Hey guys! (this is reposted from my A03 so not all of it will make sense btw)

I'm really sorry I haven't been able to get out a solid chapter for Instances out in a while. I feel bad for the people who were regulars of the story. I'm not quitting this fic, I'm absolutely going to finish it, its just gonna be a longer process than I anticipated.

I know I said I wasn't going to do this, but since I already have 50 pages worth of my second long fic sitting ready I thought I might post a bit of that until I'm able to get Instances back on track. I want you guys to have something, yknow?

Anyway-here's some intro/thoughts on my second fic. I think this stuff is pretty interesting! I've separated these into sections so you can jump around if you want.

SELF CRITIQUE (CONS OF INSTANCES + MOVING FORWARD)

First off, Instances was not only my first fic, but also my first fiction story ever. Simply because of the fact that I had very little experience in writing (fiction especially) I knew that Instances was not going to be a masterpiece. I want my second fic to be better than my first! To do that I wanted to critique Instances and pinpoint exactly what could be improved on. Here's what I came up with:

1. Plot: I wanted Instances to feel like the traditional Fairy Tail mission... so, logically, I put them on a traditional Fairy Tail mission. I don't think this worked in my favor. It doesn't translate well to long and written stories and I don't think I have the skill to make it interesting.

2. Characters: I wanted to make the characters believably themselves while still removing some of the stupider parts and inputting some of my own ideas. Natsu is emotional and dumb, but he's also sweet and honest. I added the nature-loving (plausible) and the fashionable (completely made up). I think this was okay. My characterization could have been a little stronger on specific fronts but I don't think this was a minus.

3. Romance: Now, I'm conflicted here. When I started this story I was kinda just tryna make smut, but... that didn't happen. I went for the slow game. Now, I dunno if this is true or not, but I feel as though I downplayed their initial hatred for each other and pretty suddenly introduced romance. I feel like it went "we're tight -we're homies fr -we fuck each other" pretty suddenly. I could be wrong idk.

4. Grammar: It took me WAY too long to realize how commas work inside of dialogue. Oops.

Now, instead of these things I want to:

1. Plot: I want a simpler plot that allows the characters to interact with each other without something else getting in the way. The plot will put character interaction before simple good/bad physical fights. The conflict will not be a monster, rather it will be emotional/between each other.

2. Characters: I want to give the characters negative traits that add to the conflict. As the characters figure shit out together these negative traits will be mitigated/dealt with/replaced.

3. Romance: I want the romance to be believable. There will be more emphasis on WHY these characters like each other alongside the actions they take.

SELF CRITIQUE (PROS OF INSTANCES)

There were some things I really liked! I also wanted to list those so I could keep doing them.

1. Description: Maybe this wasn't as strong in the beginning, but by the time that ice room and storm battle first happens I really think I started to emphasize the description of scenery and whatnot. It worked really well. I'm actually decently proud of that storm battle chapter-and the description pushes all of it. I want to continue doing this and even doing more/being more in-depth.

2. Stereotypes/Tropes: I've read quite a few Gratsu fics and-let's be honest-most of them are written by and for straight girls. I'm not a girl so a lot of the things put into most fics bounced right off of me. I wanted to avoid a lot of these trends. (Stuff like the bottom being "inherently womanlike" and a complete lack of understanding of gay sex. I also once read a fic that asserted that bi people were bi because they weren't attracted to trans people [I'm trans] which is extraordinarily incorrect.) I think I did well at representing an honest relationship between two men. I didn't want to ignore the whole gay thing, it's a part of the relationship, but I didn't want to hover over it either. I DEFINITELY did not want to make either of them unsure of their identities. I really wanted that, "I'm bi", "sick me too" attitude and I think I did that. I also wanted to avoid a lot of the sex-based tropes seen in a lot of fics. They're fun sometimes, sure, but I wanted to break away from them and I did that pretty well.

3. Dialogue: I feel as though the dialogue made sense, it showed the personality of each of the characters, and felt relatively natural. I wanna keep that up.

NEW FIC SUMMARY

The new fic is named "Living With Each Other"

"As a relatively chilly autumn was on its way out, Fairy Tail received a strange mission request. Most missions centered around fighting, investigating, or maybe bodyguarding. This one didn't fit any of those descriptors."

The boys get a strange mission, and its gonna change everything. I can't say much more without spoilers but the gist is understandable after the first chapter... which you can see right on my account! First chapter is going up immediately after this. I really hope you check it out.

THANKS

I really, genuinely am appreciative of all the support I've gotten for this fic. I wasn't expecting it. I hope you guys continue to like what I (sparsely) put out. Check out the new fic! Comments, kudos, all that kinda stuff is very much appreciated by me. I do read all the comments! Imma try to start responding to all of them from now on.

Thanks :)