no, people tend not to take on each other’s last names and keep their own when they marry, but it’s also not unheard of to take your spouse’s if you want to. Elves from the same clan/tribe all share the same surname anyway, regardless of blood relation (so Tallys’ Ironwood clan all share the same surname “Ironwood”) and spouses will take on their partner’s family name only if they officially ‘leave’ their own tribe to join their partner’s, becoming adopting into that clan. In most other areas, Mages, Ket, and noble-born Norms keep their surnames intact, especially in matters where lineage or bloodlines matter. In common-born Norms, it’s probably a 60/40 split with people tending to keep their last names… and it’s up to the parents whose surnames their children go by, too! 

Every Wednesday, we develop a different area of our fictional worlds together. Inspirational prompts are posted every Wednesday night - and if you’re lucky, you might even learn a little more about the lore from one of my own worlds!

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Last Wednesday, we discussed the world’s most significant bodies of water! What are the oceans in your world? What of the major rivers that divide cities, or oases that cities were built upon? What rumors and legends abound of the things that live in or even control the sea? Then catch up on all the prompts and responses from last week!

This Wednesday, we are discussing what different cultures take pride in! Do certain nations value their heritage while others are ashamed of their culture? Are the world’s leaders a conceited bunch, or have they humbled themselves? Tell us all about it next week for Worldbuilding Wednesday!

Next Wednesday, we will be analyzing those outcast from society throughout history! Did the savior of the world ever start their adventure being kicked out from their home? Do certain cultures banish people for specific crimes? Is there a place in the world where these outcasts can come and be welcomed despite their past offenses? Let us know all about it next week for Worldbuilding Wednesday!

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Last week, Motherboard broke a story revealing that Amazon had entered into secret agreements with local law enforcement agencies that had the cops pushing Ring surveillance doorbells to the people they were sworn to protect, in exchange for freebies and access to a system that let them request access to footage recorded by the Amazon’s industry-leading internet-of-shit home surveillance tools.

Later, a public records request put the number of police departments that had entered into these agreements with Amazon at more than 200.

Now, a new report from Gizmodo’s Dell Cameron reveals the text of the boilerplate agreements that Amazon entered into with cops: under the terms of these deals, cops would be supplied with scripts and graphics that they were to use to promote Amazon products, and would be required to get Amazon’s permission to diverge from these premade talking-points and art. The agreements contain a gag-clause that prohibits the cops from disclosing that they were parroting corporate PR, and the clause contained no carve out for public records requests.

Ring’s agreements require cops to encourage citizens to install “Neighbors” – a “neighborhood watch” app that Ring users can use to report “suspicious characters” captured by their doorbells (unsurprisingly, the reports generated by this app are a racist dumpster-fire).

Thankfully, the attorneys who negotiated Boca Raton’s Amazon deal crossed out the confidentiality clause, which allowed for all of this to come to light through a public records request.

Ring gives discounted surveillance doorbells to city employees and supplies products for raffles; the members of the public who win these doorbells are not generally informed that Amazon provides their local law enforcement with comprehensive dossiers on everyone who activates a Ring doorbell, including “where they live, the MAC addresses of each of their devices, and how to reach them by email or phone.”

LS 29 | Cities SUBMISSION

Eugenio Novajra - Berlino Altrove