dolorosa_12 | Friday open thread: recommendations

For this Friday open thread, I decided to do something a bit different. Rather than asking a prompting question, answering it, and then looking at everyone's responses, I wanted to make something that might enable people to get input from beyond their own Dreamwidth circle. The idea, in short, was to host a giant recs post.

Maybe you have just joined a new fandom, and are interested in fic recs. Perhaps you want to spend the weekend binge-watching a new TV show, but are feeling uninspired as to which one. Maybe you need to do some clothes shopping, but have very specific requirements.

Whatever the context, put it in the comments section here, and add any further details or information you feel would be helpful to get the recommendations you need. Recommendations can be as broad as you want — covering any form of media, fanworks, or consumer item. If there are any limitations (e.g. cost, availability on a specific streaming platform, published in a specific region, etc), please include them — and if making a recommendation, please bear people's specific limitations in mind. (E.g. if someone says it needs to be available on free-to-air Australian TV, don't recommend something only available on US Netflix, etc.)

Normally I keep these open thread posts pretty flexible, but for ease of navigation, please give your comment a title summarising what it's about (e.g. 'Baking recipes - gluten free and no dried fruit'; 'Horror novels available as ebooks in the UK';), and use the comment itself to provide further details. People can then add their recommendations as replies to the comment.

Please make as many requests as you like, but make a different comment for each request. As more comments come in, I will edit this post to link to each comment, enabling people to navigate to any request for which they'd like to make recommendations.

Updating with links to specific requests
If you have recommendations for any listed request, please reply to the relevant linked comment. I will continue to update this as more requests come in.

Recs for cosy Murderbot fic

Movie recommendations for mixed-age family Christmas

Bookbinding paper available in the EU

Danmei audiobooks in English, Spanish or German

Recs for books similar to Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds books

Hearty vegetarian wintry recipes — no raw onion

I hope this post helps people find the things they want!

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

sixbeforelunch

This is a lovely idea!

Can I request recs for soft/cozy Murderbot fic with Muderbot being happy and its people being safe while it watches media? Bonus points for Three and/or the ComfortUnit from book 2 and the three of them learning how to be free and happy.

(Please note if there are spoilers for the most recent book so I can set those aside until I have a chance to read it.)

From:

gingicat

I wrote this epistolary fic some years ago:
Social SecUnity (1683 words) by tigerbright
Chapters: 1/1
Fandom: The Murderbot Diaries - Martha Wells
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Relationships: Asshole Research Transport & Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Dr. Mensah & Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Amena & Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries), Amena & Perihelion | Asshole Research Transport (Murderbot Diaries)
Characters: Asshole Research Transport (Murderbot Diaries), Dr. Mensah (Murderbot Diaries), Amena (Murderbot Diaries), Murderbot (Murderbot Diaries)
Additional Tags: Epistolary, Communication, Slice of Life, Artificial Intelligence, Canon Compliant, Canon Asexual Character, Developing Friendships
Summary:

New planets can be safe. And interesting. Without being dangerous. Now Murderbot can relax. Maybe.

Edited (line break) Date: 2023-11-25 10:22 am (UTC)

From:

rmc28

I would love suggestions for films and maybe short TV series to watch over Christmas with my spouse and kids, and also with my adult siblings (early 30s to early 40s) who are likely to visit. It'd be great to have a short list of things that everyone, including the younger kid (11) can watch together, as well as some stuff suitable for 18+.

We have very-many DVDs, and we also currently have Disney+, Netflix & Amazon Prime. I am struggling with choice fatigue and would love some recommendations.

Previous successes for the adults (including older kid who is alarmingly close to being an actual adult) have included Die Hard, Knives Out, Glass Onion & Red Notice. The child loves most Disney, Transformers (in multiple versions) including the most recent movie, Rise of the Beasts, recently saw and enjoyed Dungeons and Dragons: Honour Among Thieves and Puss in Boots: The Last Wish

From:

gingicat

In the Heights is a gorgeous musical movie. Not sure where it's available, though.

Disney+ has my second-favorite Narnia adaptations, and also The Princess Bride. And Encanto.

From:

got_quiet

Maybe too on the nose but Elf and It's a Wonderful world were my favorite Christmas Christmas movies.

For the kids the first Home Alone is probably a safe bet.

Our local theater does a holiday LoTR run, which appears to be very popular, but that's a big commitment!

From:

jesse_the_k

I loved the documentary Pick of the Litter (trailer). On Amazon Prime and free with ads on TUBI. It follows the fates of one litter at Guide Dogs for the Blind: their socialization year with volunteer "puppy walkers," as well as how they're are assessed and trained -- up to their graduation with their new blind handlers. And it turns out there's a 6-episode follow up series on Disney+.

No dogs die! Observing how dogs learn to intelligently disobey in order to keep their handlers safe would have fascinating me starting age 6.

From:

luzula

Well, I'll bite. I have spent hours trying to source this already, but if anyone has any tips on how best to source good-quality off-white short-grain A4 paper for bookbinding in the EU, please share! I have a good source in the UK, but Brexit makes it an (expensive) pain to order from them.

From:

nerakrose

caveat: I am in the UK however I'm a member of

renegadepublishing which curates a massive document of suppliers of bookbinding materials worldwide. Up to you if you want to join or not (if you haven't already), but here are two paper-specific retailers I plucked from the document:

paperassist.ie - they carry Munken print paper (I use Munken for some of my bookbinding and I really like it. Munken also supply paper for offset printing to commercial printing presses). I don't know which Munken papers this store has, the Munken I've sourced here in the UK has all been long grain at A4 which means I use it for A6 quartos only.

boesner.com online store but has physical stores in many EU countries as well, not sure if they have book paper but this might be a good start to look if you haven't already

From:

luzula

Thanks! I was a member of the Renegade Discord for a while there, but it was huge and I never got active there, and then I guess I was removed for being inactive. But sure, I'll try joining the DW comm!

I've been using Shepherd's short-grain A4 White Fabriano Arena Bookpaper 90gsm for several years and like it a lot.

I'll check out the sites, thanks! : ) The paperassist site is hard to search for what I want, but I'll send them an email and ask, since they do appear to have a lot of different kinds of paper. The boesner one doesn't seem as promising.

From:

nerakrose

yes the discord server is quite big! but since they removed inactive members it looks a lot less daunting when you scroll the list of members. I'm not sure if the suppliers document is linked on the DW comm, I dug it out of the discord server.

I use that paper too - it's my main one for A5 folios in fact! that or the 80gsm Context Natural, also from Shepherds, but it's more of a grey-tinted paper (as it's recycled paper) than the cream of the Fabriano Arena. I don't know what I'll do if/when I move back home, given I've become so used to UK suppliers.

good luck!!

From:

luzula

Yeah, I do love that creamy tint.

*checks out your DW*

Oh hey, are you Danish? I'm Swedish. : )

From:

nerakrose

I am! :)

From:

luzula

Cool! For a while I went to regular meet-ups with a group of Danish fen (

exeterlinden,

oneiriad, and

kabal42, among others).

I think I found a Swedish supplier, omg! Which would be much better freight-wise than ordering from the paperassist site in Ireland. Let's see how they respond to my email...

From:

nerakrose

I'm afraid I don't know them :''D I've only recently started engaging with Danish (and Scandinavian) fandom - we hang out over at

scanfic - but I think I recognise some of those usernames from ao3!

omg! that site looks fantastic. I'm bookmarking that, it might come in handy when/if I'm back home. do let me know what they say!

From:

bluedreaming

This is such a lovely idea!

I have no idea if these exist as I haven’t been able to find any, but I’d love recommendations for any audiobook versions of danmei translations into English (or Spanish or German if those by chance exist).

I’ll also take amateur audiobooks, provided the narrator has made an honest attempt at pronunciation.

Any access method is good! I’ll find a way.

From:

gingicat

I highly recommend Victoria Goddard's Nine Worlds books. I'd love recommendations for similar.

Edited Date: 2023-11-24 06:03 pm (UTC)

From:

bluedreaming

I haven’t yet read it but I’ve been told that The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison fits in a similar niche?

From:

gingicat

Thank you! I put a hold on it.

From:

bluedreaming

I hope you enjoy it!

From:

shadaras

As someone who hasn't read those books: What elements are you hoping to find in other books? (I know they're long, have a background qpr/low-key romance, and have a lot to do with accounting and worldbuilding?)

As

bluedreaming says, I often hear that fans of Addison's Goblin Emperor also like Goddard.

From:

gingicat

There are two really long books and over a dozen shorter ones.

I like: fantasy, worldbuilding, tikkun olam, found family, and joy.

From:

shadaras

Thinking about those elements...

You may enjoy Laurie J. Marks' Elemental Logic quartet (begins with Fire Logic). It can be dark at times (it begins with colonisers doing a genocide, which sets the stakes of the series), but it absolutely hits worldbuilding, fantasy (the elemental logic it's named for is the magic system), found family (and some nice polyamory), and all the protags are out to try and better the world.

From:

gingicat

Thank you! I put a hold on it.

From:

got_quiet

How about some recs for favorite winter/hearty vegetarian dishes? I am not the biggest fan of raw onion but other than that I've got a broad palette.

From:

dolorosa_12

This is not a specific recipe so much as something which I cook repeatedly, in varying combinations and quantities, throughout the whole winter. It's extremely flexible and can be made in large batches, to suit personal preferences.

Ingredients:
Some form of allium — onion, leek, or shallot chopped finely
Garlic — as much as you want to suit your tastes (I tend to use about four cloves in a meal for two people, but it's up to you) — chopped/crushed finely
Whatever spices you like — dried or fresh chili, paprika, cumin, ras al hanout — in whatever amount you like
Some form of dried or tinned legumes in whatever quantity you like (I use one 400g tin to serve two people) — this could be butter beans, cannellini beans, chickpeas, lentils, split peas, whatever you prefer
Whatever vegetables you like (e.g. carrots, zucchini, capsicum, spinach, kale, chard, corn kernel) in whatever quantities you like, chopped into small pieces or shredded
Tinned tomatoes
Oil

Use a heavy bottomed saucepan or frypan (something that can be covered and used for both frying and stewing), and heat the oil. When it's hot, add the onions/leek/shallots and fry until they're soft, then add the garlic, and fresh chili (if using) and fry for a minute.
Then add any heavy chopped vegetables (i.e. any that aren't leafy greens) and fry for a couple of minutes. After that add the legumes and toss in the pan until all contents are mixed together. Add your spices (if using), and mix the ingredients in the pan well so the spices are distributed everywhere. Add the tin of tomatoes and mix with the other ingredients. Then add enough water, bring to the boil, and simmer until the legumes are cooked and most of the water has been absorbed. How long this takes will depend on if you're using tinned or dried legumes — I tend to have to test things to see if they're cooked, and add more water if necessary. Once everything is cooked, add the torn leafy greens (if using) and wilt in the cooked stew, stirring so that everything is mixed together.

If you make this in large batches, you can store leftovers in the fridge for a few days, or even freeze it and reheat it later — it's an incredibly forgiving and flexible recipe. You can serve it with whatever garnishes or sauces you like.

From:

got_quiet

This looks like a very easy and delicious recipe, thanks!

The hardest part for me is always the spices. I never know what to use or how much. I'll try some paprika and cumin and see how it goes!

From:

chestnut_pod

Smitten Kitchen's pizza beans are a real go-to for me. Can be done with canned broad beans or limas in a pinch.

Edited (html oops) Date: 2023-11-27 02:21 am (UTC)

From:

misbegotten

That recipe looks awesome. Now I'm hungry. Thanks for sharing!

From:

got_quiet

That looks great for making a nice big batch. Thanks!

From:

nerakrose

here's a few of my faves! fair warning, they're all Rukmini Iyer recipes (I own four of her roasting tin cookbooks) because I like food that I can just put in the oven and let it take care of itself.

Ras el Hanout Slow-roasted Mushrooms with Pine Nuts, Halloumi and Flat-leaf Parsley - I make this semi-regularly as it's so easy and tasty. I make coconut rice to serve with it.

One-pot Kerala Prawn Curry - this is my go-to year round! I've only made it with prawns twice, they're expensive so I usually just omit them and then this is vegetarian. serve with rice.

Ras-El-Hanout Roasted Cod with Cauliflower and Pomegranate - another go-to. I've only made this with cod once (again, it's expensive so I omit) and I usually just make this vegetarian. I sometimes add tofu but this is lovely with just the cauliflower, chickpeas, and onion. the pomegranates are a must!

Roast Chicken with Mushrooms, Chicory and Dill - I have never made this with chicken, actually, and you can adjust and modify to your own taste. the key to this recipe is roast your fave veg the way you like with whatever herbs you like, and then add vacpacked puy lentils (250g) and sour cream (125-250ml) and return to oven. serve with rice. the original recipe calls for mushrooms, chicory, and dill, but I've also made this with peppers, carrots, potatoes, shallots, broccoli, cauliflower, and I've added tomato and 'warm' spices as well.

not vegetarian but can be easily modified - if you have a favourite veggie 'meatball' recipe, you can swap them in. Russian Meatballs with Sour Cream, Rice and Tomatoes . the key in this recipe is dill + tomatoes. I've made this a few times, the tomato sauce has a base of celery, carrot, onion blended and roasted with butter in the tin before adding the tinned tomatoes and dill, stirring. the meatballs (or vegballs) should also have dill in them and cook along with the sauce in the oven. 10 min before you would deem the meat/vegballs cooked, stir in some sour cream in the sauce and return to oven. serve with rice.

From:

got_quiet

These all look amazing, thank you! I've never tried cooking with Pomegranate before but I'm gonna give it a shot!

From:

nerakrose

For the ras-el-hanout cauliflower dish you sprinkle them over the dish before serving - I find they add delightful sweet/tart pops of juice with each mouthful, and they go so well with the warm spices and mint :) I hope you enjoy!