#youre lovely!!!

[robyn-i-guess]

liking someone platonically is so embarrassing like. yeah i admire you. yeah i think about you all the time. yeah i look forward to every time i see you even if it's only for a minute. yeah it's all platonic and yeah i couldn't explain this because it'd sound romantic. fucking hell

[sadclowncentral]

i had a dream that time travel was invented and too many people choose to travel back in time to save the titanic from sinking (the question of whether unsinking of the titanic deserved so much attention in the face of human history was the subject of both heavy academic and online discourse), which caused a rift in the space-time-continuum that led to the titanic showing up indiscriminately all over the world’s oceans and sea in various states of sinking.

this caused a lot of issues both in terms of fixing said space-time-continuum and in terms of nautical navigation, and after a long and heavy battle in the international maritime organization it was decided that the bureaucratic burden of dealing with this was to be upon Ireland, much to their dismay. the Irish Government then released an app for all sailors and seafarers so they could report titanic sightings during their journeys, even though they heavily dissuaded you from reporting them given the paperwork it caused.

anyway i woke up with a clear image of the app in my head and needed to recreate it for all of you:

[cronchy-baguette]

caitlyn's garden of violets

[midnightcrisisstuff]

actually no, we're not "dating". we're bound together for infinity. like the stars. so, fuck you, actually.

[soaptaculart]

Postcanon Farcille indulgence

[rafeandonlyrafe]

well 🧍‍♀️ as a reminder this blog is NOT a safe space for trump supporters but it IS a safe place for women, queers, trans ppl, people of color, undocumented people, and any marginalized group.

[ofswordsandpens]

directors using colorful or "impossible" lighting to convey mood and meaning and beauty my beloved. directors making night scenes impossible to see for the sake of realism my beloathed.

[brainrotcharacters]

When irl pisses me off, I rewatch the Honda Odyssey scene to relax

[divorce-enjoyer]

well have you considered that maybe the unstoppable force is in love with the immovable object

[lepetitfruit]

Okay!!! Here's the rest of it!! Hopefully!! Beneath the cut, because this also got long.

Fire, the second reason sapphires are visible different than diamond's, also has to do with refraction. When looking at a diamond, there are 2 basic types of sparkle - brilliance and fire. Brilliance is how bright the stone is, ie how much light it reflects back. Brilliance is seen as flashes of white and grey light. Like brilliance, fire is flashes light. Unlike brilliance, these flashes are rainbow! Fire occurs when a ray of light hits a facet juuust right, and like through a prism is split into its wavelengths. Fire is a result of refraction, and so happens more often and brighter in stones that have a high refractive index, such as diamonds. Sapphires have a lower refractive index, and so don't have any visible Fire.

All in all, sapphires make a decent diamond simulant! They're durable and bright, but very clearly not a diamond for anyone who looks very hard.

Cubic zirconia are the most popular diamond simulant. They are used in everything from costume jewelry to engagement rings, and can be found in jewelry from across the world. This is for 2 main reasons - cost, and their ability to imitate diamonds. Cubics are lab-grown and extremely inexpensive - a 1 carat stone can be as little as $20. For comparison, a 1ct natural diamond is worth anywhere from #5,000 - $15,000 depending on the source and quality. Diamond properties and qualities and how they effect price is a whooooolllllleee nother ball game. I digress. The second reason cubics are popular is their ability to imitate diamonds - they have a refractive index of ~2.17 and a hardness of 8. This means that to an untrained eye, they are extremely hard to distinguish.

However, not all is perfect. Because of their relatively low hardness, cubics scratch, chip, and break easily. Any ring containing cubics that is worn regularly will likely have damaged stones within months. Beyond that, the lower refractive index means that they show less fire and can be seen straight though at some angles. Though not the worst diamond simulant, I personally dislike cubics. This is mostly due to how easy they break, as replacing stones is a huge hassle, expensive(due to time cost), and frustrating for everyone involved

In my opinion, if you can't possibly go for a diamond, the best simulant on the market is moissanite. Moissanites have a hardness of 9.25 and a refractive index of ~2.67, making them the closest to diamonds in pure material terms. They are good for everyday wear, relatively inexpensive, and available in any size or shape you could dream of as they're lab grown. The biggest difference between diamonds and moissanites is that moissanite is a doubly refractive material. This mean that when a beam of light enters the medium, it splits in 2 as well as bending. This results in a stone with FAR more fire than a normal diamond, and a slight fuzzy effect when you look into the stone due to the doubling of the facets. In terms of fooling the eye, it's not nearly as effective as a cubics. However, they are a hands down better stone in every other measure.

And last but not least - lab grown diamonds. I find when most people go for diamond imitations, they are avoiding 2 things - cost, and unethical practices. Lab grown diamonds are an effective alternative, costing just 10% of what a comparable natural diamond would, and requiring no slave labour. The ethical thing is actually more complicated than that, but I'm not here to defend the diamond industry. Anyway. Lab grown diamonds, are in fact diamonds! They are created with the exact same materials and exhibit the same properties - barring slight differences in the type of inclusions they contain. Which is not important for this discussion. I continue to digress.

There's actually quite a bit of controversy in the jewelry world regarding lab grown diamonds - some people love them, some people hate them, some don't care. People like them for the reasons I outlined above - they're durable, beautiful, and inexpensive. People hate them because of those reasons, too. Lab grown diamonds are often seen as "diluting the market" by giving people less expensive alternatives to natural diamonds.

Many people are also concerned about stone switching - when a jeweler sells you one stone, in this case a natural diamond, and then puts another into your ring. Because lab grown diamonds are practically indistinguishable, this is a fair concern. To combat this, all lab grown diamonds must have a laser engraved serial number.

The shop I work at has made the choice not to buy and sell lab grown diamonds - if customer want to use one, they have to get it themselves or go through another jeweler. This is mostly due to the reason diamonds are so popular - prestige. No rich person wants to go to a jeweler that sells lab grown diamonds, and rich people are our main clientele. So, no lab growns.

Anyway, that probably all I have to say on the matter! Hopefully this was clear and helpful, I have no clue if I explained any of this well. Also, this is by far the longest post I have ever written, and it was a blast!!!! I may have to start a side blog just for answer questions like this. Huh that's an idea. Anyway, if you made it this far, congrats!!! Thank you!! Have a great day!!

stop shaming people for being passionate about the things that they love. stop mocking people for having unusual interests. like, honestly, i'm so tired of feeling embarrassed for being "too much". if being too much means having deep interests that fill my life with romanticism and excitement, then let me be!!! i'd much rather listen to anyone ranting about their latest obsession with 16th century swords than have a boring ordinary conversation with those who shame passionate people

[nyxi-pixie]

'wah wah everywhere is falling to the right wing the whole world is doomed' literally like 6 months ago we were talking about how there was a trend in countries getting rid of their right wing governments. poland at the end of last year, france voted in a unified centre left/left alliance, even the UK finally got rid of the tories after 15 years (right wing splitting be damned, it still happened). outside of europe, bangladesh removed a dictator in like 2 seconds, india may have reelected their Evil Guy but on a DISTINCTLY reduced majority, theres been queer rights successes in thailand, with gay marriage set to be legal by 2025, and thereve been positive court cases on it in japan. and this is just stuff i vaguely remember hearing about. im sure theres more if you care to look for anything aside from more reasons to make yourself miserable

the US has a distinct effect on everyone, so this won't be fun for anyone (least of all its population. sorry guys), and there ARE a lot of people sliding into right wing extremism, but presenting this like its an unchallenged worldwide phenomenon is inaccurate, its damagingly bleak, and all it does is encourage despair and apathy. you DO have political power, and you shouldnt forget that just because of bad election results and the media's desperation to make you lose hope

[batcavescolony]

Katniss is such an unreliable narrator. She says "Then something unexpected happens. At least, I don't expect it because I don't think of District 12 as a place that cares about me" girl you deliver strawberries to the Mayor, you hunt and trade for the district, when you fell at Prim being chosen someone caught you, when you went to Prim people parted for you, when you volunteered EVERYONE stopped. Idk how to tell you but I think you're a pillar of the community.

[doccywhomst]

[rossary-of-the-rose]

someone sedate this man.

[onbearfeet]

A conversation at a wedding, beside the gifts table. There is a large box wrapped in violently purple paper sitting beside the table.

Guest: That's a big box. Wonder what's in it.

Me: A custom handmade quilt on an oak quilt rack.

Guest: Really?

Me: Yup. Wanna see?

Guest: Sure.

Me: *shows pics on my phone*

Guest: Wow. You made that?

Me: Yep. Finished it last night.

Guest: That's amazing. Very purple.

Me: Yeah, (bride) asked for that.

Guest: Oh, she knows about it?

Me: I worked with her on the design. But she hasn't seen the finished quilt yet. It's a surprise.

Guest: So you take commissions? Could you make one in, say, two weeks?

Me: That depends. Do you have ten thousand dollars?

Guest: What.

Me: Materials, labor, overtime to make that deadline--yeah, it would start at 10K. Might be higher if you wanted expensive materials or some really fancy technique.

Guest: That's a lot of money!

Me: It is.

Guest: Did you charge (bride) that much?

Me: No. Hers is a gift.

Guest: A ten thousand dollar gift?

Me: Well, to the extent that I am part of a quilting tradition at all, the tradition I'm part of is that quilts can ONLY be given as gifts. Anyone who could casually afford to pay for the amount of work involved in a quilt is probably not someone to be trusted with art.

Guest: Art?

Me: ART.

Guest: ...

Me: I also made her a nice satin dressing gown, which she wore for hair and makeup earlier.

Guest: Is that art, too?

Me: I mean, it's got pockets.