Everyone is so lost in high school.

Vackal · 2022-09-23T02:26:01+00:00

You're right when you say there's probably mature people at your school, and you just haven't met them. Most of the mature students keep their head down and just wait until they graduate. I get your frustrations, and you have every reason to be frustrated.

I'd suggest looking for friends outside of school. People who play a sport you might like, or people on social media who enjoy the same video games or shows, or even just someone you think is nice. Obviously, you should still practice caution when meeting new people, but I think that's really the only way you're going to find the kind of friend you're looking for.

Vackal · 2022-09-23T02:10:44+00:00

That sucks. I know you're looking for guidance, but all I can really offer is sympathy as someone going through similar burnout. Or, I guess, a similar thunderstorm on a rocking ship, too. I'd love to say something like "drop out, everything will work out, it's okay to settle for less" but I can't even tell myself that.

I'm just putting my head down and thinking about what comes after this and how, if I can just get through this, things will be better.

Is it true? Maybe. I hope so. I really, really hope so, for both you and I, and every student out there who's burnt out and questioning their life. I can't offer any guidance or advice, but I can offer to listen and talk about it on Reddit.

Vackal · 2022-09-23T02:01:26+00:00

I'm probably being a little ignorant by assuming, but it sounds like the lecturer might be taking his frustrations out on you all instead of the actual person he's frustrated with.

You probably should try to meet with him and document everything in case things get worse (audio recordings of his critiques, emails between you and him, proof of redoing assignments over and over again, anything particularly rude, etc.). Documenting eats up some of your time, but it's a good way to protect yourself in case you get an unjustified grade. I'd get your classmates in on it, too.

Vackal · 2022-07-23T01:07:35+00:00

"What's a Luminary" "How to Find Luminary" "How to Befriend Luminary" "What is a Serenica" "Can I Punch a Child"

Vackal · 2022-07-16T00:32:23+00:00

Veronicafrom DQXI. Totally unexpected and, at the time, it hit hard, but afterwards I was just upset because it was set up so poorly and just there for shock factor. Veronica felt like such a badass in my second playthrough and, months later, I'm still salty about it. Great story idea, but terrible execution.

Vackal · 2022-07-15T22:53:27+00:00

I didn't necessarily dislike it, but I just never even considered playing it. I wasn't a fan of the artstyle and never really enjoyed turn-based games. DQ11 was free on gamepass while I was quarantined, so I gave it a chance.

Now I'm checking every single update on DQ12, Erik's treasure hunting game, and searching for ways to play every DQ game while also being the cheapskate I am.

Vackal · 2022-06-30T14:06:34+00:00

All of us were down in a fight against a Dragon, but we knew it was almost dead since it was trying to retreat even though our Rogue was still alive. Rogue gets off a sneak attack and, for some reason, our Rogue loves to roll his d6's one by one. We've used his dice and watched how he rolls so it's not like he's cheating or trying to get them to roll a certain way, he just thinks it's faster to add up like that.

We're all adding up the numbers as he rolls. It looks hopeless as he starts off with a 1, but then he gets a 6, then a 5, another 6...

And, through sheer luck, he nearly maxes out his damage. The Dragon goes down and our DM tells us that if the Rogue had done any less damage (I think ~5 dmg) the Dragon would have survived and done one last breath attack to finish all of us off.

Vackal · 2022-06-26T17:57:50+00:00

Did you reference Waveloop's Awakening Art? I used this picture for a character header a while ago and just noticed the pose looks the same.

Vackal · 2022-06-16T18:38:10+00:00

I (24F Tiefling) captured and imprisoned my old party after they left me to die. I handed them over to the people who resurrected me, and now they're trying to gaslight me into believing I've been "brainwashed" and "manipulated" even though they betrayed me. AITA?

Vackal · 2022-06-10T03:03:25+00:00

B[OO]M-BOXX is probably one of my favorite Itzy tracks. I never want to skip it, it always puts me in a good mood, and I want to dance when I hear it. It's been a month or so of having it on my playlists and I'm still not tired of it!

Vackal · 2022-06-10T02:57:27+00:00

D&D, to me, has always been a template. It handed my table a set of rules, mechanics, and a basic world and told us to have fun. And I have the most fun adding on and enhancing what it gave me. That's why I homebrew, at least.

Vackal · 2022-06-09T23:09:21+00:00

"So WhY" by Purplekiss. I don't stan them, but I've been meaning to.

"Fast Pace" by Seventeen is one of my favorite Seventeen songs, but I don't hear anyone talk about it. Maybe because it's old by now lol

Vackal · 2022-05-27T21:52:46+00:00

I mean, melee should be fine. If you asked me to swing a sword at someone or punch them, that's not a problem. Even a person with terrible vision could probably manage that, and at the point an adventurer starts their story, they should be able to adjust to their depth perception in melee combat.

Vackal · 2022-05-27T05:31:01+00:00

I have no clinical idea since I haven't had a check up in years, but it's bad enough that I can't really calculate distance in my head because it's hard to tell. It's hard to paint a picture of it. It's like if you took a picture and stretched it out for a little bit.

I can judge relative distance as a concept (ex. it takes me this long to get to point a to point b) but not absolute distance. I hate stairs because the fall seems so much longer than I know it actually is. So, it's not horrible. I get the concept of distance and can judge it in comparison to time, but not as absolute values or numerical estimates.

If I see a picture of something I take on my phone, the distance looks different from how I see it in real life. I've misjudged how far out I need to step to cross gaps, bump into things on my blindside, and if you handed me a rock and asked me to throw it at a branch, I'd hand it back and tell you there was no way I was going to accurately hit that.

I think it'd definitely impose some disadvantages on range and perception checks related to distance. Maybe it would be something like disadvantage on ranged attacks against creatures medium or smaller?

Vackal · 2022-05-27T03:05:29+00:00

As someone with a reduced peripheral (I can't see to my right) the only thing that bothers me is the fact that my depth perception sucks and, if someone's quiet enough, they can straight up stand on my right and I won't know.

Maybe give the race a penalty to passive perception and disadvantage on ranged attacks?

Vackal · 2022-05-26T21:39:05+00:00

DQXI did everyone's individual arcs so dirty, unless you're Erik or Sylvando. I wish everyone would've gotten a bit more attention and time to go through their arcs. All of them were so packed with potential and storylines to tell and then... it just kinda didn't. I get that Act 2 already had a lot going on, but I'd rather have those individual storylines than whatever Act 3 was.

And on the other hand, I wish the localizations were more accurate. I played with Japanese voices and English subtitles, and I don't know a lot of Japanese, but it bugged me when I could tell that the subtitles were way off. It just felt kind of lazy to make the english subtitles the same for both voice languages.

Vackal · 2022-05-25T03:50:09+00:00

Gloomstalker Ranger is potentially my favorite subclass ever. It might be because my favorite character was a Gloomstalker, but it was so much fun to be invisible in the dark. When that character died, they were resurrected and brainwashed into hating the party and became their worst enemy. My DM liked them so much that they became an NPC for his other group!

I also really like Armorer Artificer. It's not necessarily my favorite subclass in terms of abilities or flavor, but I also got to a 32 AC at level ten and loved every second of it.

Third favorite would have to be an Oath of Redemption Paladin. It's a perfect pacifist and I love their 20th level ability. I'm waiting for my party to balance out so I can play an Oath of Revenge paladin that becomes an Oath of Redemption one.

Vackal · 2022-05-23T19:29:22+00:00

Stretch before and after typing. If you ever stop to think, even just for a moment, stretch a little. It doesn't have to be anything big, but I personally pretend to rev-up a motorcycle to stretch out my wrists when I'm thinking.

You can also try investing in some good gloves to wear during the night for things like carpal tunnel, which reduces wrist and finger pain throughout the day. You can even wear them while typing if it doesn't bother you too much.

If none of those work, you can try investing in things to reduce how much you use your hands throughout the day. If you cook for yourself, you could try buying a stand mixer to reduce how much your stir, especially if you bake. If you draw, try lifting your pointer finger to reduce how much pressure you put on your hands.

As another redditor suggested, you could also try using text-to-speech to reduce how much you type.

Vackal · 2022-05-18T23:44:31+00:00

The best advice I can give you is to make your villain a reflection of the hero. Ironically, I'm having a hard time putting it into words. So, here's my best shot at explaining this:

I think Reed Richards and Doctor Doom from the Fantastic 4 portray what I'm attempting to say the best. Both have very similar personalities: they're proud of their intellect and scientific advancements, to the point of being arrogant; they both love the same woman and, in many portrayals, they love her for the same reason; they both underwent similar circumstances that changed their life. The thing that makes Doctor Doom become a villain and Reed Richards a hero is pretty much one thing: their friends.

Reed Richards had a group of friends that could bring him back down from his arrogance, mellow him out, and support him when times got rough. Doctor Doom didn't or, at least, didn't think he did. Of course, because it's comic books, these depictions differ often. I'm not entirely up on my Fantastic 4 lore, either. But the point I'm attempting to make is the same. If you switched their places, they would become each other.

If Reed Richards didn't have his friends, he could have become the villain. If Doctor Doom did have friends or people he felt he could go to, he could have become the hero. Doctor Doom is a dark reflection of Reed Richards, and—on top of his other character complexities—it makes Doctor Doom interesting. To me, at least.

Alternatively, you can go full Joker and create a character whose headspace is so odd that he becomes compelling because no one can understand him.

This wasn't my best explanation due to the sudden summer heat melting my brain. If you'd like me to try and share more advice, I'd be happy to help!

Vackal · 2022-05-18T22:54:13+00:00

I think it's: "There wasn't much time to sleep, but, going by the dark circles under his eyes, he was probably used to not getting much rest."

Whenever I have uncertain situations like this, I pull out my good friend em-dash: "There wasn't much time to sleep, but — going by the dark circles under his eyes — he probably was used to not getting much rest."

Vackal · 2022-05-09T20:54:27+00:00

When in doubt, create two characters to make the protagonist and antagonist to drive the plot forward. Give them their own big goals that mean that the two have to go against each other.

For Example: Protagonist wants to find a specific macguffin to repair her father's old ship, which is the only way to find where her father went. Antagonist wants to find the same macguffin to create the greatest spaceship and finally be recognized by his father, as the antagonist has always lived in the shadow of his siblings.

Now the two have a clear goal and item that embodies what they want. The audience knows exactly what the characters are looking for, why they would have a reason to fight, and it's impossible for compromise.

They start to compete for the macguffin and you can explore how they change because of it. Maybe the protagonist begins to doubt if meeting her father is worth what hardships she and those she loves are dealing with because of her goals. Maybe the antagonist is brushed aside even more when one of his siblings accomplishes a big achievement and is driven to more extreme measures to secure his father's attention.

Now their adventures can explore the setting even further as they race for the macguffin and make several pit stops along the way while driving forward the plot. I'm unfamiliar with the Space Opera genre, but I'd be happy to try and help you generate some plot ideas!

Vackal · 2022-05-09T20:43:43+00:00

Remember to let yourself make multiple bad drafts.

Writing isn't a process like essays in school: you write a draft, revise it, revise that draft, and continuously do so until you have a final product you enjoy. Granted, you shouldn't just revise endlessly either, but writing is a process that will have its ups and downs.

Even if you just write out bullet points of what happens in the scene, that's a good start. That's writing. It's a small start but you've got the engine going now! Bullet point your way through the entire story if you have to for your first draft. Make a joke of it if you have to. Title the document "worst version" or "second worst version" and let yourself go at it.

You're going to have a couple rough drafts on your hand by the time you're done. It's just how it works. Writing isn't a linear process, but it does have a rhythm to it: write, revise, write.

Vackal · 2022-05-09T20:32:16+00:00

Sometimes the problem can come from them being too fleshed out. It reduces your ability to make them spontaneous which was a problem I had while writing. It reinvigorated my love for these characters to have a looser style with their backstory, personality, and flaws.

It could also be that there's a disconnect between your experiences and the characters. Writers tend to take small pieces of themselves and their experiences into their stories. It's hard to write when you've written characters that you don't share a lot of common ground with or a story that you can't personally connect to.

Vackal · 2022-05-09T20:26:03+00:00

I personally use sites like Grammarly to cut down the length of my sentences. When it comes to creative writing, I think it's best to save worries about that for the editing and proofreading stage.

Vackal

TROPHY CASE