Rules: list the first lines of your last 10 published stories. See if there are any patterns yourself, or have other people say what they notice (aww that would be nice…). Tag up to 10 friends!

tagged by @ofmodernmyths – thank you!! 

tagging…whoever wants to do it! also @quillington @essequamvideri24 @feuillesmortes @somethingaboutsewing @redxluna @mihrsuri… whoever else follows me and writes fic~

opening lines from my very one-note fics, take one:

1.)

Anne hates
third-wheeling.

Or,
rather, she hates third-wheeling in certain circumstances.

With one
glaring exception, most of her present circumstances are fine:

One,

An
exclusive “pre-grand-opening” of a bar that resides on the rooftop of a posh
hotel north of the Thames; with a beautiful view on each corner (she’s already
walked its borders). On one corner is St. Olave’s Church, its clocktower lit up
with a bluish glow.

– best of the best & the worst of the worst (henry/anne)

2.)

Anne steps out of the office doors with a spring in her step– her father always gets her the most perfect gifts for her birthday, and the one he just gave her is no exception.

Thomas Boleyn’s assistant’s desk, which was (thankfully) empty when Anne arrived, is now occupied by its owner.

– redeux (henry/anne)

3.)

There’s no one at the check-in desk, but there is a notecard propped and folded that reads “Be back in ten.”

Henry, not being in the mood to wait ten, slides his numbered card next to the note and walks behind the desk and into the closet.

It is dark, although open, and failing to find a light switch he uses the flashlight on his phone to flick through the coats and their numbers, attached on the sleeves by clothespins.

Upon hearing a loud hiccup he nearly jumps out of his skin, lurching backwards, he looks down only to find a girl sitting on the floor, hand clasped over her mouth.

– keep myself awake (henry/anne)

4.)

From: 323-431-231

To: Katherine Aragon 

Sent August 20th, 2016, Saturday, 4:00 AM

Henry Tudor has tagged you in a relationship status

“Henry Tudor is in an Open Relationship with Katherine Aragon”

Press “1” to like

– whitehall university (henry/anne + gen)

5.)

It begins on a Saturday, a few minutes before noon and heavy with blooming June heat.

It begins at a threshold, like many new things do– but one that is, unexpectedly, ajar.

But there’s the number from the Facebook posting on the group page for UCLA rooms for rent, glinting in tacked gold right above the eyehole– 526, and so Anne knocks, holding the door handle with her unoccupied hand so that it doesn’t swing open under her firmly beating fist– being mistaken for a burglar would not be a good start.

– close quarters (henry/anne)

6.)

You have four new messages.

Hi, sweetie. You haven’t been picking up on your cell so I thought I’d try you here. Please call back, it can be less than a minute, [tearfully] just to let me know you’re okay—I’m worried about you. Love you.

Next message:

Hey man—again, so sorry, I had no idea that would happen. I didn’t even think that many people watched that show, it might be the—anyway. If you still want to get blackout drunk, maybe you’d have a more sympathetic experience at like… a gay bar? Just a thought. Let me know if you need anything, though, for real. Peace.

– dancing with our hands tied (henry/anne)

7.)

Elizabeth pages through the sketchbook on her lap, shielding her eyes from the sun with one hand.

She is her own worst critic, and art is not something that she feels is meant for her. But then, none of her classes feel as if they are for her, none thrill her in the way was hoping for when she first enrolled at Whitehall.

There are subjects she enjoys, and subjects she should enjoy but doesn’t. History, for instance, is mainly just reading, broken down it is a series of stories, and she has taken to stories like a fish to water since she was a child.

And yet she feels too wise and world-weary for each and every history course. History is inherently dishonest—the only one who gets to tell the story is the one who lives.

– between two centuries (henry vii/elizabeth of york)

8.)

From: AnneOrmonde@orpheusuniversity.edu

To: MargaretSavoy@orpheusuniversity.edu

Sent January 5, 2016, Monday, 7:09 PM

The “opportunity” sounds a little too good to be true, honestly. I don’t think I’ve ever heard of someone requesting a student to play for them privately, much less alone. Unless it’s a music therapy session or something.

– struck twice (henry/anne)

9.)

Anne’s New Year’s gift is presented to her with great pomp by servants as she shares the last course of supper with Henry.

The gift is hangings that he explains are meant for both her bed and bedchamber, the expanse of which is held on either end by pairs of liveried footmen: masses of crimson satin, cloth of gold, and cloth of silver stretched for their viewing.

– crimson (henry/anne)

10.)

Henry’s halfway through his coke and whiskey when a tiny brunette hoists herself onto a barstool three seats away from him, sliding an enormous purse (really, practically a suitcase, and white, to match her dress, he assumes) onto the matte black surface of the bar.

– so what would an angel say, the devil wants to know (henry/anne)