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Tonight's chapter is finished, though I still wanna do a last proofread, but I might not be able to post it until after midnight (CST) since I'm working tonight. We'll see!

If you missed it, a chapter got posted last week as well.

#shut up sky #unearthed behind the scenes

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I probably should have posted sooner rather than 2:30CST, but I was hoping things would improve. They have not. Unfortunately I've been facing health issues that have made writing (or producing any art, really, I haven't finished a drawing in two weeks) extremely difficult so even fic updates are difficult.

I'm hoping things will improve and will try to chip away as is. For the two people who actually check this out for Unearthed, I hope you can understand.

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No Unearthed update tomorrow unfortunately. Won't be able to post it.

#shut up sky

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Unearthed Revision - Chapter 6 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 6 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Woof, I forgot to post this. I have art I’m gonna scan tomorrow, hopefully more engaging than these posts. Art is harder for me these days but it’s still fun!

Minor spoilers ahead!

Where to begin. I definitely put off this chapter until last minute, as you can tell by the timing. But I really do like it. It’s probably the most adjusted chapter of the rewrite so far, with a lot more character changes and such.

One of the biggest things I’ve changed is Max in general--as I’ve gotten older it’s really hit me that Max failed Ben in a lot of ways as one of his main parental figures and Ben is going to be facing repercussions because of it. Max isn’t some comical villain or anything, just a man who makes mistakes and falls into old habits.

Part of this is specified when Max makes a decision and no one but Rook--who has the most to lose being a Plumber under his command, but the least personal relation to Max--stood up to him when they disagreed. Gwen even thinks about how she admired the move.

I kinda hated this chapter to begin with when writing. I don’t know, something about it felt off to me. Coming back to it now I feel much more confident in the writing. Also, it’s one of the more extreme rewrites in the way of word count and context.

A small change included me changing the degree to which Rook’s smelling was advanced in comparison to humans. When I first wrote the chapter I think I just googled “Cat smelling compared to human” or something like that, but I changed it a bit to be less extreme. (Rook still suffered tho, RIP.)

Was the lock put in a plastic bag by the perpetrator for any specific reason?

In universe, it was because they needed to act fast and make sure they had all the pieces of the lock to avoid showing a trail, like dropping a component on their way to the garbage bay.

In reality? Nah, honestly. It was just convenience. I don’t know if you all have taken apart relatively simple mechanics like a light switch cover, but the more high tech you get the harder it is to take care of every individual thing. I imagine the Plumber locks are rather complex, so as an author I knew that the lock would be properly ruined if the perp had just tossed it or smashed it. I’ll be the first to admit it was a shortcut.

A thing to notice about this chapter are the steps forward and back at the same time. Yes, they now know that the person who changed the locks didn’t need a particularly high intelligence to use the jammer on the faux look, but now that means they’re low on filters again. To keep the bummer of that realization from lingering, the story provides another prompt to follow instead.

I went through this chapter and the past couple to make sure I kept using “Gwendolyn” and not “Gwen.” Around minute four is when the name “Gwen” stopped looking real to me.

Fun fact. Ben makes sure to use her full name, as she prefers it now, but Max continues to call her “Gwen.” The only time Ben called her “Gwen” is when he was thinking of the past, having needed a pick-me-up in Chapter 3. Perhaps it’s similar for Max, being stuck in the past. (Kevin, however, gets an excuse. They’re dating. It’s a different vibe.)

That’s all for now. It’s late and I have to do work still. If you made it this far, thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed.

#Unearthed Behind The Scenes

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Unearthed Revision - Chapter 5 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 5 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Today went by faster than it should have... But here I am now. Technical difficulties assured I couldn’t post earlier like I wanted to. Chapter 5 is light in notes because I wanted some art to be done already but surprise--technical difficulties. I’ll try and post this weekend about it, mostly some character art and a couple sneak peeks.

Minor spoilers ahead!

Chapter 5 was always intended to be a bit of a breather chapter as well, moreso for the characters than the readers. It also expands on some relationships and characterization as a bit of a buffer among the chaos of the story.

When I first wrote about describing Ben’s barrack I wanted to call back to what I believe is the Omniverse view of his room, though it might have been UAF, where things were disorderly but not dirty or anything along those lines.

His room’s cleanliness is also a reference to Ben’s ADHD/Autism/whatever I coded him as. Probably both. Cleanliness is needed to keep the mind sharper than not but is also incredibly difficult to maintain for ND people. Same goes for Ben.

The various photographs were initially going to be drawn by me (at least a few) when I first made this fic, but I hate drawing group photos.

Tech support, comic relief as they were, also purposely had short roles in this fic because... Well, I have a very iffy relationship with comic relief characters. These two aren’t my favorite comic relief overall.

Graymatter was also going to have a more prevalent role, but I liked the idea of having to go old-school detective on this situation instead of just hacking computers or something.

Like the original one, Chapter 5 is a bit... awkward in timing and word count. Initially all the chapters were, like, 1000 words minimum because that was a lot for me as a sprouting author. (Well, as a sprouting author in the way of actually sharing my works with others other than friends.) I kind of regret not considering repairing the pacing before starting the rewrite but I can’t say it particularly bothers me.

Chapter 5 is the chapter that has the most revisions done within the AO3 page itself. A few hundred words were added and a lot more tweaked, though nothing substantial.

The initial chapter 5, IIRC, never had Max put down the tray of food. It just kinda vanished from mentioning. I didn’t realize that until reworking the fic and it bothered me sooo bad. (In the revision, Max puts it down when he goes to fetch Kevin and Gwen. Problem solved!)

The grimace I mention whenever Tech Support is brought up to people is what I imagine the Ben 10 version of the “Excalibur Face” from Soul Eater is. Just extreme sense of, “oh god, why?” while still being comedic. 

As the top body text in this post mentions, I plan on posting some art for the characters. Nothing too groundbreaking but it’d be fun. Also working on some of the OC work for it as well. Hopefully it comes out well! Also, I’m excited to start sharing the cut diary entries. Thanks for reading if you got this far! (As of writing, I don’t think anyone has besides me. Oh well!)

#Shut up sky #Unearthed Behind The Scenes

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Was flicking through a notebook and found plot noted for a fic I haven't touched in maybe a year? The notes are from February 2022... Whoops. I mean, Slugterra has been in my mind again lately, so who knows.

#shut up sky #I can tell that you hate me was a gooood idea I need to get back into. #As always I don't plan stuff in advance to the end but I got around halfway in.

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Unearthed Revision - Chapter 3 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 3 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Chapter 3 is when I start loosening up on how many times I’ve read a chapter. (3 is still up there, but not so bad in comparison.) I enjoy expounding on Ben and Rook’s relationship and all the callbacks to things they’ve done.

Minor spoilers ahead!

Ben uses "Gwen and Kev" at the start of chapter 3 despite using their full names later, thanks to the nostalgia of when they were a team. When he was closer to Kevin, "Kev" was his preferred referencing for his friend. When they were on the same team, Gwendolyn used the shortening of her name as well. I considered Ben purposefully keep calling her "Gwen" because of a need for comfort and draw to the past but decided not to, because Ben’s respect for her decision to be called by a different name overpowers that.

"That system’s comically easy to bluff,’ Ben answered immediately. He could feel Rook’s eyes piercing into him, expecting an answer just as much as Max’s silence did. Ben continued without supplying an answer to the unasked question as to why and how Ben knew that."

I love hinting/showing that Ben not only understands illegal stuff from the cop side of things but sometimes participates in it as the rowdy teenager who doesn’t fully agree with the system he participates in. This gets shown later as well but the situation was emphasized due to the present cast in the scene. (Max and Rook care more for legalities than Kevin or even Gwen after all.)

I've enjoyed showing how despite Ben still going to Max for comfort thanks to past experiences (you might note his parents are only mentioned in passing if at allo), he's also began to understand the way that Max treats him is flawed. Ben's still hesitant to display that, though, as seen when he lets Max hug him despite seeming to either dislike it or be unaffected by it. Or when he interrupts Max somewhat rudely a bit later. (This was more accidental, as he just interrupted because his thoughts spilled out, but it's a sign regardless.) If it wasn’t clear already, Ben has issues with losing support systems.

The "Nowhere, USA" line was inspired by a Tumblr post (I'll find it if I can) and also inspired an art piece I made some years back. It's one of the few things I had posted on the Ben 10 Amino. I don’t think I ever posted it on Tumblr unfortunately. I’ll probably update this post later with it.

I purposely made a reference to Ben missing a relatively simple biology concept (even if it was a term I had to search up myself at the time) to point out how he missed enough school to not be able to recall such a thing by name. Still, he's been around schools enough to see an increase in Plumber recruiters. He's still a kid, after all.

That’s all for chapter 3. If you got this far, thanks for reading!

#Shut up sky #Unearthed Behind The Scenes

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Unearthed Revision - Chapter 2 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 2 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Chapter 2 is similar to the first in the way that I’ve reread and modified it so many times it makes me want to scream looking at it again. If you look at something enough times as a creator you get that... Oh well. I still like chapter 2 as it fleshes out the plot a bit more and further introduces the characters.

Minor spoilers ahead!

Ben purposely didn't turn his locator off when he flew from Plumber HQ. Once he landed at the library, he considered doing it, but decided against it. It's one of many cries for help Ben displays throughout this story. In the Revision, Rook mentally acknowledges this as a possibility instead of it slipping Ben’s mind.

"The Plumber’s hand hesitated on the handle. ‘I know how to calm him.’"

Rook's hesitance is more than just being worried for Ben--it’s him showing doubt both in himself and what Max told him to say (telling Ben the issue will be quickly handled). Since Rook isn’t the main character I don't put as much emphasis on it, but it's pretty obvious that most of this doubt about himself is because of/towards Ben. Ben isn’t very textbook as a person so it’s more for Rook to figure out.

The library mentioned in this chapter was initially something I mentioned/used in a roleplay with my friend Rin.

It's not important to the story, but I always figured the fight that introduced Ben to this library to have been with Fistina.

Mr. Browl almost wasn't an Arachnichimp. I almost made him a Florauna (Wildvine), Gourmand (Upchuck), or even an Incursean (Bullfrag) but landed on Arachnichimp (Spidermonkey) because I thought the idea of four-eyed glasses to be amusing. Also, his mentioned accent is implied to be because of his native tongue, but as I only speak English and not Arachnichimp-ish, I pictured him as having a Bosnian accent like my grandpa.

I won’t say now, for spoiler’s sake, but the forged note has something pretty important about it that’ll be called back to later. (Once I get to that chapter, I’ll say what’s up in its respective note post.)

Ben's spelling/shorthand in his notes is maintained on purpose. I almost considered writing all the notes physically myself for some extra pizzazz but never did. I also like showing Ben's eidetic memory (though contrasted with his ADHD involved memory struggles) by having him remember the Transylian species by name but struggle with the spelling itself.

"...his nails digging into the exposed skin of his arms, the reddening marks at home with the long healed scars scattered on his skin."

The scars are both implied to be from this same gesture and because of past battles.

The Rewrite has some big changes to Rook, including emphasizing how despite being a bit of a foil to Ben, he’s learning things the same time Ben is. I headcanon them to be either the same age or have a short age gap of maybe a year after all. So, alongside Rook learning both the language and culture of the place he's working, he's also learning about people overall outside of his native culture. Ben's the easiest for him to understand since they spend so much time together but he's still struggling despite it. After all, everything is in a constant state of change, especially people.

That’s it for this note page! I hope you enjoyed reading if you got this far and continue to enjoy both the Revised Uneathed and the note pages that come after. (This little segment reminds me of AMC’s “The Walking Dead”’s talkshow after, “The Talking Dead.” Probably because my mom’s rewatching the former at the moment so I hear a lot about it. Anyway, see you in the next one!

#Shut up sky #Unearthed Behind The Scenes

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Unearthed Revision - Chapter 1 Notes

If you haven’t read Chapter 1 of the Unearthed Revision, read it here! This post is gonna have some behind the scenes details and minor spoilers for the chapter it’s about.

Since this is the first chapter behind-the-scenes post, I’ll explain the premise. These posts will have a link to the chapter/s they’re talking about, a quick note by me, and after a ‘read more’ will have my thoughts on things. (I usually have more to say than I feel appropriate putting in AO3 notes so I’m using this.) Later chapters will have more visuals in the way of art and concept work. The first few, however, will be all or majorly text. Anyway, onto the post.

Oh boy, the start of the adventure! I’ve read this chapter so many times it actually bores me, in both the old version and the revision. Still, I like how I revised it from the original. For now, here’s some notes I took or remembered while doing this. They’re pretty rambly, but if you’ve read Unearthed you’ll be used to me doing that anyway! I’m aware I’m more excited about these notes than others but it’s nice putting them out there.

Minor spoilers ahead!

This chapter was stuck in my drafts upon its initial writing years ago because I struggle so much with titles I couldn’t even think of the proper name for Unearthed. And to think I wanna give them chapter names now. Ha! We’ll see.

For some reason the talk of the stakeout business at the start of the chapter really messed with my sense of timing in this fic. It still does, actually, and I have a written timeline because of it.) I’ll probably share that in a future post once I neaten it up a bit.) Though the entirety of Unearthed takes place over the course of only a few days, I like making timelines for multi-chapter fics.

Ben's stimming when he’s anxious (clawing at his arms, pulling his hair and clothes) is a reference to what I do, or rather did, when I was majorly struggling with my health. It's not stated in the fic itself but my version of Ben is often based on myself via projecting, including my autism and ADHD. I’m the author I say what disorders my protagonist has! (/lh)

Even in the first chapter, Rook’s improvement between versions is practically tangible.  In the Old fic, he brushed Ben off because he was impatient and didn't really take Ben seriously. Here, he does acknowledge and validate Ben’s concerns, but only denies them because he believes that they're still unlikely. As a result, he insists Ben gets sleep for his own wellbeing and not to get rid of him.

“The human curled around his spare pillow and clutched it for some sort of comfort, a life raft in the raging black ocean of his furiously beating heart." Theatre/musical kids might recognize some of this line. It’s a reference to the song Lifeboat from the Heather’s musical (TW for that song) thanks to my working on that musical in school, around the time I wrote this fic. This song got stuck in my head SO much during revisions lol.

"...And, fortunately, he didn’t find himself trying to hero in his sleep again…" This is a simple callback to an OS episode, Midnight Madness!

"...His eyes scanned the various squares of paper from top to bottom–dancing groups, physical therapy, an advert for a lost Galvan Organization table, a single card from a trading card game..." This line about the trading card is a small, admittedly silly reference to the Yu-Gi-Oh! GX abridged series by ShadyVox. These abridged YGO series shaped my sense of humor growing up more than I’d like to admit.

"He could recognize it as something he had unfortunately felt nearly every day since he was ten years old. It was fear." This line was more for the emotional impact overall, but is a sight reference to the game OFF. The line it’s referencing goes, “He has your eyes... They are full of fear.”

For the first couple chapters I plan on posting their BTS Notes today and editing the AO3 chapters themselves to include a link to their respective Tumblr post. Anyways, thanks for reading if you’ve gotten this far. I hope you can enjoy the rest of the Unearthed Revision as well as the notes I leave behind.

#Shut up Sky #Unearthed Behind The Scenes

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I know I said no post for today's Unearthed Revised chapter but I'm typing this up anyway. I'm thinking about making up some chapter names for Unearthed, esp since the first "chapter" is an author thing. I'm real bad with chapter names though...

Anyway I'm gonna draft posts and schedule them for each new chapter. I gotta start working on the revision again. Bluh. Up and down with IRL stuff but hopefully things kinda solidify into a good schedule for me. Gotta get used to phone writing again.

#Shut up sky #unearthed update

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Almost sixty reads since yesterday! Thanks everyone!

Officially updated the old and new versions of Unearthed and published the first chapter of the revision! I'm pumped for it, I hope this all goes well.

Here's the revised fic, featuring a preemptive authors note to specify the revision as well as the first chapter.

#shut up sky

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Officially updated the old and new versions of Unearthed and published the first chapter of the revision! I'm pumped for it, I hope this all goes well.

Here's the revised fic, featuring a preemptive authors note to specify the revision as well as the first chapter.

#shut up sky #unearthed update

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"But Sky," says no one. "Aren't you basically talking to yourself making updates here?"

Yes I am, intrusive thoughts! That's kinda the point. Although I'd love for people to get some insight here, it's more or less a progress report for me personally. I restarted my art blog on purpose in an attempt to use it more so, I'm using it more.

#shut up sky

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Looks like the verdict is in for the Unearthed revision. New fic document it is! (10:3 voting on either new document or indifference so that's pretty straightforward.)

Poll is closed now, March 14 2023; 18:40. Gonna be updating the fic page soon.

#shut up sky #Unearthed update

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Also, guess who's giving Vaigen Ben the update he so desperately needed?

This guy. A lovely commenter asked about him so he's in my head. No wip for now.

#Shut up sky

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Hey there! I'm working on revising my fic Unearthed on AO3 so feel free to follow along. I might give some updates on this blog, hopefully.

Right now I finished revising chapter 5 and am onto six. I revised my revision that I had been working on last year and now the word count is even higher. I can only hope that the quality rose with it!

At the moment I'm pretty much decided on making a new fic page for the revision but I'm still leaving the poll up for a few more days. That's it for right now, I've been looking at a screen for farrr too long today already.

#Shut up sky #Unearthed update

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I saw Stinkfly hate so I had to draw him. Ngl I've never actually drawn any version of him but RB Stinkfly was fun. Lowkey might draw him more. I can't say I'm fond of the design as a redesign but it's still fun by itself.