Yuletide Reveal

I am finally back in town for good--no more holiday traveling, yay! And Yuletide authors have been revealed, so I can now tell you guys what I wrote.

I wrote The One Where Matt Farrell Is Most Certainly Not Sleeping With John McClane (not even a little)--Live Free or Die Hard, McClane/Farrell, Adult--for cobweb_diamond. Ze asked for a slashy Die Hard action adventure story, so naturally I gave hir Warlock and Matt battling a toner crazed copy machine repair man for McClane's life. LOL

THANK YOU, ariadne83. YOU ARE LIKE THE GODDESS OF BETAS.

Y'all, I am bowled over by the response this story has gotten. I mean, Yuletide has always treated me well. My stories have been well received since I started participating, and I've had a great deal of fun with the fest, but this is... Wow. The story already has 1700 hits, and according to this post, mine is the 15th most read story so far this year. Yuletide squee indeed!.

Multifandom fic recs

All Creatures by wintercreek; Good Omens/SGA XOVER; Gen; shortish
Just how did the Ancients come up with the idea for the Wraith? Chilling and blackly humorous.

The Harry Potter kids try to talk with American accents
Tom Felton is the best at it, followed by Rupert Grint and Daniel Radcliffe. Poor Emma Watson can't do an American accent to save her life LOL.

Sympathetic Magic by shedoc; Harry Potter; Ron/Harry; Adult; Big Bang length; warnings for child abuse (not sexual in nature); mpreg by the end
So, this story starts with the Dursleys abusing (and nearly killing Harry as a result) just the way Xander's daddy taught them, but even if that's not your cuppa, I think there's a lot to enjoy in this story. Ron/Harry is the pairing that makes the most sense to me based on canon; unlike Harry/Snape or Harry/Draco, the two of them actually *like* each other and would die for each other. It's a great sadness of mine that so little of this pairing exists, and I really like the way Ron and Harry go from being friends to lovers in this story. It may get a little too "their magical love is special beyond all others" for some people's tastes by the end, but I was in just the right mood for it.

Backwards by Drake of Dross; Harry Potter; Harry/Hermione; mpreg; shortish
I absolutely love this story. Hermione accidentally gets Harry pregnant. This is a serious look at how that might change all their lives. Can I tell you how much I adore that they don't instantly decide that marriage is the answer?

Uncertain Plans by Sunny de Luca; Neville/Charlie; mpreg; medium length
This is a story I desperately wish had a sequel but from what I can tell, alas, does not. It begins en medias res with a pregnant Neville who has no idea how to tell Charlie that their summer liason has had unintended results. It's the kind of fic I long for--where Neville is keeping the pregnancy secret and everything is so confusing and uncertain, and when Charlie finds out, he's well aware that his parents will be livid and that this will be a very difficult change in their lives. I was all hormonal when I read this, so I got to drift along on a lovely little crying jag and feel sorry for poor Neville. Hit an emotional kink for me, hard.

Undone Wars by esama; Harry Potter/SGA XOVER; mostly gen but Ronon/Harry at the end; long
I love this story so much. I don't want to say much about it because I don't want to give away any of the plot points. During his time as a Runner, Ronon comes across Harry, and they travel together. One of the things I adore about this story is Ronon's concern over how dangerous it is for magicians to have to rely on wands and what he and Harry do to combat that. This is first and foremost a story about friendship and family, and I love love love it.

Charm City by hth_the_first; Homicide/SPN XOVER; medium length; Sam/Tim; Adult
I absolutely adore this meshing of these two worlds. Basically nothing happens in this story--Sam meets Tim and wants him and has him. It's languid and a bit dreamy with wonderful character insights.

How do I not have a Neville icon? Criminal.

Flora and Fauna by swtalmnd; Harry Potter; Neville-centric slash; other pairings; Big Bang length; Adult

I don't want to give away the pairings here because part of the charm of this elegantly written story is discovering who belongs with whom. I will, of course, spill the beans in comments if asked.

It's no secret that Neville and Luna are my favorite HP characters. I find them both so endearing and complex and *interesting*, and I love the way that fic about them can flesh out the little we learn in canon.

This is set in an AU in which Voldemort was defeated differently than he is Deathly Hallows and begins just after Neville graduates from Hogwarts. I dearly love this version of Neville--he's grown a little; he's more confident, more self-assured, more comfortable in his own skin. He's still clumsy and bumbling at times, and there are still aspects of magic that elude him, but he's willing to admit his weaknesses and not be so debilitated by them. The main word I would use to describe this Neville is longing--he longs to find a place for himself in the world, an occupation that he can be proud of, someone to love who loves him in return.

The world-building here is exquisite, perhaps the best I've ever read in fandom. The author creates this beautiful and magical world of plants and animals and allows Neville to inhabit it.

The basic premise here is that after graduation, Neville goes into business with Remus Lupin collecting rare plants that can be used in potion-making. Snape is their main client and is featured heavily in the story, along with assorted Gryffindors.

Only one note in this story gives me pause--at some point, the bantering and sexual innuendo between the characters begins to feel a bit out of character to me. Fortunately, this is a very small part of the story and in no way mars what is otherwise a perfect fic.

I kinda want to start all over and read it again. I liked it that much.