Touches Your Shaved Armpit Please Stop...for Me 😢

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 in your writing, but you absolutely should continue to do your own research outside of this guide!

This is NOT a medical resource!!! And never tell a real person you think they're using a cane wrong!

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 can 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!)

(some people elect to use a cane wrong for their personal situation despite this, everyone is different!)

(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 and the bad leg and follow with the good leg!

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!

(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.

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)

(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!!!

Btw if I say things like “by god” or “good lord” in posts please be aware I don’t mean it in a catholic way I mean it in a 1950s scientist reacting in horror after they create an evil creature in the lab set in the distant future year of 2005

I had a lovely time designing this classic jester character for the lovely Yev!

tehe there she is

kinda based on this image

Hi my name is Marinette Dark'ness Dupain Raven Cheng and I have shoulder length black hair with a pink streak tied in two ponytails and a lot of people tell me I look like Shadybug (AN if u don't know who she is get da hell out of here!). I'm not related to Adrien Agreste but I wish I was because he's a major fucking hottie. I'm half Chinese but my eyes are blue. I have pale white skin. I'm also half French and I live in Paris with my parents in a apartment on top of their bakery. I'm a goth (in case you couldn't tell) and I wear mostly black and pink. I love fashion and I make most of my clothes myself. For example today I was wearing ripped pink jeans, a white t-shirt, a black jacket and black boots, with black fishnet fingerless gloves and a black and pink ascot. I was walking to school. It was raining and thundering, which I was very happy about. Chloe and her friends stared at me. I put up my middle finger at them.

Mia would have some choice words on Phoenix’s taste in men

Bonus:

tripping over your mobility aids while walking is the most embarrassing things ever omg 😭

I Found this looking around my old files and decided to finish this meme OTL

someone should write saiki k ff of the illusionist x nedous mum and have an inspiration be the song just an illusion and then they give an explanation in the beginning about how hes singing the high notes becuz hes a bottom

Simple things to boost your magick

Magick is a complex thing, involving many different parameters and unless you know how to apply them properly, the results are not going to be any different to make-believe, or at best, placebo. Let’s review some simple things one can do in order to get better results. 1. PHYSICAL It is perhaps self-evident that you need to have some space in order to do that. By space I don’t mean that a fully-equipped ritual room is necessary; you can do magick even without an altar in a closet, but what you *must* have is “room for yourself”, a place to be undisturbed. You may lack your own room or house, you may be renting or staying at friends’ or at a university dorm – this is not a problem if you can manage some time for yourself. Sit alone, and be aware of yourself; your thoughts, your mental patterns, your emotions as you slowly breathe, and try to relax. Progressively relax your body (either start from the head downwards, bit by bit, or start from the feet upwards – different ways for relaxation, but they work). Allow time to do this; at least twenty to thirty minutes (unless you are very experienced and can relax at will within a few minutes). Observe what is going on, without doing anything; try to allow the torrent of thoughts to flow through you, without holding on to something specifically. Do the same for your emotions; worries, fears, stress, simply let it flow and vanish, without examining anything, as you breathe deeply and you relax your body. Realize that you are more than your thoughts, more than your emotions, more than your body. Your systems may have been disturbed by the rush of everyday life, but now you are at peace. You enter a deeper state of mind as you physically relax your body, and this is good. It’s the doorstep to all the good things with regards to improving your life, because through this, you have achieved in lowering your brain wave activity, and this makes your brain more open to positive suggestions. Remember, do not stress in trying to achieve it; simply allow it to happen, as you keep breathing and close your eyes. You don’t have to “see” anything at this stage. Physical control of this simple relaxation is very important – you’ll thank yourself years later. If you feel okay with it, try to do some positive affirmations about yourself, like: “I am getting better and better at this / every time I enter this level, my negative thoughts and emotions will dissolve, I will be in control and my mood will improve” (feel free to write your own positive suggestions). If you are able to practice this technique at least once daily (allow for about 20 minutes), after a couple of months you will have noticeable results in yourself and a level of clarity that might surprise you. Taking care of your body’s needs is also very important, and is often overlooked. Disturbed sleep patterns, exhaustion, taking substances or getting drunk often, neglecting physical training or being idle every day for many hours will do more damage than you think. Whether you love your body or you view it as a machine or as a burden, it’s something that has value, without which you cannot perform many of the tasks that constitute a physical life, and may even affect your grounding. If you have had bad habits for many years, you will know how detrimental they can be. Self-care is important, and not only when life takes a toll on you. You won’t be able to manage traumas, or even simple stressful situations if you don’t learn to care for yourself and neglect the most basic needs. 2. EMOTIONAL Your emotions can fuel your magick, or they can make it dissipate into random energies – the difference is control. Learn to master your emotions when you wish to do magick. You set up the area (or yourself) to begin? Then it’s not time for doubts, feelings of insecurity/inferiority and other self-defeating things. Prime yourself with the idea that since you need this to work, you will succeed. Isolate the negative thoughts, and focus on the emotions that are essential for your magick to work. Why do you want to do this magickal work? What do you hope to achieve? Magick works on Need, and Need is fueled by emotions, the right kind of emotions. Believe in yourself when you do this, because if you doubt each step of the way, the emotional power will be weak and it will impact on your spells. Some people believe that you can do spells without the involvement of emotions. Some have even been affected by the Jedi teachings from movies, or even misreading some Zen/Buddhist texts – emotions are NOT your enemy! You can be passionate about the right sort, and invest them in your magick. Even in Taoist principles, there’s a Balance – this doesn’t mean neutralizing the emotions! Fill yourself with the certitude of your Need, and when crafting your spell, fuel it with your emotions in a passionate way. Do it all the way, and it will be much stronger. 3. MENTAL Focus through controlled visualization; start small. Take an object, a geometrical thing like a cube, and visualize it, with eyes closed. Watch it in your mind’s eye, and see it spinning. Now try to hold it still. You will find this very difficult at first, because the image might “jump around”; relax your body and your mind, and keep trying. Eventually you will be able to keep it still for a few moments – then you can do it for longer. You will even be able to make it turn in any direction you want, slow or fast. The purpose of this is to be able to control the visualized object, because this trains your focus. Now try with another object; eventually, try with symbols of your choosing. Later, use landscapes or something that matters to you, perhaps a deity or a statue or an altar. When you are confident about this practice, your mind will become much sharper in its focus, and spellwork will be easier. If you find your attention challenged through ADHD or other issues, it may be hard for you to remain focused for a prolonged time. So add a filter of background music like ambient (I personally use dark ambient a lot, but selective tracks), or something else that allows your mind’s excess energy to be diverted and also being able to do this without too much distraction. The use of Language in spells is another way that opens up great possibilities for your magickal practice. There are several arguments online and in books, each supporting their own perspective; the traditionalist says, use spells in archaic, latin, or other ancient language. The modernist says, use them in your native tongue, but perhaps weave them in verses, like in a poem (you can see some pagan and Wiccan stuff like this). Others promote the use of “barbarous words” that may not make much sense, but impress the mind and thus, with the right intention, unlock its power. I will tell you the basic principle here and you decide for yourselves. Whatever you use, it should be *different* than what you would use in your mundane life. Because the mind needs to notice the difference, that when you do your spells, it should switch to another modality – to be aware of it. Simply because these words/intonation/language is not common, it implies purpose. It tells the brain you are speaking Purposefully and your Willpower is behind these words. If you do that each time you Speak magickally, your practice will greatly benefit from it. 4. PROCEDURAL Routines build discipline; this is a golden rule, and you should remember it. No matter what you may read from various places, there’s no substitute for a magickally disciplined mind. You may believe that it’s an exaggeration, and that you can do magick just fine. Sure you can do it, but what if you could do the same thing *better*? Or what if your potential is greater than what you think it is? Could it be possible to maximize your results? You’ll never know if you don’t train yourself and simply resort to a “lazy”, more laidback approach. Set up your own routines; do certain things each day, or each week. Set up some days in the year that are special for your practice (one example is the pagan holidays, or the Moons, and so on). Have regular times when you meditate, or when you cleanse yourself. It works just like training muscles or doing a fitness program: your spiritual self is strengthened and you acquire discipline, which fuels your willpower – an indispensable tool for all types of magick.