Shimmery Neurons!!!

Brought to you straight from the synapse.

[lornaka]

NEW PIN REVEAL! Really, if there’s Anakin in it and it doesn’t make you want to cry, what’s even the point, am I right? :’D

Hope y’all like this one. They are ready to ship and coming to my shop along with the Rex extras next Friday, Aug 14 at 9pm Moscow/2pm EST  www.etsy.com/shop/lornakastuffs

[shimmery-neurons]

wait, this gave me heart palpitations. how can i get one?!!?

[elivanto]

Ahsoka Tano ↳ dual lightsabers opening stance

[smhalltheurlsaretaken]

The Jedi in Yoda’s vision of a world at peace say so much about who he is. 

I plan on extensively yelling about Yoda’s visions in the immortality arc in the future, but for now please consider this.

Okay, getting this quick remark out of the way: it’s Katooni (the little Tholothian girl) who guides Yoda there. Children are a symbol of innocence, and what’s interesting is that Yoda takes her hand without hesitation after seeing all of the Jedi dead (and specifically Mace, Petro and Ahsoka). Throughout this scene here Yoda is the one asking questions and Katooni is the one answering - she speaks slowly and patiently, almost as if she’s talking to a youngling. –> The embodiment of wisdom manifested to Yoda (in a vision meant to tempt him through his dearest wishes) is a child. Talk about humility. 

Now please pay attention to the Jedi in the background. 

Here, the three Jedi right in the center of the set are Mace, Ahsoka and Petro - the exact three Jedi Yoda just saw dead and cried over (boy, s6 is so much fun, isn’t it?). So a significant part of Yoda’s deepest dreams is seeing other Jedi safe. He knows how to let go - that’s what this whole scene is about - but he still very much yearns for his fellow Jedi’s safety and happiness. 

Onto the even sadder part: have you noticed what’s going on here? Younglings are playing around, and the older Jedi are all talking. Quinlan with Saesee Tiin, Tera Sinube with Gungi, Anakin with Aayla Secura, and Mace with Ahsoka. And not just talking, look at the gif above! Mace is openly laughing at whatever Ahsoka said.

And Ahsoka looks at him like this. (Again, this is right after Yoda’s vision of her dying, desperately asking how the Council could expel her.)

One of Yoda’s greatest hopes is seeing Ahsoka happy with her fellow Jedi, at ease with the embodiment of authority that is Mace. 

Yoda loves Mace - he’s the first person he reaches for in the vision of the devastated Temple - and he loves Ahsoka, and part of his greatest temptation? Is to see the rift between the lost child of the Order and its Head healed. 

Same thing with Quinlan - the known loose cannon - and Saesee - another Council member. And Tera Sinube is an elder Jedi, talking to a youngling. And Aayla is “just” a Knight, almost a random one, and Anakin is chatting with her.

This follows a pattern: the rogue and the conventional, the very old and the very young, the common and the extraordinary - each pair shows opposites enjoying each other’s company, differences embraced. 

(Anakin talking to Aayla instead of sticking to Obi-Wan’s side like he does in the real world is especially interesting - he’s part of the community here, not ostracizing himself like he tends to do. Again, for this to be part of Yoda’s great temptation says so much about how caring he is. He wants Anakin to belong, more than anything.)

And finally, we get this: 

(I couldn’t make this part into a gif because of technical reasons, so enjoy the beautiful family picture.)

Once again we find that central theme of healing and wholeness. This part is what convinces Yoda to briefly let go of his (well-founded) doubts and to embrace the vision. It’s his biggest, greatest, deepest desire. The one that could have made him abandon reality itself to stay in this idyllic dream. It’s his unbroken lineage, happy, in the light. 

Yoda just wanted them all to be a family. Obi-Wan clearly adores Dooku in this scene (check it out, his awestruck look is amazing), their body language is incredibly warm and open, and they are completely at ease with each other and delighted to be sharing stories. It just screams domestic life.

And that’s it, that’s all Yoda ever wanted. For the young and the old to be content together, a community bathed in light, the gardens filled with the sound of windchimes and the laughter of children. He just wanted to have his family alive and safe and smiling. 

. . .

Dammit, I love this frog grandpa so much *sobs*

[shimmery-neurons]

i am not crying. you are.

[bonesmarinated]

I did a human version of Ahsoka three years ago, here an update with ss 7 kit. Gotta say she looks more like a Kiffar than a typical human in SW.

[bonesmarinated]

Master Plo Koon just naturally look good like that.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[shimmery-neurons]

Kenneth Cole REACTION wallet

Black with blue embroidery. Lightly used but was mostly in storage. Zippers all functional.

I just added this listing on Poshmark: Kenneth Cole REACTION wallet.

[bixbiboom]

The Backstreet Boys performing I Want It That Way together from each of their homes is exactly what I needed today.

[starsandskies-archive]

OMGGGGGGG

[helila]

[sipslowlivefast-deactivated2023]

I love this

[rnbgifs]

[lostcat420]

[whitepeopletwitter]

[shimmery-neurons]

Ooop

[whitepeopletwitter]

[themedicalstate]

What happens to Viral Particles on the Subway

By Mika Grondahl, Christina Goldbaum & Jeremy White (The New York Times)

The subway’s ventilation system moves air within train cars more efficiently than restaurants, schools and other indoor settings, according to aerosol experts. But it is not a guarantee to protect against the virus. Here’s how the system works.

The way the filters work is determined by their materials and shape. The subway filters have a wave design that increases their surface area, creating more opportunities to trap droplets. The filters are made of fibers that force incoming air to change direction, trapping some particles as air is pulled through the filters.

Filters like these are rated by their ability to block large particles, also known as their minimum efficiency reporting value, or MERV. MERV filters are rated on a scale of one to 20. Experts recommend that indoor spaces upgrade their filters to a level 13 to help ward against the airborne transmission of the coronavirus. Subway cars use filters that are rated MERV-7 and are replaced every 36 days, though they may be replaced sooner if needed.

Still, the subway’s so-called air exchange rate — or how often recirculated air is completely replaced with fresh air — helps minimize the risk of coronavirus transmission for riders. The recycled air on subway cars is replaced on average at least 18 times an hour, far higher than the recommended exchange rate for offices, which is six to eight times an hour, or classrooms, which is three to four times an hour.

Even with a relatively high exchange rate, however, viral particles that slip past the subway system’s filters could — based on ventilation patterns — circulate at least three times in the car over the course of several minutes. For example, if someone in a car sneezes, riders could be exposed to viral particles in the air that don’t get filtered out more than once, underscoring the importance of wearing masks.

Here are two air-flow scenarios in which a rider sneezes — one while wearing a mask, and the other without.

In the mask simulation, some larger droplets escape from the sides of the mask and fall to the floor, while tiny aerosols hover in the air. The ventilation system then pulls those particles into a vent on the ceiling of the car and pushes them through the filters.

In the simulation without a mask, many more droplets coat the floor around the rider and aerosols disperse into the air, eventually moving through the ventilation system.

Because the ventilation system pushes air across the train, rather than down into vents on the floor, those aerosols could come in contact with someone standing between the person sneezing and the ceiling vent.

“You can see how well dispersed that plume is,” said Krystal Pollitt, an assistant professor of epidemiology at the Yale School of Public Health. “Even if you are not standing directly beside the person who coughed or sneezed, you are still in contact with that emission.”

Public health experts caution that not all the particles released from a sneeze — or those shown in these simulations — contain viral matter. And while it is still unclear how much virus is needed for someone to be infected, coming into contact with a few viral particles may not make you sick.

Still the simulations underscore the importance of both good ventilation and passengers wearing masks: Without proper ventilation, those aerosols would stay aloft in the air and build with each sneeze or cough.

To help address that, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city’s subway, is testing out new ultraviolet technology that could be installed inside trains to kill viral matter in the air. This would prevent any viral particles a sick rider exhales from being recirculated through the ventilation system.

New York State has also required subway riders to wear face masks and the state’s transit agency has begun offering free masks. Masks not only help protect riders, but also train conductors, who are sequestered in tiny cabins for long stretches at a time.

To try to safeguard the cabins where conductors work, fans push filtered air from the passenger area into their operating booths before being pulled back out again.

Public health experts say that the high air exchange rate and widespread mask usage on the city’s subways sharply reduces the chances of a so-called superspreader event on trains.

Only 20 percent of New York’s 5.5 million weekday subway riders now use the system. The health experts caution that if more people begin riding the subway, pushing crowding closer to pre-pandemic levels, the ability of the system’s ventilation to lessen the risk of viral transmission diminishes dramatically. Even when riders are wearing masks, it is possible for a passenger to inhale the viral particles exhaled by a sick passenger if they are standing shoulder-to-shoulder.

Sources: Dr. Rainald Löhner, George Mason University, Center for Computational Fluid Dynamics; Dr. Linsey Marr, Virginia Tech; Dr. Don Milton, University of Maryland; Dr. Krystal Pollitt, Environmental Health Sciences, Yale School of Public Health; Dr. Jelena Srebric, University of Maryland; John Santamaria, vice president of the car equipment division at New York City Transit.

Additional work by Frank O’Connell

[shimmery-neurons]

Started off great... then I crashed.

[ruinedchildhood]

[shimmery-neurons]

now i know who i’ll be spending the rest of my life with.

[radicalurbanista]

8.11.20, Belarus

Citizens protest the illegitimate election of Lukashenko, entering his 6th term. In response to protests, police have deployed tear gas and water canons against demonstrators, as Lukashenko has vowed not to let the country be divided. 

This should be familiar to Americans. As countries worldwide refuse to move away from capitalism in order to respond to the pandemic and income inequality, they are turning to fascism like they did in response to the Great Depression.

[whitepeopletwitter]

[laughingsquid]

An Adorable Dumpster Fire Night Light

[shimmery-neurons]

oh my. makes me miss late nights in lower manhattan.