#claudine at school

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[kaggsy59]

"I prefer to please myself first of all..." #colette #claudine at school

One of the highlights of August’s reading was the book on Colette from the My Reading series, and it lingered in my mind long after I’d finished it. I’ve written about Colette many times on the Ramblings as she’s been a favourite author for most of my serious reading life. I was very drawn to revisit some of her writing after finished the book on her, but felt undecided about which work to…

[vintage-tigre]

Sean Connery kissing the foot of the beautiful Claudine Auger on the Caribbean set of Thunderball 1965

[duskstars]

seisho + text posts 1/???

[tomorrowusa]

Considering what a notorious non-reader Trump is, Hitler makes up a disproportionate amount of his lifetime reading.

It's doubtful that Trump read even all the books which were ghostwritten in his name.

Trump biographer: Trump didn’t write any of his books

And almost none of his classmates at Wharton seem to remember Trump. For all we know, Daddy Fred Trump bribed people to do Donny's academic work while he hung out at McDonald's.

Many of Trump's Wharton classmates don't remember him

Many classmates made similar remarks, pointing out that the Class of 1968 yearbook does not even have a picture of Trump. Instead, his name is listed at the back of the yearbook under “Seniors Not Photographed.”

Perhaps the Wharton Class of '68 should consider themselves personally fortunate that Trump ghosted the campus when they were there.

It would be fun to read any surviving examples of Trump's papers or essays from his college years. If they are comprehensible and not unhinged then he probably didn't write them himself.

[caramelmochacrow]

"I'll never compare to your brilliance, Towa. It'd be better if I lose right now."

[religion-is-a-mental-illness]

The Hogwarts code of conduct

Dumbledore: Honorable members of the faculty, we summon you here today to address the issue of anti-mudbloodism in Hogwarts. You guys are all Professors which means you're smart, so this shouldn't take long. Let's start with you, Professor McGonagall. Does advocating for the genocide of mudbloods violate the code of conduct on bullying and harassment in Gryffindor?

McGonagall: it's a context dependent decision, Professor Dumbledore.

Dumbledore: Excuse me? How is calling for the genocide of mudbloods not a violation of the rules?

McGonagall: It's a context dependent decision.

Dumbledore: What the hell is wrong with you Professor McGonagall, aren't you supposed to be one of the good guys in this story? You're telling me that calling for genocide is dependent on the context?

McGonagall: Oh, yes. Context. It's a new spell that makes everything that's wrong right. Context.

Dumbledore: What a freaking witch. Okay, moving on to you Professor Sprout. Does advocating for the genocide of mudbloods violate the Hufflepuff code on harassment? Answer me yes or no? It's a yes or no question, so answer me yes or no.

Sprout: Yes. Or no.

Dumbledore: Wait, wait, are you okay? Did, did you become mental? Are you mentally capable? How is that not harassment?

Sprout: Well, if speech turns into conduct, it can be harassment, yes.

Dumbledore: Okay look this is a very easy question, okay. This is not the rules of Quidditch here. You're telling me that calling for the genocide of mudbloods is not bullying or harassment? That's what you're telling me?

Sprout: Well, it's just words. Not even the n-word. When they start killing mudbloods then yes, that would be harassment.

McGonagall: And if they kill all of them, it's classified as bullying and we might take action. Depending on the context.

Dumbledore: Merlin's fucking beard. Okay, Mr Snape, I think I can already guess your opinion on the matter.

Snape: Well, I'm the more complex character here. On the one hand, as a Slytherin professor, I do have some feelings against them. But on the other hand, as a half blood myself I think calling for their genocide is perfectly all right.

Dumbledore: You know what you are? You are a self-hating mudblood, which is the worst kind of mudblood.

Snape: I prefer the term Half Blood.

Dumbledore: I wanna Avada Kedavra myself in the fucking head. What happened to you all? This used to be a good school when I left you in book 6, which by the way, was the best one. Have the dark forces penetrated the castle walls? Who was it, Voldemort?

McGonagall: It's the state who must not be named.

Sprout: Yes, the Qatarius!

Dumbledore: Really? How much are they paying you?

McGonagall: Oh, they shit dollars on us.

Dumbledore: Give me a figure.

McGonagall: Oh well.

Dumbledore: Just give me something.

[whispers]

Dumbledore: Wow.

McGonagall: M-hm.

Dumbledore: Oh, why didn't you just say that from the start? I mean for that kind of money I'd say fuck all the mudbloods myself. And the Jews too. And if you didn't get the metaphor that's because you're as stupid as a Harvard graduate. This hearing is adjourned. Let's go get some shish kebab.

[filosofablogger]

The Mind Bounces ... Here, There, & Everywhere

Sometimes, as most of you know, my mind is so overfilled that it won’t stay in any one place for but a minute, bouncing all over from left-to-right, up-to-down.  Yesterday was one such day … perhaps it’s the change in weather, or just too damn much c-r-a-p in the news!  At any rate, here are a few of the places my mind took me … Remember how Donald Trump used to constantly claim that efforts to…

[msclaritea]

Harvard governing board, activists say former president was a victim of racism - POLITICO

Ackerman, the Zionist hedge fund manager is an asshole and needs all of his business investments scrutinized but Rev Al Sharpton, the Charlatan, can go to hell as can Harvard. The conservative, shady college hired Claudine Gay because of her stance and her sexuality. That was part of the plan, right? Holding all the keys to all the gates. Al Sharpton is a cheap Race Hustler, covering for jobs at how very many Homosexual black men have been enjoying a lot of success in the entertainment industry.

[bloodraven55]

this panel is So Much…… claudine having wine instantly to hand implying she’s just casually been keeping alcohol in a high school dorm?? the eiffel tower picture which looks like it was printed out from google images and pasted straight onto the mug??? wtf is happening here

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

ANTISEMITISM ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES EXPOSED

Committee on Education & the Workforce. U.S. House of Representatives

KEY FINDINGS

Key Finding: Students who established unlawful antisemitic encampments—which violated university polices and created unsafe and hostile learning environments—were given shocking concessions. Universities’ dereliction of leadership and failure to enforce their rules put students and personnel at risk. o Finding: Northwestern put radical anti-Israel faculty in charge of negotiations with the encampment. o Finding: Northwestern’s provost shockingly approved of a proposal to boycott Sabra hummus. o Finding: Northwestern entertained demands to hire an “anti-Zionist” rabbi and Northwestern President Michael Schill may have misled Congress in testimony regarding the matter. o Finding: Columbia’s leaders offered greater concessions to encampment organizers than they publicly acknowledged. o Finding: UCLA officials stood by and failed to act as the illegal encampment violated Jewish students’ civil rights and placed campus at risk.

Key Finding: So-called university leaders intentionally declined to express support for campus Jewish communities. Instead of explicitly condemning antisemitic harassment, universities equivocated out of concern of offending antisemitic students and faculty who rallied in support of foreign terrorist organizations. o Finding: Harvard leaders’ failure to condemn Hamas’ attack in their widely criticized October 9 statement was an intentional decision. o Finding: Harvard President Claudine Gay and then-Provost Alan Garber asked Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker not to label the slogan “from the river to the sea” antisemitic, with Gay fearing doing so would create expectations Harvard would have to impose discipline. o Finding: The Columbia administration failed to correct false narratives of a “chemical attack” that were used to vilify Jewish students, but imposed disproportionate discipline on the Jewish students involved.

Key Finding: Universities utterly failed to impose meaningful discipline for antisemitic behavior that violated school rules and the law. In some cases, radical faculty successfully thwarted meaningful discipline. o Finding: Universities failed to enforce their rules and hold students accountable for antisemitic conduct violations. o Finding: Columbia’s University Senate obstructed plans to discipline students involved in the takeover of Hamilton Hall. o Finding: Harvard’s faculty intervened to prevent meaningful discipline toward antisemitic conduct violations on numerous occasions. o Finding: Harvard Corporation Senior Fellow Penny Pritzker acknowledged that the university’s disciplinary boards’ enforcement of the rules is “uneven” and called this “unacceptable.”

Key Finding: So-called university leaders expressed hostility to congressional oversight and criticism of their record. The antisemitism engulfing campuses was treated as a public-relations issue and not a serious problem demanding action. o Finding: Harvard president Claudine Gay disparaged Rep. Elise Stefanik’s character to the university’s Board of Overseers. o Finding: Columbia’s leaders expressed contempt for congressional oversight of campus antisemitism. o Finding: Penn’s leaders suggested politicians calling for President Magill’s resignation were “easily purchased” and sought to orchestrate negative media coverage of Members of Congress who scrutinized the University

[tokyo-tower-symbolism]

Do you have any ideas abut the symbolism during the sequence in episode 7 when Nana and Maya are talking, when the camera shows a series of kids in various mundane places around the school doing something, and then returns to them but they all look up at the camera? Last time I rewatched the show it stuck out to me as one thing that I Still don't understand the significance of at all.

So in the scene right before Maya asks to speak with Nana, she is recording Claudine, Karen, Mahiru, and Kaoruko all declare that they are going to take one of the leads in the play this year.

And while Junna and Futaba don't explictly say their own intent, they are still on the side of those who have that ambition, unlike Nana and the rest of the class who are just watching them.

Now the actual students who later turn to look at the camera aren't their classmates in the scene, at least I don't think they are due to the different hairstyles, but they are Seisho Students, and judging by the script one is poring over, they are probably in the Stage Expression class as well. And before they turn around, Maya is talking about how some will not be chosen, and how terrible that is for them. It then has a close up on an unused locker, probably from one of the two students who dropped out earlier that year.

And then Maya starts listing Nana's star qualities, her charisma, her wonderful voice, her director's eye understanding of the stage, asks "why won't you-?", bringing attention to Nana.

And that's when everyone turns to look at the camera, or rather Nana.

Because for the losers of the auditions, Nana doesn't stand with them. Nana should be on the other side, on the stage and not just part of the crowd. Maya is telling Nana that she should take her proper role as a star, and by having the students stare at her, it's showing that this isn't only Maya's opinion. Those who failed at the audition see it too, Nana doesn't belong with them. She should be on the other side with the main cast.

It then cuts to Futaba yelling at Kaoruko (but in the meta context, Nana) to hurry up and decide. This scene is a turning point for Nana to decide what side of the fourth wall between the stage and the audience she wants to stand on.

But Nana doesn't take the main stage. Even though she wins the auditions, she goes back to a stage where she isn't the star. She remains as part of the audience, enjoying the show.

When she stares into the camera, she is talking to the giraffe (the audience), but she is also doing the same thing as the losers of the earlier auditions. She is still hanging back and observing those who want to be stars, this time adding Hikari to that initial cast.

Or the cinematography just wanted to be dramatic, idk

[vintage-tigre]

Claudine Auger, 1965

On the set of the James Bond film Thunderball

[panthera-tigris-venenata]

The history of the colour turquise

Uma stands at the command bridge of her ship, idly playing with the charms on her teal jacket, and thinking about nothing, until her mind drifts away, to the day she had decided to step from her mother’s colours and claim her own.

It had been a long ago: Back when Uma still wore her mother’s colours, and her wild hair tucked under a bandana instead of a pirate hat. Back when they used to run with Mal and Jay, she and Harry.

They were thick as thieves, the four of them, always getting into some sort of trouble – that was the way of the Isle in general, but the Isle’s criminals didn’t take kindly to tiny Villain brats running under their feet. Which is, of course, exactly what they were doing.

Well, that, and pickpocketing.

Figures.

They were good at it, too, always managing to slip off into the Isle’s shadows and away until they could giggle over their treasures together.

(The Facilier shadow witches were barely old enough to toddle back then, she thinks.)

Of course, they would lose the things soon, distracted by something else, little as they were, or to their parents, which Uma still shudders about to this day. The Villains were a lot of things, but caring parents, they were not.

Occasionally, Harriet would join in for a while, to get out of the port like her and Harry, or to steal the trinkets from Harry – siblings love at its finest. They still do that, the Hook siblings, Uma knows, except now CJ is in the mix, which just makes things all the more interesting.

Uma would know: she had watched Harry retrieve a pair of her earrings that somehow found its way up to the belltower of Frollo’s church.

She is pretty sure Claudine was involved, one way or another.

But either way, back then, it was a day like any other, on the Isle: Dark and overcast, with the vague forecast of imminent death. Uma was wearing a black leather jacket, liberated from some poor soul or another that drowned in the port, and in turn, the jacket was drowning her. Not literally, of course, Uma could not drown, but still. The crudely drawn octopus which Mal sprayed on a few days back did barely anything to make the jacket feel hers; they were unwanted kids leading stolen lives, even back then.

Uma thinks they always knew it.

They were playing in the cemetery that day, but eventually had gotten bored of playing tag in between the graves, or hide-and-seek: They fit into the darkness like they were born into it, but they knew each other's tells too well.

Mal always tended to hide near the rose bushes, and Jay loved getting high up. And Harry, well, Harry rarely got out of her sight, really, even in those games. She almost smiles, remembering that.

But they’ve left the graveyard, for better or worse, it was far too close to the school anyway – It was before Dr Facilier snapped and forced Captain Hook to establish another school, if he wants his kids to have education: Exact words were „Nope. One of your kids is enough. I’m glad you appreciate education, but I’M NOT DEALING WITH THAT.“ End quote.

The Hook siblings always did have a way of getting into people’s heads.

So, to the marketplace it was: Harry and Jay raced ahead, while Uma and Mal went down through the Isle’s dark alleys, their black and purple blending in almost perfectly.

Uma is not really sure what went on that day: She thinks maybe Mal wanted to check on Maddy, or maybe she had wanted to walk by the Queen of Hearts’ vacant front of a salon – never used – to marvel at the fascinating remains of Wonderland.

But either way, they were headed to the market, just – a bit later, you know. Fashionably late.

Late enough that when they arrived, the marketplace was in chaos. Uma despised it, a chaos that she hadn’t caused, but maybe, she thought, Harry and Jay just didn’t wait for them and had some fun. That’d be acceptable.

Except, that was not what happened: Mal had scaled a stand selling scarves and whatanot, to the immense exasperation of the shopkeep that neither of the girls really cared about. Uma remembers snapping at the woman – all but throwing a tantrum, in retrospect – and trailing her hands around the bright fabricks as she waited for Mal to say if she had seen the boys.

She had not, in the end, and Uma had long since decided it was another thing she could hold against the fae. The few extra moments it’d take her to find Harry that day.

She had heard him before she had seen him, yelling her name. She saw him then, in the crowd, looking utterly frantic and lost: she yelled back at him, kept hoping he’s see her: He looked around, but his eyes: She had grown familiar with that look since.

He wasn’t seeing much in that moment.

But still, she had kept hoping, little as she were, that he’d notice her as she weaved through the crowd.

He didn’t, of course he didn‘t.

Finally, she got through to him, tapped his shoulder to startle him into noticing her.

„Uma–“

She didn’t have time to reply before he wrapped himself around her in a hug and held on for dear life. (She had few bruises from that day, but if they came from Harry, she never held it against him.)

„Let’s go out of here,“ she said and practically dragged him away, until they reached a semi-deserted alley. Still, she didn’t let go of his hand.

„Are you– Are you okay?“ she stuttered, knowing she shouldn’t ask that question, shouldn’t look like she cares.

Well, fuck that pretense.

He had tears in his eyes then, the irises wide in – terror? Panic? And Uma had tried to forget that expression few times.

She is not sure what he answered, after all the years, but she knows he had turned the question immediately back at her, and then: „I couldn’t see you there. I couldn‘t find you–“

„I was right there,“ she lied back then.

She was not, not for a while, and then, she was too late. He wouldn’t notice her, just another small body, another figure clad in black in a sea of them. Of course he couldn’t find her there.

„I’m right there,“ she repeated. She’d like to believe she had hugged him at this point, but, memory is a good liar.

They went back to the port without bothering to say bye to Mal and Jay that day, and quickly after, Uma disappeared into the centre proper again.

She had gone shopping: bright teal shawl and a jacket, that went against everything she was ever taught: Don’t be seen. Hide. Work from the shadows.

But – Harry would never not see her in the crowd again, and for Uma, that is what matters, even after all these years.

Not the ugly fight she had with Mal over it – they fight the way only unwanted daughters of Villains could, and both came out bloody – but this.

The way Harry says her name, the way he calls her his Captain.

She smiles at that.

„What’s so funny, my northern star?“ her first mate asks.

This.

This was worth throwing the security of her mother’s colours away.

His northern star – he had given her that nickname a while ago, claiming she always gave him direction, purpose: he had been terribly sappy that night. But Uma didn’t mind. She would gladly do that for him, had done since they were kids.

„Nothing,“ she says, still unable to stop smiling.

„If you say so–“ He doesn’t look like he believes her, and so, she draws him in for a kiss: Maybe to change his mind, maybe just because she can

[nozomijoestar]

RevStar of the Day: The movie gives greater meaning to Hikari and Karen's hairpins which function as thematic symbols, because it's revealed they swapped what they wear with each other- kid Karen had the star originally while kid Hikari had the crown. Karen traded her ambition seeing theatre for the first time,her ambition from having her first friend symbolized by the star, for complacency symbolized by the crown. Hikari back then was herself complacent because she was so used to the theater she was doing that seeing Starlight was something different broke her because it wasn't what she knew.

And we already know it was Karen's ambition seeing the stage for the first time that broke Hikari out of her "stage death" her fear to go further into the unknown born from complacency. Their promise when Hikari moved to London put Karen into the complacency of waiting on Hikari to start her own life, to resume her ambition, meanwhile Hikari having her ambition rekindled got to achieve a sense of purpose by continuing theatre.

The characters who are complacent in the series are often compared to roles of prestige,they wear their own figurative crowns where Karen's is literal. Maya is class head, compared to geniuses, prodigies, to the point that she believes she is a god and regrets that no one could keep up with her until Claudine. Kaoruko is heir to an established dance school worth centuries of entrenched tradition,and all her life she found it complacent, boring, suffocating enough to run away from over and over. Nana literally put them in time loops so she would never have to feel loss. If anyone tries bucking her stagnation she has spent unknown years, decades, centuries etc beating them back under the yoke.

Characters with ambition to move forward are associated with stars. With wanting lead roles to be The Star of a show. Claudine literally calls herself a Star in her stage introduction as her rivalry with Maya is in order to knock Maya off her complacent pedestal,and in the movie to restore Maya's humanity by tearing down her arrogance. Junna's character revolves around telling herself someday she will be A Star, she will be a lead with the power to command awe and respect. She will be as great as those who's quotations she recites. Futaba is chasing the idea of standing on the most brilliant stage, to share the most brilliant moment in time with Kaoruko by pushing herself further and further past her limits because she thinks Kaoruko deep down still has her ambition to be great. Futaba wants to be great, together, as much a star as Kaoruko both on stage and in Kaoruko's mind.

EDIT: Also when Karen fights Nana the revue song is literally The Bonds Among Stars. Nana has made the choice to hold back everyone from ever growing in order to preserve them for herself; she says she must protect everyone this way. Then Karen comes and refuses letting the stagnant cycle continue because of her ambition to fulfill her promise with Hikari. Karen sings she will protect the stars (their friends) by fostering them as people because change is part of life, not imprisoning them in time. Karen represents ambition and free will that must triumph over stagnation and selfishness in this clash. Nana understands this defiance and calls Karen dazzling,as the lights behind their final sword clash resemble golden stars. Nana loses bathed in star light. The literal stars in the Starlight play also represent ambition and the price paid to achieve your wishes. This pattern of King and Star pervades the story.

Power makes you a slave to complacency, to preserving what you have at any cost never moving forward except in the direction of gaining more power. Karen felt a sense of power and security in her promise and arrangement with Hikari, because at least she still Had a tie to Hikari, but it means she never thinks about herself as a person (this issue is what Mahiru's character represents, Mahiru's character function is this externalized aspect of Karen). All the worrying Hikari did about stealing Karen's ambition in the TV show was misdirected, because the movie shows she had already stolen it when they were five with her absence and with her promise. Karen never did theatre because she truly cared about theatre for herself, she did it because she wanted her friend back, the only person she loved by now more than a friend.

Which is great because you can glean all this just by looking at how they got their hairpins. Karen accepted the crown of complacency so Hikari could have her star of ambition. By the final shots of the movie their hairpins lay in reversed positions with new meanings; Hikari has the crown of contentment while Karen regained her star of ambition. I say contentment for Hikari because by then she rejects complacency altogether, Karen finally got to say I Love You, and Hikari has long decided she will continue her acting career which she used as a point to make toward Karen about Karen's lack of ambition and sense of self. So I don't see her growing complacent any time soon. It feels as if she's turned the crown, the sense of power, into accepting what she's capable of but pairing it with her ambition this time.

Karen was the Star, Hikari was the King

Karen was the King, Hikari was the Star

Karen was the Star, Hikari was the King

We can find ourselves swapping between these roles moment to moment through our choices every day. This is the power of symbols. The flower of love blooms in the light of a star.

[caramelmochacrow]

episode 10 is full of feelings the hell. i cant watch the last two cause im abt to sleep but like. maya and claudine and karen and hikari. iykyk.