My IMDb ep summaries
(completed)
Arthur of the Britons
Sky
Star Maidens
The Starlost
Space Rangers
The Sentinel (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Swamp Thing (part: season 3)
Gravedale High
Transformers: Armada
Transformers: Energon
Transformers: Cybertron (part)
Misfits of Science (four eps)
Zoo Gang
Zodiac
Jupiter Moon
Transformers: Beast Wars (part: seasons 2 and 3)
Transformers: Beast Machines (part)
Vampire Princess Miyu
Starhyke
Nathan Barley
No Heroics
Undermind (3 eps)
Will Shakespeare (Tim Curry version)
Nightwalker
12 Kingdoms
Trigun (ep 8)
Rayearth
Hyperdrive (season 2 ep 3)
The Café
For later:
Missing Earthian ep
Missing Haibane Renme eps
"Autumnal - nothing to do with leaves. It is to do with a certain brownness at the edges
of the day...
Brown is creeping up on us, take my word for it... Russets and tangerine shades of old gold flushing the very outside
edge of the
senses... deep shining ochres, burnt umber and parchments of baked earth - reflecting on itself and through itself,
filtering the light. At
such times, perhaps, coincidentally, the leaves might fall, somewhere..."
(Rosencrantz and Guildenstern
are Dead Act
2: Tom Stoppard)
Autumn...
I love this time of year. I love the colours, the sharp slant of sunlight on the trees, mosaics of acid-yellow and harts-
blood, velvet and
darkness and a haze of mist-grey over the hills. I love its immanence, its mellowness, the tang of frost just around the
corner of the
year...
Watching the little birds in the goat-willow in my garden, I realised something more.
I love this land with a fierce, possessive love, deep-rooted in two thousand years of history. From the frosted beaches
and cloud-brushing peaks of the north to the wind-haunted meanderings of the rivers of the east, from the sensuous
rolling patchworked hills of
the south to the demanding dark moors of the west, this land seeps into bone and blood and synapse, mother of
motley nobility,
culture, individual freedoms. It can be known. It can be understood. It can be felt deep inside.
I love its effortless eccentricities, its vigour and vibrancy, its flawed perfections, its silent strength and tenacious
resilience, its hard-won tolerances and intense and variable beauty, the profound energy in its sacred mythical
landscape.
Home and more-than-home, the forces that shape and protect and bind, in me, as I am in the land. Love returning love
in the stillness
for those who'll only take the time to listen...
(Joules, Autumn 2004)
All photographs taken by Joules unless otherwise specified. All photographs © Joules A Taylor or other
specified
individual.
In Memoriam
17.03.09 - Argent
25.07.08 - Raptor
18.12.07 - Quyn
02.12.06 - Ryme
Currently enjoying:
Muse
Transformers - IDW, Prime, Animated, Rescue Bots, Earthspark.
Currently reading:
Cixin Liu - newest favourite author.
Ben Miller. wow. Just, wow...
Currently working on:
Haadri
Dystopic novel starring Devon from Dystopia
Currently chuffed with:
My garden
Currently miffed at:
Effing BND (you know who I mean)
Nestlé, TFG Tinyhands Fart, Toadface Farage
Currently maintaining:
Wavewrights, on and off...
BCHS
BCW
Blog Pics I've gathered some of my pages of photos together: the page of links is here. I'll be adding more as time goes
by!
Evil Squid
A Little Glossary of Taylorspeke
(in no particular order)
plit popints - n. Typo for 'plot points' typed on a keyboard with more than half the characters worn off...
[PING] (alt [ping]) - n. A brainwave. The text equivalent of a lightbulb going on blindingly over someone's head. Usually mine. And usually at the most inconvenient of times. [sigh]
TPTB - The Powers That Be.
wulmet - n. A person of little or no talent who somehow inveigles himself into a position where he is in power over other, far more talented people and uses his position to downplay them in order to try to make himself feel superior.
biteable - referring to an anatomical part vb, tasty.
Flatterfed - vb. 27.02.08: my typo for flattered, but since it's so cutely apt I thought it would fit nicely
here. Lutra defined it as "the lovely warm feeling of satisfaction resulting from enthusiastic reviews..." (which I've been
getting for my MB fics).
Composted - vb, 'compos mentis', mentally capable of working. Contrast with
uncomposted or non-
composted, not 'compos mentis', not capable of working, hungover...
Cumbles - n, cucumbers.
Kewp - how Ken says 'thank you'. We rather like Lutra's 'nanx', too...
Musekick - noun, music, without which I cannot work.
'feinne - noun, caffeine, essential for correct mental functioning, especially first thing in the morning. I
prefer mine in the
form of SodaStream Diet Coke. And on that subject...
Skoosh - verb, noun. To skoosh - to add CO2 to a sodastream bottle filled with water to make it
fizzy, prior to adding
Diet Coke syrup (or just drinking as sparkling water). A skoosh - a bottle of water that has been skooshed. Skooshy
- something that
has been skooshed, water, or that whipped cream that comes in tins you have to shake then upend and press the
nozzle...
Shoogle - verb. To shake gently, for example, of roast potatoes in a roasting tin to ensure they're
covered with oil. I
have vague memories of this being a real Scottish colloquialism...
Stegasaurus - n, spider of the genus tegenaria. Why? No idea. I just find it easier, that's
all...
Edit 08.09.07: Lutra thinks that Brian is a good name for a mini-stegasaurus. From now on, any 'Brian's in the posts
may be assumed to be a tegenaria. Except where otherwise specified.
Viterals - noun, vitamins + minerals. Also a pun on victuals.
Splish - verb. A combination of slosh and splash.
Parrots - noun, paracetemol (from the old joke "Why are there no aspirin tablets in the jungle?
Because the parrots eat
'em all...")
Maggles - noun, magpies. As opposed to non-magical people.
Flamewings - noun. Swifts. So called because the first time we became aware of them was an early
summer evening
when they were flying high, the light from the setting sun seemingly turning their wings to flames. Lovely little birds. We
always know
summer's arrived when we hear their high-pitched squeeing.
Murfs - noun, moths.
Peasant cut - noun, roughly cut up into big chunks, e.g. vegetables chopped in a hurry for a
hearty stew or
soup. By extension, anything prepared in a hurry - haircut, material, even a first draft of a story...
Giraffe - noun, a carafe (of wine, coffee or water, for example).
Shrumps - noun, mushrooms.
Splings - noun, Kai's spelling homework: by extension, any spelling.
Tyops - noun, typos. var toyps, typso, psyto, psoyt, etc. Usual result of a dose of the
fingerials (see next
entry).
Fingerials - (pr. fin GEEE ree yalls) noun, fingers that will not type what you want
them to.
Haddock - noun, time, of which I never have enough. (Origin of this term here.)
Sleep - noun? vb? a.k.a. sheeeeeeeeep.... I used to know what this word
meant...
The Updates
Blog
The place to stay notified of WaveWrights' Fiction updates: Zone, Darkside, DarkRealm, Matrix, Vault, Safehouse
13...
Butch, my computer gremlin. Click the pic for larger version, and read his
adventures here...
A gift for me! Butch by the very talented Sylverthorne. Click pic
for larger image.
This is MY haddock. It was caught
exclusively for me by Talon. No, you can't have any. I need
all the haddock I can get!!
.
A'lestrel - a gift for me from
Valkyrie...
Another gorgeous Valkyrie gift for me - Benten the Albino
Alsatian! Click
thumbnail for larger image.
Oekai by Bakayaro Onna - Radittsu at his sexiest...
The Zone Plant from
OrganicHTML (which alas no longer seems to exist...)
|
[::..My Regular Reads..::] |
:: Astronomical Pic of the Day
[>] |
:: What is Space... [>] |
:: Dark Roasted Blend [>] |
:: BLDG [>] |
:: Watchismo Times [>] |
[::..Fun Places..::] |
::HubbleSite
Stunning... |
::PALEOMAP Project
Absolutely fascinating. |
:: Skymap
Check out the night sky where you are! |
[::..Useful Sites..::] |
:: GreenNet First stop for environmental matters |
:: The Forest of Avon Our local community forest and places to visit |
:: The Guardian
Online Guardian Newspaper. |
:: Symbols Exactly what it says |
:: World Timeserver For checking the current time around this world |
:: Universal Currency Converter Actually it's just a terran-global currency
converter, not universal,
but it's still useful... |
|
So what is it with the
haddock? Am I some kind of fish freak?
I'll leave that to
others to decide.
The tale (or tail if you prefer) harks back
to October 2000, when my GoodTwin and I, ably assisted by Sue,
ran the first UK Professionals convention... It's common
knowledge that I never have enough time, and I was determined
not to bewail the fact that weekend: hence I promised not to use the
'T' word... Of course, that didn't really work (if nothing else I
had to let the trainees know what times things were supposed to be
happening!) so we decided a substitute word would be employed
instead. There were several suggestions. Banana came very close to
being chosen. However, I eventually decided that 'haddock' fitted
the bill nicely. Ever since, haddock=time. Hence the title of my forthcoming
autobiography, My Half-Life in the Haddock
Space Continuum....
Normally I wouldn't, but these
were just irresistible...
These
Too-Kawaii Kitties were adopted from Ghost's Anime
Page (which appears to have disappeared, alas...)
|
[::..Anime/Manga..::]
Useful sites:
BBTS -
Fabulous anime figures
Anime Lyrics
A huge selection... evil popups
Anime still needed to complete series' I'm collecting...
Many thanks to everyone who has helped me acquire the collection!
|
Ai no Kusabi
Owned:
DVD
Dj: June Special
CD: Ambivalence
|
Cyber City Oedo 808
Owned:
DVD
All 3 eps on Video, dubbed
Dj: Cyberage 1-3
Illustrated Book 2 (Benten's) in Japanese
|
From Eroica with Love
Owned:
Manga Vols 1, 9, 11
|
Mirage of Blaze
Owned:
DVD Vol 1 (eps 1-4)
|
R.G. Veda
Owned:
English Manga: Vol 1
Japanese Manga: Vol 1-7 complete
Tarot Pack
R.G.Veda video
|
Twelve Kingdoms
Owned:
Anime Vol 1-12: complete
|
Under the Glass Moon
Owned:
Manga Vol 1, 2
Vol 3 needed
|
Vampire Hunter D - Bloodlust
Owned:
DVD
Vampire Hunter D Book 1
|
New Vampire Miyu
Owned:
(Studio Ironcat) Manga Vols 1 -5 (complete)
|
Yami no Matsuei
Owned:
Viz Manga: English translation, Vols 1 - 11 (complete: I believe vol 12 is only available online)
Japanese 3-DVD set
Central Park Media: Descendants of Darkness Vol. 1, English/Japanese subbed.
Sketchbook
|
[::..Joules SP fied..::]
... this is Terra? How the hell'd I end up here...?
(Thanks, Lutra, for the quote!)
|
[::..archive..::] |
07/01/2002 -
07/31/2002 | 08/01/2002 -
08/31/2002 | 09/01/2002 -
09/30/2002 | 10/01/2002 -
10/31/2002 | 11/01/2002 -
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01/022016 - 28/02/2016 |
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01/10/2018 - 31/10/2018 |
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01/12/2018 - 31/12/2018 |
01/01/2019 - 31/01/2019 |
01/02/2019 - 28/02/2019 |
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01/11/2021 - 30/11/2021 |
01/12/2021 - 31/12/2021 |
01/01/2022 - 31/01/2022 |
01/02/2022 - 28/02/2022 |
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01/04/2022 - 30/04/2022 |
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01/08/2023 - 31/08/2023 |
01/11/2023 - 31/11/2023 |
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
[g] So, for everyone who liked Appliances, here's the first part of the sequel...
Part 1 - Changes
"Checkmate."
"What?!" Poppy stared down at the chess board, scowling, then raised her head to glower at the slender silver figure sitting opposite. "Bugger. I'm never going to get the hang of this."
Chillvern raised his hands apologetically.
"It takes practise, Poppy, that's all."
Easy enough for him to say, given he could download the details of every game ever played in microseconds. She was beginning to regret ever asking him to teach her...
In the year and a half since the Cybertronian refugees had first appeared in her life, Poppy had seen a few changes. After that scary business in Egypt - and the accompanying revelation of the transformers' presence on earth - she'd found herself mothering a few more of the creatures. So many, in fact, that she'd had to move to a house on the outskirts of the city, a rather nice old five-bedroomed place with high ceilings and a big garden. Paid for by NEST, of course, since there was no way she could have afforded such a place on her salary. Much of the garden was shaded by large trees: humanity might know about the transformers now but that didn't mean they went out of their way to make themselves conspicuous, and while there was no problem inside the house, her friends really liked being out of doors in their natural, robotic forms. Under the trees they were shielded from all eyes, in the summer and autumn at least. Even though she didn't think her house would be under any kind of satellite scrutiny, there was always Google earth, and the occasional plane or police helicopter overflying the area...
She stayed mostly at home now, teleworking for her old company while still able to keep an eye on her charges. As semi-official-but-under-the-radar robot-sitter - NEST had unofficially appointed her to the post of 'consultant' - she was able to claim some expenses from the organisation. Not that she needed to, much, but it was nice to know she could call on them in case of any problems. She sometimes missed her old workmates, but that was what the internet was for.
She'd also had to buy another fridge, as Chill much preferred to stay in his natural form. The others were happy to stick to their appliance functions - 'Spin had declared 'there wath NO WAY he'd trutht her clotheth to any human devithe' - when needed, but for food storage she really didn't have a choice. To be honest she was a lot happier having a fridge that couldn't talk back to her, anyway. And Chill had turned out to be quite a nice person, modest, intelligent and companionable.
Even if he did keep beating her at chess.
"It's lunchtime, Poppy!" Steamy peeked around the door and blinked at her. "What d'you fancy today?"
She waved at him.
"Oh, you choose. Surprise me!"
"Perhaps I should go and assist." Chill inclined his head, and Poppy nodded. Steamy's 'paws' weren't really designed for food preparation, and it was something Chill seemed to enjoy.
"OK. I should go and check on the others anyway. Back in half an hour."
At the far end of the garden, in the dappled shade of what was effectively a complete copse of trees, a disparate bunch of aliens was sprawled on grass and moss. Poppy smiled affectionately as they waved and called out quiet greetings as she approached. Muncher, her newest arrival whose alternative mode was the large ride-on mower now proving extremely helpful in keeping the extensive lawn under control, offered her a courtly little bow. Of all of them, he was the largest, towering over her by at least three feet, and she'd been a little wary of him. Those extremely sharp blades didn't help his overall dangerous appearance either. She suspected Chill and 'Spin had been tutoring him in earth customs, since he'd taken to doing everything he could to put her at ease. He gave her as much of a smile as his face could manage as she seated herself on the bench under the oak.
"How's it all going?"
As usual, 'Spin answered for them all.
"It'th great! We like thith plathe a lot."
"Good. I'm sorry I can't take you all out, though..."
"Oh, it'th no problem. We're happy to be able to come out here. The retht - well, TeeVee and Ramp thow uth what your world ith like. We have more freedom here than we had on Thybertron, at the end."
Ramp, Poppy's computer transformer, nodded.
"True, that."
Poppy was tempted, again, to ask what their home world was like, but as ever she hesitated. Whenever they mentioned the planet, it was always with a hint of melancholy, of loss, and she didn't want to upset them.
"Is there anything you need?"
"No. We're fine here for the afternoon. Unleth there'th thomething you need uth to do?"
"Not until this evening."
"OK..." 'Spin paused, gazing towards the house. "There'th thomeone coming..."
Ramp raised two of his hands to quell the momentary buzz of alarm.
"It's Graham." His antennae twitched. "And he's brought a friend..."
Intrigued, Poppy headed back to the house. Parked under the handsome larch on the small drive at the front was Agent Graham's off-roader - and what looked like a classic Mini. A white Mini, with a Union Jack painted on its roof. It would have been perfectly at home in Carnaby Street in the 1960s. And Graham was talking to it.
Poppy stopped and stared, not sure whether she was feeling horrified or pleased. She'd seen confidential NEST footage of the larger transformers in action in Egypt - Graham had said he believed she should know a little more about them, since she was looking after so many - and had been hugely impressed by the cars. Especially that silver one - Sideswipe, she thought the name was. Not that she was any sort of car buff, but he'd been quite something. Though it may just have been the swords... And Graham had said that more refugees had arrived, many of them large enough to take on vehicular alternative modes, so there was a possibility that she might be able to have her own, once the new arrivals had been inducted.
But a Mini?
Just as well she didn't suffer from claustrophobia.
Graham waved at her, then gestured towards the house's garage. The Mini obligingly drove into the building: the humans followed slowly, and just as they reached the door there was that strange but enthralling sound Poppy knew meant the car was transforming. It was, understandably, considerably louder than the noise her other charges made.
"Poppy, this is Upbeat." Graham indicated the creature now hunched over slightly inside the garage. "He will be your guardian for the foreseeable future. Upbeat, this is Poppy Moss, our resident autobot caretaker and consultant."
The transformer waved a large hand.
"'Ullo Poppy. Good t'meet you." Poppy stared, then automatically waved back. The accent was pure Liverpudlian. And while the transformer had a relatively humanoid face, it held the most doleful expression she'd ever seen. On anything. "Me designation's Upbeat, but you c'n call me Ringo. If y'like."
She glanced at Graham, who was desperately trying not to laugh. Wonderful. She was now the proud... ward? of an autobot reject from the Beatles.
Then the funny side hit her and she giggled. What the hell, her life was weird anyway, what was one more absurdity...
"Welcome, Upbeat. Ringo. Um... can I think about which I prefer?"
"Course y'can."
"Thanks... Is there anything you need?"
"Nope." He looked around the garage, which was a fair size, and nodded. "Comfy."
"You don't have to stay in here. Most of the others are in the garden." She pointed. "Just follow the trees."
"Awright, ta." He resumed car mode, drove to the start of the avenue of trees that led to the copse, transformed back and hurried off to join the others. Poppy turned to Graham, shaking her head.
"Can I ask for a refund?"
The officer laughed.
"Hey, he's a classic. People pay good money for a car like that."
"Good for them. I must confess I was hoping for something a little more... modern, myself."
"Well, we can try asking him to upgrade, but he rather likes that mode..."
"Eh, I'm sure I'll survive. I've been laughed at before." She grinned and gestured to the house. "Steamy will probably have lunch ready by now. Like to join me?"
"I'd be delighted..."
"So, how're things going?"
"Fairly well." Graham took a last forkful of the prawn-stuffed peppers Chillvern and Steamy had served up, chewed appreciatively and swallowed, washing it down with a mouthful of sparkling water. "There are still people who are... resistant to their presence, but that's not likely to change. There are always going to be those who don't want to share the planet with anyone, let alone aliens. Generally, though, the reactions have been pretty positive, especially after Egypt. I'd still maintain a low profile though, if I were you. Just in case."
"Oh, I've no intention of making waves!" She grinned as Chill took away their plates and put a bowl of fruit on the table. "It's not like I had a huge number of friends anyway: this life suits me. I always was a bit of a hermit."
Graham nodded. "We know. We had you thoroughly checked out before asking for your assistance."
Poppy blinked, her smile fading.
"So, if I hadn't checked out, I would have lost them all?"
"I'm afraid so. But it didn't happen, so don't let it bother you."
It would though, she knew. But Graham was still speaking.
"If - and it's a big if - I can arrange it, would you like to meet some of the others?"
Poppy's mouth dropped open.
"What, like Optimus and Ironhide? What a stupid question!"
Graham chuckled.
"I'm not promising anything. But make sure your passport's up to date."
The officer had left soon after, and Poppy practically skipped down the garden to join the others. Upbeat had obviously settled in easily, and appeared to be regaling the others with all the latest news. Not that she could understand Cybertronian, but the others were listening intently and occasionally asking questions, so it was a logical assumption to make. 'Spin waved at her.
"Can we come too?"
"What? Oh..." she sometimes forgot their enhanced hearing and Ramp's automatic close-monitoring of the house and everything that went on inside it. "It's not anything like definite. And I don't know. I could ask next time we speak..."
"It would be wonderful." 'Spin's voice was wistful. "None of uth have ever met the Prime. Even Upbeat'th only theen him from a dithtanthe." The washing machine glanced at the Mini. "He wath too nervouth to thpeak to him."
"Well, I'll ask. No promises though."
"Thank you."
"Thank me if it happens." She grinned at TeeVee. "That film you all wanted to watch is starting in half an hour. Coming in?"
TeeVee reverted back to TV mode and switched himself on. "No need. We'll watch it out here."
"Then I'll see you later."
© JAT Oct 2011
More to come... Labels: fanfic, Transformers
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Joules *Dances with Haddock* Taylor
pontificated this at 9:43 pm
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