Carulia Week Day 1 : Confession @caruliaweek

🍂

Gem: you know what? When I turn red and you're red we can team up again.

Pearl: *NODS AGGRESSIVELY*

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So I keep thinking about Gem being able to do astral projection, X-ray, free cam, go out of body, whatever you want to refer to it as. There's so much angst potential.

Trigger warning: dissociation, skin picking/rubbing? (I think that's how I word that? It's one sentence) Depersonalization (the whole thing to be honest)

Gem still exists in the real world, but she's not in her body. The dissociation that most likely comes with that is absolutely insane.

Like in my head the past wildcards are always on their minds, there's absolutely trauma there. People worried about snails for weeks, people who died from hunger had this unquenchable hunger for a bit and some still do, and people wake up in the middle of the night knowing the answers to trivia questions, as you do for tests. Some are worse but its still bad for everyone.

And now Gem has been out of body. She's talked to the dead, for God's sake. Does she wake up in the middle of the night because her flesh feels wrong for some reason? Is she always aware that dead people are just around? Does she talk to the air sometimes because Mumbo and Skizz are still around always? They just don't show up. They're there; they have to be.

She forgets that she can't leave her body, that she's stuck in the flesh, and she cries and rubs until she's red trying to leave, and Joel comes over and holds her until she's safe. (she breaks down once outside, and Pearl finds her; they don't talk about it, but they both know. Pearl forgets she can fall sometimes)

I just think that Gem is so angsty with this power, and as a girl who loves angst I’m absolutely devouring,

Upcoming fic yall, you’ll never guess what it is

Little peek

Spider people Hualian’s stories!

Xie Lian 817-4’s story is akin to Amazing Spider-man(Andrew Garfield) where he lost his Gwen Stacy and his Uncle Ben. The presence of Mei Nianqing—his equivalent of uncle ben—was something that he took for granted only until the man’s last breath. Meanwhile, Jun Wu is his father figure who turns out to be a major villain and his Hua Cheng dies in the crossfire of a battle between Xie Lian and Bai Wuxiang.

Hua Cheng 810-4’s backstory is nearly the same, but his “with great power comes great responsibility” moment is from Xie Lian instead, who dies while trying to save civilians in the collapsing city of Shanghai. He’s only been raised by one person after escaping his abusive home. That person is Yushi Huang, whom he considers as his older sister.

Spiderverse Hualian, spider people Hua Cheng and Xie Lian having a kind-of-meet-cute.

“Who are you?” Hua Cheng demanded in a low voice.

“I don’t think you want to know.” The other spiderman replied.

“As far as I’m aware, I’m the only one shooting webs around Shanghai. So who the hell are you? Some kind of knock-off?” Hua Cheng grumbled.

The other man laughed, it was the kind of sound that set off bells in Hua Cheng’s brain. Hua Cheng paused at the sound of it, but before he could react, the other spider man sandwiched him between webs and lunged forward.

The man landed skillfully and soundlessly over him. They were inches apart now. Hua Cheng could see the reflection of his own mask in the other man’s concealed eyes. Mechanical whirring was faintly heard as the spiderman’s eyes squinted and widened in rythmn.

“Well, who do you think I am, San Lang?” The man asked, his chest heaving slightly with his breaths. They seemed labored, under pressure and tight at the mere sight of Hua Cheng.

Hua Cheng froze. He grasped Xie Lian’s shoulders.

Grasped was a generous way to put it; that was saying it lightly. No, Hua Cheng he- he practically scrambled to wrap his arms around the man—around Xie Lian. “Gege?” was his only breathless response.

Xie Lian laughed again, muffled behind his mask but it was a sound like no other in Hua Cheng’s ears.

Xie Lian’s hands let go of the webs and he stuck his feet to the wall to support himself. He touched their foreheads together as his hands cupped Hua Cheng’s face.

“San Lang,” His shoulders shook, but his voice wasn’t as happy or light as it was before. “San Lang is right. My name is Xie Lian,” the man said, then he pulled away.

Hua Cheng was tempted to reach out and tuck Xie Lian back to his chest, but he had the self-control to keep himself from moving. He just trembled, wordlessly waiting in anticipation.

Xie Lian pat his shoulder. “I was a college student in a prestigious university, and I had a wonderful boyfriend whom I cherished,” He stared into Hua Cheng’s eyes, as if the mask wasn’t even there. It was piercing in a way Hua Cheng couldn’t describe. “but I was bit by a radioactive spider after an experiment; and I lost my beloved to a villain I’d considered as my own father.”

Xie Lian’s figure was cast in shadow. It was the dawn and sunlight rose, shining behind him. It made his white suit appear a similar shade to Hua Cheng’s dark one. A contrast, but alike.

“Now, I am spiderman from dimension 817-4. Most call me Taizi Dianxia, but my real name,” He placed a hand over Hua Cheng’s chest. “is Xie Lian.”

Amber, genuinely worried and concerned over Mike’s well-being; and Mike, blank-shot stare into the clustered trees after peeping the horrors. Peak Character dynamics

Just an observation

no comment

DL!Pearl x Arachne!Gem

Fair warning, I don’t know how people usually go about posting fics on tumblr but some quick disclaimers:

-Mildly suggestive(physically)

-Descriptions of violence

“My webs do have a tendency of snaring little bugs in.”

“Little bugs?”

“Little bugs.”

=======••••=======

“I know you’re here with a purpose.” Gem chittered. Her mandibles clicked along to the trill of her voice. “So what was it? To plunder my friends? To steal my belongings? Because you’ve certainly achieved your goal if that’s what you meant to do.”

“I was only trying loot this mineshaft.” Pearl tugged at the webs. It didn’t want to come off. “This mineshaft that I didn’t even know was occupied.”

“Does that change the fact that you’ve caused me damage though, moth?” Gem’s tone stayed dark, though her eyes trained on Pearl’s hands with a hint of amusement.

Pearl felt herself burn under that gaze. Judging from how her skin would sooner tear off her body than it would the web; and how the arachne loomed over her with a keen interest that was closer to predatory than it was curious—the odds weren’t in Pearl’s favor.

Still, she couldn’t allow her dignity to go down like this. “I have a name.”

“You look like nothing more than a moth to me.”

The arachne had an attitude, it seemed. Pearl would’ve loved to play around with someone like this if she wasn’t in a life-or-death struggle. “Not to be egotistical, but people fear the mere sight of my axe. I’ve killed for less.”

“I don’t see an axe, nor a fearsome killer.” The arachne’s front appendage tapped against the floor, and the rhythm was eerily similar to the ticking of TNT.

It wasn’t difficult to see why. A soft hissing shadowed her every word, and a sharp rap came of those spindly legs—tick, tick, ticking.

Pearl tried to supress her shuddder.

As if by mercy of the watchers above, or perhaps by the arachne herself, the tapping stopped. Pearl wasn’t looking at her to see the way that the arachne’s brows furrowed. “…that name of yours, moth, what was it?”

“Why should I tell you?”

“You were so eager before. Why rescind now?” The arachne leaned forward, with a grin that Pearl thinks burns her skin in a way that no flame can. “My name is Gemini Tay. Call me Gem.”

“Pearlescent Moon. They call me Pearl for short.”

At that, Gem hummed. “They. So there are more of you plunderers?” She straightened back up.

Pearl had the urge to laugh. This woman was so wary, especially for someone whose only threat for most of her time has been cave-lurking mobs. “Like I said, I’m not a plunderer, and they certainly aren’t either. That bunch of ‘em have souls more golden than I.”

Gem cocked her head. “So you are wicked?”

“It’s subjective.”

The arachne shot her a tentative glare.

Pearl didn’t know much about spiders other than the way that their heads severed at the end of her blade. She’s only familiar with them in the way that their blood splattered across her armored chest. Never given the creatures much thought.

And yet she seemed to be giving her plenty of thought now. The urge was ever-present—to dissect things, to rip them apart, and to study them all from the most grotesque to the most intact parts of their corpse.

That was the same kind of look Gem was dissecting her with. Violent curiosity. The same kind Pearl held for her.

“You look as if you wish my neck were between your fangs.” Gem spoke up first.

“You look like you want me as your next meal.” Pearl responded in kind, unaware of when exactly her heart decided to spite her and hammer a wild rhythm in her chest.

“If I freed you from those webs,” Gem’ four eyes were all lasered onto her. “What would you do, Pearl?”

“I could give your treasures back and leave you be.”

“Why? Is there anybody waiting for you on the surface if you leave?”

Pearl’s expression dropped. She ignored the sourness trying to crawl up from her stomach, acidic and vile. Even Gem’s words could cut, it seemed.

“What’s your point, Gem?”

“Tell me more,” The arachne invited herself into Pearl’s personal space, of which the moth was helpless to combat. “Tell me about you, about the surface.” One, scythe-like spider leg prepped its blade up to the peeling, stringy web. “Do that, and I’ll cut you free; but you won’t be rid of me for a while.”

Pearl eyed her diamond axe, the single glint of the torch’s light stared back at her. “Don’t hurt me?”

Gem found herself looking at the axe too. “Don’t hold back on me.”

Pearl smiled. “Deal.”

The sound of the webs tearing were the same as when she cleaved through fabrics with her axe. Like a puppet whose strings were cut, Pearl fell.

Gem’s ginger braids filled her vision before she felt the impact of landing on the arachne’s chest. “Careful,” her voice took on a softer quality. Was this how she spoke to all the mobs in her keep? It was invigorating, shameful as it was to admit.

Pearl, always a curious creature, wrapped her arms around Gem’s waist. It was the point where Gem’s spider and human half met, which was a strange mix of textures; and it brought about a confusing clash of bloodthirst against instinct.

The moth wanted to run. The wolf wanted to hunt.

She ran her hands over Gem’s fuzzy hide, and slowly, brought it upwards to feel at the skin of Gem’s waist under her top. Was there a vulnerability here somewhere? Did it have less durability than the rest of her body? Pearl wondered.

Her wrists were seized. “Are you not pulling away?” Gem’s mandibles clicked.

“You aren’t pushing me away,” Pearl shrugged. She quite liked hugging Gem. Yes, hugging, because she had the face to admit that’s what she was doing. An embrace, albeit with ulterior motives.

Gem sighed. “Are you always like this?”

“What can I say? I like being difficult.” Pearl hummed. Though there was a limit to her ability to be thick-skinned, so when Gem let go and lifted her arms to accommodate Pearl’s, she finally peeled away.