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I have *finished* it. Bun's eternal jacket is signed off at last. I spent this morning sewing on the second pocket, but when she tried it on there was a bit too much of a gap around the neckline, so I filled that in a bit and made the hood a little snugger.

Photos tomorrow, because it's late. We've played Dixit again, and watched the remainder of JR's Frozen Planet DVDs, which is both awe-inspiring and terrifying, and eaten enormous steaks (Bun and her man went off to the shops earlier, tasked with buying bread, cake and something for supper, and sirloin steaks is what they chose).

The snowflake challenge today is to comment to someone you haven't ever interacted with before... which I think I do quite a lot, so I'm not sure how I'm going to tell if *this* comment is actually a first-time one or not. However, it'll happen. After all, I obtained one of Bun's Christmas presents as a result of looking through the Latest Things on DW a while back, I'm sure I can comment to a story of an unexpected kind.

The eternal jacket

Bun's jacket!

( Images behind the cut )

MTYG: The Backstreet Stories

The Snowflake Challenge thing is to befriend someone new, which I... sorta do, every now and then. *waves* So I don't think I'll be doing a specific seek-and-befriend mission, unless I manage a trip through Latest Things today.

On to MTYG, and today it's a quick trip through the Backstreet stories.

A Family Vacation I mentioned in my Crossovers set as it covers two pairings.

Before the Audition (Brian/Howie) Kinda cool. I don't know if the play in question is a real one or not—I didn't recognise it, but that could just mean I'm being thick. The Boys are actors, and these two have special chemistry on stage which does them a big favour.

Bone's Bar & Grill (AJ/Kevin) was fun. Very atmospheric bar setting, and a scary bit in the middle. And I liked the way it was paced. It left me with a big smile.

Pirate Boys in Space (AJ/Kevin) This is one of the longer stories, with a lot of world-building into a cool alternate universe in which Lou is an evil force with a collection of captive boys, and Kevin and Chris go on a rescue mission. Lots of good stuff, and I enjoyed it.

Switchback (AJ/Kevin) The Boys are having gender problems, like, not knowing which one they'll wake up as. Lots of very entertaining phrases and insights in the process, definitely a fun read.

Coming Back, Again is the only GSF in this year's MTYG; it's mostly focused on Kevin, who's wondering whether to come back into the group permanently. Let's just say, the others find a way to change his mind. Nice display of the intra-BSB relationships; also, yum.

Forever And Ever With Hearts And A Song (Howie/Nick) gives us Howie's feelings as he thinks about his relationship with Nick.

Wings would be cool got a mention among the Trickyfish stories as it covers two pairings.

The one with the Spanish tutor also got a mention in the Crossovers, as it involves a threesome.

Watch Where Your Hand Goes (AJ/Brian) has a nice trick of focusing on AJ's hand, which is betraying things AJ himself doesn't realise yet.

How can I help you? is a real-world AU in which AJ daydreams about Brian; it's set in a supermarket, and AJ keeps attributing brand qualities to aspects of Brian—funny and clever.

Sugarplums Sparkled and Danced In Their Heads (Brian/Nick) has to be a Nutcracker AU, with its lovely bejewelled atmosphere. Shiny, sparkly, very pretty.

Those With Wings (Brian/Nick) is a magical AU in which some people have wings (or a tail, etc), and Nick is still a bit too happy-go-lucky for Brian's comfort.

The Hidden Purl (Brian/Nick) features just about everyone, which is fun; it has a lovely tone which I very much enjoyed reading, and there were all kinds of delightful moments.

The One Where Kevin Runs a Bookstore is another very well-drawn real-world alternate universe, with lots of little 'snapshots' of the various sparkly boys. An interesting style—I liked it.


PS I hope you're all doing your best to read and leave feedback. I really treasure feedback while the challenge is anonymous, because when you get it you know for sure that nobody's telling you they like the story because they know you, or because they think, Oh, so-and-so wrote it, it must be good (!), or whatever. And a lot of effort goes into MTYG, as indeed it goes into other challenges at this time of year—but we only have so many popslash writers left, so it's important to make them/us all feel cherished, right?

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A quick reminder that if anyone guesses correctly which story (yes, just the one) I wrote this year, you can have a ficlet. Guesses to THIS POST. I've only had one attempt so far, but sorry, brandywine28, I'm flattered, but that wasn't mine! (I replied to your comment but I'm not sure if you were able to see it...) A teeny tiny clue: it's among the ones I've mentioned in my round-up posts—just in case you were assuming I wouldn't post about what I'd written, and it'd therefore have to be among the non-Trickyfish Nsync stories. Heh.