Jason’s Book Blog

“I guess there are never enough books.” - John Steinbeck || he/him ||

[revslie]

lenore dove + zendaya‘s stunning premiere look 🪽

“Angels, Lenore Dove told me, are humans with wings, who live in a place called heaven. Some people believe, she said, it‘s a possible destination after death. A god world for good people to go to. But Lenore Dove is the winged creature on my mind at the moment. If there is anything after the life I‘m about to lose, will I be with her again?”

[saucefactory-deactivated2019103]

The three stages of shipping.

Stage 1: NOW KISS

Stage 2: NOW FUCK

Stage 3: NOW BREAK EACH OTHER’S HEARTS AND THEN MEND THEM SLOWLY WHILE TOUCHING EACH OTHER WITH REVERENT, TREMBLING HANDS

[deoidesign]

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!!!

[xiaq]

One of the best things about being a writer is thinking of something small you can add to your work that’s just. Devastating. Like you’re sitting there going. Oh. That would be diabolical. People would get really riled up about that. Exquisite. Let’s do it.

[katabay]

kay, mordred, perceval; introductions

[eclipxium]

are they gay? not sure. are they hopelessly and entirely devoted to each other? i think we have enough evidence to say yes

[sneezingisnotnormal]

Goddamn I thought the yearning couldn’t get worse from the first book but Leo and Tristan are going for a record or smth this is insane they can’t literally both be yearning this openly for each other I will collapse

[quimerical]

GIRL you are KILLING IT! GIRL i don’t think it’s MOVING ANYMORE. GIRL you can STOP BITING

[lizzienoodles]

guy who's having gauzy idealized wife flashbacks for the whole adventure but it turns out she isn't dead or anything he just really misses her and wants to get home

[the-best-bibliophile]

@rochellehassan Tristan and Leo perhaps?? 😭😭😭

[uniasus]

Name Resources For Arthurian Tales

Needing lots of new characters names for this chapter/installment of Add A Seat To The Table, and my googling has re-led me to some resources I think all BBC Merlin writers might like. I usually like to take names from the 6th century for Merlin fics, but these resources cover more ground those who like to expand their inspirations.

https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/marieke/anglosaxonfem/ A collection of women names from royal charters from the Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms of Kent, Sussex, Hwicce, Essex, Northumbria, Mercia, and Wessex, from the seventh century to 1066 C.E.

https://www.s-gabriel.org/names/aelfwyn/bede.html Names of persons identified as a member of the group generally referred to as Anglo-Saxon (Angles, Saxons, Jutes, etc.) in Bede’s A History of the English Church and People completed in 731 A.D.

https://www.asnc.cam.ac.uk/personalnames/ Database of all the personal names from Roman Britain which are thought to contain Celtic elements

https://s-gabriel.org/names/index.shtml Medieval Name Archive (featuring names from world wide, not just Europe, and also places! Not just people!)

[cevn]

i am not immune to a brunette with sad eyes

[writeouswriter]

[lelif]

on survival

-// @aridante // @orivu // @buzzkillgirls // ? // ? // richard siken// @cemeterything // moomin, tove jansson// @disenchanted-killjoy // isn't that enough, shawn mendes// @ prettytheyswag on twitter// @ coletyumuch on twitter// ? // ? // bird by bird, anne lamott// undertale// @strawberrycircuits

[sophia-helix]

man, I could really go for some blorbos in a situation right now

[soobsoup]

tumblr, give me back my wheel of time dash. Where are the wheel of time posts

[extrawitchy]

Nynaeve al'Meara 💛

──done by @archamion

[bloodstainedgauntlet]

my knight you have to live you have to get up you have to put your hand over your wound and hold it there. you have to keep walking and walking and walking because you cannot lay down yet, it’s not time. wipe the blood off your breastplate and look up into the sun. lean on your sword if you need to. lift one foot after another. get up. get up. this would be a pitiful grave.

[safety-data-sheet]

“This would be a pitiful grave” is now my new go-to when I’m sad or upset. God that’s fire