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First lines meme	Mar. 30th, 2021 @ 12:34 pm

Swiped from

velithya

Rules: List the first lines of your last 20 stories (if you have less than 20, just list them all!). See if there are any patterns. Choose your favourite opening line.

Working backwards from most recent stories:

1) Kiss of the Rose: Nie Huaisang's marriage is just a way of solving a problem.

2) Sail Away Sweet Sister: Time has little meaning to the dead.

(I'm skipping one because it's in a weird format)

3) bespoke tailoring: Wei Wuxian tilts his head in confusion as he watches the scene unfolding in front of him.

(skipping another)

4) Just This Once: Wei Wuxian and his little gaggle of Lan disciples have finished their night-hunt.

5) a million suburban housewives: Jiang Yanli does not have a typical relationship with her only client.

6) never been a secret"Is there any way we can keep him from seeing it?" Jiang Cheng asks.

7) all the love once given: Wei Wuxian is getting used to being… back.

8) if you could see the man I am: Lan Wangji is twenty years old, and his boyfriend is dead.

9) vintage youth: The road surfaces aren't very good here, and the rumble of the tyres is loud enough to bury the sound of the radio until almost nothing is distinguishable under that and the battering rain.

10) Utterly Inevitable: Wei Wuxian used to tease Lan Zhan about how no-one could live in the Cloud Recesses, with all its rules.

(weird formatting skip)

11) weird and heavy: He never thought he'd be back here, not really.

12) snowmelt: The first time Lan Zhan kisses Wei Ying, it's almost an accident and definitely a mistake.

13) Though I'm Gone (Still Think Of Me): "This is why I called you," Jiang Cheng says, leading them to the strange talisman array in the cave.

14) No-One Else (As Much As You): "It's an outrageous insult to the Jiang," Wei Ying says as he sits down next to Wangji, who wordlessly takes the baby from his arms.

okay I am also going to skip the fics I wrote while high on painkillers

15) Papers, Please: Wei Wuxian examines the little book.

16) For Both Of Us (And Time Is But A Paper Moon): Jiang Cheng gives up on Zidian - he's not sure how that little shit managed to ward against it, but he did, and Jiang Cheng is going to beat answers out of him later - and switches to his sword, slamming Sandu hard into the doors.

(skipping for weird again)

17) Don't Turn Your Heart: The Lotus Pier guest lectures are quite different from those at the Cloud Recesses.

18) From The Edge Of The World: The day Meng Yao's life changes does not, at first, seem like it will be remarkable.

19) Flick Of The Wrist: "Name?" the flunky at the door asks, and he's somewhat offended, but he answers anyway.

20) The Lessons We Have Learned: Jin Chan has never liked Jin Rulan.

Hmm, patterns.

9/20 start with the viewpoint character's name.

What's somewhat notable to me is that there is some difference between how I start fics that are continuations of a series relative to ones that aren't. Series continuations are a lot more likely to run with the expectation that the reader will understand something of the framework/setting specifics, unless you're looking at ridiculous future bullshit entries, which are usually outsider POV and are going hard for characterisation of the viewpoint character.

It also seems to run a little bit in waves, because often it seems like a few stories in succession will have a similar opening style - but the stories aren't posted in exactly the order they were written, in places, so I don't even know if that's anything but coincidence.