#y'all be honest and tell me if anything is cringey or needs clarification or whatever the case may be!

[tvrningout-a]

YOUR FRIENDLY NEIGHBORHOOD JOROGUMO | ATSV AU

alright, let's take it from the top.

my name is chiyoko hisakawa -- doesn't roll off the tongue like the others, i know. but just like everybody else, i was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the last few years, i've been the one and only spider-woman. or, uh, jorogumo, if you wanna get specific. kinda have to be these days.

background:

in this universe, chiyo's parents died when she was young, so she grows up with her aunt mei, uncle benkichi, and her cousin naoki. she goes through the same experiences as in her main verse -- the aspirations to be like the heroes in her manga, the bullying that kills that dream, and the realization she's quite lonely -- but now with the added canon experiences of spider-man.

during a brief internship at alchemax, chiyo is bitten by a radioactive spider that sends her down a path she doesn't want and initially rejects, going about her life as normal. it isn't until her uncle ben is killed during a home invasion that chiyo begins to accept her new role and puts the work in to wield her powers ( and yeah, she does go on a bit of a vengeful quest for a minute ). she gets herself together, fights a big bad or two, and to her great surprise, she isn't half-bad at this hero thing. there are some close calls, but she always bounces back.

chiyo first encounters other spider-people after someone else's green goblin attacks her, resulting in the death of her almost-girlfriend shiori -- also known as her world's gwen stacy. the spider-people help her neutralize green goblin, and chiyo decides to join their cause after a week or so. throwing herself into something new is a lot easier than grieving.

other info

japanese citizens took to calling chiyo " jorogumo " during the period she acted as a vengeful vigilante; the title refers to a spider yokai from japanese folklore capable of shifting into a woman and who would trap men and eat them. there is another version of the tale in which jorogumo is a goddess who protects people from drowning, and chiyo hopes that's the myth most people associate with her now. for more info on this period of time, head on over here!

chiyo's powers mimic the spitting spider. she can spit webbing that is coated in paralytic venom which can congeal and constrict opponents. think of it as being superglued rather than wrapped up! but she finds the sensation gross and doesn't typically use this.

she can produce webbing from her wrists as well.

prior to gaining powers, chiyo didn't exercise or know how to fight. she went to naoki to learn aikido from him, which ended up suiting her well as it doesn't rely too heavily on strength. i'll elaborate on this in another post most likely!

after learning about canon events and their importance, chiyo suspects that the people who helped her didn't show up in time to save shiori on purpose. though she understands its supposed necessity, this particular protocol that spider-society must follow doesn't sit well with her; she's been tempted more than once to cut ties because of it.

currently, chiyo is a senior in high school, still in charge of her school newspaper's sports column. she has to ask naoki for the rundown on most school sporting events thanks to her other extracurriculars.

it's been several months since shiori's death, but chiyo has yet to forgive herself. when she's visiting spider-society, it's usually to keep herself too busy to think about it.

if it comes up, chiyo is from earth-7878a -- the numbers 7 and 8 are lucky in japan!

she's recently met her mother... the version of her from earth-7878b.