#mb writes

Judaism is matrilineal, our entire foundation is built upon l'dor v'dor from generation to generation.

Robby, certainly in an egalitarian reform congregation, has his mother's name as part of his Hebrew name. He is a Jew, because he is his mother's son.

She left him and yet, he can never leave her.

Beyond that, the Sh'ma, the prayer that Robby recites in his darkest moment in Season 1, is quite literally the first prayer we ever learn. It is the backbone of everything. Robby very likely heard the Sh'ma as a lullaby.

Robby has also made it abundantly clear that he no longer believes in God and struggles in that belief.

Part 1

Leggies and adaptive home gear!

Jack is a BKA/below-knee-amputee and because of that he uses a prosthetic leg.

But, let’s talk a little more about what his amputation means for him.

Jack has a trans-tibial means cut through the tibia (shin bones) amputation.

So, he kept his knee joint, which means it takes a whole lot less effort for him to walk with a prosthetic. It’s not easy, regardless, but it could be harder. But as there is no weight bearing bone remaining, his soft tissue is loaded to take the weight when standing/walking. Which means his residual limb is not stiff, it’s WIGGLY, it’s fat. It’s cushioned, it has to be, so he can walk on it.

Here is a breakdown of a typical prosthetic leg and each part.

Sockets Options:

Patellar Tendon Bearing (PTB): distributes weight over the patellar tendon and takes the pressure off other areas.

Total Surface Bearing (TSB): spreads out the pressure across the entire residual limb/stump, used with a gel liner for comfort.

Hydrostatic or Contoured Sockets: Needs fancy shaping to match the pressure-load tolerance of the residual limb, often used for complex limb shapes/unique amputations or specific high-impact activities.

From looking at Jack’s residual limb, he probably has one or two PTBs for older crappier legs and uses a TSB for his daily use legs.

Which means he has liners and socks for his leg before he puts it on.

Suspension System (what holds the leg on):

Suction: Uses a liner to hold the leg on, with a valve to create suction as air is pulled from the socket.

Pin and Shuttle Lock: A pin in the liner will lock into a mechanism at the bottom of the socket.

Vacuum-Assisted: A pump will draw air out of the socket to make a seal.

These all work for different PTBs and TSBs.

Now, ankles and feet:

SACH (Solid-Ankle, Cushion-Heel): a hunk of plastic.

Single-Axis: allows one movement.

Multi-Axis: allows multiple movements.

Dynamic Response Feet: they help by storing potential energy to be used as kinetic energy, (ie, they have recoil).

Microprocessor-Controlled Feet: they adjust to changing surfaces and terrains.

Now, I guarantee our boy has two other legs in his rotation: a wet leg and a running leg.

A wet leg is exactly what it sounds like, a leg that can get wet. They are specifically designed for water activity.

Unless you are using them for a specific task, like a flipper, they typically don’t do much.

Now, for running legs. Most people think of a running blade, which is absolutely an option for Jack. He could even swap a running blade onto his existing leg, or have a separate one completely. But sprinting and long-distance running typically require different feet. Sprinting feet (shaped like a J) need to be more rigid for better recoil and push off. Longer distances require a slower release of energy (foot shaped like a C).

NOW… adaptive homes!

I need this shit, I assume Jack does too…

Shower chair that unlocks and swivels.

SPACE! So much space.

A wheelchair left upstairs and one left downstairs.

A lift! A not-steep ramp outside!

Soft carpeting! (Or no carpeting! If you are dragging your ass on the floor, you need soft carpeting or you will tear a hole in your ass. If you stay in your chair, no carpeting is better.)

Doorways that are at least 32 inches wide!

A minimum of a 5-foot turn radius!

Lower storage spaces!

ADA-compliant appliances with buttons on the front!

Lower countertops!

Accessible showers! This can be achieved with more space, a shower seat or a shower wheelchair and grab rails with wall reinforcements around the toilet and shower.

Wheelchair Accessible Closets!

Closet rods and shelving tend to be too fucking high for wheelchair users.

No grass, cobblestone, and brick right up to the door.

Welp, if you have any further questions, let me know.

Let’s start with my area of expertise: wheelchairs

Jack is an ambulatory wheelchair user — which means he can walk, he just spends a good chunk of his life in a wheelchair. He very likely spends most of his days in a custom active manual wheelchair. This is a wheelchair he pushes by himself without any kind of power-assist. Although, a power assist can be attached to these chairs and I guarantee Jack probably owns one. (More info below). Pictured below is an custom (rigid) active manual wheelchair that Jack would own and would be fitted to his body:

Please note that the backrest is short as Jack does not have a spinal injury as far as we are aware. There are no push handles, as many chair users (myself included) who can push ourselves and rarely need assistance, do not want to be pushed without consent. Which happens, a lot.

Jack is a BKA, a below-the-knee amputee, he would be fine using a contoured seat cushion and one foot plate. This way he can wear his leg in his chair or not.

This rigid chair is designed to be pulled apart and light. Here is a helpful guide for the names of everything. The frame itself (on a rigid chair, like the ones pictured) is one solid piece, however, the big driving wheels, seat cushion, and side guards all come off. The backrest (if solid and not fabric) will fold down.

There is also another type of custom active manual wheelchair called a folding chair. You can typically tell the different because folding chairs have split foot rests. They are also often heavier, but they can fold, some recline and some have foot rests can be adjusted to facilitate this. I don’t believe Jack would spend most of his days in a folding chair, as they are a bit bigger and less easily maneuvered. However, I do believe he owns one and likely uses one when undergoing revision surgeries to his residual limb.

Probably with a swing away support like this:

Now, pushing a wheelchair is a very tiring experience, even for someone well-accustomed to life in a chair. So, power options.

Jack likely owns a SmartDrive, Firefly or another kind of power assist that hooks onto his active manual chairs. (If you want me to explain more, I shall). Side note, there are also attachments with no power assist that Jack would probably have too, like a FreeWheel (essentially one big wheel in front that makes hiking/nature way easier).

A SmartDrive would simply hook onto the back of his chair and be controlled by a dial or a switch or an app or by push-rim.

A Firefly would hook to the front to turn his chair into more of a scooter for city travel, by lifting his caster wheels off the ground.

Now, if Jack wanted a power chair, it would likely be an electric folding chair and not a full-sized power chair.

Something like this, which would not need a ramp to get into his truck.

But! At home or for short distances with no leg — let’s move to another mobility aid: crutches!

Jack very likely uses forearm or gutter crutches to get around. Depending on how he wants his weight to sit (through his hands and wrists, or spread out through his forearms).

Forearm:

Gutter:

I also guarantee Jack has a couple random canes lying around, a couple clunker hospital wheelchairs and the parts to fix just about anything.

Jack very likely also carries with him at all times: two Allen wrench sets, microfiber towels, Clorox wipes, screws, washers and bike lube. Just in case he needs to maintenance his chair on the go. He also probably carries them in a fanny pack strapped around his seat, which makes a handy pocket under his wheelchair to carry random shit.

Jack also is a cripplepunk, I just know it in my heart and soul — but that is a different ramble. Please be expecting another post about Jack’s many legs and chair decor soon.

Now, one last thing, sports!

Our favorite cripple probably owns a sports chair, which is much lighter than even his usual rigid chair and doesn’t have brakes, but does have a bar in front (as well as an extreme camber/tilt to the wheels). Although, some don’t, depending on what sport you want to play.

This is a sled hockey bucket!

And this is for WCMX, basically skateboarding but make it wheelchair.

Anyway, this has been crippletalk with MB.

Hello, welcome to a non-exhaustive list of how paraplegic folks can have sex — from a para guy. 

You just know that baby is walking into kindergarten in a battle jacket and temp. tattoos. Does she have a closet full of designer clothes? Yes. Did she wear one of Jack’s old battle jackets as a dress and cargo shorts instead? Also yes.

Little BJD who knows the lyrics to every Nickelback song and can identify hair bands by the first chord.

Little BJD who has already amputated the right leg of most of her stuffies because that one is Daddy.

Because Jack Abbot is a healer — no, I don’t mean a doctor — he is a healer. You can see it in the way he talks to Robby on the roof, the way he talks to Howard, to his students, how he goes the extra mile to care beyond what he is beholden to do. Jack is a healer, as a person. It just is who he is. He is a rofeh, a healer and medicine is full of physicians, but is not full of healers.

We watch him foster community right in front of our eyes as he heals, not only the body: but the spirit and the mind, so it’s no great leap to see a young Jack, as broken as can be, gravitating to Judaism.

The Torah mandates healing. The value of the human life supersedes all things and Jack has killed and Jack has hurt. He has destroyed worlds by taking life. So, Jack has to heal. And he clearly wants to belong to something so desperately. Or he did, at one point in his life.

Jack finds comfort in a cruel G-d, who has wronged and hurt and made mistakes, but who values the sanctity of the human life above all.

And, Rabbot had a wedding under the chuppah.

Because it needs to be said.

Robby doesn't feel safe outside his Jewish community. He never will. Fuck, even feeling safe in the community is hard enough.

I don't feel safe outside my community. My name is Levi and I have a very Polish last name. I make myself as secular as possible for safety in the deep south. It's what you have to do. I have had people wish my death to my face since I was five years old and old enough to understand what that meant.

Most (not all, this is a systematic issue for so many people) children believe they are invulnerable, that like in cartoons -- the anvil may crush them, but they will walk away fine in the end. Jewish children are confronted by the fact that the world wants them dead from the minute they are old enough to comprehend, that those tiny humans that chase you with arms raised in salute on the playground -- grow into big people who march in the streets with that same salute.