the fandom librarian

1) He's really proud of how far he's come and how well he can play, but he secretly misses when Jamie used to be better than him. It can get lonely on tour without his brother. (Also, he pretends it bothers him when Jamie teases him about being the Slamless Murray, but when his big brother and Jelena won, nobody in the entire stadium was prouder.)

2) He hates Wimbledon. Wishes he didn't have to play it. Wants to spit in the face of the British press for breathing down his neck all the time, whether he's winning or losing. And is totally going to cheer for whatever country beats Britain in the World Cup.

3) He really likes Novak, always has, ever since they were kids, but he's kind of jealous of him too. Everything comes easily to him: jokes, women, laughing off the press. His first Slam. (Rafa.)

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I love the ninja-ness of (Rafa) being one of the things Mandy is jealous of.

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that's probably the only time Rafa has ever been ninja-like, haha. he's just not a sneaky one, bless his soul.

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oneshottoyour.livejournal.com

Re: 3
...you're doing this just to tug on my heartstrings, aren't you? You know how I feel about the MAndy->Novak/Rafa relationship. It makes me flail and D: at the screen ~~and then feel stupid for being so overinvested, my god~~.

I love your headcanon!MAndy. ♥

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well... yes. yes, I am, and yes, I do. it fills me with evil glee to know that you're going to be flailing and D: facing at the computer over what I write!

♥

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http://users.livejournal.com/rilla_/

Rafa!

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Five People Rafael Nadal Never Fell In Love With

1) Carlos Moya

He was just a kid, really, stupid and star-struck; he knows that now. He wasn't really in love. It felt real at the time, though, or at least real enough to cry over once or twice and get made fun of by Maribel. (Rafa loves his sister, but god in heaven, she used to be such a brat.) He would have gotten over it faster, maybe, if Carlos had sat him down and told him he was flattered and Rafa was a sweet kid and someday he'd meet a girl his own age, all the things that Rafa knows now, but he's so grateful that Carlos never did - never made him feel that the phone calls and playstation tournaments and endless hugs whenever he wanted them were an imposition, or anything other than exactly what Carlos wanted to give.

He was never in love with Carlos Moya, but he remembers being sixteen and stupid now with a smile, which is a bigger deal in the end.

2) Flavia Pennetta

The funny thing is, he didn't even want to like Flavia at first; she was taking Carlos away from him, and maybe it wasn't her fault that Rafa wasn't old enough and didn't have breasts or smooth beautiful thighs in a short tennis skirt, but he resented her anyway. Except then he actually met her and she was just, god, so amazing, and funny and kind and he sort of wanted to just spend hours around her - he didn't even really want to talk to her, just to sit in a corner and watch her talk to Carlos and smile. He thought it was about Carlos, because he'd never gotten that funny feeling in his stomach over a girl before, and it wasn't like he ever saw her without Carlos so how was he supposed to know that he liked the way she laughed when someone else was joking with her, too? He only figured it out when he heard, third-hand and white-washed for teenage ears, what Carlos had done to her, and he still adored Carlos but he also really wanted to gut him for making Flavia cry.

He used to daydream a little, that year, about seeing her at a tournament and taking her out to lunch and making her smile again, but whenever he got to the part where she let him hold her hand and kissed him good-night on the mouth instead of the cheek, it just didn't work; he knew it would end in giggles instead of a passionate embrace. That was okay, though.

She smiles again now, and she's totally over Carlos and Rafa doesn't follow women's tennis much, but he thinks she's doing well, all of which are really good things and make him happy for her. She comes over and teases him while he's practicing every now and then, if they're at the same tournament, and sometimes she even lets him buy her lunch in the cafeteria. She probably still thinks of him as a kid, but since that means she hugs him hello and lets him get really close to her breasts and smooth beautiful thighs, he's pretty much okay with that.

3) Roger Federer

He could have fallen in love with Roger. It would have been really easy: he likes Roger, so much, and really admires his tennis and thinks he's handsome, in a kind of overgroomed sort of way. (Well, not when they first met, but he was more interested in Roger's tennis back then anyway.) It would have been the next logical step after Carlos. The thing is, though, Roger was sometimes… well, nobody likes losing to a seventeen-year-old, it's totally normal to be a little cross about it, and now that they're settled into their rivalry and know each other better he's always very nice about Rafa, but right at the beginning, sometimes he would say something that stung, just a little, and Rafa likes Roger but his mother always told him that if he didn't have anything nice to say, keep his mouth shut and smile.

He still could have, once they were used to each other and Roger was really kind to him even though he kept beating him at the French, but by then he'd seen how miserable it made Juan Carlos sometimes to be in love with someone he had that kind of history with, even if they really were friends anyway, and Rafa thought it just wasn't worth it. It's safer to stay just friends.

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4) Feliciano Lopez

Fernando would kill him. Also, he thinks he might catch a disease.

5) Andy Murray

Andy is the only one he regrets, because he thinks maybe he could have, except it was the wrong time and he was already in love with someone else. It was horrible, absolutely horrible, to watch Andy stumble through trying to tell him in Spanish, hoping he'd mistranslated something, and watch his face fall when he explained, Monte Carlo last year, I'm sorry, I thought you knew. Andy smiled, if you could call it that, and he said, Well, I thought so, but hope springs eternal, you know, which Rafa didn't - English idioms are the worst - and also, Congratulations, and kissed Rafa on the cheek before he left.

They're okay with each other now - Andy's dating a nice girl and Rafa thinks it's real, not just for the press, and Andy doesn't blush and look away whenever Rafa walks into a room anymore - but the first thing Rafa feels when he walks into a room and sees Andy there is still guilt, because he is happy, so very happy, but maybe in another universe Andy could have been the person he was happy with.

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oneshottoyour.livejournal.com

LOL'ING IRL AT FELI

Ignoring the last section, hi.

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haha, in my personal canon Feli totally has VD. and when half the Armada had that sudden outbreak of gonorrhea, everybody knew exactly who to blame. XD

yeah, sorry, I can't quite help rubbing salt in that wound.

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I like this and yes, there's a stealth bitch that comes out to play whenever Roger loses. I've seen him give backhanded compliments to Rafa, Nole & Mandy...and sometimes, he's not even hiding the diss.

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thank you! it's definitely one of the less flattering sides of Roger, haha. I always feel like this diagram says it all:

(http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a178/meretricula/?action=view&current=tumblr_kt7k0xlI4Q1qzfmb4o1_1280.jpg)

"fact that he is a tremendously sore loser almost never relevant"

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Ahaha, how true... and awesome that it's written in a way that he'd recognize: a backhanded compliment.

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paper-tzipporah.livejournal.com

Peter Burke?

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It is just unfair for one person to monopolize the attentions of two people as amazing and attractive as Elizabeth Burke and Neal Caffrey like that.

(went the obvious route, haha, sorry!)

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applegnat.livejournal.com

Oh baby Tharkay.

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1) He has an entire rant about mercantilism that's been building up for years. Someday Laurence is going to piss him off with his stupid noblesse oblige idiocy just that little bit too much, and then, oh then. Tharkay can go on about the flaws of imperialism for days.

2) We all saw Sara, right? He totally has a thing for badass women. He gets SO HARD for Jane Roland. (If she invited him to join her and Laurence, he would be naked and between the sheets before Laurence could start stuttering, let alone stop.)

3) He doesn't like babies. No, really, it's not a front; he thinks they're loud and smelly and kind of pointless. He's still going to be an amazing dad.

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applegnat.livejournal.com

Oh no, you have killed me dead with the last one. I can even admit without shame that I would DIE to see Tharkay kidfic. * omg wants! *

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man, as I was writing that I kept wondering where Tanya and I left that baby-fic we started writing. or maybe it was

novembersmith? stupid commentfic, always getting lost.

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Granby! :D

And Chuck from Chuck!

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Five People John Granby Never Fell In Love With

1) Jane Roland

Captain Roland has been a captain for as long as John has known her, although he did meet her briefly before she got the scar over her eye. She seemed beautiful to him then; he was an idiot ensign at the time, homesick and wet behind the ears, and hadn't the faintest clue what beauty really is. He can recognize now what an incredible woman she is. He can also recognize that she would chew him up and spit him out in pieces is he were ever so fortunate as to merit a second glance. He isn't even jealous that she's bedding Laurence; as far as he's concerned, Laurence is the only man who could possibly be maybe almost worthy of her.

2) Jeremy Rankin

He was very young, and Rankin can be charming when he wants to be. John saw what he was like with his dragon before it could go any further, thank God. (He wishes it hadn't already gone far enough to hurt.)

3) Catherine Harcourt

She's always had that chip in her shoulder, and it never seemed worth the effort to get past that. By the time he realized it was worth the effort - that she was worth the effort, they were friends, and well. John always used to wonder what it would be like to have a sister.

4) Lieutenant Dayes

John knows the difference between sex and love; really, he does. It's only that sometimes he doesn't realize which it is at the time. He never missed Dayes once he left Laetificat, so that was just sex, apparently. He does feel a bit guilty that Dayes thought it was something else, but he can't do anything about it, so he doesn't dwell. He answers the letters Dayes sends, in the beginning, and then he's assigned to Laurence's crew and Dayes stops writing. John doesn't bother to tell himself that he isn't relieved.

5) Iskierka

Of course John isn't in love with Iskierka. She's a dragon, not a woman. He just… loves her. It doesn't matter how inconvenient or possessive or disobedient she is; he's always going to love her. The rest of the world can just sod off if they don't like it.

PS: hey, do you remember us writing a Temeraire babyfic in somebody's comments once? or was that

novembersmith? am I making things up? I kind of want to find it again.

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Awwwooohhh, Granby. D: I really, really love the Harcourt one. Bro/sis relationship, yess!

Oh, and I'm sure it was novembersmith because I remember reading it somewhere and thinking GOD, I WISH I HAD THOUGHT OF THAT. Was the baaby named Princess? I CAN'T FIND IT EITHER. I don't know where on earth it could be.

Or are you talking about that weird high school scenario AU where Laurence had to transfer to ghetto!high?

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yes yes yes, the one with Princess! augh, I cannot find it at all. THIS IS WHY I HAVE TAKEN TO COLLECTING ALL MY COMMENTFIC RANTS IN A .TXT FILE. but it only has tennisfic in it, woe.

THOUGH THAT HS AU WAS PRETTY EPIC TOO.

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okay, so, I used to make fun of my baby brother for wearing converses all the time, right? because they are stupid overhyped shoes that fall apart at the drop of the hat and make you look like some emo kid who cuts himself with his sister's razor. only Chuck Bartowski has to go around making them look good, and now I have the most amazing rainboots that look like red chucks, and my little brother now can rightfully call me a huge hypocrite. D:

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LOLOLOL. I admit, I am a Converse-wearing girl when I can afford it. Usually, they don't look so emo when I'm wearing my typical sunny Californian getup, hee.

AND AND AND I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW RAINBOOTS CAN LOOK LIKE CHUCKS. I require photos? :>

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haha well these were the arguments I mustered against the baby brother, idk if they're true.

it is weirdly difficult to take pictures of your own feet, but I did the best I could!

(http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a178/meretricula/?action=view&current=Photoon2010-05-14at1753.jpg)

(http://s11.photobucket.com/albums/a178/meretricula/?action=view&current=Photoon2010-05-14at1754.jpg)

THEY ARE THE BEST GALOSHES IN THE WORLD.

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mind = blown.

I want. Gosh, they are adorable! Are they made of rubber?

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yes! the brand is Dirty Laundry, and they also come in black and navy blue. (the laces are purely decorative, btw, the shoe is non-porous.) they weren't even that expensive, I think they were like $45 or something. I have trouble with calf-length boots so ankle-boot galoshes were basically a godsend.

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aramley.livejournal.com

Because I'm nothing if not predictable, Novak!

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I second this!

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failboat apologizes most sincerely for lateness. I was digging in my unfinished fic and found this and, well. better late than never? also sorry that it sucks.

1) Ana Ivanovic

Novak was media-savvy enough to realize it was a pity he and Ana had never quite gotten to the romantic phase of their relationship. They would have been the perfect couple, not to mention a walking advertisement for Adidas: two beautiful athletes from the same war-torn country, the first Serbians to ever win a major tournament, walking off into the sunset hand-in-hand dressed in matching practice gear. They were sort of even childhood sweethearts, if you squinted sideways at the facts a little.

Unfortunately real life wasn't exactly like a movie plotline, and the coincidences of his life and Ana's didn't make them lovers, or even particularly suited to each other. They were friends, maybe, familiar and fond of each other, in their own ways, which meant that Ana giggled at his jokes whether she understood them or not, and Novak did his best not to be an asshole when he teased her.

That was all they were, and all they were ever going to be. It was probably for the best, and Novak didn't mind; on reflection, he could recognize that Ana was beautiful, but also really not his type. He'd never liked any of her boyfriends, but that wasn't out of jealousy or bitterness. It was just that he could never manage to see any of them with her without reflexively thinking, Get your hands off my sister.

2) Andy Murray

Novak had a lot of fond memories of running around like an idiot with Andy when they were kids. It was tough on tour sometimes, even in juniors, and it was maybe worse for Novak than it was for some of the other kids, because he really didn't like being alone. Andy didn't have any problems with that, but he hung out with Novak anyway, and mostly he seemed to like it even though Novak always ended up getting him into trouble. They'd had a lot of fun.

Novak still wasn't sure whose fault it was that they stopped being friends when he started getting somewhere with tennis. In hindsight, it was really stupid, but - well. He'd thought that he couldn't be friends with the competition, and that Andy was jealous of him, and they'd lost a good two years of each other. They were never as close as they'd been before, either, even after Andy settled into the top ten and they mostly made up. So they'd sort of missed the stage where they were both hormonal morons desperate enough for sex to hit up their friends, and by the time they were speaking again, they were old enough to know better.

It wasn't something Novak regretted, exactly, especially since he could tell in retrospect that Andy's pathetic, really really obvious thing for Rafa had been going on since he was approximately thirteen and Novak's ego as a teenager would not have stood for coming second-best. Still, on the rare occasion that he got nostalgic for the hideous rite of passage that was his early twenties, he thought it was a pity that he and Andy had never had a chance to give it a shot.

3) Maria Sharapova

In the alternate reality where Novak and Maria were both completely heterosexual, they probably made frantic love like weasels the night he lost the US Open final to Roger Federer, got married a few years later and eventually adopted a few unfortunate orphans from Belgrade and Chernobyl. In the alternate reality where Novak and Maria were both completely homosexual, they would have dated for years to maintain each other's respective covers. After they retired, Novak would have been best man at Maria and Camilla's wedding.

In the reality they currently inhabited, where they sat together on the uncomfortable fence in between fucking men and fucking women, Novak fell head over heels for Maria Sharapova that night after he lost his first major final. He drunk-dialed his girlfriend at three in the morning from the filthy bathroom of a New York karaoke bar just to tell her so. (What he said was, "Jeca, Jeca, listen, I made a friend.")

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