sticksandbones | Not entirely a call for help, but

I could probably make one of those writing practice sheets? It might be one of those things where you just have to practice?

if its jsut repetition thats fine. wasnt sure if there was a faster way of going about it

From what I can tell it's a lot of strengthening muscles that control fine movement? It's not really something you can rush but doing things to force yourself to use those skills could help it go faster?

Sorry I'm not too much help. I've never done it myself but I know people who have.

yeah that makes sense. ughhhhh. fuck. well. tahts fine. not really a surprise

how long did it take for them to be able to write with both hands at least passably?

About a month of working on it, if I recall!

only a month? alright. not as bad as i anticipated. thanks

when it comes to the writing sheeys. Sheets. would it just be writing the same characters over and over

That's part of it, but it's also writing in a particular space to control size and precision.

ah yeah okay. probably helps with consistency. makes sense

For Japanese characters we usually use grid paper, but I'm not sure what you're used to?

[ Has no idea who he's talking to. ]

oh okay yeah. im japanese but i get the feeling we probably wouldnt have learned similar ways. some of you are - modern?

[ Also, he didn’t receive any formal education. Not that he’s going to talk about that openly. ]

Oh, are you from way in the past like Kyo-nii and Akkun? I can definitely try to help!

[ Kyo-nii and Akkun? Kyojuro and… Akaza…? ]

uh. yeah. same time period if im guessing who youre talking about correctly

Oh, sorry! Kyojuro-niisan and Akaza-san.

I always forget people can't tell who I'm talking about using nicknames...

[ Frankly anyone using a respectful honorific to refer to Akaza throws him off but he isn't going to talk about that here -. ]

nah its fine i figured. yeah we're from the same time period. rengoku's probably got a bit more headway in the. uh

[ Long pause. ]

schooling department

[ ooooooh... ]

If it helps, I was never a great student, so I don't think less of you or anything!

…thanks…

it isnt like i wasnt taught some of it. we had to be able to read in the corps at the very least. writing was just less important depending on your upbringing

Practice, but unless you're naturally ambidextrous it's going to take you a while.

Probably longer than we'll be at camp for.

shit you can be naturally ambidextrous? hwo would i even know in the first place - would i just be able to switch hands with no problem?

i can hold things in my left hand well enough but for actual fine motor movements i had to supplement it with my right hand. which doesnt work as well with a pen

Unless you were discouraged from using one of your hands growing up, then pretty much, yeah. Except when you're using scissors or something which are pretty much always designed for right-handed people.

Fine motor skills take work. You probably could learn to use both hands if really wanted to, but it's not something you can take shortcuts to get better at. Especially if you have a strong preference for one hand over another.

Why do you even want to?

im missing the first two fingers on my dominant hand

like i said i can supplement most of m ynormal everyday activities with that hand still but given the emphasis on writing as communication it jsut makes more sense to learn to write with the left. my right starts cramping pretty damn bad from the way i have to grip shit

besides not like i want to subject you all to my shitty handwriting if i can avoid it

[Oh. WELL. He sure regrets asking that.]

I like to keep my hand underneath the writing if I'm using my left hand. That lets me keep my hand on the page without smudging even if I'm using an inkier pen.

and you just adjust the position of your hand as you write out the sentence? alright. that makes sense. thanks

[For a number of reasons, Min-Gi normally does stick to using his right hand if people are going to see it. But today, just for Sanemi, he switches. The handwriting is noticeably different, though still just as legible and judging from the speed it appears it doesn't seem to be any more taxing.]

Yes. See? No smudging, and your arm doesn't get as tired as if you're trying to hold it out of the way all the time.

I'm sure it'll still feel weird at first, but hopefully you shouldn't feel like you need to use your right hand to help as much.

[ Hey, okay. He appreciates the demonstration. In fact, it encourages him to try switching hands and… while his appear significantly slower, there’s actually a smidgen more steadiness in the lettering. Which isn’t saying much, given how terrible the handwriting was before. ]

shit. youre way better at that than i am but it definitely doesnt hurt near as bad. the placement of my hand sure feels awkward but if thats the worst thing to contend with other than the motor skills ill fucking take it

did you learn that on your own?

You're basically learning from scratch, right? It'd be weirder if your handwriting was good right away.

To be honest, I don't remember when or how I learned any of this. I vaguely remember handwriting practice when I was a kid, but I don't remember what I was taught vs. what I figured out for myself.

yeah, yeah. its just. annoying

guess that makes sense. could always be a combination of the two? kids will try some unreasonable shit while theyre bored. if no one was discouraging you and you just tried switching hands one day…

Yeah. I would be frustrated too.

[He switches hands again, returning to his usual handwriting.]

I don't know. Maybe. I wasn't a very experimental kid. I just know for as long as I can remember it felt normal to me. My parents never minded as long as my handwriting was still neat.

[ Huh. Must've been nice. ]

having that kinda flexibility mustve been nice. that reminds me though - i know this notebook-netbook shit translates for us but what kind of letter forms are you using when you swap hands

Yeah. Kind of. I usually stick to right-handed for consistency though.

[Unfortunately this line of questioning does raise a slight sore spot that causes a bit of hesitation.]

English. I grew up in Canada, so that's always been easiest for me.

[ If he notices the hesitation, he isn't going to call it out. ]

got it. i was wondering if itd affect how to go about practicing what you talked about but even with characters i cant imagine itd change how you do it much. still involves drawing the damn thing either way

If stroke order is more important I guess it could, but I don't think it makes much different. I use the same hand positions for Hangul.

[Which he is less willing to demonstrate, but he will concede to writing "민기" once with each hand. However this shows up for Sanemi, both instances are close to identical. While his name is one thing he is confident in, the letters are still so carefully formed it almost feels as though they belong in a textbook.]

Edited 2026-04-22 12:55 (UTC)

[ Huh. Helps to know the name of his helper, he supposes. Also makes sense for a name to be the safest bet when writing out characters. ]

shit. they look pretty much identical to me. dont think my handwriting would be near that neat even with my dominant hand when i still had all my fingers

I'm more careful with Hangul. Like I said, English is easier.

[Not that his handwriting in English isn't neat, but there is more of a personal touch even if it's subtle.]

As long as you can learn to write comfortably and legibly, I think that's all that really matters. Even if it ends up taking you a while, people will be understanding when you're having to learn how to use a completely different hand.

[He's interacting-]

It can help to write the same thing with both hands at the same time to train your nondominant hand the stroke order.

...But that's also how we found out one of my brothers could only write mirrored with his nondominant hand. You know, ƨiʜɈ ɘʞil

[ Ugh, fine, whatever -. ]

does it still work like that even if the grip would be entirely different? im still willing to try it but

wait thats fucking funny. guessing it was just how his brain was wired?

Dunno, we hadn't lost any fingers yet. If it doesn't work, then there are other ways.

Hah probably. Could have been useful if our father wasn't pissed off about it.

[Coded and backwards that quickly??? But not perfect, so. You know. Founding members of the bad dads club, these two.]

[ There is a long, weighty pause before he starts writing again. ]

shit. guess ill try. grip strength hasnt been the same since but i should probably stop relying on my left arm this much if i want to change that

…eh. thats when you learn how to do everything with body language anyway. way more subtle

If anyone's stubborn enough to figure it out...

No question about that one.

Oh, but in the meantime, you should try writing with your dominant hand from your elbow and shoulder instead of your wrist and fingers. Might be bigger but easier.

is that a compliment or an insult

[ From the elbow and shoulder…? Okay. Here comes some big, wiggly letters. ]

this is definitely easier but everything is going to be fucking huge

What do you think? .)

[It's a compliment, but he has to be a little shit.]

Haha guess it'll be obvious when your hand's tired, then!

[ Hmm. ]

[ Trying to write slightly smaller for this one… ]

yeah i guess so

thanks for the advice

[Sanemi... polite? To him?

Sanemi... abducted by aliens?]

Yeah, sure.

I can't demonstrate anything, but if you need someone to watch you practice for some better advice, let me know.

YKNOW THE WHOLE "CONTRACTS AREN'T VALID IF YOU SIGN THEM WITH YOUR OPPOSITE HAND" THING IS A MYTH, IF THAT'S WHY YOU'RE TRYING IT.

DON'T ASK ME HOW I KNOW THAT.

what the actual fuck are you talking about

REASONS TO TRAIN YOURSELF TO BE AMBI-WHATEVER

IF YOU'RE TRYING TO POSE AS SOMEONE ELSE I GUARANTEE YOU NO ONE EVER LOOKS THAT HARD

Not entirely a call for help, but – (Netbook)

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