I Found This Looking Around My Old Files And Decided To Finish This Meme OTL

What the hell!!! Where am I

continuing a doodle-page like piece i left out before due to school B] hav this for now

How to write a cane user character

(Written by a cane user)

A few months ago, I wrote a small guide on good disabled characters and why they were good that gathered quite the attention, and I thought that doing another more specific guide this time would be interesting for writers or just people that are curious ! This guide will include general informations, some things to do, some things to avoid and some ideas that might revolve cane users's lives.

Things to know about cane users

Cane users are pretty diverse, and putting us in little boxes usually isn't the best idea if you want to make a character that has substance and isn't just "the disabled one". Here some infos about cane users that might be helpful knowledge !

Canes don't have ages. Most cane users in media are portrayed to be old, but truly, anyone can have the need to wield a cane ! I've been using mine ever since I was 17.

Can users can have a large variety of problems for their canes. Some canes are used to avoid pain from effort. Some canes are used for balance purposes. Some canes are to make walking less exhausting (works the same as walking sticks !) And sometimes, it's multiple problems at once.

Not everyone needs their cane 24/7. Some always need it, some can make small efforts without it but overall often need it, and some people, like me, can spend quite a lot of time without it. I almost never use my cane in my house, and mostly take it outside !

People with canes can run. We're not necessarily slow, I'm even faster than a lot of my friends.

Not using a cane can come with consequences, but not always. Some people might be able to walk without a cane but then suffer horrible consequences, but for others, canes are just a commodity for specific occasions.

Canes don't have to be looked down upon. Look at some characters with canes that look cool as hell ! Arsène Lupin, Roguefort Cookie, Brook ... Their canes serve their style !

We can be pretty healthy. Some people can have canes just because they were born with a bent leg and that's it. Our cane doesn't define our health status.

Canes aren't a curse. Think of them as something positive. It's a tool to make our lives better. You don't see someone sitting on a chair and think "awh, it's sad that they need a chair". It's more something like "hey it's cool that this chair is here so they can sit down"

Things to do

Make them use their cane. And when I mean use, I mean that canes are just funky long sticks usually made out of metal. Have fun with it ! Let them use it as a weapon ! Trust me, one hit in the knees with a cane and you're DOWN. Use it to reach stuff that's too high for everyone ! Have fun. Be creative.

Let them decorate their cane. It's an extension of their body ! You usually put on clothes that you like, don't you ? It's the same for a cane. If they like cutesy stuff, let them paint in it pastel colors ! If they like a more flashy style, add some stickers on it ! If they're a fancy person, give them a beautiful crafted cane with jewels on it !

You can make them a little shy or uneasy about their cane. Some people don't feel worthy of confident enough to wield one. It's not rare to see people think they're "not disabled enough to do so"

But on the other hand, you can do the complete opposite !! Make them proud of that cane ! Make them act like they're feeling pretty and more confident with it ! One thing i like to think about with my own cane is that I look like a cool gentleman. That boosted my confidence immensely.

Things to avoid

Don't make it their whole world. And by that, I do not mean that their cane shouldn't be a defining trait of their personality. Think of Toph from ATLA. She is blind, and you usually can't think of her character without describing her as blind. However, that isn't her entire personality trait. Make cane users have a goal in life, friends who enjoy them for who they are and not just pity them, have fun ... Don't just make them the disabled one.

Don't try to make the character's life just a plain disaster unless it's the focus of your story and you really know what you're talking about. Having a character who's always in pain, who feels bad about relying on their cane and/or who's angry at the entire world for being disabled is a REALLY tricky subject to use if you don't want them to be either a mass of unhappiness and angst for no good reason or some inspirational porn of the character who inside is deeply tortured but outside keeps up a facade because they shouldn't cry to avoid making others uneasy.

Do not, and I repeat, do NOT try to heal them, especially in a magical way. Bad idea. A lot of disabled people's goal isn't to be healed. It's to live a normal life. Making it so the ultimate goal for them is to be healed makes it as if they were worthless as long as they were disabled. Making their situation better physically or mentally is one thing. Curing them completely is really bad. "But some disabled folks want to be cured !" True, true. But if you are able bodied, I'm not sure if you can have the right mind to understand all of the complex details about this situation that leads to someone's life choices and the end result may look like you think the only thing that can make disabled people happy is being freed from their condition. I think it's best to just avoid it altogether. If you need a more nuanced idea, try to give them a solution that still has a few downs ! For exemple, a prosthetic that feels like a real arm, acts like a real arm and basically replaces it perfectly is a full cure. But a prosthetic that takes time to adjust to, needs repairs sometimes and doesn't look 100% like an arm can be a better narrative choice

Smaller thing, but don't make the handle uneasy to wield if you draw the character design. You can decorate most of the cane, but if you have chunky spiky decorations on the place you're supposed to clench your hand over, you're gonna hurt yourself. I've seen quite a lot of jewel handles or sculpted metal handles and usually their not good. If it's detailed metal, your hand will end up cramped in little parts and it can hurt. If it's a jewel, it's so easy for it to slip out of your hand it's unpractical.

List of tropes/ideas of scenes/details about canes to help you write new situations !

If you walk with a cane during winter, you can't put your hand in your jacket to get warm and there's a high chance your hand will get freezing. So after a long walk, you get an excuse for another character to hold their hand and warm them up.

If the handle is metallic, you get the opposite problem during summer. You can burn yourself so easy ! Easy accident if you want someone to help and get closer to the disabled person without it necessarily involving their disability.

Canes are SUPER useful when you're walking upon heights. They make things really easy, just like hiking poles on mountains ! I live on volcanoes and whenever we clim on a harsh slope, I'm always the first to get up there. Good moment for your character to get a boost of confidence if they get all the way up somewhere before their friends !

The first time using your cane feels magical. If you have chronic pains, it makes you feel like your pain disapear. If you can't walk right, it feels like everything is suddenly alright. The moment where a character chooses to wield a cane can be huge for character development. It's a moment of fear because of the impact a cane has on their appearance, but also a moment of confidence and relief.

Canes fall. All the time. And after a while, it becomes fucking comical. Trust me, putting a cane against the wall, seeing it fall and doing it three times again in a row while it doesn't want to stay up makes you embarrassed but also makes you want to laugh because of how stupid it looks.

When you get a cane, you stop being invisible. When you walk outside, generally speaking, people don't look at you. They don't care about you. But when you get a cane, people start to stare at you for no other reasons that you have a cane. Half of them are just curious, especially if you're young. The other half has a very specific look. The "oh, you poor thing" look. Which is, trust me, particularly awful to get, especially when you're just existing and doing nothing special. How does your character react to this ? How do they feel about it ?

I believe that is all I had in mind. I may add some more details in the future if I get other ideas, but this should already be a good start. I would be thrilled to answer questions if you have some, either in my askbox or through DMs.

I will tag this post with characters holding canes that aren't necessarily considered cane users but that some people may be interested in writing as such. Feel free to tell me if you'd like to see tags being added !

Edit : I'm highly encouraging everyone to look at the tag section under this post where a lot of other can users are sharing their experiences !!

on god fr

a slightly different way to approach luck and misfortune powers?

let’s say we take the “good luck” “bad luck” thing literally. as in, their powers are literally just extreme good luck and bad luck like in the really early concepts. meaning, no power based weapon.

i think this will make their fights much more interesting.

like for example, as long as chat noir keeps a villain close, bad things will happen to both of them. when a sign falls onto them, ladybug can pull chat noir away. her good luck cancels out his bad, so they’re both saved, except for the villain. of course a villain isn’t so easily defeated like that, but it sure as hell is comedic and would catch the villain off guard, leaving them wide open for more attacks.

another example, a 2 on 1 close range battle. chat noir’s bad luck will make his attacks clumsy, but this narrows down the villain’s range of motion and allow ladybug an increased opportunity to hit him.

imo, bad luck feels more like an offence type of power, while good luck feels like a mix of both offence and defence. this makes chat noir more of the “brute force” while ladybug more of a silent defender as well as the secret ace.

it’s definitely a lot more difficult to come up with fight sequences. but it’s gna be more unique.

possible power ups include: controlling how large the area their powers affects, controlling how much luck/ misfortune is in the output, concentrating their luck/ misfortune into spheres to bless/ curse objects.

ladybug can bless people to save them, bless weapons for enhanced strength and impact. on the other hand, chat noir can curse villains for them to falter, and their weapons to make them malfunction.

ladybug can take it one step further and also make her blessing pills become (legal) body enhancers, increasing overall aim and accuracy.

i think this ties in neatly into the early concept that the more ladybug and chat noir can control their emotions, the more they can control their powers. this gradual increase of power ups is actually just an increased control rather than stupid nonsensical potions that seem to be made for convenience’s sake.

furthermore, this can amp up the tension during climax fights. when theyre triggered by certain things, their power fails and can even backfire on them. and the thing is, you don’t know when and what they’ll get affected by. keeps the viewers on the edge of their seats.

and i can just imagine the climax of the entire show. richard severely injures chat noir, sending ladybug into a blind rage. but this makes her powers fail, and no matter how much she tries, she cannot make them work again as long as her emotions are out of control. then richard stands before her, saying: “look, this is why emotions are useless. because with them, you cannot protect anyone. with them, you’re nothing but useless.” (which can be a callback to how he lost his wife. his emotional side made him lose her maybe.) but in the end ladybug wins because she puts into practice the art of zen that grandpa fu taught her. which is a state of extreme calmness. this causes her full powers to be unlocked. it’s no longer “good luck”, she can manipulate the future to her favour with a 99.9% chance 😱😱

okay as much as i’m just bullshitting this as i write, i mean how cool is that?

miraculous should hire me to be in the writer’s room frfr

is there a difference between alina and alya???? in terms of personality?

Since Alina is supposed to represent precanon Alya: yes.

From the 9/7/2012 bible: As eccentric as Marinette is classic, Alya wears extravagant outfits, swinging from gothic to geeky. She takes pride in being nothing like the others. It's her way of distinguishing herself. Alya is perfectly at ease with all things technology and telecommunications. Moreover, she's a budding reporter for the college newspaper!... Alya shares her bedroom with her younger sister. The room is divided in two. Alya's half is lined with posters of comic book superheroes, the floor is strewn with cables connected to an imposing DIY computer station.... Besides, she has theories on everything, admittedly- they are often very absurd. She dreams of gaining powers and becoming a heroine like Ladybug... Alya doesn't understand how Marinette can fall for Adrien, On the other hand, Alya finds Cat Noir super classy, ​​molded into his somewhat gothic leather uniform. Oh! If only Alya was Ladybug...

She is bright, smart, geeky- but fashionable! She's an individualist- loving to define and express herself. She's whipping up wacky theories that stem from her hobby of being a reporter for the school newspaper and her love of superheros- something she wishes desperately to be. She's a tech wiz- having built her own computer.

She also has a crush on Chat Noir, which i think is great in contrast to the love diamond and her relationship with Marinette. Later art of her does show that she even put red streaks in her hair, wore goggles, and held a helmet, which I think is super neat and expresses her more... creative or even techy side?

Canon Alya, on the other hand, dosen't seem to be too entrenched in tech, past a passing comment that a "good reporter backs up her files" or smth. But that's like.. something built into most phones these days, so it's not really a.. tech.. geek thing. Alya also never expresses much desire to be a hero, it more falls into her lap due to circumstance and nepotism. and her antics devolved into "stupid reporter" and zero self-preservation instinct- as well as pushing Marinette around for self-confidence reasons. (there is a discussion to be had there around black and asian stereotypes but thats a discussion for another day.)

Anyway, while it's true that none of the characters change outfits much due to cheaping out on 3D, Alya expresses no interest in fashion whatsover. In fact, she seems to carry a hipster vibe (she's rather unfashionable- I mean, most the cast are, actually.) and her outfit sort of expresses a carelessness to her fashion choices- as it's boring and plain, rather than "eccentric" She also actively seems to balk at the idea of Chat, and ignored him for the most part in favor of Ladybug. Her relationship with Nino is actively detrimental to her character and I think was her shark jump- as it suddenly started being the justification for a LOT OF BAD BEHAVIOR.

Hope this helps!

do you have any fanfic recs?

YEAH i do!

And also can people put fanfic recs in the comments of this ask?? So we get even more recs. THANKS!

here's some of mine:

Metamorphosis by @peachcitt - Its been a couple years since they defeated hawkmoth, chat noir is gone. I read this earlier this year and it was SO good, just deliciously dramatic, and it destroyed me. but like in a fun way :)

Tell me something I don't know by @marimbles - it's marichat. do you want to have fun? don't lie to me, I know you do. this one is so funny and sweet

Final Girl by @picayunearts - AU where marinette turns down the ladybug role. this one got to me deeply. listen im unlikely to ever tattoo a quote on my body but if i DID im not saying it WOULDNT be from this fic.

As time goes by, by @redundant-lava - its like if casablanca was even MORE dramatic and romantic and also starred your blorbos.

Under Oath by @eoscenes - Gabriel is unmasked and everyone is dealing with the aftermath. This one takes some of the season 4 drama between ladybug and chat noir and gives it a real play-out, I read this one when it was half-finished and just loved it, I haven't caught up but it looks like its finished so i WILL be going back. join me :)

Happy Anniversary Surprises by @ming85 - short and so so so sweet!!

Double Entendre by speaks, I don't know their tumblr - no intro, just go check it out. man I just love this one, so fun and such a good reveal.

Sting by KryallaOrchid, I don't know their tumblr - Adrien loses the cat miraculous and gets ahold of the bee miraculous so he can keep helping - but ladybug is NOT having it with the new partner. an oldie and a romp!! lovesquare identity shenanigans galore. have some fun.

anything @buggachat has written is good, and i've loved so many of @coffeebananas works, so go browse both of those authors.

A bunch of others but i cant list them all so im leaving off here!! Tell your favs in the comments. whats good out there?

BROOO NOOOO U GOT IT???!?!!??

music can’t save you from this one, luka

(LISTEN to me, zag. LISTEN to me. this is a JOKE. this is a CRACK prediction of where season 4 is headed. this isn’t an ACTUAL prediction. you hear me? this isn’t… ACTUALLY what i think is going to happen. because it wont. …right? right????)

My favorite disaster show ♡♡♡

I always love Marichat side in the love square because it’s the side where they can be dork together but for the PV version… The dynamic could be a bit different, I think.

Felix become Chat Noir to gain the freedom from the curse that he has on him and as far as the canon PV goes, that’s all his motivation to become Chat Noir : Get close to Ladybug so he can get kiss from her to free him from the curse.

This is why I think his “extraness or cheerfulness” when being Chat Noir isn’t all genuine like Adrien does therefore, the way he approach Bridgette also different.

I have a HC where in Felix’s eyes, Bridgette is a crime magnet, one that constantly make him frustrated because “How in the world she always find herself in this place, time and situation???????!” (Lol) But she’s the frustration that he just can’t ignore, not only because she’s his classmate but also because she always help him in school so he’s??? In short of debt???? (He does care for her, he just doesn’t want to admit it)

So time and time again, Chat Noir need to keep this girl, who’s badluck somehow always led her to this situation (it’s not lmao), out of trouble and I can imagine he just vent all his frustation at her and be like :

“I am the black cat, but why, WHY, HOW can you have more bad luck than me?????????” (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ

And Bridgette, being can’t tell the cat the real reason why she /need/ to be there could only be like :

“Because… I’m a bad luck champion?” (• ▽ •;)

For Bridgette seeing Chat Noir being all grumpy is a side that she never see before because for all she know, Chat Noir is a catsanova who always have terrible time to flirt and a jokester, basically your typical class clown. Sure he can be sweet at times but grumpy? Chat Noir? Grumpy? Grumpy Chat Noir, who??????? It feels like alien take over his body and it baffle her at first but the more she see it, the more she find this side of him is interesting. Because as it turns out not only this cat could be grumpy, he also… Pretty socially awkward??? Also he’s not that extra with her??? Huh??? Where’s that catsanova act?? And she find Chat Noir is more fun to hang out with when he’s not dial up his dramatical extraness. Soon, they become a friend’s.

It’s funny how she think he tried to act cool and by cool she meant cool, like Felix kind of cool? Sometimes he tries to act distance but always fail at it. He said he won’t help her again if he find her near the crime scene next time, he he save her anyway, even get hurt because of it. He said he won’t come again after that one time she share the left over pain au chocolat, but he did come again to play. He really is like a cat and she like him his company! Yup! He’s definitely a nice companion to have, but her heart is only for Felix.

Marchesa Balbi, c. 1623 Anthony van Dyck