I was going to do The Tyranny of Petty Things, but just couldn't get into the angle I'd picked

That happened to me with magnetic_pole's fics, too. There were quite a few false starts before I hit on the story that worked for me. Maybe that's a common thing when doing remix, I don't know. This year was the first time I'd done it.

And thanks so much for saying that he's a good character, and not a Mary Sue. This fic was born out of an omniocular prompt, but it was only after I took it that I realised just how big a role the OC was going to have to play, and I freaked out all over the place. But it turned out OK, it got a good reception at the time, and you've done some lovely things with him too. Thanks again!