meta - Twenty-Five Firsts
Picked up from some random place, I dunno anymore. Probably some person's lj that I stare at? Basically you post the first line from your past twenty-five fics and try and draw some conclusion about your writing... So... I'm going for chapters as well, I guess? I'll not, I suppose. XD
Matching Red Slippers (DBSK canon-verse-ish)
For Changmin’s sixteenth birthday, they promise him a doll.
I'm establishing a time period, and introducing the doll motif right at the beginning. It's a rather slow start, in my opinion. It opens the question of: "they" and just... I like it. I think it's sweet and slow and the tone fits the piece, probably the reason why it's this sentence instead of some other one.
Hand in Hand (DBSK dystopia AU; JaeChun, HoMin, HoSu, Junsu/Hyukjae)
"Fuck!"
Uh. Well. I start out with dialogue! I go straight into the action, and in this case, the profanity is supposed to be jarring. It's supposed to cause a: "WTF?!" sort of reaction. And it's the reason why Hand in Hand's rated PG-13, really.
On Living (DBSK AU; HoMin, JaeChun, JaeMin)
This winter, Changmin walks home alone.
Again, a slow start. Setting establishment, narrator establishment, and just a general melancholy feeling I get, which is more of tone establishment again. It's... pretty boring actually. I think most of my openers are boring. D: This line actually comes from: 最近還好嗎? by S.H.E. It's a translation. It's also the line that spawned the entire story, even the story itself is based off of 蕭敬騰's 活著.
The Way Things Are (DBSK; JaeChun)
The first time they play, Jaejoong beats Yoochun in four moves.
So. Again, it's a boring sort of opening. I really suck at openings, I'm finding, and this is something I should work on. It's again, an establishment sort of sentence. A bit quirky, which makes me smile, and it just... is boring. D: Then again, this was a... "I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK LET ME WRITE SOMETHING TO TRY TO GET RID OF IT" fic.
To Tame a Voice (DBSK; None)
The first thing they teach Jaejoong when he enters SM Entertainment is time.
I really like this, even though it's a boring start, again. I think that it just. There's something about this line that just appeals to me, and maybe it's the fact that I'm establishing the time-frame and whatnot, but I just like it.
Decresendo (DBSK When the Enemy is the Self 'verse; OT5-ish)
Junsu has escapism refined to a fine art.
Again, just setting things up. Establishing this as Junsu's piece, mentioning escapism, to set up the fact that that's what's going to be Junsu's flaw, and again, a rather boring opening. I don't like this all that much, but it fits with the tone that WES 'verse started taking. I like the use of art here though, strangely enough. I think it's ironic and nice.
Fifteen (DBSK AU; OT5)
I was never the person to believe in ghosts.
This is... a pastiche of the Haruhi novels, which is why it starts out this way. I like it. I like the parallel, and I like the fact that it establishes everything straight out. On the other hand, it's so boring. Though this also establishes that I'm writing first person instead of third, which I tend to write...
Diminuendo (DBSK WES 'verse extra; OT5-ish?)
I: Grave-Allegro
Junsu doesn’t expect this.
I'm including the header because that is what this piece is supposed to start as. Diminuendo is intended as a parallel to Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, and so that reference ties in with that. Otherwise, there's the rather ominous sort of tone from the first sentence, that fits in with the first bars of that sonata. I don't like this fic, but I like the parallels I did.
The Knitter and the Cowherd (DBSK Fairytale Adaption; HoMin)
There was once a cow herder named Changmin.
Going straight into the plot here with this generic sort of fairytale-ish opening. Not exactly the most creative, but when I learned this legend, we didn't use: "Once Upon a Time" anyways, so "There was once" would have to suffice.
Regardless (DBSK WES 'verse; HoMin)
Yunho dreams of white sands and waves that never reach his feet.
Symbolism! I really like this. It's tied with the Yunho extra piece, and it's just... symbolic, which is why I start with this. Also because it starts with Yunho and that's just a bonus. It's not that boring, actually, since I get into the action with the dream... I suppose it's pretty good.
Fairytale (DBSK WES 'verse extra; OT5)
Listen carefully, children. Gather around and listen carefully, for I have only one chance left to tell this story.
Setting up the oral tone, really. It's... oral. I think that's all I can say. Also, a bit of mystery as to who the narrator is. It's a nice opening, and I like this opening a lot, and I'm not even sure why myself. D:
The Complications of Love (DBSK; Jae/?)
It’s not that Jaejoong doesn’t like the special moments they share, because he really does, but it’s mostly that the other has a tendency to shift in ways he can’t ever anticipate.
Straight into plot. This is a drabble-and-a-half, which is why I think this is a good opener, because it just goes straight into the point of the drabble, which is to establish Jae/Jae's hair. :)
After All (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeChun)
On bad days, Yoochun barely picks at his food.
Oh. I loved this fic, but not nearly as much as the general populous of the internet seemed to love it. No idea why. I like the opening though, because I use repetition a lot in this, and the fact that the ideas get established straight in the first sentence just tosses the story straight into people's faces. Maybe that's why people liked it.
I really really like this line though. I like the bad day motif. Need I say that I was listening to a certain song while I was writing this?
Untitled(DBSK prompt!fic; JaeChun)
"I think you're drunk"
Straight into the point of the fic. Establishes the drunkenness and the entire cause of the fic. Not the most brilliant statement/opener of all mankind, but pretty damn decent for a quick 20-30 write and edit. :)
Attachment(Super Junior (M))
Henry goes through bows faster than Hangeng goes through dinner ingredients.
Somehow, I suppose this really does establish what the tone is. The entire fic seems so ludicrous to me. My first SJ fic, and I'm not really in the bandom either, so I just... BS'd my way through it. I read a pimp-post, okay? And I read some fic to get the characterization ideas. And it's a drabble! And... violins!
Anodyne (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeChun)
Rooming together, there are aspects to Jaejoong's life that only Yoochun is privy to.
Ohhh, mysterious! I really like this opener. It goes straight into the point of the story, which is... not Jaejoong and Yoochun's secret romance, but rather Jaejoong's personal issues. There's mystery, there's O_o and whatnot, and I likes. A lot. In fact, Anodyne is probably my favorite. It is my favorite out of WES 'verse, that's for certain.
Plunging Downwards (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeMin, JaeChun)
Changmin is shivering when Jaejoong sees him.
Straight into the action. And a bit of a mystery as well, because why is Changmin shivering? I don't think I ever actually answered that question, but who cares? Probably a lot of people. I don't, because I don't like Plunging Downwards. I don't. It's. silly. And nobody understood what I was trying to say, which was that drowning imagery is not romantic at all.
The Quest for the Key to the Tower of Inspiration and Creativity (or TQKTIC) Part 1: The Sleeping Mountains (DBSK TQKTIC 'verse)
In the small town of Ternia by the Sleeping Mountains lay a man who had searched long and far for the key to the Tower of Inspiration and Creativity.
I hate this opener. It's fine as far as establishment goes, but I cringe because it just sounds stupid. So I cringe. And avoid this fic. And I should probably write the next chapter, ya?
Racing Against the Clock(DBSK)
He’s racing against the clock.
It's... straight into the action here! A pretty good start, and it sounds all ominous and sets up for the crack-explanation of doom. Is fun. Is silly. Could be better.
Taking Control of the situation (DBSK/Lollipop; Jaejoong/Unnamed Lollipop member)
Jaejoong was lip-locked with a lollipop.
I like this opening, it sets it up, it pokes fun at the lollipop cliche, and it sets up the stupid pun of doom. Actually, I really like this fic, despite the fact that everybody else hated it (probably because Lollipop was in it). It's... fun. And I think I pulled off the pun well. :S Whatever.
Camping Trip (DBSK; JaeHo)
"Why are we here?"
And that, indeed, is the question. Why are they (whoever they are, obviously JaeHo from the pairing description) whereever they are? A nice set up, imo. Probably not as good as it could have been, but this was a crack double-drabble... really.
Failure(DBSK; JaeSu)
This is loss, Junsu realized.
This was actually a re-write of another fic, titled To Have and Lose. Obviously, the question is: what did Junsu lose? (his voice, because I labeled this as Training-fic AU). It's melancholy, and establishes what's going in in very few words, a good thing, really.
Thirst (DBSK; JaeMin)
The sun was shining, the slats of the metal chair were burning, and who the hell just shoved ice against his cheek?
Again, straight into the action. Changmin's a fun narrator, and given the pairing descriptors, it's fairly obvious, probably who the narrator is. A rather boring opening that gets twisted into a much more interesting one... because who the hell did just shove ice against his cheek? I likes it. :)
The Spaces Between (DBSK/Tales of Phantasia crossover (with S.H.E. cameos))
There had been strangers in the store today; Jaejoong had doled out ten scrawny apples and the rest of the bread in the shop to the pretty blond girl-lady in the silver cloak.
So, what happens is chapter 5 was next, but before that were psychologist 'verse fics, but I would much rather pimp out this pretty piece, which really is one of my few pride and joys. It's a crossover between DBSK and one of my favorite RPGs of all time, Tales of Phantasia, and it's set in Midgard during the Valhalla war. I did tons of research and spent ages working on this fic, and then I never bothered to post it to a comm. because... it's a crossover with an RPG that even my gamer friends don't know about. I don't think that it's really... appropriate.
So the opening is... good. The focus is on the strangers, and the idea of ten scrawny apples and the rest of the bread. It's the idea of the war having taken a toll on supplies, and yes, it's just establishment, but in these lines is a wealth of research. Mint, the "pretty blond girl-lady," is about 17-18-ish, which is why she's a girl-lady, and one of her best armors during this time is the silver cloak, which is why she's wearing one. The Grocer in Midgard does sell apples and bread, though there's no shortage in the game. Apples are the most affordable food-source in the game, and bread is... bread. The idea is that Midgard's been in war for a while already, so strangers would be a new thing... so in this one sentence is a wealth of research.
In conclusion, I'm one of those people who establish things in the beginning. I don't jump into action much, sometimes, but my writing is more... slow. Not exactly a good thing.
(It's insanely late now, so I'll fix formatting later. Tell me, if you read it and there's a formatting error, what's wrong plox? sankies)
Matching Red Slippers (DBSK canon-verse-ish)
For Changmin’s sixteenth birthday, they promise him a doll.
I'm establishing a time period, and introducing the doll motif right at the beginning. It's a rather slow start, in my opinion. It opens the question of: "they" and just... I like it. I think it's sweet and slow and the tone fits the piece, probably the reason why it's this sentence instead of some other one.
Hand in Hand (DBSK dystopia AU; JaeChun, HoMin, HoSu, Junsu/Hyukjae)
"Fuck!"
Uh. Well. I start out with dialogue! I go straight into the action, and in this case, the profanity is supposed to be jarring. It's supposed to cause a: "WTF?!" sort of reaction. And it's the reason why Hand in Hand's rated PG-13, really.
On Living (DBSK AU; HoMin, JaeChun, JaeMin)
This winter, Changmin walks home alone.
Again, a slow start. Setting establishment, narrator establishment, and just a general melancholy feeling I get, which is more of tone establishment again. It's... pretty boring actually. I think most of my openers are boring. D: This line actually comes from: 最近還好嗎? by S.H.E. It's a translation. It's also the line that spawned the entire story, even the story itself is based off of 蕭敬騰's 活著.
The Way Things Are (DBSK; JaeChun)
The first time they play, Jaejoong beats Yoochun in four moves.
So. Again, it's a boring sort of opening. I really suck at openings, I'm finding, and this is something I should work on. It's again, an establishment sort of sentence. A bit quirky, which makes me smile, and it just... is boring. D: Then again, this was a... "I HAVE WRITER'S BLOCK LET ME WRITE SOMETHING TO TRY TO GET RID OF IT" fic.
To Tame a Voice (DBSK; None)
The first thing they teach Jaejoong when he enters SM Entertainment is time.
I really like this, even though it's a boring start, again. I think that it just. There's something about this line that just appeals to me, and maybe it's the fact that I'm establishing the time-frame and whatnot, but I just like it.
Decresendo (DBSK When the Enemy is the Self 'verse; OT5-ish)
Junsu has escapism refined to a fine art.
Again, just setting things up. Establishing this as Junsu's piece, mentioning escapism, to set up the fact that that's what's going to be Junsu's flaw, and again, a rather boring opening. I don't like this all that much, but it fits with the tone that WES 'verse started taking. I like the use of art here though, strangely enough. I think it's ironic and nice.
Fifteen (DBSK AU; OT5)
I was never the person to believe in ghosts.
This is... a pastiche of the Haruhi novels, which is why it starts out this way. I like it. I like the parallel, and I like the fact that it establishes everything straight out. On the other hand, it's so boring. Though this also establishes that I'm writing first person instead of third, which I tend to write...
Diminuendo (DBSK WES 'verse extra; OT5-ish?)
I: Grave-Allegro
Junsu doesn’t expect this.
I'm including the header because that is what this piece is supposed to start as. Diminuendo is intended as a parallel to Beethoven's Pathetique sonata, and so that reference ties in with that. Otherwise, there's the rather ominous sort of tone from the first sentence, that fits in with the first bars of that sonata. I don't like this fic, but I like the parallels I did.
The Knitter and the Cowherd (DBSK Fairytale Adaption; HoMin)
There was once a cow herder named Changmin.
Going straight into the plot here with this generic sort of fairytale-ish opening. Not exactly the most creative, but when I learned this legend, we didn't use: "Once Upon a Time" anyways, so "There was once" would have to suffice.
Regardless (DBSK WES 'verse; HoMin)
Yunho dreams of white sands and waves that never reach his feet.
Symbolism! I really like this. It's tied with the Yunho extra piece, and it's just... symbolic, which is why I start with this. Also because it starts with Yunho and that's just a bonus. It's not that boring, actually, since I get into the action with the dream... I suppose it's pretty good.
Fairytale (DBSK WES 'verse extra; OT5)
Listen carefully, children. Gather around and listen carefully, for I have only one chance left to tell this story.
Setting up the oral tone, really. It's... oral. I think that's all I can say. Also, a bit of mystery as to who the narrator is. It's a nice opening, and I like this opening a lot, and I'm not even sure why myself. D:
The Complications of Love (DBSK; Jae/?)
It’s not that Jaejoong doesn’t like the special moments they share, because he really does, but it’s mostly that the other has a tendency to shift in ways he can’t ever anticipate.
Straight into plot. This is a drabble-and-a-half, which is why I think this is a good opener, because it just goes straight into the point of the drabble, which is to establish Jae/Jae's hair. :)
After All (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeChun)
On bad days, Yoochun barely picks at his food.
Oh. I loved this fic, but not nearly as much as the general populous of the internet seemed to love it. No idea why. I like the opening though, because I use repetition a lot in this, and the fact that the ideas get established straight in the first sentence just tosses the story straight into people's faces. Maybe that's why people liked it.
I really really like this line though. I like the bad day motif. Need I say that I was listening to a certain song while I was writing this?
Untitled(DBSK prompt!fic; JaeChun)
"I think you're drunk"
Straight into the point of the fic. Establishes the drunkenness and the entire cause of the fic. Not the most brilliant statement/opener of all mankind, but pretty damn decent for a quick 20-30 write and edit. :)
Attachment(Super Junior (M))
Henry goes through bows faster than Hangeng goes through dinner ingredients.
Somehow, I suppose this really does establish what the tone is. The entire fic seems so ludicrous to me. My first SJ fic, and I'm not really in the bandom either, so I just... BS'd my way through it. I read a pimp-post, okay? And I read some fic to get the characterization ideas. And it's a drabble! And... violins!
Anodyne (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeChun)
Rooming together, there are aspects to Jaejoong's life that only Yoochun is privy to.
Ohhh, mysterious! I really like this opener. It goes straight into the point of the story, which is... not Jaejoong and Yoochun's secret romance, but rather Jaejoong's personal issues. There's mystery, there's O_o and whatnot, and I likes. A lot. In fact, Anodyne is probably my favorite. It is my favorite out of WES 'verse, that's for certain.
Plunging Downwards (DBSK WES 'verse; JaeMin, JaeChun)
Changmin is shivering when Jaejoong sees him.
Straight into the action. And a bit of a mystery as well, because why is Changmin shivering? I don't think I ever actually answered that question, but who cares? Probably a lot of people. I don't, because I don't like Plunging Downwards. I don't. It's. silly. And nobody understood what I was trying to say, which was that drowning imagery is not romantic at all.
The Quest for the Key to the Tower of Inspiration and Creativity (or TQKTIC) Part 1: The Sleeping Mountains (DBSK TQKTIC 'verse)
In the small town of Ternia by the Sleeping Mountains lay a man who had searched long and far for the key to the Tower of Inspiration and Creativity.
I hate this opener. It's fine as far as establishment goes, but I cringe because it just sounds stupid. So I cringe. And avoid this fic. And I should probably write the next chapter, ya?
Racing Against the Clock(DBSK)
He’s racing against the clock.
It's... straight into the action here! A pretty good start, and it sounds all ominous and sets up for the crack-explanation of doom. Is fun. Is silly. Could be better.
Taking Control of the situation (DBSK/Lollipop; Jaejoong/Unnamed Lollipop member)
Jaejoong was lip-locked with a lollipop.
I like this opening, it sets it up, it pokes fun at the lollipop cliche, and it sets up the stupid pun of doom. Actually, I really like this fic, despite the fact that everybody else hated it (probably because Lollipop was in it). It's... fun. And I think I pulled off the pun well. :S Whatever.
Camping Trip (DBSK; JaeHo)
"Why are we here?"
And that, indeed, is the question. Why are they (whoever they are, obviously JaeHo from the pairing description) whereever they are? A nice set up, imo. Probably not as good as it could have been, but this was a crack double-drabble... really.
Failure(DBSK; JaeSu)
This is loss, Junsu realized.
This was actually a re-write of another fic, titled To Have and Lose. Obviously, the question is: what did Junsu lose? (his voice, because I labeled this as Training-fic AU). It's melancholy, and establishes what's going in in very few words, a good thing, really.
Thirst (DBSK; JaeMin)
The sun was shining, the slats of the metal chair were burning, and who the hell just shoved ice against his cheek?
Again, straight into the action. Changmin's a fun narrator, and given the pairing descriptors, it's fairly obvious, probably who the narrator is. A rather boring opening that gets twisted into a much more interesting one... because who the hell did just shove ice against his cheek? I likes it. :)
The Spaces Between (DBSK/Tales of Phantasia crossover (with S.H.E. cameos))
There had been strangers in the store today; Jaejoong had doled out ten scrawny apples and the rest of the bread in the shop to the pretty blond girl-lady in the silver cloak.
So, what happens is chapter 5 was next, but before that were psychologist 'verse fics, but I would much rather pimp out this pretty piece, which really is one of my few pride and joys. It's a crossover between DBSK and one of my favorite RPGs of all time, Tales of Phantasia, and it's set in Midgard during the Valhalla war. I did tons of research and spent ages working on this fic, and then I never bothered to post it to a comm. because... it's a crossover with an RPG that even my gamer friends don't know about. I don't think that it's really... appropriate.
So the opening is... good. The focus is on the strangers, and the idea of ten scrawny apples and the rest of the bread. It's the idea of the war having taken a toll on supplies, and yes, it's just establishment, but in these lines is a wealth of research. Mint, the "pretty blond girl-lady," is about 17-18-ish, which is why she's a girl-lady, and one of her best armors during this time is the silver cloak, which is why she's wearing one. The Grocer in Midgard does sell apples and bread, though there's no shortage in the game. Apples are the most affordable food-source in the game, and bread is... bread. The idea is that Midgard's been in war for a while already, so strangers would be a new thing... so in this one sentence is a wealth of research.
In conclusion, I'm one of those people who establish things in the beginning. I don't jump into action much, sometimes, but my writing is more... slow. Not exactly a good thing.
(It's insanely late now, so I'll fix formatting later. Tell me, if you read it and there's a formatting error, what's wrong plox? sankies)