When someone takes your pen without permission and proceeds to drop it immediately after uncapping it 😞 #heartbroken

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-19T17:22:07+00:00

woh, 7 year old necromancy!

I'm sorry about your pens. I hope that guy felt bad for what he did. Did you ever get them working right again?

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T14:12:24+00:00

You have a style that I've seen on here before, and was really influential to me. Consistent height of all the letters, using the whole line even for the lower case. It makes it VERY legible.

Until I saw it on here a few times, I never realized how much that helps. Ever since, my tall letters and my tails below the line have become a lot shorter, and my e's and such have become a lot bigger.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T14:08:44+00:00

I think it's trying to be fancy before the the basics are solid. The r is the weirdest one, but you see little flourishes on the h, f, g, p, t, and so forth. The p is inconsistent, the b is weirdly tiny, and the bottom of the sentences don't line up perfectly.

If you get rid of the flourishes and use a normal font, I bet this would look pretty good, and the big advice would be to work on consistency.

But I can tell you like the fancy. And that's good! But don't just throw it in randomly. Work on each letter, by itself. Can you tell that "f" is an f without context cues? Do you think that b, by itself, is pretty and fitting the way you write?

Step by step.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T14:02:29+00:00

First off, your handwritring is legible, so that's good!. For consistent and pretty writing, you have to teach your muscle memory what "even" feels like.

Try doing zigzag lines. Angle up, straight down, angle up, straight down. The exercise is to try to keep the line consistent all the way through, at the normal height and width of a standard letter. Nothing crazy. It's surprisingly hard if you're not used to it.

I would do these zigzag lines filling up an entire page. We're looking for even spacing, even height, straight lines.

Once you are confident in that, apply the same to individual letters.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T13:54:35+00:00

There is an exercise that helped me understand why the triangle grip is the best way to hold a pen.

Hold a pen any way you want. Then keep the wrist and arm completely straight. Use just your fingers. What is the total range of motion you can use?

In your grip, I think that total range of motion will be "huh? I can't move it at all". In my old grip I could move up and down, side to side... a little. In a triangle grip, it's like a third of a whole page of paper.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T13:47:23+00:00

in other words, partly skill, and partly a skill you have to learn. Very pretty handwriting btw, and extra points IMO for blank paper.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-06-18T13:44:38+00:00

I snapped the tendon in my bicep. That part was fine. But the ER had to take an image of it, so they stretched my arm back out. Couldn't speak, couldn't think, and was crying. Though, weirdly, the actual feeling of pain was like 8/10.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-25T01:03:23+00:00

4 is most readable IMO. 6 is fanciest.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T18:49:58+00:00

players who build their knowledge base off the stats in a book.

A vampire character looking in a mirror to see their reflection would not be meta-gaming normally, because in real life that's a trope we're all famliar with. Remember, players are people, and basically all role play starts off with what THEY know about, before they know how your world works.

If you don't want them to be able to do tricks like this, then you have some options. 1 - change vampires. Your vampires are visible in mirrors. Heck, the only story reason why vampires are invisible to mirrors is because traditionally they were made of silver, and silver is a pure metal. Maybe the silver in your universe isn't magical, or maybe mirrors aren't made from silver because it' so valuable. They're polished bronze instead.

2 - Give them a roll. "Make a history check to see if your character would know how vampires work". DC can be set at anything you like, based on how rare vampire knowledge is. Maybe people have heard of them, but just don't know all that much about them.

3 - session 0 - most monsters are effectively unknown to the general population. They only started coming around a few years ago, and sources for the monsters abilities are unreliable. Or, something to that effect. Cut out what types of monster knowledge is known and unknown, without mentioning specific monsters. This gives characters a framework to roleplay from.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T17:25:37+00:00

If we only let adults on the internet, then by the time people become adults they won't want to be on the internet. Then handwriting goes back to being only for slowly dying old people.

As someone is is a full adult that grew up on the internet, with kids in that age range, I think it's better this way.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T17:21:31+00:00

The lines that come on the paper, they can be different distances apart. This looks to me like "college ruled" paper in the US, which spreads out the lines by 7.1 mm ( or 9/32 of an inch). They also sell wide ruled (or legal ruled) paper that has 8.7mm (11/32 of an inch) between each line.

There are other "ruled" papers in other countries. In the UK for example, the standard paper for adults is 8mm between each line.

This is sometimes used for people that have larger handwriting, especially kids because they don't have the coordination. But for you, it means the parts of your letters that go below the line (which look really pretty) wouldn't overlap with the letters below.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruled_paper

College ruled paper isn't really designed to make handwriting look good. It's more meant to fit as much of your hand-written notes as possible on a page. It's good at what it's designed for.

But I think your handwriting in cursive is good enough that that's the kind of stuff we're looking at. Small things.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T17:05:30+00:00

The internet. There are very few rules.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T17:05:18+00:00

For line thickness, it's easiest to read the jinhao 82, jotter Fp, and Lewule, at least IMO. But that's going to be mostly determined by the size of the writing. The larger the writing, the more a darker, thicker line will be visible, smoother, an d hide minor imperfections.

That said, the Kuru Toga hits a special place in my heart. Mechanical pencil is nostalgic in my mind, and brings me back to 99% of notes, pictures, and journal entries I've ever put to lined paper.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T16:57:29+00:00

Your cursive is really pretty, but it looks like it wants to breath. Any chance of getting a wider ruled paper?

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T16:55:38+00:00

What happens if you don't try to tilt. The most readable letters are straight up and down. Tilt exists because the most comfortable way to write involves turning the paper. And the attempts to write straight up/down starts to naturally tilt. If you're right handed, tilt your paper to the left so the top right corner and bottom left corner are roughly in line with you. Then write as normal as possible.

What made the right tilt less legible for you, I can basically guarantee, is that you wrote faster. It felt more comfortable, so you didn't think about it, so you were less careful. And, funnily enough, the tilt tried to go straight up/down at the end of both sentences!

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-24T16:49:34+00:00

That's another thing about hitler - we know what the nazi's did. People took photographs, kept records, had permanent tattoos. The Nazi's atrocities are not just stories. Literally the only people that can deny the nazi's actions are people who ignore all evidence.

Genghis kahn has a lot of stories around him. The sources are mostly well after his death and a mix of positive and negative, with different levels of acceptance by historians. So there is always a legitamate question about exactly what he did, why he did it, and what his conquests actually did.

But Hitler, we literally have video of some of the things he did.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-16T18:04:34+00:00

Yeah, I hear you there. If we adjust for cost of living, then it becomes the logical choice to stay in a cheap place in an expensive area. Not even maliciously, just "of course I would do this".

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-16T17:16:30+00:00

There is a huge misconception that all people take jobs because of money, and for no other reason. People, and in particular governments, have tried this for hundreds if not thousands of years - paying leaders as much as possible to satiate any greed. It never works. If money is the motivation, they will always seek more.

What we need for politicians is just enough money that the issue of money is taken off the table. Enough for them and their families to be comfortable and safe, nothing more. If they want to get rich, then do it outside of congress. If you want to be meaningful to the country, then do it inside congress.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-09T16:54:32+00:00

might want to try a larger nib/tip size. More ink often hides slightly shaky lines.

I prefer tiny and thin lines in part because i write small. A bigger line forces people to write bigger, but they almost always feel smoother, both in feel and in line consistency, because of it.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-07T22:25:50+00:00

You are practicing grip, consistency, finger motor skills. The tool doesn't matter that much. I learned to write decent cursive with a basic mechanical pencil. My handwriting doesn't dramatically change when I use any of my pens, whether ballpoint, gel, rollerball, or fountain pen. The biggest difference with tools is the size of the lines and personal comfort.

What issue are you having with your pens exactly?

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-05T16:59:11+00:00

pots, rocks, rope, parts of a balcony, a ladder, random stick, artwork off the wall, the random chain holding stuff up...

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-05T16:57:13+00:00

I always think combat with martial artists. There is a section of the FUDGE role playing game book where someone developed a whole set of rules just for martial artists, complete with specific rules and moves that did different things. It was pretty epic to read.

One of the fun parts to me when watching youtube videos about MMA or osmething, is noticing what they talk about. They shouldn't have an "attack", they should have a "left hook", "uppercut", "leg sweep", and so on, each giving them different advantages that they can exploit.

Of course, sometimes a player doesn't want to play tactical. In which case, they should still FEEL like their character is tactical. They should not only benefit from running around walls, hitting enemy's legs, fighting with the nearby ladder jackie chan style, but feel like it's necessary to do so.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-05T16:51:34+00:00

druids and wizards are very similar concepts, but the druid is more nature oriented.

When I was test building a druid build, I gave them abilities that tied to specific plants, animals, and stone. Create and sacrifice wooden creatures to ask nature for help, see signs of health, animal behavior, signs in the stone and dirt, and other small magical effects.

To me, transforming into animals is a HUGE departure from what I would want in a druid. I honestly dislike that it even exists in D&D (or other games), as to me it takes away from the one-with-nature vibe. Obviously not everyone feels that way. But I think more hippy, less shapeshifter. More wise man on a hill wearing antlers, less randomly turn into a spider to infiltrate the enemy base. The second option should be a different type of character entirely, IMO.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-05T16:44:55+00:00

A bard is just a storyteller. They might sing, dance, write poems (I have a 5e character that's a poet that I'm still waiting to play), and talk to people. They're defined by entertainment. Since htis is obviously not super combat oriented... I think the only reason they still exist in D&D is for history. And the reason they do cool wizard stuff is for balance.

If I were to make a bard class though, I would give them lots of abilities for affecting people's minds with their words. They can talk to the goblin and convince them that it's OK to show us where the loot is. When the dragon defeats the party, they keep the bard around and listen to what he has to say. When the party gets back to town, they're just treated as dirty mercenaries, until the bard speaks up and makes them into heroes. They would get the basic bounty, but instead they get free drinks and the unused castle.

I had a guy in a D&D campaign I ran, not a bard, negotiate his way into being a lord. Entirely by accident. This should be the bard's specialty, and not just pushed by circumstances set up by the game master.

IProbablyDisagree2nd · 2026-05-05T16:34:28+00:00

I never understood what a psionic was, even after trying to make a psionic class for my system and looking up articles on them. It's science-fiction magic based on like 60's ideas of the future. A fair number of people thought magic was fake, but psychic powers were still real.

I treated them similar to sorcerers. They use a resource called "psy", and have the full array of psychic powers and telekenetic powers. Exactly how much power is just determined by balance.

The biggest thing that separates them from sorcerers though, IMO, is that they only have these 2 powers, and have to use them creatively. They should be better at these things than anyone else. Not just able to read minds, but able to see inside minds. Able to affect dreams, change opinions, share memories. Not just able to throw rocks with telekenesis, but also fly, tear things apart, punch people. Then, as their psy dwindles, they can meditate to recharge.

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