etoiline 🍀

screenshot with the all-caps words "You think your character is cool? My character is a fucking (intentional carriage return) pretty chill Dragonborn Ranger from Thornwood who was, until recently, employed to run a dungeon (intentional carriage return, and smaller text underneath this, though still in all-caps) That doesn't make any fucking sense

I think it makes perfect sense, actually
whothefuckismydndcharacter.com

An open letter to Grammarly and other plagiarists, thieves and slop merchants To everyone at Grammarly, I am writing a book right now, a really challenging endeavor that no doubt someone in Silicon Valley will think it’s fine to steal the day it’s published. I’ve been a profes...

I finally lost my shit about so-called AIs, LLMs, enshittification & everything fucking evil that @officialgrammarly.bsky.social is doing. I'm fucking furious, and not just about what 1 company has done. An open letter to Grammarly & the rest of the LLM hype machine www.moryan.com/an-open-lett...

I love how they spent more than my annual salary on a piano (I'm SO JEALOUS I want one but I'd never even *entertain* the idea of spending so much money on ONE THING for my house--hell, this piano costs more than my house!)

NO NO NO YOU DON’T

GUYS LET ME PLEASE SPREAD THE GOSPEL OF FREE TAX USA

federal is free, state is $16, handles even my chaotic freelancer taxes just fine, same step-by-step “designed for normies” kind of interface as TurboTax but NOT EVIL

tell everyone you know

www.freetaxusa.com

Both my parents worked throughout my childhood. Going out to eat was only for very special occasions. Mom sewed all my Halloween costumes. I had to choose between violin and piano at one point because we couldn't afford both lessons. They saved so I could have what I needed.

This is true for me in my little preferred niche of fandom, very few of us like first person over third, so that portion likewise took me by surprise. I write fic based on a third POV videogame so I wonder if that's a factor in preference, though I don't mind either POV.

I was involuntarily sprung forward and now everything hurts and my body is confused about what time it is, this sucks.

Ding-dong! The Dutch Fish Doorbell needs you to help migrating fish A Dutch lock is closed for the spring, and its employees want you to tell them when migrating fish come knocking by ringing a digital doorbell

A Dutch lock is closed for the spring, and its employees want you to tell them when migrating fish come knocking by ringing a digital doorbell

Hey feel better soon! And drop that link ;)

The world sucks, but we persist, right?

A whiteboard leaned against a shelf with many trinkets. On the whiteboard, it says “When you look at a blank page, think of who you love”

In his acceptance speech for award for best screenplay, Ryan Coogler said “when you look at a blank page, think of who you love” and I dunno, that really moved me so I wrote it down and sat it on my desk to look at while I work

Incredibly wild thread that lives up to its promise! Science is awesome :)

I can't believe this game made me care about little creatures collectively called The Rot.

The Atlas Launch Vehicle that carried Glenn into space, in the fiery early stages of takeoff. The rocket is white with some black, venting exhaust along its length. It is moving away from a red gantry. There is a large white cloud of smoke and exhaust, with blue sky in the background.

A color photo of John Glenn in the Friendship 7 capsule he used to orbit the Earth. He is wearing a spacesuit like the one worn by Shepard in the previous photo. A large, round helmet sports a translucent visor through which Glenn's brow, eyes, and nose are visible in profile. Several white tubes connect to the helmet. The suit itself is made of a silvery, reflective material. Glenn is strapped in with what appears to be a canvas harness. Numerous instruments are visible behind and around him.

A black and white photo of Katherine Johnson. She is wearing a top with thin stripes, a zipper down the front, and a pin on the collar. Johnson is looking directly at the camera and has a slight smile.

The Mercury-Atlas 6 mission launched #OTD in 1962.

John Glenn became the first American to orbit Earth, circling three times in the Friendship 7 capsule.

Glenn refused to trust the computer controlled trajectory until mathematician Katherine Johnson checked it by hand. 🧪 👩🏾‍🔬 🔭 🚀

Alysa Liu: "THAT'S WHAT I'M FUCKING TALKING ABOUT" 🗣️

This GOOD BOY ran onto the course during the Women’s Cross-Country Skiing Team Sprint event, crossing the finish line and being automatically recorded by OMEGA’s photofinish camera 😆

Libraries are among the few public institutions that represent the kind of world we want to live in. They must be fought for.

Lion Dancers: A Board Game Celebrating the Lunar New Year Perform your finest lion dance, collect festive items, and secure the lucky lettuce to bring fortune this Lunar New Year celebration.

I just backed Lion Dancers: A Board Game Celebrating the Lunar New Year on @kickstarter.com www.kickstarter.com/projects/hot...

Post a banger that isn't in English: youtu.be/flP-hF4O5ZM?...

"Thank you, won't we?" gets said in our house a lot. So does "Here, Chris the dog!" (We don't have a dog.)

I'm a research scientist, so I will occasionally have to point out that I am not a mad poopie.

“There is no ethical way to use the major AI image generators. All of them are trained on stolen images, and all of them are built for the purpose of deskilling, disempowering and replacing real human artists.”

This sums it up perfectly. It’s not a conversation.

Ian McKellen performs “The Strangers’ Case” speech from “Sir Thomas More” on Colbert.

Long ago there was a Playstation Zumba app, and I was truly upset when they closed the servers for it. I spent hard-earned money on the game, spent time playing/working out with it, wanted to earn the trophies available...but then it just ended. I can empathize completely with these folks.

A bookish checkpoint:

Last book: Grave Peril, Jim Butcher (#3 in series reread to remember what happened before reading the latest book that came out last week)

Current: Tailored Realities, Brando Sando

Newest TBR: The Wolf and His King, Finn Longman

Next: probably book 4 of Dresden Files

Bruce Springsteen - Streets Of Minneapolis (Official Audio) YouTube video by Bruce Springsteen

I wrote this song on Saturday, recorded it yesterday and released it to you today in response to the state terror being visited on the city of Minneapolis. It’s dedicated to the people of Minneapolis, our innocent immigrant neighbors and in memory of Alex Pretti and Renee Good.

Stay free

Bruce is doing his best 'only show a piece of himself, that's scarier' impression, hoping to deter further cat mischief.

Picked that set up for my hubby for Christmas, and he loved the build! Then our kitties found a way up to where the set was and he'll, uh, have to rebuild it now (the set has since been moved out of kitty-paw way)

I'm on book 3 of my series reread, so I've got a while to go until I can start 12M...which hasn't arrived yet and will probably be delayed a few days due to snowy weather anyway, so I've got some time!

Made it into work post-Snowmaggedon 2026; every road I drove had been plowed once, but only once, and most were still one lane only. Just one weird driver who came up to my left at an intersection where the light was red, stopped briefly, then continued right through like they were at a stop sign.

I am sorry you have to deal with that mush, though. I guess soon I'll have to go out and shovel, and I'm kind of glad to not have a giant pile out there at the end of the drive.

At least you've seen a snowplow? None have come by here yet.