Happy Anniversary Pride And Prejudice

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!

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.

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!

(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. 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 your homies make a request at Midnight you simply have to respond… So here’s Hunter with a stache, a beard, and some braids yo

Bilbo smells like sweet pipe weed grown in his family garden for generations and apple tarts heavy with cinnamon and brown sugar--like home

Thorin smells like coal fire--he works in forges all the time and the smell just never can get out of his clothes or hair

Fili smells like lavender and thyme once they're no longer on the run--he takes pride in keeping himself clean and takes comfort in the herbal scents

Kili smells like pine and sprucewood--more elf than dwarf, he's always in the forests, exploring and climbing and getting sap all over himself

Balin smells like paper and gentle, pleasant tobacco smoke--a librarian and aide to the bone (or nose!)

Dwalin smells like rock--sharp iron, axe blades and whetstones

Bofur smells like linen-scented cotton and soft wood--he's a toymaker before he's a miner

(No Bifur sorry)

Bombur just somehow always smells like cake, vanilla to be exact--it's a rich but deep scent and it doesn't leave even if he's been on the road for months

Nori smells like sharp grease and oil--no valid reason tbh

Dori smells like cherry blossoms and white wine --no one knows how he manages that

Ori smells like paper too--but you can also smell how much chalk and charcoal dust he ends up with at the end of a long day of sketching

Óin smells like a sharp, pungent but not unpleasant mixture of several different types of herbs and poultices--and the polished leather bag he carries them in

Glóin is happily married and off limits for these types of fics but I'll tell you anyway--he smells like peat moss and a bit of bergamot

Elrond smells like candle wax, sage, and dust--not unpleasant dust, just the kind that is drawn to things ancient and worth dusting off

Lindir smells like water that runs over smooth beds of rocks, coupled with a light bit of lily

Thranduil smells like a king ("a proper one," he would probably sneer)--like rich, dark wood and brandy and the sweet smell of pastries that indicate decadence, but not so much to be gaudy

Legolas smells like undergrowth and his own special musk (he's always moving and doing) masked by a sort of bourbon-scented special cologne--you could describe it as charred oak and syruped cherries

Calling all The Hobbit lovers!

Everyone I need some help! So you know how in stories people always describe their love interests smell, like fresh linen and strawberries or smoke, clove and oranges, well I want to hear what smell you would associate with Fili and Kili? (And the rest of the company or that matter) would they smell sharp like a citrus? Soft like lavender? What?

I want to see what different people think and how they interpret the characters!

Reblog and tell me what you think they and any others in the hobbit (dwarf, hobbit and elf alike) would smell like!

It is pathetic that International Women's Day is necessary.

Treat women respectfully everyday and not just one day in the standard year.

ATTENTION

If you see this you are OBLIGATED to reblog w/ the song currently stuck in your head :)

ANDOR Episode 6: The Eye

Describe the plot/concept of something you're working on in the tags, but poorly.

I never reblog things like this, but I NEED a part two

A single, yellow Dandelion

(Kíli Durin x Female Reader)

(Not my gifs, credit goes to the creators)

Middle-Earth Masterlist

My Main Blog Masterlist

Requested by: Anon

Requests: Open

Fandom: The Hobbit Trilogy 

Request: ‘ Anonymous asked:Hello! I really love your blog and am excited that you made one dedicated to middle-earth :D I was wondering if I may make a request for Kili x fem!reader during their quest. I’m a sucker for the “accidentally braids their hair without knowing what it means” trope but you can do whatever you’d like :D I hope you have a great day!’

I adored this idea, and it took me so long to right, haha. I am such a fan of this trope, I could not help it. I am obsessed. I need more of this trope so I went on a tangent.

Warnings: Angst, accidental braiding, rejection, and romance. Not in that order, I warn you.

Words: 6.1K (The longest I have written)

Disclaimer: This is a fanfiction, the scenarios, the reader, and the dialogue are all mine. I also made up all this courting stuff and traditions, I researched courting braids as well as I could and I read somewhere the Dwarrow tries to impress the Dam… you will see.

This should only be found on my blog.

Author is always me on this blog @daydreams-magic01-mrsdurin ​ .

A/N: Please do not copy or plagiarise this, or put it in your own book, etc. It should only be found here. Also, please mention if I should make a taglist and if you wanted to be added. I also tried by best at being British.

I tagged ‘Bilbo x reader’ and ‘Bilbo Baggins x reader’ because of their friendship, so if you want platonic friendships with the two ta-da.

Thank you.

:)

Keep reading

🥹💕

They call themselves… The Bad Batch.

Happy Bad Batch eve, everyone! <3

50 WORDS TO USE INSTEAD OF “SAID”

Do you ever find yourself over-using the word “said” in your writing? Try using these words/phrases instead:

stated

commented

declared

spoke

responded

voiced

noted

uttered

iterated

explained

remarked

acknowledged

mentioned

announced

shouted

expressed

articulated

exclaimed

proclaimed

whispered

babbled

observed

deadpanned

joked

hinted

informed

coaxed

offered

cried

affirmed

vocalized

laughed

ordered

suggested

admitted

verbalized

indicated

confirmed

apologized

muttered

proposed

chatted

lied

rambled

talked

pointed out

blurted out

chimed in

brought up

wondered aloud

(NOTE: Keep in mind that all of these words have slightly different meanings and are associated with different emotions/scenarios.)