#white matter connections

[kafiranablogs]

Studying middle-aged brain can give us clues to dementia, ET HealthWorld

New Delhi: Cork and Yvonne Nolan, University College Cork Cork (Ireland), Mar 20 (The Conversation) Our brains change more rapidly at various times of our lives, as though life’s clock was ticking faster than usual. Childhood, adolescence and very old age are good examples of this. Yet for much of adulthood, the same clock seems to tick fairly regularly. One lap around the Sun; one year…

[nullbutler]

something something identity something something culture

[hussyknee]

cant put my finger on it, but Taylor Swift feels like walking racial microaggression

[queerprayers]

Here in the US, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, as we watch countless people de-radicalize and water down Rev. King's politics, we also watch the same thing happen to his religion. The Reverend was a preacher, first and fundamentally, and he approached all his political actions as a Christian. I wanted to encourage you today to honor both his political and religious legacy, as they go hand in hand.

Wikipedia's list of his sermons and speeches (includes short summaries and links)

the Stanford King Institute has many texts of his sermons

Archive.org has many of his books available to check out

[cafe-shade]

excuse me a moment-

Nobody white in history has ever done anything.

They're actually always francophones, or Italian, or Scottish, or Irish, or something.

White people do not exist.

Not just in a, "race/ethnicity is a social construct," type of way. Literally.

"White" is akin to an empire political state, maliciously absorbing ethnicities, cultures, "races," to make itself seem strong. Explicitly, arbitrarily, created to consolidate sociopolitical power and keep poor people from organizing with each other effectively.

Like "traditional manhood" is a lie that traps people perceived as cis men into a pyramid scheme, where if they sell enough Marykay/Avalon/vitamin thing boxes(uphold patriarchal standards/perpetuate systemic misogyny), they can win a pink van or something (be a real man/respected)- Whiteness kept poor people of varied cultures from politically and socially allying with slaves at the dawn of the United States.

Black people, blackness is similarly constructed. Maliciously, as a way to artificially strip various peoples from Africa of their cultures and identities, and make them easier to them subjugate. By extension to explicitly create a lower caste of human, that couldn't then be worked with collectively with on equal footing, no matter how close our experiences may have been.

All of this together, is what fueled race science, and every piece of racist rhetoric to come out of America. Even if you're not black, this tactic's use is a very basic way to divide and conquer. If you're any kind of "non-white" it's been used on you. It's colorism, it's racism, it's orientalism, it's the basis of colonial imperialist power.

So allow me to rephrase-

White people have never done anything good in history.

They're actually always francophones, or Italian, or Scottish, or Irish, or something.

Even out of the United States, the greatest thinkers, and creators are always Minnesotan, Virginian, Idahoian, or something. If they're not part of another ethnic culture first.

Blackness is an identity that is forced upon. There is no way for the black people of the United States of America to ever cede blackness, lest white people stop labeling them as such. Lest white people cast aside their robes.

But as consequence, an inspiration to queerness, a culture rose out of it of resistance to being owned. Community, song, and scattered traditions by region, echoes of past cultural ties.

That culture trickles up through sociopolitical ranks because an artificial band made up purely to conquer, cannot create anything but itself. So they have to take, and assume ownership over new things they did not make, just as much as their roots did.

The black American community is not immune to supremacist thought, no community based on intrinsic identity is.

But whiteness is inherently supremacist, it was intentionally, explicitly, constructed that way.

"What's the takeaway from this"

I promise I'm not just shitting on white people for fun, one of my best friends is white.

But what I am saying is; I don't think it's weird that so many people perceived as white are panicked and fleeing from association with whiteness as an identity. White guilt, and white tears, are lame, but I think that this is unironically a good development.

We can talk about the problems with the destinations they're fleeing too maybe, we can talk about cultural insensitivity and appropriation, but I think those largely stem from not committing to it. But I do think it might be good to navigate something new out of all this. At least conceptually.

┐⁠(⁠‘⁠～⁠`⁠;⁠)⁠┌

[whatudottu]

Presently going insane rn:

Anyway let me talk about the one question that I have been contemplating ever since I began rotating petrosapiens in my mind. How the fuck do babies?

If you caught the reblog before this post, you might have noticed that a post about fat in aliens brought me to think about petrosapien fat, which contradicts a lot of what I've already established for them being an exoskeletal species, let alone being a hard sell in the sci-fantasy of rock crystal people of canon. Turning to one of my two animal inspirations of petrosapiens - bugs and more specifically in this case insects - I found out that insects can't build up fat, not in the way mammals or reptiles can, BUT they store the most of it in a very significant stage;

Larvae!

Then it fucking hit me, I already made some early headcanons about child development in petrosapiens (though I can't remember if I posted them or had a post ready to send) where they were already in a metamorphosing stage, though the responsibility fell solely to the layer who would use crystallokinesis to feed an 'egg'. I didn't fully like the idea though mostly in retrospect, because it felt strange in the 'pulled out of my ass' kinda way, a method of child rearing that felt more obligated to use crystallokinesis as a primary source for feeding to sorta justify at the time the inherent power petrosapiens have towards crystallokinesis.

Instead, between then and now I fully connected the idea that crystallokinesis is less of a power and more of an extension of a petrosapien's nervous system, compression of quartz through the use of a more electrical based nerve network that happens to not distinguish between person crystals and the similar crystalline structures of Petropia. With this in mind and the new idea that petrosapiens have larvae, wouldn't it be so cool if the larvae had the typical Earth-like electrochemical nervous system of humans (or I suppose bugs here) that adapts to an electrical focused nervous system through the process of metamorphosis? Where the larvae creates it's petrosapien crystal skin by building a chrysalis and melting within it to create their new body?

Unlike my old headcanon where the layer had to remain with the egg and constantly feeding them with crystallokinesis, this larvae version can feed itself when provided and so long as the chrysalis is well protected, the moment metamorphosis stage takes place the parent(s) can have momentary reprieve from child rearing and better prepare themselves for the toddler/adolescent stage for their child. The little grub probably doesn't even eat crystals in the early stages of their larvaehood since eating crystals initially marks as the materials for chrysalis building before it becomes a nutritional food source. Instead the little grub might be feed plants and potentially animal products in order for it to inherit and develop the chemicals required to build a crystallovorous stomach and the acids used to break silica down into digestible nutrition.

That does mean that early child rearing is a little bit more functionally deadly towards the very crystalline parents, who have to legitimately watch so that their fingers aren't bitten off, but holding the little grub is easy when it's covered in silicone membrane. The larvae at this stage is a little bit more resistant to any crystallovorous plant secretions due to the polymers of it's membrane, as well as the higher diversity of oxygen, hydrogen, and carbon in it's body it has in comparison to adults or adolescents who've undergone metamorphosis, their innards becoming a more uniform silicone and their skin being the crystalline silicon many crystallovorous stomachs have adapted to eat.

It also means that the shape of a grub is also considered to be cute to a petrosapien. Things from caterpillars to maggots look so much more charming to a petrosapien's eyes that back on Petropia there would be a large proportion of pet owners having what would considered on Earth to have bugs for pets. In fact, a rather common form of pet Petrosapiens might have would be a large millipede/centipede like animal that would be the size approximate of a feather boa and often held that way too, because while they do not undergo metamorphosis, they look like a larval grub well into adulthood and are considered to be very cute for it. Pet owners with these pets who are also parents love to see their little larvae and their 'dog' getting along and would love telling their adolescent all the cute stories of the little grubs curled up against each other. Petrosapiens in the age of the Surface Craze might have had the opportunity to get a few baby pictures like that, and it would be considered very cute unless you were a human afraid of bugs or not personally a fan.

Petrosapiens on Earth might see the miniature bugs and explode with cuteness overload, others might fuck around and find out that they can make human-petrosapien hybrids Makarat you chupacabra you're lucky petrosapien kids aren't born with crystals pay child support to your human wife who birthed a grub-!

And that's the post send tweet-

[giantkillerjack]

My first time watching Glass Onion it was obvious that Miles' speeches were bullshit, but I still searched for any hidden meaning there might be.

The second time is a different experience though because every time my brain starts to search for meaning, I feel like Benoit Blanc discovering that no, there is absolutely no hidden meaning.

It's bullshit it's all nothing nothing nothing! It is just how you end up talking when everyone reacts to your self-aggrandizing word vomit like it is actually wisdom.

Also, legit, when Miles gave his stupid bullshit speech about what the word 'disruptor' means to him, I shit you not I was like holy shit am I back in business school right now?!

Miles must have given speeches like that at 100 business school graduations, goddamn.

Like, the motherfuckers really do sound like this. We didn't have any billionaires come, but we had a lot of millionaire guest speakers in my classes, and they fucking talk like that.

They all think they're rugged capitalists, but they're just glass onions!

[delicatebluebirdruins]

Not A Hero and End of Zoe cutscene talk

theres not a lot but they have some points (and I probably missed some for Not A Hero... I feel like I did)

Not A Hero

1. Lucas: "Is it ready? Can we begin? "I can't help it, man. We've got work to do."

Veronica: "Chris, did we lose him?" Chris: "No, no. Ethan Winters has been secured. He's alive and well, considering." Veronica: "And Lucas Baker? Right now, he's our only link to The Connections." Chris: "He's next on my list.“

we don't learn who Lucas is talking to but we do know its not the connections. Lucas is a double agent selling data to have another group about Evie (and from one of the files we learn why. he thinks the connections won't use Evie properly)

two options: normal feedback from the guys in helicopter when they were flying away and Veronicas comment about how Lucas is their only link lends to that.

but also CONSIDERING WHAT? have you seen RE1 hd Chris alternative outfit looking like the most douchy thing known to man? you know don't judge a book by its cover. But all jokes aside he says this with assurance as if he knows Ethan. And they knew he was going to be there that's what it sounds like to me anyway

2. "dialogue: experiments with an e-type variant": aka these fuckers: fumers and mama molded (later on "I have no idea. its something new. Proceed with extreme caution... white variant is extremely resilient")

3. the son of a bitch has been sending status reports on Evie to the connections: self explanatory this is confirmation of their previous thoughts (briefing document you find in Chris's inventory at the start) and there is a moment of Chris expressing his distaste of working with Blue Umbrella.

4. "if you're gonna kill me just kill me for the love of god shut the fuck up"... no analysis just big ass mood really

5. "Umbrella and Redfield have been taken care of. dealing with them cost me some time cost them a lot more. But I can still get that data to you but we're quits after that" I am going to say this was towards the connections and not the other party but i don't know for sure

6. Lucas "a lot of people out there want to know about out little Evie. a lot of people" Chris: "Your friends, the connections know about this they don't strike me as the forgiving type"

Who are the other people? what was Lucas's plan after he completely betrayed the Connections (... why did Lucas betray the connections? we can infer the why as again he thought they won't use her properly) and of course the criminal organisation won't be forgiving at outright betrayal (or even perceived betrayal for that matter) makes you wonder why explicity Ethan and Mia were moved to where they are in Village (and if they have been moved before)

7. Veronica: "Chris, the data transfer's almost complete!“ Chris: "How do I stop it?" Veronica: "You need a way to shut down the server. There may be some transformer relays you can—“ Chris shoots "OK… that worked. Gonna be some pissed computer techs up here, but—“ Chris: "Cry me a river. What's the sitrep?" Veronica: "The facility is clear. Even the newer breeds have been neutralized." Chris: "Then I'm outta here.“ Veronica: "Perimeter wall is up and operational.“ Chris: "Good. "Think we did any good here?“ Veronica: "Not for them, unfortunately, but the mold is contained. Hopefully, they're Evie's last victims.“ Chris: "Hopefully.“ Veronica: "Chris, there's a call for you. You need to take it back at the camp.“ Chris: "Alright. I'm on my way."

no thoughts about the first part of the bolded text other than it makes me sad. Chris has been in this so long and its just you know tiring for him

now the call back at camp. I am willing to bet that's its Ethan asking him to search for Zoe. And again I ask how can a random normal civilian get a direct line to anyone in this situation let alone Chris Redfield?

End of Zoe

Joe: "What the hell are you boys up to?“ Soldier: "That's her alright. Zoe Baker. She's still breathing. Call in to HQ."

I wonder who wants status reports? also did they get a chance (I hope the prisoner Joe takes took the chance whilst he was out got the call out)

...Soldier: "Listen to me. We're here to help.“ Joe: "No, I don't believe you, boy. Tell me—what kind of help comes in a helicopter gunship.“ Soldier: "You don't know what you're talking' about. You don't get it!“ Joe: "With all these monsters running' around here. Tell me—where'd they come from?“ Soldier: "It's not what you think. You don't understand!“ Joe: "Oh, I don't understand? "You see that girl back there? Look! That there my brother's little girl. My niece. You understand? And around here, family is a righteous cause! And you ain't gonna kill my family! Now see, that ain't something' I can abide.“

Joe was in the military in the Marines specifically but from his questioning he knows about outbreak military suppression groups maybe even aided in one such incident (and after getting discharged went to live in a shack in the swamp close enough to his family but far enough to not know a thing that's happening)

Soldier: "For fuck's sake. She's infected—she's dying—and we're both gonna fuckin' die if we don't get the fuck outta here right now!" Joe: "She ain't dead yet, boy! So I figure you better do something about it. Before I feed you to your little friends outside." Soldier: "OK, OK! "There's a cure.“ Joe: "You're lying to me." Soldier: "I'm not lying... I'm not lying. We were on our way to get her treatment, and you fucked that up when you jumped us! They're probably still waiting for us right now!“ Joe: "Where?"

Joe: "Soldier boy said the meds were at some kind of base... "Now where in all hell did this wall come from…?"

how did Joe miss the wall being constructed? other than him not being close and doesn't go in that direction when he goes hunting?

Joe: "Jack? What the fuck—" Joe: "Goddammit, Jack! Don't you remember your own brother? Don't do it! Don't you touch her! Jack! Let me the fuck outta here! I'm your family! How the fuck could you do this to me? Get me the fuck outta here, Jack!"... Joe: "Goddammit. Aw hell, Jacky-boy... What's happened to you?"

startling realisation and trying to reason with Jack but it won't work (again I think Joe drowned the screen goes black and he gets up at the Baker estate)

"attacked by unknown bioweapon"

Jack gets around quite a bit (considering he can teleport- it would be cool if what he was actually doing was disolving into the ground and reforming wherever he needs to go but alas the garage opening scene exists)

"You're just a rabid dog now. And I'm gonna put you outta your misery."

I had a thought so we see don't see Jack crystalise (I say calcify is better description) after the chainsaw fight but we do see him do so in the boathouse and his legs turn as well in this last boss so his upper half turned into the monster in the boathouse (kinda like fear street and the kids trying to blow up the killers and watching them reform though in this case its both reform and deform)

Joe Baker: "This is a farewell from the family, brother!... Zoe...!"

its just a badass line what can I say?

Chris: "Weapons down. Weapons down! It's alright. You must be Zoe Baker." Joe: "Who the hell's asking?" Chris: "Chris Redfield. We've been looking all over for you. We're here to help."

there is element of Chris helping look for Zoe being that she can be helped. that she wasn't a lost cause. But it seems like there was a lot of effort going into her search all for one person (also I wonder if their search is what woke Jack up or was Jack searching the entire time)

BEST CUTSCENE

Zoe: "I was trapped with those monsters for 3 years—all of them trying to kill me... I can't believe it's finally over.“ Joe: "Ya gotta know, deep down somewhere, they were still your family and they loved you. Especially your daddy... even in his final days.“ Chris: "We found her. She's a tough kid. Yeah, of course. Hang on."

"Someone wants to speak to you."

Ethan: "Zoe? Zoe, are you there?“ Zoe: "It's you! I don't believe it. You actually made it." Ethan: "We both did."

Zoe: "You didn't forget about me."

Ethan: "I told you I'd send help. And I always keep my promises."

Zoe: "Thank you, Ethan."

I wonder if whilst Zoe was being checked up they were explaining what happened to Joe and and Joe came to this rightful conclusion (Jack wanted to bring his baby home)

Chris updating Ethan on finding her over and handing the phone over. (I would love to know what the conversation was like on Ethans end and before Chris came into the tent)

Ethan has to have some kind of authority for some reason to be able to say this with confidence. And you know getting Chris to personally update him AND hand the phone over (again normal civilians can't do this?)

I love this bit what can I say

[rubberbandballqueen]

also today in queer history class discussion i pitched the question "how has your race impacted your experiences as a queer person" and so one of my classmates talked abt how she was usually the only black person in queer spaces (or if not, then the only dark skinned black person) and talked a lot abt the isolation of it all

which was cool to hear, but not quite what i was looking for, so at the end i was like, "follow-up question: how has your blackness influenced your queerness?"

and after class she told me no one had ever asked her that before and so she'd never had to consider it, but now she was excited to just throw that at every other queer person of color in her life because it's like, "huh. what kind of homoeroticisms DO i experience as a result of my culture? how CAN i express my queerness in a way that also feels at home with my culture, instead of just picking an expression that is one or the other?" and i think that's beautiful. i hope she figures out how she wants to be queer in her own uniquely black way

[oetter]

wish i could say this isnt a kc household. but sometimes yknow.. feels good to celebrate with a shit ton of people

[bitchfitch]

Yeah it's a metaphor for how it's considered normal for boys to be emotionally neglected throughout childhood and how toxic masculinity and patriarchal ideas hurt men, but it's also literally about a big sexy bull man and a weird cat doing the fuck with eachother.

[shirkers2018dirsanditan]

there are so many layers to and within the cases of emmett till and the scottsboro boys and the aftermath and when you treat them as living history and not a meme or historical comeback to feminism you can learn a lot more about the actual structural dynamics of the construction of white women, black men, and black women as a class. i mean, the fact that the scottsboro boys are rarely mentioned by comparison while emmett till has fully become a meme is apart of an unwillingness to engage with history on a meaningful level. we never do

[sapienthouse]

can i be totally real tht post abt moralizing hair tht doesnt even briefly mention the demonization of dark curly hair (more particularly afro-textured) is a Little annoying to me. YES balding has been demonized and treated w disgust. but im sure no-ones being discriminated against for balding at anywhere near the same rate as people with afro-textured hair are for just having their natural hair.

[nexus-nebulae]

ok i know that elder scrolls lore is kinda really not great at times but the Redguards (aka The Only People Of Colour) literally being the only human race in the elder scrolls to not share any common ancestors with the other human races (aka, All Of The White People) feels really fucking racist.

[jewishbarbies]

typically white people obsessed with saying “white people have no culture” every time they open their mouths and then in the next breath make sure to tell people “you’re not allowed to say you’re anything other than american because you weren’t born in another country.” are so fucking annoying. like. yeah. there is no collective “white culture”. there’s culture in the sub groups of american immigrants. if your ancestors aren’t english, you have a culture to connect with and learn about. most non-english immigrants came to america because they had to either to avoid death or for a better life in a rough time period of their home country’s history. mine came from germany to escape the holocaust and some didn’t make it. you’re allowed to learn about the culture you missed out on and connect with your family’s ancestry. as long as you’re being respectful, there’s literally nothing wrong with it.

(there might be closed practices you need to be invited/accepted into, but that falls under “being respectful” imo)

[shiningstages]

Getting White Day Tsukasa first try, and seeing the newer cards on JP, really makes me wanna write fanfic again..........