#neanderthal kin

[starsailor-kinthepast]

i am (not) human

Author: Uru F. Starsailor Length: 770 words Topic: Neanderthals and otherkin

Reddit user u/Susitar states in a comment from 2019: “The question is, how would you notice that you are, say, a Neanderthal spiritually/psychologically? The behaviour of extinct species are always hard to get reliable information about, and any extinct hominid would likely be very similar to modern-day humans in most regards.” In the same thread of comments, Susitar adds: “I often wonder how people are able to "feel" the difference between say, humans and elves too, assuming no past life memories.”

---------------

In 1856, human remains were found in the Neander Valley, Germany. They were identified as a different species than the modern human; the name of this species, homo neanderthalensis (or homo sapiens neanderthalensis), was proposed in 1863. For about a century, up until the mid 1900’s, Neanderthals were portrayed as beast-like and primitive without much humanity. It’s only in recent years, particularly after 2000, that Neanderthal reconstructions are humanlike and humanized.

We’re not sure of the exact years Neanderthals lived, but it could have been as much as 800 000 years ago, or as little as 300 000. About 30-40 000 years ago, they went extinct. They lived in small groups of 10-30 individuals which moved between settlements, often caves but also open-air, as the seasons shifted.

You see humans arguing that Neanderthals also were human; I’m not here to dispute that, but I do want to raise the theory that the reason this is so commonly argued is that humans don’t want to be alone. Many see humanity as the pinnacle of intelligence, of kindness, of rationality and morality; one of the things stated in the 1800’s that served to separate Neanderthals from Sapiens was that they were “incapable of moral and theistic conceptions”.

Going by this way of thinking, this way of assuming humanity, Neanderthals were human. They buried their dead, they cared for their sick, they made art and music and jewelry – they hunted, they crafted tools, they cooked and prepared their food. They had medicine and language, they taught their young, they bred with other hominids.

Now, I understand this isn’t arguing the case of a Neanderthal identity being otherkin, other-than-human-kind. But there are countless other ‘kin that fit the above bill of humanity: elves, gnolls, dwarrow, fae, vampires, werewolves, etc. The difference, I suppose, is that we have tangible proof Neanderthals once walked this very Earth.

Of course, there are differences between humans and the species listed above – some minor, some great. But there are differences between humans and Neanderthals, too. Neanderthals were shorter, bulkier, stockier. They were stronger, with shorter arms and legs, thicker builds and large barrel-chests. Their lungs were larger, as were their noses and their eyes. They needed more calories on the daily.

Sadly, we don’t know much at all about how Neanderthals functioned socially beyond the earlier statements. We can’t say much about what their instincts were, how they behaved, so I won’t say here whether or not they differed socially from the Sapiens at the time.

So, yes. Neanderthals were humans, in the way that all creatures with intelligence and benevolence are humans: in the way that they are people.

This is where I will propose the idea of otherkin, the experience of being otherkin, is not simply being an other-than-human-kind. It’s the experience of being other-than-modern-human-kind. It’s about seeing yourself in something removed from the world we live in, the lives we’re supposed to lead. At its core, the experience of being otherkin is about experiencing a disconnect between yourself and the world/your body. The ‘true self’, or at the very least a different version of the self, is different from the body you inhabit. If the self you imagine yourself as, the self you should be, the self you are, is different from the form you currently inhabit: that’s otherkin.

Neanderthals were human. The experience of being a Neanderthal is not.

I long for a different time. I long for a different body. I long for a society so far removed from this it might as well be alien. I don’t belong among modern humans; my home is in caves and on steppes, between trees and valleys, in crevices and tents and in the arms of another.

When I see myself as a Neanderthal, it makes me feel better. It’s not reincarnation.* It’s just who I am.

I’m a Neanderthal. I’m otherkin. I’m alterhuman; I’m otherhuman.

I am (not) human.

---------------

*This is not to say that reincarnated Neanderthals are not welcome under the otherkin umbrella: the experience of having lived a previous life as a Neanderthal is just as removed from modern day humans as my psychological experience.

[mr-bisk]

I don't have the cerebral mass designed to use social media, period. Look, I can't even use Notion properly, paper works best for me even tho it's archiving sucks ass.

I am a neanderthal stuck in the body of a human bean SEND HELP-

[melvinpsychoteddy]

Hello! I'm Adam/Anon/Melvin.

Non Binary and Bisexual.

(Fun fact: I don't actually like Melvinborg as much as most people! I find him overrated...)

Melvin Sneedly's biggest kin ever!

Self diagnosed ADHD due to irl problems.

Any pronouns, however I prefer He/They!

Sometimes I might act exactly like Melvin sorry about that! If I answer questions in a roleplay-ish way I've probably just been really excited that day or been feeling extra sad so I try to cope by acting exactly like Melvin!

Sometimes I may refer to him as "me" but I don't think I'm an IRL. I still see myself as, well, me! At least most of the time. THIS IS ALREADY GETTING TOO LONG FOR MY TASTE! Let me get on with it, I can rant later. (I have a PHD in Yapping, TRADEMARK!!)

My writing can be either really simple or complex, I don't normally add capitals or apostrophes but I've been feeling extra fancy today! I'm trying to get into it as it helps me feel more like myself. Finding out about CU and Melvin completely changed me and helped me realize— I've been suppressing the smart and nerdy part of me for years. (not in grades) I'm very attached to it.

Now about the blog, I just usually repost stuff and my art I find good enough to be posted. 👍

Have a good day, you neanderthal! >:)

[mistymountainhome]

My fatherline haplogroup is battle axe culture Indo European

My mother line haplogroup is Basque (Neolithic European) which are also closely kin to the Sami, the same people who split off to Scandinavia

I’m learning about how Basques have Neanderthal DNA 😆

Also, my grandmother and great grandmother were seamstresses and evidently tracing back their maiden name goes back to silk workers in Basque 🥹 I definitely need to learn how to get better at sewing

[expfcultragreen]

Somehow europeans have projected onto jewish people that they have a preponderance of Neanderthal triats like red hair and big noses, ive just never seen it, like i didnt make the connection until a voice in my head pointed it out last night

This really confuses what i mean when im making fun of Neanderthals i guess? Its hard for me to imgine this because its so out of touch with my baseline assumptions about the peopling of europe and how the jewish diaspora fits in. Like they showed up well late. It IS possible i guess, that the preexisting enmity towards the "redheaded step children" of post-doggerland europe resulted in europeans with those traits being uniquely amenable to intermarriage with jewish settlers? If one were to accept that the red hair thing is demographically higher in some jewish communities? I rrrrreally dispute the notion that they have bigger noses. Ive met a lot of jewish people but none of them were redheads and they all had entirely average noses. Ive never seen a picture of a redheaded isreali. I cant think of a redheaded jewish celebrity (eta bette midler? Ok i can think of one). But ok lets say these ideas that people have internalized are things you can measure and that there are statistics and im just being ignorant...

It would bring into question the wisdom of being like "Neandertals are uniquely evil, trust." Obviously that conjures up ideas of genetic propensity for violence? And either thats not true or its antiseminitic at this point because of the implications? Like youre obviously just recapitulating the very real white euro propensity to shit on neandertals are through you arent one

Oh im definitely doing it as though i am one, im mean thats hugely where its coming from. I think im very culturally and ancestrally white. (That can look like all sorts of things, some of us might make highly localized ethnoreligions out of being ferdinand the bull. Traditionally we've been like "nuh uhhh youurr the bigger animal" at everyone AND "but i can be a big enough animal to stop you" A LOT)

I wish there were a simple yet hilariously cutting way i could explain easily what i meant in a way that would translate, this isnt it

I think something about being neandertals either culturally or in terms of genetic memory or even heritably like, makes our brains behave differently. And i think it was initially made room for and even cherished as divine simplicity by the closer-african-origin original non-neanderthal settlers, but eventually it permeated the cultural landscape with a particular kind of vulgarity of thought and a resultant affinity for bloodshed. As a hunch, I think the xenophobia is heavily northwestern neandertal (cultural materialism would suggest they were under different pressures and behaved differently the further north and more geographically isolated they were); if estimates are accurate its strange that there werent more of them on the landscape and i wonder if they werent regularly hunting eachother as hostile kin groups for hundreds of thousands of years. I feel like the settlers gradually built up a general understanding of their whole deal and started experimenting with, essentially, taming (socialization, acculturation), and from there hybridization became possible but that as certain hybrid traits began to dominate, the divine simplicity became frowned upon by itself, so to speak, and they all internalized that the taliness was the problem and started infighting about who was worse all over again exactly like neandertals would.

I think jewish culture probably counts for a lot against that, for what its worth, but i can see where people would find this confusing

[a-dragons-journal]

hello !! i’ve seen your blog around in a lot of kin spaces and i thought i’d share some of my experiences and see if you could help out/give your opinion?

so, kin has been a big part of my life for a while. i learned about it in 2020 and ever since i’ve been… basically collecting and discarding kintypes as i try to pin it all down. i’ve had many fictotypes come and go as my feelings change and fluctuate, which from what i’ve heard is pretty normal! i know kin feelings change and i’m not against the thought of any of my kins disappearing at any moment.

however, there’s always been one factor of this unknown kintype that’s been floating around my mind, dying off and resurfacing whenever it pleases: size.

so basically, i’ve had moments where i’ve tried to pin down a kintype based on the feel for its size. for a while i was a borrower, but that just didn’t fit. it’s gone all over the place.

now it turns out i might be a giant? idk tho. i’m still trying to figure it out. the problem is i know this kintype is based on some kind of DnD giant, but i don’t remember looking like one. like in the classic kind of sense. like uhh. if you look up “dnd giant” you’ll see like these large ogre looking guys. but i don’t feel like i looked like that. i feel like i just looked like a human sized up. like someone went into blender and scaled me up.

i don’t particularly see an issue with having this obscure kintype. i mean i don’t see others with this kind of experience so i’d never know if anyone can relate to my struggle. but one issue i have is the fact that i looked human and the whole point of being otherkin is, yknow, not being human. i don’t consider myself to be human with this kintype, i just happened to look like one.

so yeah. i’d like to hear what you think on this! if you don’t wanna answer that’s ok too ^^

So, I don't have much, but I can point out a couple of things:

There's about a million D&D worlds out there, and they're all different, whether in slight variations or enormous ones. Differences in how the same species looks across multiple worlds is an entirely reasonable thing.

A lot of kintypes look varying degrees of human - that doesn't mean they are human. Something can look very human and simultaneously have very different instincts, culture, physiology, diet, etc., all of which can affect feeling very nonhuman despite not outwardly looking all that different. I'd say a giant that looks like a human scaled up x10 is no less nonhuman than an elf that looks like a human with pointy ears, and the latter were among those that literally formed the basis of this community.

There is an alterhuman word specifically describing "other versions of humans" - that being otherhuman, which can describe other this-world species of humans like Neanderthals, or humans used to a magical or sci-fi setting, human fictionkin, or any other humans that diverge from humans on this earth in one way or another. It may be worth looking into, though it sounds like it's a little closer to this-world-human than your kintype may be.

Hopefully that helps at all?

[tomboyjessie13]

This is a remake of a Incorrect Quote I made in January 13, in large part due to finally watching "the Empress" episode thus needing to rewrite it. Original here: https://tomboyjessie13.tumblr.com/post/706383290832125952/sequel-to-this-now-let-the-fun-begin-had

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Medea finally finds the 4 remaining Crusaders while they were at a rest stop in New Delhi, India and proceeds to bitch out Jotaro for the missing teeth, loosely inspired by Family Guy

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Joseph: *Hiding in the car, still wanted by the law because of a crime he didn't commit in Varanasi*

Polnareff: *Sitting in a ball, traumatized over [The Empress]* .........

Jotaro: *Looking over him*

Kakyoin: *Returns with a tinfoil of grilled chicken tikka* Dinner time! *Enters the car* I got us some grilled chicke.... *To Jotaro* Is he still at it?

Jotaro: Yeah, and I'm putting a stop to it... Pol.....Pol!

Polnareff: Hm?

Jotaro: Are you still bothered about Nena?

Polnareff: *Nods* Mmhmm...

Jotaro: Well stop it, it's over now.

Kakyoin: *Gives him food* Here, you'll feel better if you had some food. *Eats his chicken*

Polnareff: *Eating, albeit slowly*

Joseph: *Pats his back* Ahh chin up, Polnareff, sometimes things just don't always work out, even romances.

Medea: *Off screen* Heh, funny that you know a lot about heartbreaks, Mr. Joestar.

All: !?!? *Looking around*

Medea: *Relaxing on top of the car's roof, wearing an ice pack* But you're right though; love was not meant to last forever, just as how my love for Jason didn't last.

Joseph: Is that who I think it is? *Looks out the window*

Medea: *Looks down at the 4 men, pissed off* I finally caught up to you Neanderthals, I knew you’d be in New Delhi eventually. *Gets off the car*

Kakyoin: *Tired* Oh great, she’s here to.

Polnareff: We’re in no mood lady, so please kin-*sees her face* SACRÉ BLEU!

Joseph: What? *Sees her face to* Oh my god! You look like a balloon!

Medea: *To Jotaro, sarcastically* Hey Jojooo~, remember me? I’m the “delusional bitch” you beat the crap out of in Malaysia for calling out your sexist mouth. You know it’s funny, I went back to Egypt to have my wounds treated and, um, tsk, apparently Lord DIO could only restore bones, not replace them and, um, *smiling* oh here’s where the story gets fun, uh, you may have noticed *showing off her swollen cheek, angry* MY LEFT CHEEK IS SWOLLEN! Your Stand punch out two of my left molars and have to replace them with caps before coming here. So, when you’re ready to apologize, *flips him off* just talk to the finger.

Jotaro: You want me to apologize for RIGHTFULLY calling out your insanity? *Flips her off as well* You can go fuck yourself, skank.

Joseph: *At Jotaro* HEY! Cut out with that language already, that is EXACTLY what she's talking about. *At Medea* And you, go home! You already got what you wanted, now leave us alone.

Medea: Not until I have your heads, you useless pricks!

END

[sciencespies]

Homo naledi may have used fire to cook and navigate 230,000 years ago

https://sciencespies.com/humans/homo-naledi-may-have-used-fire-to-cook-and-navigate-230000-years-ago/

Homo naledi may have used fire to cook and navigate 230,000 years ago

By Alison George

A reconstruction of the skull of a Homo naledi child

Brett Eloff Photography

Archaeological evidence suggests that Homo naledi, a primitive human species with a chimpanzee-like skull, used fires to cook food and navigate in the darkness of underground caves, despite having a brain one third of the size of ours.

“We have massive evidence. It’s everywhere,” says Lee Berger at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. “Huge lumps of charcoal, thousands of burned bones, giant hearths and baked clay.”

This find, which is still being analysed and remains controversial, could revolutionise our understanding of the emergence of complex behaviours that had been thought to be the sole domain of large-brained species, such as modern humans and Neanderthals.

Advertisement

H. naledi was first discovered in 2013 in the Rising Star cave system in South Africa when two cavers managed to enter a hitherto unexplored chamber via an incredibly tight passage. The surface was littered with thousands of fossil bones. In 2015, these were declared to belong to a new species.

We now know that H. naledi was about 144 centimetres tall on average and weighed around 40 kilograms. It had a strange mix of primitive and modern features, with ape-like shoulders, a tiny brain only just bigger than that of a chimpanzee and teeth “more reminiscent of something millions of years old”, says Berger.

Yet dating of its fossil remains in 2017 showed that it lived relatively recently, between 230,000 to 330,00 years ago, meaning that it could have co-existed with Homo sapiens, which evolved in Africa around 300,000 years ago.

A hearth possibly made by Homo naledi

Lee Berger

But questions remained about how H. naledi navigated through the labyrinth of underground passages at Rising Star, which are in complete darkness and require complex manoeuvres through gaps in the rock just 17.5 centimetres wide.

This inaccessibility means that, in the past decade, only 47 people – all small and slightly built – had managed to access the Dinaledi chamber where H. naledi fossils were first discovered. But in August this year, Berger, who is 188cm tall, decided to risk entering this labyrinth, losing 25 kilograms of weight in preparation.

“It’s not a space made for six-feet-two people like me. I’m by far the largest person who’s even been in,” he says. He knew there was a possibility he might not be able to squeeze out again. “I almost died on the way out,” he says.

The risk paid off. When Berger entered the Dinaledi chamber and looked up, he realised that there were blackened areas and soot particles on the rock. “The entire roof of the chamber is burnt and blackened,” he says.

By coincidence, at the same time that Berger was observing the soot, his colleague Keneiloe Molopyane, also at the University of the Witwatersrand, uncovered a tiny hearth with burnt antelope bones in another part of the cave system, then a large hearth next to it 15cm below the cave floor. Then, in another area called the Lesedi chamber, Berger found a stack of burnt rocks, with a base of ash and burnt bones.

This is a remarkable discovery, as many researchers thought it was impossible for such a small-brained hominin to make and use fire within a cave system. Although we have evidence that ancient humans living in what is now Kenya could control fire as far back as 1.5 million years ago, this capacity “is typically associated with larger-brained Homo erectus”, says Berger.

H. naledi also seem to have used the space in interesting ways, with “body disposal in one space and cooking of animals in adjacent spaces”, says Berger. “The capacity to make and use fire finally shows us how Homo naledi ventured so deep into dangerous spaces, and explains how they may have moved their dead kin into such spaces, something likely impossible without light. It also hints at a complex naledi culture becoming visible to us.”

Dating of the charred remains is still underway, so the decision to announce the fire discovery in a talk on 1 December, prior to the publication of the formal scientific analysis, has proved controversial.

“It’s impossible to evaluate Lee Berger’s claims properly without seeing the full evidence, but apparently that is forthcoming,” says Chris Stringer at the Natural History Museum in London. “With all due respect to Lee and his teams for a series of great finds, this is not the way to conduct science or progress scientific debate about potentially very important discoveries.”

However, for Francesco d’Errico at the University of Bordeaux in France, the discovery that H. naledi may have been able to control fire could give insight into the way they treated their dead and their social organisation.

“If Homo naledi were shown to have mastered fire and used it to gain access to the most remote areas of the Rising Star karst system, this could have very important implications for the interpretation of mortuary practices conducted at the site,” he says. “The control of an artificial light source allows the organisation of actions in space and time and, in the case of mortuary practices, facilitates the participation of several members of the group in collaborative and shared actions.”

Charcoal possibly used by Homo naledi

Lee Berger

For Berger, the fire-use discovery has implications that are even more revolutionary. If these small-brained humans with many primitive features were capable of the complex cognition required to make and control fire, then “we’re beginning to see the emergence of a cultural pathway and behaviour that we thought, until this moment, was the domain of [Homo sapiens and Neanderthals],” he says.

Sign up to Our Human Story, a free monthly newsletter on the revolution in archaeology and human evolution

More on these topics:

#Humans

[zooterchet]

Gaelic Culture (Homo sapiens neanderthalis)

Stages of Empire:

Empire, is a uniquely prehistoric concept; a primitive neanderthal concept, of control of health and depressors related, of own kin of same genome; as a whole, with controls and tests from each other, for admission as a member; waking from "sleeping", a merely talented foe.

Dating to prehistoric Iberia, Caspia, and Yugoslavia, it has morphed from tribal confederacies, to white, black, and yellow empires, the snakes, upwards into keep's wars against plagues, into hunts of gays and bisexuals for mimicking neanderthals through study, through into diplomatic colonialism; and into the present form, "England", the Belgrade Serb line into Georgian Caspia, and down through Iran; polymers, made from combustible tar resin, oil.

The Houses:

Celtic (Spaniard): Samhain. Serb (Sumer): Dragon. Georgia (Antiquarian): Phoenix. Senators (Rome): Caesar, King, Nero, Cossack, Napoli. Fours (Egypt): Anubis (Mosaic), Osiris (Turkic), Set (Ferguson), Ra (London). Viziers (China): Triads (Five Flowers), Emperor (Henger), Khanate (Palestine), Kazakh (Ottoman), Komon (Hussein), Uighur (Arabs; Nepal, Saud, Ismael). England (Prophets): Montague (Palestinian-Muhammadan), Capulet (Ottoman-Muhammadan), Ali (Sharif-Muhammadan).

The system has always run under a Gaelic precept (Gaelic, the name of the neanderthal genome), of the Demon, the father of the chapel's steward; the steward, "The Batsy", charity upon philanthropy, gifting the work of servants of pledged lines (Regencis), to produce labor (varying per house of command and combination used, "assassins"). The Regencies, wake up, when the Batsy, has made them a "Villain"; the Bat, needs protection, from a sexual assailant, before "Magick", awakens the Villain, as a spy, a "Bonder's Man", called a "Boothy" by gays and bisexuals, unless a "Sass", working as a "Sassmouth", indicatig you're in danger of dying in a "hospice", a plague is required for eliminating a "Batsy" before ascension to "Demon" in Mecca.

[starsailor-kinthepast]

An overview of Uru's life

In the two years since I awoke as a parallel Neanderthal, I've managed to puzzle together a vague timeline of the main events having happened so far in my life. Here it is!

Word count: 1300 Estimated reading time: 10 minutes

Early Life

I was born to a cave with around twenty members, somewhere in central Europe. It was not during one of Earth’s cold periods, but it wasn’t painstakingly hot, either. We experienced winters and summers, though colder than the ones we see today.

My first clear memory is of being Chosen by the Megaloceros; the Giant Horned. Those of us who were Six-Eyed – with a sixth sense – what we today would call mediums – would at some point in their life be chosen by a spirit to make sure others would know, too. I was no older than five when I followed His call into the forest and He showed me the secrets within. This meant I would bear His mark for a while; visible for those around me, so the right actions could be taken.

My mama was equal parts horrified and delighted. It is a great honour, being Six-Eyed, but also horribly taxing. She took me to our Six-Eyed and hen confirmed it. I was taken in to be hem apprentice, to learn the craft by hems hand: hen was my teacher, a second parent, my biggest supporter.

Sometime during my early childhood mama died. I was taken in by sher sister, who's daughter – Dahlia – was only a year older than me and a dear friend.

Young Adult

We don't have a concept for teenager; either you are a child, or you are an adult. Although a Six-Eyed apprenticeship is somewhat of a gray zone, I was considered grown into a young adult when I was about 13.

It was becoming clearer with every day that I had truly been made for the spirit world: my eyes, the same rare blue as my mama, were weak, and I suffered pain and fatigue more often than the others of my cave. This wasn't truly a problem; even if I hadn't been Six-Eyed, I found great joy in preparing meals and skins, fletching, telling stories, singing and caring for the young. I was also decent at medicine, and although one never finished the Six-Eyed education, my mentor became my equal around the time I became grown.

Relocation

Around my fifteenth or sixteenth year, my mama's sister-child – practically my sister – fell in love with a man of another cave. They were smaller than us, less than ten members, and were eager to have sher join their group. Their Six-Eyed had recently passed as well, and with me being a young child-bearer on top of that, they were hoping I would join, too. Dahlia would leave no matter what, and there wasn’t much there for me without her. My teacher was growing old and would soon pass, and though I had respect as hems successor, I had few friends.

I accepted.

My new cave was further south, and a bit of travel – I’m not sure how much, but likely around a week or two. Here I made friends with the group; a more tight-knit community than the one I came from. Dahlia soon bore child.

The group had three hunters; one of them was Ichor, who, after a few months of me living there, approached me and suggested a mentorship. This would not be of the sort I had with my Six-Eyed teacher; this would be that of a Guide and a Guided. He would teach me of their ways, and their prey, and things he knew that I did not.

It was bold of him to ask such a thing from his Six-Eyed, but I was lonely, and he was kind, and I welcomed a warm body to share my furs. We became increasingly close – I befriended his mother, the oldest member of the group. We would joke about our weak eyes together.

The Spirit

Dahlia soon bore another child, once sher first black-haired young son was weaned. I stood vigil at the baby’s naming; sang, and danced, and drummed. It was exhilarating. That night I felt a presence: a spirit I had not felt before. It warmed me, comforted me in ways I can’t describe.

It wouldn’t be long before I felt the presence again – and again, and again, and again. It began communicating with me, in staggered, halting words I barely understood. I called it Ancharond; the unknown spirit.

We would soon move to our winter cave. It was my third year of living with this group, and Ancharond came to me more and more often – comforting me, so I was rarely alone. But I could not rest. Something was starting to awaken inside: a call, a need, something was missing. I told none of this, except Ancharond, who knew my deepest thoughts and inmost feelings. Often I would sit at the cave’s entrance, and though no tears left my eyes, my soul wept.

And then came the fateful day where Ichor passed. He had hunted to a rhinoceros; both prey and predator had fallen. I was crushed. He had been my anchor, my truest friend, my closest companion. When his spirit passed, it took part of me with it.

It became too much. I held Dahlia’s youngest child in my arms and wept for all the children I had not given Ichor; all his children I would never bear. I was angry. I was heartbroken.

I went in the stillness of night, creeping past the watchful fires of the guard, and left no belongings behind.

The Journey

I was nineteen and with no clue where to go, or where I was going, except that I was heading westward: toward the sunset. It would be a long, grueling journey – as a lone person, I would struggle with finding food, and I needed rest far more often than I would like. I learned to use a spear and sling, as well as better ways of trapping small game, but survived mostly on the plants I found on the way. There wasn’t much energy in them; I was always eating.

On this journey, Ancharond became a close companion. Slowly, our conversations became more understandable, more clear – and one day, they showed themselves to me in their entirety: a tall, black rabbit walking on its hinds. Its eyes were black holes, its front paws ripped apart by pale, snow-white human hands. It spoke with a voice within my head; it walked without a shadow. It was a terrifying sight, and I feared for my life the first time I saw them.

They told me we were the same; that I was Ancharond; that Ancharond was me.

I didn’t believe them. How could I be a thing like that?

It was on our second meeting like this that they realized something was wrong. They were quick to comfort me; the rabbit was not their true form – it was simply my brain attempting to make sense of it. I asked to see their true form; they obliged.

Ancharond: a strange amalgamation of beasts, with the upper body of a human, the hind legs, ears and muzzle of a rabbit, and tail of a fox. The most important, though, are the antlers that rest upon their head: large, black things speckled with stars.

They smiled shily that first time I saw them as such. I couldn’t stop staring. Antlers, like my own guide, like the Great Horned – I was touched. I was honoured.

With their guidance I adopted a young wolf pup. It was an accident in truth: I had felled a deer with a lucky throw of my spear, and had to be quick in harvesting its meat. A wolf, delirious with sickness, came upon me – I slayed it in my terror. Later I would find its pup, wandering, alone.

It wouldn’t be long before Ancharond, the unknown spirit, became Encharond; the known spirit.

I am still on this journey; still walking, still seeking. I know not what I’m looking for. I know only that I must survive.

[dragonpunkwriting]

A really good concept.

Kin, issue 1 (Gary Frank, 2000) Image Comics.

One of the single issues that really jumped out at me was Kin by Gary Frank, published by Top Cow (which I had never heard of) an imprint of Image comics (which I had), during the early naughties. This, I thought, could be very good or very bad. There was unlikely to be a middle ground. And I was right.

The overarching plot, so far as I can tell from a quick Google, is that a team of various people with differing motivations go in search of a Neanderthal colony in Alaska. The issue that I read, however, was a set up. We are introduced first to a board meeting. The speaker discusses anthropology. It cuts to what seems to be prehistory, as a Neanderthal is walking through the snow. He is then shot (seemingly) dead by a pair of hunters with a rifle, talking about some kind of attack/skirmish that has taken place. Okay, I’m into it.

At the meeting, a question is asked: What if Neanderthals were still around? What if they have had all these years to develop their society? This is not out of the blue, as a piece of technology is shown that was not made by Homo saipens. We see more of this technology later when it transpires that the Neanderthal that was shot, did in fact survived. Again, I’m in to this. We have corporate espionage going on, as well as an adventure plot.

Additionally, I believe that the art is good. I could tell what was happening (granted, it was mostly discussions, but it was engaging discussions) and who was moving when.

Overall, although the plot does not really ‘kick off’ yet, there is enough going on that I absolutely want to know more. I’m terrible at rankings, but I’d have to say that issue 1 of Kin is damn good.

Increasingly, I find myself being drawn away from the ‘Big Two’ of Marvel and DC. And this series is one that I’m keeping on my list to look into when I am in need of more to read, way down the line.

[irvinenewshq]

Stays of Neanderthal Household Present in Siberian Cave

Researchers checked out DNA extracted from the stays of 13 Neanderthals that lived in Asia about 54,000 years in the past and located some shocking relationships amongst them. Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis) had been a bunch of hominins that lived alongside and interbred with anatomically trendy people till their disappearance round 40,000 years in the past. Recognizable for his or her barrel chests, stocky builds, and pronounced brows, Neanderthals are thought to have been bred out of existence; most everybody strolling round in the present day has Neanderthal DNA of their genome. The lately studied group of Neanderthals lived within the Altai mountains, in what’s now southern Russia. Seven of the group had been males and 6 had been girls; primarily based on the workforce’s evaluation, eight had been adults and 5 had been kids or adolescents. Their stays had been discovered within the Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov caves, about 60 miles from the well-known Denisova Cave (so-named for the discovery of Denisovan stays on the location). An analysis of DNA from the bones and tooth—essentially the most ever sequenced in a single research—is revealed this week in Nature. “The truth that they had been dwelling on the similar time could be very thrilling. Which means they probably got here from the identical social neighborhood,” mentioned Laurits Skov, a researcher on the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology and the research’s lead writer, in an institute launch. “For the primary time, we will use genetics to review the social group of a [Neanderthal] neighborhood.” G/O Media could get a fee The researchers discovered that some people from Chagyrskaya Cave had been carefully associated. There was a father and daughter, in addition to a pair of second-degree kin: a younger boy and, primarily based on the age and intercourse of the opposite particular person when she died, a cousin, aunt, or grandmother. Denisova Cave was occupied by Neanderthals and Denisovans roughly on the similar time that Neanderthals lived in Chagyrskaya Cave. Regardless of the proximity of the 2 caves, the distinction in stone artifacts and the genetic proof point out that, within the 20,000 years earlier than the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals lived, Denisovans didn’t breed with the ancestors of the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals. Mitochondrial DNA taken from people in Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov caves did point out that there was some ancestral connection between the communities occupying these websites. The workforce additionally in contrast the genetic variety from the Neanderthals’ Y chromosomes (which is inherited from father-to-son) with the variety from the mitochondrial DNA, which is matrilineal. Based mostly on the shared variants within the people’ DNA, the workforce posits that Neanderthals like these in Chagyrskaya and Okladnikov caves had been primarily linked by feminine migration, reasonably than male migration. “To find out how communities had been linked, we seemed on the mitochondrial DNA (which is inherited from mom to baby) and the Y chromosome (which is inherited from father to son,” Skov instructed Gizmodo in an electronic mail. “Once we research the Chagyrskaya Neanderthals, we discover that the mitochondria are very completely different however the Y chromosomes are related—so this implies that ladies are the cell ones.” Maybe most fascinating facet of the work, although, is the closeness of connections between people discovered at the identical place. It isn’t astonishing that Neanderthal kin would stick collectively, however it’s particular factor to see that proximity manifest within the stays discovered at a single website. As extra genetic proof is discovered and historic DNA evaluation strategies enhance, we’ll solely be taught extra about how these historic human kin lived. Extra: How Do We Know What Neanderthals Appeared Like? Originally published at Irvine News HQ

[pandoramusicbox]

Orcs and Apes

so I think I have mentioned that evolution is a bit of a factor in a lot of creatures in pandora’s music box.and I have been thinking about it recently. (this is a Wip idea so its subject to change but I like where its going) so what this idea boils down to is that most of the modern species of the world can be traced back two to different clades of animals, monkeys and pigs. monkeys slowly gave way to become prehistoric humans, who with the influence of magical mutations became the modern humans and human kin in the world. similar to what we are more familiar with on earth, but our other close ancestors like Neanderthals and the small ones did not die out in the same way. these mostly make up human kin.  pigs on the other hand, unlike our real world had another branch on their family tree. where some of them gained a lower hips (somewhat like how German shepherds are breed) and their hooves became more scoop like claws. one of these groups became the modern orc, a creature that is a bit reminiscent of the giant ground sloth, but pig like and not sloth... either way orcs are a lot like how our modern Apes are to us. What is important for this is the species that eventually became the orcs also gave way to a creature called the Glosen, a tailed creature that walks on two feet.  the only place in the world that glosen survive to the modern day is on the continent of Kaliwafitsu and the volcanic islands that form the far iles. what really is important is that they are the ancestors of large parts of the creatures in anima kin. they are related to all of the giants family (trolls, giants, and long ears) they are also related to the Noria (in turn they are related to gobies, goblins, kolbolds, Kamon, and raqunokil to name a few.) making up a good third or so of anima kin.  at this point they are about as related to pigs as we are to old world monkeys.  this idea is still a work in progress, but this is more or less the idea.

[rlg102group103]

Week 1

(Posting on behalf of Buster)

Hi there, my name is Buster. I am a second-year life sciences student majoring in Neuroscience. I am looking forward to these classes as I believe a religion course will bold well with my interdisciplinary field of study. 

While I was reading the Tears of Eros, a question that came to me is how significant eroticism was to all Palaeolithic humans. How could we evolve from neanderthals and have limited awareness of death to those believing “beyond the grave” and having a more sensual and caring relationship towards our kin. I am most curious about if religion catalyzes the interconnection between eroticism and death?

[bustermilne]

Week 1 Blog Post!

Hi there, my name is Buster. I am a second-year life sciences student majoring in Neuroscience. I am looking forward to these classes as I believe a religion course will bold well with my interdisciplinary field of study. 

While I was reading the Tears of Eros, a question that came to me is how significant eroticism was to all Paleolithic humans. How could we evolve from neanderthals and have limited awareness of death to those believing “beyond the grave” and having a more sensual and caring relationship towards our kin. I am most curious about if religion catalyzes the interconnection between eroticism and death?

[tomboyjessie13]

Sequel to this: "Now, let the Fun Begin!" — (Had to repost it because I got the tagging... (tumblr.com)

Medea finally finds the 4 remaining Crusaders while they were resting at a hotel in in Varanasi, India.

Medea: *Looks down at the 4 men, pissed off and wearing an ice pack* I finally caught up to you Neanderthals, I knew you'd be in India eventually.

Kakyoin: *Tired* Oh great, she's here to.

Polnareff: We're in no mood lady, so please kin-SACRÉ BLEU!

Joseph: What? *See her face* Oh my god you look like a balloon!

Medea: *To Jotaro, sarcastically* Hey Jojooo~, remember me? I'm the "delusional bitch" you beat the crap out of in Singapore for calling out your foul mouth. You know it's funny, I went back to Egypt to have my wounds treated and, um, apparently Lord DIO could only restore bones, not replace them and, um, *smiling* oh here's where the story gets fun, uh, you may have noticed *showing off her swollen cheek, angry* MY LEFT CHEEK IS SWOLLEN! Your Stand, uh, punch out two of my left molars and have to replace them with caps before coming here. So, when you're ready to apologize, *flips him off* just talk to the finger.

Jotaro: You want me to apologize for RIGHTFULLY calling out your insanity? *Flips her off as well* You can go fuck yourself, skank.

- Medea returns to bitch out Jotaro for the missing teeth inspired by Family Guy.

(This is just to cope with my wisdom teeth surgery, my face still feels weird, the missing two molars thing was @tomgonzo34/Cameron112367's idea)