Everyone's Favorite Tuna *:･ﾟ✧

Im sorry if this is a dumb question but how would someone use a white cane to locate and go down stairs, specifically if they are at the top of the stairwell. I'm asking because im the story Im writing a blind character (who is the protagonist btw) has to go downstairs to reunite with his younger sibling but he cant take the elevators because the power is out (and there's a monster chasing after him so that doesnt help) I want to make sure I write this scene accurately, especially since I am sighted and do not use a white cane myself. Thanks in advance and sorry again if this is a dumb question.

Hi! Not a dumb question at all. I will do my best to explain it in writing. Most blind people are perfectly comfortable using stairs if they have cane skills, so I appreciate that you aren’t shying away from having your blind character using them.

Finding the top step is super easy. You just tap or slide the tip of your cane around until you find the place where the floor drops off, and then briefly slide the tip of the cane along the edge of the step so you can orient your body to go down the stairs at the right angle and not accidentally go down diagonal or anything like that.

Actually going down the stairs with a white cane is pretty easy as well, because the nice part about using a white cane as opposed to a guide dog or a low vision aid is that the cane can give you an exact idea of the size and depth of the step, so you aren’t left wondering until you actually step down.

The tip of your cane should always be two steps ahead of you. This applies for going up as well as down. So if the character is standing at the top of the steps, he would put his cane down on the step in front of him, which will give him a clear idea of the height and depth of the step, and then put the tip down one more step beyond that. As he steps down, the tip of the cane should move down to the next step beyond that, so every time he steps, the cane is still two steps ahead. He will know he is at the bottom when his cane slides forward on the floor of the landing instead of finding another step dropoff. Having the cane two full steps ahead will give him enough time to slow down when he finds the bottom with his cane so he doesn’t try to step down again onto flat floor.

In case you are also interested in how he could go up the stairs as well, the two-step rule still applies, but it’s slightly different. Every time he takes a step up, he should be tapping his cane against the front of the step two steps up. When he is approaching the top, his cane won’t have another front of a step to tap, so it will just swing out into open air, which is how he will know he is approaching the top and can slow down for the last two steps and not accidentally try to step up again onto empty air.

If he has been using a cane for a long time, this should feel totally natural and shouldn’t slow him down at all. It becomes muscle memory and second nature pretty quickly, so he should be able to get down the stairs as fast as he needs to without incident or worry.

I hope this made sense!

— Mod Lane

penacony game night! 🍕🎮 (zoom in for a bunch of easter eggs :])

I've seen people making up different story arcs on what will happen after the Noroshi War so here's mine.

*Manga spoilers ahead*

Maybe in the future, Nii Satoru-sensei might create a story arc about a sukeban*.

*A sukeban is a delinquent girl gang that emerged in Japan from the 1960s to 1970s.

History

Credits: yaz1ska on Instagram

Sukebans were formed due to bōsōzoku a.k.a. male biker gangs or the yakuza not accepting female members. The rise of sukebans has a huge impact on the feminist movement in Japan. Each gang has their own rules, hierarchy, and ways of punishment. E.g. Cigarette burns were considered a minor punishment if a gang member was disrespecting a senior member or stealing a boyfriend.

My thoughts if it were to come true

If the author included a story arc about a girl gang, I would have faith in him. I mean look at how well-written & well-designed the ladies in wind breaker are.

Credits: Pinterest

Credits: Mangapill

*I love how the author would draw sketches of Kotoha with major characters such as Tsubakino and Sakura. This means that Kotoha is more important than we have initially thought. Moreover, kudos to Nii Satoru-sensei for not sexualising Kotoha. I am sick and tired of mangakas sexualising female characters for no reason.*

Credits: Nii Satoru on X

Not to mention many of us know that Nii Satoru-sensei is good at writing complex characters such as Tsubakino.

Credits: MyFigureCollection

Story Arc, Characters & Operation

As for how this story arc will be executed, I believe it will cover topics such as feminism, struggles of womanhood and mistreatment of women.

Moving on to how this sukeban operates, here's my input. I believe everything they do is the complete opposite of Bofurin. E.g. instead of protecting their own town, they protect themselves. This is because the town they live in is also the complete opposite of Makochi, hostile and narrow-minded.

*I just thought of making this sukeban the complete opposite of Bofurin because I think it's interesting to see their reactions. It's also hilarious because the opposite of a boy gang is a girl gang. Get it? Okay, I'll stop.*

I also believe maybe this sukeban and its base can act as a sanctuary for women of its town who were mistreated by men such as giving them food, shelter etc.

I believe the overall vibe that they give is going to be like the military instead of high school.

As for their leader, maybe she'll be the opposite of Umemiya, stoic and serious. However, it is interesting if she was a good leader like Umemiya because so far we've only seen bad leaders in Wind Breaker.

As for their gang name, maybe it will be associated with elements such as water or space. This is because the other gangs e.g. Bofurin 防風鈴 is named after the wind element, Noroshi 狼煙 is named after the fire element, Gravel and Shishitoren 獅子頭連 are named after the earth element along with KEEL is named after or related to the metal element.

*I know that Shishitoren are named after animals but animals are also related to Earth sooo*

Final Thoughts

Overall, this is just a random thought of mine that I just want to share. If Nii Satoru-sensei doesn't include a story arc that talks about girl gangs, I won't be disappointed or upset as long as he writes a good story.

*P.S.. this is my first time ranting about an anime so feel free to critique or educate me if I've made a mistake. Also, I still have some opinions regarding this sukeban idea so should I create a part 2?*

So, I've been writing a blind character who cooks. So far, I've written him as being someone who relies a lot on routine and habit, who navigates the kitchen by touch and by memory. He's a bit rigid, and insists on using his own tools, which are color coded (he can see them up close with what residual vision he has) and marked with braille, but I was wondering what other tools a blind person might use when cooking.

A Bunch of Stuff For Blind People Who Want to Cook

I don’t know where and when your story takes place, so what is used might change depending on the character. Here are some options to get you started. There are many tools and techniques devoted to making cooking easier. I don’t know as much about the subject, so I’ll do my best. Please add any other ideas in the notes.

First, the creator @canseecantsee on YouTube and TikTok is an excellent resource. She has lots of videos showcasing how she cooks and does various daily tasks. She demonstrates the use of many tools, such as heat resistant gloves and high contrast items. Here is a video in which she demonstrates chopping vegetables.

Notice the high contrast items such as the yellow chopping board and purple knife. In the video, she demonstrates use of the towel or a place mat beneath the cutting board to prevent slipping. As she cuts a cucumber, tomatoes, and onions, she also uses a technique that allows her to feel the edge of the item so that she knows where she wants to cut and how thick the slices will be.

Here is a video by TheBlindLife showcasing his accessible kitchen. He has excellent points on the importance of contrast, from color contrast to shape contrast. The video includes

bump dots

labels

high contrast colors of tools

high contrast plates and bowls

talking scale and thermometer

heat resistant gloves

and alternatives for glass cups

High contrast is important and can be created by being mindful of the kind of countertops or tables used. For example, in the video, there is a triangular plate that is decorated like a pizza slice. Eating on this plate might cause food to get lost visually, especially food that has the same colors as the plate. Much like the plate, counters or tablecloths with busy patterns might cause items to be harder to see due to lack of contrast. Plain counters, tables, or tablecloths make items stand out more.

Additionally, creating contrast between surfaces and the items on them is helpful. The table is a dark wood? Light plates, bowls, and cups it is. The counter is plain white? The plates and bowls are a dark color.

For glass cups, the video offers solid, colorful plastic cups that offer better contrast. The fact that glasses are clear makes them even more of a challenge and colorful plastic alleviates that concern. However, if someone wants to use glass cups, they can use some that are either made with colorful glass or have color somewhere on them. This might help depending on the contrast and lighting.

In addition to memory, your character can also use labels and various markers. Sharpie, different colors and shapes, textural elements like bump dots, actual Braille or large print labels, tape, stickers, string, or ribbon. Label makers are great, but plenty of other options exist, particularly considering the aesthetic the kitchen has. He may also enjoy decorating this way since he has residual vision. Ribbons tied around containers of sugar, salt, and flour can be cute and functional.

A few other ideas after searching cooking stuff:

talking items, such as a blender, rice cooker, or microwave oven

marking speed on electric mixers or other devices

talking, high contrast, or large print timers

funnel or liquid level indicator

Braille or large print labeled measuring cups

individual bowls for portions, such as soup, rice, sauces, proteins, etc. Different shapes, sizes, or color could also indicate what food item typically goes in what bowl.

You can also come up with other ideas by thinking about what your character would use and how that might be done more easily. While I prefer characters use blindness techniques and assistive devices, people also naturally make things easier for themselves through organization and creating their own labels. A person who cooks might also be able to distinguish certain ingredients by smell or texture.

Another tip I have is to watch blind content creators on social media. Chances are, some of them show themselves cooking or discuss how they do it.

Lighting is also going to be a big deal. The kitchen will need good lighting, both overhead and under cabinets. Natural lighting is also great, although this is not as reliable or constant.

What he uses might also depend on various factors such as income; how often a character cooks; amount of available space; time period and setting; cultural practices around cooking, eating, and utensils used; access to the blind community; willingness to use assistive devices for blind people; any internalized ableism or ableism from family; and level of vision.

Hope that helps.

Writing Tips

Punctuating Dialogue

✧

➸ “This is a sentence.”

➸ “This is a sentence with a dialogue tag at the end,” she said.

➸ “This,” he said, “is a sentence split by a dialogue tag.”

➸ “This is a sentence,” she said. “This is a new sentence. New sentences are capitalized.”

➸ “This is a sentence followed by an action.” He stood. “They are separate sentences because he did not speak by standing.”

➸ She said, “Use a comma to introduce dialogue. The quote is capitalized when the dialogue tag is at the beginning.”

➸ “Use a comma when a dialogue tag follows a quote,” he said.

“Unless there is a question mark?” she asked.

“Or an exclamation point!” he answered. “The dialogue tag still remains uncapitalized because it’s not truly the end of the sentence.”

➸ “Periods and commas should be inside closing quotations.”

➸ “Hey!” she shouted, “Sometimes exclamation points are inside quotations.”

However, if it’s not dialogue exclamation points can also be “outside”!

➸ “Does this apply to question marks too?” he asked.

If it’s not dialogue, can question marks be “outside”? (Yes, they can.)

➸ “This applies to dashes too. Inside quotations dashes typically express—“

“Interruption” — but there are situations dashes may be outside.

➸ “You’ll notice that exclamation marks, question marks, and dashes do not have a comma after them. Ellipses don’t have a comma after them either…” she said.

➸ “My teacher said, ‘Use single quotation marks when quoting within dialogue.’”

➸ “Use paragraph breaks to indicate a new speaker,” he said.

“The readers will know it’s someone else speaking.”

➸ “If it’s the same speaker but different paragraph, keep the closing quotation off.

“This shows it’s the same character continuing to speak.”

is this anything

yuri in stem

tO CHORANDO

DECIDE 'HOW'

Decide how they went bind. Was it a disease or an accident? If it was a disease, you need to determine what it was. The disease you choose will affect your character's vision in a specific way.

Macular degeneration and retinitis pigmentosa will create two very different changes to vision. Get very specific with research.

If it was an accident, you need to get very specific about the details of that accident and research whether what you're suggesting is actually possible.

A head trauma might create a tear in the retina which would certainly affect vision, but retina tears are actually fixable through surgery in most cases (not all, but most).

A chemical burn would damage the layers of the eye enough to cause blindness, but you need to be specific on what chemical it was, way type of burn it might cause, and how badly it would affect the skin surrounding the eyes.

Going the trauma/accident route is very easy to mess up and prone to being melodramatic. Choose well!

WHAT THEY SEE

Using what you've researched, decide exactly what your character sees.

Be very specific. Keep in mind that 90% of blind people at least have some remaining vision, even if it's very little.

It might be shadow and light perception, so they see more outside in the sun than they do at night. They can still be light sensitive if they have light perception.

They might see shadows moving in front of a light source, but see almost nothing at night. They may only see the light source (like lamp or headlights) and see darkness everywhere else.

Your character might have color vision still, or some vision acuity that allows them to distinguish some shapes from others but still prevents from seeing details.

Your character might have terrible depth perception, and this makes stairs and curbs impossible to perceive and they might knock something over because they perceived it as being farther away than it was, or feel frustrated when they reach for something they though was a few feet in front of them and is actually closer to ten feet away.

See the World From Their POV

Put yourself in every scene or location your character will be in and determine what they can see in the moment. Even if you are narrating from a different character's perspective, you need to know.

Using this, you need to know what your character knows, especially if your blind character is important to the plot. They can't see the small print on that sign, the dried bit of blood on someone's shoes, a shadow sinking into an alley, or even if that blurry blob twenty feet away is a trashcan or a person.

Make It Resonable

If your character is meant to be uncovering these clues, you need to find a reasonable way for them to figure it out.

Is there a sighted companion who points visual clues out to the blind partner? Do they have magnifiers to read small print?

Are they good at sneaking around and overhearing people from a distance? Are they just great and knowing when someone's lying by the tone of their voice?

Are they working with a team?

They don't necessarily have to have "superpowers" to figure things out!

The Narrative Voice

1st Person

This allows readers to inhabit the character and see what they see, or don't see.

You have to work in terms of what your character can/cannot perceive, which can make description hard and can easily slip up and forget that your character can't see that street sign.

3rd Person

Your readers will probably forget how blind your character is if they read pages and pages with great visual description and then be surprised when your character verbally remarks that they didn't see X and Y.

You still have to work with what they can realistically see and it's much easier to forget in 3rd person

If you like my blog, buy me a coffee! ☕

Have a writing question? My inbox is always open!

Welcome to the express