OKAY SO I HEAR A LOT OF PEOPLE GET CONFUSED ABOUT ALL THESE WORDS AND TERMS FOR TRANSFORMERS (because we, as a fandom, like to use fancy words for our robots, we have literally reached subculture status guys we have our own dialect congratulations) AND DON’T KNOW WHAT TO USE FOR WHAT SO BECAUSE I TOO SUFFER I WILL HELP YOU
IF YOU KNOW OTHERS THAT ARE NOT LISTED HERE FEEL FREE TO ADD THEM.
THIS IS AWESOME, where was this when I was new to the fandom!? THANK YOU SO MUCH.
I hope you don’t mind if I add a few? As both a transformers fan and a latinist, I find our fandom jargon super interesting! We really like pulling from latin, and always have! Optimus Prime, Primus, the Pax Cybertronia, it’s pretty cool. This’s mostly about plurals, so consider this more for writers than readers, if they’re interested!
Conjunx/amica endura- the plural of these are “conjuges endurae” and “amicae endurae”
Denta- technically singular, the plural would be dentae, but everyone will know what you mean if you just say denta and mean the plural
Glossa- tongue, comes from latin, so the plural is glossae
Pedes- because latin is an evil language that hates us, the singular is technically “pes”, but nobody uses that. “Ped” and “pede” are both equally wrong but still better than fucking “pes”
Pauldrons- I’ve seen this used, somewhat rarely, to mean shoulders, so I figured I’d toss it in here
I’m a big grammar nerd n my pet peeve is incorrect latin plurals. That being said, tacking an -s onto something for a plural is basically always fine in english and people staunchly defending the linguistic integrity of Latin in transformers fanfics should examine their priorities. Oh, and “trine” is a wholly fanon concept! Hope this was a bit helpful :) I’m definitely saving your list for helping future new fans.
For @rises-vagrant and anyone else who might want it. Buckle up because this bitch is long.
Update: 8/7/2022
Introducing the Band
L-R: Mat Osman, Brett Anderson, Bernard Butler, Simon Gilbert (first and second album lineup)
L-R: Simon Gilbert, Richard Oakes, Brett Anderson, Mat Osman, Neil Codling (Post BB lineup)
These are the two main lineups of the band you should remember. Previous members include Justine Frischmann of Elastica and Alex Lee of Strangelove.
Bernard Butler left the band in 1994 before their second album Dog Man Star was completed and was replaced with Richard Oakes who was just seventeen at the time. Simon Gilbert's cousin Neil Codling later joined for the album Coming Up.
Mat Osman: Bass. REALLY FUCKING TALL. Met Brett in high school, Brett has never let him forget that he was a goth when they met. Has a younger brother who is also ridiculously tall and is a TV presenter. Has written two novels!
Brett Anderson: Vocals. Slut. Once infamously referred to sex and drugs as his hobbies. Got into the heavy stuff in the late 90s but is now thankfully clean and sober living with his wife and kids out in the country.
Bernard Butler: Guitar '92-'94. Prickly like a cactus. Undoubtedly brilliant guitarist but hard to work with. Seems happier doing producing work. Very dedicated to his craft, sadly lost his father during the recording of DMS which affected him really deeply and was one part of the issues that came to the surface between him and the rest of the band.
Simon Gilbert: Drums. The punk one. Despite Brett's flirtations with androgyny and homosexual imagery, it's actually Simon who's gay. Quiet, but super cool and documents everything with a handy camcorder.
Richard Oakes: Guitar post-BB '94-'03 '10-present. Literal angel. Had big shoes to fill and more than rose to the occasion. Really fantastic guitarist who heavily favors arpeggiated riffs over BB's sort of fuzz-laden wall of sound insane solos. A little more stripped back but still great and IMO doesn't get enough recognition.
Neil Codling: '96-'99 '10-present. Keyboards, rhythm guitar, backing vocals, literally everything else. Master of looking cool and bored on stage. Simon's cousin. Actually kind of an eccentric type? He popped into the studio to borrow a suit for a job interview from Simon, then Brett found out he could play just about every instrument ever and he was absorbed into the band.
Albums
Suede- their debut! This is the one that got people's attention with its sort of sleazy glamor. Full to the brim of stories about the lives of average people but steeped in a sort of seedy romance. Like a faded and moth eaten Persian rug.
Dog Man Star - A little more proggy and I recommend listening to it in some sort of altered state or at least giving it a few listens. A lot of people consider it their best. Much more than what it appears to be. A true piece of art, imo. Has to be listened to as it's really hard to describe but trust me when I say it has some of Brett's best vocal performances on it.
Coming Up - Suede's pop album. Rejuvenated after BB left and Richard and Neil joined, Suede decided to go for a much more simple pop effort. Spawned five top ten singles and is absolutely ridiculously catchy. Despite being pretty straight forward pop it's still a little weird and seedy compared to the sort of thing most people might consider pop. At least in comparison to what America considers pop.
Head Music - Suede tries electronica. Whether the effort was any good is highly subjective and may take a while for you to decide whether you like it or not. This is around the time that Brett started to slide downhill into heavy drugs - whether that shows in the final product is up for debate.
A New Morning - Suede tries to reinvent themselves in a new more positive light. Neil left the band after Head Music and Alex Lee from Strangelove joined. Understandably traumatized by his heavy drug use, Brett attempted to reinvent himself after he got clean - spawning the dreaded Blonderson. The band went for a much softer and acoustically driven sound on this album but unfortunately the toll of dealing with Brett's prior addiction was too much and the band split after the album flopped. A lot people's least favorite due to it being so very different from everything else in their catalogue and also because it was 2003 and the New Wave revival/Emo thing was well underway.
Bloodsports - Their first album in seven years after they split in 03! Straight forward sort of guitar driven pop rock vs the slightly weirder Coming Up. Catchy as hell and fun to dance to, but nothing ground breaking.
Night Thoughts - A little darker than Bloodsports, and had a full movie to accompany it! Seems to draw on more post punk and new wave influences and dips into almost outright goth on Outsiders. A damn good album. Lots of themes revolving around family and parenthood and the fears of repeating the same mistakes as your own parents are thread throughout it.
The Blue Hour - Delving deeper into the themes explored on Night Thoughts, the Blue Hour is partially a concept album with a story seeming to revolve around a child witnessing the infidelity of one of his parents and then going missing just as night is falling. Goes into some pretty weird and nightmarish territory and I, for one, absolutely love it. Themes also include the darker aspects of the countryside like dead animals as well as the aforementioned themes of family and fears of parenthood. A sort of sister album to Dog Man Star.
Autofiction - This is their upcoming album! It's set to be released in September, and is supposed to have more punk and post punk influences. The first two singles are out now - She Still Leads Me On and 15 Again. 15 Again in particular is absolutely drenched in the post-punk influence with Richard Oakes' guitar work reminding one of the Cult or the Mission.
Noteworthy songs
Suede are one of those bands where even the b-sides are absolutely amazing, so first is their best of collection which is honestly a really good primer which is aptly called "Beautiful Ones". Second is their b-sides compilation, "Sci-fi Lullabies". (Sci-fi Lullabies does not appear to be on Spotify?)
There's just so much good stuff they've released. I really recommend listening to the full albums because they provide sort of context for some of the songs that you just don't get when listening to them divorced from that. However, I will make a list of some of their most noteworthy songs.
The Drowners
Animal Nitrate
My Insatiable One
Pantomime Horse
He's Dead (if you see gifs of Brett more or less bellydancing you can almost guarantee it's from performances of this song)
The Next Life
Stay Together
We Are the Pigs
The Wild Ones
My Dark Star
Killing of a Flashboy
The Asphalt World
The Living Dead
Still Life
Trash
Beautiful Ones
Filmstar
Picnic by the Motorway
The Chemistry Between Us
Europe is Our Playground
Electricity
Everything Will Flow
She's in Fashion
Elephant Man (Neil wrote this and it's noteworthy and downright infamous for being well...just listen to it)
I really don't like A New Morning, but I guess Positivity, Oceans and Simon are worth listening to. Non album songs Attitude and Golden Gun are absolutely phenomenal tho.
Barriers
For the Strangers
Hit Me
It Starts and Ends With You
Outsiders
What I'm Trying to Tell You
No Tomorrow
Wastelands
Chalk Circles
Life is Golden
Don't Be Afraid if Nobody Loves You
Cold Hands
There's literally so much. Like all things considered this is a long list and if I'd included everything I wanted to it would be even longer. I know this is probably so much but there is just so much ground to cover with them.
Here's a handy link to my spotify playlist of personal faves.
24+ Maurice fanfic recs for the festive season: a belated advent calendar
Just over a month ago, I received a lovely Ask from @lavenderandheatherfield who’d fallen down the Maurice rabbit-hole and was seeking some fanfic recs. Apologies for my chronic slowness (i.e. semi-hiatus) but, I hope, good things may come to those who wait (if you haven’t read every single fic already by now!)
First, a shoutout for my old Maurice Ficlist (fic-finder) project: it’s not up to date but has its uses: https://mauriceficlist.dreamwidth.org/
The Maurice fics I recommend below are favourites for all sorts of different reasons, and this is not a rigorously ranked list. The list includes short and multi-chapter fics and occasional crossovers, serious Maurice fics, humour and outright crackiness, gen and not. As you might expect from me, there’s a preponderance of Maurice/Alec – but also some of the (IMO) very best Clive fics, occasional Maurice/Clive, some selected very good fics focused on the women of Maurice (Anne, Kitty) – there are more on AO3 – and one Risley (and Risley-esque) tour-de-force.
I’ve purposely picked older Maurice fics, and some beautiful fics not on AO3, on the principle that these won’t be on everyone’s radar. The current/recent Maurice writers active on AO3, whose work I also love, are also very worth reading, but feature only indicatively/tokenistically in this list as I’ve assumed readers are already finding them. Last, I’ve taken the liberty of reccing two of my favourites among my own fics ... not the most ‘obvious’, most-kudos’d ones. Anyway ... enjoy, and festive hope, cheer and health to you all. xx
1) Aurora Mundi by stuffwelike (Yuletide 2010)
After WW1, Clive & Anne travel to Florence & encounter some figures from the past. Healing, affirmative story.
2) Feels Like Snow by sandpipersummer (2009)
Maurice/Alec spend Christmas Day together in their modest cottage, some years after WW1. Beautiful, raw Christmas fic.
3) Bincombe Tunnel by sandpipersummer (2009) [requires AO3 sign-in]
An absolute favourite. (Not sure why the author has locked this; if you prefer it not to be recced, please get in touch.) Alec’s turbulent thoughts and feelings as he travels home after the hotel...
4) Happy Ending by devo79 (2012 on AO3) (earlier on dreamwidth)
Multi-chapter. For those seeking a Maurice/Alec WW1 fic, carefully researched, with very different twists and outcomes from a certain $27 book published this year.
5) Kitty by angie_silvie (2009)
There are a few fics on AO3 centred on Maurice’s sister Kitty Hall, but this predates them and is very good. Inspired by Forster’s abandoned 1914 Epilogue to Maurice.
6) Someone to Last Your Whole Life by chippy8833 (2013)
One for everyone who’s read Forster’s posthumous short story ‘Arthur Snatchfold’ and everyone who hasnt. Maurice and Alec’s first time, reimagined.
7) Someone Else’s Now by aldiara (2013)
A guilty pleasure. One for fans of class-war Alec and uppity Maurice being, ahem, put in his place. Tagged #rough sex #angry sex but consensual.
8) Somebody With Whom to Dance by Ea (eacalendula) (2010)
Post-canon, bittersweet. Clive & Anne on UK holiday in the 1920s. A furtive encounter opens tentative possibilities for Clive.
9) Unless We Remember by MissRizu (2013)
One of a couple of worthwhile multi-chapter Maurice/Alec fics that are solely on ff.net (the other is Bianca Pearl’s The Town Experiment). Some years post-canon, Alec is collared by Clive Durham in the street near the tenement he shares with Maurice.
10) A Most Unpromising Youth by etal (2019)
Inspired, hilarious, cracky, hot, just brilliant. Alec Scudder/Freddy Honeychurch, briefly. etal captures Freddy’s voice to perfection.
11) Jeeves and the Angels Unaware by toodlepipsigner (2010)
Another guilty pleasure. 10-chapter Jeeves & Wooster crossover with Maurice/Alec and a bit of Clive. Not one for the Clive lovers. Definitely one for lovers of pastiche, satire, a bit of smut and a satisfactory ending.
12) The Home Front by kindkit (Yuletide 2009)
Alec-centred with background Maurice, set in England during WW1. Maurice and Alec have refused the draft and live off-grid, subsisting as charcoal-makers.
13) Citizens of the Greenwood by polkadot (Yuletide 2014)
Maurice & Alec’s future together: seven vignettes following them through seven ages of 20th-century/queer history.
14) Alec by Basingstoke (Yuletide 2013)
Post-WW1. Alec, left with a physical disability by the war, is irrepressible as ever.
15) Travels and Investments: Two Gentlemen Abroad by julie_anne (2018)
One multi-chapter story in a wider universe / collection of post-canon works and series by julie_anne. Here, Maurice/Alec, in Italy and wider continental Europe after 1929, amid the rise of fascism.
16) Stories from the Greenwood by annethepancake (2021)
Maurice/Alec, multi-chapter fic post-canon fic, with some lovely ideas, great original characters, and (for me) nice echoes of some earlier Maurice/Alec post-canon fics.
=17) Make You Sorry for It by 12XU (2013)
Blatant self-promotion numero 1. A highly charged reimagining of the non-book-canon scene in the film where (at the suggestion of Ruth Prawer Jhabvala) Alec shows up without warning at Maurice’s stockbroking office in the City instead of writing his second letter. Inspired by a long-ago Tumblr post abou the scene concerned. ;D
=17) A Place I Always Fancied by 12XU (2015)
Blatant self-promotion numero 2. Written for the legendary @fengirl88 in response to the prompt ‘make our boys very happy’. Maurice & Alec at the boathouse the morning after. Alec has planned elaborately to ensure there’s no rush for them to leave.
18) Somewhere to Begin by geoviki (2006)
Early Maurice fic, written for what then seemed a non-existent fandom, and absolutely wonderful. Post-canon, post-WW1: Maurice & Alec, both invalided out of the war, take up employment in Cheltenham. But will their secret be discovered on their first day?
19) Anne Clare Wilbraham Woods by angie_silvie (2009)
Anne learns the truth: about the physical requirements of marriage for women, and more than that.
20) Pan Metron Ariston by athousandwinds (2010)
Or, ‘moderation in all things’, LoL. Maurice/Clive, E-rated.
21) A Breath of Liberty by chippy8833 (2014)
A bit more Maurice/Clive fixing: what might have happened if their creaky-chair UST hadn’t been rudely interrupted.
22) Clive’s Bloody Front Porch by eyeslikerain (2018)
Crack, smut, cheeky af. The Alec/Clive fic (after Maurice/Clive’s break-up, before Maurice/Alec; much reference to dog kennels and holes) you didn’t know you needed.
23) A Gentleman’s Tale by OpelForever (2021)
Contemporary multi-chapter opus starting at the tail-end of the 1990s, feat. Clive Durham, scion of Durham Logistics in Amsterdam, ‘coffee’ houses, Alec, much brand placement, and IDEK. This, and OpelForever’s wider millennium-and-after Maurice!verse, are some of the best fun I’ve had in these past Covid months. Just don’t ask me to explain.
24) Divagations of a Prig, Or: The Risley Reshuffle by HotUtilitarian (2017)
I was honoured to win this in a fic exchange: ‘HotUtilitarian’ is a nom-de-plume of a nom-de-plume of a terrifyingly gifted author. Book’verse, Cambridge: Risley and Clive ‘compete for the affections’ of dark!jock Maurice, ‘hairy as a boar’. Just leaving this here.
Chelsea are not worried about losing Cesar Azpilicueta despite talk in Spain of new Barcelona boss Ernesto Valverde making the defender a top target. Premier League champions are in a strong position with Azpilicueta contracted until 2020 and happy with life in London. Azpilicueta played every single minute of every single match for Chelsea as they won the title under Antonio Conte.
Cesar Azpilicueta will remain at Chelsea until 2020 after signing a new contract with the Blues on Tuesday. The Spanish defender - who could make his 200th appearance for the club if selected Wednesday against Sunderland - put pen to paper on a new three-and-a-half year contract, the Premier League side announced.
