Hello all; this is actually an important announcement from me to you.

I've been writing the next chapter as best as I can, but I keep coming up empty. At first I attributed it to simply not knowing the best way for the scenario to work, but after thirteen different drafts of this chapter (what, did you think I haven't updated in so long for no reason?), I realized why I was having such a difficult time.

I'm unhappy with the series as of now.

Now, I'm not saying that I'm unhappy writing this series; I love it, and I have huge plans for the story in the future. So don't jump to conclusions and think I'm giving up! Let me explain. Right now, I left you all off where Matt is taking Ash out to hang out with her for a day, correct? Matt and Ash's relationship has been one of the staple points of the series so far, and it's alluded to in every book so far; from their beginning in the first book, to Scorch's observation in the second, to the current Exo controversy in the third. So what's the deal?

Their relationship has ruined many parts of the book, and so I'm going to be breaking them up.

Now, before you freak out; I don't mean permanently, or even currently; in fact, their relationship by the current point in the third book should remain relatively the same. So, for current readers and shippers of Matt/Ash (Mash? Att? Wtf), you have nothing to worry about.

So what do I mean then? Well, let's start off with how their relationship has ruined things; in the first book, I wrote the beginning of their romance quite sloppily. I like to think I'm a great writer, not trying to boast; I've been writing an original book for possible publication, I script screenplays and films, I'm a damn good writer. Which means I also have to be the first to admit when I fuck up, and here it is;

The way I wrote the start of their relationship was total shit.

They were rushed into it. The subtle nods to it with the hellmouth and them starting to show signs of their affection were fine, but as to how the actual relationship started? It was basically, "Yo, we're here at the reef and our teammate might die, I kinda like you dawg" "Yih yah, bro, let's be an item" It was lazy, and completely jumbled together, and I'm somewhat embarrassed at how poorly I drafted it.

With having their relationship begin in the first book, Aria was shunted from a main character to a side character as the plot focused more on Matt and Ash. She's supposed to be an equal member of the team, not a sideshow for when nothing's going on with them. But instead, she rarely became a main perspective after that.

In the second book, nothing was ruined thankfully because the focus was on Fireteam Seeker. But now in the third book, almost all of the conflict between everyone has been driven by Matt and Ash and how protective they are of one another. They are the main characters, and everyone else is playing second fiddle; I can't have that. I wish I could be fine with it, but I can't continue writing in good conscience while the rest of the story sits like this.

So I'm going to be going back and heavily editing several chapters in the first and third book. The second book will undergo a few revisions story-wise that aren't related to Matt or Ash, and hopefully I come out of this with a better story. Until all the revisions are done, I'm not going to post the new chapter; I will let you guys know when I've finished, and then you can continue or go back and re-read the revised chapters.

I hope you all choose to stick with me here,

- Matteoarts