Rec the Thing

Fic database recs from the last few years

Sun, 07 Sep 2025 18:43:34 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

I haven't posted recs here for a while, other than links to posts elsewhere. I've been busy adding fics to my fic database and finally finished a fandom post or two, and decided I might as well post a few recs here specifically.

I won't post every fic I added - you can poke through my master recs post to find the posts they're in - but I thought it might be a good idea to post any fic that I either consider a favorite (i.e. I love re-reading it) or exceptionally well-written (something about it stands out to me as outstanding writing in some way).

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Alphas )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( Profiler )

( The Matrix )

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

Multiple recs posts of mostly small fandoms

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 06:30:50 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

A few years I created a database to organize my fanfics, stocked it with about 1800 fics from a handful of fandoms (mostly small ones), and then got swamped with things and put it on hold. Tonight I've finally caught up with the fandoms in it* and updated all of the lists, and thought it might be good to link them here in case someone hasn't seen the posts before or wants to revisit them now that I have added nearly 350 fics to the lists.

You can find them all linked at my master recs post. All lists indicate which ships are major in the fic, if any, and I mark a few additional things that may be helpful.

Fandoms currently included:

Alphas

FBI (CBS show)

FBI: Most Wanted

Fried Green Tomatoes (book & movie)

Push

Speed

The Matrix

as well as a smattering of recs from tinier fandoms (mainly movies). Fandoms with fewer than 30 fics in my database (such as Speed) are in a "Tiny fandoms" post, and there's a post just for crossovers as well.

In order to keep maintenance to a minimum, I don't include all the themes with the main posts above, but I generally include them with any post made on request. Themes tagged cover everything from tropes to grammar (I tag anything that isn't third person past tense) to story ending (positive, sad/unhappy, etc.) to AO3's archive warnings. If you want or need to be spoiled about everything, follow the directions on that post to request a custom recs list and I'd be happy to make one for you.

* The only fandoms not updated are the two FBI shows, because I haven't watched past S3 of the main show and S2 of the Most Wanted one. Someday, perhaps…

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Feedback Fest 2024 - My list

Mon, 12 Feb 2024 07:54:28 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

I posted the following here but in case it doesn't get approved, and to spread the recs among a wider audience, I'm crossposting it here:

Have a multifandom set of recs. Some are shippy but over half are gen, and they vary wildly in length. The one commonality is that they are among the very best in their respective fandoms, in my opinion.

1. http://archiveofourown.org/works/12245919
[Leverage] Feels Like Home by daniellemydear (80k, Mature)
Slow burn Eliot/Parker, with hilariously accurate characterization and lines. Laugh, cry, sigh happily, you get all of the above with this fic.

2. https://archiveofourown.org/works/52010518
[Lois & Clark:TNAOS] Fictitious Persons by classicalgal (146k, General Audiences)
An AU focusing on Kara Kent, who happens to be the daughter of Clark and Lois… who ends up in a world where Superman is a fictional character. Child character-focused but very, very well-done and the story is very compelling. You can read it even if you don’t know L&C; all you need is the basic idea of Superman and you’re good. Gen.

3. http://archiveofourown.org/works/29793855
[The Matrix] The Dream Chronicles by Trin303 (75k, Mature)
Funny yet also serious AU focusing on Neo/Trinity with a happier ending than the first film. (Dreams are, obviously, a huge part of the story setup.)

4. http://archiveofourown.org/works/210087
[Rizzoli & Isles] The End of the World by romana2525 (3k, Teen and Up Audiences)
Apocalyptic AU set sometime after S1, focusing on Jane and Maura (pre-ship but the bond is there). The ending makes me want to cry in a good way.

5. https://archiveofourown.org/works/318935
[Rookie Blue] Deep by surreallis (12k, Explicit)
Fantastic AU where Andy goes undercover with Sam (with predictable shippy results). The ending is the best!

6. https://archiveofourown.org/works/569661
[Sue Thomas F.B.Eye] Breakfast Date by DKateri (5k, General Audiences)
A sweet missing scene in the middle of the S3 ep Adventures in Babysitting; Sue/Jack-focused.

7. https://archiveofourown.org/works/1361
[Lord of the Rings] The Long Road Home by Scribblesinink (Scribbler) (95k, Teen and Up Audiences)
A Boromir Lives! fic that is a wonderful tale of shame and redemption. Excellent for anyone who loves Boromir and wishes to see more of him. Gen.

8. https://archiveofourown.org/works/29464
[X-Men original movieverse] The Evolution of Jubilee by Mara (11k, General Audiences)
An excellent fic wherein Jubilee embarks on a crusade after taking a field trip to a museum. Gen.

9. https://archiveofourown.org/works/600324
[Push] …and that has made all the difference by maharetr (4k, General Audiences)
A great post-movie fic that’s a bit of emotional hurt/comfort and fluff, and just a wonderful feel-good ending. Gen.

10. http://archiveofourown.org/works/42983565
[The Fugitive film] The Anatomy of a Heartbreak Éclair by OrionLady (23k, Teen and Up Audiences)
Excellent post-film fic from Sam’s POV that deals with some PTSD and the building of an epic friendship. Gen.

I’d have come up with a slightly different set if the best fics for some fandoms were on AO3, but sadly some fandoms haven’t migrated over much, and their best fics are still hiding on other platforms.

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Hurt/Comfort Recs

Wed, 20 Dec 2023 05:33:23 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

A friend of mine recently asked me to create a couple posts of recs from my database for her - emotional and physical hurt/comfort, and excluding any fics tagged with incest or crack/parody. She also wanted ALL of the themes (tropes and more) listed underneath so it would be very spoilery.

If that appeals to you at all - my previous posts have avoided potential spoilers via the tags - you are also welcome to browse them. I thought it might be useful to link them here:

Emotional Hurt/Comfort
Fandoms: Alphas, FBI CBS, FBI Most Wanted, Flood (2007), Fried Green Tomatoes (book/movie), Push (2009), Speed (1994), The Matrix

Physical Hurt/Comfort
Fandoms: Alphas, C-16: FBI, FBI CBS, FBI Most Wanted, Push (2009), Speed (1994), The Matrix

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National Children's Day & National Absurdity Day

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 21:12:20 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

So I thought it might be fun to post recs every so often based on the themed days that are supposedly "National ___ Day". I looked on National Day Calendar to see what was coming up soon, and lo and behold, November 20 is National Children's Day and National Absurdity Day! To me, that means recs involving child characters, and recs that are tagged crack or parody. I'm combining them in a single post so I don't spam people, but everything's behind cuts and clearly labeled so if you want only one or the other, it should be easy to explore just what you're looking for.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Recs involving child characters:

( Alphas )

( FBI (CBS show) )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( Greatest American Hero )

( The Matrix )

Recs of crack/parody fics:

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 31 Jul 2022 04:54:55 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and added to my fanfic database. Haven't had time to read much, but there's a nice selection of Matrix fics. Most are quite porny, but the ratings make that pretty clear if you're trying to find or avoid that. :)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 26 Jun 2022 06:13:11 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and added to my fanfic database, which means they met a minimum personal standard for quality as well as personal tolerance for themes/content. Personal taste may vary, but most of these should appeal to any Matrix fan. The majority, unsurprisingly, are for The Matrix: Resurrections. All of them will soon be merged into my overall recs lists for The Matrix so they can be browsed several ways.

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( 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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Community Recs Post!

Thu, 02 Jun 2022 14:06:43 GMT

Posted by: glitteryv

Every Thursday, we have a community post, just like this one, where you can drop a rec or five in the comments.

This works great if you only have one rec and don't want to make a whole post for it, or if you don't have a DW account, or if you're shy. ;)

(But don't forget: you can deffo make posts of your own seven days a week. ;D!)

So what cool fics/fancrafts/podfics/fanvids/some other kind of fanwork/fanarts have we discovered this week? Drop it in the comments below. Anon comment is enabled

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Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 29 May 2022 04:50:36 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and added to my fanfic database. Most of them are for The Matrix, as usual, because of the fandoms I've added to my database, that one is by far the most active. There were more Matrix fics than the ones I added, too - mostly kink and/or ships I'm not into, so if those sound appealing, you'll have to check the actual fandom tag for what's been posted. But if you'd like a more curated list, the ones below I thought were all interesting enough to suggest, and they're sorted by wordcount so you can choose what fits the length of time you have to read. (And while I always love Neo/Trinity, the ones with no major ships at all are all short and quite intriguing, so if you don't know where to start, try those.)

I'm assuming at this point that most everyone has seen The Matrix: Resurrections and don't need spoiler warnings; the fics in this list are mostly for that film. If you're wanting lists separated by the film(s) they're based on instead, those are linked from my master recs post, and also contain the fics below.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( FBI (CBS show) )

( Fried Green Tomatoes )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 01 May 2022 04:42:07 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

I missed March, so all of these are fics I read in the past *two* months and added to my fanfic database. I've been too focused on other projects to add any new fandoms, so these are just new fics posted in existing ones… which results in all Matrix fics, since the other fandoms in there are tiny in comparison.

After posting a question on a fandom community and getting some feedback, I've learned that more people would find organization by wordcount useful than by author, so this and all future updates will be organized (after fandom) by wordcount.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 27 Feb 2022 06:08:48 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and added to my fanfic database. (Pretty much just keeping up with new fics for fandoms I already have, since I'm still working on Yahoo Groups and haven't had time to add a new fandom in.) There's some creative ones in this lot! (And plenty of super shippy fluff too.)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Push (2009) )

( 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! :)

comments

Exchange recs!

Wed, 16 Feb 2022 04:19:31 GMT

Posted by: snickfic

Linking some exchange recs from my journal!

Winter of Drabbles recs, including:
MCU
The Conjuring
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
The Terror
Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle

Chocolate Box recs, including:
Mad Max (art!!!)
The Matrix
Re-Animator

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Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 30 Jan 2022 05:00:29 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

Here's this month's roundup of fics I read and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. It's mostly Matrix fics, but there are a few additions for smaller fandoms in my database.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Deep Impact (1998) )

( FBI (CBS show) )

( Speed (1994) )

( 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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Matrix Recs - comprehensive set of posts

Thu, 06 Jan 2022 00:46:28 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

Most of you have probably seen my database-generated recs posts. A few of you may have seen the occasional link to new recs posts I've been making on my own DW. But most probably haven't, so…

I finally finished making four massive recs posts for The Matrix and all sequels and associated media. They're up-to-date (as of yesterday) and they're marked so people can avoid spoilers for the new film if they've not seen it yet.

Most of the fics in these posts have already been shared here, but in posts so old they go back months and months. This is for anyone who doesn't want to go wandering through for fic links all over the place. (There are over 900 fics in these posts in all!)

The distribution of recs in these posts is accurate as of today, but in the future I may shuffle the divisions differently, or even add a new post if the number of Matrix fics increases drastically. To keep abreast of any new updates to the way the posts are divided, you can watch my master recs post.

And now for the recs posts, which are organized by major ship(s) alphabetically:

Post 1 - ships from "Agent Brown & Mouse" to "Neo/Persephone, Neo/Trinity"
Post 2 - Neo/Trinity fics with authors from A to O
Post 3 - Neo/Trinity fics with authors from P to Z
Post 4 - ships from "Neo/Trinity, OFC/OFC" to "Trinity/Persephone", including fics with no major ships

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 26 Dec 2021 05:47:35 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

Merry Christmas to those of you who celebrate it (or don't mind being well-wished, whether you celebrate the holiday or not). It also happens to be the last Saturday night of the month, and I've had a lot of free time in the past week to catch up on a backlog of fic that I've read and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database.

I haven't had the opportunity to watch the new Matrix film out, so other than one or two *mildly* spoilery fics which were posted on the day it came out, I've not been reading new Matrix fic since it came out. All of the Matrix fic below was written using the first three films only, or (in the case of a few AO3 fics) some of the promo material. If you want to avoid all spoilers in this post, then avoid any Matrix fics with AO3 links and you'll be fine.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

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

( Spiderman / The Matrix )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 28 Nov 2021 07:48:20 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. I finally caught up to the end of the fics on Fanfiction.net but was only able to enter a few of them so far; the rest will come next time, most likely.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Alphas )

( Speed (1994) )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 31 Oct 2021 06:56:07 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

This is an extremely short post this month because while I've been still wading through years-old fics posted on ff.n (in my small bits of free time not occupied by other projects), I've not actually finished doing so, and I'm doing it on a different computer (because the Linux update of FFDL stupidly required a development version of a library rather than one that was actually found on OSes) so I'm waiting till I've caught up to the present day to dump the lot over to this computer to import into the database.

So I present to you one Matrix fic not from ff.n (or AO3 for that matter) that I had time to read, format an epub of, and add to my database. No special flags, but it does have some things some people would find triggers. If you want to know what themes those are, please comment and I'll be happy to let you know; I'm not including them here because some people like to be surprised. I found it a very good read, intense and emotional, and an interesting take on Trinity's backstory.

Any R-rated or X-rated fic from The Construct requires a password to access; you can find the password on their site here.

Kirstma - Left
26002 words, R
Neo/Trinity

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 26 Sep 2021 05:25:20 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past month and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. I have NOT seen the Matrix: Resurrections trailer yet, so I avoided reading any Matrix fics that mentioned it was based on or inspired by the trailer. I've also not had the opportunity to watch the season openers for any of the FBI shows, so I'm avoiding new FBI and FBI: Most Wanted fic until I can, lol. What I have in this post was posted before those came out.

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( FBI (CBS show) )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 29 Aug 2021 06:29:00 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

These are all fics I read in the past month and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. I've been a bit busy between Yahoo Groups Fandom Identification and work so there hasn't been much time for reading fic. :)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( Leverage / Push (2009) )

( Push (2009) )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 01 Aug 2021 06:33:19 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past week and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database.

My life's gotten busy enough, though, that I won't be able to make weekly posts, so I'm switching to a monthly schedule. I'll next post on one of the last weekends of August.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( FBI (CBS show) )

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 25 Jul 2021 06:53:12 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past week and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. Fewer this time because I've worked on other projects more and because most of these are NOT from AO3 or ff.n, meaning it takes time to create epubs of each one for me to save on my hard drive. So I only have Matrix fics this time.

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

( Ships )

Below are the recs:

( 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! :)

comments

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 18 Jul 2021 06:08:37 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past week and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. Most are Matrix, as I'm still going through all the Matrix fics to see which I want to save, but there's one each of FBI (yay for current fandoms which are actively producing fic) and Push (a fic I'd missed adding somehow).

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic. 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.

( FBI (CBS show) )

( Push (2009) )

( The Matrix )

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

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 11 Jul 2021 05:10:49 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

All of these are fics I read in the past two weeks and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. From now on (for the near future, at least) I should be able to post on a weekly basis. I hope someone finds these lists useful! :)

Most of them are Matrix, but I realized I'd forgotten to thoroughly go through the tiny chunk of Speed fics on both main sites, and FBI fandom is active enough that there are a few new fics here and there. In case anyone's curious, there are 88 fics in this post and they total to 331,503 words, lol. (The joys of queries, I can pull relatively useless information such as this.)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic. 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.

( FBI (CBS show) )

( Speed (1994) )

( The Matrix )

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

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 27 Jun 2021 06:43:19 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

Before I get to the rest of the post, I thought I should probably link to my dead fics post. From here on out I won't be posting any recs here on this comm for fics which are inaccessible even via the Wayback Machine. Any such fics I run across on my hard drive will be rec'd on that post instead, updated as necessary. (See the instructions there for how to read those fics, should you want to.) I won't try to keep the tags on this post updated to match, however (currently there are only recs for Push, Stick It, and The Matrix there, but at points in the future I'll be adding - at the very least - Pern, Rizzoli & Isles, Sue Thomas F.B.Eye, and Young Wizards fics to that post).

On to the Saturday Night Recs:
All of these are fics I read in the past couple of weeks and enjoyed or found interesting enough to add to my database. (I will also be unable to post on the 3rd, so the next Saturday Night Recs will be on July 10, if anyone cares, lol.)

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

( Content warnings and spoilers )

I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic. 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.

( FBI (CBS show) )

( The Matrix )

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

Saturday Night Recs

Sun, 13 Jun 2021 06:42:14 GMT

Posted by: doranwen

Back with more fics I've read this past week. I won't be able to post on the 19th, so the next batch of these will be on the 26th.

I've finally caught up with FBI and FBI: Most Wanted - at least, with what I've spotted on AO3 and ff.n. If people are posting fics elsewhere, I have no idea how to find them and therefore haven't read them.

I've caught up with Matrix fics on AO3 now but have tons to go through on ff.n and other sites yet.

( Icon guide )

( Explanation of ratings )

I listed any ships I thought were major below each fic. 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.

( FBI (CBS show) )

( FBI (CBS show) / Rizzoli & Isles )

( FBI Most Wanted )

( The Matrix )

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