Doranwen

DeviantArt - pooling stashes/download allotments?

Sun, 12 Apr 2026 22:01:44 GMT

As I was working on the LJ project, I came across various icon resources that were hosted on DA (textures, brushes, etc.). And of course, all the pretty icons are making me want to play around with icon making once again, so I decided to start collecting them (since I only have a smattering of things from 20 years ago when I last made icons).

However, I found that in order to download, not only are accounts required - but they recently implemented a ridiculously restrictive limit of 10 free downloads a week (though that number goes up to 150 *if* you pay for Core+). The comments on the news post about it are absolutely scathing, and blow apart any idea that the new rules are for anything but a money grab. (They blame users downloading thousands and thousands of downloads, but there are LOTS of other and better ways to thwart AI scraping, and large numbers of active users naturally download larger amounts than 10 in a single week, despite their claim that this won't affect people.)

While right-clicking still works for any actual artwork (though you'll only get the original full-size if the artist set it to display), and gallery-dl can handle that sort of thing in bulk, the side effect of this limit is that anyone looking to download packs of images - like sprite packs, folder images, or (like me) icon making resources - is now extremely hampered in what we can get. A single artist with over a hundred resource packs will now take several months to download all their work.

I've tried reaching out to some artists, and the one that responded was happy to upload all their stuff to my MegaDrop folder, but others may not check their email, have lost access to the email in question, have passed away, etc.

Which brings me to my question: Does anyone reading this know of anywhere that people are pooling their DA stashes? Or collaborating to save art they're mutually interested in? If two users want the same 20 zips, for instance, they can split them up and each download 10, then share their copies with each other to maximize what they can get. Add a few more in the pool and the potential really goes up.

I'd love to work on something like that but don't know where to start, and I'd first like to find out if someone is already doing it. I'm told that sort of discussion is likely to happen on Tumblr but as I don't use Tumblr… can't really ask there. Anyone?

EDIT: I'm starting to reach out for help at least with the resources I'd like to get. If you'd like to help me, comment and let me know. Anonymous comments on this entry are screened so you can leave an email address to contact; otherwise I'll DM you. It's literally 5 minutes a week of your time, and not difficult at all.

EDIT #2: A very kind and helpful volunteer gifted me Core so I now have the 150 downloads per week. Still going to run out of it easily, with everything I'm running across - but the point of this is to also help anyone who wants them but has no download slots left, so that means I'll now have more I can share with others.

comments

Livejournal project

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 05:17:09 GMT

If anyone hasn't seen this BlueSky post, it basically warns that there are strong signals that Livejournal (at least, the English side of it) may not exist as soon as sometime this year. No guarantees on timeframe.

But that would mean heaps of old fandom lost. So we're archiving that just like with Yahoo Groups, lol. If you're interested in the project, we're collaborating in the Archivers-R-Us Discord server. Plenty to be done, and we can use people to just open links and see if the DW comms linked actually exist (we want to de-prioritize saving comms that have already been imported to DW, but that means we have to check for that).

And if you're really serious, of course, you can always run the archiving tool and download your own journals and communities that way.

comments

Tomorrow When the War Began recs - by time & length

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:51:32 GMT

updated 2025-09-23

This post is my complete list of Tomorrow, When the War Began (both the book series and film) recs, organized by time in canon (and then sorted by length). (For Tomorrow, When the War Began recs organized by ship & author instead, go here.)

I have included my own fics in this post. I have marked some as favorites (because I do re-read them from time to time!), and others I have not. None of them are marked as exceptionally well-written because I couldn't objectively evaluate my own work that way, even when I particularly like the way I wrote something.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( book 1 )

( book 2 )

( book 3 )

( book 4 )

( book 5 )

( book 6 )

( book 7 )

( during film )

( future )

( indeterminate )

( multi (books) )

( post-film )

( post-sequel series )

( post-war )

( sequel book 1 )

If any of the non-dead links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

Tomorrow When the War Began recs - by ship & author

Mon, 22 Sep 2025 14:00:31 GMT

updated 2025-09-22

This post is my complete list of Tomorrow, When the War Began (both the book series and film) recs, organized by ship or ship combo (and then by author). (For Tomorrow, When the War Began recs organized by time in canon & wordcount instead, go here.)

I have included my own fics in this post. I have marked some as favorites (because I do re-read them from time to time!), and others I have not. None of them are marked as exceptionally well-written because I couldn't objectively evaluate my own work that way, even when I particularly like the way I wrote something.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Ellie Linton & Corrie Mackenzie )

( Ellie Linton/Fiona Maxwell )

( Homer Yannos & Ellie Linton )

( Homer Yannos & Robyn Mathers )

( Homer Yannos/Ellie Linton )

( Homer Yannos/Fiona Maxwell )

( Kevin Holmes/Corrie Mackenzie )

( Lee Takkam & Robyn Mathers, Robyn Mathers/Fiona Maxwell )

( Lee Takkam/Ellie Linton )

( Lee Takkam/Reni )

( No major ships )

If any of the links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

Profiler recs - by time & length

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 21:12:16 GMT

updated 2026-02-15

This is the post of all the Profiler fics in my database, organized by time (in canon) (and then sorted by length). (For Profiler recs organized by major ship and then author, go here.)

At last, I finally have the Profiler fics added to my database! These are not, of course, the only Profiler fics out there, but I excluded anything too poorly written or that was for a ship I cannot get into no matter what. So you won't see Believer or Skew fic in here (though perhaps some of the Jack/Frances fics you might consider Skewed); any instances of those ships listed are one-sided pining or stalking, respectively. And while I'm a SABER at heart, these fics are not entirely SABER (and a decent number are gen), so there should be something for everyone.

I have included my own fics in this post. I have marked some as favorites (because I do re-read them from time to time!), and others I have not. None of them are marked as exceptionally well-written because I couldn't objectively evaluate my own work that way, even when I particularly like the way I wrote something.

About a third of the fics in the database for this fandom were not found on either AO3 or ff.n due to the age of the fandom. The bulk of those were on LJ, but others were on sites accessible only via the Wayback Machine (WBM). I created epubs for any fic that was not on either AO3 or ff.n and can provide those if desired. Note that during the creation process, I cleaned up formatting issues and occasionally corrected obvious punctuation or spelling errors, so that I could tolerate reading it in the future.

In the process of going through LJ and other sites, I frequently ran across the same fics posted under different names on different sites. Whenever possible, I linked the identities in a single author name, with each individual name separated by a /.

Many of the fics on LJ or other sites did not have summaries included, so there are a large number without summaries. If you are concerned about content, feel free to request a version of this post with all the themes included, so you'll at least have the equivalent of freeform tags to go off of. Otherwise, consider giving them a try; some of those are very well-written and all are enjoyable to at least some extent.

If you know of a well-written fic for one of the ships below (particularly SABER, gen, John/any-woman-but-Sam, or George/Grace), lurking in the murky backwaters of the old 'net (or on the dusty corners of a personal hard drive), please let me know! I went through all the major sites that I'm aware of but some fics weren't archived, and if they were on a personal site not linked up to the others, I might not find it.

A chunk of the "dead" fics are marked as WIPs not because the fics originally were, but because the WBM frequently saved only the first chapter (sometimes two), and the authors cannot be contacted now. I have taken the perspective that part of a fic is better than no fic, and added the ones I liked to my database. If you run across one of them and know how to reach the author or have a full copy of the fic, please let me know!

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Serious Profiler fans may be aware that the season 2 episodes were aired out of order. This recs post uses the numbers for the more logical original intended order:
2x01 Ambition in the Blood
2x02 Power Corrupts
2x03 Primal Scream
2x04 It Cuts Both Ways
2x05 Second Best

The names of the final two episodes of S4 are also confused somewhat but this follows the numerical sequence order, regardless of which name the episode has.

Below are the recs:

( 1x01 )

( 1x02 )

( 1x05 )

( 1x10 )

( 1x11 )

( 1x13 )

( 1x14 )

( 1x17 )

( 1x19 )

( 2x01 )

( 2x03 )

( 2x04 )

( 2x05 )

( 2x06 )

( 2x08 )

( 2x10 )

( 2x11 )

( 2x12 )

( 2x13 )

( 2x14 )

( 2x15 )

( 2x17 )

( 2x18 )

( 3x02 )

( 3x04 )

( 3x08 )

( 3x11 )

( 3x14 )

( 3x18 )

( 4x01 )

( 4x02 )

( 4x11 )

( 4x12 )

( 4x14 )

( 4x16 )

( 4x19 )

( future )

( indeterminate )

( multi )

( post-series )

( pre-series )

( S1 )

( S2 )

( S3 )

( S4 )

If any of the non-dead links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

Profiler recs - by ship & author

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 15:41:49 GMT

updated 2026-02-15

This is the post of all the Profiler fics in my database, organized by major ships (and then by author). (For Profiler recs organized by time in canon and wordcount instead, go here.)

At last, I finally have the Profiler fics added to my database! These are not, of course, the only Profiler fics out there, but I excluded anything too poorly written or that was for a ship I cannot get into no matter what. So you won't see Believer or Skew fic in here (though perhaps some of the Jack/Frances fics you might consider Skewed); any instances of those ships listed are one-sided pining or stalking, respectively. And while I'm a SABER at heart, these fics are not entirely SABER (and a decent number are gen), so there should be something for everyone.

I have included my own fics in this post. I have marked some as favorites (because I do re-read them from time to time!), and others I have not. None of them are marked as exceptionally well-written because I couldn't objectively evaluate my own work that way, even when I particularly like the way I wrote something.

About a third of the fics in the database for this fandom were not found on either AO3 or ff.n due to the age of the fandom. The bulk of those were on LJ, but others were on sites accessible only via the Wayback Machine (WBM). I created epubs for any fic that was not on either AO3 or ff.n and can provide those if desired. Note that during the creation process, I cleaned up formatting issues and occasionally corrected obvious punctuation or spelling errors, so that I could tolerate reading it in the future.

In the process of going through LJ and other sites, I frequently ran across the same fics posted under different names on different sites. Whenever possible, I linked the identities in a single author name, with each individual name separated by a /.

Many of the fics on LJ or other sites did not have summaries included, so there are a large number without summaries. If you are concerned about content, feel free to request a version of this post with all the themes included, so you'll at least have the equivalent of freeform tags to go off of. Otherwise, consider giving them a try; some of those are very well-written and all are enjoyable to at least some extent.

If you know of a well-written fic for one of the ships below (particularly SABER, gen, John/any-woman-but-Sam, or George/Grace), lurking in the murky backwaters of the old 'net (or on the dusty corners of a personal hard drive), please let me know! I went through all the major sites that I'm aware of but some fics weren't archived, and if they were on a personal site not linked up to the others, I might not find it.

A chunk of the "dead" fics are marked as WIPs not because the fics originally were, but because the WBM frequently saved only the first chapter (sometimes two), and the authors cannot be contacted now. I have taken the perspective that part of a fic is better than no fic, and added the ones I liked to my database. If you run across one of them and know how to reach the author or have a full copy of the fic, please let me know!

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Bailey Malone & Chloe Waters, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone & Frances Malone )

( Bailey Malone & Grace Alvarez, George Fraley & Grace Alvarez )

( Bailey Malone & Grace Alvarez, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( Bailey Malone & John Grant )

( Bailey Malone & John Grant, John Grant & Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone & Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone & Samantha Waters, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Chloe Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Ellen Behar, Bailey Malone/OFC, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Ellen Behar, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Janet Malone, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Janet Malone, Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters, Tom Waters/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, John Grant/Angel Brown )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, Tom Waters/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, John Grant & Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters, Tom Waters/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, OFC/OFC )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Paul Sterling/Samantha Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Samantha Waters & Chloe Waters )

( Bailey Malone/Samantha Waters, Walter Anderson & Samantha Waters )

( Frances Malone/OMC, John Grant/Frances Malone )

( George Fraley & Grace Alvarez )

( George Fraley & Grace Alvarez, George Fraley & John Grant )

( George Fraley & Grace Alvarez, George Fraley/Rich Warren, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( George Fraley & John Grant )

( George Fraley & John Grant, George Fraley/Rich Warren )

( George Fraley/Grace Alvarez )

( George Fraley/Grace Alvarez, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( George Fraley/Rich Warren, Morgan Ballard & Rich Warren, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( George Fraley/Rich Warren, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( Grace Alvarez/OMC )

( Jack of All Trades/Frances Malone )

( Jack of All Trades/Janet Malone )

( Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters )

( Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, Jack of All Trades/Sharon Lesher )

( Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters )

( Jack of All Trades/Samantha Waters, Samantha Waters & Chloe Waters )

( Jack of All Trades/Sharon Lesher )

( John Grant & Chloe Waters, Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters )

( John Grant & Grace Alvarez )

( John Grant & Grace Alvarez, John Grant/Kate Wilton )

( John Grant & Nathan Brubaker )

( John Grant & Patrick O'Doyle, John Grant & Samantha Waters )

( John Grant & Patrick O'Doyle, OMC/OFC )

( John Grant & Rachel Burke )

( John Grant & Samantha Waters )

( John Grant & Samantha Waters, John Grant/OFC )

( John Grant/Angel Brown )

( John Grant/Frances Malone )

( John Grant/Frances Malone, John Grant/Kate Wilton )

( John Grant/Frances Malone, John Grant/Rachel Burke )

( John Grant/Michelle Brubaker )

( John Grant/Rachel Burke )

( John Grant/Samantha Waters )

( Morgan Ballard/Grace Alvarez )

( Nathan Brubaker/Michelle Brubaker )

( Nick Cooper/Samantha Waters )

( Samantha Waters & Chloe Waters )

( Samantha Waters/Angel Brown )

( Samantha Waters/Reader's Choice (male character) )

( Tom Waters/Samantha Waters )

( No major ships )

If any of the non-dead links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

Archived fandoms

Fri, 05 Sep 2025 04:50:18 GMT

[Posting this here so that it can be linked to as a master list of everything I archive]

( List of fandoms I archive )

comments

Recs request post: Fluffy fics

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 22:24:00 GMT

This post created to fulfill a request for fluff fics. I've done a few similar posts in the past year but I've also added a bunch more fics to the database, so this won't be identical to any of those, especially since with this one I made sure to remove any fic with emotional hurt/comfort or a mixed/ambivalent ending.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs, sorted by fandom and then wordcount (shortest fics first):

( Alphas )

( FBI (CBS show) / Rizzoli & Isles )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( Fried Green Tomatoes )

( Gold Diggers )

( Profiler )

( Push )

( Speed )

( The Matrix )

If any of the non-dead links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

FBI: Most Wanted recs - by time/length

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 23:25:20 GMT

updated 2025-08-04

This post is my complete list of recs for FBI: Most Wanted through Season 2, organized by time in canon (and then sorted by length). (For FBI: Most Wanted recs organized by ship & author instead, go here.) Note that any of Bastet5's fics in the lists below are for their series The Wild Hunt and may be confusing if you aren't reading the series in order.

I haven't watched any of Season 3 onwards yet, so I won't be adding any fics to this until I do. (I will endeavor to keep any ongoing fics updated as new chapters are posted, however.)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

The fics below all have major ship(s) listed beneath them. If there are any minor/background ships you want to avoid, please leave a comment and ask for a list to be made for you. Note that ships may refer to one-sided or unrequited ones as well as to requited/mutual.

Below are the recs:

( 1x01 )

( 1x02 )

( 1x03 )

( 1x04 )

( 1x05 )

( 1x09 )

( 1x10 )

( 1x11 )

( 1x12 )

( 1x13 )

( 1x14 )

( 2x01 )

( 2x03 )

( 2x15 )

( backdoor pilot )

( indeterminate )

( multi )

( post-S1 )

( pre-series )

( S1 )

( S2 )

If any of the links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

FBI: Most Wanted recs - by ship/author

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 19:32:59 GMT

updated 2025-08-03

This post is my complete list of recs for FBI: Most Wanted through Season 2, organized by major ships (and then author). (For FBI: Most Wanted recs organized by time in canon & wordcount instead, go here.) I didn't originally have a post for this fandom because I had too few fics in my database for it, but I finally got around to adding all of the fics from Bastet5's series The Wild Hunt so now it's definitely over 30 fics. Note that any of their fics in the lists below are for that series and may be confusing if you aren't reading the series in order.

I haven't watched any of Season 3 onwards yet, so I won't be adding any fics to this until I do. (I will endeavor to keep any ongoing fics updated as new chapters are posted, however.)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

The fics below are all organized by major ship(s). If there are any minor/background ships you want to avoid, please leave a comment and ask for a list to be made for you. Note that ships may refer to one-sided or unrequited ones as well as to requited/mutual.

Below are the recs:

( Clinton Skye & Kenny Crosby, Clinton Skye & Tali LaCroix, Jess LaCroix & Clinton Skye )

( Clinton Skye & OFC )

( Clinton Skye & OFC, Hana Gibson & OFC, Kenny Crosby & OFC )

( Clinton Skye & OFC, Jess LaCroix & Kenny Crosby )

( Clinton Skye & OFC, OMC & OFC )

( Clinton Skye & OFC, Sheryll Barnes & OFC )

( Clinton Skye & OFC, Tali LaCroix & OFC )

( Jess LaCroix & Clinton Skye )

( Kenny Crosby & Ivan Ortiz )

( Kenny Crosby/Hana Gibson )

( Kenny Crosby/Zadie )

( no major ships )

( OMC & OFC )

If any of the links above no longer work, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

comments

Recs request post: Short fluffy/humorous/cracky fics

Sat, 02 Aug 2025 05:59:24 GMT

A Redditor requested short fluffy/humorous/cracky fics without smut, so I pulled what I could from my fic db. All of these are 4000 words or less, so are quick reads.

Since this is a request post, it will not be updated as time goes on. Links are valid as of the day posted, but no guarantees are made for the future.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

All themes are listed below fics so you can decide what to click on or not. For more information on themes, see this post.

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Alphas )

( FBI (CBS show) )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( Fried Green Tomatoes )

( Gold Diggers )

( Push )

( Speed )

( The Matrix )

I'm already aware that the fic marked with the tombstone is long vanished from the 'net and is not even on the Wayback Machine. However, if any of the other links above no longer work soon after the post date, please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks! (If it's been a long time since this post was made, please first check the regular post that the fic should be listed in to see if the link has been marked accordingly, since this post will not be kept up-to-date.)

Enjoy! :)

comments

Recs Lists Q&A

Mon, 28 Jul 2025 06:16:21 GMT

Below is more information about my recs lists, in Q&A format:

( Are the links valid? )

( How did you decide on fic ratings? )

( Which info about the fics came from you? )

( What is your criteria for Gen/Ace-friendly fics? )

( How did you categorize ships? )

( Are there warnings of any kind for fics? )

( What have you marked as favorites? )

( Is (a particular) list complete? )

( Will you make a list for (INSERT FAVORITE FANDOM HERE)? )

( Can I ask for a specific list to be made? )

( How do I tell you about this awesome story/fic collection/fic archive that's missing from your lists? )

comments

Fandoms in my fic database

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 07:14:41 GMT

updated 2025-10-05

This post is for keeping track of which fandoms I've finished or am working on adding to my fic database.

Completed fandoms:

Alphas
+ anthropomorphic
C-16: FBI
Cybergeddon
Deep Impact (1998)
* FBI (CBS show that first aired fall 2018)
* FBI: Most Wanted
Flood (2007)
Fried Green Tomatoes (both book and film)
Gold Diggers (1995)
Leverage RPF
Profiler
Push (2009)
Rookie Blue RPF
Speed (1994)
Stick It (2005)
The Fugitive (the first movie with Harrison Ford *only*, not the sequel with just Tommy Lee Jones and his team - nor the original TV show)
The Matrix (including Enter the Matrix, The Animatrix, and The Matrix Awakens trailer)
Tomorrow When the War Began (book & film, but not TV show)

* on hiatus from adding or updating fics since I am behind on watching canon
+ not a main focus = I save fics only as I come across them and will never go through it thoroughly

Note that with more active fandoms, I may at times be behind in keeping up with new fics.

Currently adding:
Lois & Clark: The New Adventures of Superman

Next to add:
one of the following:
Leverage or Rookie Blue (help me pick? lol)

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Intro to my fic database

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 07:07:38 GMT

If you've stumbled across this and don't know what on earth the database is, here's a brief explanation:

I blended my fannish and geeky sides together during the summer of 2019 when I realized I had a problem finding the fic I wanted to read. "The one where that happened" and "a fic where the two characters cuddle/hold each other" aren't very helpful at finding stories with an author/title organization system, and my memory, though very good, has its limits, of course. It didn't take me long to realize that there was no suitable online system for this (especially if you read fics from more than one site, such as both AO3 and ff.n, not counting the gazillion other fanfic archives and websites out there), and no existing offline one. (At the time either AO3's external bookmarks wasn't a feature yet, or I wasn't aware of it. And either way it's nowhere near as feature-full as I wanted.) So I taught myself how to make a database (with considerable help from a forum volunteer with the more difficult parts), and began entering the fics I have saved on my hard drive (which is an awful lot).

The easy part was creating the database; the hard part is stocking it with the information. It will never be "complete", and it will be a very long time before I even add all the stories I've already saved to my hard drive. However, I can already generate quite a few useful posts, which you can find many linked here at my master recs post, and others by looking at the specific recs posts tagged with "fic database". You're welcome to ask for a report of your own to be generated; read the Fic List Q&A for more info.

If you have an interest in creating your own database, I can give you a blank version of it for you to use for the fics you want. Just leave me your email address (comments screened below for privacy) so I can email you with the details. Read below to know what you need to tell me, as some aspects require customization to your specific needs.

( Database specifics )

Note: All of this information is in a Mega folder as well, but I found it difficult to keep it updated, especially since my current version of LibreOffice makes generating and updating reports a royal pain. I therefore decided to move all of the pertinent information to Dreamwidth. The recs lists in pdf format that are shared on there may still be of interest but as the links are not clickable, they are nowhere as user-friendly, and at this point are out-of-date.

comments

Themes in my fic database

Sun, 27 Jul 2025 05:47:22 GMT

updated 2026-04-09

Below is a full list of all themes in my database. Some are named the way AO3 does them, some are not (and some have multiple names in the same tag to make it clear). In some cases I combine similar themes into one tag because I don't find it useful to distinguish between them. I also tag for some grammatical features that are not usually tagged for on AO3, and for the ending type (positive, sad/unhappy, cliffhanger - except for fic collections and most poetry). For fics that have a major romantic/sexual relationship tagged, I usually tag for the relationship status (beginning, established, one-sided/unrequited, unhappy, etc.). And I have themes that equate to each of AO3's mandatory warnings. All of those tags are in the list below, mixed with all the trope and content tags.

Themes vary as to the extent that they must be present for tagging. Some (such as Breathplay) may get tagged if there are just a few sentences of it. Others (such as Food / Cooking) may only be tagged if the fic is centered around that theme (since eating is a common activity and may appear in numerous fics; it isn't notable unless the scenes focus on it). Present Tense may be tagged even if the fic is inconsistent with tenses and bounces between past and present, since some people find it unpleasant and would prefer to avoid. (Past tense is considered the default and is not tagged for.)

Note that the existence of a theme in my database does not indicate the relative frequency of that tag. Some are used only on one fic. Others are used on literally a thousand or more (Positive Ending is rather common, naturally).

If you think a particular fic should be tagged with a theme and it isn't, please let me know! In many cases, I may simply have added the theme after the fic was added to my database, and could not remember which fic(s) needed that theme tagged.

( Themes )

( Some explanation of specific tags )

You're welcome to use this to request a customized recs post for you. I can both filter for fics containing a specific theme or two, and/or exclude all fics with a specific theme tagged. Comments are screened so you have privacy to request exactly what you want without making your inclusions/exclusions public, in case you are embarrassed or shy about them (but if you don't care who sees your comment, just say it's OK to unscreen). Recs lists that were requested with only a single theme included may be posted publicly as such, whereas recs lists that exclude a theme or two may be simply posted with your nick as the recipient. (Exclusions will not be listed publicly unless you explicitly grant permission; otherwise, only you will know what was excluded.)

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Dear P4L Exchange Writer

Tue, 01 Jul 2025 05:07:26 GMT

I'm so excited about this exchange! I adore EO and am looking forward to getting to write them for someone. I hope you have a blast writing for me!

( Preferences )

I haven't requested A/B/O, but you're OK to mix that in with whatever other scenario as long as Elliot's an alpha, Liv's an omega, and Kathy's a beta. (It's pretty obvious that Instinct imprinted on me, lol, isn't it?)

I also didn't request Sharing a Bed but I'm always good with that trope being thrown into any fic.

Below are further thoughts, under various headings.

( Some thoughts )

And now for the requested tropes, many of which can be combined:

( Tropes! )

Happy writing!

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Recs post - Well-written fics

Sat, 14 Jun 2025 09:02:38 GMT

In response to a user on Reddit who wanted recs for well-written fics, here are all the fics in my database which I've tagged as exceptionally well-written. Most are also tagged as favorites (i.e. I love re-reading them) and a few are not, but their lower level of re-read appeal to me has no bearing on how well-written they are, and what doesn't grab me emotionally may be the perfect fic for you. In each case I thought the author did an amazing job with words and turns of phrase, and that these fics should be seen by more people.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Alphas )

( Anthropomorphic )

( Chronicles of Narnia (books) / Lord of the Rings (books) )

( Chronicles of Narnia (books) / Lord of the Rings (movies) )

( Chronicles of Narnia (books) / The Dark Is Rising Sequence )

( Cybergeddon )

( Deep Impact )

( FBI CBS )

( Flood (2007) )

( Fried Green Tomatoes )

( Gold Diggers )

( Push )

( Push / Worldweavers )

( Rookie Blue )

( The Matrix )

If any of the links above no longer work (and are inaccessible via the Wayback Machine), please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Enjoy! :)

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EO community created

Fri, 18 Apr 2025 03:57:07 GMT

If there are any other Elliot/Olivia shippers out there, whether it's you or someone else, please spread the word that there's a DW community for them now: bensler

I'm going to try to post periodically with thoughts, fic recs, etc. (broad SVU discussion welcomed as long as it's not anti-EO), but would love more participation (it'd be nice to be able to comment on other people's posts and not always have to come up with post content that feels like it's going into the void, lol). I don't have Tumblr or Twitter or any other social media but I'm promoting it where I can. If you have a reach on another site and would like to advertise or know someone who's into EO, please link them to bensler! :)

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My top 5 Lewis arc fics

Tue, 15 Apr 2025 07:37:50 GMT

crossposted to the bensler community

If you're an SVU fan, you almost certainly have an opinion on the Lewis arc. Love it, hate it, it's hard not to feel something about it.

My opinion is that the arc was poorly written, and I find it a little disgusting that Warren Leight used his initials for the perp (William Lewis). Something about the entire arc doesn't sit well with me: Was it a way to humble Mariska? To indulge in traumatizing Olivia Benson (but not too far, can't have her raped, after all)? To try to create some masterful big dramatic arc (which fell flat because they didn't want to give Olivia the trauma she should have had)? Whatever it is, there are Issues with it, big ones.

Which is where fanfic comes in to save the day. Many writers have written fantastic retellings of the Lewis arc, fixing issues like "Where was Elliot?" because he should have come back for her then, or "Liv really wasn't raped???? You can't be serious". The number of good fics is too great for me to even estimate right now. But a few stand out to me above the rest, the ones I return to read again and again, and which I rec to everyone.

So here are my top five favorite Lewis arc fics, in no particular order:

How Deep Is Your Love - Turquoise Terrier
This is the first one I ran across, back when I didn't know anything about SVU canon (I got into it via the fic, of all things). I was hooked immediately. Amazing hurt/comfort, some excellent points, it brings Elliot back of course… I read it three times in the first 24 hours after discovering and I still adore it and re-read it periodically.

Inflection Point - jabyar
If a fic could win an award for "most realistic", I feel like this one should get that. It doesn't shy away from what might really have happened, digs into some of the dark recovery aspects, and even does a bit of worldbuilding with Olivia's backstory. All of it feels so much like the author took a good look at the Lewis arc and said, "I'm going to write something eminently more realistic", and proceeded to knock that out of the park. It's gritty but very, very good.

Deep Deep Down, Where the Darkness Dwells - wily_one24
This is the darkest one in my set - and also the longest. What if Lewis had Olivia for six weeks instead? This fic delves into all the trauma recovery, with Elliot at her side. An excellent fic for showing the nonlinear path of healing.

Fragments - CaCD
This one shows what might happen if Elliot was involved in helping find Olivia - and takes a more realistic tack to Noah's presence in her life. It excels in outside POV, as the reader gets to see EO through the eyes of many others around them, particularly some who never saw Elliot before (such as Amanda).

don't stay away for too long - bensler2025
And this is the WIP of the lot, the honorary member (because normally I'd wait till a fic is done to add it to the list). This one combines an undercover assignment gone wrong with an unplanned pregnancy in a S14 AU where Jenna never happened (and therefore Elliot never left). Lewis is the catalyst for bringing EO together, and I can't wait to read the rest of it when/if the author posts it.

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Three reasons to read a fic

Tue, 25 Feb 2025 05:37:46 GMT

I was musing today that there are three reasons for reading any given fic.

Ideas: Plot twists, interesting concept, you just want to know what happens next.

Experience: You feel the characters' emotions and go through the story with them.

Literature: The writer used amazing turns of phrase or structure in some way.

Most fics, only one of those applies. Maybe two if you're lucky.

Like, I've read tons of stories that made me feel heaps, but they didn't have exciting plots or outstanding writing. And I'll read a fic here and there that had some interesting ideas but was poorly written overall and spent so much time telling what happened that I didn't have a chance of feeling much of anything with the characters (but I typically still stick with it because I'm mildly curious about what they'll come up with for the next bit of the plot). I've read some that I enjoyed simply on the literature level - it might not have been intended for emotional experiences, and it wasn't plotty, but it used words in such a way that I had to just drink it in. (I can think of a Matrix fic that fits the last example.)

I'm not sure if I've ever read one that actually did all three. They may not exist, or they may be the rarest of unicorns. Fortunately, that isn't necessary to enjoy fic. However, at least one of the three things above is, to a point, from my experience.

You'll notice I said nothing about SPAG, and that's because that isn't a reason to read a fic in the first place, it's a reason to stick with one you've started - or not. I've never known anyone to say, "This fic has such amazing grammar, spelling, and punctuation; I must read it!" But I've known plenty of people to back out of a fic saying the SPAG errors were too many for them to continue.

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SVU fics I wish I could read

Mon, 09 Dec 2024 07:29:49 GMT

[This is mainly for anyone who might be looking for fics to write for me.]

Ahh, my SVU obsession… (I'm such an E/O shipper, it's ridiculous.) I've been reading through all of AO3 - and bits of ff.n while I'm at it - and while I wish dearly that everyone would tag their fics as 1.0, 2.0, etc. (because I only want to read 1.0 fic, with a few 2.0 exceptions, never 3.0 or beyond), I'm still finding some absolute gems. The following, however, I really wish I could see (maybe I'll find them eventually, I'm not done reading yet):

- a fic where Kathy dies in S1
- a fic where Kathy dies in Paternity (saw one once but the writing was such that I couldn't read it)
- a fic where William Lewis comes along several years earlier (sometime during S1-S12)
- a fic where Olivia ends up with a cryptic pregnancy (aka no symptoms and she doesn't realize she's pregnant until delivery, à la "I Didn't Know I Was Pregnant" - saw one once but the writing on this one also was such that I couldn't read it)
- a fic where Elliot and Olivia sleep together while under the influence of something and don't remember that they've done it… until Olivia finds herself pregnant (maybe a cryptic pregnancy fic as well)
- a fic where the baby in S11E14 "Savior" lived, and Olivia became her mother

Maybe I'll write some of them if I don't find them… but if I do, it'll be ages from now. I've already *got* WIPs galore to finish.

And I've read a million "Elliot saves Liv from Lewis" and "Eli is Liv's, not Kathy's" fics as well as fics with tropes like "only one bed" and "huddling for warmth" but I will ALWAYS be game for more. :D Give me all the soulmates tropes (like "soulmates always know where the other is") or fake dating tropes (all the undercover, lol) and I am there for it, lol. Always Bensler all the time!

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Halp, I'm doomed!

Thu, 14 Nov 2024 00:38:01 GMT

I've fallen in love with a new fandom, and I haven't even watched it yet! But I'm getting ahead of myself. Let's start at the beginning…

I was restless recently, wanting to read something new, not just more fic in the same fandoms - but I hadn't gotten around to watching any of my new fandoms and I also need to finish writing some WIPs I've been working on, so I was like "no, self, we don't get to dive into a new fandom yet". So I figured, why not check out the Don't Have to Know Canon tag on AO3 and see what fandom-blind fics there are?

The only problem there was, I might not need to know the fandom, but I have to like the type of fandom, and most of the ones there were anime/manga fandoms (which have world setups and worldbuilding that I am utterly uninterested in). Or supernatural-themed ones, and I don't do vampires, werewolves, or anything of the sort (no zombies, either). I'm also picky about my superhero fandoms. Even excluding the largest fandoms it's impossible to exclude everything; I kind of wish AO3 had a filter system like the Internet Archive, where you could click on a button and have it show you every possible option and then you can click which ones are allowed and all the rest vanish. Exclusions only work to a point until you've excluded too many tags, and if the pool of fics is large enough to start with, you can never exclude everything you'd want to (assuming you could even see all the tags to exclude, as they only show you 10 at a time).

I did find a few interesting fics for Psych (a show I'd tried to watch awhile back but gave up pretty quick since I couldn't make it through the pilot ep without cringing BADLY from the embarrassment squick), but overall not a lot, and I was still restless. And then I remembered I'd really loved a Leverage/SVU crossover I'd read awhile back, not knowing anything about SVU at the time. SVU had been on my radar as "I need to watch this eventually".

But I didn't have time to watch SVU because I'm one of those who has to do everything in order which means I'd have to sit through a bunch of the original L&O first and then start watching SVU, lol. I've seen S1 of L&O and like one ep of S2, but I'm nowhere close. But I figured - there were some interesting complete AUs in the Don't Have to Know Canon tag, some of them being stuff like soulmates AUs and such - what if I tried reading some of those? I could surely read those without having to know the show, right?

Friends, never do this unless you want to get hooked. I fell hard for the Elliot/Olivia dynamic. So hard that it wasn't long until I just focused on that tag, lol, and then I stopped trying to stick with AUs because I'd read so much that I basically knew a lot of the canon events just from reading. I knew I was in trouble the day I read one fic three times in 24 hours. The hurt/comfort is absolutely spot on, hits all my id buttons, though I already absolutely hate how things went somewhere around S12/S14. (I'm flexible on my divergence points, lol - there are some absolutely fantastic fics set around any of those spots - but I am very pro-divergence when it comes to them writing characters out due to actor issues, as Profiler had the same problem with writing out Sam when Ally left.)

At this point I've read hundreds of thousands of words of fic, I'm hopelessly in love with that ship, and if it weren't that there's so much good fic yet to read (which is absolutely wild for someone who spends most of her time in tiny/dead fandoms/ships) I'd be dreaming up fic ideas. (I'm kind of hoping anything I come up with has already been done because I couldn't do any long fic justice, and I definitely don't dare write fic without watching first.)

I finally looked up a picture of the two of them the other day, lol, and it's only made me want to watch it more, see them interact instead of just read about it. I thought L&C was the closest I'd ever get to getting into a fandom through the fic (I read heaps of fic having seen 4 eps and a bunch of ep transcripts), but SVU… Yeah, I have to say I definitely got into this one through the fic. XD

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Dear Yuletide Writer Letter 2024

Tue, 15 Oct 2024 00:24:15 GMT

I've been swamped with the Yahoo Groups project the last couple of years so I hadn't signed up for a while, but I'm excited to be able to participate again. I've loved doing Yuletide, and I hope you have a wonderful time writing for me.

I've tried to help you out by describing what I love about each fandom and/or character, and I've written a few prompts in case you find them useful, but if you come up with something of your own, please write what you think will work best! I've been wonderfully surprised by fics that I never would have thought of in a million years but which were absolutely amazing.

I once made up a 101 favorite tropes list (in no particular order), so feel free to make use of those if any of them get your muse going: https://doranwen.dreamwidth.org/240453.html

( Yes please! )

( DNWs )

( Opt-ins I'm OK with )

If writing a romantic friendship, I'd prefer the line be drawn at forehead/cheek kisses and cuddles; please reserve lip kisses for sexual relationships.

If a prompt requires something that's listed as a DNW, please follow the prompt rather than the DNW, such as prompts for soulmates, etc. :)

Also, if choosing between writing the characters as true to themselves as you can, vs. writing a particular trope or prompt, I'd prefer you to keep the characters true to themselves.

( Possible crossover fandoms )

Please don't worry if someone's written a similar idea before. My first real fandom was one where people used to write a dozen versions of the same TV ep, and I loved reading them all. There are never too many versions of the same story, in my opinion (I'm a firm believer in the "two cakes" mindset). Everyone comes at it differently and I'll enjoy it no matter what!

And now to the requests (in the order they appear in the tagset):

( Earth Girl Series - Janet Edwards )

( Worldweavers - Alma Alexander )

( Profiler (TV 1996) )

( Rookie Blue )

Happy writing! :D

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M/F Fluff Recs

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 05:28:35 GMT

Someone asked for all the M/F fluff recs I had in my database, so I threw together a post.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic, and all themes found within the fic are listed, so spoilers may abound. Please note that while I have been going through all the fics and marking the ending, I have not finished with this, so while likely all of these have a positive ending (given they all have fluff in them), if there's no note about the sort of ending it has, it means I haven't gotten to that fic yet.

Fics are sorted by fandom, and then by length, so you can use that to choose a fic based on how much time you have to read, if you want.

( Alphas )

( FBI (CBS show) )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( Push )

( Speed )

( The Matrix )

If any of the links above no longer work (and are inaccessible via the Wayback Machine), please let me know so I can flag them as "Dead" in my database, thanks!

Happy reading! :)

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Profiler - Season 4 thoughts

Mon, 05 Aug 2024 23:54:15 GMT

I'm finally working my way through Season 4 (in the middle of 4x09 currently). At this point I've decided Profiler was really three shows in one.

1) Profiler (S1/S2)
2) Profiler Lite (3x01 - 4x02)
and
3) Profiler: The Rachel Burke Show (4x03 onwards)

( Here's why )

Anyone else think similarly?

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