I FORGOT TO POST THIS. toshizome going shopping!
I'm stuck with Spinner, from MHA. This'll be fine, we can talk video games and chill.
Reblog with who you get stuck with~
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!!!
When he gets drunk he pretty much goes completely nonverbal, not bothering to use his words anymore and instead communicating through grumbles and grunts. He also gets really clingy when drunk, with the more drunk he gets the more willing he is to cling to absolutely anyone who gets close to him. This makes it a requirement for him to wear his gloves when he's drinking, otherwise someone may end up a pile of dust on the ground.
He gets pretty chatty while drunk, an insane amount actually. He'll talk about practically anything; his past, his favorite video games, his parents, his thoughts Pokémon strength and weakness, absolutely anything becomes on the table and it's imposable to shut him up. The more drunk he gets, the more incoherent his words become until he just passes out.
He starts having a go at the karaoke machine and dancing like a man who's got nothin' to lose. He's actually really good at singing despite being drunk, I know typically when someone's drunk their singing gets worse but in Dabi's case, he actually just keeps his skill level, just less impulse control. He's an incredibly well coronated drunk, never once falls during his dance routine unless he intended to.
He becomes a lot flirtier than he normally would be, with him losing the impulse control to not flirt with anyone he finds attractive. Interesting enough though, if he's in a monogamous relationship he'll only flirt with his partner. Even if he's around someone he was attracted to before he started dating this other person, he'll still only flirt with his SO. Basically, when he's in a committed relationship his ability to find others attractive kinda just vanishes except for his partner. Also, his ability to flirt is a lot less sophisticated than it normally would be. Not in a, "he's being creepy" way, more so in a, "he won't stop telling you how pretty/cute/hot you are". His ability to use big, sophisticated, and well put together words/sentences to flirt has disappeared for the time being, he'll regain them when sober.
He can't really get drunk. Now hear me out on this one! A personal headcanon of mine is that Kurogiri was not only given Warp Gate as a quirk, but also a bunch of smaller less noticeable quirks. One grants him a regenerative ability that makes it so injuries that would normally take a day to heal will instead heal in a few hours, another gives him a perfect internal clock, and (the one important for the headcanon here) one that gives him heighten poison resistance. Since alcohol is technically a poison, a side effect of this quirk is that he can now chug straight vodka and remain sober. This also leads to him having a high spice tolerance and caffeine not doing anything for him, with both caffeine and capsaicin are poisons. This ultimately led to the headcanon that in the MHA Panera's Charged Lemonade, instead of being an affront to God and a sin against the FDA, is instead marketed specifically for those with quirks around poison resentence so that they can use caffeine to get through their day. So that's how Kurogiri is able to handle the League and all their stillness, with the lawsuit making lemonade.
He's a sad drunk, like, a really sad drunk. He just starts sobbing and questioning all of his life decisions. He won't stop crying until he passes out. He needs to down soooooooooo much water afterwards to regain all the hydration he lost through his tears. This has kinda lead to him being banned from getting drunk anywhere away from the League, as they're concerned that if this 30-year-old man starts sobbing uncontrollably in public that'll draw to much attention and someone might recognize him and get the pros called on him. He doesn't really have an issue with this, after all he lives with the League now so he can basically just stay home and drink with family instead of going out to some bar with a bunch of strangers who probably couldn't give less of fuck about him.
Currently is not allowed to drink, has she is 16. When she becomes 18, she'll be allowed to drink (that's the legal age for drinking in Japan, for my fellow Americans who forget that other countries decided that if you're old enough to sign a contract you're old enough to drink). When she is able to get drunk, all of her impulse control goes out the fucking window. Not only does this mean that she's more likely to stab people, it also means that she's willing to jump out a window to see if she can fly. After her first time being drunk lead to her being put out of commission for a week and all of the League (except Kurogiri, he's very good at dodging) having new knife scars, it is now a requirement for someone who's sober to be responsible for her when she's drunk. Luckily Kurogiri fits into this role perfectly, so he's now the one to be responsible to make sure she doesn't hurt herself or others when drunk.
In other words, we know how hierarchies work we just think it's stupid!
New season dropped,, ive only watched scar and joel's pov so far and i couldnt rest until i drew somethinf ,,, dont have everybody's design down quite yet but we r going somewhere *smiles*
reblog if you believe fanfics are as valid as books that were published and sold by authors who write as their main careers. I'm trying to prove a point