#chenchatting

LMAO yeah I guess Ling would be too obv but you still speak to my heart in asking about Greed, you know I love that bastard (affectionate) too!

So I sat down to rewatch the episodes of 03 with Greed in them to make the most informed choices I could since it's been some years. (I even watched his 03 death again, just for you!) While I would say there are differences between my perceptions of their characters (as well as manga Greed), I don't think those differences impact the card at all. I appreciate all iterations of Greed similarly even if my opinions of them are different.

As for my different perceptions of their characters...

Alright bitch get ready 🔫

3 - Describe the creative process of writing a chapter/fic.

Have idea, usually formed from a question or observation.

Ask myself how that idea would work based on the characters I want to use for it, leading into character and world building. Don't bend characters to the idea, bend idea to the characters!

Make a loose guide/framework for the plot. Know the beginning, climax, and resolution at least. I tend to note down scenes/dialogue exchanges I want to happen during this phase as well.

Determine whether story will be a one shot or chaptered. I usually conclude chaptered because I'm a Wordy Bitch and when I conclude one shot, I always end up adding chapters anyway. (Looking at you, Landwalker and The Price We Pay.)

Make the plot framework chapter by chapter to see roughly how many chapters I'm working with. Sort any previously noted scenes/dialogue exchanges into the appropriate chapter. Make sure I know where to begin and end each chapter.

Start writing from the beginning until I reach the chapter end I want naturally. This usually leads to details/exchanges happening that I didn't initially plan for but can pretty easily work in. Characters have a mind of their own, after all.

I can't write out of chronological order, so if I get stuck on a scene, I can't just hop into the next scene and come back later. If I find myself stuck, I either reread what I have and rework it since something clearly wasn't working right, or in the case of just not feeling like I have the write words/mood for it, hop into either plotting or writing a completely different WIP.

I do edit as I go, meaning I'll reread what I wrote previously and edit as needed before I go into a new writing session. I also go through and reread the entire chapter once it's finished and edit then, too.

Then I move onto writing the next chapter! I won't post a chapter 1 until I have a working title, summary, and important tags figured out. I also won't post a chapter if I don't have a working title for it either. It's easier for me to know what happens in a named chapter than one just labeled with a number. The amount of stories I have a few chapters for already that are sitting in my folders because I have no working title or summary...

Whenever I decide it's time to post a chapter, I also will reread the chapter before posting to make any last minute edits.

11 - Link your three favourite fics right now.

OOOOH, so currently...

Greed's Guide to Making Friends (With Step by Step Instructions)- It's GreedLing and has a more 'witches and demons' take on things than 'alchemy and homunculi'. Yeah, it does have the EdWin tag on it but honestly it's so barely there that I can pretend it's not on the rare occasion it pops up. It's the one GreedLing exclusive fic I keep coming back to.

How Was I Supposed to Know? - This behemoth of an MHA fic written by my friend is another one I'm constantly thinking about and returning to. The second major story in a lengthy KiriKamiBaku series, starts around the beginning of their third year at UA and ends with them graduating.

City of Strays - I read this Naruto story a couple months ago and it quickly became one of my favourites! An interesting 'What if?' that I really enjoyed!

24 - Worst writing advice anyone ever gave you?

Never use adverbs. Ever. That's it. That was the advice I was given.

73 - What do you think makes your writing stand out from other works?

Ask and ye shall receive!

16 - How many fic ideas are you nurturing right now? Share one of them?

I have a lot of fic ideas floating around that I hop between (definitely in the double digits) but as for the ones I'm actively nurturing right now? Four. 2 FMA (A Heart Unmade, RF4 AU) and 2 MHA (Because I Can, Where Flowers Bloom).

As for sharing one of them, I do have A Heart Unmade up on AO3 if you'd like to go check it out! I'm currently in the process of editing and polishing chapter 4 before posting. It's EdGreed.

30 - Do you share rough drafts or do you wait until it's all polished?

I don't like sharing rough drafts. Those are for me and me only. I want it to be polished before I share with others! I am only one person though, and I have no intention of ever getting a beta, so sometimes things slip through the cracks. If I notice those things on a reread, I'll note it down and fix it up when I have the time.

51 - What's your total AO3 word count?

My total AO3 word count as of this moment is 689,012!

60 - Have you ever had a writer you admire comment on your fic? What was that like?

1. Rose Blue - Dreamcatcher

2. Eclipse - Moonbyul

3. Kidpid- 4MIX

4. Libby I’m Listening - Blue October

5. Circe - Lilith Max

6. Who Says? - LYKN

7. Confession - B.A.P

8. Halazia - ATEEZ

9. Lost Child - Bursters

10. Dirty Little Secret - All American Rejects

11. Shanghai Diva - Lin Bao

12. Damned If I Do Ya, Damned If I Don’t - All Time Low

Rules: Given a word, find a sentence in your WIP that starts with each letter!

The current WIP I've been focused on is in the structuring stage, so I haven't written anything for it beyond world building and a currently incomplete framework. I do, however, have a very lengthy chaptered WIP for an EdGreed story I've been working on that I will be pulling from! Thanks for the tag, @kattythingz !!

My given word: GIN

--

G: Greed didn't know if Edward even remembered his own existence.

I: "I view Ed as being just as much mine as he is yours, you know."

N: Not even Greed as a homunculus was exempt from being but a speck of one that comprised the vastness of all.

--

Rules: Give us the link to your fics with the most hits, second most kudos, third most comments, fourth most bookmarks, fifth most words, and fic with the fewest words.

This seems fun! Usually the tag games are the 'which has the highest' only. Thanks for the tag, @kattythingz! <3

Without further ado...

Most hits - Make Out About It, MHA ragtag polycule formation of Sero/Bakugou/Todoroki/Yaoyorozu/Asui in Sero's perspective (72k, complete)

Second most kudos - The Hag Knows Best, MHA KiriBaku from Mitsuki's perspective (18k, complete)

Third most comments - Odd One Out, MHA ragtag polycule but Yaoyorozu's perspective with focus on asexuality and queer platonic BakuMomo (60k, complete)

Fourth most bookmarks - Landwalker, FMA mermaid EdLing au (72k, complete)

Fifth most words - Odd One Out again.

Fewest words - It Started With A Spark, FMA EdLing modern au first meeting (6.5k, complete)

It's nice to finally see some FMA things of mine on a list like this lmao.

Ooh, the Winry shot Ed when trying to shoot Scar idea. That’s going pretty far back. I don’t mind if people take inspiration from smaller ideas like that! I view them kind of like prompts, yeah? No two people are going to tackle a writing prompt the exact same way because they are two different individuals with differing thought processes, experiences, preferences, and writing styles. Even with more specific prompts and ideas!

Poked by @kattythingz, thanks for the tag!!

◆ How many works do you have on ao3?

Currently, I have 18 works.

◆ Your top 5 stories by kudos/likes:

LMAO I'm not surprised in the least that all my top 5 by kudos is some of my old MHA things. Not sure I'll ever be able to escape anything from MHA being vastly more liked than anything else.

Monochromatic - krbk soulmate one shot

The Hag Knows Best - krbk one shot, pov bakugou's mom

The Pit Beast - krbk fantasy au one shot

Make Out About It - first story in the ragtag polycule of sero, bakugou, todoroki, yaoyorozu, and asui

A Dash of Chaos - krbk demon au

◆ Do you respond to comments? Why/why not?

I like to when I can! But it's difficult for me to respond if I don't feel like there's something in the comment I can volley from, you know? I try my best to, but I'm less likely to respond if I feel like my response is just going to be a cookie cutter "I'm glad you liked it, thanks for dropping by!" response.

◆ What’s the fic you’ve written with the angstiest ending?

HMMM, I've never really written more angst like endings? At least I don't feel like I have. Even if there's angst in the story, there's usually a more positive/hopeful ending. I'm not sure any fics I have with endings qualify for this, but I guess based on my plotting plans, To Be A Princess would end up having the angstiest of my endings?

◆ What’s the fic you’ve written with the happiest ending?

Now that certainly is a question. I look back at some of the things I've written, especially some of the shorter things that have no angst at all. And. I cringe. I am much better suited to long form where stuff happens instead of fluff and no angst. I guess the happiest ending would be A Warm Cup of Love (krbk one shot) though.

◆ Do you write crossovers?

Not currently, but I do have some crossover ideas I want to do with FMA mixed with other things! My current list of crossover plans are mixing FMA (edling or edgreed or greedling or edgreedling, not picky on which) with Valkyria Chronicles (the first game, potentially mixing some points I've read about from the second game?), Fallout (the vibes at least), and Dragon Age Origins (or 2, hesitant maybe on Inquisition, and Veilguard is not on the table!!)

◆ Have you ever received hate on a fic?

I haven't, no. I've never been the direct recipient of hate in other places, either. But let's just say there's a reason I'm no longer in the MHA fandom anymore.

◆ Do you write smut? If so, what kind?

I don't actively write smut, but I've written it before. It's been a few years since I have, though.

◆ Have you ever had a fic stolen?

Not that I'm aware of.

◆ Have you ever had a fic translated?

No, unless it was done without me knowing.

◆ Have you ever co-written a fic before?

No. There have been plans to, but they were all things that ended up falling through.

◆ What’s your all-time favorite ship?

I'm not sure I can point at only one of my ships and go "That's it. That's the one." Each ship has a reason I enjoy them, and those reasons aren't really comparable to each other. Since I'm currently in FMA: my love for edling is not comparable to my love for edgreed, and those are also not comparable to my love for greedling or for edgreedling. And none of them are comparable to my love for ships in other fandoms, either. There are ships I like, and ships I don't like. I don't make it a point to pick favourites.

◆ What’s a WIP that you want to finish but don’t think you ever will?

Honestly, probably My Own Way. Which was a Todoroki POV story in the Ragtag polycule series. I adore my little ragtag polycule series, but I find I can't really enjoy anything MHA related anymore. Even if it's my own silly little self indulgent AU.

◆ What are your writing strengths?

Personally, I think I'm great with world building! Making the world seem like an actual place characters live in and interact with rather than just a set piece. I'm also very detail oriented, and I keep close tabs on the characters and how they would view the world, not how I want them to view the world. You get me?

◆ What are your writing weaknesses?

LMAO ACTION (and smut but really what is smut other than a different type of action?) I can buckle down and write action when it's necessary. It'll be quite the ordeal, and I will physically map out a fight complete with tokens to represent characters just so I have a visual grasp on the people and the environment they're fighting in. It may take a while, but it will get done eventually. Doesn't mean I'll enjoy the way it kicks my ass though.

◆ What are your thoughts on writing dialogue in another language in a fic?

I'm personally in the "unless proper research that includes more than the hope that what google translate spits at you is correct, stick to writing your dialogue in the same language the rest of the fic is written in" boat. There's WAY too much nuance to languages and their regional dialects for it to be simplified into a catch all. I promise that with proper and in depth research, your fic can be culturally diverse without actively making character dialogue a different language than what the rest of the fic is written in. You can easily use a dialogue tag to indicate the language the character is speaking in while keeping the dialogue the same as the rest of the fic. Or if that feels off because the character POV you're working with wouldn't understand the words you want the reader to understand, then don't write the dialogue at all. Say the character spoke that language when speaking to another character also speaking that language, but the character POV didn't understand because they don't know the language. Show, not tell.

◆ What’s a fandom/ship you haven’t written for yet but want to?

I've got edling, I'm currently working on an edgreed, seems only fitting I write a greedling at some point.

◆ What’s your favorite fic you’ve written?