Sapphire
LightNews LightNews
banner
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Sapphire
@sapphirespectre.bsky.social
190 followers 640 following 350 posts
Now that people are here: I'm a Trekkie, Whovian, book nerd, knitter/crocheter, sewist, occasional gardener, frequent baker, and undiagnosed but pretty sure there's some ADHD at the VERY least (I have more interests and minor hobbies than I've listed).
Posts Replies Media Videos
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Happy Halloween! This is my favorite holiday and I'm so proud of this #handmade costume that I'm cropping it down and sharing.

I made adjustments to an existing #sewing pattern for the base and then designed the image on it myself by hand! It's possibly the thing I've made that I'm most proud of.
Headless torso of a white woman wearing a light purple sweatshirt-dress. The front of the dress is almost entirely an appliqué of a (white) polar bear that looks very unimpressed, it has grey ears, muzzle, and paws, and black eyes, nose/mouth, and paw pads. It's inspired by an outfit worn by the character of Mira in the movie Kpop Demon Hunters. Screenshot from Kpop Demon Hunters (animated movie) showing Mira wearing the sweater I replicated. She's a tall, thin Korean woman with vibrant magenta-ish hair that is mostly long in the back but with two smaller high pony tails secured with bows that match the color of her sweater dress and two longish face-framing tendrils of hair. It is her characteristic hair style, but the bows and soft sweater hint that in her down time she wants to be soft, not her smooth public persona and not always as jagged edged as she feels. She looks worried and this scene is dimly lit. This is probably what she sleeps in/loungewear.
October 31, 2025 at 3:09 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Star Trek (TOS) screenshot with Kirk and Spock in the foreground, McCoy slightly behind and between them, and some blonde woman in a red dress next to Chekov looking on, all amidst a lot of lush foliage. Spock is looking at two "rock" pieces in his hands. The caption reads "FRAGILE, GOOD CLEAVAGE". Meme of a bald eagle walking along a shoreline. Eagle's head is down, making it look like it's walking with its shoulders hunched up and grumpy. Text reads "me going on a stupid little daily walk For my stupid physical and mental health".
October 24, 2025 at 2:07 AM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Today feels like a day to share one of my favorite gifs I've ever found online.
September 18, 2025 at 10:44 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Not a gif but a great T'lyn.
T'lyn standing next to her alt universe self. On the left the uniform is a slightly darker blue. On the right the mouth is slightly open, speaking. Both hold tricorders. Text on top and bottom of image reads "According to these readings" / "We are a Motherfucking Force of Nature".
September 4, 2025 at 6:41 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
What's y'all's favorite episode of Star Trek from before it became all woke and political?

This underrated (problematic) gem where people who live in a literal cloud city and dress in magnificent dresses claim the miners are all violent and unintelligent because THEY knew the gas messed up brains.&
Droxine talks to Spock because she's a little bit in love with him (relatable). There's a hot pink background with some kind of hot pink artistic wall decor behind them, we see Spock in his regular blue shirt and black pants, but she's the real focus. Her blonde hair is up in a classic 60s Trek updo and her shoulders are bare but from the back of her neck (halter top style) there's an iridescent blue cape fanning out. We cannot see either of their legs fully as that is offscreen. In this scene the colors are much lower saturation mostly a gray background with some dark orange walls further back and the whole scene is darker. They are standing around an orange and grey table. Droxine and Spock stand next to a man all in white tunic and black pants with some kind of fabric-looking white helmet. They face Kirk in his customary gold uniform top and another woman also wearing a lovely dress, but less dramatic than Droxine's in a dark blue and with regular strappy shoulders - we can't see the front. Her hair is half up half down and we can tell from this that she's not as wealthy. Droxine's front is a halter top of the same shiny fabric, but crossing her front and gently cupping her breasts ONLY. Her entire torso is bare and the skirt goes begins below her navel and goes to the floor in the same shiny fabric. She's got dangling earrings and is MONEY.
August 15, 2025 at 10:53 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Seven is relatable af.
Seven of Nine faces the camera and Janeway in her grey cat suit, she looks mildly annoyed and mostly confused. Janeway's back is largely to the camera and she is working on a reddish brown sculpture of a head. The captions, spoken by Seven (across two panels of this same basic scene) read "The concept of relaxation is difficult for me to understand."
March 25, 2025 at 12:56 AM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Reminds me of this meme.
A 4-image meme aligned vertically and alternating dialog between the DS9 characters Bashir and Garak. Bashir is in his medical-blue uniform and is a human of Middle Eastern descent (light brown skin, short black hair). Garak is an alien, Cardassian, grey skin, black hair, multiple shapes on the forehead, and is a former spy who will never admit it. B: Which of the Treks are real Star Trek? G: My dear doctor, they're ALL real Trek B (confused face): Even the ones I don't like? G (smug face): ESPECIALLY the ones you don't like
December 21, 2024 at 11:13 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 20: The Broken Earth trilogy, NK Jemisin.
Note: I did 18 twice, so this IS 20.
They sell this as a box set, sooo.
Three covers appear on a white field, 1 on top, 2 on the bottom. For whatever reason, the top book is the final book of the trilogy, The Stone Sky, bottom left is the first, The Fifth Season, and bottom right is the second, The Obelisk Gate. Each cover features the title in a very thin font in white, the author's name slightly smaller in yellow, and some kind of carved stone motif (ie, decorative stone work you'd find carved on buildings) in largely a single color with accent and dark. The first book is the most grey, with sort of scrollwork carving in the bottom right. The second book is a red-violet circular motor looking like an ornate flower. The third book diverged slightly and it's sort of got a gradient from yellow to blue across the middle, but knot work carved into an archway that looks vaguely middle eastern. The carved stone is a light blue. They give away nothing about the content of these books, but the vibes are pretty good. You're not getting into anything light with these.
December 20, 2024 at 12:07 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 18: Sandman, particular cover The Doll's House, Neil Gaiman
(I'm in my problematic faves era)
This cover is dark and difficult to describe. The primary image is of a masculine face, tall and thin and blue-white pale on cheeks, mouth, neck, and forehead. The left eye is covered by a reddish black bird, whose eye is aligned so that it appears to be the face's eye as well, and beak points down the face's nose. The right eye is reddish and the surrounding skin (forehead to cheek) is speckled with tiny shapes in warm colors (yellow, orange, red, and some purples). Purples spread into a smudge in the shape of an ear, vaguely, with a light colored crescent moon hanging like an earring. The rest of the cover is shades of dark, and the title Sandman is in a bright cyan across the top in an iconic font. White and almost illegible text below it specifies The Doll's House. To the bottom right corner white text gives the author and artist names on the black field.
December 19, 2024 at 3:00 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 18: Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
(Yes, I am aware of the issues, that's part of why it's here.)
This cover has big war games vibes. They've used a 80s-90s era "sci-fi" font (reminiscent of Star Trek and Wars) to present the name of the book on two lines in pale green, curling a bit around a red planet? Moon? In the distance. The planet is partially hidden behind a green-blue glowing plane (as in flat surface) that runs diagonally from top left corner of the cover to midway down the right side. The foreground of the image, bottom left and stretched towards the top right in the alternate diagonal is clearly the outside of some kind of technological building or ship - lots of hard corners and grey to black in color. In the front right is a yellow fighter jet (space fighter) in yellow, demonstrating how absolutely enormous this dark hulk is by being tiny in comparison. Perhaps it's the space equivalent of an air force base? Between this hulking object and the distant horizon and planet you see shorter small jet looking thing and lines on the greenish surface almost reminiscent of older video game grids, or alternately lights along a highway from an aerial view. These stretch toward the planet. The author's name appears above the title at the top in lilac.
December 18, 2024 at 12:50 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 17: The Magicians by Lev Grossman
(truly how could I not follow that with this in my list)
This cover is perfect, a landscape with a twisted tree with green-golden leaves and dark bark rising above a pond covered in fallen LEAVES - and reflected in it slightly. In the background through mist we see the silhouettes of other trees. None of them are tree-shaped trees (no poof of foliage at the top), they are different shapes, REAL trees, trees that didn't grow up trimmed into perfect shapes. Both this image and the title seem deliberately reminiscent of Lewis' Magician's Nephew and the ponds among the trees of the cover for that that I posted yesterday. At the top, across the sea of fog that is in place of the sky is the author's name in a mid sized black block font, 'THE' on the line below that, and then taking up most of the visual space, "MAGICIANS" in a tall block font.
December 17, 2024 at 12:42 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 16: The Magician's Nephew, C.S. Lewis
(my hill: DO NOT READ THIS FIRST, Lion, at least, has to be before this)
An older edition (60s or 70s, I'd guess based on art style and color scheme) of The Magician's Nephew. Illustration is set into an arched window type shape and depicts a very large woman with orangey red hair flowing out behind her past her waist, wearing an old fashioned dress meant to look medieval ish with reddish orange bodice and vertical stripes of greenish and black on the skirt, as far as we can see it. On her head is a red and black crown. She's in a small pond and splashing out of it (hence part of the skirt not being visible) and is holding onto a girl's long yellow hair above her head. The girl is wearing a pink and orange dress and is herself holding the hand of a boy in a brown suit who is above her. There's an impression that the girl is being pulled in both directions, and that the boy is somehow levitating all three of them upward. The boy is level with the green parts of the stylized trees we see in the background. They're are bits of several other similar small ponds visible amongst the trees. The background around illustration is a creamy off-white, with some blue accents right around the outside of the illustration. The title is given in bright orange, the author's name at the very top in black.
December 16, 2024 at 11:48 AM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 15: Edith Hamilton's Mythology (as it was referred to)
This was the edition I stumbled upon in my parents' books. To this day I'm not sure why it wasn't in the kids nonfiction mythology section at the library when I ransacked that, or why my parents didn't just hand it over. It's a mass market paperback featuring two marble statutes (torso up so it may be a single statue), the man in the foreground appears to be looking back over his robed shoulder at another man who is looking back at him with bare chest. It's low-lit for mood, they fade into the black background. The top and largest letters are EDITH HAMILTON in a tall white font, then below is MYTHOLOGY in a short wide yellow font, then we're back to a much smaller version of the white font for the subtitle, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes.
December 15, 2024 at 1:48 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 14: Dracula by Bram Stoker
I don't have a cover for this in my memory, so I've selected a very plain cover - it's a field of bright red with darker places (like aging paper) around the edges. There's a darker (or perhaps a grey over the red) line just inside the outer edge. Toward the top and aligned with this rectangle on the left edge (same color as the rectangle) is the word DRACULA, the D almost twice as tall as the rest of the word. On the right "By" is under the final A, and Bram Stoker is right aligned under that. It goes no further down than the large D, and the whole text takes up no more than a third of the vertical space. Almost the entire cover is blank red.
December 14, 2024 at 5:04 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Oh. Oh no.

www.washingtonpost.com/health/2024/...
Meme: "Heartbreaking: The Worst Person You Know Just Made A Great Point", headline from, I believe, The Onion originally, accompanied (per the original post) with a stock photo of a middle aged balding white man looking smug. He's not clean shaven but also doesn't have a fully grown in facial hair style, and he's wearing a black polo shirt though we can only see part of the collar, the background is extremely blurry but he's outdoors on some kind of path edged by greenery.
December 14, 2024 at 12:40 AM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 13: Dealing with Dragons by Patricia C. Wrede
A beautiful sunrise or sunset sky full of orange, pink, and purple is the backdrop of a scene where a green dragon with gold accents (skin between wing ribs, chest plating, spikes) stands upright on its back legs, one hand to it's mouth as if in thought, facing a young woman in a deep red dress, sword strapped to her hip, gold crown in her head, two long black breaks blowing backwards as though by extreme wind (but nothing else in the scene suggests wind). She's leaning back a bit but her pose implies defiance and strength, like she's confronting this dragon. Her head us just about level with the dragon's shoulder, but as they're standing on rocky ground (suggestive of mountains), she is standing somewhat higher up than the dragon's footing. The dragon's long neck is curled so it's head is only somewhat above hers but not domineering. The top of the image gives the title in a large, dark purple "medieval"ish font, and the author's name is significantly smaller and in more standard-font italics, very minimized. Overall a very pretty cover, it doesn't feel aggressive despite the woman's defiant stance, implying that she's not in any danger from the dragon, who appears thoughtful, but is instead perhaps in the middle of an argument or heated discussion - perhaps exasperated or at her wit's end ("dealing with" the pesky annoyances of dragons? - it's NOT that in the book, but the vibes are about right).
December 13, 2024 at 1:24 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 12: The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern
This cover is very high contrast, a black field scattered with white or light grey stars (* stars, not 5 pointed) us the background. Reaching up from the bottom left is a bit of white arm with pale grey curls on it looking almost like a tree motif, wrist bent, so the hand is centered in the cover and mostly flat. On the palm of the hand are circus tents, black and white striped, with red accents. There's a larger tent in the middle with a clockfsce at the top pointing midnight ("The circus arrives at midnight"), around tree face are white curls in front of the black triangle of its point, and around that there is a red circle. Below the hand is the author's name in white text on the black starry field. Above the circus are many more curlicues and flourishes forming a frame around the title, also in white text.
December 12, 2024 at 12:26 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 11: So You Want to Be A Wizard by Diane Duane
This is a very y2k cover but depicts an actual moment from the book, which is nice. Two people (ages unclear) appear to be walking on a thin and winding sidewalk of cloud toward a glowing vertical slit in the sky over a city full of skyscrapers (it's Manhattan). The first figure has long dark hair, a long sleeved white top, dark trousers and fair skin, the second had short dark hair and a greenish shirt, but has similar pants and skin tone. We're too distant to see expression, but their physical presence implies they're walking briskly uphill (long strides, bent arms). The words of the title float in the air above them in black and white (most of the title is smaller and in black, the word Wizard is in white with a black shadow and is much larger). The author's name appears at the bottom of the image in white text over the cityscape. The fonts used here are vaguely "computer" fonts in a way that they used to imply tech stuff in the 90s/00s, and the art itself reeks of people playing around in photoshop in that time, but somebody managed to keep it from going over the top in that regard. In the end, I think it's a really good cover because there is a lot of early computer geekery mixed in with the magic of this series and this captured that.
December 11, 2024 at 1:12 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 10: Alanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce
Two covers because juxtaposition 🤯
The first of two covers for the same title, this one looks like it's influenced by D&D or films like Krull - very knight-adventurer coded. It foregrounds a young woman clad in all brown from tunic to boots, no Sexy Cleavage here, she's got a sword raised next to her head and gripped in both hands. She has short hair that might be reddish. Behind her, a man dressed similarly but with a cloak is on steps leading to a tower, he's turned back as though calling to the woman, and his sword is in front of him but gripped in only one hand. In this image, she appears ready to fight and he does not. There are multiple towers around and zigzagging walkways and staircases-I don't think anybody would build anything like this in real life but it looks cool. Lots of browns highlighted by pinks and oranges and lowlighted by blues, especially on his cloak and both swords. The title is given in a flourishing and magic-y font, "Alanna" in larger blue letters primarily across a red orange sky, "the first adventure" in a different, piratey font and white letters. At the bottom the author's name appears in white in a more standard serif font. This cover screams "this book is about a woman but she's Not Like The Other Girls, she's cool and swashbuckling! Boys, you can read this too!" This cover is for the girlies. There are ornate golden columns on left and right framing a girl and her horse (a palomino - golden coat and white mane). The horse has tack on with a red and gold crest in front. The girl has short red hair, a yellow tunic over white long puffy sleeves and red tights tucked into black knee high boots. She's wearing a sword at her belt and one hand is on the pommel while the other holds the horse's reins. She's outlined in a purple glow that does not continue to the horse. The background appears to be a stable (brown wooden facade with an arched doorway) and a city visible behind/above it. The title "Alanna" appears in a dainty/flourishy but hot pink font, "The First Adventure" in a standard serif font in shades of purple. Across the bottom is a purple box with a flourishing white text that reads "Song of the Lioness" and gets a yellow decorative looking box above that with the number 1 in it, indicating this is the first in the series. Above the book title and nicely parallel in structure to the purple box at the bottom is a purple box at the top with black text giving the author's name in a plain serif font. Few boys would be willing to read a book with this cover, and it honestly put me off (a then-girl who can identify palomino horse on sight and loves magic adventures) for ages. This book is much less frilly than this cover implies.
December 10, 2024 at 2:08 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 10: Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones
Cover for Eight Days of Luke by Diana Wynne Jones. This cover is an action scene showing two young white men (*hold this thought) holding garden implements either side of a long green snake (mouth open wide showing fangs and a long tongue coming out) appearing to be coming from a crack in the earth alongside a great deal of fire. The young man behind the snake and fire is wearing a white button up shirt and jeans. He's holding his gardening implement up at head level in a menacing posture and has disheveled and spiky hair that I think it's meant to be red. The boy more in the center of the picture is in a dark blue grey tee and khaki trousers with brown hair. The snake is more attacking him, and he has one hand on the snake and is pointing his gardening implement up at the snake, while ducking the fangs. Above both young men is a sunrise looking sky and, in large orange letters with black shadow, the book's title, with "Luke" so large it has a line to itself. The author's name is above the title in smaller black text. (*The main character of this book is like 11ish, maybe? But I think younger. Definitely not as old as he looks on this cover.)
December 9, 2024 at 2:49 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 9: Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Cover of the version of Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte that I used in high school, it feels very atmospheric, all greys and browns showing ruined old brick buildings, surrounded by and overgrown with various plants, it all feels kind of vague and you can see brush strokes in the paint. The sky appears fully overcast. In the top 3rd is a stark white box with black letters giving the title in all caps in a large serif font that isn't quite smooth (giving the impression of being pitted with age), while Emily's name is given in a flourishy script reminiscent of how a person might write a name (but not in cursive). Covers of this book often strive for moodiness, but I think the creators of this edition rather nailed it.
December 8, 2024 at 2:18 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 8: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle
This may not even be the version I first read but this is definitely the iconic cover in my memory for A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L'Engle. Upper-center in a greenish and ominously cloudy sky is a sort of centaur, except instead of arms it has rainbow wings, a gray torso, and a sort of bluish grey horse part. It's above a floating teal orb in which there is a sinister green face with red eyes (disembodied head). The orb is floating among mountains, in the very foreground the mountain is black and red, while the more distant ones are again using unsettling green shades with the orangey red. In the distance there is a weak yellow sun or moon. There is a dark red sun or planet high in the sky above all this and slightly behind the yellow title text. The author's name appears in small white letters below the title. Everything about this cover is unsettling.
December 8, 2024 at 12:20 AM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Meme screenshot from Star Trek: Lower Decks (animated series) featuring Boimler (male, tall, gangly, light/white skinned with short purple hair, wearing a cream colored dress uniform top) and Mariner (female, shorter, a Black character with black hair in a pony tail in a similar uniform top with the sleeves rolled to her elbows). Mariner is seated and has her arms in front of her, driving, with a defiant expression. Boomer is also seated but has one hand up at his chest and another looking like it's grabbing the roof of the vehicle, he looks terrified with an open mouth, screaming. Meme label for Boimler is "me"; text over Mariner has been edited to read "the linear motions of time, carrying me forward into 2025 in less than five weeks".
December 6, 2024 at 8:42 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 7: Equal Rites (Discworld series) by Terry Pratchett
This is an 80s or 90s era cover of Equal Rites by Terry Pratchett. It's a lot to describe, so much is going on in this image that I will not get it all! It is a active and colorful scene depicting an old witch wearing all black and a pointy hat, one hand praised and the other holding into the shoulder of a girl whose face we can't see at all. They are facing a wizard in a red and gold cloak and pointed hat with both hands upraised in matching claw like positions, one stretched out front, one above his head. Around all of the upraised hands and in much of the areas between these figures are a blue white "glow". Most of the rest of the visible background seems to be landscape ish, but in greens and yellows and oranges. A large box at the top has a white background and green letters giving the book's information and calling it "A Novel of Discworld". There are what look to be bats in the orange sky above the box.
December 6, 2024 at 5:19 PM
sapphirespectre.bsky.social
Choose 20 #books that have stayed with you or influenced you. One book per day for 20 days, in no particular order. No explanations, no reviews, just covers.
#booksky
#bookchallenge

Day 6: Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
An intensely yellow-green background on this cover forefronts a golden dragon, wings spread, soaring, with the tips of each wing stretching diagonally across groom top left to lower right, it's immediately stunning. There is a relatively tiny woman, dark hair flying, arm raised in triumph(?) or similar emotion astride its neck. Behind the dragon is a bright red-orange moon?planet? In the green sky. Below and behind are craggy mountains. Across the top but in the opposite diagonal to the dragon and partially across one wing (lower on the left, higher on the right) is a flourishy font in white that reads "Dragonflight" - slightly below in a smaller size and black is the author's name, Anne McCaffrey. This is a photo of a real book and the edges show that it has been battered around a bit, but it's in much nicer shape than my ex-library paperback copy.
December 5, 2024 at 1:40 PM