Dear Yuletide Author 2020

[firstlovelatespring]

Thanks in advance for writing for me! I’m also at firstlovelatespring on ao3. I’m requesting 7 vírgenes | 7 Virgins (2005), Attachments - Rainbow Rowell, The Inbetweeners, Mosquita y Mari (2012), and The View from Saturday - E. L. Konigsburg. I’ve included a lot of thoughts and prompts on these fandoms, but I’m really very easy to please, so I’m sure I’ll be thrilled with whatever you write, be that shipfic or gen.

DNW

• Explicit sexual content between characters younger than 16
• Incest
• Major character death
• PDA, especially in front of family. Public or semi-public intimacy that involves a risk of being caught.
• Pregnancy or kidfic (de-aging or giving the characters kids)
• Setting-change AUs
• Third parties to a relationship saying things like “be safe!”, or being over-invested or deeply involved in the ship.
• Toilet humor
• Unrequested gender/sexuality headcanons

General Likes

• 5+1 times
• Bed sharing
• Bodyswap
• Casefic or other canon-typical adventures
• Characters getting drunk or high together
• Fake dating
• Forced proximity
• Getting together
• Minor magical abilities
• Road trips

7 vírgenes | 7 Virgins (2005)
Tano, Richi

I watched this movie for a class a few months ago and since then it has taken up way too much space in my mind. I’d prefer fic set during or after the movie. My character death DNW is waived for Richi’s death; I don’t mind if you include that, or if you choose to canon-divergence it away. A happy ending is certainly not necessary here. Also, if you’re interested in watching this movie but can’t find it, I’ve got you covered.

• The scene after the wedding in that abandoned building is one of my favorite scenes in the movie. What if it had gone differently? (Is there anything that could have gone differently that could have prevented Richi’s death? If it really was predestined, how might death have followed him somewhere else?)
• Post-movie, I’d be happy with an AU where Richi doesn’t die, or alternatively something canon-compliant with Tano processing his feelings about Richi (platonic or not) after his death. Where does Tano end up when he can’t run anymore? If Richi doesn’t die, does Tano go back to his school after this weekend?
• If Tano were to do the 7 virgins thing, what would he see?
• Another of my favorite scenes of the movie was Tano’s brother’s wedding. I love the song Felicidad by La Cabra Mecánica, and that whole sequence was bathed in its glorious light… The wedding also brings up the theme of settling down, which Tano is clearly uncomfortable with. It would be interesting to read any interlude to the wedding, where Tano and Richi step away and talk or don’t talk or anything at all.
• Tano’s whole thing is that he will not grow up. (Can’t find the source for this, but I remember listening to an interview with the director where he said Tano is based on Peter Pan. He’s always wearing green, while with his girlfriend he mentions flying out the window, the (lost?) boys he hangs with out all wear blue... ) Richi talks about getting a job (growing up), and then pretty much immediately after is killed. You could say he left Neverland. Is there anything Tano could have done to make him stay? Or anything Richi could have done with make Tano leave with him?

Attachments - Rainbow Rowell
Lincoln O’Neill, Beth Fremont, Jennifer Scribner-Snyder

This is one of my favorite books; I've read it something like 15 times in the past 5 years. I find Lincoln to be an intensely relatable narrator, and Beth and Jennifer are funny and interesting in a way that feels real. I'd really be happy with anything that lets me live in the Attachments universe for a thousand words more. I’m fine if you don’t include all the requested characters - Lincoln/Beth(&Jennifer), Beth&Jennifer, or Beth/Jennifer (just ignore Mitch and Chris) would all be great. Here are a few ideas, but like I said, I'd love pretty much anything. Mentioning Jennifer’s pregnancy or baby is fine, just not a focus on it, please.

• Beth or Jennifer has an encounter with the supernatural and tells the other about it over email. I’m thinking: ghost sighting, witnessing magic of some kind.
• Extending on the previous prompt - I would love to read Beth or Jennifer experiencing something like turning into a vampire/werewolf or realizing their house is haunted and gradually telling the other about the process.
• What if Beth and Jennifer had met in college? If you can make Beth and Chris’s meet-cute work for Beth and Jennifer, by all means go for it. Or maybe they just meet working at the college newspaper. Beth keeps getting into arguments with the copy editor assigned to her movie reviews (or reviews of student theater productions?).
• Beth and Jennifer bodyswap. Does Lincoln, reading their email, notice? Do they talk openly about it, or are they afraid of being picked up by the email filter?
• Lincoln’s housewarming party! Such an interesting mix of people in attendance.
• Beth meeting Lincoln’s mom. What a fantastically awkward dinner that must have been. In the book I loved all the descriptions of Lincoln’s mom’s cooking, so that would also be fantastic.
• After Lincoln quits working for The Courier, the narration mentions offhand that he keeps reading Beth’s movie reviews, trying to guess how her personal life is going based on how hard she is on rom-coms, etc. It would be very cool to read Beth’s reviews interspersed with moments from her life, or from Lincoln’s life.
• The above prompt would also be great after they get together. Would Lincoln come along with Beth when she goes to see movies that she’s going to review? Or is he too distracting. Either way, I love that they can keep up with each other in the movies department.
• AU where Beth and Jennifer are a couple, and still work together at The Courier and email about all the same things. How long does it take Lincoln, reading their email, to realize? (Could still feature Lincoln’s crush on Beth, but please no thoughts of “lesbians, hot!”) Given The Courier’s editorial stance (“How can someone who eats Salsa Verde Doritos so vehemently oppose gay marriage?”), I could totally see Beth and Jennifer coming up with some kind of code to talk at work, which would only confuse Lincoln more. Also, I know I said to ignore Chris, but I do think it would be funny if in this scenario he’s Beth’s ex they constantly make fun of.
• I would love to see Beth meet Eve or Christine.

The Inbetweeners
Will Mckenzie, Simon Cooper

I didn’t expect to like this show, or to have any feelings about its characters, but here I am… I like that Simon and Will have some moments of real friendship among the comparatively more chaotic antics of their friend group, and that Simon actually seems to like Will more than Jay or Neil. I think when it’s just the two of them, they’re both more toned down and less annoying. I do ship it, but I’m also happy to read about them just as friends. My least favorite part of this show is the secondhand embarrassment and gross humor - if possible I would not like to read a lot of that in fic.

• Forced proximity. Maybe the two of them on a long drive together, or together keeping watch for some ill-advised plan, or physically stuck somewhere (in school overnight?). If it’s a more voluntary form of forced proximity like being in the car, I could see both of them (especially Simon) pretending to be annoyed at having to do this but actually enjoying the time together.
• Will starts hanging out with another friend group at school (is this unrealistic already? maybe) and at first Simon, Jay, and Neil are happy to be rid of him. But then they realize, especially Simon, that they actually miss Will and, you know, like him. Simon has to swallow his pride and ask for Will to come back.
• I love the idea of Simon and Will (and maybe also Jay and Neil if you want) having a list of things they want to do before high school ends, or the summer after high school. It would be cool to see this in a sort of 5 times format, or just generally some items on the list going as you would expect and some not!
• Will doing Yuletide. I can’t imagine Will talking about fanfiction/fandom to Neil and Jay or to his mother, but maybe to Simon!
• Christmas Prom! I can’t exactly see them dancing together or having a big public moment, but I would love a private moment - Will comforting Simon after things go badly with Carli, Simon helping Will set up or fix something for the party. Or even… they go off somewhere to take care of something, and the song that Jay was supposed to play for Simon and Carli comes on, and instead it’s Simon looking at Will.
• After Christmas Prom, on the trampoline. I wanted that moment before Neil and Jay show up to last just a bit longer.

Mosquita y Mari (2012)
Yolanda, Mari

This is a perfect movie. I remember reading that the director said it’s based on intense relationships she had with other girls in high school that she didn’t realize were probably gay until later, and I think that really comes through in the movie. Fantastic. I’m certainly writing these prompts with my ship goggles on, but I think most of them can also be applied platonically, or with some degree of ambiguity like in the movie itself. I don’t mind if you allude to sex, but please fade to black. Also, if you're in the US, this movie is available on tubi!

• The scene where Yolanda and Mari take a nap at Yolanda’s - what if Yolanda’s parents hadn’t come home then? I think if Yolanda were to anything out loud, Mari would freak out and leave, but if she didn’t... (Let’s pretend her parents are out of town or something; I really don’t like having the thought that they might come home any minute hanging over the characters’ heads)
• 5 times Yolanda and Mari studied geometry, and 1 time they didn’t.
• Mari: cool and (maybe pretending to be?) experienced with boys. Yolanda: made to feel bad about her inexperience by her other friends. That place with the old cars: secluded.
• Also, the scene where Mari changes clothes in front of Yolanda - obviously it’s not private, her sister comes in and interrupts, so I can’t imagine anything happening, but what are they both thinking here? I can kind of imagine Mari feeling Yolanda’s eyes on her and feeling powerful and cool, but also… is there anything underneath that?
• The geometry final. A good grade kind of felt like Mari apologizing. Or maybe not even that, just saying that she does care about Yolanda, even if things in her life right now are making it difficult to be around her.
• Post-movie, what happens that summer?
• I also love, post-movie, the idea of them meeting again 10 or 20 years in the future, especially if Mari ends up moving or changing schools or something and that last scene of the movie is the last time they see each other. Have they recontextualized this relationship in memory already? Or is it only seeing the other again that makes all the pieces fall into place? If you want to take this in a getting-together direction, I’d prefer that they’re not married or otherwise partnered when they meet, but I could also see this happening where one or both of them is already married, and the conversation makes the POV character see their past relationship in a whole new light and think about what could have been.

The View From Saturday - E.L. Konigsburg
Ethan Potter, Julian Singh

This book was a childhood favorite, and I reread this year and still love it. I like Ethan/Julian, but I would also be happy with any of these prompts applied to Ethan & Julian, or all four of the Souls.

• Magic, real or of the sleight-of-hand variety. Julian teaching Ethan and the others, all of them undertaking the learning process together, or each (both) of them discovering their own types of magic in their daily lives.
• The summer after high school. They are preparing to go their separate ways, but before that—there is this final, sweet summer. Maybe in high school the Souls have drifted apart, and this is the story of how they come back together again.
• The Souls (or just Ethan and Julian) decide they are going to do a Project. Maybe some sort of renovation of the Sillington House, or planting a vegetable garden, anything.
• The Sillington House is a little bit haunted. The Souls hold a seance, or try to find out what unfinished business the ghost has in order to at least coexist with it, if not befriend it.
• Noah and Nadia move on (to college, or even just other social circles in high school) and Ethan and Julian don’t. Would be super interesting to see how the dynamic of their relationship changes when it goes from four to two.
• Five times Ethan was invited to tea, and one he wasn’t. (Or any other flavor of five times or through-the-years fic.)

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know if this is kosher, but I think you might like this View from Saturday fic: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1628969 (I didn't write it, I just ran across it after my last re-read and loved it.)

[firstlovelatespring]

It's kosher to me! Thank you!