#mantis walters

[lepidxpterxphxbia]

cricket / mantis dynamic....

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

Iteration of Jess and mantis who run away together and form a rock band and just sing about how angry they are. Do you see my vision

I DO I DO UNDERSTAND YOU SO MUCH... WHATS THEIR BAND NAME THO

[arthistoryanimalia]

#TwoForTuesday for #InsectWeek: Japanese praying mantises!

1. Ohara Koson (1877-1945) Praying Mantis and Full Moon, c. 1920s woodblock print, ink & color on paper The Trout Gallery of Dickinson College

2. Murata Seimin (1761-1837) Brush Rest in the Shape of a Praying Mantis, c. 1800 metalwork sculpture, copper alloy The Walters Art Museum

[lexumpysfunland]

random thought popped up (no idea if you already answered sth like this) but, does Walter have any other "favorite" animals?

I'll group them in one response since it's about the animals haha :D

As another favorite animal, he has always been fascinated by Mantis shrimps before, so it would have a special place in his heart. just the fact that such a small thing could deliver such a power punch always had his mind wandering on this small critter.

but if he has to pick a form that wasn't a centipede/millipede or anything similar, he will go for his other favorite, not the mantis shrimp because they kinda need water to thrive (though since he's a narrator he could pull a "fuck you it's magic" move, but I'm not doing that here), he'd go for a Snake. knowing how he is every day, this would be a nice pick for him. I mean, just look at him :0

[enodia-polymorphous]

ARĒTĒR: THE PRIEST WHO PRAYS A deep-dive into "arētēr" as a path of priesthood. Long post ahead.

You may be reading this because you're interested in priesthood in the context of hellenic polytheism, as informed by Ancient Greek history. We are fortunate to have books written on this topic (such as Portrait of a Priestess by Joan Breton Connelly), as well as scholarly articles plus the blogs of our modern community members doing their deep-dives.

Some enjoy researching these topics for academic reasons, and some in order to reconstruct and revive paths of hellenic polytheist priesthood in modern day.

This post isn't about a well-documented title of a priest, if it even was regarded socially and politically as a title of temple clergy alongside hiereis (not an exact translation of "priest" as we know it, but the closest — written like this as opposed to hiereus or hiereia as a gender neutral term) or adjacent titles like manteis in the first place.

If you're looking for historically informed writings on hellenic polytheist priesthood titles/paths, then please see the next section.

💫 PRIESTHOOD IN ANCIENT GREECE

For the surrounding context of priesthood in hellenic polytheism, in Ancient Greece, I'd like to refer you to this post by @wayfind-er which goes into what we know of priesthood back then. They also have this post about Seers.

And as recommended by @wayfind-er as well, it can help to read @star-of-zeus's series of priesthood posts.

📜 ARĒTĒR: THE ONCE MENTIONED TITLE

I first came across the word "arētēr" in the paper "Practitioners of the Divine: Greek Priests and Religious Officials from Homer to Heliodorus" which says:

But what is it that differentiates a hiereus from a hieropoios, hierothutēs, arētēr, theopropos, or, most importantly, a mantis?

Hiereis and manteis (sometimes referred to as "oracle") are the most commonly referenced titles in Ancient Greek priesthood. They are seen as the ritual expert and the oracle expert respectively (and rather simply. I do recommend reading the posts I linked in the previous section to gain a better understanding).

If you've never heard of arētēr like I hadn't before this paper, I can reasonably assume this is because we find only one mention of this title in historical literature.

Further discussion found of this word reference this single mention, or are in the context of etymology or definition.

📖 WHERE CAN WE FIND THE ARĒTĒR?

In the Iliad, the title of the priest who knows how to manipulate such words of prayer is areter: it is Chryses who brings the plague on the Achaean army with his prayer and who later brings the plague to an end.

— Greek Religion by Walter Burkert

It is the Iliad that uses this title to refer to Chryses, who is otherwise referred to as a priest (of Apollon), with his actions within the story speaking more to his role in translations than the use of a different title. He prays to/supplicates Apollon for the plague, and is able to pray once again to stop it. His role denotes power behind his words when it comes to the deity he is a priest of.

A variety of other sources reference this mention. While they tell us the same thing, different wording and sentences can help us understand how the word arētēr is viewed in this context.

We know far less of Chryses, who is not mentioned in the Iliad outside our episode. He is introduced in 1.11 as a priest (arētēr), who arrives in the Achaean camp bearing, as an emblem of Apollo, a golden staff with the god’s fillets attached to it.

— Arjuna–Odysseus: Shared Heritage in Indian and Greek Epic by N.J Allen

There, as in the case of the priest (arētēr) Chryses in Iliad 1, the singer was not personally involved, but instead a victim of circumstances. [...] In Homer’s cultural outlook, priests and singers are a special group worthy of respect. While an arētēr is unsurprisingly not mentioned in the Odyssey’s list of traveling professionals (17:383–386), priests’ importance equally places them with the mantis in a professional religious class deserving of special status and respect

— The Characterization of Agamemnon in the Iliad by Andrew Porter

the priest himself is called areter (ἀρητήρ), in contrast to the usual designation of a priest in other passages (hiereus, ἱερεύς).

— Speech and gesture in Ritual. The Rituals of Supplication and Prayer in Homer, By Françoise Letoublon

The language (ētīmēsen arētēra) here specifies that Agamemnon slighted the tīmē of Chryses in his role as arētēr 'one who prays/curses'.

— Leonard Muellner commentary on Iliad

Here in Muellner's commentary, we start to touch on the definition of the title.

📝 DEFINING ARĒTĒR

Arētēra "priest": from ara "prayer", aratēs, with the Ionic change of [a] into [ē]. The word aratēr comes from araō "to pray", future arasō, hence arētēr, or from airō "to lift"", or from areskein "to please" God.

Arētēr is the “priest" (hiereus), called thus from the fact that he makes prayers (eukhas) on behalf of those who sacrifice. And this is the origine of the word arōmata "aromas", meaning "fumigations" (epithumiamata)

— Etymologies Grecques Antiques et Médiévales Ancient and Medieval Greek Etymologies (1) (2)

Ara (άρά) ­– Positive meaning of a prayer or vow; negative meaning is that of a curse: the success and glory of one implies the humiliation and defeat of another, and reflects the disposition of a deity. […] Areter ( άρητήρ )- priest with skill to manipulate prayer, to bring about the desired aspect of ara. Chryses is such a priest who both incurs and ends a plague on the Achaean army in order to regain his daughter taken by Agamemnon.

— Dictionary of Ancient Greek Religion by J. Greg Deane

Aritír - (areter; Gr. ἀρητήρ, ΑΡΗΤΗΡ. Noun.) suppliant, one who prays, a priest.

— Glossary of Prayer in Ancient Greek Religion by Kallímakhos

As all of these dictionaries or articles say, arētēr is defined as a priest who prays.

Assuming you have read about hellenic polytheist priesthood prior to this post (or checked out the posts linked at the start), we can look at this definition in parallel to hiereis.

A hiereis is often defined as a ritual-expert stationed at a temple. In hellenic polytheism, you don't require a title or vocation in priesthood to host rituals. Everyday worshippers would host or partake in rituals in the household daily. It was common, however, for hiereis to host communal rituals or festivals. They upheld tradition and had deeper knowledge on rituals.

If an arētēr is defined as a prayer-expert in parallel, given that in hellenic polytheism you don't need a title to pray to your deities, we can reconstruct (reference what we do have of historical sources) and revive (adapt the path to modern times) the title similarly.

An arētēr may have deeper knowledge on prayer in this religion. An arētēr may be called upon in communal worship, at festivals, at their designated temple to conduct, or advise on, prayer alongside a hiereis (or even being a hiereis if one were to be a hiereis and arētēr together, with hiereis sometimes being seen as an umbrella term for priesthood paths. This would involve being an expert of ritual and prayer. These aspects often go hand-in-hand in hellenic polytheism).

💭 ASSUMPTIONS

These are important to keep in mind when engaging with this information.

We can assume:

That we don't truly know what an arētēr was in historical times. This title could've been created for the context of the Iliad. It might not have been an actual station held at a temple.

A neologism is a term without existing usage but coined by the poet himself; some words seem to be of this kind, e.g. ernuges for kerata [“horns”] and arētēr for hiereus [“priest”].

— Aristotle, Poetics

That, if it were a role, it may not have been parallel to hiereis. Some priesthood roles are stationed at a temple and some are travelling or not held to one temple/sanctuary.

That we don't particularly need an arētēr in these times, with all the books, journal articles and blogs we can access in our digital age to learn about prayer ourselves.

That an arētēr can still be useful. Those who specialise in certain aspects of hellenic polytheism can assist others in a manner that doesn't encourage power dynamics, but educates and contributes to our growing community/religion.

That prayer can be a duty of a hiereis as well, without the title of arētēr because prayer is so intertwined with libations and offerings, which are often used to support prayer/a petition.

That, because we don't know its historical context, we don't know what is required to be an arētēr.

🏛️ PERSONAL CONTEXT IN REGARDS TO MODERN PRIESTHOOD

I am an oathsworn devotee of Hekate who is studying to be her priest. I am a candidate of a hiereis study program, mentored by a consecrated priestess, and I also do independent study and contemplation as I walk this path of training.

I include this as context because of future posts I want to write on the role of arētēr.

I know that modern priesthood, especially in hellenic polytheism (because we cannot reconstruct historical priesthood, which was intertwined with a historical society and political landscape), is controversial. In a decentralised religion that doesn't require clergy for us to conduct worship, many question the purpose of a path like this.

This post and my devotion isn't about defining the purpose of priesthood paths in our religion, but I do want to say that I believe well-intended, well-educated and well-surrounded individuals who are called to the path and choose the path can benefit the communities they are within, whether in-person or online, whether in a localised tradition or globally, whether or not they are the ones leading these communities or are participants.

There are individual "versions" of priesthood, unique to the practitioner and their devotional relationships. Those who are on the path of priesthood with their deities, define their paths with their deities, and it is up to them to conduct themselves in an unharmful way.

I intend to go deeper into what priesthood is for my practice in a separate post at a later time, as well as potential modern applications of the arētēr title.

I put together this deep-dive of arētēr because I was drawn to the idea of it when I came across it, and drawn to the path upon learning more. I believe that being an arētēr is a possibility for me.

Thank you for reading this huge post and I hope you got something out of it!

📚 SOURCES

Allen, NJ 2019, Arjuna–Odysseus, Taylor & Francis.

Aristotle 1995, ‘Poetics’, in DA Russell (ed.), Digital Loeb Classical Library.

Burkert, W 2012, Greek religion archaic and classical, Malden, Mass. Blackwell.

Deane, JG 2025, Dictionary of Ancient Greek Religion, Blogspot.com, viewed 6 March 2025, <https://greekreligiondictionary.blogspot.com/2011/01/dictionary-of-greek-religion-including.html>.

Feuvre, L 2025a, ἀρά, Etygram, viewed 6 March 2025, <http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram/node/322>.

― 2025b, ἀρέσκω, Etygram, viewed 6 March 2025, <http://appsweb-cepam.unice.fr/etygram/node/321>.

Françoise Letoublon 2013, Speech and gesture in Ritual. The Rituals of Supplication and Prayer in Homer, Ritual Dynamics in the Ancient Mediterranean: Agency, Emotion, Gender, Reception, Angelos Chaniotis ed., Stuttgart: Steiner Verlag,: 291-311., viewed 8 March 2025, <https://www.academia.edu/5566018/Speech_and_gesture_in_Ritual_The_Rituals_of_Supplication_and_Prayer_in_Homer>.

Henrichs, A 2008, Introduction. What Is a Greek Priest?, The Center for Hellenic Studies, viewed 11 February 2025, <https://chs.harvard.edu/chapter/introduction-what-is-a-greek-priest-albert-henrichs/>.

Joan Breton Connelly 2009, Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece, Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.

Kallímakhos 2025, Glossary of Prayer in Ancient Hellenic Religion, Hellenicgods.org, viewed 6 March 2025, <https://www.hellenicgods.org/glossary-of-prayer-in-ancient-hellenic-religion>.

Muellner, L 2024, Commentary on the Iliad, Perseus.org.

Porter, A 2019, 4. The Characterization of Agamemnon in the Iliad, The Center for Hellenic Studies, viewed 1 March 2025, <https://chs.harvard.edu/chapter/4-the-characterization-of-agamemnon-in-the-iliad/>.

star-of-zeus 2021, Star’s Blog Masterpost, Tumblr, viewed 12 February 2025, <https://www.tumblr.com/star-of-zeus/645593181430366208/stars-blog-masterpost?source=share>.

wayfind-er 2024, ‘Priesthood’ in Ancient Greece, Tumblr, viewed 11 February 2025, <https://wayfind-er.tumblr.com/post/771204296242003968/priesthood-in-ancient-greece>.

divider credits -> @enchanthings-a and @strangergraphics-archive

[lepidxpterxphxbia]

So funny story I've actually seen this before and tagged it as mantis. It really is them

I love the "came back wrong" trope but from the opposite side.

Imagine you are dead. And then you are RIPPED from the embrace of decay into the world of the living again. Your memories are hazy and you don't recognize any of these people, but they act like they're close to you? Like they love you? So you try to get your memories back, to act like you belong here, but everybody tries to forget you died. And you can't. It is omnipresent. And just trying to grapple with that fact pushes the people who "love" you away, and they're incapable of understanding, and they're so confused, what's wrong N̶̄̀O̶͛͗T̷̉́ ̷͋͝Y̴̎̌Ȍ̴̈U̸̓R NÄM̴̃͑E̵̾̇? And you just need them to understand, you aren't that person! You aren't! You don't know who that person is! You don't know why any of this is happening, but they're unwilling to bend, they keep insisting you are that person, your memories will come back, everything will be normal again, and you want to scream and cry and claw yourself open to show them you're different. Your existence as a being wholly separate from whoever you "used to be" is a sin unto itself. All you can do is scrabble for life and to them, you're killing whoever they loved to do it.

just. lots of fun in that concept, you know?

[mindblowingscience]

James Cook University researcher Matthew Connors has discovered two new praying mantis species with the help of citizen scientists. The finds have been published in Zootaxa. One of these new mantises is not just a new species but an entirely new genus—the classification level above species—and was discovered thanks to citizen scientist Glenda Walter. "We have named the new species Inimia nat—I. nat for short—as it was discovered thanks to the citizen science platform iNaturalist—also iNat for short. "It's a tribute to a new way of doing natural science. With a far greater number of people able to survey a much broader span of both time and space, citizen scientists can provide a wealth of data that would not otherwise be feasible," said Connors. He said if someone were to go outside and find three different insects, there's a good chance that at least one of them would be a new species.

Continue Reading.

[lepidxpterxphxbia]

I think we need to do more with the fact that flinchite mantis is flinchite cicada's replacement. Enough forcing flinchite cicada to kill those they love how about forcing (not even forcing really) flinchite mantis to kill those he loved in another life

[ty-bayonet-betteridge]

It was Jess's seventy-ninth day in the compound, by his estimate, though it was certain not all of that time was liner, nor could it remember all of it. Seventy-nine days. After seventy-nine days, all that Jess had left to muster was a cold anger.

She was angry in every direction. She was angry at Cicada, for getting in the way of her mission and abandoning her to Eli. She was angry at Eli, for consigning her to this torture and not telling her anything about it. She was angry at the other Elijah, the one she had once thought was her friend, for not intervening when her iteration had done this to it. She was angry at the Flinchites, for the horrible things they had put it through with smiles on their faces. She was angry at WOE.BEGONE, for forcing it into a position where he had to take Eli's deal. She was angry at the other Jessica, the one who was alive and supposedly working with Eli, for getting to live her life away from all this horrible shit he had been through. She was just a ball of empty, cold rage, her vitriol pouring in every direction, like the smoke billowing from a censer.

So it was little surprise that when she passed the man who looked just like Cicada in the halls, while being led back to her room, it wheeled around and punched him in the face. Hard.

He threw himself at the Cicada, animalistic fury bubbling out of her as it scratched and punched at him. She was shouting something, it couldn't really tell what over the sound of the blood pounding in his ears - something about how he had left her here. He was vaguely aware of others trying to pull him away from him, of the Cicada fighting back, but it did not care.

When the Flinchite employees had managed to hold her back, she shouted at him, panting on the other side of the hall, clutching the shoulder where he had landed a rough blow. "Fuck you, Cicada!"

And suddenly she was on the ground. It took it a second to realize he had charged across the room and kneed Jess, hard, letting it crumple to the floor. He stomped on her hand and it yelped in pain.

"That's not my fucking name," he spat.

The man behind not-Cicada touched his shoulder. "Bug-"

Not-Cicada wheeled around, shaking off the hand to interrupt him. "Don't. Just fucking don't."

That was the last thing Jess remembered before the incident was corrected.

[lepidxpterxphxbia]

@heshemikey

finding out mantises can be black changed my life. is this not the coolest guy you've ever seen

[funkii4-blog]

I just left the theatre and I need to ramble /vpos

LOTS OF MAJOR SONIC 3 SPOILERS UNDER CUT, SCROLL AWAY IF YOU DON’T WANT SPOILERS.

ALSO DON’T REBLOG THIS BECAUSE IT BUGS THE SPOILER CUT AND MAKES IT NOT WORK

That. Was. INCREDIBLE.

(notes from throughout the movie, not in order)

- “a meteor in Oklahoma” lmao Shadow’s from Oklahoma, bitch

- new rule needed by the Wakowski family: don’t ever acknowledge when it’s peaceful because you WILL jinx it and crazy shit will go down

- THE FIRST THING MARIA DID WHEN SHE MET SHADOW WAS DRAW A MOUSE FACE OVER HIM ON THE GLASS

- the cute montage of Shadow & Maria 🥺

- WHEN TAILS WAS TALKING TO STONE ABOUT HIM AND IVO “yeah, best friends…. That’s exactly what we are :(“ like DUDE. 🏳️‍🌈

- I guess Walters is just fucking dead now

- KNUCKLES YOU DUMBASS WHY WOULD YOU ENTRUST THE MASTER EMERALD TO WADE

- We sadly didn’t actually see Rachel but Maddie disguised as her for a bit so good enough

- so in this canon Maria wasn’t shot but rather killed by an explosion. Sorry to all the weirdos who were excited to see that

- “I’m undesirable to every possible gender” Ivo.

- THE OFFICIAL STOBOTNIK BREAKUP CALL OH MY GOD???????

- SHADOW ALMOST KILLED TOM BECAUSE HE THOUGHT HE WAS WALTERS (terrible time to catch him in disguise)

- It was awesome seeing Sonic in a rage like damn

- THE FOURTH WALL BREAK ABOUT IVO AND GERALD BOTH BEING JIM CARREY I-

- THE MANTIS THING THE MANTIS THING

- Stone getting sad when seeing Ivo and Gerald spending time together :(((

- “She should just kill them both” LMAO SHADOW

- r e v e n g e g u a c

- there WAS a snapcube reference but it was just a hot topic joke, nothing about pissing on the moon

- The moon is still pissed on by the cannon tho

- Ivo spending his last doomed moments in the cannon broadcasting just to talk to Stone one last time (and with a homage to the dance scene from the first movie at that) will KILL ME dude

- Gerald just zapping into instant nonexistence made me laugh sorry it was such a simple & stupid death

- YES SONIC PUNCH HIM IN THE FACE

- Knuckles being afraid of ghosts 💀

- LIVE AND LEARN LIVE AND LEARN LIVE AND L-

- Ivo was seemingly killed by the cannon explosion, we got Stobotnik makeup but a little too late 💔 it’s possible Shadow teleported him out but that’s not confirmed as we didn’t see him again

- “the light shines, even though the star is gone.” I want that tattooed on me I’m completely serious

- FIRST POST-CREDIT SHOWED METAL & AMY AAAAAAAAHH the audience where I was at was mostly quiet the whole movie but lost it at that

- Second post-credit showed Shadow is alive!

And that’s all I’ve got! That was so so so so good 10000000/10 best movie I’ve ever seen

[siryouarebeingmocked]

Found an Self-Insert Cyberpunk fanfic.

Except it's not the usual type. It's the type where it's told entirely from the perspective of people other than the SI, which makes it more interesting.

Problem 1: Current events.

Almost all the references people make are ones you'd expect from someone today, like Batman or other pieces of pop culture.

Cyberpunk 2077 often references fictional in-universe media. Like the dead rock star stuck in V's head. In a world where everything and everyone is disposable and temporary, why would people usually reference 80 year old media?

At one point, a character explicitly compares another character's clothing to Danny DeVito in Matilda.

Okay, the CP timeline divergences mainly started in the 90s. So it's possible that the movie was still made, but it's still odd. Especially when the same characters don't recognize that the story's lead is heavily based on Walter White. Shaved head and everything.

Except he's using his chemistry potential for good, not evil.

And it's not just media. It's also Current Year memes, like V describing certain people as a "corpo bros who watched too much American Psycho", or himself as a "disaster bisexual".

Oh look, a segue.

Problem 2: Rainbow connection.

The story puts a lot of emphasis on LGBT characters.

There's Judy Alvarez, obviously. But also, V's in with Meredith Stout is Stout's explicitly non-binary ex who, you guessed it, is they/them.

Adds nothing to the story. The SI provides that info, and Meredith tries to trip V up, but he sees through it.

Since Meredith is a Militech Corpo, and V is an Arasaka ex-Corpo (who still isn't over it), why doesn't V…just use that connection, somehow? Militech and Arasaka are rivals. There could be some friction there. Or V could sympathize with how Stout would do anything to keep her job.

Why are non-binary characters always just they/them? Why not he/she/they? He/She? Xi/xir? or Lunagender? Or using regular He or She interchangably while IDing as enby? Why is it always the basic, simple, "normal" version? Got a Rochester's Wife situation going on?*

Also, in fanfics, things like this often suggest even more awkward left-wing political insertions, down the line.

Problem 3: even more awkward left-wing political insertions.

Well, just one.

Panam Palmer just didn't fit. This wasn't rare in Night City. Lots of people who didn't fit in, were awkward, had no social groups, didn't choose to be loners. She expected to be alone in the city and no one cared. But it was personal hate. Her skin color, nomad markings, speech, just being a woman. The list went on and every day there was some new jerk who needed to find out, because they messed around.

Panam is canonically native American, according to the devs, but she looks like a random white biker lady wth a tan. Wouldn't be the first white-passing Native woman I've seen.

Also, she lives and works around Night City. Which is extremely diverse.

Judy Alvarez and Jackie (both Hispanic) were both POV characters, and race wasn't really mentioned. You'd think ex-Arasaka V or someone would mention Arasaka's racism, but nope. River Ward was a viewpoint character, and he's much more visibly non-white, down to his necklace and dreamcatcher (if romanced).

He only brings it up in the fic when Misty asks him if he ever had his fortune told. Apparently his granny did a "spirit walk" when him and his sister were born.**

I've seen playthroughs of the game, and I don't remember sexism really being a thing. Why would skin color matter much when anyone can change that and other ethnic features at will?

Why did race only come up as a significant thing now?

I'd expect Panam to get the most stick for being a Nomad, not brown, or a woman. Especially in a city where any woman could sprout mantis blades and go Cyberpsycho at the drop of a hat.

This feels…reductive. Like the writer wanted to give Panam challeges to overcome so she could be a Tough Woman™, and just…piled too much on, like a Chicago hot dog.

I would've gone with something more subtle. "Her back itches without her Nomad tribe behind her, and she's uncomfortable in a city instead of a desert, or a road. Even the echoes sound wrong."

So, yeah, this was the last straw.

Also, I checked the writer's profile, and, very stereotypically, she's from Portland.

*Also, you might recall that there was a nontroversy over an soda ad in the game featuring a lady with, ahem, a rather substantial bulge. Based on an actual trans woman. Somehow, portraying a (possible) trans woman in the same sexually objectified way as ads featuring non-trans people is transphobic.

I never worked out that logic.

My best guess is that some people were uncomfy with it, and it's about a trans person, so it's must be *phobic somehow.

Wouldn't it be ironic if the ad was just Photoshop in universe? Or the in-universe model was a non-trans woman who strapped on the junk just for the ad?

(Though depending on who you ask, that still counts as being a trans woman, somehow.)

**Come to think, that kind of feels like it's stereotyping. I can't find evidence Pomo Native Americans do spirit walks, but maybe my Google-fu is just weak.

[parasitoidism]

Flynn is a praying mantis Walter is an ant Jonathan is a caterpillar Isabeau is a beetle

[lepidxpterxphxbia]

There are iterations of cicada and mantis that didn't make it out!

do any woe.begoners have woe.begone ocs in the FLINCHITE compound. If so my guy Hornet needs friends

[therealgchu]

Late Snippet Sunday - To the Shore: Reflections

i'm late cos i deciced to scrap the whole first section of this chapter. it was just too contrived and not organic at all. i started re-writing it on saturday, and finally got enough up to post up a snippet. it's not likely i'll make my publishing schedule for friday, either, as this chapter is going to be long and involved, and i don't have another thing queued up (unless something pops into my thinky-blob between now and wednesday).

progress is never linear.

if you want to read To the Shore from the beginning, or missed a chapter, check it out on ao3.

i've also started a backstories companion called Anamnesis, also on ao3.

finally, sneak peekage

Cora looked up in wonder, “This was your mom's? Grandpa said he didn’t save anything of hers.”

“He didn’t. I don’t remember much, but I know at some point he threw mom’s stuff away. I think he wanted to get rid of the memories…” he trailed off, then looked at Hwa. She could see in his eyes the unfinished portion of that sentence, like me. He shook his head, “It looks like he saved her camera though.” He picked it up, examining it. “Yeah, it’s pretty broken. But, I bet we can fix it.” He handed the camera to Cora. “Would you like to try?”

Cora’s eyes shined and she nodded, taking the camera gently from her father’s hands. She examined it carefully, analyzing what was broken and where. She nodded again, “If I can find the right parts and tools, I’m certain I can get it working!”

“May I see it?” Hwa asked. Cora handed her the camera. “You’ll need some speciality tools. Some of these parts are small and delicate. I think I have some, but otherwise, we can probably find some at a jeweler.”

Sam grinned, “Sounds like a project for the both of you!”

Finding the tools was easy as Hwa and Cora repurposed computer repair tools; sourcing the parts, however, proved to be a challenge as there were very few actual film cameras in existence. It was Walter that delivered the goods for the spare parts, film, and chemicals for developing the film. Apparently, antique film cameras were one of those trendy hobbies for the people he regularly hobnobbed with, namely wealthy people of leisure.

It took about a week of intermittent work to get the camera in working order. Sam and Barrett helped set up a dark room in the basement of the Lodge, clearing out the spare storage room. Once the work was done, Cora started photographing everything and anything she could find. Walter, once again, was instrumental in assisting her new hobby, as he was her source for acquiring film. He felt it was a good investment as it “recorded Constellation’s endeavors for posterity.”

She had a good eye for composition, but it took time to understand the mechanics of things like aperture speed, film grain, and lenses. And, there was both a craft and an art to developing the film. It was a couple weeks before decent enough photos were produced, for which Cora showed off proudly to the members.

The first batch she showed to her dad, especially one photo of which she was particularly proud of, and thought he’d like. It was of him and Hwa aboard the Razorleaf, with Hwa holding onto his arm and laughing. 

“Oh, gum drop,” Sam said, a little choked up, “this is beautiful. My mom used to show me pictures like this. Can I have this?” he asked. 

“Of course. I can always make a copy from the negative.”

“Thank you so much,” he whispered to Cora, and hugged her tightly. He let her go, sniffled, and wiped his nose. “I want to get this framed. Have you shown this to Hwa yet?”

“No, I thought you’d like to show it to her.”

Sam smiled widely, “That I would. This is the best gift I think I’ve ever received.” He gave Cora another hug. “Do you know where Hwa is? Is she in her room?”

“No, last I saw her, she was downstairs working on her armor.”

Sam headed down the stairs, two steps at a time, and found Hwa was tinkering with the Mantis helmet, head down and goggles on, soldering servos. He walked over and put his arm around her waist when she stood up. Hwa jumped a little, but calmed when she felt him kiss her neck. “Cora’s first batch of photos are done. I wanted to show this one to you,” he said, and handed her the photograph.

She briefly glanced at it. Her body went rigid and her breathing stopped. She dropped the picture, and removed his arm from her waist. Without a word, she left the basement, leaving Sam flabbergasted.

[the-truth-is-there]

UCM Women part 1

- Peggy Carter/Agent Carter (Hayley Atwell) - Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) - Carol Danvers/Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) - Gamora (Zoë Saldaña) - Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) - Maria Hill (Cobie Smulders) - Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen) - Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) - Nebula (Karen Gillan) - Mantis (Pom Klementieff) - Melina Vostokoff (Rachel Weisz) - Jane Foster/Lady Thor (Natalie Portman) - Shuri/Black Panther (Letitia Wright) - Clea (Charlize Theron) - Okoye (Danai Gurira) - Jennifer Walters/She-Hulk (Tatiana Maslany) - Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett) - Hope Van Dyne/Wasp (Evangeline Lilly) - Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) - Monica Rambeau/Photon (Teyonah Parris) - Kate Bishop/Hawkeye (Hailee Steinfeld) - Cassie Lang/Stature (Kathryn Newton) - Hela (Cate Blanchett) - Sylvie (Sophia Di Martino) - Lady Sif (Jaimie Alexander) - Kamala Khan/Ms. Marvel (Iman Vellani) - Ravonna Renslayer/Rebecca Tourminet (Gugu Mbatha-Raw) - Verity Willis/B-15 (Wunmi Mosaku) - Nakia (Lupita Nyong'o) - America Chavez/Ms. America (Xochitl Gomez)