#help with thesis writing

[mammoth-clangen]

D’you perchance have any thoughts on the morphological (for lack of a better word?) dire wolves that Colossal Biosciences just revealed to the public? 👀

Oh my god Aenocyon, you can't just ask someone why they're white!

"Morphological dire wolf" my ass. Which is coincidentally where Colossal pulled the white coats from…

Give me an example of a modern temperate/grassland predator that's white*, I'll wait. *Excluding white lions, which are an uncommon but resilient morph resulting from leucism.

I based my Aenocyon design off bushdogs and dholes. They are called Masked Wolves in Kindred's setting, because I enjoy a good pseudo hyena niche uvu-b

Extremely extremely long 'thoughts' below the cut lol c':

Preface: in this discussion the term "dire wolf" has too many meanings, as such I will be referring to them as follows:

Thrones' wolves: for the huge, white, fantasy animals from Game Of Thrones GMO wolves: for Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi, Colossal's creations, Canis lupus Aenocyon: for Aenocyon dirus, the true, extinct dire wolf known from fossils across North America

----

Part 1: That's not a dire wolf-

The first question everyone has been asking is "So, are dire wolves de extinct now?" The answer is an emphatic "NO!" from anyone with knowledge of genetics, palaeontology, or taxonomy.

Aenocyon dirus were actually not wolves, nor dogs, but a secret third thing.

They are canids, but last shared a common ancestor with grey wolves and their lineage some ~5.7 million years ago.

For context, this paper suggests a similar divergence time between genus Homo (humans, Neanderthals and co) and Pan (chimps and bonobos); animals that look and behave markedly differently from each other.

The genomes of Canis lupus and Aenocyon dirus being 99.5% similar may sound like a lot, but again, humans share 98.8% with chimps, and 99.7% with Neanderthals, and yet are very distinct from both.

Skeletally, behaviourally, in soft tissue, etc, you could tell any of the three apart; the same goes for Aenocyon and Canis members.

Additionally, Colossal made 20 changes in 14 genes.

The grey wolf genome has 2,447,000,000 base pairs. Does that maths seem a bit off to you?

That's not even enough to change a grey wolf into a domestic dog, let alone an ancient outgroup!

This would be akin to modifying a lion to have bigger teeth and saying you resurrected Smilodon fatalis.

Or editing a Asian Elephant genome so they retain their juvenile hair and calling it a Woolly Mammoth.

It's a bold-faced lie.

Beth Shapiro says "they look and act like dire wolves" but that, too,simply isn't true.

Visually, the GMO wolves simply aren't what Aenocyon would have looked like. It's what a Thrones' wolf looks like.

Hmmmmm, funny about that, seeing George R R Martin helped fund the 'dire wolf project'...

As with many fossil animals, we don't know much about Aenocyon's behaviour.

You can't say the GMO wolves (who are also still pups) act like Aenocyon, because that's based off nothing.

What we do know is Aenocyon were likely pack animals (from the sheer number found in La Brea Tarpits), and crunched more bones than modern wolves (from their many broken teeth).

Also, crucially, they had Wild Sex Lives (from the many, huge, broken and healed bacula... youch).

Colossal is also being colossally shady by: doubling down on their bs use of the outdated "morphological species definition", blatantly misleading the public with their use of the words 'cloning', 'dire wolves', and 'de extinction', and refusing to share their methods in a peer reviewed paper before going public with a clickbait headline.

Do not trust them with your Red wolves either. They're using coyote hybrids and considering what they deem 'close enough' for a dire wolf, I wouldn't put any money on the quality of their GMO red wolves either...

Also can I just say, whatever genes they modified to "make the skull larger" clearly didn't impact the lower jaw...

No, I'm not sorry for this image uvu-b (But for real look at that poor pup and his overbite jfc)

Part 2: -and if it was, that wouldn't be good either.

I fundamentally do not support de extinction.

No, not even for the Thylacine, not even for passenger pigeons, nor the dodo. Even my beloved Homotherium should be left in the past.

This might be an unexpected stance because I am, surprising no one, a big fan of extinct animals, megafauna and otherwise.

But the thing is, I'm an even bigger fan of actual, living animals.

The animal ethics of de extinction are dubious at best.

The surrogate dog mothers of the GMO wolves likely won't live good lives.

I wouldn't be surprised if they were destroyed after being used, because their bodies could contain feto microchimerisms and Colossal absolutely doesn't want their special wolf genome getting out.

I doubt the GMO wolves themselves will live a full life before they outgrow their hearts, like Ligers.

This would likely be the case for any modern animal genetically modified into megafauna; a body not adapted to deal with the increased size.

Purely conjecture, but I also wouldn't be surprised if Romulus, Remus and Khaleesi have vision/hearing issues from their white coats.

White coats in wolves are associated with hearing impairments, so the gene used for these animals was from domestic dogs. Meaning Colossal has created a very expensive wolfdog.

Again, what kind of life are these wolfdogs supposed to live? As awful pets for the rich? In a zoo? Released to pollute wild wolf genomes? (assuming they're fertile; I hope not)

Regardless, it's not looking good if they ever planned to have them be 'wild animals'

Even true clones (which the GMO wolves are not) tend to have health issues.

Celia the Pyrenean Ibex (bucardo) was cloned, but the clone died after 9 minutes from a deformed lung.

So in 2003, this made the bucardo the first species to go extinct twice, yippee?

There's also the problem of genetic diversity.

How many intact genomes do you have on hand?

For dire wolves the answer is Zero!

To my knowledge, we don't have the full genome coded from one individual, just Frankenstein-ed from many. Which is fine for sequencing the canine family tree's relatedness, but not for cloning.

The absolute minimum individuals to survive a genetic bottleneck is said to be 50 in larger species. Called the 50/500 rule, it states that 50 is enough to survive, but 500 is required to prevent genetic drift.

To which I say, good luck!

Even with well preserved permafrost species (such as woolly mammoths), you'll have a hard time finding 500 individuals with prefect genomes.

And then, where will you put them?

If you were to, somehow, make a breeding population, where are they going? A national park? A zoo? Is their old habitat still available to them?

In Aenocyon, the answer is simply "they don't have a niche anymore".

Unlike the Thylacine or Dodo, humans did not directly cause the extinction of Aenocyon dirus. And even if they had, it was 10,000 years ago!

Would making room for a de extinct species impact the habitat/niche of another species?

Regular grey wolves fill Aenocyon's role as a canine mesopredator, with Puma as the apex (alongside bears as an apex omnivore).

With the loss of megafauna to prey on, a de extinct predator would just compete with other, also endangered species.

Animals also change the environment they life in.

Mammoths will clear trees like modern elephants. This would recreate the Mammoth Steppe, but those trees making up the taiga and boreal forests are themselves crucial habitat.

Other species have moved in since the mammoths' extinction. Siberian tigers, lynx, muskoxen, brown bears, elk, moose, and so many others; many endangered.

Trees also prevent erosion, which is already happening at unprecedented rates due to agriculture and deforestation.

Crucially: What's to stop an extinct animal going the same way it went out last time?

Ask yourself this:

Would the average American appreciate "flocks of Passenger pigeons big enough to darken the sky and whiten ground with their guano"?

Would people suddenly be okay with lions in Europe eating their livestock, when they are champing the bit to shoot Iberian wolves again?

Would Tasmanians suddenly feel the same about the Thylacine, when farmers in Australia still happily kill dingoes and eagles for lamb predation? [citation, I am an enviro technician and have had farmers tell me they shoot Wedge-tails, knowing I'm a toothless lion to stop them.]

I doubt it

At what cost?

Are we going to find 50 thylacine genomes?

If so (doubtful), how much will cloning and/or modifying a relative into a thylacine cost? Now that x50?

Wouldn't that money be better spent on quoll reintroduction?

What about finding 50 gestational carriers for mammoths?

Are you going to use their closest relative; the already critically endangered Asian Elephant?

Wouldn't that time and effort on those elephant mothers be better used making more elephants?

And the social cost:

If extinction isn't forever, what's to incentivize lawmakers to fund conservation?

Really, it comes down to this:

Why bring back the dire wolf when we could put this money into protecting the Iberian and Red wolves?

Why bring back the thylacine when their cousin is dying of a transmissible cancer?

We've already seen the impacts of "extinction isn't forever anymore", with those in power already trying to cut funding to conservation, because you can "just bring them back".

But as we've seen time and time again: there is no Planet B. There is no De-Extinction, not really.

Maybe what was gone should stay gone, so we can focus on what we still have.

[spiritusdei]

Has writing fanfiction helped you guys with your English?

Has writing fanfiction helped you guys with your English? (question to non-native English speakers).

I’m writing my MA thesis about the impact of writing fanfiction on English skills and proficiency, as well as on several individual differences.

Could you take some time to fill out my questionnaire? I would be forever grateful <3 It's a bit long, but I wanted to conduct a comprehensive study.

[fruity-pontmercy]

look, I'm a tired demographics student with too much time on their hands and an undying love for polls, so..

I'm also deeply interested in fandom demographics... from my 4 long long (yet relatively short) years in this fandom I've noticed that the Les Mis fanbase does tend to be older than other fandoms I've been in, (though this obviously depends on the platform you're on, for example, the falsettos fandom on tiktok seems to have a lot of 12-15 year olds, to my great surprise) and I just like analysing why that is! I know other fandoms have/have had sort of "fandom demographics" polls which I've always found super interesting... while I'm not necessarily trying to recreate that, I do find this interesting to look at!

Needless to say the more people see this the more representative and accurate the results will be so PLEASEEE reblog thiss and make my little demographer-to-be heart happy

[swordsofsaturn]

early seasons spn homophobia is actually so crazy because they literally do not look gay. hamfisted gay jokes when the characters look straight as hell. "you look the type" they literally don't. is the thing

[figuringthengsout]

Me right now

[multiheadcanons]

DO YOU THINK WE FIND EACH OTHER IN EVERY UNIVERSE?

mikhail did not want to do this.

he has been avoiding the infirmary like the plague, and avoiding its sole inhabitant moreover. it’s too much to even be in there anymore. he can’t think, he can’t reason, he can’t speak, he can’t exist in there anymore without looking like a fool. without feeling his face flush.

he can’t even go in for a visit anymore without his mind wandering. without slipping away into some asinine fantasy of him, and his own doctor.

it feels so stupid. they were fine as friends. they were fine as friends and mikhail got desperate. seemed fritz was too. and then they just… never stopped past the desperation.

and he knows it’s just him. it’s just him who’s feeling this way. the doctor never seemed to skip a beat. even as he wiped the fluids from his face, thanked the russian for a good time, ensured the cleanliness of his uniform and promptly exited whatever bedroom, bathroom, closet, or vehicle they had momentarily commandeered. even as mikhail stood alone, dazed from the flurry of action, the moment they were done the doctor was too, and they were to never speak of it. he never stayed long enough to talk afterwards. it pissed him off that he even thought about aftercare. what would they even have to talk about?

he can’t go in there anymore.

but he has to.

he took a deep breath and shut his eyes. he can’t blink in there or he’ll lose himself.

the swing of the infirmary door was silent. he was thankful for that. it meant he didn’t have to speak until he was ready to. he took stock of the infirmary. clean. organized. a dull scent of chemical, a whisper of blood under that. it smells too clean. he could change that.

but that’s not what he’s here for.

“ah, heavy! lovely to see you here, it’s been a while. you’ve been avoiding me. is there something i can do for you today?” well, there went his element of surprise. and the jab didn’t go unnoticed either. and that desk. that stupid desk. purposefully moved where it was not visible from the door, but the door was visible from its location.

a passing thought of whether the desk was free from paperwork entered mikhail’s mind, and exited just as quickly. he fully entered the infirmary and allowed the door to swing shut behind him. it’s cold in here. he could change that.

but that’s not what he’s here for.

“i need to speak with you. spare me a moment.”

“ah, i’d love to, but i can’t. i’m busy.”

busy? he walked towards the sound of the voice, rounding the corner to see stacks of paperwork.

“…with paperwork. you’ve never denied me before.”

the doctor gave an uninterested stare over his lenses. “well, the lack of denial towards you, specifically, is why i have all this paperwork. so i can’t today. perhaps another time? i’m sure i can fit you in tomorrow—”

“i am not your patient. we need to speak. today. now.” the doctor’s eyes narrowed, and his response was calculatedly slow. the ice they stand on was already melting, and neither seemed to care about the repercussions of falling into the deep.

“if i’ve never denied you before today, why would you continue to press the matter when i insist i don’t have the time? is it a medical emergency? are you dying? i could’ve caught it if you had come in to your scheduled visits.”

“no—”

“alright, then one more day of waiting won’t hurt, will it? i’ll see you tomorrow.” and with that, the doctor was done with the interaction. just that simply.

if mikhail were an emotional man he’d scream. but he isn’t. so he took a deep breath, and looked around. the blue clad doctor may not be an absolute psychopath like his counterpart, but he’s sure the man has something lying around here somewhere.

“should i leave?”

“if you want.”

jesus christ, he hates this man. if this man were to drop dead within the hour mikhail would celebrate. he perused the infirmary, opening cabinets, purposefully not shutting them, moving things out of the meticulous order the doctor kept them in, waiting for a reaction. and nothing came but silence and the scratching of pen on paper.

very well, he’ll up the ante.

he started peering through files. brute forcing the locks on the filing cabinets to go through them. leaving them open. rearranging the papers with others.

“are you having fun over there?” the doctor called out, the scratch of the pen never stopping. a crack in the stone. maybe.

“absolutely.”

fritz was not going to be happy when he realizes the extent of the damage. this is not a new tactic for mikhail to pull when he attempted to get his way, but the absolute decimation of the doctor’s filing system was grounds for death.

this is a hurdle he will handle later. he needs to focus on the task at hand.

“you don’t have a file for yourself?”

“i don’t need one.”

“hm.” this tactic was a no-go. it’s time to up the ante again. he looked around again. “where do you keep your bonesaw?”

“why?”

“just curious.” the silence told him that he probably should look elsewhere.

“if i give you the bonesaw will you get out? you’re distracting me.” oh, that’s perfect. he gave a satisfied smile.

“yes.” he heard the desk drawer open and metal skid across the floor, stopping at his feet. he grabbed it, finding the most comfortable way to hold it in his hands. “thank you, doctor. i’ll leave you be.” a neutral noise of acknowledgement came from the doctor, and with it, mikhail left.

and all fritz could do was put the pen down, and rub his temples. great. now his infirmary was trashed. he had just cleaned it. did he want to know the extent of it? not right now. he’ll explode if he dared look up now.

there wasn’t enough time to stew on it or let it go when something slapped the desk; spattering red across the stacks of paperwork. he did not bother to look at whatever was just thrown. he knows the sight of blood. his eyes slowly trailed upward. and he was absolutely unsurprised to see the russian standing before him, a pleasant smile on his face. the doctor’s eyes twitch.

“are you kidding me.”

“medical emergency. i need your aid.”

“you are an unequivocal nuisance.”

“i have feelings for you.” and the infirmary went silent. they stared at each other. “will you sew my hand back on?”

“get. on. the fucking. table.” mikhail complied. holding his stump out as the doctor grabbed a needle and thread.

“i don’t know why i like you so much. you’re horrible, when i think about it. you’re rude, and a liar, and—” he played up a wince as the doctor began to harshly sew his hand back on. “heartless.”

“shut up.” the doctor snapped. “i can’t focus.”

“really.” he honored the man’s request with a moment of silence. “i have feelings for you.”

“everyone has feelings for everyone. the sky is blue today. i’ve surgically removed two thousand four hundred and thirty seven various organs from a minimum of eight hundred twenty people and four hundred thirty two cadavers before i lost count. is there anything else obvious we would like to state today?”

“you are a cruel bastard.” that got a smirk. he liked that smirk. “i won’t repeat myself. i know you like hearing things repeated. sad little man with bad hearing.”

“i am already at my limit with you.”

“should i leave?”

“i’d say yes, but knowing you you’d just come back in five minutes.” they stared at each other, and the doctor took a deep breath and refocused on his task at hand. “i don’t want to know what feelings you have. we are coworkers. we shouldn’t be having sex with each other at all.”

“that’s an easy exit.”

“why make it hard?”

“ah. right. your need for efficiency. why live at all?” that stopped the doctor. he took a deep breath.

“you have no. idea. what i know about our lives. if you want to live, go. live freely, live wildly, kill yourself in the effort. be my guest. but that’s not what we’re here for and it will never be.” and he continued to sew. “i liked you better as a friend.” he added, softer.

“as a friend?”

“friend, teammate, coworker. whatever you want to call it. i liked you better then. you were happier. we worked better together. we talked more. but this?” he couldn’t help the snort that left him, though none of this was funny. “i— i hate this! i’m anxious, and i’m irritated, and i’m annoyed, all the time! and it feels like nothing helps, because all i think about is you! and you— you can’t help me. because you are anxious, and irritated, and annoyed. and we are fools.” he tied off a knot on the string, and gave the man’s hand a tug to ensure the stitches were tight. but he didn’t let go. “i’m infatuated with you, if it makes you feel better.”

mikhail processed the doctor’s words as he turned for his medigun to finish the job. they didn’t hurt as much as he thought they would, but he also wasn’t sure if this could be considered a rejection. he wasn’t sure why he was so concerned about this conversation.

“so, how do we go back to friendship? is it possible?” he asked.

“to tell the truth, i don’t know.” he said, flicking the medigun on.

the rays were cold. they are usually cold. it felt nice.

“… friends it is. we can be friends. i can treat you better. we can see what happens from there.” he slowly clenched his now re-attached hand, the feeling returning, and with it, the realization that the doctor never let his hand go.

“don’t say you’re going to treat me better. just do it.” the doctor regained the sense to release the man, turning to shut off the medigun and put it away.

“very well… friend.” the doctor could not help the gag that escaped him. and the stare he gave was palpable.

“actually, i hate you. vehemently. get out.”

mikhail laughed. this stupid little man. how could he ever avoid him? he’s never been so humored. and the smile the doctor fights.

perhaps they would be better off friends.

“so. honest question. do we stop having sex.”

“oh, god, no. that’s the best part of the day.”

“so, what, twice a week?”

“…that’s the best part of the day.”

…what kind of friends does the doctor keep? “you are… strange.” and the doctor’s brow quirked. “i like it.”

“aren’t you sweet. clean your mess and get out. i have to finish— ugh. i have to restart this.”

ah, right. that hurdle he said he’d handle later. he really thought this would go differently. but somehow this still ended up being the repercussions of his actions. so he supposes it went exactly how he expected it to. mikhail gave the doctor a final glance as he returned to his desk, and looked around at the infirmary. the files haphazardly stuffed into already overfilled drawers, the papers within the files no longer matching. this will take him a while.

he’s okay with that.

[excessive-moisture]

Out with the "why is my body so stupid and weak" talk. The weight of my passions is simply too great for my mortal form to bear

[kolechiart]

* while it exists as meta commentary on the failures of the schooling system something about this exchange being with nimrod has stuck with me. being from a bygone era he too is different from his peers. his struggle to adapt is acknowledged yet in the same breath he is denied accommodation. the second he's unable to preform what is expected of him it's deemed a personal failing, that he's just too old, too broken and such he's punished. he's thrown in the deep end and then blamed for drowning and so does nimrod realise the irony of it all? because i think he does and i think that's exactly why he said it.

[deimosatellite]

no something thats so interesting to me is the role of the father in dostoyevsky's works mainly in devils and brothers karamazov of course , especially interesting with those being two of his later works and having very similar themes of broken families and absent fathers .

in devils, in my opinion many , if not all, of petrusha's deepest issues stem from his father's absence in one way or another--his main issues being with his fear of god / higher power + his need for absolute control. we can see in the few insights we get on him from his childhood that he was very nervous and AFRAID when its mentioned how he would cross his pillow before sleeping / be worried and pray that he wouldnt die in the night bc again thats his fear of a power outside of his control, being that of religion/god which he then grows to resent / attempt to reject--however this could also be read as stemming from his animosity toward his own father as having been absent as an almost god figure to him--abandoned by his father he was left to find ways to mitigate these fears by himself which led to his incredibly self-destructive control issues with him feeling that no one had ever looked out for him, not his father nor a god, so he had to become fully self-sufficient and in control of the world around him to cope. and petrusha fcking HATES stepan god he takes every chance he can get to absolutely eviscerate him god bless.

on the other hand, brothers karamazov has , WHOA, FOUR SONS !!!!!! in which to analyze on the role of fyodor pavlovich's role in their lives but for sake of brevity i'll not go too into it but its just really interesting to see it in a context related to petrusha's relationship with stepan. (also its been a while since i read karamazov so) but first of all ofc getting out of the way that smerdyakov mirrors petrusha in many ways in his lacking of morals and almost blase attitude toward life and death. ivan as well is incredibly cynical and questioning of religion as his main character arc which contrasts alyosha greatly, who actually turned TO religion as a way to fill in the absence of his father--something interesting to me is that petrusha as a child sounded soo similar to alyosha as a child BUT. in contrast alyosha was able to find people around him to guide him in his life rather than being left to fester in a fear created by loneliness and rejection.

SO . yeah just interesting to me that main drivers of conflict / character in both devils and brothers karamazov are related to parents/especially fathers and since i just finished humiliated and insulted im going to now read the adolescent for the first time, which i hear has themes about fathers as well and is actually in between devils and brothers karamazov so i will DEFO BE PAYING ATTENTION THERE. anyways bye 9U0PSOFDJK

[certifiedcoffeeaddict]

decided to catch up w tcf and honestly why did i decide to take a break mid-wuxia arc. out of all the possible arcs and moments

[danothan]

Just reading some comics and saw a panel I thought you might like. :)

ah fuck, characters reminiscing always get to me ;__;

but i will never ever get over that fond way these two talk to and abt each other. especially when they’re poking fun, you can just hear the love in their voice it’s SICK.

the halbarry love language is annoying each other, but even more than that, it’s being each other’s exceptions

[iridescentmirrorsgenshin]

The direct parallel between alhaitham and kaveh working together within cyno’s story quest 2 and them working together on their thesis in their school days is a bit um??

Their thesis was based around the ancient runes and ancient architecture of King Deshret’s era, which benefitted many people in modern Sumeru in terms of understanding of languages and architecture usages even before it was abandoned. Kaveh left the topic for alhaitham to pick, and he picked a topic which balanced their ‘mirror’ interests.

it's interesting that alhaitham and kaveh had once planned on aligning their seemingly opposing views through this thesis, but were ultimately prevented from doing so due to differing points of contention based around their philosophies and concern for the other (an analysis of their argument can be found here). however, in cyno's story quest, there is an inversion of this mirror, in that kaveh remembers the symbol of the temple of silence due to its beauty and alhaitham is able to identify the emblem as the temple of silence's due to architectural signatures. in this, the two appropriate the other's signature, being that kaveh uses alhaitham's language, and alhaitham uses kaveh's architecture, and this results in a cohesion of these previously considered 'mirroring' viewpoints

In cyno’s story quest, Alhaitham and Kaveh identify and research into The temple of silence, which is directly connected with king deshret, being founded by Hermanubis, a familiar of king deshret

When the two join together within this quest, it is also related to king deshret, and their research is imperative to the traveller’s progression throughout the quest, with their working together being commented on three times on separate occasions by tighnari and cyno – one of which, the two give seemingly disconnected advice at different times; alhaitham gives advice to tighnari on cultural practices in the desert, and kaveh has told tighnari of his experiences with desert folk. Alhaitham gives this advice based on personal research, whereas kaveh has ascertained his information based on personal experience – which aligns with their respective ideologies, alhaitham = individualism, researching on his own through the perspectives of others to find objectivity , kaveh = collectivism/altruism, directly interacting with others, but these both align to create a full picture, which allows tighnari and cyno compose a strategy which gives them the upper hand

This ultimately points to the harmonisation of their respective views which can manifest in good. Having Alhaitham and Kaveh rejoin in research an organisation directly connected to King Deshret, the subject of their joint thesis, is a direct parallel, and only serves to show the importance of the two attempting to align their visions, both for themselves, but also for the good it can do for others. again, this highlights the importance of their reconciliation presented within cyno's story quest

[laikiirnodel]

I stumbled across a .gif today (I've seen it before but had new thoughts so you get to hear them) (For some reason it's not showing up in tumblr .gif search for proper embedding but here's a link if you want to watch it https://tenor.com/view/star-trek-tng-data-present-wrapping-gif-22331742)

It's a scene from Star Trek: TNG where Data is opening a gift. He and five other crew members stand around a table on which there are several other gifts, all still wrapped in shiny silver paper.

He is opening the gift in his hands gently and carefully, without ripping the paper. (This is the way I open presents.)

After an awkward moment of waiting, Wes informs Data that he is "supposed to rip the wrapping off". (This is the criticism I always receive when opening presents.)

Data explains that "with the application of a little care" it is possible to open it without tearing, allowing for reuse of the paper. At this point he has concluded the wrapping removal and places the gift under his arm to leave his hands free to fold the paper neatly. The others look either exasperated or amused.

Wes says he is missing the point. Data looks at him and tears the paper in two, down the middle.

Now. This is supposed to be a scene highlighting the inhuman-ness of Data and the arbitrary-ness of the human social rules and expectations. Obviously there is a clear parallel to neurodivergence here, as I'm sure we all are or know someone who does this.

And yet I still have trouble with the tearing at the end. I couldn't let that go. Yes, it's a waste of all that effort we just went to, and ruining a perfectly functional item, but there was something else bugging me and I couldn't (metaphorically) put my finger on it until just now. And I started thinking about solutions.

Data tears it because he has been informed that there is some arbitrary social rule he was unaware of, and that the others in the room desired the paper's destruction. Even though that seemed illogical, it must be a human thing and ripping it now should make everyone happy, I guess? But it's not satisfying. It doesn't hit the same notes as tearing paper off the gift itself. The process was already completed. The tearing was a second event, not part of the original unveiling.

And I realised that part of my personal issue with tearing the paper, aside from the aforementioned logical reasons, is that it's a sensory issue. I don't like the sound in my ears, I don't like feeling the sensation in my fingers, and as a kid who read thousands of library books, there is a near-moral aversion to the tearing of paper of any kind, because it feels like destroying a book, which is of course unforgivable.

I've done paper-distressing for art projects and such. Distressing [action - synonym "weathering"] is distressing [feeling - synonym "anxiety-causing"]. I can get over it in that context because it's earmarked (oh, yeah, also earmarking aaaaaaaaaaah) for destruction. Post-apocalyptic costuming is supposed to look weathered and torn. Repaired, at the very least. The scroll sitting in a damp cave for years is gonna have rotted edges and funny spots, if it's even still intact enough to call a scroll. They're supposed to be that way. If they were pretty and nice and perfect it wouldn't be right.

The distressing [action] principle doesn't apply to gifts. Gifts are supposed to be nice. When someone gives you a present, it's in nice paper, it's supposed to be pretty. People look down on gifts wrapped "poorly" or in the 'wrong' substance. (This should also be changed btw. Presents you got in a plastic bag are just as good as presents in gold foil. Crumply brown paper with awkward tape or string has revealed some of my very favorite gifts. Thoughtful homemade stuff is awesome. Things received without wrapping at all are still gifts. I'm ranting but you get the idea.) [Also some cultures like wrapping gifts in, say, a useful cloth, such that it's actually two gifts in one. So you get an awesome handkerchief or scarf or whatever too, and that's fantastic, I love that. This post is just talking about the paper ones]

So.

I have physical and mental aversions to tearing paper. When I get a gift, I want to open it gently and carefully and have the wrapping set aside in one piece. (or however many it started with). This takes time, but gives a pleasing result. That is satisfying to me.

Other people, when they get a gift, want to tear up the outside to get to the inside. I theorize that this is some sort of latent hunting instinct, but I digress. It's fast, it doesn't require careful thought, and there must be some level of catharsis in socially-acceptable destruction, maybe even in seeing the pile of shredded remains afterwards? (let me know if you're in this group, what you find pleasing about it! I'm really curious!) Destroying the covering is satisfying to them. The latter group tends to get annoyed at how long it takes for me to unwrap things, and feel unsatisfied with the result, whether or not the present inside was cool or not. Sometimes a person has even taken the present away from me, torn off the wrapping, and then handed it back. Which, Um. I did want to open my own present actually. That was really rude. It's not yours. Especially since they didn't ask first. I've even heard people complain about gift bags (the common response in these situations, as gift bags are not destroyed in the process of revealing their contents, are usually reusable so long as the tag is swapped out, etc.) for being "too easy" or "boring".

Is there a good compromise?

Today, I thought: What if it was a two-part opening? Like, a gift bag with something rip-able to play with, or a wrapped gift with a concealing sleeve or hiding it under the table from myself or something?

So I could unwrap the gift itself, in a way that's satisfying to me, perhaps a little ahead of time so people don't get bored. And then I would hand someone else the rip-able thing and plug my ears. Everyone who wants to, gets to experience the shredding event, and then we do the big reveal! I can open the concealing sleeve or pull it out from under the table or whatever, and everyone gets to have the fun surprise of the actual present all at once!

This way, I would get to have my ritual, and protect myself from the distressing bit. Others would get the catharsis of destruction. All of us would get the exciting surprise at the end.

Do you think this would be fun? Would it hit all the fun/satisfying points for you?

Have you or someone you know done a setup like this before? How did it go? Were there any unexpected problems that came up, or surprising benefits?

Did I say something here that you never realised before that now you have to think about or do something different?

[dennisboobs]

one day i'll post my fic and you can finally witness this monster of a playlist that fuels my insanity

[micewithknives]

Folks I reread my thesis recently and am having the damaging realisation that I (increasingly so) actually really enjoy what I wrote and am still super excited about it

[officialkendallroy]

if i posted something on here in regards towards the research of my master's thesis would you guys help me out pls....... 🫶🏻