#rural anthropology

[verdantachillean]

I LOVE anthropology because I can just say that I’m studying things anthropologically

“Why are you so obsessed with Ace Attorney and John Grisham novels?”

Legal anthropology

“Why are you so obsessed with Stardew Valley?”

Rural anthropology

“Why are you so obsessed with tumblr”

Digital anthropology

It works for everything!!!!!!

[peninsulaisms]

life on the billabong

[useless-catalanfacts]

Here’s some rhyming expressions in Catalan that have to do with the months.

Al gener, la palla al paller. In January, the hay in the hayrick.

Al febrer has de llaurar el que al març vulguis sembrar. In February you must plough what in March you want to sow. (It means that you must plan things ahead of time)

Març, marçot, mata a la vella i la jove si pot. March, March, kills the old lady and the young one if it can. (Because of the changing and cold temperatures typical in March.)

L'Abril té cara d'abat i urpes de gat. April has an abbot’s face and a cat’s paws. (The weather in April seems nice, but it can suddenly change and hurt your crops or health.)

Cada cosa per son temps i pel maig cireretes. Each thing at its own time, and in May little cherries.

Al mes de juny, cada gota com el puny. In the month of June, each drop like a fist. (This refers to the fact that it doesn’t rain much in June, but when it does it can be a lot and hurt the fields.)

Pel juliol, beure, suar i la fresca buscar. In July, drink, sweat, and look for the cool breeze.

A allò que ha de madurar a l’agost, a l’abril se li veu el nas. It that has to ripen in August, in April you can see its nose. (You can see someone’s intentions.)

La lluna setembral és la més clara de l’any. Septermber’s moon is the clearest one of the whole year.

De l'abril al setembre navega sense témer, de l'octubre al març no vagis a la mar. From April to September, sail without fear. From October to March, don’t go to sea.

De novembre enllà, agafa la manta i no la deixis estar. From November on, get the blanket and don’t leave it.

Which comes to mean the same as Per Tots Sants desa el vano i treu els guants. For All Saints’ Day (November 1st), put the fan away and get the gloves.

Dies de desembre, dies de malura: tot just es fa dia que ja és nit obscura. December days, bad days: the sun just rose and it’s already dark night.

There are dozens of rhymes for every month, most of them reminders of what agricultural work must be done in each moment of the year, predictions about the weather (what to expect if x animal sings in this month, what does it mean for the harvest if this month is cold or windy or rainy, how will it change the next months’ weather, etc) or advise to keep good health in that month’s expected weather. Rhyming expressions have been used for centuries, when most people’s jobs were dependent on nature (agriculture, farming, fishing, sailing), to remember this folk knowledge based on observation.

[billionneuronscurious]

In Maharashtra, India, during Diwali festival, it is a tradition to build miniature forts with stones, rocks, clay and soil; in front yards of homes. These miniature forts should mimic the scenario as it was during King Shivaji's time. Children enthusiastically build these forts, and decorate them with miniature greenery, soldiers (depicted in attire similar to that present during Shivaji Maharaj's time), wild animals (on fort). These forts are built in different styles and varying sizes.

The miniatures - to be placed on forts - also remain available in markets during and just before Diwali. Original idea included building these forts with materials such as stones, rocks, soil, clay. Where, first, rocks and stones are placed, and then clay is plastered over it. Gunnysacks are also used, with later plastering of clay on it.

With time and in recent years 'readymade' forts have become available in market, many made from materials such as Plaster of Paris. Other miniatures too, such as toys, soldiers, animals are now seen made up of plastic and other material. Shortage of open spaces; lessening the efforts required; unavailability of stones, rocks, soil, clay in cities; urban lifestyle, are some of the reasons responsible for these changes.

During one of my visits to a village nearby Satara, I got opportunity to witness such a fort (in the photos) made by village kids.

Activities like these boost creativity in children.

Looking at these miniature forts, one can imagine the ideas and efforts of children or people who created them. And one can also imagine the immense ideas and efforts of people who created the real ones!

- Dhairyasheel Dayal

[holocene-sims]

next // previous

july 1, 2021 2:00 p.m. uncle seámus's house

[scottspack]

my favorite thing to do when i cant sleep is to go on snapchat and zoom in on random places in random countries to see what the locals are posting on public snaps

[hey-its-sybarite]

Though inconclusive, there is evidence that Homo Naledi interred their dead some 335,000–236,000 years ago. 7000 year old remains confirm that Neanderthals buried their dead. Homo Sapiens have buried their dead for at least 100000 years. And these kind folk buried people who were not even their dead.

unknown graves

[inigoamescua]

ROMERÍA

[mrsbuckybarnes1917]

Pairing: Bucky x f!reader, White Wolf x f!reader Word Count: 4k Summary: You meet Bucky while you're in Wakanda and you just can't resist his wolfish charms! Warnings: explicit sexual content, unprotected vaginal sex, dirty talk, role-play, oral sex, fingering, biting (mild) Author's note: This is a gift for @samodivaa, HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!

You had seen him long before you ever spoke with him. He worked the Alkama Fields on the borders of Wakanda, long strands of brown hair strewn across his face, a small sash tied across his muscular chest. The children called him White Wolf, at least that is what you had overheard. Initially, the adults didn’t speak much about him, preferring to hush you with dismissive gestures.

Your multiple doctorates in anthropology and linguistics had made you one of the top choices to visit the advanced society that had been kept so carefully hidden for so long. King T’Challa had allowed you to visit his kingdom where you would spend a year learning about their culture, languages and history. As soon as you had settled into the guest living quarters you’d been offered, you had gone shopping, wanting to fully immerse yourself into the Wakandan lifestyle and fashion.

It hadn’t taken too long before you had been fully accepted into their society, your cheery demeanor and your willingness to be of assistance to anyone you saw granted you access to places where others may have been shunned as an outsider.

The Dora Milaje had immediately fascinated you, the all-female special forces for Wakanda. They had kindly allowed you to observe their training and you had befriended a few members of the elite squad, including Ayo, Yama and Nomble. It was through them that you learned more about Bucky Barnes. It was only after you heard his name that the memories of the Winter Soldier swam to the forefront of your mind. 

The only reason you had met him was because Ayo had suggested you learn one of the native languages by attending one of the rural schools. You had entered sheepishly and been introduced to the class, who had responded with smiles and waves. It was only when you were directed to a seat in the back that you noticed the supersoldier hunched over and squeezed into a desk in the corner.

He watched your hips swish slightly as you weaved your way between the little bodies dispersed throughout the room. You were wearing your favorite red dress and soon enough it became Bucky's.

*

"I don't normally do this, you know," you smiled shyly, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

Bucky held down the button which opened the door to your humble living space, letting you enter before following.

"Do what?" he teased. "Never take strange men home?"

You rolled your eyes and let out a dramatic sigh, nudging him slightly with your elbow as you spoke. "I never let stray dogs into my home. Maybe I ought to put you back outside."

"Out in the cold?" he pouted.

"It doesn't get cold here," you scoffed.

"Well you never know," Bucky shrugged, then flashed you a mischievous grin. "And even if you did, you'd spend all night listening to me scratch and whine at the door. You wouldn't get much sleep."

In Bucky’s mind, the most beautiful sound burst from your lips as you laughed at his words.

"Maybe my puppy dog eyes will work better on you? But be warned, they are pretty powerful," he tilted his head down so his gaze was looking up at yours, lips pouted a little.

"Oh I'm done for now," you feigned a swoon. "Reign it in there buddy, the White Wolf should be using his powers for the greater good."

"I couldn't think of a better cause than being here with you."

You turned around to slip off your shoes while Bucky gazed around at your studio apartment, furnished with some classic Wakandan sofas and woven tapestries adorned the walls. It was beautiful how well the traditional and technological aspects of the culture meshed together.  

"That dress looks pretty special on you, Red."

"Red? You think I'm Little Red Riding Hood?" you asked incredulously.

Bucky shrugged.

"And I suppose that makes you the Big Bad Wolf?"

That made Bucky laugh, a deep unrestrained guffaw. It wasn't a sound you'd heard from him and you wanted to hear it again.

"You think I'm bad?" There was a twinkle in his eye when he voiced the question but there was a touch of hesitation in his voice.

You walked right up to him, until your face was inches away from his, your eyes gazed directly at his lips for a moment or two before you looked up at him and batted your eyelids in a coquettish manner. “I think you can be,” you purred seductively. “You can be big,” you pushed your hand lightly over his crotch, “and bad.” You bit your lip waiting for his response. Every fiber of your being told you that the White Wolf had a wild side, but it was one he kept restrained out of fear of his past. You hope he would trust you to explore it with him.

Slowly but surely, a smile spread across his lips. Bucky tilted his head down to look at you through his eyebrows, a mask of menace painted across his face. “And what brings you to my forest, Red?” he growled.

“I’m sorry for intruding. I was on a little field trip and I think I might be a little lost.” You turned a little to glance around the room in a mock survey of your surroundings. “Do you think you can help me, Mister Wolf?”

Bucky took a step to the side, silent and graceful, creeping around you in a circle, like a predator stalking its prey, sizing you up like his next meal - the curve of your ass, the swell of your breast, the way your throat was highlighted by the neckline of that blood red dress you wore. He was vigilant of your vulnerability, your exposure, his own hunger and desire - the urge to reach out, to touch you, to hold you, to fuck you, was overwhelming.

“You’ll have to pay the price for trespassing in my neck of the woods.”

“But I have nothing to give you, Mister Wolf,” you puffed out your lips into an exaggerated pout.

“How about that pretty red dress you’re wearing? I think that will do very nicely.” Bucky licked his lips, the salacious intent audible in his tone.

“But this is my favorite dress,” you whined.

“Give me the dress, Red. Or I’ll eat you up.”

Bucky took a step forward, towering over you. Even with one arm missing he had a presence, a presence which made your heart flutter uncontrollably. Your breath hitched as you caught a whiff of his scent, his own earthy musk mingled with a hit of sweat from having worked on the fields all day. You could feel your body responding to his proximity as beads of sweat erupted from your skin and the space between your legs throbbed with a desire to be filled. It was as though you craved his touch. He took another step closing the remaining distance between you.

You were so distracted by his closeness that you almost missed him repeating his question. “The dress, Red. Or would you prefer I eat you?”

“What’s to stop you from eating me even after I’ve given you my dress?”

“I guess you’ll just have to trust me.”

You spun around slowly, allowing Bucky the time to admire your curves. You bit back the moan that tried to escape as his fingers brushed your hips as you turned. He slid them across your waist, trailing them up your back until they landed on the zipper on the back. He pinched the tiny pull between his fingers and tugged it downwards but it barely moved. He tried again with little success. His nose was so pressed so close to your ear that you could hear the quiet growl of frustration in his throat.

“You need help back there, Mister Wolf?”

“No!” he barked, taking the zipper pull between his teeth, while his hand supported the lacy material.

The top of your dress fell from your shoulders in an instant exposing your back and bra. The rest followed with ease, pooling to the floor in a shimmering heap. Bucky smiled, the way your muscles flexed in response to your exposure. He couldn’t help but noticed a dark patch on the front of your panties and how you pushed back into him as he came up behind you.

“You have my dress now, Mister Wolf. Can I go now?” you whimpered.

Bucky wrapped his hand around his waist. “I want more, Red. I want your body.”

It was almost involuntary, how your body responded to his words. You pushed back into him, grinding onto the swell in his pants. Bucky ached, for you to kiss him, for you to let him devour you. He held you closer.

You hummed, “what big arms you have.”

“The better to hold you with.” He covered your breast with his giant palm, kneading your flesh with a longing that had you clenching involuntarily. 

He nibbled your ear and you couldn’t hold your moans in any longer. “Ohh Mister Wolf, what big teeth you have!”

“The better to eat you with.”

You squealed loudly as Bucky’s arm enveloped your waist and lifted you clean off the ground. He practically threw you onto the large round beanbag armchair, your landing softened by the multitude of cushions which cradled your fall.

“No more teasing, Red. You’re going to have to pay with more than that sexy dress.”

He straddled your hips, hovering over you, trapping you. Your body’s instinct was to struggle but it was in vain. His weight had you pinned helplessly to the couch, his throbbing cock pushed against your core. Soaked panties, wet lips, grinding hips. His fist was in your hair as he held you up to his chest. He kissed you, hard - long and deep. It felt like he was sucking the air right out of your lungs. 

“Please, Mister Wolf.” You had no idea what you were begging for at this point, words strewn with lust. “What are you going to do to me?”

The way you looked under him had Bucky seriously testing his control, his cock now painfully hard and straining against the tight material of his pants. He wanted nothing more than to bury himself in you, to stretch you out, to hear you scream his name. That animal instinct that he had buried deep inside was clawing its way to the surface, you’d woken the beast and it was hungry after all its years of slumber. You had freed the wolf and now you would feed it.

Bucky grinned at you devilishly. “I’m going to eat you. As stunning as your lips taste, I have my eyes on something sweeter.”

You wrapped your arms around his neck as he trailed his tongue down your neck, stopping around your breast to suck and nibble at your nipple. Your whole body tingled under his ministrations.

You moaned loudly, no restraint in conveying your pleasure. "More."

"What was that, Red?"

"I want more, Mister Wolf. I've been a bad girl."

He breathed in your perfume, it permeated his nostrils, but he had caught another scent which had attracted his attention, the scent of your arousal. Suddenly he was on his knees on the floor with a grip on your waist, firm but not painful. And the way his fingers curved under your pelvis and pulled you down with ease had you writhing desperately. You lifted your hips expectantly and he ripped off your skimpy panties, exposing you to his salivating mouth. His teeth grazed his lower lip, tongue coating them with the product of his ravenous appetite.

“Please?” you whispered. A hint of uncertainty in your voice as he hovered over you with the stillness of a dangerous predator waiting to pounce.

He smiled, the lecherous glint in his eyes replaced with one of kindness, almost affectionate. He took your left ankle in his hand, lifting your leg, guiding it up and out until he had room to hook his shoulder under your knee. He glanced up at you and nodded his head at your other leg indicating that he wanted you to do the same. You didn’t need to be told twice and matched his actions, linking your feet together on his back.

Immediately his mouth was on your lips with a yearning of a man starved of passion. He licked the full length of them with his broad tongue before pushing his nose between them, nuzzling your pussy with the growing stubble on his chin. He blew against your clit.

“Fuck Bucky, what was that?” you cried, breaking from your character. Impatience and frustration dripped off your words. “Eat me, damn it!”

“What’s the matter, Red? You sound desperate.”

“Please,” you whispered. It was a thinly veiled plea and for once, Bucky was happy to comply.

One last look into your lustblown eyes and he lowered his head, attention focused on you. You tasted of salt and honey with a hint of lemon. He pushed a finger between your folds, tantalizingly rubbing it along the length of your slit before pushing it deep into you. With each thrust he added another digit, testing your stretch.

“Tongue,” you mumbled.

“Mmmm?” Bucky hummed.

“Use your mouth,” you enunciated.

“Your wish is my command,” he grinned.

“Talk less, lick more.”

Bucky pried you apart and planted his lips firmly over your clit, sucking your sweet nectar into his mouth. His tongue lapped you as he slid his fingers in and out.

“Yes, yes, just like that,” you closed your eyes and moaned, tilting your hips to let his fingers push deeper inside you. 

He pressed his face closer, wanting a taste of every part of you. Finally withdrawing his fingers when he couldn’t quite fit both. You barely had time to whine about feeling empty as he grabbed your hips and pulled you right into his face, licking and sucking as though his life depended on drinking every drop of your precious elixir.

You moaned - it was so long and sensual that Bucky felt it inside him. He felt the wolf inside him rising to the surface. He had spent years watching; relentless, trying to find his way inside. You had let him in and now he finally felt alive. He growled, a deep guttural sound which filled you as he devored you. His head undulated as he tried to encompass you with his mouth, upper lip covering your clit as his jaw stretched and tongue pushed inside you. He ravaged you until he had no air left in his lungs.

Bucky’s cock throbbed as he felt the way you clenched against him. He slid his fingers back inside you, his other hand pulling apart your lips and exposing your clit to a fresh assault from his tongue. He could feel your clit pulse, your walls close in around him as he curled his fingers upwards to match the beat you had set with your heart. He was playing you like an instrument and the whimpers and groans that left your lips was music to his ears.

You pushed yourself on him and he ate you like a ravenous creature until-

“Oh Buck, I’m gonna come. I’m gonna - Buck, Buck!” Your voice rose in a crescendo. Legs shaking as you tightened and clenched around his thick fingers. “I’m coming, Bucky, I’m coming! Now!”

Bucky watched you as every single one of your muscles contracted and relaxed as waves of pleasure crashed through you, eyes rolled back and mouth open in a silent cry of ecstasy.

As you finally came down from your high, you opened your eyes, locking your gaze on his. You lay on your back, limp and naked and tingling all over. Sighing, as the aftermath of your climax finally ebbed away. You lifted your legs off Bucky’s shoulders and patted the space beside you. There was no hesitation as he crawled up beside you.

"That was kinda intense," you smiled at him.

"I wouldn't mind seconds," he smirked, eyes wandering over your face.

You sat up and for a brief frightening moment, Bucky thought you had had enough. But you stretched your arms and arched your back slightly before turning to face him. “So, you think I can take the Wolf for a ride?”

You placed your hand over his still covered cock, rubbing your hand over the tent in his pants making him gasp at your touch. Reflexively, his hips bucked into your hand. “Maybe I should get my pants off first?”

“Sounds like a good plan,” you answered, not taking your hands off him.

Bucky sat up so that his face was inches from yours. “Just need a moment, Red.”

He was up in an instant, lamenting the loss of contact of your hand on his crotch. He unbuttoned and dropped his pants with ease, before turning to face you. The sharp breath you took as you came face to face with his fully freed cock did a lot to stroke his ego. He reveled in the brightness of anticipation in your eyes.

“You really like your Wolf, huh?”

For the first time a blush crossed your cheeks and you couldn’t quite meet his eyes. Bucky took a step closer so that there was nowhere for you to avert your gaze. 

"May I?" You looked up at him for permission. 

He nodded, heart pounding from the thought of your touch.

You wrapped your hand around his shaft, feeling him jump with excitement. "That feel good, Mister Wolf?" A sudden surge of confidence had you feeling aroused again.

"Need more, Red."

You didn't need to be told twice. His already leaking tip looked too tantalizing and you were eager to taste your Wolf. With the same enthusiasm, you took him into your mouth, starting with a few soft licks, before sucking hard. Bucky thought he was going to come right at that moment.

“Red, w-wait!” he stuttered as the waves of pleasure encompassed him.

There was a faint popping sound as you released him from your mouth, looking up at him with an all knowing smile. He sat down beside you, spending the next few moments in an intimate silence with light touches. As his breathing became less ragged, you placed your palms on his chest, pushing him down onto his back. You climbed over and straddled his lap so that your entrance brushed over the base of his cock.

You leaned down and whispered in his ear. "So is my White Wolf going to let me ride him?"

Bucky's pupils dilated so fast that the image of you blurred slightly. It was only when you came back into focus that he was able to growl out the words. "I want you."

He held himself up as you lined your entrance up to his leaking member, slowly sinking down and basking in the stretch you felt. So much more than what his fingers had given you, you wondered if he would tear you in half. After a few careful thrusts, you picked up the pace, riding him with vigor.

"Fuck, Red, you feel so good!" Bucky looked up at you.

You were a sight to behold, flushed with strands of sweat coated hair strewn across your face. But it was your eyes that had him mesmerized, the way you looked back at him with voracity laced with a tenderness he hadn't seen in years.

"Harder!"

You complied with his request, matching your bounces with a thrust of his hips. Bucky admired the way your breasts followed your movements, unable to resist the urge, he reached up to squeeze your left nipple. 

After several minutes of energetic thrusting, Bucky caught you slowing down. He slipped his hand down to your waist in an attempt to stay your movements. 

"Can we try something different?” you asked, breathing heavily as you leaned forwards to pull air into your burning lungs and ease the pain in your aching thighs.

“Just gimme a few more. ‘M close.”

“Trust me, Mister Wolf? I wanna give something else a try.”

He removed his grip from your waist, watching as you climbed off his lap and crawled over to the arm rest and planted your hands firmly on it. You looked over your shoulder and wiggled your ass at him.

"Mount me, Mister Wolf."

Bucky didn't need to be told twice. He splayed his fingers across one cheek of your beautifully round ass and kneaded the muscle as you pushed back towards him, waiting with anticipation for him to enter you. But Bucky’s inner wolf had been freed and he let its spirit guide him. He leant forwards and sank his teeth into your other cheek, deep enough for you to yelp with pain but not enough to break your skin. He proceeded to cover the area with his lips in an attempt to kiss it better.

"You want to mark me?"

"You're mine, Red. All mine. Got that?" He rubbed his cock against your leaking lips.

“Yo-”

Before you had the chance to finish giving him an answer, he was inside you. One swift thrust. The cry that left your lips was much more pained and Bucky worried for a moment that his strength had been too much for you.

"It's fine, keep going. Fuck me, please."

Bucky was a little more careful on the second try, but each trust made him more confident, aided and abetted by your lusty moans and encouraging words.

“Bucky-”

“You sound so pretty like that,” he pushed into you repeatedly. “Whining and moaning my name.”

“Bucky!”

“What happened to your Wolf?”

"Please… Bucky… please, I need you,, you know I'm aching for you to take me, to pull me apart, whatever pleases you, just… please just don't deny me!”

It felt so fucking good, having Bucky’s cock inside you. Your brain was nothing but mush, focused solely on just how good he felt inside you. You shuddered, your hips pushing backwards as Bucky presses against your clit. His fingers smooth out around your folds, pressing into them slightly, as if holding them open so he can push into you better. You felt your arms going weak at the stimulation, it was getting harder to support yourself as Bucky pushed deeper and deeper inside you.

“Faster!” you cried, but you could barely hear your own words over the sound of skin slapping together, the wet sounds of Bucky’s cock thrusting in and out of you.

“Fuck, Red, I’m getting close…”

"…Ohhh fuck, please," you gasped out, instinctively. "Buck… I need you. But… I'm yours, all yours…"

Your legs trembled as Bucky’s words had you teetering on the edge of your orgasm, your juices covering his cock, his thrusts were passionate, wild, frenzied.

“That’s right. Mine! I’m going to fill you up. That’s it, Red. Come on my cock. I want to hear you come.”

Raucous moans caught in your throat, your eyes closed as you took in all of Bucky. Your vision clouded and your body felt limp as he pushed you over the edge once again. It felt as though the world had ceased to exist except for the two of you, together, as one being. Bucky held you close as you squeezed his cock triggering his climax. With a howl, ropes of white hot cum shot from him, filling you until it was dripping out of you and down your leg. He fell into you and you both collapsed onto the sofa, heavy breathing was the only sound to be heard in the room for several minutes.

Finally you caught your breath, recovered some semblance of feeling in your limbs. Bucky’s arm was still wrapped around your waist in a powerful embrace and he hadn't made any moves to extract himself from inside you.

"I should probably be getting back," Bucky mumbled regrettably after a long silence.

But neither of you made a move to free yourselves from the other's arms.

[chargoeson]

Hello! Writeblr re-Introduction

hiiiii pals! I made my writeblr introduction last year and it was such a good intro to the community! but as time goes on and organizations fall i want to re-introduce myself and my writing without any associations.

my name is Charlotte, but you can call me Char as well. She/Her, I'm 25, queer, and live in the Pacific Northwest of the United States.

I write literary fiction with a special affection for surrealism and dream-like vibes. I do have a couple soft fantasy and short story projects that I've made posts for, but I'll stick to my litfic on this pinned post as they are my passion projects!

themes I often explore in these books are: isolation, anxiety, complex relationships between mothers and daughters, bisexuality, winter, dissociation, and overall rural misery!

I have a bachelor's degree in English Language and Literature and paid special attention to Gothic and Romantic movements.

on top of writing, I also love quilting/sewing, collage making, playing Stardew Valley and Baldur's Gate 3, and doing DIY home renovations.

Reading is my passion, even more so than writing! My favorite authors are Murakami, Mieko Kawakami, the Bronte sisters, Iain Reid, Han Kang, and Ottessa Moshfegh.

my three main WIPS can stand alone but are technically a trilogy. read about them after the cut!

The Ballad of a Blue Whale-- This novella was written in November, 2023. It follows Maren Hara, a recent college graduate who has to move back in with her father, a rigid and unfeeling doctor. To cope with the emotional distance of her father and the slow dissolution of her relationships she begins walking through the night. Both to be away from home and removed from her current life. It’s during these walks she finds a jazz bar in an adjoining city. The patrons, and especially the owner of this bar, captivate her. At the core of the narrative is her inability to open herself to others, and how attempts to do so are physically and mentally cataclysmic, although necessary. As she finds herself, she loses both her old life and this interim space. 

I Want to Build a Home with You-- This novel is in the first draft/development stage. I began in December, 2023. Its events follow Leonie Richards as she walks her grandmother, famed novelist Hellen Barnaby, through the final weeks of her life then inherits her home. Leonie, once an infamous performance artist, decides to settle into a life of portrait painting for a small but wealthy pool of clients left to her by her grandmother. Her old peers. After Hellen’s death, Leonie’s final connections to the outside world are her strange clients, the art store clerk, and her uncle Ox who is embittered by his lack of inheritance. The longer she stays in the home, the stranger things seem to be. She wakes up ragged, dirt under her fingernails with memories of a rock formation in the forest she has never seen. Forest spirits or generational curse, there is a limerence threatening her life. 

No Glory-- Special Agent Seth Barnaby has been tasked with investigating the mysterious, possibly cult-associated murders of young women across the state, but this one could be the key. To decode the newest set of clues he teams up with Director of Anthropology Dr. Miel Noh and they get into the field. The small town misleads them at every turn, from an odd boy named Calf to the corpse of a girl who was staying in his family’s motel. With Seth’s checkered past he recognizes the patterns, but time is of the essence and if they don’t find answers another woman could die. With no way out, they return to the only lead Seth knows: an institutionalized man who confessed to the first murder that brought Seth to the FBI years ago.

and that's a wrap! thank you for reading, would love to reconnect with writers from last year as well as new friends. feel free to slide into my asks, follow, or join the tag list.

tags: @annlillyjose @coffeeandcalligraphy @subtlefires @belovedviolence @onomatopiya @thelaughingstag

[verdantachillean]

I just reasoned that if urban anthropology exists, so does rural anthropology,

And it does!

So now I want a hallmark movie that’s just personified sub fields of anthropology

Corporal anthropology was so focused on his job that he did not consider the feelings of his husband, Urban anthropology,

This leads to them breaking up, and Urban moves to a small town on the holidays and meeting the farmer dude in a white tee and flannel, Rural anthropology,

They fall in love, and corporal follows Urban to Le Small Town (TM) and confesses that he wants to get back together with Urban,

But it’s already too late, and Urban finds the true meaning of the holidays

[brandyschillace]

As it’s non-binary awareness week, I thought I’d share my bio—an attempt to say where I’ve been and what I’m about. And why I am she/her but mean that in a very plural sort of way.

I grew up in an underground house, next to a graveyard, in abandoned coal lands… with a pet raccoon. Oddly, this tends not to surprise people as much as I think it will. My rural community skirted the poverty line, a place of failed industry and orange rivers, poor health, and poorer access to healthcare. As a result, I spent my childhood reading a lot about disease and going to a lot of funerals. I ended up with a Ph.D. and a career in science history, which is probably a likely thing to happen when you spend your early years in a cemetery.

I’ve worked in an English Department, a History Department, and for a Medical Anthropology journal. I spent five years as a research associate in a medical museum among amputation saws, surgery kits, and smallpox vaccines—and now, in addition to being an author, I’m Editor-in-Chief for BMJ’s Medical Humanities Journal. I tend to fall outside the borders and binaries on every side. It’s not that I eschew being a ‘woman’ but that the box isn’t big enough to contain the selves that are me.

I always liked the line by Walt Whitman: I contain multitudes. Each of us are completely unique sets of data and DNA, blood and bones, bits and pieces of ancient stardust (and some microplastics). We don’t just have fingerprints. We are fingerprints — completely unique phenomenon in the universe, never before and never to be again. I am a truck, a train, a bulldog in a wind-tunnel; I’m also autistic. I live in the middle spaces where the contradictions are, containing bits of astral matter, aspects of both genders and possibly some dragons and vampires. I do history the way most people climb mountains–I get my hands dirty–I end up in catacombs, archives, basements. As you can imagine, this sort of thing doesn’t fit in a box very well. Then again, life is more interesting at the intersections.

[ineffable-opinions]

Ah meant scholarly sources, I have read your posts (well written!) but not watched the videos (it is hard for me to focus on sound). :) thank you

Hey anon, based on your previous ask and this one, here are some scholarly sources that I have saved on the computer I am currently using. [I have more on another computer which I will be able to share those in a week or so. Done!]

How to access these sources?

[For context: 'Problematizing the Problem' section of my post Seme/uke - long response is being discussed and scholarly sources are for the questions (given below) I raised.]

Why would ‘het people’ or any people for that matter think in terms of male-female / masculine-feminine binaries? Do they think in those binaries only and not other binaries such as wen(文)-wu(武)? Why think in binaries and dichotomies at all? Don’t they not think in terms of multiplicity of genders/gender expressions such as various kinds of masculinities and femininities) based off on their local contexts? 

Do queer people not make such/similar conflations? (Hint: they do.)

Is it a problem? While this seems to be the popular notion, plenty of scholars from across the globe has dismantled it.

I must admit that this was written following The Right Way to Be Gay - Who Can Tell? in a manner in which these questions would be treated as already answered. When read as a stand-alone, these questions would remain as food for thought at best.

seme uke - Japan

Cartographies of Desire: Male-male Sexuality in Japanese Discourse, 1600-1950 - Gregory M. Pflugfelder

Reimagining male-male sexuality: representations in Japanesemodern literature and gay manga by Nicholas James Hall

The Great Mirror of Male Love - Saikaku Ihara, Paul Gordon Schalow (translator)

Male Colors: The Construction of Homosexuality in Tokugawa Japan - Gary Leupp

In the Company of Men: Representations of Male-Male Sexuality In Meiji Literature by Jim Reichert (199-208)

different takes on queerness from across the globe - LGBTQ+ and others:

Between Men, part of the ‘Key Population Series’, 2003 [link]

Hames, Raymond B.; Garfield, Zachary H.; and Garfield, Melissa J., “Is Male Androphilia a Context-Dependent Cross-Cultural Universal?” (2017). Anthropology Faculty Publications. 132.

Lambevski, S.A., 1999. Suck my nation - masculinity, ethnicity and the politics of (Homo) sex. Sexualities, 2(4), pp.397-419.

Interpretation and Orientalism: Outing Japan’s Sexual Minorities to the English-Speaking World by Mark McLelland

Aneka, B. (2014). Jogappa: Gender, Identity and the Politics of Exclusion.

Stief, M. (2017). The sexual orientation and gender presentation of hijra, kothi, and panthi in Mumbai, India. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 46, 73-85.

Gill, H. (2016). Kothi. The Wiley Blackwell encyclopedia of gender and sexuality studies, 1-2.

Hossain, A., & Rahman, M. (2024). Beyond homocolonialism: working towards queer decoloniality in Bangladesh. International Politics, 1-16.

different types of masculinities and femininities and queer people (conflations, adaptations, etc.):

Wijngaarden JW de L van. Male Homosexuality in 21st-Century Thailand: A Longitudinal Study of Young, Rural, Same-Sex-Attracted Men Coming of Age. Anthem Press; 2021. [link] [link]

Polmuk, C. (2023). Provincialising Thai Boys Love: Queer Desire and the Aesthetics of Rural Cosmopolitanism. [link]

Vasudevan, A. (2024). From Deficient Masculinity to Relational Plenitude: Language and Ethics among Thirunangai s in Southern India. Men and Masculinities, 27(4), 392-409.

Bakshi, K. (2022). Writing the LGBTIHQ+ movement in Bangla: emergence of queer epistemologies in Kolkata in the early days of queer political mobilizations. South Asian History and Culture, 13(2), 231–245. https://doi.org/10.1080/19472498.2022.2067636

Halkitis, Perry N., '(Hyper) Masculinity', Out in Time: The Public Lives of Gay Men from Stonewall to the Queer Generation (New York, 2019; online edn, Oxford Academic, 20 June 2019), https://doi.org/10.1093/oso/9780190686604.003.0007

Kong, T.S.K. (2010). Chinese Male Homosexualities: Memba, Tongzhi and Golden Boy (1st ed.). Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203849200

Wang, S. (2020). Chinese gay men pursuing online fame: erotic reputation and internet celebrity economies. Feminist Media Studies, 20(4), 548–564. https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2020.1754633

in relation to yaoi and BL:

Nagaike, K. (2012). Perverse sexualities, perverse desires: representations of female fantasies and Yaoi manga as pornography directed at women. In Fantasies of Cross-dressing: Japanese Women Write Male-Male Erotica (pp. 103-134). Brill.

Yaoi Ronsō: Discussing Depictions of Male Homosexuality in Japanese Girls' Comics, Gay Comics and Gay Pornography Wim Lunsing

Williams, A. (2015). Rethinking yaoi on the regional and global scale. Intersections: Gender and Sexuality in Asia and the Pacific, 37.

Pužar, A. (2023). " BL"(Boy Love)," GL"(Girl Love) and Female Communities of Practice and Affect in South Korea. Družboslovne razprave, 39(102), 63-84.

Mizoguchi, A. (2008). Reading and living Yaoi: Male-male fantasy narratives as women's sexual subculture in Japan. University of Rochester.

Kristine Michelle L. Santos (2020) The bitches of Boys Love comics: the pornographic response of Japan’s rotten women, Porn Studies, 7:3, 279-290, DOI: 10.1080/23268743.2020.1726204

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In a recent post @dragonsandphoenix mentioned ‘Homoerotic Sensibilities in Late Imperial China’ by Wu Cuncun. I haven't read it but, it sure looks interesting.

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Update! Sorry, it is unsorted.

Kazumi Nagaike - Perverse Sexualities, Perversive Desires: Representations of Female Fantasies and "Yaoi Manga" as Pornography Directed at Women [https://www.jstor.org/stable/42771904]

Akiko Mizoguchi - Male-Male Romance by and for Women in Japan: A History and the Subgenres of "Yaoi" Fictions [https://www.jstor.org/stable/42771903]

Mark J. McLelland - Japan’s Original Gay Boom [https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/145]

McLelland, Mark J., Salarymen Doing Queer: Gay Men and the Heterosexual Public Sphere in Japan 2005. https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/156

McLelland, Mark J., Salarymen Doing Queer: Gay Men and the Heterosexual Public Sphere in Japan 2005. https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/156

McLelland, Mark J., Interpretation and Orientalism: Outing Japan's Sexual Minorities to the English-Speaking World 2003. https://ro.uow.edu.au/artspapers/152

Himanshi Singh and Pradeep Kumar - Hijra : An Understanding https://doi.org/10.32381/JPR.2020.15.01.6

Bithika Mondal , Sudeshna Das , Deepshikha Ray , and Debanjan Banerjee - “Their Untold Stories…”: Lived Experiences of Being a Transgender (Hijra), A Qualitative Study From India [DOI: 10.1177/2631831820936924]

Edited by Mark McLelland, Kazumi Nagaike, Katsuhiko Suganuma, and James Welker - Boys Love Manga and Beyond

Thomas Baudinette - Japanese gay men’s attitudes towards ‘gay manga’ and the problem of genre - doi: 10.1386/eapc.3.1. 59_1

Jungmin Kwon – Straight Korean Female Fans and Their Gay Fantasies

Narupon Duangwises and Peter A. Jackson - Effeminacy and Masculinity in Thai Gay Culture: Language, Contextuality and the Enactment of Gender Plurality - https://so06.tci-thaijo.org/index.php/wjss

Kristine Michelle L. Santos (2020): The bitches of Boys Love comics: the pornographic response of Japan’s rotten women, https://doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2020.1726204

Yanrui Xu & Ling Yang (2013) Forbidden love: incest, generational conflict, and the erotics of power in Chinese BL fiction - https://doi.org/10.1080/21504857.2013.771378

Divya Garg & Xiaofei Yang (14 Feb 2024): Beyond a queer utopia: interrogating misogyny in transnational boys love media https://doi.org/10.1080/10304312.2024.2314186

Bret Hinsch – Passions of the Cut Sleeve

Kristine Michelle L. Santos (2020): Queer Affective Literacies: Examining “Rotten” Women’s Literacies in Japan - https://doi.org/10.1080/02560046.2020.1825506

Tomoko Aoyama - BL (Boys’ Love) Literacy: Subversion, Resuscitation, and Transformation of the (Father’s) Text - DOI: 10.1353/jwj.2013.0001

Jungmin Kwon - The past, present, and future of Boys Love (BL) cultures in East Asia [Transnational Convergence of East Asian Pop Culture - Edited by Seok-Kyeong Hong and Dal Yong Jin]

Sulaiman TK 2017 - Sexuality Landscape of Modern Kerala: A Discourse on Male Social Gathering among Malabar Muslim Men

Filippo Osella - Malabar Secrets: South Indian Muslim Men's (Homo)sociality across the Indian Ocean - http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/casr20

Caroline and Filippo Osella - Men and Masculinities in South India

Lothar Filip Rudorfer (2023) - Homosexuality and Bara Manga in Japan – Representation of the Psychological State of Mind of the Contemporary LGBT+ Plus Size Men in Japan

Chapter 5 (Exploring Yaoi Fans’ Online Practices in an Online Community by Simon Turner) and Chapter 6 (An Evaluation of Physicality in the Bara Manga of Bádi Magazine by Thomas Baudinette) of Manga Vision – edited by Sarah Pasfield-Neofitou and Cathy Sell

Celia Rose Langford (2019) - Queered Time on the Page: The Micro-level Revolution of the Bishōnen in 21st Century Yaoi Manga

Febriani Sihombing - On The Iconic Difference between Couple Characters in Boys Love Manga – 2011

William S. Armour (2010) Representations of the Masculine in Tagame Gengoroh's Ero SM Manga - https://doi.org/10.1080/10357823.2010.527922

Zhang Yiyuan - Repressed Sexuality — Disguised Masculinity in Chinese Danmei Adapted Series – 2023

Poramate Parnpiamkiat - Expectation of Fans Towards Thai Boys’ Love Celebrity Couples (2019)

Poowin Bunyavejchewin, Kornphanat Tungkeunkunt, Porntep Kamonpetch, Ketsarin Sirichuanjun & Natthanont Sukthungthong (2024) Socio-demographics, lifestyles, and consumption frequency of Thai ‘Boys Love’ series content: Initial evidence from Thailand https://doi.org/10.1080/23311886.2024.2307697

Charlie Yi Zhang & Adam K. Dedman (2021) Hyperreal homoerotic love in a monarchized military conjuncture: a situated view of the Thai Boys’ Love industry https://doi.org/10.1080/14680777.2021.1959370

Xi Tian - Homosexualizing “Boys Love” in China DOI 10.1215/25783491-8163817

Aiqing Wang - Nonnormative Masculinity In Danmei Literature: ‘Maiden Seme’ And Sajiao https://doi.org/10.17572/mj2021.1.106123

Travis S. K. Kong - Sexuality and the rise of China : the post-1990s gay generation in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and mainland China (2023)

Junqi Zhang - The Reception of Thai Boys Love Series in China: Consumption, Imagination, and Friction (2021)

Joanna Elfving-Hwang - Not So Soft After All: Kkonminam Masculinities in Contemporary South Korean Popular Culture (2011)

Dredge Byung’chu Kang-Nguyen - The Softening of Butches The Adoption of Korean "Soft" Masculinity among Thai Toms http://www.jstor.com/stable/j.ctv7r429w.7

Ying-Chao Ka - The coloniality of queer theory: The effects of “homonormativity” on transnational Taiwan’s path to equality https://doi.org/10.1177/13634607211047518

Sandeep Bakshi. On Decolonising Queerness with Dr Sandeep Bakshi. 2023 https://hal.science/hal-04183158

Adam Chen-Dedman - Tongzhi Sovereignty: Taiwan’s lgbt Rights Movement and the Misplaced Critique of Homonationalism [ doi: 10.1163/24688800-20221267 ]

[princess-of-the-corner]

On "only ace in the friend group things (sort of):"

1) Went to big religious gathering where me and some other queers of our religion decided to meet up. We mostly bonded over rocks, but they also simped over hot girls and talked about how they're too religious for the gay dating apps and too gay for the religious dating apps, which was very much an anthropology moment for me.

2) Went to high school in a small rural town where none of us really got exposed to queer stuff outside the small subset of speech and debate/theatre gays. Found out via the internet that I was aroace around senior year. I proceeded to spend the rest of the year kind of staring at my one friend who I bonded with over hating romance and finding sex unsanitary and being unsympathetic towards our friends' romance drama going "you're definitely aroace, but I don't know how you'd react if I told you that," and just staying quiet about it.

3) Talking to my own goddamn sibling about my experience being a-spec and explaining that I'm like 100% ace, but some people can be demisexual. When I defined demisexual as "you have to form an emotional connection before you feel any sexual attraction," sibling said "Oh, I definitely feel that. Super relatable, I'm totally like that" and then just MOVED ON FROM THE CONVERSATION WITHOUT ADDRESSING THAT! Been spending the last month in quiet bafflement that my sibling basically just said "I'm demisexual" but still doesn't seem to know they are demisexual (sibling is both very dense and has only recently been exposed to the wider spectrum of queerness beyond "the gays" and "the transgenders").

GOD it's such a mess lmao

I was def the 'well I'm equally attracted to both genders so I'm bi/pan?' one until I realized Asexuality was a thing and went !!!

[tlbodine]

Sacred Deformity and the Malformed Other

In Ari Aster's 2019 film Midsommar, viewers are introduced to the Harga -- a rural, culturally isolated Swedish cult whose ways are foreign (and frequently murderous). It's a film about brainwashing and the way cults prey on vulnerable people. It's a film about community and emotional validation and messy breakups and rape and mental illness and cultural relativism and anthropological meddling, among other things. It's also a movie where a mentally-and-physically-disabled child acts as a divine oracle, the newest in a long line of intentional inbreeding.

Uh, what's up with that last thing?

The character of Ruben (the disabled oracle) is the subject of much discussion. Critics complain that his inclusion offers little to no value to the plot and that we really didn't need yet another portrayal by an abled actor in makeup of a physical disability for the purpose of being scary. Others, including Aster, suggest that he's an important symbol and has a vital meaning to the story.

We're going to talk about Ruben here in a minute.

But first I want to zoom out and get some context. Is there any historical precedent for the idea of a disfigured oracle? Why do we keep returning to deformity as a horror trope, anyway? And what purpose might invoking (or inverting) such tropes serve for the modern horror fan? Let's dig in.

[Read More]