lizbee | Twenty opening lines meme

The first lines meme (take the first line of your last 20 stories and see what this says about your writing), nicked from cidercupcakes. I made it a bit more than a line here and there, just to demonstrate that I am not bound by the petty restrictions of your memes. I TRANSCEND SUCH THINGS, FOR I AM --

Oh, never mind, carry on.

1. It started at the Quidditch final.

2. Police custody was every bit as dull as Holmes had anticipated.

3. "Surprise!"

4. "Right," said the Doctor, exiting the TARDIS, "it's 2259 – the rise of the First Great and Bountiful Human Empire. Only at this stage it's called Earth Alliance, and the 'empire' mostly consists of Earth, Mars, Io and a bunch of colonies. And who wants Io? It's rubbish."

5. Three days after my grandfather's funeral, I woke up thinking of Shanghai.

6. "I really am rather fond of you," said the Doctor, in an unexpected fit of post-coital affection.

7. They say that Martha Jones is going to save the world.

8. "—And there we were, chancellery guards, cardinals, the Celestial Intervention Agency, and me, all looking utterly ridiculous, truly the best and brightest of Gallifrey, and the High Monan looked us all over, and finally said, 'Lady President, your people are--'"

9. "Doctor."

10. Romana opened her eyes.

11. “Romana,” said the Doctor in passing one morning, “have I mentioned lately that I love you?”

12. 120 // Reset. Shutdown is an automatic system; statistical data and empirical evidence suggest that Sarah and John will continue to fight in her absence. Cameron's visual display goes dark. Cameron is absent.

13. Even outside the Citadel, the air of Gallifrey stank of ozone and burnt plastic.

14. "Romana? Are you in there?"

15. "He's coming."

16. The last time the Doctor had been in a secondary school, he'd been teaching physics and fleeing giant bats with Sarah Jane Smith, so it was with a touch of deja vu that he entered Park Vale Comprehensive. "I'm here for Luke Smith's parent-teacher interview," he said to the woman at reception, then -- before she could get the wrong idea -- added, "I'm not a parent. More like an older brother. Figure. Older brother figure. Sarah Jane was called away unexpectedly. Not so unexpectedly that she couldn't make other arrangements, though. I'm keeping an eye on Luke." He pulled the psychic paper out of his pocket. "I'm the Doctor."

17. "Are we going to be here all night?" Duggan asked.

18. "Great Rassilon."

19. Tegan opened her eyes.

20. Rose landed gracelessly, tripping over her feet and stumbling against a wall, while her head throbbed with unbearable pain.

MY CONCLUSIONS, LET ME SHOW YOU THEM: My habit of opening fics with either short sentences or single, brief lines of dialogue makes this meme a bit unsatisfying.