The little pieces of world building, and just the sentence structure alone makes this greatly appeals to me. That and the Hollow Men quote makes it all complete.
I've only really written one fanfic... but you can find it here http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8476612/1/After-the-FallNot a lot of fan fics with good opening lines I take it.
This one's from Honor Trip:
The fic starts from the end of the Cell Saga, and this is pretty much what everyone saw and probably thought while watching a teenage boy battle a supervillain for the fate of earth. It does a good job of demonstrating the powers at work here also.
edited 20th Nov '13 6:27:18 AM by FOFD
Short lines are easier to remember, isn't that so? Then the most memorable opening line is the one from Home with the Fairies:
What separates fanfics from novels in terms of opening lines? I hadn't really taken notice of it, but is it really that fanfics have bad openings or are we just associating the two because there tends to be a large amount of badly written material in fanfics.
I've only really written one fanfic... but you can find it here http://www.fanfiction.net/s/8476612/1/After-the-Fall
Yeah, it's simply a consequence of Sturgeon's Law being largely unfiltered by a publishing process, and of the really good writers with the immaculately-crafted opening lines being talented enough that they're making money from their work rather than writing non-profit fanfics.
Anyway, here's a few that stood out for me:
From Resonance Days - striking, if a bit melodramatic:
From Chaos Theory - establishes the premise in a fun, engaging way:
From Egg Belly - more of an opening paragraph, but it still fits together nicely:
I like just the opening sentence you quoted from Egg Belly. The next sentence is nice, but "As most things do, it started with sex." is a great opening line by itself. It has the same kind of hook that Jim Butcher's "The building was on fire and it wasn't my fault." does.
edited 19th Nov '13 5:44:42 PM by Madrugada
I love a good opening. I've found a good opening bit can help to illustrate the writer's skill level.
The opening should grab you and make you want to keep reading. If done well it can set the tone of the piece, and give you an insight into the themes.
Your mileage may vary, but here's an opening line from a dead fic of mine:
"Secrets. There are many things under the sun, many more hidden from it."
The story itself was about Team 8 wandering into a beautiful void in another dimension.
edited 21st Nov '13 11:04:30 AM by Nagneto
One man's heresy is another man's entire way of lifeLooked over some of my stuff to see if I actually had any decent opening lines, and the best I could come up with was this:
More of an "opening second paragraph", but does this count?
I'm Kyon, by the way.
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See, there's the power of the opening line. I want to read that now and see if the narrative tone holds. A story having to do with a beautiful void. Its mysterious, its shady.
I don't think that's the Mighty Thor Kyon, or is it? Either way, it fits Kyon's voice. Dramatic exposition, followed by an abrupt greeting from our narrator. I like it. What I like about Haruhi is how it can start off so urban, then shift back and forth from the supernatural side without missing a beat.
In other words, that strikes me as a very "Kyon" line.
edited 22nd Nov '13 9:18:29 AM by FOFD
I tend to put more weight on the opening scene as a whole than the opening lines. Good ones can help catch the reader, yeah, but it doesn't matter how clever the opening line is if the resultant scene isn't interesting.
Reaction Image Repository@FOFD, Awesome! If you'd like to read the rest of it, it's here. Thanks!
One man's heresy is another man's entire way of lifeHere's one from a fanfic of mine with a For Want Of A Nail premise:
edited 4th Dec '13 10:40:01 PM by Gideoncrawle
Bigotry in the name of inclusion is still bigotry.

A thread for opening lines, since they hook you into the fic you're reading.
Fan fics tend to get off easier than published works since most fans aren't reading for hooks. AU, OC, OOC, SI, het, crack, Yaoi, this pairing, that pairing, these things are usually given off in the summary to draw the reader in.
edited 11th Mar '14 6:45:02 PM by FOFD