#ok that's enough I could talk about this for hours

[random2908]

Ok, I have a lot to say about scientific glassblowers.

First, luckily, there are a lot of them in China who are very good. If, like me, you work in private industry, the government has rules against buying Chinese components. But there's at least one American company (FireflySci) that launders Chinese custom scientific glass components, so you can still get them. If you're in academia you can buy direct from China and save a ton of money, if you or a colleague knows enough Chinese to be able to find these glassblowers on your own.

Within America, you have to know, the quality varies immensely. Scientific glassblowing is one of those trades that takes like 20 years to master. So there is a huge tension between the old masters who are really really good but have significant limitations in their capabilities because they're using old techniques; and the younger glassblowers who are learning or inventing new techniques but don't have the hand-skills to pull them off successfully. In larger shops, you can have a mix of ages, and so get around this a bit--but larger shops mostly don't do (serious) custom work. And often these larger shops are an in-house shop within an even bigger company.

For a lot of things, though, any scientific glassblower will do. In which case, you can still find them scattered all over the country. When I was dealing in glass a lot at a previous job, we had a long-standing contract with a glassblower about two hours away, who did all of our simpler stuff. There was a closer one, too, 20 minutes away, I'm not sure why we didn't go with them, I think because they had too much work already to take a long-term contract with us. So, yes, you can still find glassblowers, although not in large quantities.

But sometimes you need something really precise. This is science, after all. And your local glass shop just can't do it.

So then you have to find an old master using newer techniques. (I recommend Mike at Spectrocell in Pennsylvania, careful of the spelling--there are many similarly named companies--but he sounds very old over the phone.) (I know a lot of scientists will say Jay at Precision Glass Blowing in Colorado is the only guy they will go to for serious work, and I have some rude things to say to such scientists; not that Precision Glass Blowing does a bad job (...at the glassblowing part, that is--buyer beware if you ask for extras from them, but their willingness to offer extra services, such as chemical handling, is why everyone uses them in the first place), but they're not the only, or best, option out there.)

Get talking with an old master, and they'll constantly complain about how they've run out of apprentices. It is a real problem. It is a dying art, within the United States. (And, despite "scientific" in the name, it is very much an art; "scientific" refers to the customer base.) When I was collaborating with the University of Michigan at a previous job, the Chemistry Department's glassblower, Roy, was complaining that he was in his 70s and it had been several decades since he last had an apprentice, and he was going to retire any day now and the university would have no one to replace him with. (It wouldn't at all surprise me if he's retire by now, and if you could no longer get custom glass in-house at the University of Michigan.)

The irony is that there's still significant demand! Not as much as there once was, because you can buy mass-produced beakers now, you don't have to go to your local scientific glassblower for some of the simpler components. But for anything at all custom? For anything at all delicate? That's still done by hand. There's still a glassblower, somewhere, probably in China, whose handicraft that is. But like all trades, scientific glassblowing in the US has been almost entirely undercut by the availability of cheap labor (even cheap skilled labor, even cheap mastery) in other countries.

the world is running out of glassblowers and yet you want to become a fucking doctor

[homuraakemis]

Ok, I need to get this off my chest, because it really annoys me when people blame Vi for having sex with Caitlyn because they think she should have known that Jinx was suicidal and gone after her. And it also annoys me when people say that she is "stupid" if she didn't realize that Jinx was suicidal. Because no. She is not stupid for not realizing it.

People severely overestimate the amount of time that Vi spent with Jinx after she got out of prison. She reunited with her sister in that tower and spent less than five minutes talking to her before the Firelights attacked. Then, she meets Jinx on the bridge and they don't talk, Jinx only shoots at her. Then Jinx kidnaps Vi, and when Vi wakes up, they spend around 10 minutes talking before Jinx kills Silco and blows up the council, and Jinx is gone again. The next time Vi sees Jinx, it's in Janna's temple and they only exchange a few words before they start fighting. Before Act 2 of Season 2, Vi didn't even have half an hour to talk to her sister and get to know her again. She didn't get the chance to know her sister beyond the simple fact that her sister has changed into a terrorist that needs to be stopped, but she couldn't possibly know all the details of Jinx's mental issues from such a short time she actually had to spend with her sister. The longest time Vi actually got to spend with Jinx after being released from jail was when they went to get Vander and spent a few days in Viktor's commune. And during that period, Jinx was in a much happier and healthier mindset, so it would not have been obvious to Vi that she had been suicidal.

I've seen people give some arguments that Vi should have known because of a few reasons, but I really disagree with all of them. The reasons I see people give as for why they think Vi should have known are: 1) Jinx blowing up herself and Ekko; 2) Jinx telling Vi in the tea party "you're the reason I'm still alive"; 3) Jinx telling Vi to kill her by saying "Go on. I'm ready. I'm glad it's you. Had to be you"; 4) Jinx's grief after Isha's death; 5) Jinx saying that she will break the cycle. And I don't agree any of these are enough for Vi to know for sure Jinx is suicidal:

1) Jinx blowing up herself and Ekko - Vi didn't see what happened in that bridge. She was carrying Caitlyn and only turned around to look back after she heard the explosion. She didn't see that Jinx deliberately tried to kill both herself and Ekko; she only saw an explosion, but that explosion could have happened for any number of reasons during the fight. Jinx could have tried to kill Ekko and got caught up in the explosion by accident. Basically, Vi didn't know what happened.

2) Jinx telling Vi in the tea party "you're the reason I'm still alive" - this line doesn't have to be interpreted as someone being suicidal. Vi says pretty much the same thing to Jinx ("I spent so many nights in that shitty prison [...]. The only thing that kept me going was the thought of getting back to you"), but that doesn't mean Vi was suicidal, only that Powder was the reason she kept going, kept hope. Vi probably interpreted what Jinx said the same way: she was the reason Jinx kept going, but that doesn't automatically mean Jinx was suicidal.

3) Jinx telling Vi to kill her by saying "Go on. I'm ready. I'm glad it's you. Had to be you" - Again, Jinx being suicidal isn't the only possible interpretation that Vi could have of this line. Jinx says this after Vi has her defeated and pinned down, so she could very well just be saying this as a way to accept death with dignity, not because she is suicidal.

4) Jinx's grief after Isha's death - a person can grieve and be sad without being suicidal. You don't jump to the conclusion that someone is suicidal just because they're sad.

5) Jinx saying that she will break the cycle - how exactly is Vi supposed to know what is this cycle that Jinx is talking about? Sure, we as the audience saw her conversation with her Silco hallucination, but Vi didn't. And even if Vi knew that Jinx was talking about the cycle of killing, breaking the cycle doesn't mean "killing yourself", it could simply mean walking away and leaving. Hell, when I watched the scene, I actually didn't think Jinx was going to try suicide, considering that right before that she had said to ghost!Silco that "killing isn't mercy", so I actually thought that she wouldn't think that killing herself would break any cycle. So if it wasn't completely clear that Jinx was going to kill herself even to me, who was privy to the whole conversation in Jinx's head, then I hardly blame Vi for not knowing.

I know some people might still argue that Vi should have remembered what Jinx said in (2) and (3) and pieced things together, as well as Jinx saying the line "doesn't matter what I do, I just can't seem to die" (this one does seem more concerning). However, not only they are not conclusive evidence that Jinx is suicidal, Vi probably doesn't even remember that Jinx said those things. Both were extremely stressful situations for Vi. During the tea party, she was focused on trying to apologize and get through to her sister, then she was panicked that Jinx might kill Caitlyn or that Caitlyn might kill Jinx. With all the stress Vi was under, I very much doubt that months later, Vi remembers the specific line Jinx said that might maybe suggest that she was suicidal. The same goes for what Jinx said in Janna's temple. Again, it was a highly stressful situation for Vi, and again it's highly likely she doesn't remember every detail of what her sister said after so many months.

So to sum things up: Vi had around half an hour of actually speaking with her sister between the time she gets out of prison and the time they fight in Janna's temple. She didn't have time to actually get to know her sister and her mental problems beyond the surface level, and yes, while it can be argued that Jinx said some concerning things that might indicate that she was suicidal, many of them can be interpreted in different ways, and Vi might not even remember exactly what her sister said after months have passed. The next time Vi does manage to spend more than 30 minutes with her sister while looking for Vander and in Viktor's commune, Jinx is in a much happier and healthier mindset, so again, it would be difficult for Vi to see that she was suicidal before. So no, Vi is not "stupid" or "bad at understanding mental health" for not knowing that Jinx was suicidal, she simply never got the opportunity to actually get to know her sister again.

And as we see in the sex scene, it's clear Vi didn't know. She tells Caitlyn "I was an idiot to trust her", which suggests that she believes Jinx simply betrayed her, that she was wrong to believe that Jinx had changed for the better, and Jinx is yet again probably going to do something violent. She clearly didn't realize her sister was suicidal.

And I wish people had a little more empathy for Vi in this scene. Think about this from Vi's perspective: she spends 7 years of her life in prison, being beaten up, with the only hope of reuniting with her sister. Then, when she gets out of prison, that very sister that was her hope is working for and killing people for the man that killed her family and is ruining Zaun; and then her sister also tries to kill her, kidnaps her, emotionally tortures her with the idea that she might have decapitated her girlfriend, and then asks her to kill her girlfriend. Jinx hurt Vi a lot. Vi has many feelings of betrayal and resentment towards Jinx that many people in the fandom don't really recognize. But because Vi is Vi, she is very loving and forgiving towards the people she loves, and as soon as she sees Jinx showing empathy towards Isha, she is eager to believe that Jinx has changed and wants to forgive her sister. Only for her sister to punch her, lock her in a cell and disappear when Vi tries to help. Think about how betrayed Vi must have felt here. Jinx hurt her so much, and when she gives Jinx yet another chance, Jinx betrays her again.

Yes, Vi is wrong here: Jinx didn't really betray her, Jinx did change for the better and is actually thinking about Vi's happiness when she locks Vi in that cell. But from Vi's perspective, this is yet another time where she tries to reach out to Jinx and gets burned in return. So of course Vi is feeling hurt and betrayed. Of course Vi is not immediately thinking about whether Jinx is suicidal or not, because right now, Vi is actually focusing more on her own feelings of hurt. And I wish the fandom would have some empathy towards Vi and allow her to have her own feelings, allow her to feel hurt because of Jinx's actions, instead of demanding that Vi should be paying attention to Jinx's feelings instead.

When Caitlyn arrived and told Vi that she allowed her to free Jinx, that Vi didn't lose her, that Caitlyn didn't blame Vi for what she did, think about the emotional relief and happiness Vi must have felt. In Vi's mind, she felt hurt and betrayed thinking that she lost not only her sister, but that she would lose Caitlyn as well for having chosen to help Jinx. So learning that she still has Caitlyn's love and support? No wonder she was so overwhelmed with joy. No wonder she needed to seize that moment of happiness for herself and let herself enjoy it. Because just like Vi had said before, that she was done blaming herself for her sister's mistakes, she is now also done chasing after her sister if her sister refuses her help. So she chooses to stay with the person who, despite also having hurt Vi in the past (though not to the extent Jinx has), is choosing to stay with Vi and support her. After everything Vi suffered, and after all that she has sacrificed for others, especially for her sister, she deserves to have a moment to focus on her own happiness without having people in this fandom pointing fingers at her for not martyrizing herself and going after her sister yet again.

[wizardbait]

once again thinking about my (thus far unproduced) magnum opus: a crime and punishment muppet movie

[rotisseries]

Haunting

Will Byers + Strangers by Ethel Cain

@bylerween2023 | Day 1: Ghosts & Hauntings

unfortunately, it's not looking like my fic for bylerween will be done in time to share today, so I'm sharing the graphic that would have gone with it! strangers is one of my favorite songs, it's very haunting and very will coded, and I felt that it fit for the theme lol. the larger fic idea is that will did die in the upside down, and when mike goes to visit the now abandoned byers house, he sees will's ghost. hoping I can finish it by the november 22nd deadline🫡

[x-rds]

That post about huge red flags from exes is going around and I’m like well mine requires some background reading

[sydmarch]

it was so stupidly difficult to find any nutritionist who has experience with arfid & takes insurance so after having to go through all these referrals my therapist sent me & jumping through hoops I lowkey hate the lady lmao feels like such a waste of time & energy

[hadrianblackwaters]

!! DRUMINDOR SPOILERS IN TEXT AND TAGS !!

Listening to Drumnidor as a Hadrian girlie is not easy. My god they're assassinating his entire character and taking away his life purpose right in front of us! They're reducing him to a stupid comic relief character with no depth and no real influence on the people around him (to a greater degree than they ever did before) and they're taking away all his greatest achievements and attributing them to someone else to fit the plot! His main character status has been revoked and he's now apparently merely a supporting character in someone else's story. Please, everyone, a moment of silence for my blorbo 😔🙏 Rest in peace mr. Blackwater. At least they let you pull some impressive-arse sword moves, you looked really cool... but I am so sorry they did not let you be a practising hoe in this one 🥀

[charmac]

Hey! I wanna thank you for your videos and wanted to tell u I watch them to boost my energy hehe.

2 genuine questions:

1-Do you, based on the show and Dennis' character, believe that he hates Mac or he actually Loves him? How do u see Dennis in general bc I see him as a person who doesn't see himself as a person bc he's scared and also doesn't think he'll be loved.

2- when did u start loving macdennis as a romantic pair and noticed the little things between them??

Thanks! I'm trying to dig up old stuff from the old official accounts that's no longer viewable/watchable in my free time so we can keep it alive circulating.

1. I believe Dennis hates that he loves Mac. He's always loved Mac, for some reason he just has, and slowly over time that's caused him to hate him more and more:

I see MADBU as the catalyst for Dennis' disdain toward Mac, when Dee pointed out their codependency and broke their glass closet. It wasn't that he hated Mac for who he was, not right then, but Dennis hated what their relationship meant for who he was. S6-12 is this constant battle of Dennis trying to 'find himself' in so many ways, maybe he should be married; no, he just needs a higher position in the bar, reins on everyone; yeah, it's the gang who have issues: he's perfect, he's the Golden God, a 5-star man, the Master of manipulation. Dennis built his front on being a manipulator, on wearing different faces, on controlling Mac, convincing everyone his cold, hard shell matches his interior, and Mac fell for it. Mac, who's supposed to know Dennis better than he knows himself, no longer knows who Dennis is.

Dennis' front was born out of his insecurities, his trauma, his rejection of labels and his fear of being known, his constant internal battle with himself for control. (DTAMHD kind of illustrates that beautifully, look inside his mind, see what he's going through, all internally, he's trying to reason with the world being against him inside, so on the outside he can present flawlessly (ha).) His front wasn't meant for Mac, Mac was the guy who he could talk to, but Mac is a little stupid and he fell for it, an unfortunate by-product, and Dennis hates that. He hates that Mac sees who he's projecting and not who he is inside.

The sad thing is, Mac is trying. But he's always doing it wrong, proving himself in the wrong ways, trying to get through Dennis' shell not because he wants to know him, but because he wants him. Dennis left, Dennis came back, and Mac had replaced him with a sex doll. An object, Dennis is an object of his affection. An object.

Mac doesn't understand the difference, between lust and love. Mac doesn't understand love outside of neglect and manipulation. Dennis has built his front on manipulation. Would Mac still love him if he knew who Dennis was outside of that? Does Mac even want to know who Dennis is? Or does he just want sex? Does he love him or is it all manipulation at this point? If that was gone, where would they be?

Mac doesn't know that Dennis is Johnny, Mac can't wrap his head around the fact that Dennis is Johnny, he can't be. (Why can't he be?) Dennis is Johnny, he's dropping hints that he is: Johnny likes the same things that Dennis does, but Mac doesn't know that, because Johnny isn't the Dennis that Mac knows. Mac doesn't know Dennis. If Mac doesn't know who Dennis really is, he doesn't love him, he just wants him and Dennis doesn't want sex from Mac, because he loves him, and he hates him for that. (But Mac is in love with Johnny, Johnny who never showed up for sex, Johnny who liked the same things Dennis does...What does that tell Dennis?)

2. This one is really hard for me to pinpoint. Macdennis grew on me gradually, and then hit really hard. Definitely due to the Dennis Front factor. I admit constantly I was very much a dudebro on the subreddit about this show for about 2 years... Oops, lol. (I always liked this ship, um, non-romantically..) When TASP started the conversations there convinced me I wasn't insane to read deeper into this show and I began seeing Dennis meta, that's when I started seeing it romantically, I suppose. The first rewatch you do after cracking through Dennis is absolutely mindblowing, lmfao.

[cruesuffix]

I CRAVE YOUR YAPPING ABOUT MICK

FEED ME

i’ve been summoned!! is there anything specific you want to hear about… like i know wayyyy too much about that man. like i know parasocial relationships are evil or whatever but idc when it comes to peepaw i’ll be as parasocial as i want. like this is so dumb but i love that man carnally i need him in the most desperate and pathetic of ways…this is really weird so you can tell me if what i did was weird but last night i literally looked up his disease just to try and learn more about what he’d been going through for so long (honestly it kinda just depressed me a bit more tbh) i still think that man is a trooper. so strong and resilient…i know he isn’t as bothered when ppl call him a corpse or whatever but i really hate it when they do that. there’s so many ppl that think he’s scary looking but i can’t see that at all. he’s so beautiful i wish he knew how much people actually think he’s good looking.

(i fear i’ve already started…this is what happens when i just let go and don’t stick to a set topic lol)

[kattitude130]

i once said there was an iceberg meme of doctors i will say is my favorite depending on who i’m talking to so here it is. and the affection increases as you go down

[look-at-the-stars-tonight]

i would like to stop experiencing the full spectrum of human emotions every day please. putting this out into the universe

[solar-halos]

i think the craziest part of the percy jackson series—(warning i’m gonna be talking about child abuse)

—is that sally married gabe. “she was using him to hide percy’s demigod scent.” she married a man who physically abused her child. like. i get it’s a very nuanced situation and that demigods literally don’t even exist but yk what does exist? moms who marry men that abuse their children… like girl. there are plenty of bum ass men who smoke weed and eat pizza and looove their ciggies and instead of abusing ur kid they would straight up ignore him and if they were a demigod their scent would STILL be hidden

[featherymainffins]

I agree with this one Youtube guy's opinion on Kung-Fu Panda 4 but I feel like I am losing respect for him by the minute for unrelated reasons called "He showed his chart of movie antagonists and has Ken in the cringe tier, which does imply several things about the way he sees the Barbie movie and its themes. Also he has Adam (Hazbin) in the same tier."

On the other hand I am not sure if putting them in cringe means he thinks the characters are cringe, which like...yeah ok that'd be completely fair, or if it means that their usage as antagonists is cringe, in which case my previous statement applies like booo go home I don't want what you're cooking you don't get it you'll never get it.

Also he has a special super tier for Jack Horner which is giving him some plus points because big agree that was a real damn good narrative tool yeah.

[lavender---sunshine]

in all seriousness i 90% sure im going to quit my job tomorrow and for a while i will have just enough money to live on and will have to spruce up my resume and job hunt and stress but MY GOD i need to do something else because this is making me suicidal

[scarletfasinera]

The way grown adults in their twenties still talk about how they didn't learn about x historical event or y horrific thing the US did back when they were in highschool as if it's any excuse for their willful ignorance is like actually so pathetic. It's four years of schooling that you had a decade ago of course you didn't learn every single thing in the world, no one does in any school in any country. You're not special. It's time to grow up and make the effort to learn things for yourself, You're Not In Highschool Anymore

[skrunksthatwunk]

im finally going to replay y0...