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Post the first line from your 25 most recent fanfics and try to find a pattern. Taken from ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jedibuttercup
1. Rey had thought that now they knew where Luke Skywalker was, someone would take off immediately to find him.
What Once Was Lost, Star Wars: TFA
2. Talia's memories are not (exactly) Swiss cheese, despite the jokes and random references she sometimes can't help overhearing.
Pieced Together (the Memory Remix), Babylon 5
3. Savannah had to leave for work before him, this morning, so Derek scrambled eggs for both of them while she showered.
The Genetics Factory, Criminal Minds/Stargate
4. Finn scrambled to his feet.
Past Lives, Star Wars: TFA and Clone Wars (which I REALLY need to get back to writing).
5. "Miss Roberts, hello, come in!"
Rose in the Spring, Marvel's Agent Carter.
6. The thing about Force-ghosts—or whatever the proper term was, neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda ever said—was that they didn't feel like living beings.
Ghost Stories, Star Wars: RotJ.
7. Nadya stared out the window, embroidery forgotten in her lap.
The Princess in the Tower, Vorkosiverse.
8. This was, by far, the least favorite part of Maria's job with Stark Industries.
Upper-Level Management, MCU
9. Gonturan was no ordinary sword when she was forged; but she was not very much out of the common way, either.
Gonturan's Story, The Hero and the Crown.
10. She had begun dreaming of Luthe.
The Hero's Road, The Hero and the Crown.
11. Bob squinted against the spotlight at a vaguely familiar face in the crowd and almost missed his cue to come in.
The Ones I Used To Know, White Christmas/Agent Carter
12. "Honey, I'm home!" he said as he stepped through the brownstone's front door.
12 Days After, 12 Angry Men
13. Stiles had heard it all before.
Risk/Reward, Teen Wolf
14. The first thing that Newt noticed about Doctor Hermann Gottlieb was that he was a neat freak.
All the Colors of the Rainbow, Pacific Rim.
15. The first thing a Ranger must learn—a Human ranger, that is—is Minbari.
Finding the Words (the Stranger in a Strange Land Remix), Babylon 5.
16. Fedosia Vorkosigan did not often see her son.
The Offer, Vorkosiverse.
17. Delenn looked down at the table as her acolyte set the tea in front of her and intoned the proper blessing.
In Valen's Name, Babylon 5.
18. For one awful, drawn-out, smoke-filled moment, Angie missed the Griffith.
hey good looking, what's cooking, Agent Carter.
19. When Jarvis showed them in to the swank "apartment" he's letting them use on Howard Stark's dime, Angie was incredulous.
In the Apartment After the War, Agent Carter.
20. She found him on top of the pyramid, sitting on one of the big stone blocks, watching the sky above.
Heroes and History, Star Wars: ANH.
21. The first time Jervis went to the factory with his father as a boy, the foreman introduced them to a man named Grafton, who bowed and held his cap in his hand when he approached them.
What He Was Thinking, Daddy Long-Legs.
22. Danny has always known he was different—his mom says (and his dad said when his dad was alive to say anything) that he's special, but he's smart enough to figure out what they meant.
Intuition and Ingenuity, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
23. T'Shael's decision to accompany Cleante back to Earth was easily made but not, in the end, easily accomplished.
The One Great Choice, Star Trek: Dwellers in the Crucible.
24. Deanna gritted her teeth, shielded her mind, and stared down at the class work on the PADD in front of her with as much focus as she could muster.
A Daughter of the Fifth House, Star Trek: TNG.
25. When T'Lar rose from her morning veneration to the gods of her ancestors, Madam T'Vas was standing just outside the shrine, head bowed respectfully.
The Mountain Rose Before Me, Star Trek: TOS.
And try to find a pattern:
* Include dialogue: 2
* Present vs Past Tense: 3 vs 22
* Include at least one comma, colon, semicolon, ellipsis, or parenthetical: 19
* Include name of POV character: 20
LOTS of female protagonists, and several male characters of color. This is not an accident; all other things being equal, I consciously weight both my writing and my reading against white men. It's not that I avoid writing/reading about them, exactly, just that if I have two plot bunnies I could write and one of them is a white man and one is a woman or a person of color, I will generally choose the woman or POC. And if there are two ficathons at the same time that I am both interested in and have the time to write for, I'm more likely to choose one that's female-focused or COC-focused. There's more than enough media and fan focus on the white male characters, they don't need another fangirl writing for them.
Also, it is hilarious to me that four of the stories start out with "The first thing/time ..."
jedibuttercup 1. Rey had thought that now they knew where Luke Skywalker was, someone would take off immediately to find him.
What Once Was Lost, Star Wars: TFA
2. Talia's memories are not (exactly) Swiss cheese, despite the jokes and random references she sometimes can't help overhearing.
Pieced Together (the Memory Remix), Babylon 5
3. Savannah had to leave for work before him, this morning, so Derek scrambled eggs for both of them while she showered.
The Genetics Factory, Criminal Minds/Stargate
4. Finn scrambled to his feet.
Past Lives, Star Wars: TFA and Clone Wars (which I REALLY need to get back to writing).
5. "Miss Roberts, hello, come in!"
Rose in the Spring, Marvel's Agent Carter.
6. The thing about Force-ghosts—or whatever the proper term was, neither Obi-Wan nor Yoda ever said—was that they didn't feel like living beings.
Ghost Stories, Star Wars: RotJ.
7. Nadya stared out the window, embroidery forgotten in her lap.
The Princess in the Tower, Vorkosiverse.
8. This was, by far, the least favorite part of Maria's job with Stark Industries.
Upper-Level Management, MCU
9. Gonturan was no ordinary sword when she was forged; but she was not very much out of the common way, either.
Gonturan's Story, The Hero and the Crown.
10. She had begun dreaming of Luthe.
The Hero's Road, The Hero and the Crown.
11. Bob squinted against the spotlight at a vaguely familiar face in the crowd and almost missed his cue to come in.
The Ones I Used To Know, White Christmas/Agent Carter
12. "Honey, I'm home!" he said as he stepped through the brownstone's front door.
12 Days After, 12 Angry Men
13. Stiles had heard it all before.
Risk/Reward, Teen Wolf
14. The first thing that Newt noticed about Doctor Hermann Gottlieb was that he was a neat freak.
All the Colors of the Rainbow, Pacific Rim.
15. The first thing a Ranger must learn—a Human ranger, that is—is Minbari.
Finding the Words (the Stranger in a Strange Land Remix), Babylon 5.
16. Fedosia Vorkosigan did not often see her son.
The Offer, Vorkosiverse.
17. Delenn looked down at the table as her acolyte set the tea in front of her and intoned the proper blessing.
In Valen's Name, Babylon 5.
18. For one awful, drawn-out, smoke-filled moment, Angie missed the Griffith.
hey good looking, what's cooking, Agent Carter.
19. When Jarvis showed them in to the swank "apartment" he's letting them use on Howard Stark's dime, Angie was incredulous.
In the Apartment After the War, Agent Carter.
20. She found him on top of the pyramid, sitting on one of the big stone blocks, watching the sky above.
Heroes and History, Star Wars: ANH.
21. The first time Jervis went to the factory with his father as a boy, the foreman introduced them to a man named Grafton, who bowed and held his cap in his hand when he approached them.
What He Was Thinking, Daddy Long-Legs.
22. Danny has always known he was different—his mom says (and his dad said when his dad was alive to say anything) that he's special, but he's smart enough to figure out what they meant.
Intuition and Ingenuity, Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles.
23. T'Shael's decision to accompany Cleante back to Earth was easily made but not, in the end, easily accomplished.
The One Great Choice, Star Trek: Dwellers in the Crucible.
24. Deanna gritted her teeth, shielded her mind, and stared down at the class work on the PADD in front of her with as much focus as she could muster.
A Daughter of the Fifth House, Star Trek: TNG.
25. When T'Lar rose from her morning veneration to the gods of her ancestors, Madam T'Vas was standing just outside the shrine, head bowed respectfully.
The Mountain Rose Before Me, Star Trek: TOS.
And try to find a pattern:
* Include dialogue: 2
* Present vs Past Tense: 3 vs 22
* Include at least one comma, colon, semicolon, ellipsis, or parenthetical: 19
* Include name of POV character: 20
LOTS of female protagonists, and several male characters of color. This is not an accident; all other things being equal, I consciously weight both my writing and my reading against white men. It's not that I avoid writing/reading about them, exactly, just that if I have two plot bunnies I could write and one of them is a white man and one is a woman or a person of color, I will generally choose the woman or POC. And if there are two ficathons at the same time that I am both interested in and have the time to write for, I'm more likely to choose one that's female-focused or COC-focused. There's more than enough media and fan focus on the white male characters, they don't need another fangirl writing for them.
Also, it is hilarious to me that four of the stories start out with "The first thing/time ..."
