Threeasfour Fall 2023 Couture
this is like looking at the original draft of the constitution
What able bodied authors think I, an amputee and a wheelchair user, would want in a scifi setting:
- Tech that can regenerate my old meat legs.
- Robot legs that work just like meat legs and are functionally just meat legs but robot
- Literally anything that would mean I don't have to use a wheelchair.
- If I do need to use a wheelchair, make it fly or able to "walk me" upstairs
What I actually want:
- Prosthetic covers that can change colour because I'm too indecisive to pick one colour/pattern for the next 5+ years.
- A leg that I can turn off (seriously, my above knee prosthetic has no off switch... just... why?)
- A leg that won't have to get refitted every time I gain or loose weight.
- A wheelchair that I can teleport to me and legs I can teleport away when I'm too tierd to keep walking. And vice versa.
- In that same vein, legs I can teleport on instead of having to fiddle around with the sockets for half an hour.
- Prosthetic feet that don't require me to wear shoes. F*ck shoes.
- Actually accessible architecture, which means when I do want to use my wheelchair, it's not an issue.
- Prosthetic legs with dragon-claw feet instead of boring human feet or just digigrade prosthetics that are just as functional as normal human-shaped ones.
- A manual wheelchair with the option to lift my seat up like those scissor-lift things so I'm not eye-level with everyone's butt on public transport/so I can reach the top shelf by myself.
- A prosthetic foot that lights up when it hits the ground like those children's shoes.
#don’t wanna hijack BUT#what hearing aid companies think I want: a way to make hearing aids hidden and subtle#what I actually want: LEMME HAVE MORE COLORS PLZ#and I wanna get those things that let you hang jewelry and stuff off of hearing aids!!#they went off with Bluetooth hearing aids tho that actually rules#disability#anyway op ur a genius
THIS SHOW IS SO PURE!
It’s worth noting that Kenneth spent the entire episode making the game (and the subsequent fight) as inclusive as possible for JJ and his disabled friends (all of whom were played by disabled actors/actresses).
BONUS:
Bonus #2
Of course I had to show the best part:
9 panel comic.
First comic panel shows the main character holding a pencil larger than themself and using it to draw a line. The caption says “ADHD Bri’s How To.” The sub caption says “writing alt text”. A disclaimer at the bottom states “this is an example of how I write my alt text and is not perfect nor the only way to write it.”
The second comic panel shows an example comic. The caption states “1. List how many and types of images.” The sub caption says “This lets tour audience know what to expect. Example: “Two panel comic.”
The third comic panel shows the same example comic focusing on the first panel. The caption states: “2. Clarify which image you are describing.” The sub caption says “example: “comic panel one.”
The fourth comic panel shows the example comic. The caption says “3. explain the visual elements of your image.” The sub caption says “example: comic panel one shows the main character leaning back in their chair with their foot on the table in front of them.”
The fifth comic panel’s caption says “Tips”. The sub caption says “use only tangible descriptors. If there are multiple characters, make sure to label which one you’re referring to. Don’t go overboard describing everything. Pick and choose which best tells your story.”
The sixth comic panel’s caption shows the same comic example. The caption says “4. Write the caption or spoken text in image.” The sub caption says “example: the main character asks “how tough am I? Let’s just say I’m not afraid of anything.””
The seventh comic panel’s caption says “Tips”. The sub caption says “the punctuation and symbols are not always screen reader friendly. Be mindful how you use any. If you intentionally misspell or use alternative spelling of something in the image, write it so it can be readable in the alt caption and specify it was written originally in a particular fashion or tone.”
The eighth comic panel shows the same example comic. The caption says “5.) Repeat steps 2-4 for any other image.”
The ninth comic panel shows the example comic. The caption says “The results.” The sub caption says “Two Panel Comic. Comic Panel one shows the main character leaning back in their chair with their foot on the table in front of them. The main character asks “How tough am I? Let’s just say I’m not afraid of anything.” Comic panel two shows a large figure looming over the main character with “making phone calls” written on its chest. The figure asks “you were saying?””
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. 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!
(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!!!
Cane-using occupational therapist here: this is overall an excellent guide. However, ONE item (only!) is not what you’ll learn in therapy: stairs!
The guideline we are taught is “up with the good, down with the bad”. You should be using the unaffected leg to lower the affected leg down when descending the stairs—it minimizes the amount of time you are weight-bearing on the weaker side.
And as someone who has spent way too much time using a cane, it works out that way exactly for fatigue, especially when you have to do a lot of stairs multiple times in a day (a.k.a. Hell).
Other than that, this is thoroughly excellent and well-researched. Just remember, the goal is to minimize the gravity on the affected side!
Happy disability pride month!
Did you know disabled people in the US can be paid below minimum wage? It's called sub-minimum wage.
Disabled people who are receiving disability benefits from the US government also risk losing their benefits if they get married, and in some cases can't even live with their partner (even if unmarried) or they risk losing benefits.
Disabled people are also regularly discriminated against at work, in housing, and socially.
We are underdiagnosed, underserved, overcharged, and mistreated at every turn.
There's still a lot of work to be done. Social inequality and subjugation is at every turn - we're more convenient to capitalism when we're dead.
But we're not here to be tolerated. We're here to thrive.
We deserve love, we deserve to take up space. Disability Pride is about accepting who you are in your entirety, and demanding the space and resources you deserve.
You're worth being proud of.
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. 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!
(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!!!
JEAN-LOUIS SABAJI Pre-Fall 2023 if you want to support this blog consider donating to: ko-fi.com/fashionrunways
That’s SO cool to see it explained
i would like to share my rock playlists with you all so here they are :)
my magnum opus. a playlist full of rock songs, or rock inspired songs, by black artists only. various rock genres and artists from different time periods have been added. pop punk, metal, post - hardcore, rock rap, etc.
similar to the playlist above, this is a playlist full of rock, or rock inspired songs, by black women. featuring both rock and rock sub genres as well as a heavy influence of rock in rap music as well.
women in rock and it’s sub genres ONLY! focusing on women of color, and particularly vocalists. playlist inspired after listening to sonic youth and starting kim gordon’s book! example artists: paramore, meet me @ the altar, tonight alive, and more.
a combination playlist of shoegaze, grunge, japanese rock, experimental rock, post - punk, and more. it’s all about the gloom and doom… laying on the floor type of music. also features some dream pop and indie music. example artists: slowdive, mazzy star, cocteau twins, deftones
a random mix of really good songs, particularly metal and post - hardcore, that’ll make you feel something. the lyrics can be kinda emotional, but fun! example artists: nine inch nails, ladybaby, johnny goth, poppy, babymetal
another big master playlist. throwing entire rock albums from various artists and genres. goth, pop punk, post - hardcore, metal, screamo, emo, etc. music ranges from the 80s to now. on shuffle you can hear anyone from the cure to my chemical romance to kittie, so on and forth.
remember watching emo sims 2 music videos on youtube when you were like 8? to songs like my immortal and all around me? that’s just this playlist.
japanese rock, progressive rock, and indie. short and simple. inspired by the movies all about lily chou chou and blue spring.
this is kind of niche but i love when the pop girls dip their toes into the rock genre and either: 1.) completely go from making pop to rock, 2.) make full on rock songs, 3.) make rock remixes to their pop songs, or 3.) make a pop / rock fusion song. this playlist is me trying to find as many as those as i can, as well as mixing in a few straight up rock songs [& its sub genres] that i can find. this playlist is a work in progress and a little experimental.
I am obsessed with this idea
a couple snippets from a presentation i gave at school this past week on storyboarding!!
‼️DISCLAIMER: I am a still a student and have only worked on student and indie projects! This is just stuff that I personally find helpful as an amateur, so feel free to take it with a grain of salt!
Happy boarding, friends! ✍️💕
So... I technically drew this 3 years ago but forgot to post it. I think I was going to clean up the end and make a nice recap, but I ran out of steam and then just left it as a wip for years. I got reminded of it because I was talking to a friend about how to draw wheelchairs today.
This covers most of what I view as the most common errors when it comes to drawing characters who use manual wheelchairs. I hope it helps you a lot.
Image description is in alt text, but there is a back up image description under the cut in case that does not work for some reason
Everyone gets “The 90s” look wrong so let’s fix it
If you weren’t here for part one, lemme sum it up real fast:
Okay, all up to speed? We’re being served 80s throwback stuff with the serial numbers scratched off, re-labeled as yo totally 90s. What we’ve got now isn’t completely wrong, but I’m telling you, there’s so much gold left unmined.
As we saw in part one with Memphis Milano, these things get messy. Trends don’t start and end neatly every ten years. The first wave of 90s throwback attempts focused on the early part of the decade, and nobody since really pushed to represent the other seven years. Well, if you really wanna do something, I guess you gotta do it yourself.
I have suggestions. Get your flannel ready, we’ve got a lot of ground to cover.
Analog Grunge
SURRRRRRRGE or uh, Grunge, is probably the look that defines the decade best. The big kickoff point here is Nirvana - after a shiny pop-dominated music scene in the 80s, Nevermind was like a breath of fresh smog.
Your design has to look like it survived a nuclear blast, then was run over by your parents’ Buick a couple of times.
- Rust. Dirt. Scuffs and scrapes. Signs of distress.
- Handwritten or scribbled illustrations.
- Low-rent aesthetics. Torn paper shapes, label maker or typewriter fonts.
If there’s a Comic Sans for the 90s, it’s “distressed typewriter font.” Seriously, it’s mandatory. When I pulled images for this post I could not escape typewriter fonts. I don’t think you couldn’t call yourself a respectable designer without it. Just look at how much mileage old-timey typewriters and label makers got:
Hell, it’s the giant X in The X Files!
I think another component to Grunge is sort of an anti-digital, pro-analog message. My pet theory is home computers went from being a semi-common novelty in 1990 to an essential gotta-have-it purchase in every American home by ‘99. Desktop publishing apps made it almost too easy to make pixel-perfect, clean, uniform designs. Digital photography and scanners meant you could now publish full color photographs with ease.
But digital perfection is the enemy of Grunge. Analog means authenticity.
So you had a whole gaggle of designers running in the other direction. Sure you could use a computer, but your work absolutely had to look like it didn’t come from one. As much as possible, incorporate hand-drawn artwork, scribbles, dust and splotches. Write text with chicken scratch if you have to. As much as you could make your multimillion dollar ad campaign look like it came from the margins of some high schoolers’ math homework, the better.
Factory Pomo
Not everyone was running away from digital, though. Many designers were embracing computer apps - and I think that’s where Factory Pomo first came into being. Coined by designer Froyo Tam (that’s their logo up above!) Factory Pomo is one of those things that once you see an example, you can’t stop seeing it.
- Strong, basic geometric primitives with inverted, contrasting colors
- Tall typography
- Art Deco style rivets and spikes
Want your logo to look futuristic and modern? Stick it in a circle and put some triangles around. Invert half the colors, then another half.
Max Krieger has a great writeup on the probable inflection point: Tomorrowland. As the story goes, Tomorrowland at Disney - the part of the park meant to look like it’s from the future - would very quickly look very outdated each time they tried to update it. Instead, in 1994 they decided to own being outdated. They came up with a ridiculously fun “timeless” futuristic look, mixing industrial design with Jules Verne. Factory Pomo’s signature was all over the blueprints.
The look quickly escaped the theme park and was especially prevalent in the booming mid 90s home computer market. It’s the Packard Bell cyborg, it’s the logo in Video Toaster. If you caught that The X Files logo earlier is both Factory Pomo with the tall type and X in a ring AND Grunge with the typewriter X in the background, you win 5 bonus Pogs.
And it’s a stretch, but one could draw a line between Factory Pomo’s inverted black and whites and the Ska movement’s two-tone checkerboards. Maybe. Possibly. I’d have to call Tony Hawk to double check.
Back to Froyo Tam for a second, but that bit about them coining the term? That was in 2017. “Factory Pomo” didn’t have a name for like… 25 years. How’s that possible, you may wonder? Weren’t designers following a defined style? Well, yes and no. I think people were designing stuff to look a certain way, but it’s less a game of “this is what the aesthetic looks like” and more like a game of telephone.
If you do an architecture tour in a major city, you’ll learn that every building and skyscraper is classified to a specific architectural movement. Every building that is but ones built in the last 20-30 years. Newer buildings have to wait a few decades for official classification. Historians need time and perspective to figure out what emerging trends in architecture are going on, whose work influenced who, that sort of thing.
Designing a logo for Slim Jims or Cherry Coke takes considerably less time than constructing a skyscraper, but I think the same principle holds true. It’s really difficult to tell what’s a trend and what’s a fad when you’re living in the moment. I couldn’t tell you what’s the defining aesthetic for the 2020s right now. It’ll be obvious in 2053, but right now, no clue.
Enough time has passed between the nineties and today that we can pick this stuff apart easily. Maybe if you’re lucky, you can be the first to classify these design movements, too.
Working on a part three! I’ll look into a few other trends and address the big question– Is the Y2K aesthetic actually a 90s thing? More to come.
*A ton of these examples above are from the CARI Institute, which you should totally check out, they’ve been cataloging this stuff for years.
The time this woman is taking to educate is much appreciated!
I’ve got mad respect for the effort that goes into taking care and styling these hair types 💜
Considering black ladies and girls start a intense hair routine as early as three, they get all my respect.