#Nigel Thrift

[dailyanarchistposts]

J.5.13 What are Modern Schools?

Modern schools are alternative schools, self-managed by students, teachers and parents which reject the authoritarian schooling methods of the modern “education” system. Such schools have been a feature of the anarchist movement since the turn of the 20th century while interest in libertarian forms of education has existed in anarchist theory from the beginning. All the major anarchist thinkers, from Godwin through Proudhon, Bakunin and Kropotkin to modern activists like Colin Ward, have stressed the importance of libertarian (or rational) education, education that develops all aspects of the student (mental and physical — and so termed integral education) as well as encouraging critical thought and mental freedom. The aim of such education is ensure that the “industrial worker, the man [sic!] of action and the intellectual would all be rolled into one.” [Proudhon, quoted by Steward Edward, The Paris Commune, p. 274]

Anyone involved in radical politics, constantly and consistently challenges the role of the state’s institutions and their representatives within our lives. The role of bosses, the police, social workers, the secret service, managers, doctors and priests are all seen as part of a hierarchy which exists to keep us, the working class, subdued. It is relatively rare, though, for the left-wing to call into question the role of teachers. Most left wing activists and a large number of libertarians believe that education is always good.

Those involved in libertarian education believe the contrary. They believe that national education systems exist only to produce citizens who will be blindly obedient to the dictates of the state, citizens who will uphold the authority of government even when it runs counter to personal interest and reason, wage slaves who will obey the orders of their boss most of the time and consider being able to change bosses as freedom. They agree with William Godwin (one of the earliest critics of national education systems) when he wrote that “the project of a national education ought to be discouraged on account of its obvious alliance with national government … Government will not fail to employ it to strengthen its hand and perpetuate its institutions … Their views as instigator of a system will not fail to be analogous to their views in their political capacity.” [quoted by Colin Ward, Anarchy in Action, p. 81]

With the growth of industrialism in the 19th century state schools triumphed, not through a desire to reform but as an economic necessity. Industry did not want free thinking individuals, it wanted workers, instruments of labour, and it wanted them punctual, obedient, passive and willing to accept their disadvantaged position. According to Nigel Thrift, many employers and social reformers became convinced that the earliest generations of workers were almost impossible to discipline (i.e. to get accustomed to wage labour and workplace authority). They looked to children, hoping that “the elementary school could be used to break the labouring classes into those habits of work discipline now necessary for factory production … Putting little children to work at school for very long hours at very dull subjects was seen as a positive virtue, for it made them habituated, not to say naturalised, to labour and fatigue.” [quoted by Juliet B. Schor, The Overworked American, p. 61]

Thus supporters of Modern Schools recognise that the role of education is an important one in maintaining hierarchical society — for government and other forms of hierarchy (such as wage labour) must always depend on the opinion of the governed. Francisco Ferrer (the most famous libertarian educator) argued that:

“Rulers have always taken care to control the education of the people. They know their power is based almost entirely on the school and they insist on retaining their monopoly. The school is an instrument of domination in the hands of the ruling class.” [quoted by Clifford Harper, Anarchy: A Graphic Guide, p. 100]

Little wonder, then, that Emma Goldman argued that “modern methods of education” have “little regard for personal liberty and originality of thought. Uniformity and imitation is [its] motto.” The school “is for the child what the prison is for the convict and the barracks for the solder — a place where everything is being used to break the will of the child, and then to pound, knead, and shape it into a being utterly foreign to itself.” Hence the importance of Modern Schools. It is a means of spreading libertarian education within a hierarchical society and undercut one of the key supports for that society — the education system. Instead of hierarchical education, Modern schools exist to “develop the individual through knowledge and the free play of characteristic traits, so that [the child] may become a social being, because he had learned to know himself, to know his relation to his fellow[s].” [Red Emma Speaks, pp. 141–2, p. 140 and p. 145] It would be an education for freedom, not for subservience:

“Should the notion of freedom but awaken in man, free men dream only of freeing themselves now and for all time: but instead, all we do is churn out learned men who adapt in the most refined manner to every circumstance and fall to the level of slavish, submissive souls. For the most part, what are our fine gentlemen brimful of intellect and culture? Sneering slavers and slaves themselves.” [Max Stirner, No Gods, No Masters, vol. 1, p. 12]

The Modern School Movement (also known as the Free School Movement) over the past century has been an attempt to represent part of this concern about the dangers of state and church schools and the need for libertarian education. The idea of libertarian education is that knowledge and learning should be linked to real life processes as well as personal usefulness and should not be the preserve of a special institution. Thus Modern Schools are an attempt to establish an environment for self development in an overly structured and rationalised world. An oasis from authoritarian control and as a means of passing on the knowledge to be free:

“The underlying principle of the Modern School is this: education is a process of drawing out, not driving in; it aims at the possibility that the child should be left free to develop spontaneously, directing his own efforts and choosing the branches of knowledge which he desires to study … the teacher … should be a sensitive instrument responding to the needs of the child … a channel through which the child may attain so much of the ordered knowledge of the world as he shows himself ready to receive and assimilate.” [Goldman, Op. Cit., p. 146]

The Modern School bases itself on libertarian education techniques. Libertarian education, very broadly, seeks to produce children who will demand greater personal control and choice, who think for themselves and question all forms of authority:

“We don’t hesitate to say we want people who will continue to develop. People constantly capable of destroying and renewing their surroundings and themselves: whose intellectual independence is their supreme power, which they will yield to none; always disposed for better things, eager for the triumph of new ideas, anxious to crowd many lives into the life they have. It must be the aim of the school to show the children that there will be tyranny as long as one person depends on another.” [Ferrer, quoted by Harper, Op. Cit., p. 100]

Thus the Modern School insists that the child is the centre of gravity in the education process — and that education is just that, not indoctrination:

“I want to form a school of emancipation, concerned with banning from the mind whatever divides people, the false concepts of property, country and family so as to attain the liberty and well-being which all desire. I will teach only simple truth. I will not ram dogma into their heads. I will not conceal one iota of fact. I will teach not what to think but how to think.” [Ferrer, quoted by Harper, Op. Cit., pp. 99–100]

The Modern School has no rewards or punishments, exams or mark — the everyday tortures of conventional schooling. And because practical knowledge is more useful than theory, lessons were often held in factories, museums or the countryside. The school was also used by parents, and Ferrer planned a Popular University.

“Higher education, for the privileged few, should be for the general public, as every human has a right to know; and science, which is produced by observers and workers of all countries and ages, ought not be restricted to class.” [Ferrer, quoted by Harper, Op. Cit., p. 100]

Thus Modern Schools are based on encouraging self-education in a co-operative, egalitarian and libertarian atmosphere in which the pupil (regardless of age) can develop themselves and their interests to the fullest of their abilities. In this way Modern Schools seek to create anarchists by a process of education which respects the individual and gets them to develop their own abilities in a conducive setting.

Modern Schools have been a constant aspect of the anarchist movement since the late 1890s. The movement was started in France by Louise Michel and Sebastien Faure, where Francisco Ferrer became acquainted with them. He founded his Modern School in Barcelona in 1901, and by 1905 there were 50 similar schools in Spain (many of them funded by anarchist groups and trade unions and, from 1919 onward, by the C.N.T. — in all cases the autonomy of the schools was respected). In 1909, Ferrer was falsely accused by the Spanish government of leading an insurrection and executed in spite of world-wide protest and overwhelming proof of his innocence. His execution, however, gained him and his educational ideas international recognition and inspired a Modern School progressive education movement across the globe.

However, for most anarchists, Modern Schools are not enough in themselves to produce a libertarian society. They agree with Bakunin:

“For individuals to be moralised and become fully human … three things are necessary: a hygienic birth, all-round education, accompanied by an upbringing based on respect for labour, reason, equality, and freedom and a social environment wherein each human individual will enjoy full freedom and really by, de jure and de facto, the equal of every other. “Does this environment exist? No. Then it must be established… [otherwise] in the existing social environment … on leaving [libertarian] schools they [the student] would enter a society governed by totally opposite principles, and, because society is always stronger than individuals, it would prevail over them … [and] demoralise them.” [The Basic Bakunin, p, 174]

Because of this, Modern Schools must be part of a mass working class revolutionary movement which aims to build as many aspects of the new world as possible in the old one before, ultimately, replacing it. Otherwise they are just useful as social experiments and their impact on society marginal. Thus, for anarchists, this process of education is part of the class struggle, not in place of it and so “the workers [must] do everything possible to obtain all the education they can in the material circumstances in which they currently find themselves … [while] concentrat[ing] their efforts on the great question of their economic emancipation, the mother of all other emancipations.” [Bakunin, Op. Cit., p. 175]

Before finishing, we must stress that hierarchical education (like the media), cannot remove the effects of actual life and activity in shaping/changing people and their ideas, opinions and attitudes. While education is an essential part of maintaining the status quo and accustoming people to accept hierarchy, the state and wage slavery, it cannot stop individuals from learning from their experiences, ignoring their sense of right and wrong, recognising the injustices of the current system and the ideas that it is based upon. This means that even the best state (or private) education system will still produce rebels — for the experience of wage slavery and state oppression (and, most importantly, struggle) is shattering to the ideology spoon-fed children during their “education” and reinforced by the media.

For more information on Modern Schools see Paul Avrich’s The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and education in the United States, Emma Goldman’s essays “Francisco Ferrer and the Modern School” (in Anarchism and Other Essays) and “The Social Importance of the Modern School” (in Red Emma Speaks) as well as A.S Neil’s Summerhill. For a good introduction to anarchist viewpoints on education see “Kropotkin and technical education: an anarchist voice” by Michael Smith (in For Anarchism, David Goodway (ed.),) and Michael Bakunin’s “All-Round Education” (in The Basic Bakunin). For an excellent summary of the advantages and benefits of co-operative learning, see Alfie Kohn’s No Contest.

[vonlipvig]

next in fashion s2 posting but uhhhhh i don't pretend to know anything about fashion, i just have eyes that like what they like, but how in the hell did deontré's look win in the thrifted episode?????

like, ok sure nigel won as well so that's actually a great look, but deontré's??? it's ugly as hell????

[ywonderland]

Blog 2: multi-sensory in drawing a map

I attended a "multi-sensory" training before creating my own map. The motivation for me to take this course was to include more sense in my future works, not only in terms of visual but also multi-dimensional attachment.

In class, I learned how a "multi-sensory" understanding of your practice and the world around you can enrich the work and its reception. Additionally, Nigel Thrift says that such an approach creates "a lot of‘differents’, a manyness” (Thrift, 2004:83). These theories make me think of the way I draw my map.

In the beginning, I meant to draw a map emphasizing on vivid colours and abstract expressions to demonstrate my particular design style, but after this session, I began to reflect and realized that this type of expression just focuses on the typical visual shock and impression. As a result, I instructed myself to pay attention to additional aspects and sensory experiences that might provide more diversified experiences.

[estrangedinteractions]

Two very interesting books, both with images of sinks on their covers. Purity and Danger is written by anthropologist Mary Douglas and talks about dirt being matter out of shape. It relates to hygiene. Nigel Thrift has written a book that relates to the politics of the everyday life and provides a “provides the basis for an experimental rather than a representational approach to the social sciences and humanities”. I love the ordain ness and banality of the images, and what is hidden behind the surface of that. (Är detta relaterat till “oestetiska problem”?)

[carvalhais]

On the contrary, discussions of object-oriented programming are so riddled with terms such as space, environment, interface, movement, topology, architecture, inside, outside, and parallel that their ubiquity effectively renders them invisible. In fact, it is nearly impossible to write about object orientation without employing such spatializing metaphors, a tendency that Nigel Thrift has similarly observed in the closely related field of complexity theory.  Casey Alt, 2011. “Objects of Our Affection: How Object Orientation Made Computers a Medium.” In Media Archaeology: Approaches, Applications, and Implications, edited by Erkki Huhtamo and Jussi Parikka, 278-301. Berkeley: University of California Press.

[jazin95]

✨ Thursday Thrift Day ✨ A friend and I took the morning to catch up and wander around some of our local thrift stores; these are the books I found... 📚 The British Museum is Falling Down by David Lodge 📚 Race to Crashpoint Tower by Daniel José Older 📚 Midnight Horizon by Daniel José Older 📚 Out of the Shadows by Justina Ireland 📚 Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey by Ngozi Ukazu 📚 Check, Please! Book 2: Sticks & Scones by Ngozi Ukazu 📚 One Hundred Years Of The National Museum, Singapore, 1887 1987 by Gretchen Liu 📚 The World of Downton Abbey by Jessica Fellowes 📚 Gustav Klimt (Painters & Sculptors) by Alessandra Comini 📚 Asian Mythology by Rachel Storm 📚 Life In Ancient Rome People & Places by Nigel Rodgers Have you done some book thrifting lately? Let me know what you find. #readingtips #readmore #reading #bookstagram #bookcommunity #whattoread #readingtime #readinggoals #readinggoal #readingadvice #bookreccomendations #reader #readmore #librarybooks #bookaesthetic #cozyvibes #explorepage #bookreader #thristshopping #lgbtqia #starwars #grapicnovels #lgbtqia #GustavKlimt #downtonabbey #mythology #ancientrome (at Canberra, Australian Capital Territory) https://www.instagram.com/p/ClVEEQlBc44/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[stuartelden]

Nigel Thrift, The Pursuit of Possibility: Redesigning Research Universities - Policy Press, October 2022

Nigel Thrift, The Pursuit of Possibility: Redesigning Research Universities – Policy Press, October 2022

Nigel Thrift, The Pursuit of Possibility: Redesigning Research Universities – Bristol University Press, October 2022 Are British research universities losing their way or are they finding a new way?  Nigel Thrift, a well-known academic and a former Vice-Chancellor, explores recent changes in the British research university that threaten to erode the quality of these higher education…

[kerloncollector]

The utterly utterly merry comic relief christmas book

THE UTTERLY UTTERLY MERRY COMIC RELIEF CHRISTMAS BOOK SERIES

THE UTTERLY UTTERLY MERRY COMIC RELIEF CHRISTMAS BOOK TV

MEMBER: Cambridge Footlights Club, which also produced Monthy Python's John Cleese, Eric Idle, and Graham Chapman.ĪWARDS, HONORS: Best Books for Young Adults List, American Library Association (ALA), 1980, for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.

THE UTTERLY UTTERLY MERRY COMIC RELIEF CHRISTMAS BOOK SERIES

Hobbies and other interests: Purchasing equipment for recreations he would like to take up, playing acoustic guitar, scuba diving, fiddling with computers.ĬAREER: British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), London, producer and scriptwriter for "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" radio and television series, beginning 1978, script editor for television series "Doctor Who," 1978-80 writer, 1978-2001. Douglas Adams complained that, as a result, considerably less money was raised for famine relief.ĭouglas Adams, Rowan Atkinson, Glen Baxter, Michael Bywater, Graham Chapman, Nobby Clarke, Ron Cobb, Richard Curtis, Angus Deayton, Adrian Edmonson, Michael Fishwick, Michael Foreman, Stephen Fry, Kim Fuller, George Harrison, Michael Heath, Lenny Henry, Ian Hislop, Caroline Holden, Richard Ingrams, Antony Jay, Guy Jenkin, Gray Jolliffe, Terry Jones, Trevor Leighton, John Lloyd, Jonathan Lynn, Thomas Mann, Rik Mayall, Lise Mayer, Michael Palin, Geoffrey Perkins, Stephen Pile, Nigel Planer, Christopher Ryan, Griff Rhys Jones, Posy Simmonds, Mel Smith, The Spitting Image Workshop, Sue Townsend, Bill Tidy, John Wells.PERSONAL: Born March 11, 1952, in Cambridge, England died of an apparent heart attack, May 11, 2001, in Santa Barbara, CA son of Christopher Douglas (a management consultant) and Janet (a nurse maiden name, Donovan, present surname, Thrift) Adams married Jane Elizabeth Belson, 1991 children: Polly Jane Rocket. Collins held the rights to print certain versions of the Bible and it was threatened that these would be withdrawn. Eventually they prevented the book from being reprinted by applying pressure on the publisher, Collins. They picketed bookshops and threatened to sue for blasphemy. Christian groups took offence, and attempted to get the book withdrawn. Nicholas Winterton MP led a campaign to ask W.H. Jesus' Birthday in which Jesus is portrayed as a grumpy and mischievous child in a modern household.The Young Ones' Nativity Play in which the characters from The Young Ones act out the nativity story in typically irreverent style.This tells the story of the nativity night from the point of view of a sheep that gets eaten as part of the celebrations, and therefore has a slightly jaundiced view of the whole affair. The Gospel According to a Sheep by Richard Curtis with additions by Douglas Adams.In line with its Christmas theme the book contained several pieces based on the Christian nativity story, including: The book has never been reprinted following its initial print run, as a result of religious censorship. The book promised that profits would be distributed "80% to SAVE THE CHILDREN FUND and OXFAM for famine relief and 20% to Charity Projects to support young people faced with the problems of drug abuse, homelessness and disability here in Britain."

THE UTTERLY UTTERLY MERRY COMIC RELIEF CHRISTMAS BOOK TV

Tie-ins to popular TV comedies of the day including Yes Minister, The Young Ones and Spitting Image.A New Decade of Heroic Failures, an exclusive addition to Stephen Pile's Book of Heroic Failures.Adrian Mole's Christmas, an addition to Sue Townsend's Adrian Mole series (later included in The True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole).Besides the novella Young Zaphod Plays it Safe and the short story " The Private Life of Genghis Khan", which have since appeared in The Salmon of Doubt, the book also contains Adams' short story "A Christmas Fairly Story" (written in collaboration with Terry Jones) and three supplements to The Meaning of Liff. The book is of particular interest to fans of Douglas Adams' work as it contains several items written by him which are hard to find or exclusive to the collection.

[shiftythrifting]

This man-faced toothbrush mug that reminds me of the Nigel Thornberry.

My mom convinced me not to get it and I regretted it once I came home 😭

[bushqueananarchy]

Life in the machine has made appeals to the older [traditional] systems of meaning impossible. Instead the individual is encouraged to escape from within and to refer to the language of emotions. The emotivist motif, then, is the 'dictum that truth is grasped through sentiment or feeling, rather than through rational judgement or abstract reasoning'. It encourages a particular ontology that replaces the Cartesian maxim 'I think, therefore I am' with the emotive 'I feel, therefore I am'. This emotivist understanding of the self shapes the way in which individuals participate and comunicate in societal life. In the contemporary context, as Jean Bethke Elshtain observes, 'all points seem to revolve around the individual's subjective feelings - whether of frustration, anxiety, stress, fulfillment. The citizen recedes; the therapeutic self prevails'. (Nolan, 1998, p. 6)

Nigel Thrift

INTENSITIES OF FEELING: TOWARDS A SPATIAL POLITICS OF AFFECT

[goodvibesprompttime]

Hallo, more headcanons - I'm struggling coming up with myths/folklore for Hermit City, so, here I am with headcanons

If anyone has any folklore suggestions, I'm all ears!

Enjoy!

Starting off spooky, we have "Oopsie Whoopsies"/Whoopsies. Another cursed form like Oopsie Daisies. Unlike Daisies, however, Whoopsies is very friendly, but mischevious. Fe loves pranks and pulling pranks on people, but has no malicious intent. Also goes by Fe/Fi pronouns.

Oopsie Daisies is one of the more malicious forms. Sometimes, it wants to fight and brawl, other times it just wants to be left alone. It doesn't like people, but loves attention. Will also tear up shoes.

Impulse actually loves to sew and has made all of the vigilantes' costumes, as well as some of their regular clothes. He loves making his vigilante costumes because there are no rules or restrictions!! Just his size/measurements. Also loves thrift shopping, especially in small stores

Renbob/Nigel Renfeather was Ren's cover name during his infiltration mission. However, he wasn't given much information, and certainly nothing the HCPD was looking for. The vigilantes never really trusted him - because, well, they knew he was a cop. But, they did make a faux hideout so they could invite Ren and have fun. They liked Ren, but knew better.

The vigilantes, when not vigilantes, have day jobs - usually connected together via Grian and his personas. Mumbo Jumbo is MJ, Ariana Griande's bodyguard. Pearl is Sally's nanny. Impulse is Mother Spore's assistant. Scar runs an antique shop in a quiet corner of the city's shopping district. Of course they go by their actual names, save for Mumbo and Grian.

Mother Spore and Doc have a sort of queerplatonic rival relationship. They'll wall pin each other with a dagger to each other's throat, tell the other that they hate them while being able to recite their favorite foods in alphabetical order, and clearly try to poison the other but poison their favorite drinks that they always remember. 10/10, nature versus machine, they can only call each other mean names.

[into-september]

and now for something completely different

I adored W.I.T.C.H. - the comics, never saw the TV show - but after picking up a few random volumes in thrift stores and leafing through them eighteen years later, I remember what I really, really didn’t like about them: 

This bitch. 

Back when the comics were first published, I was older than the intended readership, and I just found him to be a) dull, compared to the other boys, and and b) low-key creepy.

For those not familiar with the comics, it is an Italian Sailor Moon wannabe taking place in some nebulously English-speaking setting. The Team Leader and vaguely-more-main-than-the-other characters is Will. Will is fourteen. As you might’ve guessed already, that is her boyfriend.

His age is apparently never stated in canon beyond him being in the same school, but let me tell you one thing: in that case, he has been held back a few years. He’s friends with Taranee’s brother who according to the fan wiki is sixteen (and also moved out of home to start uni…) But come on. I work with sixteen year olds. I have never seen a sixteen year old boy with a goatee and a build like that. But Peter at least had a personality beyond “the perfect boyfriend” and his being precocious and prematurely through puberty at sixteen makes it a lot less eugh that he started dating Cornelia when she’s more mentally mature than the rest of the girls.

Matt was just infuriating. He was clearly designed as the nebulously older and good-looking, not-really-bad-boy with a sensitive and understanding heart who is always there to support our heroine when her friends are demanding and her parents just won’t understand her. Also, he’s the guitarist and lead singer in a band, because of course. Eric and Nigel and Caleb and Peter at least had stories and personalities beyond being the perfect everything that their respective love interests needed them to be. I love myself a good romance, but not ones that exist for the sole purpose of “oh no cannot let a character be SINGLE, the horror”, and Matt was just. He was just The Perfect Boyfriend For Will, and since she was the vaguely-more-main-character, their relationship ended up with a lot more spotlight than the others, or at least it felt that way when I was seventeen. And of fucking course, Matt was the first person to know about the Magical Girls being magic and was hence dragged into the magical plot somehow. 

Fine, I lied. This ended up going back to exactly where you thought it would. I don’t know how familiar Thomas Astruc was with the comics when he storyboarded for W.I.T.C.H. but let’s just say that tables shall be flipped and then some if the resident Older And Sensitive And Understanding And Endlessly Supportive Guitar Boy becomes the first person to know Ladybug’s identity. 

He stirs bad memories for me, okay.

[spiralhouseshop]

This week we got lots of things back in stock at the PBW Witch Shop! Also, if you were wondering where we get our ribbon and yarn we use to secure items inside packages, I just got a giant back of yarn from a thrift store yesterday. Some if it is super fun stuff!

Back in stock!

Weird Walk Number Two & Number 3

54 Devils by Cory Thomas Hutcheson

Folk witchcraft by Roger J Horne

Memento Mori: A Collection of Magickal and Mythological Perspectives on Death, Dying, Mortality, and Beyond

Crooked Path: An Introduction to Traditional Witchcraft by Keldon

A bunch of Troy Books back in stock!

Traditional Witchcraft: A Cornish Book of Ways by Gemma Gary

Silent as the Trees: Devonshire Witchcraft Folklore and Magic by Gemma Gary

The Black Toad: West Country Witchcraft and Magic by Gemma Gary

The Devil's Dozen: Thirteen Craft Rights of the Old One by Gemma Gary

Treading the Mill:Workings in Traditional Witchcraft by Nigel Pearson

[sodascherrycola]

Instagram Intros (Seamus Finnigan’s Kids)

Niall Brodie Fraser Finnigan (@nigel)

DOB: December 16th 2001 Age: 22 years old House: Gryffindor Nicknames: Ni S/O: No One Kids: None Best Friend(s): Phillip Weasley, James Potter II, Callum Wood, and Freddie Weasley Aesthetic: Usually forgotten about in the friend group but is still there for everyone

Keira Arabella Greer Finnigan (@keirafinn)

DOB: January 7th 2006 Age: 17 years old House: Gryffindor Nicknames: Keir S/O: Nathan Vesper Kids: None Best Friend(s): Ariana Wood Aesthetic: Super cute pinterest girl, loves to thrift shop, and is totally bi

Eoin McKinnon Lachlan Finnigan (@itspronouncedowen)

DOB: January 7th 2006 Age: 17 years old House: Gryffindor Nicknames: Kinny S/O: Odette Copeland Kids: None Best Friend(s): Benjamin Diggory and Darcy Weasley Aesthetic: STRONG IRISH ACCENT. A Lot like his father, in a sense where he is extremely clumsy

[antiquesfreaks]

New episode up! Our friend Nigel joins us for a behind-the-scenes look at a major thrift store chain. What becomes of antiques in the donation bin? Tune in to find out!

[ambitionsource]

hi can we get some zaley friendship headcanons whenever you're free? ☺️

im not the best at headcanons just bc of the way my brain functions but im gonna do my best for you, sunny my friend. let’s go zay and riley let’s go!

thrift shop buddies!! one of the most common ways that they hang out is definitely going thrifting. considering they arguably have the two most eclectic wardrobes on the show, this makes sense. esp i fully believe they’re the perfect people to thrift shop with where they encourage each other to try on everything, even if it seems outlandish (and sometimes even more in those moments). that’s the only way to really get some good finds! and i feel like, beyond S1, when they wear items for performances in the show that are clearly unique / seem thrifted, it’s more than 50% likely the other helped them pick it out at some point

on this note, i think that they both have really good senses of what looks good on the other bc they spend this time together, probably better than anyone else (yes, including their significant others. not that that’s hard, since both of their significant others have notoriously bland fashion). like even when theyre not out together i can totally imagine them seeing something and being like “oh this is so riley / zay” and getting it for each other. they know each other’s sizes and have like an ongoing swap credit system gfJSKHJDLFH

riley and zay usually run performance by the other person before they perform them for the class / at an audition. like they find a specific time (usually during breakout sessions during class) to get in front of the other person and run them through their concept + do a run-through for them. they just really appreciate the other’s perspective, especially since they tend to complement each other -- zay is able to identify places where riley could heighten things or add some flair or just like... assert her talent more lmao, whereas riley helps zay pull back on some of his more overwhelming instincts when necessary or find the moments to truly lean in emotionally rather than blowing us out of the water the whole time

if we could actually Watch the show, i guarantee 9/10 times when riley or zay is performing, we would cut to the other enjoying the performance. like theyre always bobbing their head along and truly feelin the other’s performances. excellent vibes luv!

i also think they harmonize well with each other, which is why its kind of a shame they dont do more performances together within the context of assignments (as for why, couldn’t tell you... it might just be a weird psychological thing of like i have These people i perform with when it matters and these who are just for fun... like maybe zay and riley tend to see each other as easygoing comfortable duet partners and thats why they try not to overdo putting pressure on it). but yeah they absolutely have days where they just hang out in one of the rehearsal studios and play around on the piano and try to find ways to harmonize on their favorite songs. this is some of the best singing riley ever does, bc its so low stakes and fun

i also think that honestly, zay really helps strengthen riley’s vocals over the time they’re friends -- especially early on. riley is someone with good raw talent but she’s never thought about honing it seriously prior to joining aaa, whereas zay has been on a career mindset since he was little. so he is good at teaching her like small technique things or helping her expand her range and she really values that esp bc hes so selfless about giving it, but it doesnt come off naggy or unnecessary like maya’s advice often does

sometimes it can be hard for them to find songs they both wanna sing though bc their music taste is so different. i think they have like three small categories where their favorites overlap -- select big names (sza, chloe x halle), jazz / old-time crooners (frank sinatra, nina simone, and the like), and select musical theater. but i think this is mainly on zay, bc he’s much more picky about music than riley who will give anything a listen without much nudging. as we know zay likes to pick on his friends’ music taste (like charlie and harry styles / 1d) and i don’t think riley would escape this affectionate teasing. they exchange song recs and riley gives him like her usual piano ballad-y sara bareilles tswift rachael yamagata energy and shes like oh yes, another piano ballad and hes like STOP!!! JUST LISTEEEENNNN GFSJKLHJFDSKLHKDLFH

that said though, they’re definitely go-to friends when it comes to like checking out a new local artist or coffeeshop open mic nights. this is probably a typical zay / riley / yindra outing

zay doesn’t spend a ton of time watching tv bc “he has better things to do with his time,” but riley and zay are definitely the type to watch a show together. like not always Together, but they’ll try to keep up with each other so that they can talk about it (and riley has to try really hard not to keep binging and get way ahead of zay). theyre good at this bc they can have really intense and opinionated conversations about it but in a way where its like safe and neither of them feel like theyre actually being judged / are stupid if they disagree (something thats not common for riley, and zay usually is trying to discuss media with super strong personalities who aren’t great at Debating).

in general, though, they tend to agree on favorite characters / relationships. for example, they both hate rachel berry -- which always gets maya and farkle extremely heated if they’re around. i can only imagine why...

they’re also definitely safe-space vent people for each other. they don’t use the privilege all that often bc i think both of them try to like keep their cool and not get hung up about things, but if they really just have to pop off about something they know they can go to the other person and they’ll actually Listen and keep it under wraps rather than either spilling it to everyone else and/or immediately trying to problem solve rather than just listening to the Emotions. and it’s helpful bc for the most part, their friends don’t actually really overlap that much, so they don’t really like harbor the emotions the other person unloads on them or let it affect their dynamics with other people? like riley can talk about dasher and zay can talk about yingel without it having any ripple consequences bc theyre different circles.

for example, i can totally see riley talking to zay about how she feels like -- at first -- asher doesn’t really like her and won’t really let her in and like he doesn’t want her to join the friend group (even tho that isn’t really true). like she can’t talk to dylan about it bc she’s not going to put him in that position and she’s not foolish enough to think that’s a good idea, she can’t talk to lucas about it bc he like doesn’t get stuff like that gFJKHGLFJSDLH and also he has such a set impression of asher it would be hard for him to understand it from her perspective. zay has none of that, so hes a good person to listen to her nerves about it.

the only times this gets kind of complicated / janky is in the midst of zay x charlie stuff where riley is kind of unintentionally (or, sometimes, intentionally) in the middle. like, zay trusts her not to go telling charlie what he says about him, but he knows they’re good friends too, and its an awkward position to put her in. but still, i think when zay is really hurt or frustrated he’ll snap sometimes and just vent out all his anger about charlie to riley in one foul swoop, and she’ll just absorb it like a sponge without judgment and then not bring it up again. but you can also see little ways where this puts pressure on their friendship, like how when he was drunk in 304 zay expressed resentment towards the fact that riley also talks to charlie and sometimes he feels like she puts him first, even though that isn’t true. it’s just..... a very very complicated (and interesting, if emotional) situation with that trio.

that being said, when things are Good, i think that zay feels comfortable talking about his significant others (including charlie) with riley. he doesn’t really get too Detailed about anything personal or anything, but they definitely discussed charlie in s2 in the small window of time where riley knew and zc wasn’t actively imploding LMAO. on the flip side, riley doesn’t really talk to zay about her relationships, but only bc her relationship is lucas GJFSKLJHLKDJHFLDSH. like anyone else she’d be like okay sure this is fine but she knows zay finds lucas annoying 65% of the time and talking about him in a romantic context grosses him out so she respects that LMAOOOO. hysterical

in general, if they’re gonna hang out, they usually go to either a local coffee shop they like (like svorskis) or each other’s houses. its kind of a relief to have a person they can just take anywhere and have around their parents with no trouble at all, considering both of them are used to having a boyfriend who cant be seen in their house (for different reasons). and theyre comfortable enough that like i think when they hang out at their houses, they just spread out in the living area of both bc theyre not hiding anything, its like very lowkey and comfortable

that being said, riley doesnt spend much time in zay’s usual studio at school. most people don’t, its a place zay now likes to be alone (and it feels weird with someone else being there who isnt charlie)

as for how they come off to their families, the babineauxs love riley. jada has met her a couple of times and thinks she’s super sweet + zay could afford to learn a thing or two from her like how to chill the fuck out (cue zay going shut the fuck up). donna is excited that zay has another friend who isn’t batshit intense about stuff like maya / farkle, she figures yindra has the diva best friend role covered and zay needs more friends like nigel and riley to ground him. she’s right about this.

cory likes zay, but he also does have some prejudices from the teaching perspective about how zay doesn’t pay attention in class half the time and blows off his assignments -- but this isn’t partially because cory isn’t a great teacher and his assignments suck. so the feeling is mutual, tho zay gets along better with cory in a neutral, polite sense than say, asher and dylan, where it’s like guerilla psychological warfare. topanga has no opinion about zay bc riley doesn’t introduce her friends to her (wisely).

they’re still very common lunch buddies. essentially when riley isn’t eating with the techies (which is only when lucas is there usually) or bothering lucas in the booth once a week, she’s with zay (which usually also means nigel, yindra, and farkle, though not always)

ultimately, i think that when someone asks riley who her best friend is, her mind will always jump to zay first. not even because theyre necessarily the closest at any given time, but because he really was her first life raft at aaa and he extended that kindness to her in a moment where she was so used to being brushed aside, talked over, ridiculed -- and you don’t forget that. it stays with you. so when she thinks about her Best Friend, speed round answer, he will always come to mind first. i think she greatly admires his skillful balance of confidence and compassion, his sarcastic sense of humor, the way he gets so passionate about dance and music and how these elements come together, and his inarguable kindness that is at his core and so fundamental to everything he does (even when his more known reputation is a bit more barbed and witty).

on the flip side, i think riley came into zay’s life at the exact moment he needed it. we know he felt isolated in s1, and even though i think he thinks of nigel and yindra as his first-to-mind best friends, riley was a breath of fresh air who allowed him to be himself with someone who wasnt going to judge him on past decisions or impressions. just like he gave her the chance to define herself in his eyes with his extension of company on that first day, she does the same for him by not making assumptions about him and learning who he is on their terms. i think she’s also just a really great, measured system of support -- she’s not busting his balls or keeping him in check like yindra and nigel do (except when its really needed, like 304), but she isn’t as in awe / romanticized with him like charlie. i think he appreciates that he can go to her for an honest perspective, but she’ll take the care to deliver that honesty in a gentle way. it’s like, he’s tough enough to take a hit, but sometimes its nice to know you have someone who will be kind with you even then.

that’s what is at the core of their friendship overall. kindness.

-- Maggie