How it begins: The new year drabblefest
Hi! For the first drabblefest of the new year, I chose the theme "how it begins." These prompts are the first lines of novels, poems, and essays. Some are famous, and some are obscure things I found and thought, ooh, prompty!
As always, the prompts are just starting points for inspiration. Crossovers, AUs, and original characters are all welcome, as long as the result features a woman (or female of any species!) in the Star Trek universe. Let your imagination go where it will, and happy new writing year!
The rules:
1) Prompts are not exclusive. There is no limit on the number of people who may write about a prompt, and there is no need to claim prompts.
2) Post responses in the comments and include the lead character and your prompt in the subject line. If you choose a long prompt, you may use just the first few words.
3) Responses may be any length from a proper 100-word drabble to a multi-chapter epic. If the story is too long for comments, you may post it elsewhere and comment with the link.
4) There is no time limit for this challenge. I will return to index the responses in a week or so.
5) Please leave feedback, respond to feedback, and pimp this post around.
6) If your response is rated NC-17 or would require a content warning (for rape, graphic violence, etc.), you may post it in the comments here but you must include the relevant rating or warning in the subject line.
The Prompts:
1. I come from a country without snow and without raspberries.
Madeline by framlingem
Madeline, Hannity by tinocka
T'Pring by medie
2. Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.
Uhura, Gaila, Chapel, Winona by igrockspock
3. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
Gaila by jdphoenix
4. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
Janice Rand by jncar
Soleta (original Vulcan character) by medie
5. When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.
Tora Ziyal by jncar
Gaila - Mirrorverse by tristesses
6. The place I like best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it's a kitchen, if it's a place where they make food, it's fine with me.
Narada communications officer by ashen_key
7. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.
Winona Kirk by tosca1390
Naara (Degra's widow, Enterprise) by mareel
Number One by lullabymoon
8. We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.
Jocelyn McCoy by writteninhaste
9. The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.
10. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the obituary. The fact that it had my name on it was sort of a clue.
Uhura by fishphile
11. When my third grade teacher told us the universe was infinite and endless, I wrote down her words in my notebook, but I did not believe her.
Kelvin Crewwoman by shaxophile
Christine Chapel by irnan
Uhura by froda_baggins
12. When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all.
13. Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space.
14. He-for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it-was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.
T'Vhan (original Vulcan character) by anodyna
15. Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Madeline by snowyofthenight
16. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Jocelyn McCoy by tosca1390
Christine Chapel by lullabymoon
Amanda by jncar
17. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.
Amanda/Sarek by anodyna
18. I didn’t realize he was a werewolf at first.
Kira Neyrs by liminalliz
19. I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.
Winona Kirk by chaos_vaan
20. What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died?
Gaila by florahart
not!Gaila, Hannity by tinocka
21. You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Kassidy Yates by jncar
Amanda/Sarek by igrockspock
Amanda/Sarek by anodyna
T'Pring/Spock by medie
22. It is the saddest night, for I am leaving and not coming back.
Amanda by merisunshine36
23. That evening it was dark early, which was normal for the time of year. It was cold and windy, which was normal. It started to rain, which was particularly normal.
A spacecraft landed, which was not.
The Companion (TOS) by jdphoenix
24. You are not beautiful, exactly.
You are beautiful, inexactly.
25. I have been one acquainted with the night.
Number One - Mirrorverse by helvidia_p
26. The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I’d be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery.
Christine Chapel by somewhatcliche
27. She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
28. Is it autobiography if parts of it are not true?
Winona Kirk by malo_malo
29. I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
30. The servant girl, wearing a red, sleeveless blouse, brought in the samovar.
Number One by igrockspock
As always, the prompts are just starting points for inspiration. Crossovers, AUs, and original characters are all welcome, as long as the result features a woman (or female of any species!) in the Star Trek universe. Let your imagination go where it will, and happy new writing year!
The rules:
1) Prompts are not exclusive. There is no limit on the number of people who may write about a prompt, and there is no need to claim prompts.
2) Post responses in the comments and include the lead character and your prompt in the subject line. If you choose a long prompt, you may use just the first few words.
3) Responses may be any length from a proper 100-word drabble to a multi-chapter epic. If the story is too long for comments, you may post it elsewhere and comment with the link.
4) There is no time limit for this challenge. I will return to index the responses in a week or so.
5) Please leave feedback, respond to feedback, and pimp this post around.
6) If your response is rated NC-17 or would require a content warning (for rape, graphic violence, etc.), you may post it in the comments here but you must include the relevant rating or warning in the subject line.
The Prompts:
1. I come from a country without snow and without raspberries.
Madeline by framlingem
Madeline, Hannity by tinocka
T'Pring by medie
2. Ships at a distance have every man's wish on board.
Uhura, Gaila, Chapel, Winona by igrockspock
3. If you really want to hear about it, the first thing you'll probably want to know is where I was born, and what my lousy childhood was like, and how my parents were occupied and all before they had me, and all that David Copperfield kind of crap, but I don't feel like going into it, if you want to know the truth.
Gaila by jdphoenix
4. Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show.
Janice Rand by jncar
Soleta (original Vulcan character) by medie
5. When you hunt predators, the best camouflage is weakness.
Tora Ziyal by jncar
Gaila - Mirrorverse by tristesses
6. The place I like best in this world is the kitchen. No matter where it is, no matter what kind, if it's a kitchen, if it's a place where they make food, it's fine with me.
Narada communications officer by ashen_key
7. I had the story, bit by bit, from various people, and, as generally happens in such cases, each time it was a different story.
Winona Kirk by tosca1390
Naara (Degra's widow, Enterprise) by mareel
Number One by lullabymoon
8. We started dying before the snow, and like the snow, we continued to fall.
Jocelyn McCoy by writteninhaste
9. The thousand injuries of Fortunato I had borne as I best could, but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge.
10. I knew I was in trouble as soon as I saw the obituary. The fact that it had my name on it was sort of a clue.
Uhura by fishphile
11. When my third grade teacher told us the universe was infinite and endless, I wrote down her words in my notebook, but I did not believe her.
Kelvin Crewwoman by shaxophile
Christine Chapel by irnan
Uhura by froda_baggins
12. When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I managed to survive at all.
13. Time is not a line but a dimension, like the dimensions of space.
14. He-for there could be no doubt of his sex, though the fashion of the time did something to disguise it-was in the act of slicing at the head of a Moor which swung from the rafters.
T'Vhan (original Vulcan character) by anodyna
15. Far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the Western Spiral arm of the Galaxy lies a small unregarded yellow sun.
Madeline by snowyofthenight
16. It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife.
Jocelyn McCoy by tosca1390
Christine Chapel by lullabymoon
Amanda by jncar
17. You will rejoice to hear that no disaster has accompanied the commencement of an enterprise which you have regarded with such evil forebodings.
Amanda/Sarek by anodyna
18. I didn’t realize he was a werewolf at first.
Kira Neyrs by liminalliz
19. I come from Des Moines. Somebody had to.
Winona Kirk by chaos_vaan
20. What can you say about a 25 year old girl who died?
Gaila by florahart
not!Gaila, Hannity by tinocka
21. You do not have to be good.
You do not have to walk on your knees
For a hundred miles through the desert, repenting.
You only have to let the soft animal of your body
love what it loves.
Kassidy Yates by jncar
Amanda/Sarek by igrockspock
Amanda/Sarek by anodyna
T'Pring/Spock by medie
22. It is the saddest night, for I am leaving and not coming back.
Amanda by merisunshine36
23. That evening it was dark early, which was normal for the time of year. It was cold and windy, which was normal. It started to rain, which was particularly normal.
A spacecraft landed, which was not.
The Companion (TOS) by jdphoenix
24. You are not beautiful, exactly.
You are beautiful, inexactly.
25. I have been one acquainted with the night.
Number One - Mirrorverse by helvidia_p
26. The moment the door opened I knew an ass-kicking was inevitable. Whether I’d be giving it or receiving it was still a bit of a mystery.
Christine Chapel by somewhatcliche
27. She walks in beauty, like the night
Of cloudless climes and starry skies;
And all that's best of dark and bright
Meet in her aspect and her eyes:
Thus mellowed to that tender light
Which heaven to gaudy day denies.
28. Is it autobiography if parts of it are not true?
Winona Kirk by malo_malo
29. I do not love you as if you were salt-rose, or topaz,
or the arrow of carnations the fire shoots off.
I love you as certain dark things are to be loved,
in secret, between the shadow and the soul.
30. The servant girl, wearing a red, sleeveless blouse, brought in the samovar.
Number One by igrockspock