So within two days of each other, Fox News writes an article comparing aromanticism and asexuality to pedophilia, and then Matt Walsh releases a video saying asexuality is a mental illness and asexuals are tricking teenagers into having depression.
Not sure what’s going on right now over in Conservative World, but it’s a hell of wild U-turn for them to suddenly switch from “Oh no! The left is sexualizing our children!” to “Oh no! The left is asexualizing our children!”
It’s a reminder, I guess, that they’re coming for all of us. The fash and the white supremacists will not make nice distinctions between the queers when they put us up against the wall. There is no gatekeeping, no label-policing, no purity-purging and no assimilation that any of us can do that will save us. They want us dead, and while they’ll start with whoever is most vulnerable at any given time, they’ll get around to all of us eventually.
Queer solidarity means all of us because the fash are coming for all of us.
All Dividers are Feds. Stand united or die separately.
if tumblr ever starts forcing us to censor kill and die and murder and fuck and cunt and fag i’m deleting my account and starting an email chain with the mutuals
Wait I just thought about it and it might be cute to bring back wholesome church camp swear-swaps like frick,heck, jeez, mothertrucker. Sometimes the way ppl post we might need a lil. Swear jar,,
absolutely fucking not.
I still use “heck” depending on the context. “Heckin cute” just sounds more wholesome than “Fucking cute”. It’s all in the tone.
Also it’s sometimes so much funnier to use non swears.
I still think about that scene from Night In The Woods where (spoilers) Mae has a near death experience and a mascot shark in the darkness says “You’ve been Danged to Heck” and laugh about it.
You’re all missing the point luvs 💚 peace and love
“No guys don’t worry getting censored is like, soooooo fun we can have sleepover activities like making up words that are less impactful to not upset advertisers ” SHUT the fuck up please
Hi Neil! I also volunteer with a prison book program. Prison Book Program in Quincy, MA is one of the oldest in the country, and sends books to all 50 states as well as prisons in Puerto Rico and Guam. They have a list of other programs here as well: https://prisonbookprogram.org/prisonbooknetwork/
Prison book programs are so, so necessary because US prison libraries aren't required to provide anything but legal texts, but books are a lifeline for incarcerated people. It's some of the most fulfilling work I've ever done!
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!
ALT
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!
ALT
(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.
ALT
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)
ALT
(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!!!
I know I’ve been over this but man HRT is good stuff. I wanna shake the hand of whoever invented it. It’s a crime that I don’t know who that is actually. They’re more important than Einstein
id also been really curious about the history of hrt so i had some tabs open:
The first hrt treatments were mostly estrogen extracted during pregnancies to be used for menopause symptoms, but the first usage of those medicines for trans women is credited to the world’s first Trans Clinic, opened in pre-WW2 Germany by Magnus Hirschfield, a gay jewish man.
Oh he looks delightful
Thank you grandpa
The comparasion to Einstein was actually made at the time too! He was commonly refered to as “the Einstein of sex”, to which he supposedly once replied that he would rather Einstein be called “the Hirschfeld of physics” lmao
Oh my god
Oh the other man with him in the photo is Li Shiu Tong, his boyfriend and fellow researcher! He’s a really fascinating figure too, and rescued some of their findings and papers from the clutches of the Nazis!
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