Valentine Challenge

[Linda]

I am offering a challenge with two prizes. The prizes are two DVDs, each with two TOS episodes on them. One DVD, I only played it a couple of times, has on it “Amok Time” (where Spock in pon farr goes back to Vulcan to marry T’Pring) and “Who Mourns for Adonais”. The other DVD, new and unopened, has “The City at the Edge of Forever” (Where Kirk has to let a woman he loves die to save the historic timeline) and “Errand of Mercy”. These DVDs contain two of the best TOS ‘romantic’ episodes!

The challenge is to be completed so the two winning stories can be posted at TriS on Valentine’s Day, February 14, 2011. Maybe all the entries could be posted! JustTrip’n has graciously offered to help me pick the two winning stories. Neither she nor I will be entering the contest, obviously. The only rule is to use one of the lines in the list below as the first line of your story. I have had this list for awhile but though I love the idea of writing stories using them, I just never got around to it. So I am giving these lines away in hope that someone else finds them intriguing.

Starting lines for nine possible Enterprise romance stories:

1) If it weren’t for Koss, Trip knew that he and T’Pol would not now be married and would still be back on Enterprise.

2) Old T'Pol knew he was within reach...her Trip...but he was not really HER Trip was he?

3) Chef was in love, but how was he to woo the object of his desire with delicious offerings from the galley while facing a limited supply of materials when his ship was virtually at war in the Delphic Expanse?

4) The latest vmail from Kov confirmed a growing suspicion of Trip’s that his Vulcan best friend was gay, and Trip wanted to let the poor guy down easy that he was not.

5) T’Pau knew all of Vulcan was waiting for their Chief Minister to choose a replacement for her deceased mate…but she really, really did not want to go there yet.

6) When Hoshi accepted the position of Dean of Alien Languages at the Vulcan Science Academy, she had no inkling that she would become such a “hot prospect” for half the widowed middle-aged males on Vulcan.

7) When Daniels recruited Malcolm through Section 31 for this mission back in time to a week before the Xindi attack on his home world, he was more than tempted to rescue Trip’s sister, Lizzie, whom he had always secretly fancied.

8 ) It was “suggested” to Soval by T’Pau, now that Vulcan and Earth were on equal footing, that it would be politically expedient for one of the high level Vulcan embassy staffers on Earth to take a human mate - and at this time, Soval was the only unmarried Vulcan in residence.

9) There was not much excitement on Enterprise, at least not since the days in the Expanse, so when Amanda Cole sat down at the computer in her quarters she was surprised to see a message addressing her as "Darling" - from a most unexpected person.

[Linda]

Um, number has a smiley but it is not any different from the other first lines. I just can't seem to get rid of the smiley. LOL, now I see. The number eight plus an ending paren IS the symbol that triggers the smiley.

[Alelou]

4) The latest vmail from Kov confirmed a growing suspicion of Trip’s that his Vulcan best friend was gay, and Trip wanted to let the poor guy down easy that he was not.

LOL. I hope somebody writes this one.

Those are definitely intriguing first lines!

[justTripn]

I need to do that one, even if it's not for the contest. (I have to help judge the contest.) That one is quite intriguing.

[Misplaced]

I'm not sure I've got the time to participate, but I have a question. Do you have to use the line exactly as written, or can you use it as an inspiration?

[justTripn]

Linda, can we have a ruling on that question? Also, Linda, has agreed to be a new Triaxian Silk administrator and we are happy to have her on board. Thanks, Linda, for lending your considerable talents (in library science, writing, and Vulcanology) to the site!

[Alelou]

That's excellent news. Thank you for doing that, Linda.

[EntAllat]

Arg! So many of these TEMPT me! But very likely I'm not going to have the time in January to do any writing.

If this project I'm waiting on doesn't pan out I'll console myself with writing on a couple of these.

[Kotik]

Now THAT sounds like a fun challenge And with two T'Pau lines, hell I'm gonna get a headache just from making up my mind about which one to use

[Linda]

Okay, Misplaced, you can use the line as an inspiration and not have to use my exact words. I don't want to cramp anyone's style or creativity by insisting on my on words. That would be terribly limiting! And...everyone can submit more than one story. And...like Kotik did with his challenge, it can be any length story (well not a nine hundred page novel!), a chapter of a story, a poem. Rules are so limiting but I suppose we have to have some. I just want to see what people will do with the ideas. Hopefully, people will find time to write something. Let's see. For the sake of JT's and my sanity, please try to get stories in by February 1? But the sooner, the better! Then we can possibly have them up on TriS by February 14?

[Linda]

JT, go ahead and write that story! Yeah, it would be ineligible for the contest...but no reason we can't post it!

[Distracted]

Um, number has a smiley but it is not any different from the other first lines. I just can't seem to get rid of the smiley. LOL, now I see. The number eight plus an ending paren IS the symbol that triggers the smiley.

Fixed.

[Brandyjane]

I don't know how I would pick just one line. Those are awesome!

[Linda]

Thanks, Distracted, for removing that smiley and putting in number 8 on my list.

[Distracted]

The trick is to put a space between the 8 and the ). Works every time.