Yuletide Letter 2012
Hello, lovely Yuletide author-to-be! I am beyond excited that we have been matched. You are already most awesome for signing up to Yuletide and for offering at least one of my fandoms. Everything above that is gravy. I will adore you and whatever you write, don’t worry. <333
As you will have seen, I already wrote a bit about each of my requests on the signup form. I’ll include those bits in the letter again for easy reference, but this will mostly be a letter about my fandoms and my characters and why/how much I love them. :D Yuletide inspires a lot of squee in me.
Before I get to the fandoms, here are some general notes: I love all kinds of fic - gen, slash, het, femslash, three(+)somes. Whichever way your muse takes you is fine (although I'd love it if the story had some plot as well as porn, if you go in that direction). <3
Things I love: established relationships, first times, unreliable narrators, fics that don’t just pass but thoroughly pass the Bechdel test, awkwardness, characters in love who have difficulty making the first move (particularly if the one they pine for is already in love with them and having similar troubles), teasing, snark, kissing, thorough kissing, characters with plans, characters with plans that go wrong, worldbuilding, magic, working through problems, fingering, pegging, domesticity, happy endings.
Things I’d rather not see: character-bashing, scat, torture, bestiality, under-age sex, incest, non-con.
Last note: I adore each and every one of these four fandoms. I had to agonize buckets before deciding which fandoms to choose, so these are the last four standing and dearly beloved. If it seems like I squee more over one or two of them than others, this is unintentional. Pick whichever one you want and I will love you forever no matter which one it is. <333
Onwards!
FANDOM NUMBER ONE:
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
(Prince Gustav, Prince Frederic, Ella, Princess Lila)
Signup text: I love Gustav and Frederic’s relationship, and would really enjoy a fic exploring this further (whether this be slash or gen). I also love my kickass duo of Ella and Lila and would adore a fic focusing on either or both of them (again, femslash or gen - if femslash, only in future!fic when Lila’s at least 18).
Any adventures with either or both of these duos, or just slice of life. Sorry not to provide more details, but as this is a new fandom (book published in May) and I’ve never seen a single fic, you will make me ecstatically happy no matter what you write, I promise! :D
So this is a new fandom! Here is the book on Amazon. If you were matched on another fandom and don’t feel inspired/want an out, this might be the way to go. It’s only one book, and a very easy read. If you’re a fast reader, you’d finish it in an evening.
Why I like it: I love fractured fairy tales in general, and this is a clever and funny one. You get four princes, who are all a bit annoyed at the way the bards have forgotten their names and lumped them all together under the “Prince Charming” name, which they all hate [Frederic (Cinderella), Gustav (Rapunzel), Liam (Sleeping Beauty), and Duncan (Snow White)]. You also get five princesses, who are markedly more capable than the princes and are certainly not going to wait around in their castles/assorted homeplaces for the princes to have all the adventures [Ella, Rapunzel, Briar Rose, Snow White, and Lila (Liam’s sister)].
When a misunderstood and undervalued witch named Zaubra decides that she’s going to make her mark on the world in a way that none of the bards will be able to manage to overlook, these nine characters have to try their best to save their kingdoms. If Duncan stops distracting them by naming every animal that crosses their path, that is (Look, Captain Spaulding!) If Lila can outwit a bounty hunter and join forces with another princess to stay one step ahead of the boys. If Gustav restrains himself from running full-tilt with his sword at every dangerous creature they meet and getting himself roasted/stepped on/thrown out of windows/etc. If Snow White realizes her husband’s walk in the forest is taking a very long time and sternly enlists the dwarfs to find him. If Frederic can stop worrying about his tassels. If Liam cuts his ego down a size or two (and gets rid of the melon in his hair). If Briar Rose stops throwing things through stained glass windows and goes after the guy who dumped her. If… you get the picture.
As I mentioned in my signup, I particularly love Frederic/Gustav and Ella and Lila. Pretty much any story with either of these duos would make me a very happy Yuletider. <33 (Or both of the duos, if you’re feeling especially brave.) You really can’t fail here. (Except don’t kill anybody, please!)
(artwork by Todd Harris)
~//~
FANDOM NUMBER TWO:
The Thief series
(Phresine, Ornon)
Signup text: I love Phresine and Ornon, I really do. Any story set in The Queen’s Thief verse that focused on any of the books’ events from Phresine and/or Ornon’s point of view would be awesome. Why did Ornon come to respect Gen? What is Phresine’s perspective on the whole Gen situation (in any or all of the books) - and what’s her relationship with Irene like?
Or a future tale! As Irene and Gen continue to be awesome, Phresine and/or Ornon are right there to help? Irene and Gen visit Eddis and Phresine observes the country and the monarch (or Phresine retires and takes a trip to Eddis to see what it’s like)? I’d even enjoy a Phresine/Ornon story if your mind went in that direction. :)
Some of my other favourite characters in the universe are Irene and Gen (obviously), Dite, Gen’s father, Eddis (Helen), and Eddis (the country). Obviously, though, you don’t need to include any of these! Just if you’re looking for background characters. ;)
Well, since I’ve already written you a novel in the signup, I don’t need to add many more details, do I? ;)
I adore this series to bits. It’s simply amazing. If you haven’t read it yet - run, not walk, to the first book, The Thief! Do NOT read the books out of sequence. In fact, don’t even look at the second or third book until you’ve read the first. The series as a whole is definitely one of my favourite series in the world. It is that good. Megan Whalen Turner is a genius.
What I love about this series - where to begin? I love the worldbuilding. I love the politics and how complicated it can all get. I love the characters, oh goodness I love the characters. I love Gen and Irene, for reasons far too numerous to name; I love Sophos (particularly in the first book, but afterwards as well) - all his “but why?” questions!; I love Costis and his stubborn doggedness; I love the minister of war and his dry and laconic interventions (and I love that he never gets a name); I love Helen with a fierceness, maybe even more than I love Gen. And beyond the characters, I love the countries, and Gen’s reaction to different sorts of hardships, and the sorts of messages the gods send Gen, and the myths (these took me two readings of the series to properly appreciate, but I do love them now), and the way Megan Whalen Turner writes her endings.
I almost asked for shippy scenes with the primary couple in KoA, because oh my goodness. But it’s Yuletide, so with difficulty I have opted instead for my lovely little minor characters. <3
First, Phresine. Phresine is Irene’s main attendant - I think she’s the oldest of the attendants, and she definitely ventures to make more comments on Irene’s behavior/various situations than any of the others. I’m intrigued by why and how she feels like she can do that, and why Irene listens to her (we’ve seen what Irene can do when she doesn’t like what an attendant says - see Chloe). I like the quiet bravery of her character, and the general aura of good sense that surrounds her.
Second, Ornon. Ornon is the Eddisian Ambassador to Attolia in QoA and KoA. Apparently he had a lot of sheep once upon a time and then lost them. Three guesses who was responsible and the first two don’t count. This whole episode, however, is only referred to obliquely and never explained. I love him because of how exasperated he gets with Gen, and how he’s trying to do his best in his own way, and how he eventually comes around. Also, anyone holding his post during QoA and KoA must have seen an awful lot of interesting things!
I’ve already put some ideas in the signup text, but really anything you were to write about either or both Phresine and Ornon would be amazing and very very much loved.
~//~
FANDOM NUMBER THREE:
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
(Morgan Pendragon)
Signup text: What does Morgan think of everything? What sort of adventures does Morgan have? (Either when he’s young or as a teenager/adult.)
Obviously I love Howl and Sophie too, but Morgan is the one I particularly want this time. :D I adore him as a toddler, but I’d also really enjoy reading about him later on (a problematic teenager? The reason Howl’s hair is turning shocking colours?) if your mind runs that direction.
So, if you haven’t read the Howl books, this is another series that’s well worth reading! Diana Wynne Jones was a legend for a REASON.
image from here
(Howl’s Moving Castle, the first book, doesn’t have Morgan in it, but is necessary to understand the other books in the series.)
Basically I love Morgan to death. He’s amazing in his, um, other form (trying to avoid spoilers here, lol), and then his adventures as a toddler are hilarious too. I’d adore a fic about baby/toddler Morgan’s shenanigans and escapades, because he is awesome. He’s not the biggest character in the books by far, but to me he totally steals the show when he’s around. :D Also this would give you a chance to play with Howl and Sophie and various other lovely background characters if you so desired (although to be honest if the entire fic was about Morgan you would not hear me complaining, much as I love the others).
Like I said in my signup, though, I’d also love to see a preteen/teenager/young adult Morgan, if that was more to your liking. He would get up to such scrapes! Would he turn out more like his father or his mother? Would he turn his father’s hair a multicolored rainbow? Would he be a scholar and a gentleman but have a secret identity at night? Would he have seventeen cats? Would he become a hatter? Would he be a preteen schemer concocting difficult and exhaustive plans for the procurement of the last piece of bacon? The sky is the limit!
But really anything with Morgan would delight and enchant me. (Are you detecting a pattern here, oh dear writer?)
FANDOM NUMBER FOUR:
Tennis RPF
(Andy Murray, Laura Robson)
Signup text: I am a huge Andy Murray and Laura Robson fan. I adore them.
Anything happy with them. Andy & Laura hanging out at the Olympics? Laura’s feelings as she stepped out onto that gold-medal court with Andy at her side? Laura and/or Andy good-naturedly trash-talking any of their competitors before the match? Laura watching Andy win the US Open?
Or future fic with Laura winning a grand slam and Andy (superstar!Andy?) coming to watch her matches! (If you can’t tell, I really love the brother-sister relationship between Laura and Andy - I’d rather not see Laura/Andy, especially since I love Andy/Kim).
Or, if fluffy/happy fic isn’t your style and you’d prefer to write something more introspective, Andy was talking recently about seeing a sports psychologist in February, and how she really helped him. Something about that would be awesome too!
After three book fandoms, we arrive at my one non-book fandom. :D
I know sports and RPF aren’t everyone’s thing. But if they are yours, scroll on!
Laura and Andy are British tennis stars. They were a doubles team in the Olympics this summer, and went on an improbable run that culminated in a silver medal. (Meanwhile, Andy won Olympic gold in the men’s singles tournament.)
This is Laura:
This is Andy:
And this is the two of them together:
Why do I love them? Well, I’ve been an Andy fan forever - yes, waaaaay before he won Olympic gold, Olympic silver, and a grand slam in a matter of months - and this summer was just awesome. I love how he’s refused to play the media’s game all this time - he was always just himself, and if that led to the media stereotyping him as a dour Scotsman who could never win anything, then that was the way it was. He wasn’t going to change and try to smile all the time and make media-friendly quips, he was going to be himself and damn the haters. (Of course, it’s also been amusing to watch the media suddenly come around after Wimbledon this year and start loving on him all the time. I guess when he won he became ‘passionate and a tad eccentric’ instead of the ‘dour and grim, haunted by the Dunblane tragedy’ he always was before.)
And Laura! I didn’t find out about Laura until the Olympics. I watched all the tennis, lol. I love it. I love the Williams sisters and Victoria Azarenka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sabine Lisicki/Christopher Kas and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic … the list goes on.
But Laura has a special place in my heart. She was so excited about the Olympics (she was only 18) and tried to experience it as much as possible - whether that be pin collecting, running around watching different sports, making friends with other athletes, etc. And she was always beaming, in just about every picture. Her bubbly happiness always makes me grin right along with her. <3 Plus she is an amazing tennis player! I fully expect her to win lots of tournaments in years to come. (She made the fourth round in this year’s US Open, beating Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Go Laura!)
Have another picture of Laura and Andy.
Like I said in the signup text, I love their brother-sister relationship. :) Andy’s had much more success in singles than Laura has - obviously he’s older (25 to her 18) and has been on the scene longer - and thus can give her lots of older-brother type advice. And they meld so well in doubles! Laura had some nerves in some of the Olympic matches, but she is fierce and fought back. Her joy and his determination really work well together. <3
I’m not sure what else to say here, except that I would love a story with the two of them. I love the way their personalities are so different, and yet the way they obviously are such great friends. Any story you wrote with the two of them being friends and being their awesome selves would make me very happy. :) Laura being roguish and playing pranks on people (either including Andy, or with Andy as an accomplice)? Andy not knowing how to propose to Kim and enlisting Laura to help him plan (probably ensuring a series of accidents and/or hijinks)? Laura and Andy winning lots of tournaments as a doubles pair and having a friendly rivalry going with another pair of your choice (I like Azarenka/Mirnyi if you don’t know what to choose, but whatever pair you like would be great)? Laura dating another tennis player and Andy playing the concerned!brother role (as for who Laura is dating, and what gender they are, totally up to you!)? Laura and Kim teaming up to set up Andy and Novak (I like open relationships as long as they’re honest and healthy)?
*breathes*
Enough ideas from me. :D You choose, dear author! Anything you write me I will love. <3
I leave you with a picture of Andy's dogs wearing his Olympics medals. Because why not?
~//~
~//~
final thoughts
As I said at the beginning, dear Yuletide author, I love each and every one of these fandoms to death. You cannot make me sad by choosing "the wrong one". There is no wrong one. <333
Oh, I should probably apologize at this point for writing you a freaking novel. xD Sorry about that. I am like that. I am never able to be concise. :D
If you have any questions about me/my likes/etc, ask kainosite. She'll probably know the answer. ;)
Oh, if you're the type of person to read samples of your recipient's fic (like I am), here are three of my Yuletide fics from last year (the first two are short):
A Novel Solution (Sense and Sensibility)
Springtime in Ihistan (Damar Series)
Wicked Wiles (Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms)
Thank you again so much in advance for writing for me. I will be thrilled to bits by your story, I know it. Thank you for making my Christmas a special one, and happy Yuletide! <3333333
As you will have seen, I already wrote a bit about each of my requests on the signup form. I’ll include those bits in the letter again for easy reference, but this will mostly be a letter about my fandoms and my characters and why/how much I love them. :D Yuletide inspires a lot of squee in me.
Before I get to the fandoms, here are some general notes: I love all kinds of fic - gen, slash, het, femslash, three(+)somes. Whichever way your muse takes you is fine (although I'd love it if the story had some plot as well as porn, if you go in that direction). <3
Things I love: established relationships, first times, unreliable narrators, fics that don’t just pass but thoroughly pass the Bechdel test, awkwardness, characters in love who have difficulty making the first move (particularly if the one they pine for is already in love with them and having similar troubles), teasing, snark, kissing, thorough kissing, characters with plans, characters with plans that go wrong, worldbuilding, magic, working through problems, fingering, pegging, domesticity, happy endings.
Things I’d rather not see: character-bashing, scat, torture, bestiality, under-age sex, incest, non-con.
Last note: I adore each and every one of these four fandoms. I had to agonize buckets before deciding which fandoms to choose, so these are the last four standing and dearly beloved. If it seems like I squee more over one or two of them than others, this is unintentional. Pick whichever one you want and I will love you forever no matter which one it is. <333
Onwards!
FANDOM NUMBER ONE:
The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom
(Prince Gustav, Prince Frederic, Ella, Princess Lila)
Signup text: I love Gustav and Frederic’s relationship, and would really enjoy a fic exploring this further (whether this be slash or gen). I also love my kickass duo of Ella and Lila and would adore a fic focusing on either or both of them (again, femslash or gen - if femslash, only in future!fic when Lila’s at least 18).
Any adventures with either or both of these duos, or just slice of life. Sorry not to provide more details, but as this is a new fandom (book published in May) and I’ve never seen a single fic, you will make me ecstatically happy no matter what you write, I promise! :D
So this is a new fandom! Here is the book on Amazon. If you were matched on another fandom and don’t feel inspired/want an out, this might be the way to go. It’s only one book, and a very easy read. If you’re a fast reader, you’d finish it in an evening.
Why I like it: I love fractured fairy tales in general, and this is a clever and funny one. You get four princes, who are all a bit annoyed at the way the bards have forgotten their names and lumped them all together under the “Prince Charming” name, which they all hate [Frederic (Cinderella), Gustav (Rapunzel), Liam (Sleeping Beauty), and Duncan (Snow White)]. You also get five princesses, who are markedly more capable than the princes and are certainly not going to wait around in their castles/assorted homeplaces for the princes to have all the adventures [Ella, Rapunzel, Briar Rose, Snow White, and Lila (Liam’s sister)].
When a misunderstood and undervalued witch named Zaubra decides that she’s going to make her mark on the world in a way that none of the bards will be able to manage to overlook, these nine characters have to try their best to save their kingdoms. If Duncan stops distracting them by naming every animal that crosses their path, that is (Look, Captain Spaulding!) If Lila can outwit a bounty hunter and join forces with another princess to stay one step ahead of the boys. If Gustav restrains himself from running full-tilt with his sword at every dangerous creature they meet and getting himself roasted/stepped on/thrown out of windows/etc. If Snow White realizes her husband’s walk in the forest is taking a very long time and sternly enlists the dwarfs to find him. If Frederic can stop worrying about his tassels. If Liam cuts his ego down a size or two (and gets rid of the melon in his hair). If Briar Rose stops throwing things through stained glass windows and goes after the guy who dumped her. If… you get the picture.
As I mentioned in my signup, I particularly love Frederic/Gustav and Ella and Lila. Pretty much any story with either of these duos would make me a very happy Yuletider. <33 (Or both of the duos, if you’re feeling especially brave.) You really can’t fail here. (Except don’t kill anybody, please!)
(artwork by Todd Harris)
~//~
FANDOM NUMBER TWO:
The Thief series
(Phresine, Ornon)
Signup text: I love Phresine and Ornon, I really do. Any story set in The Queen’s Thief verse that focused on any of the books’ events from Phresine and/or Ornon’s point of view would be awesome. Why did Ornon come to respect Gen? What is Phresine’s perspective on the whole Gen situation (in any or all of the books) - and what’s her relationship with Irene like?
Or a future tale! As Irene and Gen continue to be awesome, Phresine and/or Ornon are right there to help? Irene and Gen visit Eddis and Phresine observes the country and the monarch (or Phresine retires and takes a trip to Eddis to see what it’s like)? I’d even enjoy a Phresine/Ornon story if your mind went in that direction. :)
Some of my other favourite characters in the universe are Irene and Gen (obviously), Dite, Gen’s father, Eddis (Helen), and Eddis (the country). Obviously, though, you don’t need to include any of these! Just if you’re looking for background characters. ;)
Well, since I’ve already written you a novel in the signup, I don’t need to add many more details, do I? ;)
I adore this series to bits. It’s simply amazing. If you haven’t read it yet - run, not walk, to the first book, The Thief! Do NOT read the books out of sequence. In fact, don’t even look at the second or third book until you’ve read the first. The series as a whole is definitely one of my favourite series in the world. It is that good. Megan Whalen Turner is a genius.
What I love about this series - where to begin? I love the worldbuilding. I love the politics and how complicated it can all get. I love the characters, oh goodness I love the characters. I love Gen and Irene, for reasons far too numerous to name; I love Sophos (particularly in the first book, but afterwards as well) - all his “but why?” questions!; I love Costis and his stubborn doggedness; I love the minister of war and his dry and laconic interventions (and I love that he never gets a name); I love Helen with a fierceness, maybe even more than I love Gen. And beyond the characters, I love the countries, and Gen’s reaction to different sorts of hardships, and the sorts of messages the gods send Gen, and the myths (these took me two readings of the series to properly appreciate, but I do love them now), and the way Megan Whalen Turner writes her endings.
I almost asked for shippy scenes with the primary couple in KoA, because oh my goodness. But it’s Yuletide, so with difficulty I have opted instead for my lovely little minor characters. <3
First, Phresine. Phresine is Irene’s main attendant - I think she’s the oldest of the attendants, and she definitely ventures to make more comments on Irene’s behavior/various situations than any of the others. I’m intrigued by why and how she feels like she can do that, and why Irene listens to her (we’ve seen what Irene can do when she doesn’t like what an attendant says - see Chloe). I like the quiet bravery of her character, and the general aura of good sense that surrounds her.
Second, Ornon. Ornon is the Eddisian Ambassador to Attolia in QoA and KoA. Apparently he had a lot of sheep once upon a time and then lost them. Three guesses who was responsible and the first two don’t count. This whole episode, however, is only referred to obliquely and never explained. I love him because of how exasperated he gets with Gen, and how he’s trying to do his best in his own way, and how he eventually comes around. Also, anyone holding his post during QoA and KoA must have seen an awful lot of interesting things!
I’ve already put some ideas in the signup text, but really anything you were to write about either or both Phresine and Ornon would be amazing and very very much loved.
~//~
FANDOM NUMBER THREE:
Howl Series - Diana Wynne Jones
(Morgan Pendragon)
Signup text: What does Morgan think of everything? What sort of adventures does Morgan have? (Either when he’s young or as a teenager/adult.)
Obviously I love Howl and Sophie too, but Morgan is the one I particularly want this time. :D I adore him as a toddler, but I’d also really enjoy reading about him later on (a problematic teenager? The reason Howl’s hair is turning shocking colours?) if your mind runs that direction.
So, if you haven’t read the Howl books, this is another series that’s well worth reading! Diana Wynne Jones was a legend for a REASON.
image from here
(Howl’s Moving Castle, the first book, doesn’t have Morgan in it, but is necessary to understand the other books in the series.)
Basically I love Morgan to death. He’s amazing in his, um, other form (trying to avoid spoilers here, lol), and then his adventures as a toddler are hilarious too. I’d adore a fic about baby/toddler Morgan’s shenanigans and escapades, because he is awesome. He’s not the biggest character in the books by far, but to me he totally steals the show when he’s around. :D Also this would give you a chance to play with Howl and Sophie and various other lovely background characters if you so desired (although to be honest if the entire fic was about Morgan you would not hear me complaining, much as I love the others).
Like I said in my signup, though, I’d also love to see a preteen/teenager/young adult Morgan, if that was more to your liking. He would get up to such scrapes! Would he turn out more like his father or his mother? Would he turn his father’s hair a multicolored rainbow? Would he be a scholar and a gentleman but have a secret identity at night? Would he have seventeen cats? Would he become a hatter? Would he be a preteen schemer concocting difficult and exhaustive plans for the procurement of the last piece of bacon? The sky is the limit!
But really anything with Morgan would delight and enchant me. (Are you detecting a pattern here, oh dear writer?)
FANDOM NUMBER FOUR:
Tennis RPF
(Andy Murray, Laura Robson)
Signup text: I am a huge Andy Murray and Laura Robson fan. I adore them.
Anything happy with them. Andy & Laura hanging out at the Olympics? Laura’s feelings as she stepped out onto that gold-medal court with Andy at her side? Laura and/or Andy good-naturedly trash-talking any of their competitors before the match? Laura watching Andy win the US Open?
Or future fic with Laura winning a grand slam and Andy (superstar!Andy?) coming to watch her matches! (If you can’t tell, I really love the brother-sister relationship between Laura and Andy - I’d rather not see Laura/Andy, especially since I love Andy/Kim).
Or, if fluffy/happy fic isn’t your style and you’d prefer to write something more introspective, Andy was talking recently about seeing a sports psychologist in February, and how she really helped him. Something about that would be awesome too!
After three book fandoms, we arrive at my one non-book fandom. :D
I know sports and RPF aren’t everyone’s thing. But if they are yours, scroll on!
Laura and Andy are British tennis stars. They were a doubles team in the Olympics this summer, and went on an improbable run that culminated in a silver medal. (Meanwhile, Andy won Olympic gold in the men’s singles tournament.)
This is Laura:
This is Andy:
And this is the two of them together:
Why do I love them? Well, I’ve been an Andy fan forever - yes, waaaaay before he won Olympic gold, Olympic silver, and a grand slam in a matter of months - and this summer was just awesome. I love how he’s refused to play the media’s game all this time - he was always just himself, and if that led to the media stereotyping him as a dour Scotsman who could never win anything, then that was the way it was. He wasn’t going to change and try to smile all the time and make media-friendly quips, he was going to be himself and damn the haters. (Of course, it’s also been amusing to watch the media suddenly come around after Wimbledon this year and start loving on him all the time. I guess when he won he became ‘passionate and a tad eccentric’ instead of the ‘dour and grim, haunted by the Dunblane tragedy’ he always was before.)
And Laura! I didn’t find out about Laura until the Olympics. I watched all the tennis, lol. I love it. I love the Williams sisters and Victoria Azarenka and Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Sabine Lisicki/Christopher Kas and Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic … the list goes on.
But Laura has a special place in my heart. She was so excited about the Olympics (she was only 18) and tried to experience it as much as possible - whether that be pin collecting, running around watching different sports, making friends with other athletes, etc. And she was always beaming, in just about every picture. Her bubbly happiness always makes me grin right along with her. <3 Plus she is an amazing tennis player! I fully expect her to win lots of tournaments in years to come. (She made the fourth round in this year’s US Open, beating Kim Clijsters and Li Na. Go Laura!)
Have another picture of Laura and Andy.
Like I said in the signup text, I love their brother-sister relationship. :) Andy’s had much more success in singles than Laura has - obviously he’s older (25 to her 18) and has been on the scene longer - and thus can give her lots of older-brother type advice. And they meld so well in doubles! Laura had some nerves in some of the Olympic matches, but she is fierce and fought back. Her joy and his determination really work well together. <3
I’m not sure what else to say here, except that I would love a story with the two of them. I love the way their personalities are so different, and yet the way they obviously are such great friends. Any story you wrote with the two of them being friends and being their awesome selves would make me very happy. :) Laura being roguish and playing pranks on people (either including Andy, or with Andy as an accomplice)? Andy not knowing how to propose to Kim and enlisting Laura to help him plan (probably ensuring a series of accidents and/or hijinks)? Laura and Andy winning lots of tournaments as a doubles pair and having a friendly rivalry going with another pair of your choice (I like Azarenka/Mirnyi if you don’t know what to choose, but whatever pair you like would be great)? Laura dating another tennis player and Andy playing the concerned!brother role (as for who Laura is dating, and what gender they are, totally up to you!)? Laura and Kim teaming up to set up Andy and Novak (I like open relationships as long as they’re honest and healthy)?
*breathes*
Enough ideas from me. :D You choose, dear author! Anything you write me I will love. <3
I leave you with a picture of Andy's dogs wearing his Olympics medals. Because why not?
~//~
~//~
final thoughts
As I said at the beginning, dear Yuletide author, I love each and every one of these fandoms to death. You cannot make me sad by choosing "the wrong one". There is no wrong one. <333
Oh, I should probably apologize at this point for writing you a freaking novel. xD Sorry about that. I am like that. I am never able to be concise. :D
If you have any questions about me/my likes/etc, ask kainosite. She'll probably know the answer. ;)
Oh, if you're the type of person to read samples of your recipient's fic (like I am), here are three of my Yuletide fics from last year (the first two are short):
A Novel Solution (Sense and Sensibility)
Springtime in Ihistan (Damar Series)
Wicked Wiles (Fairy Tales & Related Fandoms)
Thank you again so much in advance for writing for me. I will be thrilled to bits by your story, I know it. Thank you for making my Christmas a special one, and happy Yuletide! <3333333