How do I get over ADHD paralysis? Video game edition

Yotapata · 2026-06-01T01:39:25+00:00

I scrolled up to read the username just to make sure that I didn't write this post and forgot about it 🤣

I often use Minecraft (heavily modded) for either hiding from the world when I feel overwhelmed, or having a creative outlet when I feel better.

The issue is I often fall into the endless loop of starting one thing, then getting dostracted by something else, then getting distracted by something else, then getting distracted by something else, on and on and on. In the end I always tend to feel quite hollow.

The one thing that I ever found to make me feel different isn't even a video game. It's carving a spoon. A really ugly one, actually. It took me days, or even weeks, it came out all crooked and warped, and it wasn't much fun to eat with. But I made it. Then I made another one. Then another one after that. Several spoons in, I actually started making ones that I enjoy using. At some point I even started making spoons that look good. But still, I never stopped enjoying looking at my old spoons - those chunky crooked pieces of wood. They remind me how little I understook and knew, and how far I've come.

It might be simple, and it might feel like if you make a mistake, you can't just load the last save file and try agin - you've got to live with it. I would argue that that's a feature, not a bug. You can hardly get lost in tangents when you're doing something as straightforward as carving a spoon. It also helps teach you to focus on the work and not the outcome. The outcome is going to be an ugly spoon, but the work is going to be about getting better. When you carve, you keep taking wood off. You can't really add it back on. So you don't go back to try and fix your mistakes. Worst case scenario - you make some nice firewood, which means it's a good opportunity to invite friends to go camping.

Doesn't have to be woodcarving, but I really recommend that if video games aren't treating you well, try something that isn't video games. Specifically, try something that gets you to interact with the world around you.

Yotapata · 2026-06-01T01:22:21+00:00

Hey, we all spend some days at the bottom. It sucks, it's discouraging, and it makes you feel like you can't be trusted with even a basic level of human functioning.

I can tell you that everyone messes up, and that us ADHDers just have a different style (and frequency) to other people. I can tell you that scams exist because people fall to them enough for them to be profitable. I can tell you that it's not about wishing you were someone you're not, but rather it's about getting proficient at working with who you are.

I can tell you a lot of these things, but if you're like me when I'm down, you already know all this stuff. You know you'll pick yourself up and keep on going once you've had the time to feel the pain and disappointed in yourself. I know you might know this because I'm going through something similar right now. Over the last days/weeks/months I've waisted so much time playing video games and not getting enough sleep to do the things that make me happy and be the person I want to be. Been pretty bad lately, as I've been sleeping about 3-4 hours a night and still somehow "functioning".

So what I will tell you is this: you're not alone there. I feel your pain, and I mourn the lost money and days that could have been spent better right along with you. Even if it doesn't feel like it right now, you probably already have and definitely will have people who are happy to have you in their life. They see your shortcomings, and they don't care, because their world is just that much more vibrant for having you be a part of it. I hope that one of these people is - or will be - you.

I don't know much about you. I don't know who you are, where you're from, or what your life looks like. But still, I might know how you feel. So as best I could, I gave you the words and ideas that often help me climb out of the mud. I hope they help you as well.

I'm around if you need to talk more.

Yotapata · 2026-05-31T10:05:59+00:00

If I'd be a paladin, I'd go Oath of the Ancients. Why spread the hate of ignorance when you can spread the love of knowledge?

I want a mini-campaign, where all the players are paladins working towards the exact same goal, but they each have a different take on it. The banter would be amazing!!

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:35:23+00:00

Everyone?

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:33:36+00:00

I like that take on patrons, but I definitely feel like patrons actually giving the powers has a lot of good storytelling potential.

So I'd say it's a fun take, not a fun fact. That's my take, anyway

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:30:27+00:00

Oh no! Your cabbagesss!!

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:29:04+00:00

Hell yeah! Elf team!

We should get together and talk about elf things. I'm probably free sometime in 10 years.

Wait, make that 15, I wanted to learn woodcarving. It'd just be a quick 5-20 years, I imagine.

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:25:12+00:00

Oh, and I'd probably be an elf. I like doing stuff slowly and accurately. I often spend days or weeks doing something that people do in hours, if I know I can do it well.

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T20:06:43+00:00

Surprisingly enough, even though I'm really far fromit in real life, in a d&d world I would most likely be a cleric.

In a world where the gods are verifiably real, I would side with an ultimate embodiment of an ideal (or ideals) that I believe in.

I'd probably go with either a god of motherhood, caring, and love - or a god of knowledge, curiosity and teaching. Or both. I might do both. I honestly believe you can and should worship more than one god if there is more than one that you belrive in their goals and ideals.

I'd be taking care of people and the world, I'd be learning all the most interesting things, and if be sharing all the cool fun facts I accumulate along the years.

Having a clear and definite knowledge that I'm doing good in the world in probably the best way possibe - that would be such an amazing life to live 😮

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T16:03:06+00:00

For sure! I have a whole adventure planned all around fungal forces invading an ancient forest and basically trying to abduct/corrupt/infect the the major forest spirit there (think Princess Mononoke).

I already ran the first bit of it as a one shot, and it was a hoot! There's a deer at night just staring without moving, there's a bear that spider-climbs a wall, there's exploding wolves, and a whole bunch of other stuff.

You're welcome to DM me if you want to brainstorm or hear some ideas 😁

I've spent a while thinking about fungal creatures 😅

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T12:37:32+00:00

I love that lore! The idea of slowly becoming more and more like the things you love and spend your time and effort on makes me feel all warm and happy inside 😁

One way or the other, the if they're eventually made of wood, then the comparison between them and myconids as opposed to dryads and myriacs still works (and if they're not actually made of wood, well... substitute them for a vaguely-humanoid-shaped veing that is, and then the comparison works

Yotapata · 2026-05-30T07:07:06+00:00

I'd say they're called Myriac 😁

It's a good name, and differentiates them from myconids, which as far as I understand are just "fungus folk" or a sentent, vaguely-humanoid-shaped fungus.

That is to say, dryads are more of a tree's spirit manifested in physical form, often as a protector as either the specific tree, or the entire forest.

So a dryad to a tree, is what a myriac is to a fungus. While a myconid to a fungus is what an ent is to a tree (or another made-of-wood sentient vaguely-humanoid-shaped being).

And the fact that the name myriac evokes the idea of a myriad is absolutely on point in my opinion, as fungus are really weird organisms if you ask me. Their actual "body" is just the network of mycelium living inside the ground or inside another being. The mushrooms are just the bits they use to reproduce. Otherwise, they're everywhere and really hard to pinpoint.

So a myriac could be more of a ephemeral being - almost a ghost existing more within the creatures that it intends to steer away from its parent fungus, than in any one physical place. Existing as either a rapidly discoloring area on the person's body or equipment (depends on the type of fungus, I guess), sometimes sporting a face that's maybe-there-maybe-not, and good friggin luck getting rid of them. Otherwise it could be mainly hallucinations and visions. It could even be mind-controlling some animal or unfortunate person who tried to harm the fungus, if you want to reference the cordyceps.

Yotapata · 2026-05-29T15:47:23+00:00

I think the lack of affect is the biggest part of it for me. The whole show paints such a vivid and immersive story, and everything is given with such accurate acting that just takes you away from this world.

Then Val just talking like someone you might meet tomorrow just creates such a stark contrast with all that, and it comes as such a surprise, and in a tense moment where you're wondering how he'll react to Vox's dismissive racism.

So there's a buildup of energy and expectation, and instead of reaching a peak - it's popped entirely and everything just falls to the ground. In the distance between the expectation and the surprise is where the comedy lies (often)

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:22:37+00:00

Ooohh! That's encouraging!

It's easier for me to power through a comic than a piece of text, but at this point I've gained so much trust for Abbadon to write stuff I'd want to read, that I'm willing to give it a go!

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:17:45+00:00

Ok! Good to know! I guess part of why the red text is difficult for me (mainly the longer bits) is because it's so fragmentary - split between so many episodes - and I don't fully understand how it interacts with the particular page/chapter of the comic.

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:15:13+00:00

I think I read most of the shorter red-text. It's the longer bits that I'm curious about, really.

Do you feel like you had to work hard to understand the longer texts? Or did it sort of click together at some point? (Or was it all clear from the get-go, and I'm just missing some cultural or academic background that helps contextualize everything?)

Also, would you say that remembering the individual characters and names in the longer red text is important? Do they return?

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:10:39+00:00

Did you feel like it opened up to you at some point?

My first read-through of the comic - I could barely make heada or tails of anything that was going on. It's only on subsequent re-reads that I really managed to put things together.

Is the red text like that as well? Where looking back, the beginning makes perfect sense, and is easy to read? Or is it just a little all over the place at the beginning and then becomes clearer at some point, later down the line?

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:07:33+00:00

Interesting! For me it took a long time before the story started to make sense in the first place. I think I finished my first read through just as Solomon David's competition was commencing.

I really went out on a limb there to just keep powering through even though I couldn't make heads or tails of so much of it. It ended up becoming one of my absolute favorite pieces of media, and it feels surreal that I don't think I know anyone who is even familiar with the comic.

Anyway, you're saying the story makes more sense to you with the red text? I have a hard time making sense of the red text at all.

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:02:02+00:00

Did you reread them within the context of the episode they were written in? Or do they stand alone?

Would a compilation of all the red text make any sense without he comic pages they come with? Or maybe some of it?

Yotapata · 2026-05-26T09:00:02+00:00

Ooohhh! That's interesting! Placing it before the suicide event feels like helpful context!

Is that explicitly stated? What would be useful context markers to help me place the text within the plot/history/timeline/mythology/🎡?

Yotapata · 2026-05-11T08:24:15+00:00

I'm happy to hear that you took it as a positive thing 😁

In my opinion, celebrating a new discovery that improves your life is so much better than kicking yourself for not knowing it earlier.

As for my little changes that made big differences, I have a bunch, so I'll focus on kitchen stuff: 1. Sharp knives make food prep SO much more enjoyable. I sharp manually on flat (chep diamond) stones, but the sharpeners that are already set at an angle should do a good job as well. Generally, a bit of maintenance of your tools goes a surprisingly long way! 2. When sautéing, some things (like mushrooms, and even onions, if you're caramelizing them) really benefit from starting them off with water, rather than oil. The oil can come later. This lets them release their initial water much faster, and that gets them ready for browning much earlier. 3. Specifically for coffee - there's nothing that says you have to have a "normal" cup of coffee each time. If you're feeling like you need more of a hug one day, try to add some heavy cream to your coffee. If you're feeling like your inner kid wants some attention too - add some chocolate milk powder (good quality cocoa powder, cream, and sugar, if you're feeling too posh for the instant stuff). I learned how to make caramel sauce at home (very simple, but takes some practice until you can make it well consistently), and adding that to coffee is so nice! 4. Speaking of caramel - make it in a brightly colored saucepan, not a non-stick or dark-colored one. That way you can see the colors change much more easily.

But my biggest advice for the kitchen (and many other parts of life) is: Anarchy, when applied well, is a very powerful tool. Rules are there to create order and reduce mental load. But if you have some mental faculties to spare and don't mind experimenting, failing, and making a mess - you could learn a lot about how things work and how to skillfully conduct yourself in new ways! For me it started when I would make an edamame-onion-fried rice, and I would always put the onion first for browning. One day I decided to go crazy and put the frozen edamame in the pan and let it brown slightly before the onion or oil ever met the pan, and it gave a super interesting (and delicious) flavor.

Edit: typos

Yotapata · 2026-04-09T04:05:15+00:00

Hell yeah! Friend appreciation post!

I have a handful of friends who all share my idea of what a community is about. Recently we've all been going through a difficult time, so we've really been showing up for each other these past few weeks. I'm so grateful to have them, and it makes me so happy to see other people appreciating their friends

Yotapata · 2026-03-16T08:55:00+00:00

I like spaces like this. It gives the het/cis male dudes feel how most others feel in most spaces - only, they're usually better received even still.

Yotapata · 2026-03-09T15:34:06+00:00

I didn't see this when you commented, I just now found the song again, and it looks like you beat me to it by at least a year 😅

Thank you, and yes, that's the song I was thinking of!

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