lavrynn

[lavrynn]

Writing Seizures

 Latest installment in Disability Writing Guides! As always, feel free to add something, or come into my ask box with a question, comment, or request. 

This post is intended as a writing resource, not medical advice or a comprehensive exploration of seizures or seizure disorders.

Vocab

A seizure is a brief change in normal brain activity. Sometimes this is visible and sometimes not. They can last variable lengths of time and occur with varying frequency depending on the cause. They can be caused by epilepsy, trauma, illness, drug use, or any number of other factors.

Epilepsy is a general term for brain disorder characterized by frequent seizures. A person can have seizures without having epilepsy. Epilepsy is not a distinct diagnosis; there are many different types.

Epilepsy is diagnosed after a patient either has two seizures, or one seizure and an EEG that shows the potential for future seizures.

Again: If a person seizes more than once, they are medically defined as epileptic. A person can be diagnosed as epileptic after only having one seizure if their EEG shows potential for more.

Rescue meds are medications given to stop a seizure currently in progress.

Antiseizure drugs or ASDs, also known as anticonvulsants or antiepileptics, are drugs taken daily to prevent seizures from occurring. These are different from rescue meds.

Status epilepticus is a seizure that lasts longer than five minutes or having a seizure and then seizing again within five minutes without regaining full consciousness. Status epilepticus is extremely dangerous and can cause brain injury or death. Someone experiencing status epilepticus needs immediate medical attention. 

Generally speaking, serious intervention would begin before the seizure reached its fifth minute. If someone is seizing past four minutes with no sign of stopping, the people timing the seizure should not wait until five minutes to call 911, administer rescue meds, etc.

A seizure cluster is when a person experiences two or more seizures within a 24 hour period.

A nonepileptic event is an event that may look like a seizure but is produced by a different condition. Examples include ticcing due to Tourette’s or a heart arrhythmia causing a person to pass out suddenly.

Tonic refers to the muscles in the body becoming stiff.

Atonic means the muscles in the body relaxing.

Clonic refers to periods of shaking or jerking in parts of the body.

Myoclonic also refers to short jerking in parts of the body, but is generally more localized/occurring in a smaller area of the body.

Types of Seizures

I’m not going to go through every type of seizure, but I will go over some basics. This is massively simplified, and intended as a general writing resource, not technical or medical knowledge. Feel free to correct if I’m saying something wrong, or add detail.

Seizures are first divided into two overarching groups. Generalized seizures mean that excessive or unusual electric signals are being discharged across the entire brain. Focal or partial seizures mean that excessive or unusual electric signals are being discharged in one specific part of the brain.

Tonic-clonic seizures are the kind most commonly portrayed in media. They involve a total loss of consciousness and involuntary muscle contractions and shaking or jerking in parts of the body. This type of seizure may begin as a focal seizure or a myoclonic seizure (more on this later), but a tonic-clonic seizure is always generalized. Also - this type of seizure was formerly known as grand mal, but this is an outdated term and no longer used.

Myoclonic seizures are partial seizures, characterized by the sudden, involuntary twitching of a muscle or group of muscles. People retain consciousness during these seizures, but do not have control over their body or movements.

Atonic seizures, also called drop seizures or akinetic seizures, cause the sudden loss of muscle strength. They’re called drop seizures as they often (but not always!) cause a person to drop to the ground. A person experiencing an atonic seizure generally remains conscious.

Focal, partial, or absence seizures are seizures that do not involve the whole brain. They can involve repetitive movement like muscle jerking, but more often are characterized by being “frozen,” feeling “out of it,” or “staring into space.” It may be difficult for observers to tell that someone is seizing. This type of seizure was formerly known as petit mal, but this an outdated term and is no longer used.

Focal onset aware seizures, formerly known as “simple partial seizures,” occur when someone has a partial seizure and retains consciousness and awareness. Someone can look unaware and still be aware when experiencing this type of seizure. This type of seizure may involve feeling “frozen” or repeated small muscle movements.

Focal onset impaired awareness seizures, formerly known as “complex partial seizures,” occur when someone has a partial seizure and loses consciousness or awareness. This is type of seizure may involve feeling “out of it,” “staring into space,” or a loss of memory.

In describing a seizure (in modern-day America), the convention followed is seizure type, awareness level, and sometimes, where a seizure begins if it is a partial seizure. Thus, you get diagnoses like “Focal onset impaired awareness seizures arising from the temporal lobe,” “Focal onset atonic aware seizures arising in the frontal lobe,” or “General onset tonic-clonic seizures.”

These diagnoses are very wordy, and are sometimes shortened. Drop seizures or absence seizures are typically used as more casual terms. Also, as seizures generally begin in one of the four lobes of the brain, epilepsy is sometimes described by which lobe the seizures arise in (temporal lobe epilepsy, occipital lobe epilepsy, etc.)

Process of a Seizure

An aura is a feeling, sensation, or “warning” experienced by a person who is about to seize. Auras tend to present the same way over and over. Someone may not have auras, or recognize an aura as being a prelude to a seizure. Sometimes, an aura occurs and a seizure does not follow. Basically, there are no real rules with auras, but they are pretty common, and are generally not observable except to the person experiencing them.

Fun fact: people who have migraines also tend to have auras! It is believed that Lewis Carrol wrote Alice in Wonderland while experiencing a pre-migraine aura.

The ictal period refers to the experience of an actual seizure, when electrical activity in the brain is at its most intense. What a seizure itself looks or feels like depends on the type of seizures a person experiences, and y’all should conduct research into that for your characters.

Some people need rescue meds administered every time they seize. Others are only supposed to be given if they seize for a certain amount of time (longer than two minutes, for instance). Meds can be administered as nasal sprays, rectally, or tucked under the tongue or into the cheek. Rescue medications are only injected in hospital settings.

Remember that regardless of how often a character seizes or how long they’ve had epilepsy, seizing for more than five minutes, or multiple times within five minutes without regaining consciousness, is a medical emergency. Rescue meds should be administered and whatever medical intervention is appropriate for your setting should be immediately undertaken.

The post-ictal stage occurs after a seizure ends and lasts anywhere from five to thirty minutes. This is the period when a person is still experiencing after affects from their seizure, like confusion, drowsiness, hypertension, headaches, or nausea. Not everyone experiences post-ictal symptoms, and a person may continue to feel exhausted, irritated, or “out of it” more than thirty minutes after they seize.

Seizure Etiquette

Seizures can be surprising and very noticeable. A person that is seizing still deserves privacy. In your story, they should be given privacy, and good friends/teammates/co-characters could steer other people away or block them from being a public spectacle while they seize.

Do not have anyone put anything in a seizing character’s mouth. Ever. This is not necessary and can be dangerous, as a person can choke, or the person attempting to put something in their mouth could get accidentally bitten.

Do not restrain a person that is seizing. The character seizing or the character attempting to restrain them could get hurt, and the restraints are not going to be helpful whatsoever. Characters can move chairs or place cushions to keep a seizing character from hitting them; do not attempt to stop the seizing character’s body from moving how it will.

If necessary, the person seizing can be placed on their side, otherwise, do not attempt to move them.

If a non-epileptic character seizes, it is an emergency. Epilepsy can arise spontaneously at any age, but seizing with no prior history of seizures is a big deal, and the causes for a seizure need to be checked out to understand what caused it.

If your characters have access to medical knowledge and medical treatment, it would be realistic to have them time the seizure so that they know if a character needs rescue meds or has entered status epilepticus.

Rescue meds can be very, very expensive. A character will likely not receive rescue medication every time they seize, especially if their condition is largely stable.

It can be scary and emotional to watch someone seize. Feelings of fear and helplessness are common, especially if what’s needed is for characters to stand and wait to see if the seizing individual needs further help. It’s okay for your characters to feel that and react to that.

Things to Know

Epilepsy mostly presents in childhood and in people older than 60, but can arise at any age. Repeated seizures caused by an underlying condition (brain injury, tumors, strokes) are still considered epileptic seizures, and the person that has them, epileptic.

Repeating it once more: If your character seizes more than once, they are medically defined as epileptic.

The vast majority of seizures do not cause brain damage, or any other kind of damage. They can be frightening, distracting, inconvenient, upsetting, confusing - any number of things. But the vast majority do not cause physical harm, besides the bruises or scrapes that may come from muscle contraction or losing awareness.

Some seizures do cause brain damage. If you’re writing this scenario, please do some research into the type of seizure that would cause brain damage and what kind of brain damage that would be. Do not, for instance, have your character experience a tonic-clonic seizure and then come back in a wheelchair with no further explanation.

Sometimes, the muscle contractions of a seizure can cause spit or foam to collect around someone’s mouth. Sometimes, people bite their tongue, and this foam or spit can appear bloody. No internal injuries occur as a result of a seizure. Any bloody foam or spit is a result of a bitten tongue or cheek, and nothing more.

People who are seizing sometimes lose bowel or bladder control. This is not something they have any control over, but can still be embarrassing and is sometimes a reality of living with seizures.

In the United States, driving laws vary from state to state, but generally a person needs to be seizure free for a period of months (usually 3-6) before they are allowed to drive. The restrictions on driving commercially are much stricter.

Someone diagnosed in childhood may grow out of their epilepsy. Some estimates put the number of kids that will outgrow their epilepsy above 50%. If someone is seizure free for 2-5 years, they may begin to lessen their ASD dose, and may continue until they are no longer medicated at all.

Someone diagnosed in old age will not typically have a spontaneous remission of seizures.

Epilepsy can have a genetic basis or it can arise spontaneously. The fact that it can be passed from parent to child has been the basis of discrimination for a very long time. Be aware of this.

For much of human history, having epilepsy has been hugely stigmatized, and people with epilepsy have been routinely persecuted, particularly in the Western world under the banner of eugenics. As recently as the 1970s, many states were still forcibly sterilizing epileptic people. In writing a character with epilepsy, be aware that the diagnosis carries a heavy weight of stigma and painful history.

Though epilepsy and people who have epilepsy have long been stigmatized and persecuted, it has also long been regarded as a mystical illness, closely tied to spirituality and religion. In many places, people who have seizures are considered to be in religious ecstasy, having visions, or are chosen by higher powers. Consider the setting in which your story takes place and if this kind of thinking would realistically occur. Keep in mind that this view of epilepsy and seizures is not necessarily a positive thing.

Accessibility and Treatment

If you are writing a character who only seizes once (and the setting allows for it), proper treatment would consist of visiting whatever medical establishment exists in your universe, and monitoring or testing to determine the cause of a seizure and if another is likely to occur.

Even though your character is not going to seize again and does not have epilepsy, consider how the single seizure may affect your character. What did it mean to them to (perhaps publicly) lose control of their body or brain?

If your character does have epilepsy, their life will change or has always  looked different because of that epilepsy. For example, someone with epilepsy may not be allowed to drive, or may have never learned to drive. It is not safe for someone who has uncontrolled epilepsy to live alone. How would these considerations affect your character’s life and independence?

Think about how having seizures would apply to your character and your setting. Do they feel safe swimming? Spending significant time alone? Are there places that they avoid because it’s too dangerous to seize there?

In real life, people who experience tonic-clonic or atonic seizures often take precautions to ensure their safety should they have a seizure. People who have atonic seizures wear padded helmets to protect their heads. People who experience an aura may get themselves to a safe location, or adjust their surroundings so that they won’t hurt themselves while they seize. What precautions might your characters take to protect themselves?

Seizure triggers. Photosensitivity is a very common one, with flashing lights being especially dangerous for epileptic people. Some seizures have clear, specific triggers, while others seem to arise out of nowhere. Though it may be difficult to tell what exactly triggered a seizure, the modern Western medical establishment believes that all seizures have triggers, though the triggers may not be known. Triggers tend to be environmental cues that the central nervous system over-responds to, like the aforementioned flashing lights. A friend of mine has epilepsy that is triggered by anything coming directly at their face, like balls being thrown towards them. Once, a seizure was triggered by a butterfly flying directly at them.

Seizures can also be triggered by sounds, smells, or sensation, not just sight!

What might your character’s seizure triggers be? Your character may or may not know themselves, but if the triggers are known, how does your character avoid them, or plan their life around them? My friend’s seizure trigger meant that they couldn’t play ball sports, even casually, which kind of sucked. But having a seizure sucked more, so.

In terms of accessible spaces: The more open space, the better, and the softer the surfaces, the better. For instance, people who have seizures may prefer using an accessible bathroom stall, as they are larger, and the person seizing is less likely to become trapped or hurt themselves if they seize unexpectedly in the bathroom. What kinds of spaces does your character seek out, particularly if they are aware they might seize soon?

A properly medicated epileptic character may still have seizures. Medications are intended to control, shorten, and decrease total number of seizures. Sometimes they entirely eliminate seizures, but a person may still seize and that does not mean the medication isn’t working. A character who still seizes frequently and for long stretches of time likely is not properly medicated. Medications should be taken around the same time(s) every day for maximum efficacy.

Life changes, particularly puberty, can make medication less effective.

Proper medication is life-changing for people with epilepsy, and would likely be life-changing for your epileptic character as well. What does the process of getting medicated look like? How does your character feel upon being properly medicated? What in their life changes, and what stays the same?

Are there any drawbacks to being medicated? Side effects? Cost of medication?

If epilepsy is drug resistant, there are a few other options. I’m only going to discuss two, one because it has a long, fraught, and misunderstood history, and the other because it’s Trendy.

Brain surgery is an option for people/character with epilepsy. This is not the scary ice pick lobotomy of the 20th century. Brain surgery is a necessary tool to help epileptic people that are struggling with frequent, severe seizures that do not respond to medication, or when the side effects of medication are intolerable. Surgery can mean removing part of the brain (resecting), killing specific nerve cells where seizures start (lesioning), disconnecting the hemispheres of the brain (corpus callosotomy), or the implantation of a pacemaker-type device that uses electrical signals to block or disrupt seizures.

If your character is getting brain surgery for epilepsy in a contemporary, futuristic, or fantasy setting, please do your own research and ensure that the type of surgery they’re receiving fits their type of epilepsy and their need. Please frame the surgery accurately and avoid falling back on scary tropes about people coming back with different personalities, no personality, or dying in these procedures.

The last treatment option I’m going to discuss here is the ketogenic or keto diet. You may not be aware, but the diet was originally developed to treat children with epilepsy, and there is limited evidence showing that it does decrease or eliminate seizures in children. This diet is extremely high in fat and as low as possible in carbs. The majority of people who believe they are following a keto diet and are in ketosis (body and brain fueled by fat instead of sugar) are wrong. It is extremely difficult to follow a strict keto diet and is absolutely a major life change.

The diet would typically only be recommended for children between 2 and 12 whose epilepsy is resistant to medication.

Why or how the keto diet works to control epilepsy is not well understood. The fact that the brain is fueled by fat products known as ketones, rather than glucose, is thought to be related. If anyone knows more, feel free to contribute that knowledge.

Rethink

If your character gets brain surgery for their epilepsy, and that surgery is framed as negative, think about why that is. I absolutely understand the long, problematic, real-life history behind lobotomies, and I am not telling you not to explore that. Please do think hard about what beliefs you may have, and what messages you may be sending, about people who get brain surgery.

Characters with epilepsy that gives them visions or confers some kind of power. Yes, there are historical associations between epilepsy and religiosity, but remember the real world people who have epilepsy and how this framing may strike them. This is a common trope, so do a little introspection on what about this narrative is compelling to you and what messages you’re consuming and endorsing.

Seizures that occur to add intensity, drama, fear, or risk to the story. What are your characters afraid of? Why are they afraid of it? As always - what messages are you sending about seizures or the people who experience them? How would it feel to read your portrayal as a person who regularly seizes?

A character who seizes but does not have epilepsy. Related to the above - why is a seizure important to your story, but epilepsy is not a part of it?

A character who seizes twice but is not described as/does not identify with epilepsy. For one, this is medically inaccurate, which you should just be aware of. Secondly - what about this diagnosis is undesirable or unnecessary for your story? Why?

Write what you’re going to write, but understand why you’re writing it, and how it might be perceived. In particular, when writing about a complex, widely misunderstood, and stigmatized condition like epilepsy, understand what stigma you may be contributing to, what inaccuracies you may be presenting, and what complexities you may be ignoring, especially by having a character seize without being epileptic.

Resources

A lot of this is written based on my relationships with epileptic people and personal research. I don’t like to recommend media that I haven’t personally read/watched, just because then I don’t know what I’m recommending, but if anyone else has recommendations, please feel free to add them!

How Evan Broke His Head and Other Secrets by Garth Stein is contemporary novel about a Seattle man with epilepsy who is suddenly thrust into parenting a 14-year-old son he didn’t know existed. I read it a while ago and remember it being pretty good, but nothing special (no offense, Garth Stein). Worth noting that while the author is not himself epileptic, his sister does have epilepsy and he likely has better than typical knowledge of the condition.

The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down by Anne Fadiman is a creative nonfiction book about a Hmong family, their epileptic child, and the medical saga they embark on as the American medical establishment attempts to treat their child. It is written about a real-life immigrant family and their daughter and was extensively researched over eight years, focusing on cultural differences, and xenophobia, racism, and misunderstanding in medicine.

This Podcast Will Kill You, which is free on Spotify, includes an hour and forty minute long episode diving into (some) of the etiology and history of epilepsy.

Maintenance Phase is a podcast that is also free on Spotify and has an episode about the keto diet. The main focus of the episode is the keto diet as it is used for weight loss, but it does include some fascinating backstory on the (invented) narrative that the keto diet is a secret that is being kept from the general public.

Please hit me up with questions, comments, corrections, or requests. Happy writing!

[lavrynn]

Overused Disability Tropes

Woohoo here we go. I expect this one to be a bit more controversial because I am using specific media as examples. I would really prefer if, when critiquing this post, you avoid defending specific media, and focus instead on what’s actually being said/represented about disabled communities. If you feel I’ve done a really grave injustice, you can come into my askbox/DMs/replies to talk to me about it, but I might not answer.

One more time: I am not interested in getting into a debate about whether something is a good show/movie/book/whatever. I’m not telling you it’s bad, or that you shouldn’t enjoy it! People can like whatever they want; I am only here to critique messaging. Do not yell at me about this.

Newest caveat aside, let’s get into it!

Inspiration Porn

Without a doubt, our biggest category! Term coined in 2012 by badass activist Stella Young, but the trope has been around for literal centuries. There are a few different kinds that I will talk about.

Disabled character/person is automatically noble/good because of their disability. A very early example would be A Christmas Carol’s Tiny Tim, or, arguably, Quasimodo from The Hunchback of Notre Dame. Real life examples include the Jerry Lewis MDA telethon, or children’s hospital ads that exploit sad-eyed kids with visible illness or disability.

Having a disability does not automatically make you a kind/angelic/noble person. This many not seem harmful, and may even seem positive, but in reality, it is condescending, inaccurate, and sets bizarre standards for how disabled people should behave.

This portrayal is often intended to elicit pity from abled audiences, which is also problematic.

In these portrayals, disability is not something to be proud of or identify with, only something to be suffered through.

Disabled character person does something relatively mundane and we all need to celebrate that. This is less common in writing, but happens in the real world when people do things like post pictures of disabled people at the gym captioned “What’s your excuse?”

This is condescending, and implies that anything disabled people are capable of, abled people are automatically capable of.

Makes it seem like it’s an incredible feat for a disabled person to accomplish tasks.

Uses people’s actual lives and actual disabilities as a reminder of “how good abled life is.”

The “Supercrip” stereotype is a specific kind of inspiration porn in which disabled people are shown to be capable of amazing things, “in spite of” their disability.

The Paralympics have been criticized for this, with people saying that advertisements and understandings of the Paralympics frame the athletes as inspiring not because they are talented or accomplished, but because their talents and accomplishments are seen as “so unlikely.”

Other examples include the way we discuss famous figures like Stephen Hawking, Alan Turing, or even Beethoven. Movies like The Theory of Everything and The Imitation Game frame the subjects’ diagnoses, whether actual or posited, as limitations that they had to miraculously break through in order to accomplish what they did. Discussions of Beethoven’s deafness focus on how incredible it was that he was able to overcome it and be a musician despite what is framed as a tragic acquisition of deafness.

The pity/heroism trap is a concise way of defining inspiration porn. If the media you’re creating or consuming inspires these emotions, and only these emotions, around disability, that is a representation that is centered on the feelings and perceptions of abled people. It’s reductive, it’s ableist, and it’s massively overdone.

Disabled Villains

To be clear, disabled people can and should be villains in fiction. The problem comes when disabled people are either objects of pity/saintly heroes, or villains, and there is no complexity to those representations. When there is so little disabled rep out there (less than 3.5% of characters in current media), having a disabled villain contributes to the othering of disability, as well as the idea that disability can make someone evil. There are also a few circumstances in which particular disabilities are used to represent evil, and I’ll talk about how that’s problematic. 

Mentally ill villains are colossally overdone, particularly given that mentally ill people are more likely to be the victims of violence than perpetrators of it.  This is true of all mental illness, including “””scary””” things like personality disorders or disorders on the schizoaffective spectrum. Mental illness is stigmatized enough without media framing mentally ill people as inherently bad or more suspectible to evil. This prejudice is known as sanism.

Explicit fictional examples of this include the Joker, or Kevin Wendell Crumb in Split.

People can also be coded as mentally ill without it being explicitly stated, and that’s also problematic and sanist. In the Marvel movie Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, Wanda’s appearance and behavior are coded as mentally ill. This is used to make her “creepy.” Horror movies do this a lot - mental illness does not render someone creepy, and should not be used as a tool in this way.

Visible disability or difference to indicate evil is another common, incredibly offensive, and way overdone trope. This is mostly commonly done through facial difference, and the examples are endless. These portrayals equate disability or disfigurement with ugliness, and that ugliness with evil. It renders the disabled villain in question an outcast, undesirable, and uses their disability or difference to dehumanize these characters and separate them from others. This is incredibly prevalent and incredibly painful for people with visible disability or facial difference.

An example of visible disability indicating evil is Darth Vader’s prosthetics and vastly changed physical appearance that happen exactly in time with his switch to the dark side. In contrast, when Luke needs a prosthetic, it is lifelike and does not visually separate him from the rest of humanity/the light.

Dr. Who’s John Lumic is another example of the “Evil Cripple” trope.

Examples of facial difference indicating evil range from just about every James Bond movie, to Scar in the Lion King, Dr. Isabel Maru in Wonder Woman, Taskmaster in Black Widow, Captain Hook in Peter Pan, and even Doofenschmirtz-2 in Phineas and Ferb the Movie. Just because some of the portrayals are silly (looking at you, Phineas and Ferb) doesn’t make the coding of facially scarred villains any less hurtful.  

A slightly different, but related phenomenon I’ll include here is the idea of the disability con. This is when a character fakes a disability for personal gain. This represents disabled people as potential fakers, and advances the idea that disabled people get special privileges that abled people can and should co-opt for their own reasons. 

In The Usual Suspects, criminal mastermind Verbal Clint fakes disability to avoid suspicion and take advantage of others. In Arrested Development, a lawyer fakes blindness in order to gain the sympathy and pity of the jury.

In much more complex examples such as Sharp Objects, a mother with Munchausen by proxy fakes her daughter’s illness in order to receive attention and pity. Portrayals like this make Munchausen or MBP seem more common than it is, and introduce the idea that parents may be lying or coaching their children to lie about necessary medical treatment.

Disability as Morality

Sometimes, the disabled character themselves is a moral lesson, like Auggie in Wonder. Sheerly through existing, Auggie “teaches” his classmates about kindness, the evils of bullying, and not judging a book by its cover. This also fits well under inspiration porn. This is problematic, because the disabled character is defined in terms of how they advance the other characters’ morality and depth.

In the “Disabled for a Day” trope, an otherwise abled character experiences a temporary disability, learns a moral lesson, and is restored to full ability by the end of the episode/book/movie. Once again, disability is used as a plot device, rather than a complex experience, along with more permanent disability being rejected as impossible for heroes or main characters.

Examples include an episode of M*A*S*H where Hawkeye is temporarily blinded, an episode of Law and Order: SVU where Elliott Stabler is temporarily blinded, and an episode of Criminal Minds where Agent Hotchner experiences temporary hearing loss.

Real life examples include sensitivity trainings where participants are asked to wear a blindfold, headphones, or use a wheelchair for a given amount of time. This does not impart the lived experience of disability. It should not be used as a teaching tool. 

Disabled people as inherently pure. This is related to inspiration porn and disabled people as noble, but is different in that it is usually appears in combination with developmental, cognitive, or intellectual disabilities. These characters are framed as sweet, “simple,” and a reminder to other characters to be cheerful, happy, or grateful.

Examples include Forrest Gump, Rain Man, I Am Sam, and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape.

No matter what the stereotypes of a given diagnosis are (yes, I’m thinking of the automatic cheerfulness associated with Down Syndrome), disabled people have personalities. They are capable of being sad, angry, sarcastic, irritable, annoying - any number of things beyond good/sweet/pure. It is reductive to act otherwise.

Disability as Surreal

Less common than some of the others, but still worth thinking about!

Disabled characters are framed as mystical, magical, or other than human, a condition that is either created by or indicated through their disability status. This is especially common with little people.

“Disability superpower” is when a character compensates for, or is uniquely able to have a superpower because of, their disability. Common tropes include the Blind Seer, Blind Weapon Master, Genius Cripple and Super Wheel Chair.

Examples include Pam from Supernatural, Charles Xavier from X-Men, or the grandpa in Spy Kids.

Disability as Undesirable

Last and least favorite category here. Let’s go.

Disabled people as asexual or not sexually desirable. Disabled people can be asexual, obviously. When every portrayal is asexual, that’s a big problem. It frames disabled people as sexually undesirable or implies that it is impossible for people with disabilities to have rewarding, mutually satisfying sexual relationships.

Examples include The Fault in Our Stars or Artie in Glee.

Abandoned due to disability. Hate this trope. Often equates disability with weakness. Don’t want to talk about it. It’s all right there in the title. Don’t do it.

Examples: Quasimodo in Hunchback of Notre Dame, several kittens in the Warrior Cat series, several episodes of Law and Order: SVU, Bojack Horseman, and Vikings.

Discussed in 300 and Wolf of Wall Street.

Ancient cultures and animal nature are often cited as reasoning for this trope/practice. This is not founded in fact. Many ancient civilizations, including Sparta, cared for disabled people. Many animals care for disabled young. These examples should not be used to justify modern human society.

Disabled characters are ostracized for disability. Whether they act “““normal”““ or odd, characters with visible or merely detectable disabilities are treated differently.

Examples include pretty much every piece of media I’ve said so far. This is particularly prevalent for people with visible physical disabilities or neurodivergence. Also particularly prevalent for characters with albinism.

This is not necessarily an inaccurate portrayal - disabled people face a lot of discrimination and ableism. It is, however, very, very common.

Bury your disabled. What it says on the label.

Examples: Animorphs, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, American Horror Story, Criminal Minds, Dr. Who, Star Trek, The Wire.

Mercy killing is a subtrope of the above but disgusting enough that it deserves its own aside. I may make a separate post about this at some point because this post is kind of exhausting and depressing me.

Examples: Me Before You, Killing Eve, Star Trek: The Next Generation, Of Mice and Men, and Million Dollar Baby.

Disability-negating superpowers imply that disability is undesirable by solving it supernaturally instead of actually portraying it, and giving their character powers instead.

Examples include (arguably) Toph from Avatar: the Last Airbender, Captain America: The First Avenger, The Legend of Korra, Dr. Strange, and Daredevil.

Overcoming disability portrays disability as a hindrance and something that can be defeated through technology and/or willpower.

Fictional examples include WALL-E, Kill Bill, The Goonies, The Dark Knight Trilogy, Heidi, The Secret Garden, The Inheritance Cycle, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D, The Big Bang Theory, Dr. Strangelove, Sherlock, The Witcher.

Real life examples include videos of wheelchair users standing from their chair to walk down the aisle at a wedding, or d/Deaf children “hearing” for the first time through cochlear implants.

What Does This Mean for Your Writing?

First of all, congratulations for making it this far!

Now, as I have said again and again, I’m not going to tell you what to write. I’ll ask some questions to hopefully help guide your process.

What tropes might you be playing into when writing disabled characters? Why do you find these tropes compelling, or worth writing about? How prevalent are these tropes? How harmful are they? What messages do they send to actual disabled people?

Just because they are common tropes does not mean they are universally awful. Cool fantasy or futuristic workarounds are not necessarily bad rep. Showing the ugly realities of ableism is not necessarily bad rep. It’s just a very, very common representation of disability, and it’s worth thinking about why it’s so common, and why you’re writing it.

As always, conduct your own research, know your own characters and story, and make your own decisions. If you have questions, concerns, or comments, please hit me up! Add your own information! This is not monolithic whatsoever.

Happy writing!

[lavrynn]

hot artists don't gatekeep

I've been resource gathering for YEARS so now I am going to share my dragons hoard

Floorplanner. Design and furnish a house for you to use for having a consistent background in your comic or anything! Free, you need an account, easy to use, and you can save multiple houses.

Comparing Heights. Input the heights of characters to see what the different is between them. Great for keeping consistency. Free.

Magma. Draw online with friends in real time. Great for practice or hanging out. Free, paid plan available, account preferred.

Smithsonian Open Access. Loads of free images. Free.

SketchDaily. Lots of pose references, massive library, is set on a timer so you can practice quick figure drawing. Free.

SculptGL. A sculpting tool which I am yet to master, but you should be able to make whatever 3d object you like with it. free.

Pexels. Free stock images. And the search engine is actually pretty good at pulling up what you want.

Figurosity. Great pose references, diverse body types, lots of "how to draw" videos directly on the site, the models are 3d and you can rotate the angle, but you can't make custom poses or edit body proportions. Free, account option, paid plans available.

Line of Action. More drawing references, this one also has a focus on expressions, hands/feet, animals, landscapes. Free.

Animal Photo. You pose a 3d skull model and select an animal species, and they give you a bunch of photo references for that animal at that angle. Super handy. Free.

Height Weight Chart. You ever see an OC listed as having a certain weight but then they look Wildly different than the number suggests? Well here's a site to avoid that! It shows real people at different weights and heights to give you a better idea of what these abstract numbers all look like. Free to use.

[lavrynn]

I just discovered foodtimeline.org, which is exactly what it sounds like: centuries worth of information about FOOD.  If you are writing something historical and you want a starting point for figuring out what people should be eating, this might be a good place?

[lavrynn]

TRANS WOMEN: HERE'S SOME SHIT YOUR DOCTOR WONT TELL YOU ABOUT HRT

1. Progesterone: not for everyone, but for many people it may increase sex drive and WILL make your boobs bigger. Also effects mood in ways that many find positive (but some find negative). Most doctors won’t prescribe this to you unless you ask. Most trans girls I know swear by it.

2. Injectible estrogen: is more effective than pill or patch form. Get on it if you can bear needles bc you will see more effects more quickly.

3. Estradiol Cypionate: There is currently a shortage of injectible estradiol valerate. There is no shortage of estradiol cypionate. Functionally they do the same shit.

4. Bicalutamide: This is an anti-androgen that has almost none of the side-effects of spironolactone or finasteride. The girls I know who are on it are evangelical about it.

[lavrynn]

why are yt to mp3 websites always the shadiest fuckin sites I feel like I’m going down a dark alleyway risking the chance of getting drugged and/or stabbed just bc its the only place where I can find a guy to deal me some decent fart with extra reverb dot mp3s

[lavrynn]

Some advice for when you’re writing and find yourself stuck in the middle of a scene:

kill someone

ask this question: “What could go wrong?” and write exactly how it goes wrong

switch the POV from your current character to another - a minor character, the antagonist, anyone

stop writing whatever scene you’re struggling with and skip to the next one you want to write

write the ending

write a sex scene

use a scene prompt

use sentence starters

read someone else’s writing

Never delete. Never read what you’ve already written. Pass Go, collect your $200, and keep going.

[lavrynn]

Enough random notes that have a written story on them as environmental storytelling, explore the space, get crazier with it.

You move into a house and aw cute, it has the kids height on the walls but you notice there's a three foot difference in height between measurements, you check the date, they're a month apart. The final measurement is on the ceiling. It's dated two days ago.

You're part of a recovery team that have finally found a stranded ship, they were found too late and have all passed a long time ago. They all died of starvation. You enter their storeroom, it's filled with food. In the dining hall you find the tables laden with perfectly fine looking breads, cakes, cured meats, jams, candies. Your medic says all the people sitting at the table didn't eat a Thing.

You wake up in an apocalypse. You can't find anyone at all as you wander the streets but you do hear faint music playing from somewhere. You stumble into a supermarket, to see all the aisles still full, except for the shelf that was full of ear plugs, which look to be the only thing that was looted.

Like there's light, sound, props. Having a street where every house is decimated except for One. Landing on a planet known for having No Water and a plant is growing and you don't know where it could have possibly gotten moisture from but you can't find the citizens Anywhere.

I'm sorry, I'm just kinda over the "graffiti on the wall to show the bad guy is around". That's not environmental storytelling that's just normal story. Show me I'm in the villains territory by the rain suddenly cutting out above me as I'm driving, even though it's meant to be raining all night. I park the car and step out, and realise the constellations are Wrong, until I see they're Not constellations, they're the blinking lights of a massive ship-

I Will stop now because everytime I go to write a sentence it devolves into another prompt but I'm just saying we have a Lot of senses, engage them, show me the Environment in environmental storytelling.

[lavrynn]

A guide to designing, drawing or writing characters who use mobility aids!!!!

I hope this is helpful for people, a lot of people seemed to appreciate my wheelchair guide, so I hope this is as helpful!!

I may have missed some bits but there are some things, such as prosthetics, that some may argue is a mobility aid, however I’d like to go into more detail and create specific guides for those things!!

Mich love, let me know what you think!

[lavrynn]

Bought my uncle a burger and milkshake in exchange for letting me disrupt the holiest day of the week, NFL Sunday Football, so I could install a Pi-hole and free the household of ads...the thing abt the specific boomers I live with is they told me not to trust people on the Internet but they do not understand the algorithm or online advertising and think that Facebook has their best interests at heart. And every time I have tried to explain to them that no, blorbo from my dashboard is not selling my kidneys on the dark web but Google from your capitalism is definitely selling your web searches to every advertising company on the planet, they think I am paranoid. How could their personal friend Mark Zuckerberg want anything bad to happen to them etc. I am fighting battles I did not know existed!!!

[lavrynn]

testing out pre-rendered backgrounds in rpgmaker 2k3 (map is gm_nycity)

#hope this is ok to save for inspo #thsi fucking slaps abysmally

[lavrynn]

beginner’s guide to the indie web

“i miss the old internet” “we’ll never have websites like the ones from the 90s and early 2000s ever again” “i’m tired of social media but there’s nowhere to go”

HOLD ON!

personal websites and indie web development still very much exist! it may be out of the way to access and may not be the default internet experience anymore, but if you want to look and read through someone’s personally crafted site, or even make your own, you can still do it! here’s how:

use NEOCITIES! neocities has a built in search and browse tools to let you discover websites, and most importantly, lets you build your own website from scratch for free! (there are other ways to host websites for free, but neocities is a really good hub for beginners!)

need help getting started with coding your website? sadgrl online has a section on her website dedicated to providing resources for newbie webmasters!

HTML (HyperText Markup Language) and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets) are the core of what all websites are built on. many websites also use JS (JavaScript) to add interactive elements to their pages. w3schools is a useful directory of quick reference for pretty much every HTML/CSS/JS topic you can think of.

there is also this well written and lengthy guide on dragonfly cave that will put you step by step through the basics of HTML/CSS (what webpages are made from), if that’s your sort of thing!

stack overflow is every programmer’s hub for asking questions and getting help, so if you’re struggling with getting something to look how you want or can’t fix a bug, you may be able to get your answer here! you can even ask if no one’s asked the same question before.

websites like codepen and jsfiddle let you test HTML/CSS/JS in your browser as you tinker with small edits and bugfixing.

want to find indie websites outside the scope of neocities? use the search engine marginalia to find results you actually want that google won’t show you!

you can also use directory sites like yesterweb’s link section to find websites in all sorts of places.

if you are going to browse the indie web or make your own website, i also have some more personal tips as a webmaster myself (i am not an expert and i am just a small hobbyist, so take me with a grain of salt!)

if you are making your own site:

get expressive! truly make whatever you want! customize your corner of the internet to your heart’s content! you have left the constrains of social media where every page looks the same. you have no character limit, image limit, or design limit. want to make an entire page or even a whole website dedicated to your one niche interest that no one seems to be into but you? go for it! want to keep a public journal where you can express your thoughts without worry? do it! want to keep an art gallery that looks exactly how you want? heck yeah! you are free now! you will enjoy the indie web so much more if you actually use it for the things you can’t do on websites like twitter, instead of just using it as a carrd bio alternative or a place to dump nostalgic geocities gifs.

don’t overwhelm yourself! if you’ve never worked with HTML/CSS or JS before, it may look really intimidating. start slow, use some guides, and don’t bite off more than you can chew. even if your site doesn’t look how you want quite yet, be proud of your work! you’re learning a skill that most people don’t have or care to have, and that’s pretty cool.

keep a personal copy of your website downloaded to your computer and don’t just edit it on neocities (or your host of choice) and call it a day. if for some reason your host were to ever go down, you would lose all your hard work! and besides, by editing locally and offline, you can use editors like vscode (very robust) or notepad++ (on the simpler side), which have more features and is more intuitive than editing a site in-browser.

you can use ctrl+shift+i on most browsers to inspect the HTML/CSS and other components of the website you’re currently viewing. it’ll even notify you of errors! this is useful for bugfixing your own site if you have a problem, as well as looking at the code of sites you like and learning from it. don’t use this to steal other people’s code! it would be like art theft to just copy/paste an entire website layout. learn, don’t steal.

don’t hotlink images from other sites, unless the resource you’re taking from says it’s okay! it’s common courtesy to download images and host them on your own site instead of linking to someone else’s site to display them. by hotlinking, every time someone views your site, you’re taking up someone else’s bandwidth.

if you want to make your website easily editable in the future (or even for it to have multiple themes), you will find it useful to not use inline CSS (putting CSS in your HTML document, which holds your website’s content) and instead put it in a separate CSS file. this way, you can also use the same theme for multiple pages on your site by simply linking the CSS file to it. if this sounds overwhelming or foreign to you, don’t sweat it, but if you are interested in the difference between inline CSS and using separate stylesheets, w3schools has a useful, quick guide on the subject.

visit other people’s sites sometimes! you may gain new ideas or find links to more cool websites or resources just by browsing.

if you are browsing sites:

if the page you’re viewing has a guestbook or cbox and you enjoyed looking at the site, leave a comment! there is nothing better as a webmaster than for someone to take the time to even just say “love your site” in their guestbook.

that being said, if there’s something on a website you don’t like, simply move on to something else and don’t leave hate comments. this should be self explanatory, but it is really not the norm to start discourse in indie web spaces, and you will likely not even be responded to. it’s not worth it when you could be spending your time on stuff you love somewhere else.

take your time! indie web doesn’t prioritize fast content consumption the way social media does. you’ll get a lot more out of indie websites if you really read what’s in front of you, or take a little while to notice the details in someone’s art gallery instead of just moving on to the next thing. the person who put labor into presenting this information to you would also love to know that someone is truly looking and listening.

explore! by clicking links on a website, it’s easy to go down rabbitholes of more and more websites that you can get lost in for hours.

seeking out fansites or pages for the stuff you love is great and fulfilling, but reading someone’s site about a topic you’ve never even heard of before can be fun, too. i encourage you to branch out and really look for all the indie web has to offer.

i hope this post helps you get started with using and browsing the indie web! feel free to shoot me an ask if you have any questions or want any advice. <3

[lavrynn]

neocities guide - why you should build your own html website

do you miss the charm of the 90s/00s web where sites had actual personality instead of the same minimalistic theme? are you feeling drained by social media and the constant corporate monopoly of your data and time? do you want to be excited about the internet again? try neocities!!

what is neocities?

neocities is a free hosting website that lets you build your own html website from scratch, with total creative control. in their own words: "we are tired of living in an online world where people are isolated from each other on boring, generic social networks that don't let us truly express ourselves. it's time we took back our personalities from these sterilized, lifeless, monetized, data mined, monitored addiction machines and let our creativity flourish again."

why should I make my own website?

web3 has been overtaken by capitalism & conformity. websites that once were meant to be fun online social spaces now exist solely to steal your data and sell you things. it sucks!! building a personal site is a great way to express yourself and take control of your online experience.

what would I even put on a website?

the best part about making your own site is that you can do literally whatever the hell you want! focus on a specific subject or make it a wild collection of all your interests. share your art! make a shrine for one of your interests! post a picture of every bird you see when you step outside! make a collection of your favorite blinkies! the world is your oyster !! here are some cool example sites to inspire you: recently updated neocities sites | it can be fun to just look through these and browse people's content! space bar | local interstellar dive bar creature feature | halloween & monsters big gulp supreme peanutbuttaz | personal site dragodiluna linwood | personal site patho grove | personal site

getting started: neocities/html guide

sound interesting? here are some guides to help you get started, especially if you aren't familiar with html/css sadgrl.online webmastery | a fantastic resource for getting started with html & web revival. also has a layout builder that you can use to start with in case starting from scratch is too intimidating web design in 4 minutes | good for learning coding basics w3schools | html tutorials templaterr | demo & html for basic web elements eggramen test pages | css page templates to get started with sadgrl background tiles | bg tiles rivendell background tiles | more free bg tiles

fun stuff to add to your site

want your site to be cool? here's some fun stuff that i've found blinkies-cafe | fantastic blinkie maker! (run by @transbro & @graphics-cafe) gificities | internet archive of 90s/00s web gifs internet bumper stickers | web bumper stickers momg | gif gallery 99 gif shop | 3d gifs 123 guestbook | add a guestbook for people to leave messages cbox | add a live chat box moon phases | track the phases of the moon gifypet | a little clickable page pet adopt a shroom | mushroom page pet tamaNOTchi | virtual pet crossword puzzle | daily crossword imood | track your mood neko | cute cat that chases your mouse pollcode | custom poll maker website hit counter | track how many visitors you have

web revival manifestos & communities

also, there's actually a pretty cool community of people out there who want to bring joy back to the web! melonland project | web project/community celebrating individual & joyful online experiences. Also has an online forum melonland intro to web revival | what is web revival? melonking manifesto | status cafe | share your current status nightfall city | online community onio.cafe | leave a message and enjoy the ambiance sadgrl internet manifesto | yesterweb internet manifesto | sadly defunct, still a great resource reclaiming online social spaces | great manifesto on cultivating your online experience

in conclusion

i want everyone to make a neocities site because it's fun af and i love seeing everyone's weird personal sites that they made outside of the control of capitalism :) say hi to me on neocities

[lavrynn]

WEIRDLY SPECIFIC BUT HELPFUL CHARACTER BUILDING QUESTIONS

What’s the lie your character says most often?

How loosely or strictly do they use the word ‘friend’?

How often do they show their genuine emotions to others versus just the audience knowing?

What’s a hobby they used to have that they miss?

Can they cry on command? If so, what do they think about to make it happen?

What’s their favorite [insert anything] that they’ve never recommended to anyone before?

What would you (mun) yell in the middle of a crowd to find them? What would their best friend and/or romantic partner yell?

How loose is their use of the phrase ‘I love you’?

Do they give tough love or gentle love most often? Which do they prefer to receive?

What fact do they excitedly tell everyone about at every opportunity?

If someone was impersonating them, what would friends / family ask or do to tell the difference?

What’s something that makes them laugh every single time? Be specific!

When do they fake a smile? How often?

How do they put out a candle?

What’s the most obvious difference between their behavior at home, at work, at school, with friends, and when they’re alone?

What kinds of people do they have arguments with in their head?

What do they notice first in the mirror versus what most people first notice looking at them?

Who do they love truly, 100% unconditionally (if anyone)?

What would they do if stuck in a room with the person they’ve been avoiding?

Who do they like as a person but hate their work? Vice versa, whose work do they like but don’t like the person?

What common etiquette do they disagree with? Do they still follow it?

What simple activity that most people do / can do scares your character?

What do they feel guilty for that the other person(s) doesn’t / don’t even remember?

Did they take a cookie from the cookie jar? What kind of cookie was it?

What subject / topic do they know a lot about that’s completely useless to the direct plot?

How would they respond to being fired by a good boss?

What’s the worst gift they ever received? How did they respond?

What do they tell people they want? What do they actually want?

How do they respond when someone doesn’t believe them?

When they make a mistake and feel bad, does the guilt differ when it’s personal versus when it’s professional?

When do they feel the most guilt? How do they respond to it?

If they committed one petty crime / misdemeanor, what would it be? Why?

How do they greet someone they dislike / hate?

How do they greet someone they like / love?

What is the smallest, morally questionable choice they’ve made?

Who do they keep in their life for professional gain? Is it for malicious intent?

What’s a secret they haven’t told serious romantic partners and don’t plan to tell?

What hobby are they good at in private, but bad at in front of others? Why?

Would they rather be invited to an event to feel included or be excluded from an event if they were not genuinely wanted there?

How do they respond to a loose handshake? What goes through their head?

What phrases, pronunciations, or mannerisms did they pick up from someone / somewhere else?

If invited to a TED Talk, what topic would they present on? What would the title of their presentation be?

What do they commonly misinterpret because of their own upbringing / environment / biases? How do they respond when realizing the misunderstanding?

What language would be easiest for them to learn? Why?

What’s something unimportant / frivolous that they hate passionately?

Are they a listener or a talker? If they’re a listener, what makes them talk? If they’re a talker, what makes them listen?

Who have they forgotten about that remembers them very well?

Who would they say ‘yes’ to if invited to do something they abhorred / strongly didn’t want to do?

Would they eat something they find gross to be polite?

What belief / moral / personality trait do they stand by that you (mun) personally don’t agree with?

What’s a phrase they say a lot?

Do they act on their immediate emotions, or do they wait for the facts before acting?

Who would / do they believe without question?

What’s their instinct in a fight / flight / freeze / fawn situation?

What’s something they’re expected to enjoy based on their hobbies / profession that they actually dislike / hate?

If they’re scared, who do they want comfort from? Does this answer change depending on the type of fear?

What’s a simple daily activity / motion that they mess up often?

How many hobbies have they attempted to have over their lifetime? Is there a common theme?

[lavrynn]

something people don't utilize in character design enough is the the teeth. And i'm not talking about vampire fangs or monster teeth, but more about crooked teeth, chipped teeth, missing teeth, yellow teeth, retainers, braces, teeth jewels, grills and stuff of the like. not everyone has a perfect array of teeth

[lavrynn]

An Incomplete List of Noteable People I've Delivered Pizzas To

It’s coming up on a year now since I got my current job as a pizza delivery girl, and I thought this would be a good time to delve into the little ever-expanding “WTFPIZZA” note I keep on my cell that helps me remember some of my more, uh - interesting deliveries.

So without further ado and in no particular order, here’s some pizza customers who left a lasting impression on me thus far:

- A bearded man who answered the door and periodically spat blood into a crusted Harley-Davidson coffee mug while counting out his cash.

- A woman who slipped me a business card (in lieu of tip) for a laser tattoo removal clinic, explaining “In case you want to bring your mutilated skin back to how God intended it to be.”

- At least three Batmans so far, but only one who did the voice.

- An elderly Spanish woman who meekly presented me with a (rather classy) pearl-handled .32 snub nosed revolver and asked if I knew how to load it (I do) and also, if I could load it for her (I didn’t).

- A group of EMT’s hanging out in the back of an ambulance at a recently extinguished (but still smouldering) house fire.

- A man with a thick Alabama accent who admonished me for standing in front of his mailbox while I waited for him to answer the door.  He then explained how this was a federal offense because I was “obstructing the mail system” and demanded my social security number so he could “report me to the proper authorities”.

- A group of young teenage girls (like 14-16) who begged me to buy a case of Bud Light (ew why) and bring it back to them.

- A hotel room full of badass middle-aged women all dressed as Professor McGonagall from the Harry Potter films, who were also completely wasted on Jello shots.  They kept encouraging me to stay and party with them.

- A 20-something dude who answered the door with an unsheathed katana dangling through a belt loop on his jeans.

- Multiple instances of people asking if I would sell them pot. (bitch get your own dealer sheesh)

- A guy who slipped a twenty directly into my shirt because I apparently was the “spitting image” of his deceased daughter.

- A woman who admonished me for driving a Mazda, and wrote “get a real car” in the tip portion of my credit receipt.

- A very drunk dude who gave me his iPhone and had me take a bunch of Myspace-esque pictures of the both of us.  He did the duck lips thing in every shot.

- Multiple prank deliveries (joke’s on you motherfucker, I get paid for the gas AND I eat the pizzas you ordered)

- An elderly man who wrote “FUCK OFF” as his signature on a credit receipt.

- A thirty-something guy who begged to get his order for free because he “works so hard”.  He visibly teared up and sniffled when I told him I couldn’t do anything.

- A dudebro wearing a bath robe and socks + sandals (indoors) who straight up wordlessly yanked the pizzas out of my hands without paying and shut the door.  Multiple knockings were of no avail.

- A woman who angrily demanded to see my ID because she refused to believe my claims that I’m female.  She proceeded to snatch my driver’s license out of my hand, run back into her house and show it to her children while pointing back at me.

- A kid no older than 14 who desperately tried to convince me to play WoW on the free custom server he was playing on. (But it has double XP!)

- A guy who spent the entire time I was there digging a (impressively large) booger out of his nose.  He proceeded to smear it on, thankfully, HIS copy of the receipt.

- An on-duty cop who flagged me down by intercepting me on the road before I got to the police station and pulling me over to get his pizza.

- A drill instructor looking-guy who filled out his entire credit card receipt, specifically wrote “0.00” in the tip portion, then proceeded to write out a check for seventy-eight cents and handed it to me.  It said “pizza tip” in the “For” section.

- A furious lady who yelled at me for a solid five minutes (I kept track) all about how long it took for her delivery to get to her.  She then tipped me an extra ten bucks on a six dollar order.  I dunno.

- An incredibly stoned teenager trying and failing to look sober.  When I complimented his Adventure Time wallet (which was super cute) and asked where he got it, he immediately looked terrified, sat down on the floor and muttered “I… I don’t know….”

- Obligatory naked man with unimpressive penis

- A chick at a house party who answered the door and immediately turned to vomit into her mailbox.

- A surly Korean mom with an amazing shoulder tattoo of a baby giving birth to a full-grown woman.

- A man who lived in one of those mini-mansions inside a gated community, who sported a seemingly massive collection of what appeared to be solid glass spheres of varying size and color.  I only got a quick glance in his house but there had to be hundreds of them in display racks, tables, shelves - everywhere.

- A group of 20-something guys who challenged me to sing the original Pokemon theme song, which I did.  And perfectly, I may add.

- A completely iced-out musclebound gangster kid who was blaring Regina Spektor so loud and with so much bass I actually couldn’t hear anything he was saying.

- An elderly guy who deadpan asked me if I knew anyone who could score him hollowpoint bullets.

- An adorable older lesbian couple who were mortified that they didn’t have any extra money for a tip, so they gave me a big sack of pistachios instead.  It took me three weeks to finish the bag.

[lavrynn]

notebook template by doqmeat

preview / download code

made a template that mimics a notebook with tabs!

tabs are all in the same html page! no need to make separate pages for different tabs. use it for whatever you want!

theres comments and resources in the code to help out if needed :)