The Rec Center #405
Hi all! This week we have articles about fannish interior design and Peaky Blinders fandom, some very distinctive Baldur’s Gate 3 fanart, a multifandom rec list of Sedoretu AUs (explained by guest reccer queuest!), and more! — Gav
new stuff
“Inside the Homes Where Passionate Fandoms Come to Life” by Katherine McLaughlin at Architectural Digest
On a subject many of this newsletter’s readers probably have personal experience with: using your fandom to guide your interior-decorating choices.
“Vintage Nirvana” by Alan Siegel at The Ringer
“Thirty years after the release of ‘In Utero,’ T-shirts commemorating the album can go for four figures. The most iconic band of the 1990s—one that openly rejected the commodification of rock—is now one of the biggest brands in the vintage industry.”
“How Far Afield Can Sci-Fi and Fantasy ‘Fake Swearing’ Get Before You Feel Uncomfortable?” by Daniel Lavery at The Stopgap
Ed. note from Gav: I’m always fascinated by the creative decision-making behind adult-rated Star Wars fanfic that used bowdlerized fake swearwords like “kriff” instead of the reliable old “fuck.”
Bravo to the MCU for recapturing the magic I felt as a kid upon realizing the superhero stories I’d loved for years had become so convoluted that keeping up became more of a slog than a pleasure and I abandoned them altogether, freeing me to discover other delights elsewhere.
— Raphael Bob-Waksberg (@RaphaelBW) October 4, 2023
older stuff
“Here’s what went down at The Legitimate Peaky Blinders Festival 2019” by Andrew Trendell at NME
Apparently this is what a non-nerdy fan convention looks like?
tumblr & beyond
Baldur’s Gate 3 fanart by velnna
“It's important to humble male celebrities with the fact that they are laying eggs on ao3”
an incredible shoujo manga remix of Phantom of the Opera.
“very funny that the solution to shatner and nimoys feuding and ego problems behind the scenes was send them to the yaoi mines until they worked it out”
this homemade smeagol doll????
fanfiction
queuest began their fandom life in the days of Superwholock and is currently most active in the Good Omens and Our Flag Means Death fandoms with a smattering of other loves. Irl queuest is a law student and fan of public policy, and hopes to do pro bono work for AO3 in the future. queuest is also a beta reader and welcomes you to reach out on discord (@queuest) or tumblr if you’re looking for a beta reader for any kind of work. They are perennially aspiring to publish some of their own fic soon. As this newsletter comes out they are probably imploding from the release of OFMD s2.
A Sedoretu is a four-way marriage created by Ursula K. LeGuin in her short story collection The Birthday of the World in the stories “Mountain Ways” and “Fisherman of the Inland Sea.” In this world all people inherit a “moiety” from their mother, they are either of the Evening or the Morning. Marriages in this society consist of 4 people, with 4 distinct couplings within the marriage, A Morning woman and an Evening; an Evening woman and a Morning man; an Evening woman and a Morning woman; and an Evening man and a Morning man.
All these relationships (both same sex and opposite sex) are expected to be romantic and sexual. Relationships between those of the same moiety are sibling-like, and those relationships are supposed to be platonic in nature. You can check out here for another (stucky themed) explainer by bemusedlybespectacled on tumblr. And check out this visual by lazy8blog on tumblr. In the words of LeGuin herself, “it’s just as complicated as it sounds, but aren’t most marriages?”
As you can imagine, this world building creates a fantastic backdrop for fic authors to play with, and it fits in with the cadre of unconventional marriage tropes found in fandom. It’s fun to see how authors fit characters into different moieties, and see how those rigid relationships play out. And it’s just as fun when authors bend and break the rigid sedoretu rules to see what the fallout is. I would also highly recommend LeGuin’s own short story collection The Birthday of the World (“Mountain Way’s” involves a woman posing as a man to complete a ‘proper’ sedoretu if that entices you). I’ve listed the story’s in the order I would recommend reading them, or just select the ones that pique your interest! — queuest
“Our Hearts in 4/4 Time” by . 32K words, rated Mature.
Fandom: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019); Ship: Michael Guerin/Alex Manes/Maria DeLuca/Rosa Ortecho
Backstory: I’m not personally very familiar with the source material, Roswell New Mexico, but I found this fic extremely readable on its own. This story hews closely to Ursula K LeGuin’s original world building, so this is a great first fic to read to get acquainted with some of the culture of sedoretus.
Rec: The writing and character development in this story are amazing and rewarding. The story follows Alex through his childhood and young adult years as he grows into himself and reckons with his relationship to his family, and carves out a place in society. It is a well developed and cathartic reading experience, and a fascinating look at the complexities of four way relationships.
Content warnings: Physical abuse of a child, internalized homophobia (in an exclusively bisexual society), minor character death
“Just As Complicated As It Sounds” by mific. 25K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Stargate Atlantis; Ship: John Sheppherd/Rodney McKay/Tayla Emmagan/Ronon Dex
Backstory: I’ve never watched Stargate Atlantis, but you can always find amazing fics generated by this fandom. This author does a great job introducing Stargate Atlantis lore, and crashing it into the LeGuin’s sedoretu society to create a fantastic set up for the story. The main Stargate Atlantis characters are outsiders to the culture, so the reader gets to discover the intricacies of sedoretus alongside the characters.
Rec: The four central characters are stranded in an alien bubble universe, and enter the situation with some clear UST. The four get more and more drawn in by the concept of the sedoretu marriage as they work to escape back to their home world. This story is just a fun, enjoyable read with an intriguing sci-fi plot and a satisfying ending.
Content warnings: References to violence
“An Ever-Fixed Mark” by imperfectcircle. 15K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Merlin (BBC show); Ship: Merlin/Morgana/Gwen/Arthur
Backstory: This fic is a must rec because imperfectcircle is credited with introducing sedoretus into fanfic 2009. This story feels very much of its era in a way that made me a little nostalgic.
Rec: This story includes a public wedding, a secret wedding, court intrigue, hidden dragon eggs, and a mystery traitor. It is all the fun of the fantasy setting with the added drama of matchmaking involving not two, but four people at a time. I like that the sedoretu in this story gets pulled together out of need, and then the characters get to work through what that means to them.
Content warnings: N/A
“An Unlikely Sedoretu” by pencildragon. 4.5K words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Chronicles of Narnia; Ship: Original characters
Backstory: This story is very approachable if you’re unfamiliar with the Narnia universe. The original characters are inventive and nuanced. This is another great intro point to sedoretus because of the anthropological format of the story.
Rec: “Two hundred years after the end of the Winter, a Dwarf scholar interviews her parents to tell the story of how they formed their unusual sedoretu. ‘I doubt there is another sedoretu made up of two Dwarfs, a Gargoyle, and a Tree.’” I love love love an unconventional story format and this author pulls it off so well. The work uses a custom skin to display the fictional authors’ margin notes, which is a total delight.
Content warnings: N/A
“Geometry of the Impossible” by Aria. 21K words, rated Explicit.
Fandom: Harry Potter (Marauders Era); Ship: James Potter/Sirius Black/Lily Evans/Remus Lupin
Backstory: In my opinion, the HP universe is a perfect place to play with this trope to solve some of the conflicting het and slash ship dynamics. The sedoretu world building plays a smaller part in this story, and I enjoyed seeing the characters organically develop this style of relationship on their own.
Rec: This story is told from Remus’ POV which at times is deeply emotionally insightful, and at others is the most oblivious possible. The characterization throughout is fantastic, and the interactions between the different relationships are so well written. This is really a story of four young adults learning how to lean on each other in troubled times, and how conventional monogamy may not work for them.
Content warnings: Past physical abuse
“Space Is Big, So Hold On Tight” by psocoptera. 3.5K words, rated Teen.
Fandom: Star Wars; Ship: Poe Dameron/Finn/Rey/Rose Tico, other background sedoretus
Backstory: The universe is big and marriage is complicated no matter where you’re from or how many people are involved. This story is all about intergenerational advice and sharing life experiences.
Rec: I only want to read things from Leia Organa’s point of view after reading this. The author just gets her characterization perfectly. So many fics focus on the youthful anxiety of getting together, so I appreciate that this fic brings the perspective of age and experience to finding love when and where you can and holding on tight. This is a soothing and hopeful story despite the loss the characters have experienced.
Content warnings: N/A
“a political marriage” by iammyownsaviour (ant1hero). 390 words, rated Gen.
Fandom: Hamilton; Ship: Aaron Burr/Theodosia Prevost Burr/Alexander Hamilton/Elizabeth “Eliza” Schuyler
Backstory: A conversation about a marriage of convenience. You can’t get anywhere in politics without a full set of four.
Rec: This is a lovely little ficlet that really gets the imagination going about Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr forced into a marriage of convenience. And I’m a sucker for a politically motivated relationship.
Content warnings: N/A
“this ship isn’t canon” to YOU. I, however, am delusional
— mel ☆ (@marauders_lupin) September 25, 2023
FINAL THOUGHT
Two calls for recs!
- Fansplaining will be putting out a special episode on FRIENDSHIP in fanfiction soon, and I’d like to run a list here (as we have in the past several times) around the theme. Any sort of friendship fic is welcome—platonic, siblings, friends to lovers, friends with benefits, etc., etc.
- As Halloween approaches, we’d love to run a spooky thematic list. While we would certainly like any paranormal and horror stuff, we’d especially like stuff directly related to Halloween!
As always, you can send recs via our one-off submission form. Please be sure to use the themes/tropes field so I know which call you’re responding to! — Elizabeth