PearlescentZine

A zine for all things Pearlescentmoon! We are big fans of Pearl here at trader Scar’s

[pearlescentzine]

Pearlescentzine out now !

Featuring 7 writers and 27 artists, Pearlescentzine is a free downloadable fanzine with almost 100 pages dedicated to Pearlescentmoon. Please give some love to all the creators who worked hard on this project, and look out for their pieces on their Tumblr blogs !

Pearlescentzine download

[thriplerex]

Just another day at the post office

(This was a last minute scene I pulled together for @pearlescentzine when we had to push back the original release date by a few days!)

[pearlescentzine]

How often is there a zine?

Not sure if you mean specifically pearlzine or the mcyt community in general, so I’ll answer both

Pearlzine was a one-off thing I did mostly for fun. If people are really interested in seeing a second edition I may consider doing one next year or something, but there will definitely be a gap, and it’s very much a problem for future Vic haha

As for zines in the community in general, there are A LOT running at the moment. The mcytblrsource blog keeps pretty good track of the zines and events happening in the community, so if you’re interested in joining a zine it’s definitely worth checking that out

[syneester]

I also participated in the @pearlescentzine :D

I decided to make a piece about the different endings Pearl got on her Detroit Become Human playthrough

[shorkthesharkk]

MY PEARLESCENTMOON ZINE CONTRIBUTION!!!

For my piece I decided to cover the “other/irl” prompt! I’ve wanted to create something like this out of skizz’s beautiful affirmation in limited life, and I’m so glad I was given the opportunity to make it! I love pearlo and it was incredible to get to express my love for her with si many other talented artists! Thank you @pearlescentzine for allowing me to join this project! Everyone did so amazing <3

[ssilentwillow]

ITS FINALLY OUT!!!

This is my piece for the @pearlescentzine, based on her s10 flower/dye shop and related game, dyeduction! I've really loved watching Pearl get more into redstone this season and I had so much fun drawing this.

Go check out the zine, everyone put so much love into it!!

[eydilily]

🌻 my piece for the @pearlescentzine ! im partnered with @hopepetal who wrote the fantastic fic with this for Secret Life! 💌

[hopepetal]

This is the piece I wrote for @pearlescentzine, in collaboration with @eydilily! Go check out the beautiful art they drew for the fic here!

Read on AO3!

Sunflower Nights

Peace does not come often in death games, a fact Pearl knows better than anyone. Though, she will admit, she does revel in the chaos. She has a tendency to bring it about, even accidentally– like with a certain soulbound pair and an enderman.

“Y’know, there’s somethin’ wicked within me,” she tells Bdubs once, a smile dancing on her lips. “Or at least, that’s what I’ve been told.”

Bdubs nods sagely, humming thoughtfully. “I believe it, Pearl, I really do. You just have that kind of energy around you.”

Despite enjoying the pandemonium, Pearl is still relieved when she’s finally able to set down her weapon and relax. They spent so long building their bases, and it’d be a shame to not take some time to enjoy them before they inevitably were destroyed by the red wars.

Joel is the first to join her. He plops himself down with a sigh, leaning back and tilting his head toward the sky. “Pearl, I’m bored.”

Pearl snorts. “Sorry to hear that, mate.” She picks at the grass, and can’t deny that she feels similarly. “It's good to be bored in a death game though, isn’t it? Better than being chased around by crazy people.”

“But I want to be the crazy person chasing people around,” Joel complains. 

Pearl laughs at that, nodding. “I feel ya, mate. Me, too. But you’re yellow, aren’t’cha? You can at least do some crazy stuff without those Watcher people being nuggets about it.”

Joel lets out a long-suffering sigh. He flops back against the grass, staring up at the sky. There’s a long moment of silence between them as the gentle breeze blows strands of hair into his face, which he brushes away with a scrunched expression. “I dunno, Pearl.”

Pearl brushes her own hair out of her face, spluttering slightly as some gets into her mouth. “Gosh, my hair is too long,” she complains, trying to gather all of it into her hands so she can pull it back again. “What do you think?” She asks Joel, who looks over at her with a mildly confused expression. “Do you think I should just cut it off?”

“What are we cuttin’ off?” Bdubs pops out from his base, looking at Pearl and Joel with wide eyes. “Sorry, I couldn’t help but overhear.”

Pearl raises an eyebrow, turning to face Bdubs. “Well, it’s not like we were really trying to keep our voices down.”

Mumbo also peeks out from his base. “We are living rather on top of each other,” he points out. “Anyway, were you talking about cutting your hair?”

Pearl sighs as she undoes the tie holding her hair in its ponytail. “Yeah, I was. It’s just a lot to deal with, y’know? Long hair in battle means it’s always getting in your face. ‘Course, you have to clean it too, and brush it, and it’s this whole thing.”

Joel sits up suddenly, struck by an idea. “What if we help you braid it?”

Agreement rises from the rest of the group, and Pearl looks between the three with wide eyes. “Aw, you’d really do that? For me?” She asks, touched. 

Bdubs grins. “Why of course, Pearl! Anything for you!”

Mumbo giggles. “Maybe don’t promise that, mate. You never know what she’ll ask of you then.”

Joel scooches closer to Pearl, pushing himself over the grass until he’s sitting next to her. “I mean, how hard can it be, really? With the three of us, I’ll bet we could braid your hair in three– no, two– minutes, tops!” 

He brings his hand up and gently brushes through her hair. His face scrunches up into one of thought. “You have a lot more hair than Lizzie does,” he points out, “how do you deal with it?”

Pearl laughs as Bdubs and Mumbo kneel behind her, each taking a section of her hair in their hands. “It’s a lotta work, mate, and it’s not always worth it. That’s why I was thinking of cutting it in the first place.”

“Well, don’t you worry one bit, Pearl!” Bdubs exclaims. “We’ll be braiding your hair right up for you!” He pauses, then glances at Joel and Mumbo. He leans over to Mumbo and whispers dramatically, “Do you know how to braid hair?”

Mumbo shrugs. “Honestly, no clue. But I’m sure I can figure it out.” He begins to separate the section of hair into strands. “Was it three… or five…?” He mumbles to himself, squinting his eyes at his work.

Joel looks over at Bdubs. “Why aren’t you asking me if I know how to braid?” He asks, mockingly offended. “Don’t you know I’m the number one braid master?”

Bdubs gives him a toothy grin as he separates his section of Pearl’s hair into four strands. “I dunno, Joel, why don’t you show me how good you are yourself? Put your diamonds where your mouth is, y’know?”

Joel gasps, eyes widening. “How dare you! I’ll show you! Just you wait, I’m going to do the most perfect braid in existence!” He starts to work on the section of hair he took, separating the hair out into three strands and starting to weave them together into a braid.

Pearl hums softly, smiling as her hair is braided. “Don’t race, you’ll tug on my head and that’s no fun.” She does her best to keep her head still.

Mailbox pads over, tail wagging. He lays his head down in Pearl’s lap, panting softly as he looks up at her. His tail thumps against the ground as she reaches out and pets him, scratching behind his ears.

“Hey, buddy!” She coos, rubbing under his chin while keeping her head up. “Aww, you’re such a cutie pie. Maybe we should braid your hair next.”

Mumbo lets out a nervous laugh. “One thing at a time, Pearl! Oh, gosh, I think I’m doing it wrong.” 

Joel glances over. “Well, you’re certainly not doing it right. It looks good, though.” His gaze travels to where Bdubs is, and he raises an eyebrow. “Bdubs, though…”

“Shut up! I have a process, okay!? Let me do my job!” Bdubs huffs out angrily, continuing to braid Pearl’s hair to the best of his ability. “It’s gonna look great any minute now. I just need to put a few more details in…” 

Pearl laughs again, louder this time. “Should I be worried about what you all are doing to my hair?” She asks teasingly. 

A chorus of ‘no!’s resound from the group. Pearl clicks her tongue but doesn’t say anything, letting the boys continue their work as she pets Mailbox. 

Joel is the first to finish. “Alright! I’m done, and it’s perfect.” He sits back, grinning proudly. “Take a look, Pearl!”

Pearl gently takes the braided hair over her shoulder. “Oh, Joel!” She exclaims, “this is lovely! Thank you!”

Joel’s smile grows. “Lizzie taught me how to braid,” he explains.

Mumbo clears his throat. “I think I’m done as well. Not… too sure as to how this came out, but I think it looks alright!” He holds out the braid for Pearl to see. 

It’s an intricate braid– five strands woven into a meticulous braid. It’s very Mumbo in every way. It’s clear how he calculated every movement, how he thought over every part of the braid. Pearl glances up and meets his wide, hopeful eyes. “You did wonderful, mate!” She praises, and he grins and blushes, looking away.

“Oh, gosh, well thank you Pearl, I really did try my best…” He presses a hand to his cheek. “I’m glad you like it!” 

“I’m done too!” Bdubs says. “Look at mine, Pearl!” 

“She can’t,” Joel retorts, standing up and stretching his sore limbs, “you’re behind her, she can’t look at the back of her head.” 

Pearl hums thoughtfully. “This is true… why don’t you tell me what it looks like, then?” She asks, glancing between Mumbo and Joel. 

Mumbo nods and clears his throat again. “It’s actually quite nice,” he starts. “I–”

“Don’t sound so surprised,” Bdubs interrupts, “jeez.”

Mumbo puts his hands up in a gesture of surrender. “Sorry! Sorry, I didn’t mean it like that. It does look quite nice, though I think we all did different types of braids. It looks a little strange all put together, to be honest, but I think it still works!” 

“I don’t mind how it looks,” Pearl says. “Thank you all for doing this for me. It’s very kind of you.” She stands up and stretches as well, Mailbox moving away to go sit with Mumbo. “I’m glad I won’t have to cut off all my hair now. I don’t look good with short hair.”

Joel scoffs. “Now that’s a lie and you know it.” 

Indeed, peace does not come often in death games. Pearl cherishes this moment; it’s the last day of calm before the storm. And she’s perfectly content with spending it with her family, her mounders.

This time, they’ll win. She’ll make sure of it.

[maggymations]

This is the end page I made for @pearlescentzine !! Just something quick I agreed to do but I still like how it’s turned out :D

Please check out the zine and send so much love to all the other creators, it was such a fun experience!

[arkynwolf]

Familiar Acquaintances A chance encounter in a dungeon. Fandom: Fantasy SMP Characters: PearlescentMoon, Zombiecleo

This is my contribution for @pearlescentzine! Please check it out if you haven't already, a lot of really talented people worked on it! Read it on AO3.

You’d think a spider hybrid would feel right at home in some long forgotten dark and damp dungeon, and you’d mostly be right– if not for the small army of goblins, gremlins, and other assorted ghastly ghoulies in every room, at least. Still, they were usually no match for Shadowsting, Pearl’s trusty sword, which she had since arriving in this strange world.

Room after room, Pearl entered and dealt with the monsters that would inevitably manifest out of thin air. It had become a bit of a routine. Thankfully, she was occasionally rewarded for her efforts. Most of the chests she opened didn’t contain much of value, but sometimes she’d find a magical sword, a bow, maybe some healing potions. They were rarely anything better than what she had, but they would make for good bartering materials.

This room, however, seemed to be filled with significantly more monsters than any of the previous ones. Quickly climbing up a wall to get away from their swords and daggers, Pearl dexterously took out her bow and started picking them off one by one. Nock an arrow, pull the string taut, release, then repeat; it was almost instinctual at this point, muscle memory doing all the heavy lifting.

And, ok– Pearl should have been more careful, should have climbed up higher, but a zombie managed to get a lucky swipe in on her leg, causing her to lose her balance and fall back down to the ground. The fall hurt, but she didn’t have too much time to process what happened before the zombie went in for another hit. “Exārdēminī!”

Suddenly, a fireball shot straight towards the center of the group, instantly killing a few monsters while knocking back the rest, giving Pearl a chance to pull out Shadowsting and slash the zombie in front of her. Rushing back up to her feet, she dodged out of the way of a stray arrow and stabbed a skeleton that shuffled its way near her.

Pearl switched back to her bow and started shooting arrows towards any enemy she spotted. Sparing the newcomer a glance, they seemed… vaguely familiar? Not in any discernible way, she just had this weird sense of familiarity to her. Pearl didn’t remember meeting anyone with what looked like green skin– well… ever, really.

The stranger was wearing a rather simple grayish-blue cloak, framed with golden accents, that extended down to her knees, almost like a dress. Her most defining feature by far, though, had to be her bright orange hair that– hang on, why did the hair look like it was moving on its own?

Interrupting Pearl’s thoughts with a final “Glaciāminī!” and a wave of the hand, the last of the enemies was frozen solid by the mage.

“There we go. Aren’t you lucky I found you when I did?” The person chuckled, not unkindly, before walking over to Pearl and fishing around in their cloak’s pockets before pulling out a potion of healing and handing it to her.

“At this point, I think I might’ve been done for if you hadn’t saved me, thank you!” Now that the stranger was closer, Pearl could clearly see that the hair she thought was moving on its own was, in actuality, more than a dozen fiery orange snakes. Another mythical hybrid like herself, then.

“You’re welcome. This might sound silly, but… Do I know you from somewhere? You seem– well, you seem strangely familiar, is all.” The mage’s voice dropped ever-so-slightly, curiosity colouring their words.

“Oh! I asked myself the same thing when I saw you! I don’t think we’ve met before, though. Have we?” Now that she was thinking about it, this wasn’t the first time Pearl had had the impression she knew someone she had just met in this world. That knight with the flamingo floatie and the weirdly named elf wizard both inspired the same bizarre sense of déjà vu in her, too.

“Hm… No, I don’t think we have, to be honest. Right. Yes. Well, I’m Cleo, the mage. Lovely to make your acquaintance.” A small smile accompanied her words. “Pearl! Lovely to meetcha too! Those were some proper spells back there, you know! Thanks again for saving me.” The spells really did seem impressive. Was that Latin? Pearl didn’t know any Latin, but it definitely felt Latin.

“No problem, really. Now c’mon, let’s go. You’re not done with this place yet, right? It’ll go by a lot faster if we went through it together.” With that, Cleo promptly started walking towards the next chamber, heading deeper into the dungeon with Pearl close on her heels.

Something about that recurring sense of déjà vu nagged at Pearl, but for now, she was glad to have found a new friend in Cleo.

[maggymations]

My piece for @pearlescentzine

I partnered with @kayawolfhorse on the Boatem prompt! This drawing is from a scene in her fic, Stars Below, which features all of Boatem and some void shenanigans they get up to ;)

silly progress stuff and initial ideas under the cut!

aaaaaand the outfit i stole from an old drawing

Bye bye 👋

AGAIN GO CHECK OUT KAYA’S FIC SHES AN INCREDIBLE WRITER

[150en]

Team Wrong Planet, Game Breakers and Moondog Cafe in Hungry Hermits.

This art is for @pearlescentzine , you can download the full zine here.

Thank you to the zine team for all your hard work, and letting me be part of this project. To all the contributors, I'm a fan of all your pieces. And to Pearl, thank you for inspiring us!

[kayawolfhorse]

Stars Below

My piece for @pearlescentzine! I always enjoy writing silly Boatem shenanigans, and for this escapade in particular, I teamed up with the lovely artist @maggymations. Check out Maggy’s illustration here, and the rest of the wonderful zine here!

— ☾ —

A sea of faux-stars twinkles gently above Pearl, and the lanterns at her back cast a golden glow against the half-filled sketchpad balanced on her knee. She taps her pencil against the page’s edge. The sound flows uninterrupted through the night, stopped only by the faint rattling of the chains Grian’s fiddling with further down the alley.

The rattling stops. “Is this sign too high?”

Pearl leans back against the curb and tilts her head. Across the street, the cyan plate of a sign-to-be creaks slightly from where it hangs above an empty shop front. She shrugs. “Looks good from this angle. You could move it down one.”

Grian makes a vague noise of acknowledgment and goes back to his rearranging. “I’m not sure what this one’s going to sell yet, honestly. The space just looked empty without it.”

“It fills out the row nicely,” Pearl agrees. “What color are you doing the roof in?”

They’re swapping ideas for a window display when an elytra snapping shut for a landing joins them: “I thought I heard voices over here.”

“Heya, Impulse!” Pearl greets. “Rather late for you to be awake, isn’t it?”

“Ah, well, I was having trouble sleeping,” Impulse says. His robe, the same bright yellow as his daytime overcoat, is rumpled beneath the straps of his elytra, and his left shoe’s laces are steadily unraveling. “What are you guys doing up?”

“Late-night buddies, you know how it is.” Grian waves the trapdoor in his hand.

“We tend to find each other if neither of us are asleep,” Pearl says. Teasing, she adds, “the rest of your lot’s snoring can be heard from a thousand blocks away.”

“I don’t snore!” Impulse protests. “Mumbo definitely does, though.”

“Oh, he does,” Grian says. “Has for as long as I’ve known him.”

“I guess it’s just not something you notice when you’re mega-bases apart.” Impulse shrugs. “How long have you two been working?”

“A couple hours?” Pearl mentally runs the numbers. “A few, maybe?”

“Something like that.” Grian silently counts on his fingers and gives up when he reaches his pinkie.

Impulse tuts. “As the official Head of Happiness—”

“I’m pretty sure we blew you up for that one,” Grian comments.

“You definitely did,” Pearl says.

“—I can’t let two Boatem members work the entire night away,” Impulse finishes. “Think about how you’ll feel in the morning!”

“Mornings are when I sleep best,” Grian says, and Pearl nods in solidarity.

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t suggesting going to bed just yet.” Impulse motions towards the cave’s entrance. “I was actually going to invite you on a walk?”

Pearl hums. “A walk could be a refreshing change of pace.” She turns to squint at Grian.

“I wasn’t going to argue!” he defends. At Pearl’s raised eyebrow, he admits, “Well, maybe just a little.”

After Pearl has set aside her sketchpad and—much to Pearl’s dismay—Grian’s shoved his building materials into a random barrel, they join Impulse beyond the mouth of the Midnight Alley. The cave’s ceiling gives way to the real night sky and a crisp breeze tousles Pearl’s hair. Summer’s insects have bowed to autumn’s stillness; somewhere in the distance, a lone owl calls out.

Pearl tries to focus on the world immediately around her as they slowly circle Boatem. Something tips her gaze upwards anyways—call it morbid fascination. The moon is a milky, cratered expanse far too close for comfort. Its silver edge brushes the horizon behind her lighthouse palace, a feat that would’ve happened hours later had the moon been its normal size. It’s discomforting. Pearl can’t look away.

Impulse breaks the hush that’s settled over them: “I was going to fly over to Tango’s, but I didn’t really want to make the trip. This is much nicer.”

“It’s a decent night for it.” Pearl’s next step bounces twice as high and takes twice as long to connect with the ground again. She frowns at her feet. Her wings twitch. “D’you often go to Tango if you can’t sleep?”

“A couple times, maybe, but you know me, sometimes I’m in bed before the sun is fully set!”

“Old man.” Grian playfully bumps Impulse’s arm, which does little to jostle his path of travel.

“Laugh all you want, but you see this face?” Impulse gestures. “Fresh as a daisy!”

“Looking a little weary around the edges there, mate,” Pearl says, “but you’re usually as lovely as the springtime, I agree.”

They’ve stopped beside the G-train tracks, next to the empty, most recently built car. Pearl idly paces a few steps across the wooden ties.

“Aw, well, thank you,” Impulse says, and sighs. “Tonight my worries got a little ahead of me, with the moon and all. I mean, when has something like this ever happened before? What do we even do?”

“We’ll think of something, I’m sure,” Grian says sincerely. “If there’s anyone that could, it’d be this group.”

Pearl pauses in her pacing. “The Hermits are some of the smartest, craziest people I know. We’ll figure it out.”

“You’re right,” Impulse says. “I believe in us! It’d just be nice to be able to do something about it in the meantime.”

“Blow up the moon?” Grian suggests.

“Have a sleepover?” Pearl proposes.

“More void sacrifices?” Impulse offers.

“Have a sleepover above the void,” Pearl says. Grian and Impulse turn to look at her in near-unison. “In hammocks. Right at the bottom of the world.”

“Does anyone even have any hammocks laying around?” Grian wonders.

“Oh, I have a few,” Impulse absently comments. Paling slightly, he quickly adds, “You’re not really planning on doing this, right?”

“It would make for a good next Boatem meeting,” Grian says.

“We could have everyone in their jammies and decorate the Boatem hole!” Pearl says.

“This is a terrible idea,” Impulse says, but even he can’t fully shake the allure from the edges of his smile.

“Oh, it is.” Grian claps once. “It’s settled! I’ll arrange the meeting. Impulse, you get beds taken care of. Pearl, you’re on decorating duty. How’s tomorrow evening sound?”

Pearl grins. “Sounds like our best plan yet.”

— ☾ —

The night has long darkened by the time they’re assembled around the void. From a broken farm to escaped cats to a suddenly lost hat that Scar insisted is essential to the sleepover, the delays piled higher and higher; finally, they’ve made it.

“Are we sure about this? Like, how do we know sleeping over the void will actually do anything?” Mumbo shifts his weight nervously between the bits of bedrock he’s standing on.

“We don’t!” Grian says gleefully. “But the moon’s obviously not going to just stop growing, so we might as well find someplace safe from it, yeah?” He spreads his arms. “Where safer than the furthest we can get from it?”

The bedrock layer isn’t looking half-bad for such a last-minute job, in Pearl’s humble opinion. Strung with lights, the little cavern is as inviting as it could be with a pit to an unnerving nothingness at its center. The uneven floor around said pit could’ve used a patch job, Pearl supposes, but for authenticity’s sake, she’d left it alone, save for a few pops of colorful carpet.

“Okay, yeah, I see your point,” Mumbo concedes. “But did you have to set up the most rickety-looking hammocks you could find?”

“They’ve been in my closet for a while, okay?” Impulse tentatively reaches over and gives the closest fencepost a pat. The posts had been left over from the llama incident; each one connects the corners of two hammocks. With only enough space for four in the hole itself, the fifth hammock hangs next to the void, over the bedrock. They are a little rough for wear.

“They do add a sense of danger most sleepovers are lacking,” Pearl says.

“I, for one, think this is a fantastic idea.” Scar strikes a pose that emphasizes the cat pattern adorning his bottoms. “I’ve been meaning to show off my patented Jellie PJs!”

“Says the person with the one hammock not dangling precariously over the void,” Mumbo says. “Scar, you’re just plain crazy.”

“I’m Pearlescent Moon! I’m more protected than the rest of you already; you all need the extra step more than I do,” Pearl says. “And besides, I got first dibs on bed choice and I’m not wasting it.”

“Arguably, this is the safest of our meetings,” Impulse says. “No end crystals, no live animals, no strange minecart contraptions. There’s only a slight risk of death!”

“Exactly! Thank you, Impulse,” Grian says. “If there are no further objections, let’s crack on with it, shall we?”

After everyone empties their pockets into the ender chest placed conveniently nearby, Pearl crouches next to the hole as the others attempt to climb into their beds with varying levels of success.

Impulse’s is the closest to Pearl’s own, and he pulls it towards himself to quickly clamber into. They all hold their breath as the hammock swings, ropes creaking against their posts; Impulse’s relieved exhale is the loudest of the bunch when his momentum comes to a halt.

Mumbo, for as tall as he is, stretches across the space between bedrock and hammock in one long, tentative line. He gingerly shifts his weight onto his extended foot but moves too slowly—had it not been for Grian’s shove that pitches Mumbo headfirst into the hammock in a crumpled heap, he wouldn’t have made it at all.

“How are you even folded like that?” Pearl marvels. In Mumbo’s scramble to right himself, his left foot has ended up above his head, and his right arm is pinned awkwardly beneath him.

“Dude, you look like a crushed soda can,” Scar says. “One that got caught under, like, a dozen ravagers that were all really mad at you.”

“I’d like to see you try!” Mumbo grumps.

“As a matter of fact, I will!”

Pearl blinks, and Scar’s tripping void-bound—he manages to save himself on a fencepost as Grian lunges for a fistful of the back of Scar’s shirt. Just as Grian’s about to pull him up, Scar’s hat starts to dip and he makes a grab for its brim, leaving Grian with the near-entirety of Scar’s weight, which he frantically flaps his wings to leverage against. Impulse clasps one of Scar’s shoulders while Pearl grabs Impulse’s hammock to steady him, and Mumbo detangles himself just in time to assist in pushing Scar the rest of the way.

Half-hunched and breathless, Scar turns to Pearl. “Say, Pearl, you wouldn’t be interested in swapping arrangements, would you? This here is a fine hammock if I do say so myself—it’d be wasted on little old me, who can’t even get into the thing!”

“C’mon mate, that’s quitter talk!” Pearl says cheerfully. “You can do it; you’ve already gone halfway!”

“Try aiming for the hammock instead of the void, this time,” Impulse says, shocking a laugh out of Grian at Scar’s side.

“Betrayed,” Scar mutters as he reaches for the post, “betrayed by them all, I tell you.” With far more success than the last attempt, Scar lands in the center of the canvas with a muffled oof.

With a flutter of his wings, Grian hovers slightly above the hole and drops into his bed. “Now, that’s just unfair,” Mumbo comments, to which Grian sticks out a mocking tongue.

“Well!” Pearl says. “Now that we’ve all made it in nice and secure, anyone up for a game?”

Most of what she had planned by way of activities had operated under the assumption that the sleepover would be starting earlier in the evening. So close to the end of it, after the sun has set and everyone’s sure to have eaten dinner already, Pearl only has one real trick to pull from her sleeve:

“Oh, I love cards!” From seemingly out of nowhere, Scar produces his own deck, bound together with a thick green ribbon.

“Did you just… have those on you?” Mumbo asks incredulously.

Scar slides the ribbon down to reveal the top card’s back; in the center of its maroon base is a pair of lovingly illustrated grey cat ears that could belong to no one but Jellie herself, and the edges of the card are outlined in shining gold.

Pearl splays her hands in mock-offense. “Oi, you can’t go outdoing me!” Her own plain pack hardly holds a candle against Jellie’s lovely likeness.

“No, no,” Scar assures, “no outdoing here! The more the merrier!”

“I can’t believe you have themed cards of your cat.” After a moment, Grian seems to reconsider this, and follows it up with: “Actually, no, I can.”

They decide to deal in both decks, and it goes about as well as expected.

What’s actually being played is at no point clear. Mumbo keeps trying to explain blackjack while Grian’s geared for poker. Impulse appears to be operating under a set of rules that could only have been conceived by Zedaph, and after Pearl’s head starts to spin trying to follow along, she goes to sit next to Scar for a game of Go Fish.

The extra cards are precariously piled on top of Mumbo and Impulse’s shared fencepost. They last an admirably long time before a stray elbow knocks them into the void. Scar assuages them all that he has several more packs of the Jellie cards back in his base.

By the time even Grian’s stifling yawns, Pearl reckons it’s about time to close out the night. Mumbo gathers the remaining cards and passes them to Pearl; she tucks them into the ender chest on her way to extinguishing most of the lanterns. Two of them, as they unanimously agree, remain lit.

The murmured goodnights settle over Pearl as she sinks into her bedding. She’d brought her second-favorite blanket down for the sleepover, a green throw she’d amateurishly knitted herself towards the beginning of the season, and its weight is comforting upon her scrunched shoulders.

“Anyone still awake?” Impulse whispers, a touch above inaudible.

“Problems sleeping again?” Pearl whispers back. The other three’s only responses are the hushed sighs of their sleep-slow breathing.

“Not as bad tonight, I don’t think.” Impulse’s hammock creaks with his shifting and Pearl turns to look at him, but his face, softened by darkness, is tilted upwards. “It just feels weird, you know? The void, I mean. I don’t know if I’ve ever spent this much time right next to it before.”

Pearl does know. She can feel it even without being suspended directly over its onyx expanse, now that the festivities have quieted: a chill that cuts straight through Pearl’s blanket without really being cold.

“It’s a weird one.” Pearl pulls her knees to her chest as best as she can. “Who knows, maybe Grian’s right. It could save us from the moon.”

“It could.” Impulse is quiet for long enough that Pearl assumes he’s fallen asleep. Sincerity weaves between every word when he eventually says, “Thanks for setting this up, Pearl. It’s been fun—there’s no one else I’d rather hang precariously over the void with than this group.”

“Those are high honors there, mate,” Pearl says, and she can’t help her smile. “I agree. You all could keep anything interesting.”

“Never a dull moment!” Softer, Impulse says, “Goodnight, Pearl.”

“Goodnight, Impulse.”

The humming eeriness beneath Pearl finds a competitor in the warmth that spreads over her entirely. Pearl holds on to it as her consciousness fades.

— ☾ —

When Pearl wakes, the light level is about the same as it was previously; she’s left to assume it’s morning based on her own biological clock. She rubs the final few wisps of sleep from her eyes. She’s sure she dreamt but can’t quite recall of what; all that remains is the faintest impression of spilled ink.

Grian’s scratchy voice is close enough to confirmation of morning’s arrival. “Where’s Mumbo?”

The crick in Pearl’s neck announces itself with an ache that throbs down her back as she quickly rises. Indeed: bracketed by Impulse’s widened eyes and Scar’s still-comatose state, Mumbo’s hammock flutters slightly from where it’s secured to a single post, and Mumbo himself is nowhere to be seen.

“Oh gosh, he’s probably on his way back from spawn right now.” Pearl presses a fist to her lips against the giggles that threaten to spill from them.

Grian has no such reservations. His laughter echoes as he pulls himself onto the bedrock. “I can’t believe no one heard him.”

“There couldn’t have been much to hear, right?” Impulse rolls his shoulders with a crackling pop. “Ender chest, please.”

“Going to try to fly straight out?” Pearl slides the chest within reach. “Gutsy.”

“Grian got in on wings; might as well try getting out with them.” Impulse shrugs on his elytra.

“I believe in you.” Crouching next to Scar’s hammock with a firm hold on its edge, Grian says, louder, “Scar! Up and at ‘em, we’ve got to go save Mumbo.”

Pearl folds her blanket as Impulse readies his rockets and Grian helps Scar onto the bedrock. With a final determined exhale, Impulse leaps; in a shower of sparks, he shoots towards the faint sliver of sky. Pearl cheers after him.

Further clean-up, Pearl decides as she watches Grian and Scar ascend together, can wait. Tucking her blanket away, Pearl gives her wings a shake and a stretch. They’re a little rumpled from a night spent pressed against the hammock’s side, but they’ll do well enough.

Before she goes, Pearl spares the void a final glance. Its strange static dances across her skin. The stars below seem to wink.

Of two things, she is certain: the void is a strange place to spend so much time near, and the company she shared made every second of the ordeal worth it. Her thoughts turn to the night sky eclipsed in white and the strangeness of its cast light. She ponders the inevitable end of the world and what lies beneath it.

Laughter echoes in her ears and tickles the back of her throat. Pearl reaches towards the growing light above her as she soars to meet her friends.

[kotikaleo]

PEARL IS HEREEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

GO GOVE ALL THE LOVE TO AWESOME PEOPLE WHO MADE @pearlescentzine !!!

I am so incredibly proud of this, this is legit my best work ever done and I am so happy I gotr a chanse to be part of this zine!

I will ramble a bit about organization, because I am very passionate about it!

I like how in the begging all the themes were devided by three categories each having more popular and less popular. that was an important step for the rest of the topic asigment!

We had to make up the idea for each bracket, even if in the end we end up being drawing only for the one - so thee in total. i knew taht i couldn't submit ideas for Hermitcraft s10 and 9 and 8 and be done - that's a very popular series, i had to choose less popular ones. Which cause d me to watch more of Pearl, which is cool!!!

So as a result I found moments I really liked in less popular series and watched more pearl! And had in general more interesting brain storm!

And as a result the zine itself looks diverse which is cool!

I also really like the timelines. It was just the right amout of time for me to manage zine and my work so that is +1 into mod's karma uwu

ALSO I FOUND FRIENDS!!!!!! MY SILLY GOOBERS!!!!

Anyway awesome experience, 11/10, hope you organize some other stuff I will be very interested 👀

[pearlescentzine]

Aah I’m so glad you had a good experience! The brackets were Thrip’s idea, if people are interested I could post the categories and some of the behind the scenes stuff when I’m not busy

[echolocati0n-art]

"Do you like me today, Gem?"

SURPRISE! I was one of the artists in @pearlescentzine!

All of the work turned out amazingly and I'm so glad to have been apart of such a wonderful project! Shoutout to the team as well as I believe this was their first zine :)

fun fact: sunflowers represent loyalty and oleanders are toxic :)

(if you like shinyduo, Im also selling shinyduo charms here for only 3 more days!)

@pearlescentmoo @geminitayyt

[contravictoire]

I totally didn’t forget to post my piece for @pearlescentzine

I made this within the first week of the creation period, so my style is a bit different from what you’ve seen here

This was also my first ever full piece with a background! I’ve been drawing for a long time, but it was always just doodles and oc creation. Up until this point, I had never made a fully finished piece

This was back in January. Since then, I’ve made at least one full piece (with background) a month - though I’ve been inconsistent with posting here. Considering we’re almost halfway into the year (crazy…), I’ve definitely improved a lot since this point. But honestly it’s still one of my favourites she’s so cutie

[soldierkitten]

my part of @pearlescentzine zine!!!! pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl pearl we love pearlescentmoon