y'all not to doxx myself too hard but irl i have spent some time in my life in mental health recovery, and i am here to tell anyone who needs to hear it that people with multiples & schizophrenia & psychosis & BPD are fun and interesting and lovable people and my friends
i knew somebody in recovery who had a system of 12 personalities that he drew out in a nested chart for me. they did not remember each other’s experiences. and it was cool! i could talk with one alter and then catch up another alter later about what we talked about! it was fun!
i knew a girl with psychosis who heard voices in static and running water but didn’t want to get rid of them cause they never said anything distressing and they were familiar and comfortable. that’s awesome! how cool is the variance of human experience??
bringing this back for disabled pride month. invisible disabilities count too. if you don’t fuck with the mad community i don’t fuck with you
I asked a taxi driver in Bucharest to take the quickest route to the airport. 10 minutes later we’re doing 120kph the wrong way done the street car tracks when another taxi tried to pass us and dude just floors it. Never spoke a word, smoked 9 cigarettes over the 30 minute ride, never took off his sunglasses and blasting opera all the way. I look at it as paying 15€ plús tip to lose all fear of death.
Having lived in Bucharest I can tell you he would have done that even with out you asking
A general cane guide for writers and artists (from a cane user, writer, and artist!)
Disclaimer: Though I have been using a cane for 6 years, I am not a doctor, nor am I by any means an expert. This guide is true to my experience, but there are as many ways to use a cane as there are cane users!
This guide will not include: White canes for blindness, crutches, walkers, or wheelchairs as I have no personal experience with these.
This is meant to be a general guide to get you started and avoid some common mishaps/misconceptions, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!
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The biggest recurring problem I’ve seen is using the cane on the wrong side. The cane goes on the opposite side of the pain! If your character has even-sided pain or needs it for balance/weakness, then use the cane in the non-dominant hand to keep the dominant hand free. Some cane users also switch sides to give their arm a rest!
A cane takes about 20% of your weight off the opposite leg. It should fit within your natural gait and become something of an extension of your body. If you need more weight off than 20%, then crutches, a walker, or a wheelchair is needed.
Putting more pressure on the cane, using it on the wrong side, or having it at the wrong height will make it less effective, and can cause long term damage to your body from improper pressure and posture. (Hugh Laurie genuinely hurt his body from years of using a cane wrong on House!)
(an animated GIF of a cane matching the natural walking gait. It turns red when pressure is placed on it.)
When going up and down stairs, there is an ideal standard: You want to use the handrail and the cane at the same time, or prioritize the handrail if it’s only on one side. When going up stairs you lead with your good leg and follow with the cane and hurt leg together. When going down stairs you lead with the cane, then the good leg, and THEN the leg that needs help.
Realistically though, many people don’t move out of the way for cane users to access the railing, many stairs don’t have railings, and many are wet, rusty, or generally not ideal to grip.
In these cases, if you have a friend nearby, holding on to them is a good idea. Or, take it one step at a time carefully if you’re alone.
Now we come to a very common mistake I see… Using fashion canes for medical use!
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(These are 4 broad shapes, but there is INCREDIBLE variation in cane handles. Research heavily what will be best for your character’s specific needs!)
The handle is the contact point for all the weight you’re putting on your cane, and that pressure is being put onto your hand, wrist, and shoulder. So the shape is very important for long term use!
Knob handles (and very decorative handles) are not used for medical use for this reason. It adds extra stress to the body and can damage your hand to put constant pressure onto these painful shapes.
The weight of a cane is also incredibly important, as a heavier cane will cause wear on your body much faster. When you’re using it all day, it gets heavy fast! If your character struggles with weakness, then they won’t want a heavy cane if they can help it!
This is also part of why sword canes aren’t usually very viable for medical use (along with them usually being knob handles) is that swords are extra weight!
However, a small knife or perhaps a retractable blade hidden within the base might be viable even for weak characters.
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Bases have a lot of variability as well, and the modern standard is generally adjustable bases. Adjustable canes are very handy if your character regularly changes shoe height, for instance (gotta keep the height at your hip!)
Canes help on most terrain with their standard base and structure. But for some terrain, you might want a different base, or to forego the cane entirely! This article covers it pretty well.
Many cane users decorate their canes! Stickers are incredibly common, and painting canes is relatively common as well! You’ll also see people replacing the standard wrist strap with a personalized one, or even adding a small charm to the ring the strap connects to. (nothing too large, or it gets annoying as the cane is swinging around everywhere)
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(my canes, for reference)
If your character uses a cane full time, then they might also have multiple canes that look different aesthetically to match their outfits!
When it comes to practical things outside of the cane, you reasonably only have one hand available while it’s being used. Many people will hook their cane onto their arm or let it dangle on the strap (if they have one) while using their cane arm, but it’s often significantly less convenient than 2 hands. But, if you need 2 hands, then it’s either setting the cane down or letting it hang!
For this reason, optimizing one handed use is ideal! Keeping bags/items on the side of your free hand helps keep your items accessible.
When sitting, the cane either leans against a wall or table, goes under the chair, or hooks onto the back of the chair. (It often falls when hanging off of a chair, in my experience)
When getting up, the user will either use their cane to help them balance/support as they stand, or get up and then grab their cane. This depends on what it’s being used for (balance vs pain when walking, for instance!)
That’s everything I can think of for now. Thank you for reading my long-but-absolutely-not-comprehensive list of things to keep in mind when writing or drawing a cane user!
Happy disability pride month! Go forth and make more characters use canes!!!
“Azula never underestimated nonbenders!” Except she literally did? She underestimated Mai and Ty Lee, she constantly underestimates Sokka, she even underestimates other benders (notably Katara and Zuko) and that’s what brought her downfall.
“Azula chose Mai and Ty Lee for her team bc she knew how powerful they are even without bending” yeah, and because she underestimated their ability to make their own decisions and to overcome their fear of her.
“Azula kept Sokka busy during the invasion bc she knew to watch out for him!” No she kept him busy because she knew there was no way Aang and Toph would leave his side if he stayed. She tried other methods before by taunting Toph into lashing out, and she noticed how once Sokka figured out her plan to waste their time, Toph calmed down and listened. She knew then and there that Sokka was their leader.
Azula also underestimated Katara twice. Once during the battle in the crystal catacombs (which she would have lost if Zuko didn’t come and interrupt their 1v1) and the second time during the final agni kai.
Azula’s grand failure is continuing to underestimate people. Yes she knows how powerful other people can be BUT she also overestimates how powerful she is herself. If you grow up being a golden child, always having to be perfect and being compared to your less powerful older brother, your ego might become the death of you.
honestly really sexy of tumblr to keep follower numbers private. how many people are following me? you’ll never know unless I tell you. maybe it’s a million, or a thousand, or five, or maybe it’s just you. maybe you’re the only onehere, all by yourself, unable to see if there’s anyone standing next to you.
and you’d never know, because status here is based on opinion and not numbers; how popular you think someone is is a vibes-only calculation, and besides the chronological algorithms-optional feed, it’s genuinely the best thing tumblr’s ever done.
every other social media site: here’s how many followers this person has
“this looks like it takes so much skill and knowledge, but … istg this ugly ass thing looks like a damn mall pretzel, idk what the hell it’s supposed to-”
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