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  <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936</id>
  <title>Maius Intra Qua Extra</title>
  <subtitle>shivver</subtitle>
  <author>
    <name>shivver</name>
  </author>
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  <updated>2026-06-01T15:15:26Z</updated>
  <dw:journal username="shivver" type="personal"/>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:255372</id>
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    <title>Is this the end?</title>
    <published>2026-06-01T14:16:44Z</published>
    <updated>2026-06-01T15:15:26Z</updated>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>3</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">More news and rumors about &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;. Not exactly excited.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/255372.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=255372" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:254909</id>
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    <title>Of bees and business</title>
    <published>2026-05-22T07:03:10Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-22T07:03:10Z</updated>
    <category term="thingsmyhusbandsays"/>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">We have a camera mounted on the wall above the front door so that we get alerts on our phones when a package is delivered and when someone knocks on the door. Well, to be honest, it's an alert on my husband's phone, because frankly, I don't care. If there's a package coming, I already know about it and are probably checking the Amazon listing every fifteen minutes to see if it's been delivered yet. If there's a knock on the door, we won't answer it because we know it's a solicitor; we never have anyone come over, and if we did, we'd know about it beforehand, so any unexpected knock is nothing we want to interact with. However, my husband likes to know about anything going on out there. I'm quite happy to not get extra useless notifications.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But I digress.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Interestingly, no one ever notices the camera. It's up in the corner above the door, quite above anyone's head but not hidden in any way, and when it detects motion and it starts recording, a blue light on its face turns on.  I guess people haven't quite realized that door cameras are now very common, so they don't look for them. Yet.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now that it's spring, though, my husband has been getting tons of notifications of motion detection from that camera. We get year-round visits from the neighborhood cats (they are adorable; we have tons of clips of cats wandering up, scratching on the welcome mat, and often curling up and going to sleep on it) and the occasional fly-by by a bird. We got a bat for the first time a few nights ago, and we once saw a waddling blob that we could only guess was a nutria. But, with spring, the vast majority of interruptions are bees.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It's not a constant thing, mind you. We were getting probably five to ten notifications a day, usually clumped together in a fifteen-minute period. Thing is, my husband is deathly afraid of bees. Well, mostly deathly afraid of wasps, hornets, and yellowjackets, but he'll still also panic at bees. So, of course, he wanted to get rid of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;He thought that the appearance of the bees meant that there was a hive behind the camera or in the hole above it where the two walls meet the awning. I didn't think so, because if there was a hive, we'd be getting constant motion detections, not just a few. But he wanted to kill it, so we sprayed poison into the hole a couple of times, and of course, nothing really changed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then he actually did some research and discovered that to detect motion, the camera emits IR, which bees can see and think is a flower. Thus, they approach the camera as bees do, flying in and out trying to figure out what's going on and triggering the camera repeatedly. The best thing to do in this case is to get bee repellent.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, we ordered a bottle of bee repellent from Amazon. It's non-toxic, a mix of essences from various plants that has a smell that bees don't like. Luckily, it actually smells rather nice. The instructions were what you'd expect: saturate the area well with the spray the first time, then follow it up every couple days to keep the aroma steady. That's what we did, and it worked nicely, no bee notifications for the next two days.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then, as it happens with Amazon sellers, I received an email from the retailer with instructions on how to use the repellent and a note to please be sure to contact them if I had any questions. Okay, that's odd, as the bottle already has instructions on it, but that's nice customer service at least. Then I read the email's instructions, which started like this:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;On the first day, be sure to spray the whole area liberally to show the bees you mean business.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And that's now my husband's mantra. He has stepped outside with the bottle and yelled, "I mean business!" as he sprayed. He has gotten up from his desk and said to me, "I am going to show them I mean business," before going downstairs to spray. He has casually commented to me in the middle of conversations, "You know, I mean business." &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So, I guess, if you're a bee, now you know to stay away from our front door, because my husband means business.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=254909" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:254594</id>
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    <title>A Lesson in Characterization</title>
    <published>2026-05-19T20:30:45Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-19T21:52:38Z</updated>
    <category term="writing"/>
    <category term="good omens"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Of course I’ve been thinking more about &lt;i&gt;Good Omens 3&lt;/i&gt;, and in mulling over a particular scene, I identified one of the weaknesses in my own writing. (Well, I’ve always known it, but this really drove the point home.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/254594.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=254594" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:254281</id>
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    <title>"Good Omens 3" redux (review)</title>
    <published>2026-05-17T08:12:51Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-22T16:21:11Z</updated>
    <category term="review"/>
    <category term="good omens"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Okay, we finally got a chance to rewatch &lt;i&gt;Good Omens 3&lt;/i&gt; and I've decided that I really like it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/254281.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=254281" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:254014</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/254014.html"/>
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    <title>"Good Omens 3" (short review)</title>
    <published>2026-05-13T21:22:19Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-17T06:50:29Z</updated>
    <category term="review"/>
    <category term="good omens"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Just got done watching the series ender!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Spoilers...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/254014.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=254014" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:253748</id>
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    <title>"Masters and Ceremonies" (original fiction)</title>
    <published>2026-05-10T19:24:47Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-10T19:50:48Z</updated>
    <category term="original"/>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/84620031"&gt;Masters and Ceremonies&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: Original fiction&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Mike, Chris, Amanda, Don, and Rick -- members of a software development team&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: G&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 464&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: A software development team's reaction to new Agile processes and ceremonies&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/84620031"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;span style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png' alt='[community profile] ' width='16' height='16' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='https://fandomweekly.dreamwidth.org/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;fandomweekly&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt;'s current prompt is "ceremony" and that word is only going to make me think of ceremonies in Agile methodology, because it's always struck me as odd that we use that word for a non-ritualistic process. In fact, many would argue that the whole point of Agile is to not get stuck in a codified, calcified way of thinking.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This was a fun little write and it made my husband laugh out loud (as we both have been on both sides of this, as both ICs and scrum masters). And that alone made it worth it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, apparently I have invented the "software development" and "Agile methodology" tags on AO3.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Easter egg: All the characters are named after the main actors in &lt;i&gt;Stargate SG-1&lt;/i&gt;.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=253748" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:253479</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/253479.html"/>
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    <title>Part Two!</title>
    <published>2026-05-09T20:03:37Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-09T20:04:10Z</updated>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">My husband just came downstairs, walked into my room, and said, "F&amp;#$ you!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Apparently, he cannot get Dugga Doo out of his head.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(And yes, I did intend for this post's title to rhyme with the previous one's.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=253479" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:253426</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/253426.html"/>
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    <title>Dugga Doo!</title>
    <published>2026-05-09T18:10:20Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-09T20:03:55Z</updated>
    <category term="kingdom of loathing"/>
    <category term="gallifrey one"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">My husband is currently doing a run in "Kingdom of Loathing" (a totally weird webgame that he's been playing for over two decades now; I played it as well and loved it, but didn't care to invest the time that it needs to be played well and stopped playing it after about four years) and he sent me an item description over Slack, with this exchange:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Him: Gabagool is not the most delicious member of the salumi-like meat family, but it is the most fun to say.&lt;br /&gt;Me: That is so true. Sounds like a Doctor Who monster.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And then I thought for a moment about why it sounded like a DW monster, and I realized I was thinking about the Interstellar Song Contest's performer Dugga Doo. So, of course, I pulled up the video on YouTube.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And THEN I remembered Gallifrey One. You see, at the end of every Gally, the penultimate event is "The Year in Review", which is an hour-long video montage of things that happened during the past year -- usually clips of news events and interviews and such with the actors that played the Doctor or the companions. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;This year, however, started with the entire Dugga Doo video, which everyone loved and we were all singing along. And then the video said:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;"And now! One full hour of Dugga Doo!"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Best "Year in Review" ever!!  &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;(No, it really wasn't a full hour of Dugga Doo. But it was hilarious.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=253426" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:252969</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/252969.html"/>
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    <title>"You Should Never Meet Your Fans"</title>
    <published>2026-05-07T18:19:25Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-09T04:16:20Z</updated>
    <category term="belinda chandra"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <category term="robyn gossage"/>
    <category term="lizzie abel"/>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <category term="hassan chowdry"/>
    <category term="fifteenth doctor"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/84440096"&gt;You Should Never Meet Your Fans&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Fifteenth Doctor, Belinda Chandra&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: G&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 234&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: (From "Lux") The Doctor discovers that his life is a TV show and chats with his fans about it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/84440096"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: Nothing to really say about this. Was just thinking about how this scene must have appeared very different from the Doctor's point of view than from our point of view. I do love trying to picture things from other characters' points of view and discovering that it may be very different than what we, as viewers, think.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=252969" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:252914</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/252914.html"/>
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    <title>I just don't know what to think</title>
    <published>2026-05-05T20:36:55Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-05T22:02:26Z</updated>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Mother's Day is coming up, so my husband and I were talking this morning about ordering something to send to his mother, and he told me something that I still can't get over.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Mom-in-law loves decorative items. I'd say tchotchkes, but it's more than just cheap little things. Her house is filled with all kinds of things, from crystal vases to Faberge eggs (not real ones, just enameled eggs), a collection of ceramic houses from Europe, glass perfume bottles, and much more. She also loves cats, so her TV room is decorated entirely with cat figurines, prints, cross-stitches, throw pillows, etc.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Note, all of this stuff was store-bought or received as gifts. MIL is not a creative type, preferring to spend her time reading, gardening, and watching TV. Most of the handmade items, like the cross-stitch cats and the framed drawings and paintings, came from her sister (who is a huge creative -- her Christmas cards are always handmade and beautiful) or her aunt. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Most of the gifts we send her are either decorative items or jewelry (she loves her jewelry), but last October, when we got home from visiting her, I suggested that I make a sparkly diamond art cat for her to put up in her TV room and send it to her for Christmas, in addition to the usual gift. My husband thought it was a great idea, so I ordered the kit (&lt;a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYWS3CY9?th=1"&gt;this one&lt;/a&gt; in specific) and spent a few hours (three or four sessions of one to two hours apiece) to make it. I sent it off, and then my husband ordered an enamel egg off Amazon for her real gift.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So today, as we were talking about what to get for Mother's Day, my husband told me that MIL, when she'd called to thank us for it, had said that the diamond art cat was pretty but she was upset that I had made it for her instead of sending her the kit for her to put together herself. Then, she received the egg a couple of days later and was happy with that.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I'm still just going "&lt;i&gt;What???&lt;/i&gt;" about it. Frankly, I'm insulted. She actually values the kit itself more than she appreciates the time and effort I put into making something for her.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And who looks at something that someone's made for them and thinks, "They shouldn't have done that. They should have let me do it." It reminded me of a beaded box that her sister made and sent us for Christmas about ten years ago. It was gorgeous, but I didn't think, "I could do that myself -- she should have just sent us the beads and instructions." What I actually did was put the box in the display case and then go buy a book on beaded boxes to learn how to do it myself.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway, my husband has decided to send her a diamond art kit for Mother's Day. And you know, I bet she will never put it together. As I said, she's not a creative type, and the only creative endeavor we've ever seen her attempt -- adult coloring books -- she abandoned after an hour and sent the book and the pencils to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Urgh, I'm more upset about this than I really should be. I should go off and practice for the DWFO. But I'll tell you what I won't be doing, ever: making another thing for my MIL.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=252914" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:252466</id>
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    <title>DWFO rambling</title>
    <published>2026-05-03T23:33:02Z</published>
    <updated>2026-05-03T23:33:02Z</updated>
    <category term="dwfo"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <category term="music"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">I've finally buckled down and started to practice my DWFO part in earnest. I've been poking at it for the last couple of months, but now I'm actually devoting some time to it.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;It might sound like I'm not taking it seriously by not practicing until now (it's due the middle of next month), but honestly, this is a clarinet part and it is just not that difficult (a good middle-schooler could play it). Clarinets are not all that important in an orchestra, and most of the time, they just provide background. Now, if I played violin, I'd have been practicing every day for the past two months, because their parts are complex.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The clarinet part does have a couple of difficult bits. The first is a passage in C#, which has seven sharps. I know that doesn't mean much to most people, so all you need to understand is that band music rarely has music in which clarinets have even four sharps. Orchestral music is written differently and often has many sharps. The bottom line is that I am not used to reading music with that many sharps, so it's difficult to remember them, and thus I'm sometimes hitting wrong notes. So, I've marked up my music to remind myself which notes should be sharp, and that's solved the problem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The second is a passage where the clarinet switches back and forth between notes on the beat and afterbeats. Again, that doesn't mean much to most people, and I really can't think of an analogy outside of music. Anyway, it's only a short passage (eight measures, maybe?) but it really messes up my timing, so I've been concentrating on that, out of the entire piece.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;We were given a click track, which is an MP3 of the music with the beat laid over it, so that we can hear the beat (which is what the conductor would be doing if we had one) as well as what the rest of the orchestra is doing, and it really is almost as good as playing with the group in person (except I'm playing it off my phone and it's not loud enough -- I can't find my Bluetooth speaker). When I make my recording, I'll be listening to the click track on headphones, so that I stay in time with the rest of the orchestra but the click track won't be heard on the recording.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did have to buy a studio mic (and the DWFO provided specs on what that mic needed to be able to do). I did buy one of the cheapest I could find, but it should serve. I just hooked it up to my computer yesterday and used it on a Google Meet call and at least it works. I'll be practicing with it later this month to prep for the actual recording.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And slightly related (well, it's about music), I've decided to rejoin the local "marching" band (in quotes because it's less about marching and more about concert music). I used to be a regular there back before the pandemic, but the old conductor (my friend Tim) retired from it and the new conductor, Daniel, extended the season from just the summer to the rest of the year, and I just wasn't interesting in committing to that. It's still that way, but I decided I wanted a second music night and I missed that band. So, this year, I'll be doing clarinet for concert and sax for marching. So far it's been fun, but we'll see if I'm exhausted by it come September. :)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also another reason, I know Daniel now and have great respect for him as a musician and a teacher, so I wanted the opportunity to play for and learn from him again. And he's changed the direction of the band away from Tim's old-timey music and towards jazz and more modern pop/rock, which is more interesting to me.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=252466" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:252240</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/252240.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=252240"/>
    <title>"Gunge"</title>
    <published>2026-04-24T17:58:28Z</published>
    <updated>2026-04-24T19:12:06Z</updated>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <category term="tenth doctor"/>
    <category term="martha jones"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/83690561"&gt;Gunge&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Tenth Doctor, Martha Jones&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: G&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 296&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: The Doctor and Martha work to prevent &lt;strike&gt;a calamity of epic proportions&lt;/strike&gt; ... &lt;strike&gt;widespread bio-disaster&lt;/strike&gt; ... All right, all right, it's just going to be really gross, okay?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/83690561"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: So here's the deal. I've been working on a story, and it's 1730 words of pure dross so far. Then I was looking back at another story of mine and thought, "I should write *this* idea instead," but you know, that's going to take two weeks. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Then I remembered I'd written this earlier this month, as just a practice adaptation of another fic I saw, and I thought, "Hey, I can clean that up in ten minutes and get it posted!" &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;So yeah, this is just crap that I'm posting to not miss a month. Just keep scrolling down your feed and forget this ever happened.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=252240" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:251947</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251947.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=251947"/>
    <title>Interesting dream</title>
    <published>2026-04-03T17:47:36Z</published>
    <updated>2026-04-05T07:10:51Z</updated>
    <category term="caltech"/>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <category term="dreams"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Well, interesting to me, anyway. Probably not interesting to you. But this is my journal and I want to make sure I remember it, so here it is. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Unfortunately for you, if you care to read this, it requires a lot of backstory.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251947.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=251947" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:251788</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251788.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=251788"/>
    <title>"Cyberman"</title>
    <published>2026-03-26T18:37:41Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-26T18:44:47Z</updated>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <category term="rory williams"/>
    <category term="amy pond"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/81906636"&gt;Cyberman&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Amy Pond, Rory Wiliams&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: T&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 406&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: In a graveyard in London, Missy is presenting the Doctor with the gift of an army. Meanwhile, on the other side of the pond....&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/81906636"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: I started this one just after "Dark Water"/"Death in Heaven" aired but never finished it because I thought, no one wants to think about this. But yesterday, &lt;span style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='https://romanajo123.dreamwidth.org/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='https://romanajo123.dreamwidth.org/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;romanajo123&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; showed me Big Finish's announcement of a &lt;i&gt;Torchwood&lt;/i&gt; audio with Cyber-Ianto on the cover. Now, who knows what BF actually did (it's probably just Ianto having to dress up as a Cyberman; they've done this kind of thing before), but it got me thinking about how Ianto &lt;i&gt;actually was cyberized&lt;/i&gt; and reminded me of this story. Modern Shivver has no qualms about offending people with her stories, so I finished it up and here it is!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But think about it, this is entirely canon: the Cyber-pollen hit every cemetery in the world, so every beloved character who died before this episode was cyberized: not just the Brigadier but Amy, Rory, Sarah Jane, Ianto, to name a few. So, here's the story of two of them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And just saying, I love it when I get to put "Major Character Death" on a fic. Plus, this also has the F/M relationship tag. 400 words and it hits both ends of the spectrum.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=251788" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:251583</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251583.html"/>
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    <title>Another one?</title>
    <published>2026-03-24T18:41:14Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-24T18:41:14Z</updated>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">I found out yesterday that my friend Rich just discovered that he has stage 4 pancreatic cancer -- incurable but therapy can prolong life and improve quality for a bit. I play in a concert band with his wife (he occasionally played in it, too) and she had informed the band, which is how I found out, but I've known him (well, worked with him) since the 1990s.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I actually got to work closely with him on a project back in 2012 or so and got to know him pretty well. At one point, we had to go up to Seattle to work in-house with the dev team, so we spent two weeks hanging out. I think the big things about Rich is that he's nice, optimistic, and fun. Maybe that doesn't sound like much, but he is always compared to his brother, who is a mean, conniving sociopath. Everyone loves Rich. No one likes his brother. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Honestly, Rich is awesome. One of the most respected game designers in this game-dev town. My favorite memory is going to this excellent sushi restaurant in Bellevue and sampling everything on the conveyor belt with him. (Ah, the things you do when the company is paying for your meals!) His wife says he still mentions that restaurant. But he's always happy to see you and eager to have fun. Oh, also, he and his kids are &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt; fans, so that one time we played &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who: Through Time and Space&lt;/i&gt; and I snuck in my Thirteen cosplay under my uniform because the conductor said I couldn't but the president said I absolutely should, Rich wore my Dalek lights headband and his son wore one of my other accoutrements (don't remember what it was).&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But the thing that's really getting me down today is that yet another of my friends is being taken by cancer when they're so young. Rich is a couple of years younger than me, and fours years ago, I posted about &lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/208667.html"&gt;another friend who didn't even reach fifty&lt;/a&gt;. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm the last person in my generation on both sides of my family, with uncles and aunts that were 40-50 years older than me and cousins that are thirty years older than me, so for the past twenty years or so, any news from home meant someone had died. I'm used to that. But I'm not old enough yet that any news from my friends should mean the same thing. It's not fair, why Rich, why anyone at all, yadda yadda...&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Fuck cancer.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=251583" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:251379</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251379.html"/>
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    <title>Just really in a good mood today</title>
    <published>2026-03-18T20:20:18Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-18T21:14:02Z</updated>
    <category term="writing"/>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">I'm usually in a good mood -- I'm definitely an optimist -- but today, I'm just really happy.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251379.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=251379" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:251073</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/251073.html"/>
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    <title>"Dead in the Water"</title>
    <published>2026-03-16T21:53:20Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-16T22:00:40Z</updated>
    <category term="will sampson"/>
    <category term="david tennant"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <category term="the actor au 2"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/81332911"&gt;Dead in the Water&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: David Tennant, Will Sampson&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: T&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 8242&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: (&lt;i&gt;The Actor&lt;/i&gt; AU #2) Nearly a month after "Sandcastles", David and Will are still at odds with each other. Perhaps getting out of the TARDIS and relaxing on a space cruise ship will help mend things between them.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/81332911"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: You know, I only just realized that I don't have to tag Will as an "original character" in my own journal. I can list his name in the character list! I can also make him a tag! *evil giggle* Did you even know he has a last name? I also just realized that I still haven't, after nearly a decade, come up with a good name for this AU. :P&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Anyway.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I finally wrote the resolution to David and Will's argument from "Sandcastles"! This story isn't what I had envisioned when I wrote that one years ago. I thought it would be just an argument scene, but though I knew how the argument was going to end, whenever I tried to picture what this discussion was going to look like on paper, I wanted to barf. People talking is &lt;i&gt;boring&lt;/i&gt;. People arguing and trying to convince each other that they're right is &lt;i&gt;even more boring&lt;/i&gt;. What I wanted was for Will and/or David to &lt;i&gt;learn&lt;/i&gt; something about themselves that helps them resolve the problem.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'd been envisioning the actual story here (without the argument) for years now and I realized it was exactly the right thing to teach them what they needed to learn. But I still sat on it because I had the beginning and the ending, but had no idea how to get them from A to B. Then my husband made a few suggestions of "let them go here first, and then over here later" and &lt;i&gt;BAM!&lt;/i&gt; It came together. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Let me tell you, it was AMAZING having an idea I was passionate about and working on it for two weeks. My husband was actually concerned about how much time I was spending writing, because I haven't done it like this in a long time. And this piece is rather different from my other stuff, or at least very different from the tripe I've been putting out this last year. This has a plot. It has meaning. It probably isn't actually interesting to anyone else, but I'm rather chuffed.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Also, this is the first fic that I've used generative AI for! "Really? You had it write your fic?" I hear you cry. No, never. (Remember rule #2: Don't have AI do the things you enjoy doing.) I wrote the fic, from beginning to end. And then while editing, I found a word that I didn't like, so I asked ChatGPT to suggest an alternative, and it gave me a number of suggestions, with reasons why they might work better. I reviewed each one and eventually chose the one I liked. So yes, I used generative AI! And I'm not going to tag my fic with it! You are now challenged to identify which word it was. ;)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=251073" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:250739</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/250739.html"/>
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    <title>Firefly animated series!</title>
    <published>2026-03-15T16:33:18Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-15T16:33:18Z</updated>
    <category term="firefly"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Set between &lt;i&gt;Firefly&lt;/i&gt; and &lt;i&gt;Serenity&lt;/i&gt;, because &lt;i&gt;Alan Tudyk&lt;/i&gt;!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Apparently they have a script and animators, and the only thing they don't have is where it's going to be released. But, as Nathan Fillion says, "It's happening."&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=250739" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:250439</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/250439.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=250439"/>
    <title>Further forays into AI</title>
    <published>2026-03-13T21:50:02Z</published>
    <updated>2026-04-06T00:39:36Z</updated>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <category term="ai"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>5</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">I've been doing more stuff with AI, to learn how to use it (because it really looks like if I ever get another job, it'll be AI-related in some way; also, I can list this learning on my resum&amp;eacute;) and to see what I can do with it. But first, a funny.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/250439.html#cutid1"&gt;Or maybe not so funny.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/250439.html#cutid2"&gt;AI in random stuff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I've also been starting to use AI for work tasks, like building tools and testing, and I wanted to talk about that, but I've already spent way too long writing the above, so next time!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=250439" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:250124</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/250124.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=250124"/>
    <title>More Firefly?!??!!!?</title>
    <published>2026-03-04T18:39:55Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-04T18:39:55Z</updated>
    <category term="firefly"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">As a coincidental follow-up to my post about a new &lt;i&gt;Stargate&lt;/i&gt; show being in the works, here I am posting about something new from the &lt;i&gt;Firefly&lt;/i&gt; universe!&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Apparently, Nathan Fillion has been releasing every few days short videos of him approaching various actors from the show and saying, "It's happening!" That's it. So far, the videos have shown Sean Maher, Gina Torres, Morena Baccarin, and Summer Glau.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The internet is going wild with speculation. It's not expected that they're starting a new live-action series, since Nathan Fillion already has a current series running (&lt;i&gt;The Rookie&lt;/i&gt;). Also, people don't think that an extension of the series would work well with the actors being so much older, not because of looks but because of story reasons, such as why this particular group of people, in a not-exactly-peaceful system with dozens of worlds to settle on, would still all be alive and traveling together twenty-five years later.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;On the other hand, the videos haven't included Alan Tudyk yet, so maybe this will be a continuation of the 'Verse after the events of &lt;i&gt;Serenity&lt;/i&gt;! (Yeah, yeah, I know, too soon.)&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Top suggestions on what this might be is an animated series with the original voices, and a series of Big Finish audios, and yes, Big Finish was specifically named, which warms this audio fan's heart.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;But at this point, it's wait and see. I am not sure I'm as excited this time as I was for the &lt;i&gt;Stargate&lt;/i&gt; news, because &lt;i&gt;Firefly&lt;/i&gt; was so incredibly good and I feel like any addition to the 'Verse could not possibly live up to the original. But I'm still happy to see that something is happening after all these years.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=250124" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:249931</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=249931"/>
    <title>Random update, incluing Gallifrey One</title>
    <published>2026-03-02T23:00:17Z</published>
    <updated>2026-03-03T00:51:52Z</updated>
    <category term="gallifrey one"/>
    <category term="real life"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">Despite having a bunch of things I've wanted to talk about, I haven't posted in a while. Various reasons for that, but mostly it's me not setting aside time to do so. So, here I am, forcing myself to finally write something.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html#cutid1"&gt;Where is the time going?&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___2" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html#cutid2"&gt;More serious stuff&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___2" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___3" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html#cutid3"&gt;Sojourns into AI&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___3" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___4" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html#cutid4"&gt;Music&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___4" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___5" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249931.html#cutid5"&gt;Gallifrey One&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___5" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And that's about it. We're still cleaning out the house and garage, and have two dump loads, a Goodwill run, and a tech-recycling run scheduled for the next two weeks. We're also starting to plan what we're going to replace the back deck with (possibly a sun room!), but that might get pushed back because the heating broke today. Luckily, it's not too cold anymore, so we can weather it for a little while, but we're not happy about having to spend on that right now.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I shall now wander off in my warm fuzzy socks.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=249931" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:249783</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249783.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=249783"/>
    <title>"A Night at the Lanes"</title>
    <published>2026-02-24T22:47:40Z</published>
    <updated>2026-02-24T22:48:04Z</updated>
    <category term="tenth doctor"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <category term="clara oswald"/>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <category term="donna noble"/>
    <category term="blue rain"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>0</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/80193146"&gt;A Night at the Lanes&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Tenth Doctor, Donna Noble, Clara Oswald, original character&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: G&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 6632&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: (&lt;i&gt;Blue Rain&lt;/i&gt; AU) In repayment of a favor from his colleague Dave, Jon takes Donna, Dave, and Dave's girlfriend Clara out for a night of bowling.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/80193146"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: Nothing special here. This is mostly intended to introduce new characters for the future: Dave, Jon's colleague who's a mechanic in his group and who'd been mentioned in &lt;i&gt;Blue Rain&lt;/i&gt; but never actually appeared, and Dave's girlfriend Clara. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I did notice that while selecting character tags on AO3, "Clara Oswald" is subsumed by "Clara Oswin Oswald", which is weird to me, that the splinter's tag is considered dominant, not the companion's tag. Personally, I'd have three separate tags for Clara Oswald, Oswin Oswald, and Clara Oswin Oswald, since they're all different characters, but if I couldn't, I'd definitely make "Clara Oswald" the dominant tag.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=249783" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:249497</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249497.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=249497"/>
    <title>Maybe this is what it's about</title>
    <published>2026-01-30T20:34:08Z</published>
    <updated>2026-01-30T20:34:08Z</updated>
    <category term="writing"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>1</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">My last post was about a comment on my latest story that sounded sarcastic, or at least insincere, and I postulated that it was written by AI.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, I was on the AO3 sub last night and people were talking about a new trend where someone leaves a comment on your fic and then when you engage with them by replying with a thank-you, they follow up with "I really want to do some art of your fic. Contact me on Discord so we can hash out the details." In other words, a new type of art spammer. People are especially outraged by this new thing, because they get the excitement of receiving positive feedback and then find out it was a lie, and that the commenter is just trying to manipulate them. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;No idea if this is what this was, as I'm not going to reply to them, but I wouldn't be surprised, especially since they left the "omg this is wonderful" comment but weren't impressed enough to leave a kudo.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=249497" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:249277</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249277.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=249277"/>
    <title>No idea what this is about</title>
    <published>2026-01-29T19:11:27Z</published>
    <updated>2026-01-29T19:11:27Z</updated>
    <category term="writing"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>6</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">So that story I just posted yesterday. It was okay, right? I mean, nothing amazing, nothing groundbreaking, not even anything moving. Just a couple thousand words connecting the real-life colorful belt from the Byzantine era to the Doctor's scarf. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Well, I got this comment on it:&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;span class="cut-wrapper"&gt;&lt;span style="display: none;" id="span-cuttag___1" class="cuttag"&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;b class="cut-open"&gt;(&amp;nbsp;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-text"&gt;&lt;a href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/249277.html#cutid1"&gt;Read more...&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/b&gt;&lt;b class="cut-close"&gt;&amp;nbsp;)&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/span&gt;&lt;div style="display: none;" id="div-cuttag___1" aria-live="assertive"&gt;&lt;/div&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And I have to ask, to anyone who cares to voice an opinion: Is this sarcasm? Are they saying it really was rubbish without making it look like a bash?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Because it's so excessive -- especially for such an average, vanilla story -- that I can't take it at face value. I mean, really, who gets emotional about a description of a city being loud and colorful? Not to mention, I didn't even describe the city at all. I just had Victoria say it was noisy and the Doctor point at the church.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And they want "the next update immediately"? This is so obviously a one-shot. Sorry about your hands and knees.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I feel like the person fed ChatGPT my story and asked it to write the most over-the-top emotional comment it could come up with. &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I'm torn between answering nicely and deleting it entirely, but I'm starting to lean towards the delete.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=249277" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
  <entry>
    <id>tag:dreamwidth.org,2015-10-16:2452936:248905</id>
    <link rel="alternate" type="text/html" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/248905.html"/>
    <link rel="self" type="text/xml" href="https://shivver.dreamwidth.org/data/atom/?itemid=248905"/>
    <title>"Threads and Memories"</title>
    <published>2026-01-28T18:38:29Z</published>
    <updated>2026-01-28T18:39:16Z</updated>
    <category term="third doctor"/>
    <category term="jamie mccrimmon"/>
    <category term="second doctor"/>
    <category term="fiction"/>
    <category term="doctor who"/>
    <category term="victoria waterfield"/>
    <dw:security>public</dw:security>
    <dw:reply-count>2</dw:reply-count>
    <content type="html">&lt;b&gt;Title&lt;/b&gt;: "&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/78486166"&gt;Threads and Memories&lt;/a&gt;"&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Fandom(s)&lt;/b&gt;: &lt;i&gt;Doctor Who&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Characters&lt;/b&gt;: Second Doctor, Jamie McCrimmon, Victoria Waterfield, Third Doctor&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Rating&lt;/b&gt;: G&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Genre&lt;/b&gt;: General&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Word Count&lt;/b&gt;: 1809&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Summary&lt;/b&gt;: The Doctor, Jamie, and Victoria visit Constantinople in the early part of the Byzantine Empire.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/78486166"&gt;Read it on AO3.&lt;/a&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;b&gt;Author's Notes&lt;/b&gt;: This was inspired by the post shown in the ending notes, from Archaeology &amp; Art on Twitter, which &lt;span style='white-space: nowrap;'&gt;&lt;a href='https://romanajo123.dreamwidth.org/profile'&gt;&lt;img src='https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png' alt='[personal profile] ' width='17' height='17' style='vertical-align: text-bottom; border: 0; padding-right: 1px;' /&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;a href='https://romanajo123.dreamwidth.org/'&gt;&lt;b&gt;romanajo123&lt;/b&gt;&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/span&gt; sent to me a couple of days ago. As she said, "there's so many possibilities here", which of course, is exactly the kind of thing I like to write, so how could I resist?&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I mean, as Paul Cornell said in response to the question, "Where do you get your ideas?" &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;i&gt;The answer is that everyone has ideas. The difference is that writers write them down and work on them.&lt;/i&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I got a few ideas from the image, and another few ideas from my husband (who loves to come up with ideas), and this is the one I selected and worked on. Two days later (one day writing, one day rewriting), and here it is. And the most fun I've had writing in a while, because this wasn't induced by my monthly posting deadline (though it still counts for that). \o/&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;&lt;img src="https://www.dreamwidth.org/tools/commentcount?user=shivver&amp;ditemid=248905" width="30" height="12" alt="comment count unavailable" style="vertical-align: middle;"/&gt; comments</content>
  </entry>
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