For #TolkienTrewsday theme of "forgiveness": I always see thematic connection of transformation and redemption in Roverandom (a dog being turned into a toy after biting a wizard) and Sundanese folktale Lutung Kasarung (a deity being turned into a monkey and had to help a banished princess). 1/3

Jakarta-based Transit Bookstore never disappoints me with their curated international titles. I just got from there the second novel by Mauritian author Priya Hein and a Palestinian speculative fiction anthology with the theme "the day before the Nakba." #Booksky

Queer Palestinian author Tareq Baconi, from a trip with his husband to find his grandma's home that she had left during the Nakba: "Within the most private dwellings stand Palestinian walls bearing witness. Beneath the distractions of the settler nation, Palestine is everywhere." #Pride #Booksky

Trans Palestinian author Yaffa, photographed by Maria del Rio for Atmos. They have released several poetry books as a response to attack toward their Palestinian and trans identities (another poetry book, Thistle, was inspired by years of supporting their sibling through cancer). #Booksky #Pride

Happy Pride from hospital date with my mama and Joshua Whitehead.

Whether called Lukat Geni, Mesabatan Api, or Siat Geni depending on the area, Balinese "fire battle" is famously conducted as a part of Pangrupukan ritual before Nyepi. Locals attack each other with burning fronds or coconut husks because fire is a spiritually-cleansing element. #WyrdWednesday

Happy Saturday with my favorite #Pride books so far: Indonesian queer history, queer poetry that utilizes bahasa binan (colloquial language of Indonesian trans community since the 70s), memoirs by queer Palestinian and queer Muslim activist, and Indigenous queer novel by Two-Spirit writer. #Booksky

In Palestinian folktale "The Little She-Goat", a hyena tricked and ate the she-goat's kids. She begged a blacksmith to make her long, sharp horns, then challenged the hyena outside his lair. As he rushed outside, her horns stabbed him and she tore open his belly. Heartwarming stuff. #WyrdWednesday

Singaporean artist Leia Ham reimagined LotR as Tale of the Middle Kingdom, since Chinese name for China (Zhōngguó) means "The Middle Kingdom." Her concept art includes the Fellowship, armors, buildings like Bag End, props like Aragorn's banner and Fellowship brooches, and more. #TolkienTrewsday

#TolkienTrewsday "Companions" This piece is called Faithful Companion - Sam fire starting. Produced by Clarecraft & based on the art of #PeterPracownik these all have names like My Precious, Ringbearer etc to avoid copyright. 6 in total but haven't managed to find Legolas yet @timbolton.bsky.social

#TolkienTrewsday Week 173: Companions The Nine Companions Used this prompt as an opportunity to redraw the Fellowship! They’re finally together again, and I think they look great!

When I go to Yogyakarta, I usually visit Hamzah Batik shop. It's a venue for Kabaret Raminten, a drag cabaret show that supports local queer community, often showcases traditional culture. Raminten is an alter ego of the shop's founder Hamzah Sulaiman: a Javanese woman he played in a TV show. #Pride

When I go to Yogyakarta, I usually visit Hamzah Batik shop. It's a venue for Kabaret Raminten, a drag cabaret show that supports local queer community, often showcases traditional culture. Raminten is an alter ego of the shop's founder Hamzah Sulaiman: a Javanese woman he played in a TV show. #Pride

I love Jonny Appleseed so much e-book alone wasn't enough. A captivating Indigenous queer tale by a Two-Spirit author. Here with an anthology by young Palestinian writers that Susan Abulhawa mentored when she entered Gaza in 2024. All thanks to my mama who wanted to buy me something nice. #Booksky

A cover of the very first edition of The Hobbit published in Portugal (1962). Translated by Maria Isabel Braga and Mário Braga, the book notably used the term "gnomo" for the title instead of Tolkien's preferred "hobito". This edition features delightful artwork by António Quadros. #WyrdWednesday

One of my favorite Tolkien letters was from him to John Kettle (15 March 1942), a school student evacuated during the war. Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings ("The Hobbit sequel") when it was in progress, and he gave John hints of what's to come. 1/6 #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

One of my favorite Tolkien letters was from him to John Kettle (15 March 1942), a school student evacuated during the war. Tolkien described The Lord of the Rings ("The Hobbit sequel") when it was in progress, and he gave John hints of what's to come. 1/6 #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

Sometimes traditional recipes make the best Pride snacks, like my favorite sentiling singkong (gelatinous steamed cassava cake sprinkled with coconut shaves, from Semarang, Central Java).

Samidjan, a wayang artist from Yogyakarta, utilized the traditional art of making Javanese wayang to create trans goddess Betari Jaluwati and a knight and trans man Bambang Priawan. They are parts of "wayang marjinal" lineup depicting marginalized groups in Indonesian society. 1/3 🧵 #WyrdWednesday

Samidjan, a wayang artist from Yogyakarta, utilized the traditional art of making Javanese wayang to create trans goddess Betari Jaluwati and a knight and trans man Bambang Priawan. They are parts of "wayang marjinal" lineup depicting marginalized groups in Indonesian society. 1/3 🧵 #WyrdWednesday

Eärendil and Sawerigeding, a hero in Bugis epic La Galigo of South Sulawesi, had a parallel in lineage. Eärendil was born from an Elf and a mortal. Sawerigading's lineage was from Boting Langiq/the Upperworld and Toddang Toja/the Underworld. Both represent the important "middle". #TolkienTrewsday

In Ganjuran Church in Yogyakarta, central region of Java, the statues of Jesus and Mary (like these in the adoration chapel, the main shrine, and the Stations of the Cross) resemble statues adorning ancient temples in Java. They befit the church's traditional Joglo architecture. 1/2 #WyrdWednesday

For #TolkienTrewsday theme of "restoration": I always associate Samwise Gamgee with batik Tambal, a batik motif from central region of Java. Tambal ("to patch") is associated with healing physical illness and repairing spiritual damage, reflected in Sam restoring trees in the Shire. #TolkienTuesday

Recently befriended Singaporean queer author Koh An Ting and they sent me a book about stories from conversion therapy survivors in Singapore. Another is a haiku book about their memories around Singaporean dishes. Then I wrote a bookstore note on a novel about post-1965 Indonesian political exiles.

In "The Green Bird", one of the tales from "Speak, Bird, Speak Again: Palestinian Arab Folktales," a murdered boy returned to the world of living as a bird. He circled a wedding procession, singing a verse about how his mother murdered him, cooked his flesh, and served him as a meal. #WyrdWednesday

"The Fire-writing" (c. 1953), a handwritten proof of Tolkien's efforts in perfecting the Elvish inscription around the One Ring. You can see the marks where the ink dripped, too. Red and black ink, pencil. Featured in “Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth" exhibition. #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

#TolkienTrewsday Week 169: Writing Systems Three runes are etched into the beautiful green front door of Bilbo Baggins, marking his home as the house of a burglar.

Writing Systems for #TolkienTrewsday Moon Letters. Probably one of my favourite items included with a #Tolkien book is the Facsimilie 1st Edition #TheHobbit map Hold it up to the light & the invisible letters appear. Has to be the same bulb & wattage as when when were written @timbolton.bsky.social

(18/5) Five Indonesians were abducted by the IDF from aid vessels sailing international water, part of Gaza Sumud Flotilla. TEMPO mentioned four journalists (Andre Prasetyo from TEMPO, Bambang Noroyono and Thoudy Badai from Republika, Heru Rahendro from iNews) and humanitarian activist Andi Angga.

It's proper that #IDAHOBIT 2026 theme is "at the heart of democracy." As an Indonesian, this feels poignant now. But because of the uncertainties around me, I no longer have nothing to lose. I want to celebrate my small wins as a stubbornly queer Indonesian. I shall see myself turn 41, Inshallah.

Indonesian horror fans worth their salt know Suzanna, our "horror queen" famous for cult films that featured folkloric ghosts and Javanese mythical figures, like sundel bolong, Nyi Blorong, and Nyi Roro Kidul. She embraced occultism and had a habit of eating fresh jasmines. 1/2 #WyrdWednesday

Indonesian horror fans worth their salt know Suzanna, our "horror queen" famous for cult films that featured folkloric ghosts and Javanese mythical figures, like sundel bolong, Nyi Blorong, and Nyi Roro Kidul. She embraced occultism and had a habit of eating fresh jasmines. 1/2 #WyrdWednesday

Bugis brides of South Sulawesi wear a hair bun called simpolong tattong. It has a peaked shape and smaller sections that symbolize a mother and a child. Together, they represent wisdom, joy, strength, and beauty. #WyrdWednesday 📷: Indonesia Kaya (1,2), Fatimah Makeup Bone, Chuya Daniels Gallery

Bugis brides of South Sulawesi wear a hair bun called simpolong tattong. It has a peaked shape and smaller sections that symbolize a mother and a child. Together, they represent wisdom, joy, strength, and beauty. #WyrdWednesday 📷: Indonesia Kaya (1,2), Fatimah Makeup Bone, Chuya Daniels Gallery

I love the seamless interconnection Cherien Dabis created between the personal stories of multiple generations of a Palestinian family and their shared national history (and tragedy); beginning in 1948 Nakba, framed by the West Bank protest in 1988, all the way to 2022. #Filmsky

Two books that I still cannot move on from: Tareq Baconi's memoir on his queer and political awakening as a Palestinian (and son of student activists) and my first foray into contemporary Native American literature with Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho). My TBR has exploded ever since. #Booksky

Two books that I still cannot move on from: Tareq Baconi's memoir on his queer and political awakening as a Palestinian (and son of student activists) and my first foray into contemporary Native American literature with Tommy Orange (Cheyenne and Arapaho). My TBR has exploded ever since. #Booksky

Photos of Anca (26), a young Bissu in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Known as "the fifth gender" among Bugis people, Bissu is gender-transcendent beyond classification; a position that place them as a conduit between the creator and humankind. 🧵1/3 #WyrdWednesday 📷: Rejeky Kene for Project Multatuli

Photos of Anca (26), a young Bissu in Makassar, South Sulawesi. Known as "the fifth gender" among Bugis people, Bissu is gender-transcendent beyond classification; a position that place them as a conduit between the creator and humankind. 🧵1/3 #WyrdWednesday 📷: Rejeky Kene for Project Multatuli

A poetry book that captured the specific Indonesian queer experiences, written in Indonesian, some English, and bahasa binan, a colloquial language first created by Indonesian trans community in the 60s and 70s. Only here I could see RuPaul mentioned in the same breath with Desy Ratnasari. #Booksky

“And amid all the splendours of the World, its vast halls and spaces, and its wheeling fires, Ilúvatar chose a place for their habitation in the Deeps of Time and in the midst of the innumerable stars.” - J.R.R. Tolkien: The Silmarillion: Ainulindalë 📷: NASA, "Pillars of Creation" #TolkienTrewsday

A poetry book that captured the specific Indonesian queer experiences, written in Indonesian, some English, and bahasa binan, a colloquial language first created by Indonesian trans community in the 60s and 70s. Only here I could see RuPaul mentioned in the same breath with Desy Ratnasari. #Booksky

I discovered Ujang Suryana in this Music from the Tea Lands album in 2005. A blind gamelan degung composer and flute player from West Java, he was considered a legend (sadly, not much info about him online). "Kang Mandor" refers to the foreman of a tea plantation. www.youtube.com/watch?v=INpk...

One artwork featured in Sumud, an anthology of Palestinian essays, poems, and art, is Philistine (1997) by Palestinian visual artist Khalil Rabah. He hammered nails around the "philistine" entry in Oxford dictionary, examining the word and its relation to dehumanization of Palestinians. #Booksky

One artwork featured in Sumud, an anthology of Palestinian essays, poems, and art, is Philistine (1997) by Palestinian visual artist Khalil Rabah. He hammered nails around the "philistine" entry in Oxford dictionary, examining the word and its relation to dehumanization of Palestinians. #Booksky

The three-color crater lakes of Kelimutu volcano in East Nusa Tenggara are parts of indigenous belief about where souls go after death. In local folklore, Ata Bupu, a kind sorcerer, fought the evil Ata Polo to protect two orphans. Crater lakes emerged from where their bodies fell. 1/3 #WyrdWednesday

The three-color crater lakes of Kelimutu volcano in East Nusa Tenggara are parts of indigenous belief about where souls go after death. In local folklore, Ata Bupu, a kind sorcerer, fought the evil Ata Polo to protect two orphans. Crater lakes emerged from where their bodies fell. 1/3 #WyrdWednesday

LotR poster map by Pauline Baynes (1970), based on Tolkien's annotation on Baynes' own map. Among his notes were for the ships and their sail emblems: “Elven-ships small, white or grey…Númenórean ships black and silver…Corsairs had red sails with black star or eye.” #TolkienTrewsday #TolkienTuesday

I love how Annemarie Jacir brought the character-driven, grounded sensibility in her previous works to "Palestine 36" and the way she inserted the (colorized) archival footage of Palestinians from the 1930s, making them as alive and present in our eyes as the actors in the foreground. #Filmsky

A historical and ethnographic research on trans feminine population in the 20th-century Indonesia (mostly between the 1950s and 1980s), including how they navigated the postcolonial atmosphere and the new country's efforts to evaluate its citizenship while challenging gender binary. #Booksky