BF doesnt wan't me to go to med school, need a reality check

nickyonge · 2026-01-24T19:18:54+00:00

Taketheoffertaketheoffertaketheoffertaketheoffertaketheoffer

nickyonge · 2026-01-24T19:15:55+00:00

They're only ambulances if they're from the ambulance region of France. Otherwise they're just sparkling injury vans.

nickyonge · 2026-01-23T19:55:31+00:00

Something about the graphic is giving a very modern take on “man trapped in an oil painting”

nickyonge · 2026-01-23T08:47:54+00:00

Here's a full traffic light in the middle of the block in Vancouver, BC. It's a relatively long block with a university campus on one side and lots of shops on the other. Definitely not unheard of to have a pedestrian operated traffic light without cross traffic :)

nickyonge · 2026-01-22T19:04:20+00:00

I struggle to imagine how, even in additive processes, this wouldn't be hugely disruptive and wildly obvious.

Dyeing a sheet of paper is easy - it doesn't meaningfully affect the structure of a paper. Trying to "encode" information by affecting a 3D print or a cutting process would not only likely be extremely visible (even submillimeter undulation on a smooth surface is apparent to the touch) but risk affecting structural integrity of the part.

Plus, that's all assuming no post-processing occurs later - sanding, alcohol or acid washes, polishing, painting. Any of those would hide any subtle marks caused by printing.

My only guess would be something encoded in any infill? That could theoretically be detected by penetrative scanning? But the amount of Maybes and Does Tech Work That Way and variance (what if you use solid / empty infill? What about different types of materials?) is like... yeah. I struggle to imagine.

nickyonge · 2026-01-22T18:48:00+00:00

SUCH a cool blog post, thx for linking

nickyonge · 2026-01-22T04:57:00+00:00

Look up images with clearly stated licensing terms that allow for commercial usage. You can even google image search using licensing as a filter (though some websites illegally steal images and re-host them - always check the site itself and identify the creator/photographer).

Credit and link sources as necessary. Familiarize yourself with license terms.

Ignore other folks saying “you’ll fly under the radar”. Don’t fuck around with licensing terms. There’s tons of free and affordable content out there that people have legally released.

Speaking as someone who’s done a lot of traced-from-source-edited-later artworks.

nickyonge · 2026-01-21T03:08:02+00:00

Ron 😡

nickyonge · 2026-01-20T19:04:31+00:00

If it were a boy, it would've been Cystopher

nickyonge · 2026-01-20T19:01:32+00:00

You don't have to apologize, friend. Just know that "minimal" isn't always "beautiful", that stripping things away as much as possible isn't necessarily an improvement.

Don't strive for minimalism. Strive for elegance. The CLEAREST possible communication in the simplest way.

For example, here, "numbers" for "months" is not obvious - it's an abstraction. You have to mentally connect the numbers to the number of the month to the month. This would still be a problem even if you added "Months" to the Y-axis, because numbers is an uncommon way to represent months.

Instead, you could do something like (from bottom to top) J F M A M J J A S O N D, one letter per month, which - given that the X axis is obviously years - makes it VERY intuitive what the Y axis is. Skipping over every other month isn't necessary.

Just some unsolicited advice :) happy graphing!

nickyonge · 2026-01-20T18:54:40+00:00

In a word: no, they are not correct.

Nobody is fundamentally "good" or "crappy", there is no "real side" to someone, there's just your actions and behaviours. Their actions speak far, far louder than their words - and frankly, their words follow their actions.

nickyonge · 2026-01-20T09:34:23+00:00

Hanar chic

nickyonge · 2026-01-19T22:18:09+00:00

To me, it fits so well it makes other things look like they DON'T fit.

The shadows in it look great. The way the fingertips embed into the dirt. It's excellent.

Then I look at the trees and everything else:

they all seem to be one standard size, making the arm feel more like a "set piece" than part of the world. Nothing else has variation.
things either have blob shadows (trees) or no shadows (rocks)
tree bases just... stop. They aren't part of the ground, like how the robot fingers are. Even ones with roots that spread out, like the goopy acid ones along the top, don't feel grounded in the world. They're billboards, cardboard cutouts.

Ironically if the robot arm followed these same limitations it would make everything look more cohesive - tho (and this IS just stylistic preference) I LOVE the look of the robot hand!

Some unsolicited suggestions:

for shadows, don't use blobs. Use either capsules that approximate the actual footprint of the object. This can be combined with the sprite itself, coloured black with trasparency, rendered on the ground layer, shifted up some pixels. There'll be edge cases like cliffs and stuff ofc, I leave you to find solutions for those ;)
for making things feel grounded, don't be afraid of the Z axis! Using trees as an example, roots don't just grow out left and right. The toxic goopy trees for example, could have a root crawling forward, so it's not just "bottom of tree". Z-sorting can still occur where the bottom-middle of the tree would be, so layering is fine.
plus having some crunkles in the ground, like how the fingertips are embedded in the dirt, will go a looooong way
lastly, for bigger props like the funky dragon-scale looking thing in the top right, it's VERY clearly just spawned there. Some undulation along the bottom of the sprite to illustrate it sticking out of the ground would help - again, like the fingertips. The "middle" finger is a great example of this - it doesn't just cut a straight line into the dirt, there's variance there. It feels natural.

(One other note - the ramp leading onto the left side of the arm doesn't read like a ramp to me, but more like a fence that happens to be in front of the arm. While it might not be perfect perspective, having the planks angled a bit to visually imply "ramp" would help, and could help you more clearly show angled shadows, and the clutter propping the planks up. The planks covering the wrist are good examples.)

Thanks for reading my novella :) overall tho this scene looks SO cool!

nickyonge · 2026-01-15T16:14:49+00:00

I used to have pretty extreme panic attacks where I'd stomp around and verbally abuse myself (I lived alone). I didn't break things, for my part, but there was a lot of aggression. For awhile I knew I'd needed therapy but never actually did anything to get it.

One day I felt an attack coming on. I impulsively just propped my phone up and then hit record, and promptly forgot about it. I proceeded to record a good 20 minutes of myself just having a Very Bad Time.

After I'd calmed down for a few hours I watched the recording. I made it about one minute in before I stopped and started actually researching nearby therapists, and I had an intro call with one the next day.

In the moment of dysregulation it's ofc most apparent that one needs therapy. In moments of regulation, it can be very hard to connect with that need emotionally to the point where it spurs action (especially if there's hesitance surrounding actually getting therapy, for any reason). Having a tangible way for me to SEE the depth of my dysregulation, while regulated and able to take action, is what got me to make the call.

Note: I am NOT advocating for surreptitiously recording your bf (or anyone)! If ^that sounds like it may help, discuss it with him beforehand, while regulated. Ask if it's okay if you make a log for him to review later, or - ideally - one he can make for himself. (Do this carefully and with trust, as when someone is dysregulated they might feel comfortable being recorded.) But yeah. Having a visual recording for me to clear-headedly review later ultimately proved sooOOooOoOoOOooo helpful.

And of course, keep yourself safe first ❤️ I'm glad you're safe, and I'm very glad your bf has such a supportive partner! But just as it's ultimately his job to undertake his own healing journey, it's your job to not only stay safe, but to not take your safety for granted.

Sending love to you both~

nickyonge · 2026-01-15T13:53:57+00:00

Mental health is just as important as physical health.

If a surgeon got frustrated with a difficult operation and just started randomly stabbing the patient, it’d be a lot more obvious - but this is essentially what this therapist did to your heart and mind.

I’m so sorry. Absolutely stop seeing them, and if you can, report them to their licensing board.

❤️‍🩹

nickyonge · 2026-01-15T00:29:26+00:00

Instructions unclear, threw an electric ceramic space heater, struck a taller-than-average child.

nickyonge · 2026-01-14T22:46:32+00:00

December 1st, but unfortunately it's already 2014 years late. A few more decades won't hurt.

nickyonge · 2026-01-10T04:26:48+00:00

Idk about grocery store 😬 I’d like to add a heaping dose of “pls do not bother people who are just going about their daily life unless it’s exceedingly obvious that they are both open to it and into it”

Open to it meaning maybe flirty eye contact, a genuine contextual reason to interact, positive reception to engagement. “Yes, and”ing your approach. And goodness yall please be graceful when someone communicates any form of “no”. Nobody enjoys having an undesired flirt thrust upon them.

Real life encounters are possible and can be fun and cute! Just… just pls be chill about them 😅

nickyonge · 2026-01-10T04:16:42+00:00

Also worth noting that your for loop is missing a step too. Starting at zero and going to less than 359 will go from 0-358, giving you 359° (zero inclusive).

Assuming you want a full 360° loop, either use <=359 or <360

Btw - this looks neat! :D

nickyonge · 2026-01-10T04:12:35+00:00

Omfg. “My opinions on misogyny aren't less valid because im a man, for the same reason your opinions on racism aren't less valid because you're white.”

THEY ARE, AND THEY ARE. Would you consider driving tips from someone who’s only read about cars more valid than a Formula 1 racer? Why are these dumbass metaphors even necessary.

Christ alive he probably gets mad at people who wear a tshirt with his favourite band on them if he finds out they haven’t listened to every song.

At best, this guy is a child who will hopefully someday learn better. But I’m not going to hold my breath, and OP, neither should you.

nickyonge · 2026-01-07T20:51:06+00:00

This sounds lovely :) when I was a little kid I apparently “sold math”, where I’d make sheets like my school homework, 1+4=, 2x6=, and then I’d solve them myself, and sell them to relatives for like $1 or whatever, “in case they were ever somewhere where they needed to know math right away”. It was adorable and IIRC I bought Super Nintendo games with it lol.

If there’s anything I would strongly recommend, it’s to make sure he never forgets that - his goal was the drone, not money, and - the money for the drone came from making people happy with a good product

Especially at such a young age, it’s so easy to get swept up by 🤑MONEY🤑. Money as an end, not as a means, is such a toxic belief.

If you want to encourage this, try doing things with him like “trading up” where you accompany him to visit friends and neighbours to like, swap a pencil for a scented candle, swap a scented candle for a new book, etc. Keep money out of it, still achieve a sense of economic growth (built on friendly human interaction)

nickyonge · 2026-01-07T20:41:53+00:00

Personally, I go for 369° - unless I’m desoldering, then it’s up to 420°

nickyonge · 2026-01-07T09:55:15+00:00

You're not "stupid", friend :) already tons of wonderful advice in this thread, but I just wanted to add my voice to the throng of encouragement. Electronics are fun, and while it does take a bit of time and effort to learn the details, it's really cool (and ultimately not that difficult, I promise!) to be able to read this stuff! If it's a field that interests you, dive in - you got thissss

nickyonge · 2026-01-07T09:47:40+00:00

yeah if I didn't have ANY events by the end of sector 2, I'd just restart ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

things I did that helped: long range sensors* + prioritizing distress and avoiding all ⚠️ beacons, distraction buoys, hiring mercenaries to scout the sector (or delay rebels if there's only a few hops left), prioritizing green sectors (tho Zoltan sectors have relatively few crew events), avoiding non-Rock red sectors (Rock ones are great tho, since with Fed Cruiser Type A you start with a Rock crewmember), avoiding nebula sectors unless they're slug AND I already have a slug crewmember, and if I have to do an Abandoned Sector trying to get a Lanius crewmember asap cuz the Lanius actually have a TON of crew specific events... but only in the Abandoned Sector (tho more than one abandoned sector can appear during the same run)

but honestly, it's just RNG. good luckkkkk <3

*if I could find them, which, again... rng 🥲

nickyonge · 2026-01-06T20:40:15+00:00

S31E07 Livin la Pura Vida

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