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greenglowsgold · 11 months

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The List.

Based on the Cass Apocalyptic Series.

The first part of this has been rumbling around in my brain ever since that Super Sad Scene a month ago, but yesterday’s update gave me the other side of the coin, so to speak, and finally pulled it all together.

@somerandomdudelmao thanks for the fuel, friend

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Donatello’s days have become a series of checklists, as of late.

No, that’s not exactly true. His days have always been about lists: what he’s done, what he can delegate to someone else, what still needs doing. But these days he’s been doing less and listing more, piling tasks from the first category onto the second as fast as he can manage, hoping he has enough time to empty the queue.

The full catalog is written out in a series of files, reorganized for accessibility to the layperson and meticulously up-to-date as of yesterday. He meant to run through it again this morning, ensure all the relevant instruction manuals were attached to each item and double check his protocols, but he wasn’t… he couldn’t…

He’s going to die tonight.

It irritates him, his own miscalculation of the timing more than the stark presence of his oncoming demise. The latter has been inevitable for quite some time, long enough that he’s gotten used to the idea. But he thought he had another week or two, and he doesn’t like being proven wrong. He wonders if his brothers know.

Probably not. They know it’s bad now, obviously, because they’ve piled him with pillows and blankets and surrounded him on all sides, and Leo has finally gone quiet. But they trust him, they’ve always trusted him, even when they shouldn’t, so if he swears he’ll last a few more days, they’ll believe him. He thinks. He’s pretty sure. If they knew it was tonight, he doubts they would choose to sleep through it. Donnie thinks about waking them up, but only for a moment. He’d like to say it’s a noble act, to leave them in peace a little bit longer, but the truth is he’s just too fucking tired to move.

There’s something settled bone-deep in his chest, a heaviness that sits on him like a stone, a peine forte et dure pressing him down and down, stopping his voice and his breath and his heart. He wonders if this is what dying usually feels like, or if it’s unique to the Kraang. Raph would know.

He cranes his neck to the right, to catch Raph’s face out of the corner of his eye. Raph’s working eye is half-open, staring down at the floor. Donnie could ask him. (He won’t. Let him fall asleep.) The movement of his head is so slight it doesn’t even catch Raph’s attention. He’s too tired for anything more. He’s so goddamn tired.

His lists are out of reach at the moment, with his physical interfaces back in the lab and his ninpo locked behind a wall of oh-god-it-sounds-too-exhausting-to-even-try, but he memorized them all long ago.

Raphael: Maintenance (delegated to Casey, who has it well in hand). Plans (tucked away in a dedicated folder, long term, but someday they’ll have the materials, and Raph will have a proper body again, someday). Honey (yes, he passed that along last week).

Raph has access to the tracking programs, so he can keep an eye on everyone himself, even when Donnie can’t pull up locations or vitals for him anymore. He has his own space in the base once more, somewhere to close a door when he needs to (he insists he doesn’t, but Donnie isn’t a fool). He has more excuses to spend time with Casey, who’s taking over his upkeep. Donnie hopes it fills in some gaps for both of them.

He runs through the list, double checks each item. It’s his last chance to make sure he hasn’t forgotten anything important.

He looks down, finds Mikey.

There’s a stockpile of the anti-aging serum in his safe, the formula in his database, plans for the permanent solution clearly labeled. As long as they have his lab, his systems, Mikey will be as young as his years. He’s walked him through the greenhouse, even if most of it is controlled by the computer system. Mikey misses the world being green; it’ll do him good to spend more time around the plants. He has his tea, his candles. He has Draxum, who by now should have received a — mildly — threatening message warning him not to pull any disappearing acts anytime soon. He has their ancestors, just a short call away.

Donnie’s sure Mikey will call on him soon. He doesn’t plan to stray far.

Up a bit. To the left. Leo.

The arm — Leo knows how to take care of it, as does Casey.

The passwords — reset, something even Leo will be able to remember without resorting to blackmail.

The schedule — reshuffled for the next few days, he’ll have a hard enough time sleeping as it is.

The photos — everything they have, even the embarrassing ones. He even managed a couple of prints, and one precious shot from their pre-apocalypse days, something for Leo to tuck into a pouch and carry with him, when they’re not around.

Raph, Mikey, Leo. He doesn’t think he’s missed anything. Donnie lets his head fall back, too exhausted to hold it up any longer.

Is it enough?

His mind stretches further out. He’s unraveling.

What about April? Her prescription is up to date, they just checked a month ago. She has the latest in his combat tech, which has kept her safe in the field this long, so he has no reason to think it will falter now. He’s leaving her a few extra pieces, since he won’t be able to use them anymore. Leo will find the time for a movie night once in a while, he’s certain, even if his taste in Jupiter Jim movies is horrendous. They still have coffee; he’d die before he let that particular supply run out. He will, actually.

Casey. Fuck, Donnie’s gonna miss his birthday. But he did plan for this, his protocols will kick in. The mask is finished, everything is in place. He’s reconfigured his workstations, fit them for a tiny human instead of a seven-foot turtle. Casey has a better head for mechanics than any of his brothers ever did. Kid likes to be useful, so Donnie’s left him as much use as he can. He’s taught him everything Casey can learn and left instructions for more, when he’s a little older and wiser. His family will take care of him, they’ll make sure he gets there.

The base. It has to hold, to give them somewhere safe. The infrastructure is sound, and they have people to manage repair work. Supplies are decent, the most critical items in stock, everything that can be made renewable is. Their allies — Leo handles interpersonal issues and leadership, but Donnie’s checked the list with a pragmatist’s eye, left notes and rankings for priority. Security is the largest concern, but he’s spent nearly half his time with his assistants since his self-diagnosis (he could have spent it with his family), running them through the programs and adjustments, trying to bring them up to somewhere in the realm of his own expertise (a fool’s errand, but still). They’ve been rigorously instructed, they understand that the little things like sleep are secondary concerns. It has to hold.

Is it enough? For them to be okay?

He’s done everything he can. He can’t do any more. So it has to be enough.

Donnie blinks, and for a moment isn’t certain his eyes will open again at the end of it. But they do. At least one more time, they obey him.

Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Home. He rolls back through the list. It’s his last chance. He can’t miss anything.

Mikey’s hand tightens unconsciously around his wrist, fingers meeting easily on either side. Donnie feels only the echo of the pressure.

Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Home.

Something bright sparks at the edges of his vision before it fades. The last gasps of a dying brain, he supposes. Synapses firing one last time before they’re snuffed out.

Raph.

Mikey.

Leo.

April.

Casey.

Home.

Light.

There’s light.

It hurts.

He thought dying would stop the pain, but it’s risen to a fever pitch instead. His brother’s arms are gone, but the disease wraps around him in their place, consumes him. It rages like a wildfire, burning through his center until pieces start to flake away like ash.

Oh, this is what it does, what it was built for. The Kraang could have killed him in a lot of different ways. He’d wondered why they chose this one.

He hasn’t planned for it. This is something he didn’t even know to fear.

It’s bright and it hurts but it’s quiet as he crumbles, folds in on himself like a black hole in the utter silence of outer space. It’s quiet enough that the voice that breaks through does so clear as a bell.

His head turns to follow the sound, instinct. He’s lost half his field of vision, but what’s left is enough. He looks, and finds Casey.

Casey looks at him, at him, not the body. Donnie opens his mouth to ask a question — What are you doing here? How? Why? — but something else sloughs out instead. Not blood. He doesn’t have that anymore.

Casey calls his name once more and starts running.

Donnie’s questions fold back into his mind. His mouth clicks shut, he swallows back the putrid rot and pushes himself up. His arms are shattered but they’ll have to hold him. They have to. Because Casey is here and he needs something, which means Donnie missed something, which means he isn’t done.

His spirit disagrees with him, doesn’t see the logic. His arms don’t hold.

Casey reaches to catch him as he falls, and the touch ruptures him instead. He scatters. Into the air and the ground and Casey. For a moment, he’s just pieces, fumbling around and latching onto anything that welcomes them, and Casey does that. They flow into him. They’re him. They’re…

He’s…

Casey, he’s…

Donatello pulls himself back together. Most of himself, anyway. The infection hasn’t followed him but the damage persists. He’s run through with cracks and crevices, shaking bits away into infinity with every movement. But there’s more of him here than not.

Unexpectedly, Donnie is not gone. He’s still dead, but that’s fine, he planned for that one.

Casey has him now. He wraps himself around Donnie in layers, helps hold him together with a kind of sheer will that makes up for any lack of mystic knowledge in spades. Casey asks him to stay, and Donnie takes up the task like Sisyphus sizing up the hill. This time, this time I’ll do it right.

Even better, Casey has taken him to another time, one where all of Donnie’s long-term plans are now completely-fucking-reasonable plans. Casey’s going to fix it, so Donnie can fix everything else. Whatever else needs it. He hasn’t really asked. And he knows he’s missed something, but he doesn’t think too hard about what, not yet.

First thing’s first: he needs a body.

It’s so simple to accomplish that it seems like the universe is mocking him. Just a quick 1-2-3, ticking off the list. It feels almost stupid, like running back through the early levels of a video game after unlocking all the ultimate weapons and burning through enemies and obstacles, laughing, shit, did I used to think this was hard?

In no time at all, his own face has formed in front of him.

In no time at all, he’s gasping.

It’s only been a few hours since he last breathed air, but he’s missed it.

Another thing he’s missed? Functional musculature. Casey slams into him and Donnie is startled to find that it doesn’t knock him over. His arms and legs look like actual limbs again, not fragile little sticks disguising themselves as such. He stands, dragging Casey along without a second thought. The weight barely registers. It’s amazing.

The power trip is heady, but it only lasts a few minutes before reality kicks it in the ass and pulls him back down to earth.

We lost, Casey says.

They’re dead, Casey says.

It wasn’t enough, Casey does not say, but Donnie hears it just as clearly.

All those plans, the preparations, the precautions and protocols, they only borrowed a year or two before they fell apart. He sees the timeline spiral out before him, tighter and tighter until it collapses in on itself, rendered all the more insignificant from his own point of perception. He was alive yesterday. His family is dead today.

Everything he did, it wasn’t enough. Of course it wasn’t. He was stupid to think otherwise.

(Raph. Mikey. Leo. April. Casey. Casey’s still here. It was enough for him, at least.)

It cuts at him a little, to have been so wrong. But he’s strong again, now. He can take the wound. More importantly, he has another chance to get it right.

Donnie breathes. His chest expands smoothly, easily. The air doesn’t rattle in his lungs. He’s alive, he’s a genius, he can fix anything.

He pulls up a list.

#rottmnt #cass apocalyptic series #Rise of the TMNT #fic I write #*looks at the word count* haha. anyway. i'm normal.#Donnie's expressions when he looks at his family one last time are so fuckin good they're so clear #I looked at him and I was like 'oh cool I can literally read his mind'#which may or may not be true (you tell me) but holy shit was it effective #(please @god let the formatting of this post hold)

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anftherapy · 2 years

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Do you know what is the underlying cause of your knee pain?

Most of the treatments focus on the symptoms only.

ANF Therapy is your long-term solution because we aim to find and address the root cause of your pain.

ANF uses circular ANF Discs that are applied directly on the skin after palpation and assessment by a trained ANF Therapist following the ANF Therapy method. It is a non-transdermal, non-invasive device, no needles or chemicals are used.

Learn more about ANF Therapy® -> www.anftherapy.com

#knee pain #chronic pain #physical therapy #health solution #inflammation #invisible inflammation #doctors #physiotherapist #manual therapist #podiatrist #neurotherapist #injuries #arthritis #acute pain #anf therapy #healthcare

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nasa · 6 months

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For the Benefit of All: Assistive Tech Developed from NASA Tech

What do modern cochlear implants and robotic gloves have in common? They were derived from NASA technology. We’ve made it easier to find and use our patented inventions that could help create products that enhance life for people with disabilities.

October is National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which highlights the contributions of American workers with disabilities – many of whom use assistive technology on the job. Take a look at these assistive technologies that are NASA spinoffs.

Low-Vision Headsets

The Joint Optical Reflective Display (JORDY) device is a headset that uses NASA image processing and head-mounted display technology to enable people with low vision to read and write. JORDY enhances individuals’ remaining sight by magnifying objects up to 50 times and allowing them to change contrast, brightness, and display modes. JORDY's name was inspired by Geordi La Forge, a blind character from “Star Trek: The Next Generation” whose futuristic visor enabled him to see.

Cochlear Implants

Work that led to the modern cochlear implant was patented by a NASA engineer in the 1970s. Following three failed corrective surgeries, Adam Kissiah combined his NASA electronics know-how with research in the Kennedy Space Center technical library to build his own solution for people with severe-to-profound hearing loss who receive little or no benefit from hearing aids. Several companies now make the devices, which have been implanted in hundreds of thousands of people around the world.

Robotic Gloves

Ironhand, from Swedish company Bioservo Technologies, is the world’s first industrial-strength robotic glove for factory workers and others who perform repetitive manual tasks. It helps prevent stress injuries but has been especially warmly received by workers with preexisting hand injuries and conditions. The glove is based on a suite of patents for the technology developed by NASA and General Motors to build the hands of the Robonaut 2 humanoid robotic astronaut.

Smart Glasses

Neurofeedback technology NASA originally developed to improve pilots’ attention has been the basis for products aimed at helping people manage attention disorders without medication. The devices measure brainwave output to gauge attention levels according to the “engagement index” a NASA engineer created. Then, they show the results to users, helping them learn to voluntarily control their degree of concentration. One such device is a pair of smart glasses from Narbis, whose lenses darken as attention wanes.

Anti-Gravity Treadmills

A NASA scientist who developed ways to use air pressure to simulate gravity for astronauts exercising in space had the idea to apply the concept for the opposite effect on Earth. After licensing his technology, Alter-G Inc. developed its anti-gravity G-Trainer treadmill, which lets users offload some or all of their weight while exercising. The treadmills can help people recover from athletic or brain injuries, and they allow a safe exercise regimen for others with long-term conditions such as arthritis.

Wireless Muscle Sensors

Some of the most exciting assistive technologies to spin off may be yet to come. Delsys Inc. developed electromyographic technology to help NASA understand the effects of long-term weightlessness on astronauts’ muscles and movements. Electromyography detects and analyzes electrical signals emitted when motor nerves trigger movement. Among the company’s customers are physical therapists developing exercise routines to help patients recover from injuries. But some researchers are using the technology to attempt recoveries that once seemed impossible, such as helping paralyzed patients regain movement, letting laryngectomy patients speak, and outfitting amputees with artificial limbs that work like the real thing.

To further enhance the lives of people with disabilities, NASA has identified a selection of patented technologies created for space missions that could spur the next generation of assistive technology here on Earth.

Want to learn more about assistive technologies already in action? Check out NASA Spinoff to find products and services that wouldn’t exist without space exploration.

Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!

#NASA #space #tech #technology #spinoff #robotics #physical therapy #disability #disabled #accessibility #a11y #inventions

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unprettyg1rl · 1 year

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I’m reading a book on the history of invention and how our cultural views of masculinity vs femininity affect our progress and holy shit if women’s needs and preferences were taken seriously we would’ve been using electric cars since the late 1800s instead of just starting to use them now.

In “Att uppfinna världen” (Mother of Invention in the English translation) by Katrine Marçal there is a chapter dedicated to the process of inventing the modern automobile, where I read that there were multiple ways of constructing a car when the invention was relatively recent, as the field was still open to experimentation. Petrol wasn’t an obvious choice for fuelling the engine – in fact, around the year 1900 a third of all cars in Europe were electric cars, and the percentage was even bigger in America. Electrically powered cars were superior to petrol-fuelled ones in many ways: they were quieter, didn’t expel smelly gas, much safer and more reliable, and easy to start and control from the driver’s seat. Cars fuelled by petrol, on the other hand, were loud, more unreliable and required a lot more maintenance, and to start the engine one had to do some serious manual labour involving a crank – which would often leave you sweaty and with oil stains on your clothes, plus a constant risk of causing an explosion if you weren’t careful enough. Naturally, women preferred the former, being more convenient and comfortable and thus more suited to their travel needs, whereas the petrol-fuelled car was marketed as the more adventurous, macho choice for men.

The one downside to electric cars was that the battery didn’t last for longer journeys, which in the case for women wasn’t that much of a problem since the majority mainly just made trips within the city or town. This was also an issue that could’ve been fixed, and there were many plans to do so, mainly infrastructure-related ones like battery-switching stations and developing better battery solutions. There were even plans for a net of rentable electric cars for anyone to use, and electric trains, trams, and taxis for public transport (seems very ahead of its time, doesn’t it? A much more environmentally conscious system than our good ol’ “everyone has one or multiple cars that individually expel copious amounts of greenhouse gasses” method). However, investments were too few since the male-dominated society deemed these “women’s cars”. After all, a real man isn’t soft, safe and comfortable – he cranks his own car to life and makes a lot of noise as he travels. A report from 1916 by the magazine Electric Vehicle stated that “The thing that is effeminate, or that has that reputation, does not find favor with the American man. Whether or not he is ‘red-blooded’ or ‘virile’ in the ordinary physical sense, at least his ideals are. The fact that anything from a car to a color is the delight of the ladies is enough to change his interest to mere amused tolerance.”

Like, it’s insane that values such as comfort, safety and convenience were seen as “feminine” and thus dismissed, leading to petrol-fuelled cars completely taking over the market in the end. Imagine what the world would’ve looked like if women were the standard instead of men. It really pains me to think how much damage we’ve done to the planet just because of men’s stubborn macho ideals.

(a lot of this research is quoted from The Electric Vehicle: Technology and Expectations in the Automobile Age by Gijs Mom, a book I’m now very interested in reading in full)

#feminism #radical feminism #climate change #environment #radfem #electric cars #fun fact is that eventually some of these aspects (such as comfort) were developed in petrol cars as well #but by then they were already dominating the market and there was no chance people would make the switch back to electric

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thelightsandtheroses · 10 months

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sing fever to the form | frankie morales x female reader

Summary: Fake dating Frankie Morales seemed the obvious solution to both of your problems, until you caught feelings and now everything is a mess. Pairing: Frankie Morales x female reader Warnings: language and explicit content, 18+ blog - minors do not interact, a little angst with a happy ending romcom style,no physical descriptors, no use of Y/N or specific age mentions for the reader. Word Count: 6.3k Notes: the fic title is from one of my absolute favourite songs which features on every single playlist i ever compile (fever to the form by nick mulvey). I also owe a huge thank you to the lovely @mvtthewmurdvck for her support on this one 💕 i think without her, this would have probably languished in my drafts.

In the cold light of Benny Miller’s bathroom, you come to the conclusion that you’ve made several mistakes. The worst one of these, the one that set the rest in motion like dominoes, had honestly seemed like such a good idea at the time. It appeared such an obvious solution to the numerous questions, interrogations and unspoken pity that you were encountering. You could never have expected this.

You’d moved to Florida for work some time ago and while you had friends and a great career, your love life was definitely lacking. People picked up on it and while no one directly said it, you felt you were continually judged. Sure, it was all well and good that you had a nice job, but if no one’s dating you - well, what’s your red flag?

Between that and the fact your parents kept asking about whether or not you were dating, or if you’d met anyone nice at work, it started to weigh on you. Was there a problem with the way you were living - was it you? Your loved ones seemed so disappointed that you weren’t dating and putting yourself ‘out there in the world’. You tried to tell them the dating pool was not great, that the apps were awful and the only guys you ever seemed to attract came with so many of their own red flags that they could have lined the whole of your street. You’d dated enough bad guys already, you didn’t want to date any more.

You just needed some space.

Frankie was your friend and he was experiencing similar pressures. His friends were asking him when he’d start dating again and he was grappling with a new status as a single father. So, he also needed a break, needed to remove some of the noise from those around him.

Fake dating might belong in the movies, but it seemed an obvious solution to both of your predicaments. For a while, it was perfect.

Frankie is the ideal fake boyfriend, he’s better than any you could have ever imagined. In fact, he is probably the best boyfriend you’ve ever had, which is part of the problem. Most of your previous boyfriends hadn’t been the best, and suddenly here’s Frankie, acting like the perfect man for you?

Of course, you ended up falling for him.

It might have seemed a good idea back then, only now you’re hiding in a bathroom, fighting back tears and berating yourself as the BBQ you’d been looking forward to carries on outside. You’re so stupid. This is a dumb game. It isn’t real.

You’re not supposed to catch feelings.

But you have.

“So, how did we get together?” Frankie asks, leaning his head back against the sofa so you can see all the freckles on his neck above his hoodie.

“Um…” you chew your lip, take a gulp of your drink, “I have no idea.”

Frankie’s house is the sort of home that has comforting chaos and mess to it. His daughter’s things are strewn around the living room, an aviation manual rests on open pages on the coffee table next to you and a pile of battered paperbacks are stacked next to the sofa. The walls are a warm yellow; surprisingly comforting and bright. It’s a stark contrast to how Frankie presents himself outside of his home - cool, collected, a little quiet.

His home feels lived in. You always feel comfortable here.

“We could say that we just realised one day, hanging out, I mean crazier things have happened. A big story would stand out. KISS principles an’ all.”

“What did you just say?’” you ask. “Did you just say kissing principles?”

“Kiss?” He shakes his head. “Keep it simple, stupid! The way I see it, the only way for us to get away with this is to keep it realistic, boring almost so people don’t ask more,” Frankie says thoughtfully.

“Ah, so hooking up with you would be boring? That’s good to know.”

“Oh, carinô, if I kissed you for real that is not the word you’d use …”Frankie trails off, mischievously raises an eyebrow.

“Ergh, you can be so arrogant,” you tease, “Okay, fine. We had a sudden movie like realisation and what - we just got together and then what did we do?”

“Well then, y’know, by that point, you couldn’t exactly walk away.” Frankie smirks salaciously.

You throw a sofa cushion at him.“I think I hate you, Frankie Morales..”

“No, no that’s definitely not what you said.”

“So,” Frankie pauses, runs a hand through his hair. “We should agree what the boundaries are, when we’re with others.”

“Others?”

“Yes, when we’re with our friends. It needs to be believable, right? And I’m sorry, but if we stay like we are now, around my friends, then they’ll know it’s fake in five minutes.”

“Why?”

“I did an online quiz with my ex and um, physical touch is my love language,” Frankie says sheepishly.

“You do know that whole love language thing is bullshit, right?”

“No, it’s not. Jessie said -”

“She’s wrong.”

“Regardless, the quiz said that - ergh, fine, whatever. So, what’s the plan there? I don’t want either us to feel uncomfortable though, okay.”

“We’ve been friends a long time,” you say lightly, “This won’t change that. We can figure this out.” It’s not like you’ve never hugged Frankie or he hasn’t put an arm around you before. How hard can it be - you need people to believe you?

“Also, I am not lying to my kid, or getting her to lie for me. We need to keep her out of it, tell everyone else we’re taking it slow with her until we know it’s serious, okay?” Frankie looks at you with a suddenly serious expression. Oh god, he’s a dad and this is stupid and complicated and you can’t involve her in this and you’ve just been discussing the physical boundaries in this stupid game and this is ridiculous.

It was a pathetic idea of yours.

“Maybe we shouldn’t -”

“It’s fine. We just keep her out of this.”

“Okay, that sounds sensible.”

“So we’re really doing this then?” he asks with a shy smile.

“Yeah, I think we are.”

It’s Frankie. What other choice was there when it came down to it? It’s Frankie with his deep brown eyes that have mastered the puppy dog expression and his shy smiles. You care about him and all of his insecurities, doubts and vulnerabilities you’ve learned over the years. They make him tangible, real, and truer. Perhaps you always liked him and you didn’t know. Maybe you did and subconsciously thought this was the only way you’d have him which is why you’d pursued such a ridiculous idea. Perhaps you had thought this would be like the movies, that he’d confess his love for you and you’d drive off into the sunset.

You’re now accustomed to the way his hands skim your back or waist when you’re with friends, the way he leans closer to you and you can feel his breath against your ear when he whispers sweet nothings in his low voice, smell the laundry detergent on his clothes.

He’s so convincing.

No one has ever questioned whether it’s real with the two of you. You don’t think it would ever cross their mind that the two of you are fake dating.

Your body and mind certainly doesn’t think it’s fake anymore.

You sit on the edge of the bath and try and try and pinpoint when you realised you felt this way. You’ve both been flirting with danger for weeks; the way you’ve let him trace shapes on your side when he pulls you close, how you lean into the crook of his neck, play with the ends of his curls when you’re out with friends. You tell yourself it’s just to make it look real, to make this situation look authentic.

You’ve certainly fooled yourself.

You’re not even sure when you realised this. One moment everything was like normal and then it wasn’t. Perhaps it’s your fault, you have always been a dreamer. You’ve always walked through life fantasising that this will be the moment when everything changes, when you suddenly fit in and someone will like you or fall in love with you. Given the way your mind works, it was inevitably a stupid idea to even try this with Frankie.

It’s been overwhelming at the BBQ today; the gentle touches, the way he looks at you and you almost believe it’s genuine. It wouldn’t normally bother you so much, but now you’re aching for it to be something it can’t be and it’s all too much.

You couldn’t help looking at Frankie throughout the BBQ; wanting to count the freckles on his neck, to run your hands through the curls hidden by his hat as you notice the ends peeking out at the nape of his neck. You’re always taken with the broadness of his shoulders too, his hands.

You’re completely doomed.

You can’t do this anymore. It’s not fair, it’s a betrayal of your friendship with him. It’s a betrayal of his trust because agreeing to do this fake dating was an exercise in trust, one you are failing.

You’ve been thinking about it for days. The reason you feel so safe with Frankie is because it’s not real, because you weren’t supposed to have to give your heart away. It was just meant to distract people so you could breathe again. You’ve seen too many romcoms and movies, you’re too much of a dreamer to have ever let this work without getting messy. You thought you could be detached and objective, but you can’t.

It’s you, you’re the one who has screwed up.

So you go downstairs, make your excuses and leave.

You’ve been fake dating for two weeks and this just might be your best relationship ever. You can’t decide if that’s sweet or perhaps the most depressing thing you’ve ever admitted.

You’re in Frankie’s car on the way to Tom’s birthday, playing with the handle of the gift bag you’re holding. The sun is out, Frankie’s playlist is setting the scene and you feel so happy in this moment.

“Don’t be surprised if they say something about us,” Frankie says casually as he changes gear, “The guys have been giving me grief since I told them about us. Well, since I told them about what we’re saying about us, anyway.”

“I thought the idea was it would stop them giving you grief?”

“Oh, this is much better than it was, trust me,” he says, laughing as he looks at the road ahead. With his sunglasses on, no hat and a loose t-shirt he looks more relaxed than you’ve ever seen him. Frankie strikes you as a tightly wound coil, he’s just got that energy. He’s calm, not something or someone you are afraid of, but you recognise the way he thinks, see the nervous anticipation in his eyes before he smiles at one of his friends on a night out.

You see the same thing in yourself.

“You know, I can’t believe this is working,” you say cheerfully to Frankie, “My mom has even stopped sending me those news articles about people who meet their soulmates later in your life.”

“Your mom was sending you those?” Frankie asks, raising an eyebrow.

“She means well,” you say placidly. “My parents have always had a lot of expectations for me.”

“Shit.” He reaches over and squeezes your hand. “Well, I can promise you that you’re the best fake girlfriend I’ve ever had.”

“Likewise, Frankie, likewise.”

You don’t mean to ghost Frankie after the BBQ. It’s just you’re not sure what to say to him. I’m sorry, but I think this fake dating is getting a little too authentic because I might be falling for you?

You can’t do that to him, can’t embarrass yourself with your stupid crush either. It’s better to just ignore the messages, pretend it’s not happening and bury your head in the sand.

Of course, Frankie knows where you live, so you shouldn’t be as surprised as you are when he turns up at your home.

“So what’s going on? I texted you,” he says with a forced casual voice as he leans against your kitchen counter. He’s wearing a loose t-shirt and jeans, his usual hat discarded next to him. He runs a hand through his hair and looks over at you.

You don’t want to look at him properly, so you focus your attention on your kitchen tiles instead . You really need to mop the kitchen floor later.

“I think, I think this thing has run its course.”

“Oh, really?” Frankie looks surprised, almost sad, when you dare to look at him, “I thought this was working well for us both.”

“A little too well,” you mumble under your breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing.”

You sigh.

“Hey, cariño, talk to me.”

“It’s just us, Frankie, you don’t have to call me that right now.”

“Why, do you not like it?”

You exhale again with exasperation and shake your head. Just make this easier on me, you think, stop muddying the water. When you meet Frankie’s eyes he looks perplexed though, concerned and his brow is furrowed.

“What’s going on?” he asks, arms folded as he looks over at you. “Talk to me.”

“I think we should stop with this fake dating arrangement. I mean, the idea was just to do it until my friends and my parents were off my back and until your friends were off yours, and they are. So, let’s call it a win and move on.”

“Did something happen?” Frankie asks. “You meet someone?” There’s a strange tone to his voice, almost wistful.

“No, no. I just - I don’t think we should keep doing this. I mean that girl asked you out last week at the bar and because Will and I were with you, you said no.”

“She wasn’t my type anyway and that’s what this is about? Come on!”

“I’m - I’m clearly holding you back and that’s not what this was supposed to be.”

“Is this what you really want?”

“Absolutely,” you lie brightly, smiling as widely as you can. “We’re friends and we’ve helped each other out so let’s bow out of this gracefully. We can say to the others - we can tell them we realised that we’re better off as friends.”

“Right. Okay.”

“Okay?” you repeat, disappointed that he’s just giving up, that this really is it.

A small part of you was holding out hope for Frankie fighting back, for him to declare his love for you, take you into his arms and then for the two of you to have the most passionate, intense sex of your life right there in the kitchen. That’s what happens in the movies and books. It’s all meant to end with a kiss.

Only he doesn’t do that.

He just quietly acquiesces to your demand that this ends now and when he smiles, as though his acceptance will make you happy, he shatters your heart into a million pieces.

You have no idea how your friendship will recover from this. You have no idea how to watch someone else love Frankie in the future, to watch him put his hands on someone else or look at them like he looked at you and know it’s real for them but wasn’t for you.

“I should probably go,” Frankie says, his gaze fixated on the floor.

“Oh, right. Well, I’ll see you around.”

The story of your breakup spreads quickly. Your friends are disappointed, they tell you it’s obvious you both liked each other, they ask if you’re sure you can’t work it out? Your parents are clearly disappointed, but at the same time you catch a glance of relief on your mother’s face when you tell her.

“He’s complicated,” she says, taking a sip from her cup of tea. It’s your mom’s first visit in months, a visit you had originally planned during the fake dating misadventure.

“Complicated?”

“He’s a single father and the job he has? Being a pilot isn’t like a regular 9-5.”

“He makes his hours work for his kid, and none of those things were the reason we broke up”you say defensively. “And at my age, most people have previous relationships and baggage so I don’t think that makes him any more complicated than anyone else I could meet.”

“You don’t, darling, you don’t have any baggage.”

“That in itself is clearly a complication,” you say, rolling your eyes like a petulant teenager. “I mean, you and Dad hated it when I was single. You were always asking if I’d met someone, or if I was looking and -“ you trail off and stare at your hands on the table. Your nail varnish is chipped. Rouge Noir, the classic vampy red you always put on when you’re feeling blue, when you need a confidence boost. It’s not working for you right now though.

“We just want you to be happy,” your mom says, gently taking her hands in yours. “Whatever that looks like.”

“I am happy.” It’s meant to sound assertive but it comes out more like a question as you speak. You’re happy, dammit. Or you were before everything went wrong.

“No, honey, you’re in the middle of a break up and it’s obvious you still feel something for him. Are you sure - are you sure it’s over? You told me you were the one who ended things.”

“Yeah, I did. I don’t think - I don’t think it’s a good idea, mom. I’ll get over it. I have this big work project and then that trip and the apartment move soon, so I’ll be fine.”

You’re not sure of anything now. You thought stopping the arrangement with Frankie would save your friendship, but it didn’t. Now you don’t have him at all and it fucking hurts.

You are so angry and sad and confused. This is all your fault for getting feelings that you’d laughed at the possibility of months ago. You’ve lost him anyway and it’s caused a great chasm in your heart.

How can you be mourning something that wasn’t even real in the first place?

When you became friends with Frankie, he introduced you to some of his friends from his military days. While you didn’t exactly get on with all of them, Tom is aloof at best, Benny and you had become friends over time. In the wake of your fictionalised break-up, you’ve lost those people too. You’ve avoided Benny’s fights, wanted Frankie to have his friends without the bother of you. Besides, you’ve been focused on work. You had a trip away for a few days and then you had a big project, presentations. Work has been something to throw yourself into.

It’s a good plan, but Benny keeps texting you and personally invites you to his next fight.

You and Frankie have both said you’re still friends so what’s the problem?

I don’t know if it’s a good idea.

Just come to the damn fight, would you? Liv keeps asking after you.

You decide you should go at least once to show your face. You can do this, you can handle one night. You like Liv, Benny’s girlfriend, and you can say hello and then vanish quickly after the fight ends. If you’re careful with the seating set up, you might not even see Frankie or have to talk to him at all.

The bar is crowded and while Will, Santiago, Tom and Frankie all greeted you when you arrive, it feels different. Stilted somehow.

It’s almost how it would feel if this was a genuine break up, if this was real. You suppose it is to Santiago, Tom and Will.

You sat with Benny’s girlfriend, Liv, for the fight. She squeezed your hand sympathetically when she catches you looking over at Frankie.

Frankie still looks the same as ever, you think as you cast your eyes over to where he is in the crowd. He’s wearing his usual hat, the one you’ve teased him about for years but can’t picture him ever giving up, with well fitting jeans and a jacket. He looks infuriatingly good.

Before the fight Frankie had moved so he was next to you and he looked like he wanted to say something to you before the fight began. Panicked, you quickly moved next to Liv instead and so you were sitting on the other side of the group to him as you took your seats.

Crisis averted, you thought. Only now, you can’t stop wondering what he might have said to you.

“I can’t see why you can’t get it together,” Benny says, taking a sip from his bottle of beer. The two of you are standing together by the bar, waiting for the rest of the group’s drinks. Benny’s mostly fixed up from his fight, with just a small red stain on his forehead between the steri-strips and bruises. You think the other guy must look a lot worse.

“Wait, what did you say?” you ask.

“I don’t see why you and Frankie can’t work it out. I mean, look at him,” Benny points his bottle towards your friends, to where your attention had just been. Frankie’s standing on the edge of the group, arms folded, hat rigid. He looks uncomfortable.

You shouldn’t have come here tonight.

“We tried and it wasn’t a good fit. It wasn’t going to work out,,” you say flatly, repeating the line you and Frankie had agreed on.

“Look, you might have fooled the others, but you can’t fool me.”

Your stomach sinks. “What do you mean?”

“I mean, I know you guys were fake dating at first.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You could barely keep your stories straight about how you got together when I asked,” Benny says softly. “You kept adding details and I noticed Frankie shake his head whenever you did that.”

“Why didn’t you say anything? Does Frankie know?” You’re mortified for him, you know how embarrassed he would feel if he found out that Benny had guessed all along it was fake.

This really can’t get any worse.

“‘Cause you two obviously liked each other. I assumed that you’d figure it out along the way. I thought you had, but then -” Benny trails off.

“You know when you assume, you make an ass -”

‘Oh sweetheart, don’t even finish that sentence.“ Benny exhales. “How are you holding up?”

“It’s what you said, it was fake and we ended it and it’s all fine now.”

“Bullshit,” Benny exclaims, his southern drawl even more pronounced.

“It’s not.”

“It is.”

The bartender interrupts by finally handing you the rest of your drinks and between you and Benny, you take them and rejoin your friends.

‘Cause you two obviously liked each other.

Benny’s words echo in your mind. He didn’t say because you liked Frankie, but because you both did.

Frankie doesn’t like you like that though, you know this. He’s clearly just a very good actor.

You end up the one handing Frankie his drink, no doubt due to Benny’s meddling. Your hands brush against his as he takes the bottle and you can’t help looking up at him, noticing the unreadable expression on his face.

Will coughs loudly and you quickly take a step back.

“It was a good fight, Benny,” you say awkwardly, hoping he’ll take the change of subject.

“I need a smoke,” Frankie says, hunching his shoulders as he walks away from the group.

The room instantly turns cold.

You awkwardly pull the edge of your jacket down, wishing the ground would swallow you up. Santi, Tom and Will are staring at you and you can’t be here. They hate you, they’re judging you.

This is so fucked up.

“I’m uh, going to go.”

Liv makes a motion as if to stop you, but she doesn’t, and Benny’s looking at you with real disappointment but that doesn’t stop you either. You’re getting good at running away now.

You’re too afraid to look behind you and see whether they’re looking at you as you walk away.

Frankie’s standing by the parking lot when you finally weave your way past the crowds and bloody fighters to reach the exit.

He looks surprised to see you. Just seeing his face makes your heart ache because you’ve lost him, you’ve lost him and you didn’t want to.

“I’m leaving now, so you can go back in” you say flatly.

“I was just having a smoke,” he says defensively. It’s an obvious lie, you both know it.

“Sure, Frankie. Look, you can’t just stomp off like that. You can’t leave me in that position with everyone. It’s not fair.”

“Yeah, well, there’s a lot of things we don’t discuss, lot of things that aren’t fair,” Frankie says bitterly, tossing his cigarette to the floor and stamping on it a little too vigorously.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“What’s going on with you? This wasn’t meant to affect our friendship. I never, ever would have agreed if I’d known,” Frankie says firmly. “You were my friend and I still wanted you to be but you ghosted me and ended our deal. That’s fine, but we didn’t go back to normal after. We just - it’s like you hate me now.”

“I don’t hate you.”

“Just would you tell me what I did wrong?”

“You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“Then why -”

“It was too real,” you whisper, folding your arms around yourself and leaning against the brick wall.

“What? What did you say?” Frankie asks, moving closer.

“You know, the faking it thing. It was too real, it was confusing me. And I - I didn’t want to ruin everything but I still ruined it all. Story of my life.”

“Don’t say that. Don’t be so hard on yourself.” You think, somehow he’s going to break your heart even more tonight and you didn’t think that was possible..

“I just - I got confused.”

“How did you get confused?” he asks in a low voice, taking another step closer to you.

“Don’t, Frankie, don’t make me say it.”

“Say what?” he asks, dramatically throwing his hands in the air, “I can’t understand you. I mean, this was your idea and then you ended it and now you don’t even want to be friends? I don’t know what I did but -”

“You did nothing, Frankie. It’s me, not you.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me. Clearly something happened. Can’t you just talk to me? I’m fucking miserable here. You were supposed to be my friend and I miss you.” You hadn’t thought that your actions could have hurt Frankie, you thought you were protecting him by doing what you did.

You feel even worse, a sick feeling rising in your stomach.

“It got muddled in my head, okay, it felt like it was real and I couldn’t do that to you, so that’s why - that’s why.” You falter at the end of your sentence as all of the adrenaline and energy from your body fades away..

“It got too real for you? What are you saying?”

“That I like you. That I ended up liking you more than I should, you obtuse jerk!”

Frankie pauses then takes another step closer. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he asks, a slight smile on his face that you can’t make any sense of.

“It’s embarrassing, Frankie. We made an arrangement and I caught feelings like an idiotic teenager. I’m just daydreaming my life away again.”

Frankie is so close to you right now, he braces his hands against the wall as he stands right in front of you.

“You caught feelings, huh?”

You notice a familiar smirk on his face and then he’s kissing you.

Frankie’s kissed you before; it’s been part of the facade after all, but not like this.

This kiss is everything. It sends molten heat down your core, renders your mind completely blank. All the anxiety, all the internal dialogue is gone for once. The silence is blissful as you can feel your heart pounding, take in the soft texture of Frankie’s shirt as you fist it to pull him closer because now he’s with you like this, you can’t let him go.

It’s not an aggressive kiss, it’s not teeth clashing or fury. It’s not exactly gentle either. Frankie kisses you with care; like he’s trying to take you apart right here and now with just a kiss.

In just one minute, he’s ruined you for other people. No one else could kiss you like Frankie does.

“I told you, if I kissed you for real it wouldn’t be boring,” Frankie mumbles, moving his attention down your jaw and neck to your collarbone. You can feel the velvet softness of his lips, the heat of his breath.

“Oh fuck you,” you joke.

”Well, baby, I think I’m trying. Not here though, we can do better than that.”

You both laugh. The tension breaks for just a second as you wrap your arms around his shoulders, laugh into his neck, breathe him in.

“C’mon, you had to know I liked you. I just, I just thought you deserved someone better than me -” Frankie starts.

“That’s bullshit,” you argue. Frankie is kind, thoughtful and funny. He’s also so competent, multi-skilled and as you’ve just learned, an excellent kisser. Frankie has that quiet and collected energy you’ve noticed in a lot of ex-military people too. He flies planes and helicopters for a living. He’s your friend. How could you deserve any better than him?

“Can we get out of here?” Frankie asks, “Talk, not talk, I don’t mind. I just - I want to be with you right now. God, I missed you.”

“Okay. I really fucking missed you too,” you say, kissing his shoulder lightly before leaning back against the wall.

He doesn’t stop touching you the whole way to your apartment. He’s either holding your hand or touching your leg. If he has to temporarily remove himself to make a turn or change gear, he’s immediately back with you as soon as possible. You wonder if he’s worried you’ll leave or vanish if he’s not actually touching you, if he’s also wondering if this is really happening..

His car stereo blares uncharacteristically cheerful music by the latest pop sensation and you raise your eyebrows when he looks over at you.

“It’s her favourite album by her favourite singer and school’s been rough for her the last few weeks so this cheers her up,” he says defensively, flexing his fingers on the steering wheel, “I think I can probably hear it even when it’s not playing now.”

“Sure, but your daughter’s not in the car with us. Is she, Frankie? You could have switched it over.”

“I keep forgetting to change the CD,” he whines unconvincingly. “This car’s old.”

You make your way to your apartment, his arm around you, fingers entwined with yours the whole time.

As soon as you close the front door, he’s pushing your back against the wall, cupping his hands around your face to kiss you deeply.

You move your hands up to meet his and then move one of your hands down his chest.

“Your heart’s racing like crazy,” you mumble as he kisses a particular spot on your neck.

There’s always a moment of fear at a junction like this. What if the sex is bad - what if you’re just not compatible this way? But you need him, you need him with you, in you and the two of you are both too far gone to focus on that now.

Your friendship is changed anyway. There’s nothing more to lose.

He places his hands on your hips, pulls you away towards your bedroom.

“I want you so much,” he says.

“I want you too,” you reply, dazed between kisses as he navigates you to the edge of your bed.

He ghosts his hands down to the edge of your top and you move to desperately pull it off you.

You watch him take in the sight of you in your bra, take in the smile on his face. He looks at you with something like reverence; as if he can’t quite take it in that you’re real and you’re with him. Part of you wants to glow under his gaze and the rest of you fights panic, because this feels different, it feels real. You’ve never been looked at like this before.

You’ll do anything to keep this moment.

He gently unhooks your bra, moves his kisses down from your lips to your neck to your collarbone to the curve of your breasts and then down again.

His hands fumble with the button of your jeans and you’re desperate for him.

“What do you want, baby?”

You, you think, I just want you.

”C’mon, tell me,” he coaxes.

“I just need you. I want you to - ”

“I’ve got you,” he says, calmly lifting your hips to remove your jeans, to touch the hem of your underwear - and could you have not put better underwear on this morning?

You open your mouth to say something but then he comes back to meet your lips as he moves his hand inside your underwear. You’re already slick with wanting him, he slides a finger inside before tracing circles over your bundle of nerves to make you gasp.

“You’re so fucking pretty,” he whispers as he continues taking you apart.

“Frankie -”

“I’ve liked you for so long, I just thought you didn’t want me that way. I’d take anything you give me - friendship, I mean fake dating. I thought it was as close as I’d get.”

“Frankie, how could I not want you that way? You’re - you’re Frankie.”

“Exactly.”

“I’m going to show you.”

You feel your orgasm building and clasp your hands over his shoulders, into his hair. You shut your eyes and then it’s gone.

“Frankie?”

You open your eyes to see him take his finger into his mouth then mischievously smiles as he moves back and off the bed. He moves you so your legs are over the edge of the bed and then. He gets on his knees.

You take a deep breath He kisses the inside of your knee, traces kiss up your thigh until he meets you. You sit up slightly on your elbows as he looks up to meet your gaze with a dazed smile before he turns his attention to you.

Frankie Morales knows exactly what he’s doing between your legs but in case, you tell him how good he is anyway. He takes you apart with expert precision, gets you back to the precipice of pleasure all too quickly and guides you over the line.

“Do you want to -” he asks breathlessly as he comes back to you afterwards and kisses you. You can taste yourself on his lips, can feel his hardness pressing into you.

“Yeah, I do. I have uh - condoms in the bathroom cabinet.”

“Give me a second.” He kisses you briefly and you shut your eyes again as he goes to the bathroom. You try and catch your breath back and get your legs to stop trembling.

Why are the condoms so fucking far away? You still desperately need him, still need to feel him.

When Frankie comes back, he kisses you hungrily before he slides the condom over his length.

“Fuck, to think we could have been doing this the whole time,” he says before he’s sliding inside you.

There’s nothing else at this moment. It’s just you and him and the way you dig your fingers into his back with your free hand and the way your other hands is entwined in his as he moves inside you, the two of you desperately exchanging sweet nothings to each other, groaning each other’s names.

Your heart is racing and the blood is pumping in your ears. You watch the expression on his face just before he buries his face in your neck, sure he can feel the way you’re tightening around him, can surely feel how close you are too and then just as he takes you to that place one more time, you hear the way he moans as he joins you.

The next morning you watch Frankie pacing your balcony as speaks on the phone to his daughter. His hair is still damp from the shower, curling at the ends, and he has a mug of coffee in his other hand. He turns and smiles at you.

Just twenty four hours ago, you never thought Frankie could feel that way about you. You were resigned to your mistakes and your losses.

You were wrong.

He hangs up the phone and you walk over to join him on the balcony, your mug of coffee tightly clasped between your hands.

“Hi.”

“Hey,” he says, putting his phone in his pocket and wrapping his now free arm around you as he takes a gulp of coffee.

You take a sip of your own coffee.

“I was just thinking,” Frankie says, “so, I guess the story we came up with before was true, right? We just realised how we felt about each other one day - and okay, it might have taken some fake dating to get us both there - but no one else needs to know that.”

“No one else needs to know that.”

You definitely need to tell Frankie at some point that Benny has figured everything out, that Benny clearly pushed you two together last night. You probably owe him a thank you, but you’ll never tell Benny that.

“So, what do we do now?” There’s a lot you need to discuss, figure out, but you just want to be with him. Surely that’s enough for now.

Frankie grins. “Well, I don’t need to be home until the afternoon so I’ve got some time right now.”

“I’m sure we can think of some things to fill that time.”

Frankie laughs. “Definitely.”

Tag List

All Pedro characters: @harriedandharassed @pedrostories @hiroikegawa @pedrosaidsheispunk

#frankie morales x female reader #frankie morales x you #frankie morales x reader #frankie morales #triple frontier #frankie morales fanfiction #triple frontier fanfiction

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hauntedestheart · 5 months

Text

A Business Opportunity (Male Body Swap)

The sequel to "A Business Proposition"

Samson Mann was big, he was strong, he was (people told him) good looking, but most importantly, he was broke.

A few months ago his position at the warehouse (aka the only job he'd ever had since he left high school) had been made "obsolete" by new advances in technology so now, at thirty, he was being forced to brave the job market for the first time. But with just a GED, no special skills, and a resume with one reference, his only real job options were in degrading manual labor positions where the starting pay was insultingly low.

While Samson wasn't the brightest bulb in the drawer, his naturally stocky build and boisterous personality made him perfect for working in a physically demanding social environment like the warehouse... but no, companies would rather hire a robot.

After venting about it to his friends at the gym (one of the few indulgences he allowed himself after he had to start cutting costs) one of them had offered up a solution: a friend of a friend of a friend had begun working for Bod+E, and, if interested, he could hook Samson up with an interview.

While Samson wasn't the type to keep up with the latest tech trends, everyone had heard of Bod+E. Founded by eccentric young tech genius Kim Shinwei, the app was currently in the beta-phase and the only way to get access was through a hookup... which Samson's friend was happy to provide.

Samson didn't think of himself as the app gig type but it was the first offer that had come his way that wasn't entirely degrading, so desperation won out over trepidation and he agreed. Now, after two weeks full of paperwork, background checks, and drug tests, Samson was waiting in an office for a personal meeting with a millionaire.

Who was very, very late.

Samson shuffled in his seat again, his large ass uncomfortable shoved into the expensive chair he'd been told to wait in. A large faux-leather chair (conveniently taller than Samson's) sat empty across the desk from him, flanked by a display case of trophies proclaiming Mr. Shinwei's many, many achievements. Samson got the sense he was supposed to be intimidated, which seemed like overkill because waiting in anticipation already had him sweating.

Forty-five minutes wasn't unreasonable, he reasoned to himself. Right? After all, Kim Shinwei's a very important guy.

The only other person in the room was a slight Asian fellow seated on a couch in the corner- based off of his business casual attire Samson had at first assumed was some kind of secretary, but other than a small nod to Samson when he'd walked in the room the young man hadn't acknowledged him at all. Instead he was leafing through a large textbook and scribbling down notes, looking very much like he did not want to be disturbed.

Samson was debating whether or not to risk asking the not-secretary what was going on when he heard the door swing open behind him.

"There you are!" A voice boomed. "I hope you weren't waiting too long, I got a bit distracted when I was getting ready. You know how it is."

Samson rose from his chair and turned to greet the visitor, but when he saw them he did a double take. Based off of his hazy recollection of the photos he'd seen of Kim Shinwei he had expected to meet a weedy looking Asian man much like the one in the corner, but instead the man in front of him was a tall, strapping white man who gave Samson a real run for his money when they shook hands. Samson took in the way the man's muscles pressed against his thin white button up, and when he sat down and he splayed his legs in a way that created a very noticeable bulge that Samson had to quickly avert his eyes from. He looked like a porn director's idea of a businessman.

"Mr. Shinwei?" Samson asked, failing to keep his handsome face from scrunching up in confusion. He was certain he was being rude, but fortunately the man before him didn't seem to mind.

"In the flesh!" Mr. Shinwei chuckled at some private joke and ran his hand through his fluffy locks of hair. "And please, call me Kim."

"Good to meet you Kim. You uh," Samson cocked his head to the side, searching for an angle that would turn the stud before him into the engineer he'd expected. "You don't look like your photos."

The hunk in front of him smiled mysteriously. "No, I don't suppose I would, would I? But I like to dress up for meetings."

The not-secretary sitting in the back of the room snorted, and Kim flipped him off over his shoulder without turning back. Samson was a bit taken aback by the juvenile display and shuffled in place awkwardly, unsure what he was supposed to do, until Mr. Shinwei looked back at him and stretched a hand out illustratively.

"Why don't you take a seat?" Kim offered, suddenly the picture of professionalism once more, and Samson plunked himself down into the chair gratefully. Kim leaned forwards in his seat and locked eyes with with Samson. "So, Samson Mann, right? Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with us, we really do appreciate it. You came very-" Kim's eyes flicked up and down the length of Samson's body. "-highly recommended."

"Thank you, that's great to hear," Samson straightened his back and cleared his throat, attempting to disguise his discomfort. He wasn't very used to professional environments (if this could be called professional) so he sent up a prayer that he wouldn't do anything to embarrass himself and jeopardize the opportunity. "My buddy seems to really love working for you and I needed a change of pace so I thought, why not?"

"Your buddy... that's Joel Green, right?" Kim asked, and Samson nodded. Kim hummed thoughtfully, glancing up at the ceiling like he was remembering something. "Great, I love Joel. One of our most requested- his ass is to die for, right? That thing can shake."

"Uh-" Samson coughed to cover his surprise, and he stared at Kim in bewilderment. "Is this a test? Are we gonna get in trouble with HR or something?"

Kim chuckled and shook his head. "Yes I suppose that is a very unusual way for a boss to speak about an employee- but then Bod+E is a very unusual company. You're familiar with what we do, correct?"

Samson nodded, squeezing his fist beneath the table, and then a beat of silence followed. A sharp look entered Kim's eyes as they flicked over Samson, and he raised his eyebrow expectantly.

"Then tell me about it," Kim leaned forwards and grinned wolfishly at Samson, his pretty face baring a mouth full of pearly white teeth. "If you're considering working for us you have to be comfortable with our service. I want you to tell me what we do here."

"Bod-E, short for Body Exchange, is a silicon-valley startup that-" Samson began, wracking his brain to try to remember what he'd read on the company website.

Kim snapped his fingers and cut Samson off. "No, I don't want the corporate party line bullshit. Tell me what you think it is we do here."

"You uh- you rent out people," Samson said, stumbling over the words a bit. Truthfully, he was still wrapping his head around the idea. When Joel had first told him what he did at his hot new job, Samson had laughed in his face until he realized his friend wasn't joking, and even sitting in front of the creator the reality of it still seemed fake. "You hire guys and then other men pay to take over their bodies and do stuff in them."

Kim leaned back in his chair, a small smile on his face, and the tense atmosphere lifted slightly. Samson exhaled in relief at evidently having passed the test, and he let himself relax a bit as Kim began to speak.

"That's a good start but we're about a little bit more than that," Kim visibly puffed up with pride as he spoke about his work, and Samson tried his best to focus on his words and not the nipples that were poking through his shirt. "Bod-E is about creating experiences, it's about offering people the opportunity to become the man of their dreams and allowing those of us who weren't exactly blessed to work with someone who was to take advantage of their natural goods and get a bit of a break. If a poor man can rent a nicer house when he wants a vacation, why can't an average man rent a more attractive body for a getaway? It sounds too good to be true- but it isn't. And I've proven it."

"I just wanna check," Samson blurted out before he could stop himself. "This isn't a scam, right? You're not gonna steal my organs or something?"

Kim raised an eyebrow. "Why on Earth would I do that? They're far more valuable inside of you."

Samson tensed up when the businessman rose to his feet and slowly circled the desk, trailing his fingers along the polished wood behind him as he zeroed in on the interviewee.

"See, Samson, scams are about money, and I've made enough money to last myself a lifetime," Kim shrugged as if to say just a fact. "I have no motivation to go around scamming random men off the street. No, I do this because I believe in it! Because I care about my fellow man."

Kim was right beside Samson now and he hopped up to take a seat on the table, close enough that the two men's legs brushed together when Kim leaned back to lounge. He began to unbutton the top few buttons of his shirt, tugging it open to expose his shapely pecs, and the fingers of one of his hands idly rubbed at them as he continued to speak.

"Not everyone is born with the same natural advantages Samson," he continued, casually, as if he wasn't stroking himself, and Samson was mesmerized by the motion. "The world is different when you're beautiful, in ways that the beautiful people don't even understand because they think it's normal. And I think everyone should have the opportunity to enjoy that, even if it's just for a night." He snapped his fingers and Samson flinched, looking up to meet a gaze that seared into his soul. "And you're going to get the opportunity to help with that, and make a fuckton of money on the side. Doesn't that sound nice?"

"Uhhh," Samson muttered, a bit stupefied, and he shuffled awkwardly in his seat. "I guess? You kinda lost me a bit in the middle."

Kim chuckled and hopped to his feet, strolling back around to the far side of the table and reclaiming his chair. His shirt, Samson noticed, still hung open. "Let me put it another way then... Samson, are you happy with your body?"

Samson glanced down at himself, and he found no reason to be unhappy. First and foremost, he was healthy. But in terms of looks, he had nothing to complain about either.

While not overly obsessed with his appearance, he was very aware that other people thought he was handsome, and he'd never had any issues attracting a partner. A big guy since he was young, tall and with a stocky build, his years of laboring in a warehouse and the gym had granted him big arms and a small muscle gut- he wasn't cut like a pretty boy model, but he thought he looked good with a bit of fluff around the waist. He had a big, round ass too, and now that "thick" was back in fashion he was more popular than ever.

He flexed his arms subconsciously and nodded. "Yeah, I am."

"I suppose I should have expected that answer from you," Kim said with a laugh, and his eyes roamed Samson's body shamelessly with something close to hunger. "You're tall, strong, handsome- what would you have to be insecure about? But if you would indulge me for a moment, imagine that this wasn't you and you weren't happy with your body. Imagine you looked like..." Kim pointed at the young man still leafing through a textbook at the back of the room. "Like him over there, just to choose a completely random example. Small, skinny, weak, and you had always been that way and you were scared that you were always going to be that way. Never the hero, never the object of desire, always ashamed."

Samson detected a hint of bitterness in Kim's voice, but he wisely chose not to comment on it. Instead he tried to play along and just nodded.

"So if someone told you that you could have the opportunity to feel like this," he gestured towards Samson's powerful body. "to feel like the man you want to be... would you be willing to pay for it?"

"I think I would," Samson found himself agreeing, and he pressed his hands to his belly almost protectively.

"Then you understand why I'm so passionate about the service we provide." Kim smiled, a mischievious glint in his eye. "And here's a follow-up question: On your first day in this hot new body, what would you do?"

"Um..." Samson's brain was overheating and he blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "Honestly? Fuck people."

"See?" Kim cackled with delight. "You're a natural, you've already wrapped your head around our business model." He opened up a folder and slid a sheet of paper across the table towards Samson with some paragraphs and diagrams on it, which the poor man couldn't make heads or tails of. "It's no secret that many of our clients have specific intentions with bodies contracted through our services, but as you can see here, it's all very understandable."

"Sorry but I gotta ask," Samson rubbed the back of his neck nervously, and he was barely able to look at Mr. Shinwei as he spoke the question on his mind. "Isn't this... isn't this prostitution?"

A pause.

"Technically speaking," Kim's words were practiced, as if he'd given this speech several times before. "The government has no name for what's happening here, and can legally do nothing about it. We've followed all appropriate government regulations and are working closely with lawmakers on potential future regulation of the market."

Then Kim smirked. "But that's just the bullshit I have to deal with. All you need to know is that you'd work on commission, so it would be in your best interest to, well, remain as appealing as possible. No one will be allowed to use your body for anything you don't consent to," Kim paused and tapped at the page he'd laid down on the table. "But our data does show that gigs are weighted heavily towards employees who do allow clients to perform sex acts in their bodies, so, make of that what you will. Do you understand what I'm getting at here?"

Kim linked eyes with Samson, and the bigger man nodded. Deep down he'd known what he was getting into, but hearing it said aloud was still very unsettling.

"And it's safe, right?" Samson asked, and Kim smiled at him.

"We watch out for our people," he said simply. "Our security measures are airtight- I designed them myself, and we haven't had an incident yet."

Samson opened his mouth to ask something else, but Kim cut him off before he could speak.

"You seem nervous," the businessman said bluntly. "So let me just assure you that you have nothing to worry about- you're definitely..." Kim licked his lips. "Qualified, for the job. I can see you doing very, very well here, but only if you're willing to take a leap of faith on this opportunity."

"I can see from your resume that you were laid off from your last job because your company replaced you with a machine. Well congratulations, you've stumbled in to the one line of work where guys like you can never be replaced."

Although Kim was trying to put Samson at ease, something about the way the businessman spoke sent a shiver down the big man's back. Still, Kim's words made sense, and at the end of the day Samson needed the money so he girded his loins and plastered a smile on his face.

"But..." the big man faltered. "The pay's good?"

"Ah yes, money," Kim's nose wrinkled up for a moment, then he sighed dramatically. "It always comes back to that, doesn't it? Well, if that's what you're looking for, you're in the right place. Depending on how much of your time you're willing to offer to the company you can expect to take in somewhere between six to eight thousand dollars a month. Perhaps more if you establish regulars who request you privately."

Samson whistled- that was a lot of money! Definitely more than he'd ever made at any of his other jobs. A lot of questions still swirled around his mind but when the numbers were laid out like that, he knew that there was only one answer.

"I cannot believe I'm gonna say this but... I'll do it!"

"Well then!" Kim clapped his hands and stood up, extending one hand forwards, and Samson rose to meet him with a handshake. "All that's left is the trial run."

"Trial run?" A look of bewilderment crossed Samson's face, and then he grasped the implication of Mr. Shinwei's words. "You mean..."

"A test swap," Kim smiled sweetly, but Samson could see that he was practically trembling with excitement. "With me, of course. I vet all of our new hires personally. After all, I wouldn't market a product without testing it first!"

Samson grimaced slightly at being referred to as a "product," but he nodded his head. This was what he'd signed up for after all, might as well get used to it now.

"Allow me to just confer with my associate here for a moment," Kim turned towards the Asian man sitting in the back of the room– Samson had almost forgotten he was there. "Peter, would you mind?"

The man called Peter looked up from his book and rolled his eyes, then picked up the phone next to him and tapped on its screen. Suddenly, both men froze in place and their faces went blank, eyes staring blindly into space. Samson glanced at the two nervously, wondering if he should go for help, when suddenly they snapped back to attention.

Samson watched as the man in front of him stumbled, and he reached out to steady him.

"Mr. Shinwei? Are you okay?" Samson asked, a little nervously, but the man in front of him just sighed and jabbed his thumb back towards the man seated with the books.

"I'm over here actually!" The not-secretary waved, rising from his seat and walking over to join them . "And please, I told you, call me Kim."

It took Samson a moment to put it together.

"You mean, that whole time we were talking, you were–" Unable to articulate himself, Samson rapidly pointed between the two of them.

"Swapped?" Kim chuckled, his voice much reedier in his real body. The real Kim Shinwei was shorter than both Peter and Samson, but as he stood beside them he had a presence that towered over both of them. He slapped the shoulder of the body he'd just been inhabiting, and the man inside rolled his eyes. "Yes, Peter is my... let's just say assistant, and I like to use his body for negotiations since his dashing visage has a certain presence that I lack."

"You mean I exercise and shower," Peter remarked with an eye roll, and Kim just laughed.

"That's one way to put it," Kim mused, a razor sharp smile on his face. "And yet, which one of us is rich?"

Peter grumbled incoherently then plucked something from the back of his neck and dropped it into Kim's palm. Kim held it up in the air for Samson to see: a small white bead of plastic.

"Now, crash course, this is the neurolinker that's going to facilitate the swap," he explained, rotating item in the air to show it from every angle. To Samson it just looked like a jellybean, but Kim proudly declared that it was jam packed full of intense tech. "It's going to bind seamlessly to the back of your neck– you might feel a little tickle, but that's it. Do you mind?"

He pointed towards the back of Samson's neck, and Samson nodded. Kim passed the bead back to Peter, who crossed behind Samson and placed a hand on his neck.

Samson tensed up. "Warn me before you-"

"It's already on," Peter said, and sure enough, when Samson reached back he felt a small bump at the base of his neck that he assumed was the neurolinker. He blinked in surprise– he hadn't even felt it attach.

"Everything feel okay?" Kim asked, and Samson nodded, still rubbing his fingers over the device in fascination. Kim grinned when he noticed Samson's interest. "Like I said, seamless! Comfort was a major factor I considered while designing it."

He held his hand out to the side, and Peter slipped a phone into it.

"They're activated wirelessly via the app– and don't worry about it activating by accident, the commercial models our customers receive are activated a three factor identification system tied to biometrics." Kim tapped at his screen as he spoke. "But I have an admin copy with special privileges so the process will be a bit more streamlined for us today. All I have to do is just–"

Everything went white for a moment, and when Samson blinked again, he was staring at himself.

"Tap right there on the screen!" Kim said, finishing the sentence he'd begun in his own body. "And the transfer happens instantaneously."

"Woah," Samson muttered, clearing his throat a few times before he realized the reason his voice sounded different was because it wasn't his voice.

Even knowing what was going to happen hadn't prepared him for what it would actually be like to be in another man's body. He was short now. More than that, he was skinny. Not even just skinny, a twig. He patted himself down, feeling only the frail bones of an under-exercised engineer, and he shivered. Who knew having no meat on his bones would make him so... chilly?

If being in another body was strange, seeing his own body from the outside was even stranger. He knew he was a big guy, but from his new smaller body he looked like a giant, and Mr. Shinwei was clearly having the time of his life with it.

There was an expression of glee on his face as Kim inspected his body from the inside, and the man had zero shame about groping Samson's body right in front of its owner. Samson watched as Kim glanced over his shoulder at his backside and then began shaking his hips around and Samson saw his ass jiggle around- he hadn't even known that his butt did that.

"Oh this is nice, this is very nice!" Kim exclaimed, then he turned his attention back front and tore his shirt open (literally tore the buttons off, which made Samson wince since that was his only dress shirt) to expose his sexy, hairy body to the room. He licked his lips at the sight of the powerful pecs that sat above Samson's belly, letting out a chuckle as he tweaked one of his nipples.

"Would you mind if I-?" Kim glanced at Samson and then gestured down towards his pants. Still speechless, Samson nodded yes, and Kim tugged his waistband forwards and looked inside. He smiled. "Oh, this is definitely workable."

Samson's mouth gaped, and all he could think to do was mutter a stunned "thank you."

"You know, it wouldn't kill you to show a little self-restraint," Peter said, clearly less impressed by what was happening, and Kim flipped him off.

"And it wouldn't kill you to lighten up a little!" He chastised his assistant, strolling across the room to stand before a full length mirror in the corner of the office. "Look at where I am and what I'm doing. Look at this body!" The flexed his borrowed biceps like a bodybuilder, grinning ear to ear at the sight of his new muscles, and he smacked at his belly. "Why wouldn't I enjoy it?"

He snapped his fingers and pointed towards the door, then turned his full attention to the mirror and began removing his pants. A still speechless Samson managed to catch a glimpse of his own bare ass before an arm wrapped around his shoulder and tugged him away- he grunted in protest, but unfortunately his new body was too weak to put up a fight.

"I'll take you to HR to fill out some paperwork," Peter muttered as he ushered Samson towards the door. "He's gonna be at this for a while."

The last thing Samson heard before the door shut behind them was the sound of skin on skin, and his own voice groaning.

#body swap #bodyswap #male body swap #yeah Idk #no picture again sorry folks you'll have to use your imaginations

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elysiansparadise · 6 months

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hi!!! I'm in love with your posts, they are so interesting, informative and nice to read, also beautifully written!! <33

can you please describe mercury in the first house? i couldn't find it, so decided to send ask. thank you so much 💓

sorry if i have mistakes, english is not my first language

Hello, my love! Thanks for your sweet comments, it's nice to see you around. And of course I can talk about it. 🤎

Mercury in the 1st house

You can notice that sparkle of curiosity that adorns their beautiful and inquisitive gaze, one that holds a soul ready and willing to learn a wide variety of things and that seeks to know and explore as much as possible. These people are very adaptable to all kinds of circumstances and things, they may have experienced many changes since they were children, so it is easy for them to adapt to all kinds of rhythms. They stand out for their intelligence and it is very likely that they are people who express a certain part of their identity through the hobbies they practice or their skills. They can be very restless people, either mentally, physically or both. They are interested in knowing how things work around them, the people who accompany them and, above all, themselves, since they have a preference for topics that help them get to know themselves better. Something very common with this placement can be a nervous or anxious nature, as well as the tendency to overthink things. If you make tense aspects to Saturn or Pluto, they can have a somewhat fatalistic way of thinking about life.

They are people who are easy to talk to, you can talk about any type of topic with them and it is very likely that they know a little about various different topics, which makes them interesting people and the conversations are long and pleasant. Although they have a wonderful and often outstanding mind, they can frequently become distracted or dissociate. They can also jump from one topic to another and speak with great passion and joy when they like something, which can quickly catch the attention of others. They are quick thinkers and can find solutions to problems very easily. They say what they think and are very authentic when it comes to expressing themselves. They prefer to be frank and honest when expressing themselves. These people may prefer one-on-one conversations to speaking in a large group. Likewise, they are more interested in deep conversations than small talk, although they are not bad at it, they prefer meaningful topics. They are very observant people with themselves and others, they quickly perceive changes no matter how small they may be. They always look for a reason for things, both for events and the actions of others [and even themselves]. They self-reflect very frequently and seek to deeply know the person behind the mirror, they want to improve and decipher every part of themselves.

Initially they do not seem to be very talkative, since the Mercury energy makes them spend a lot of time wandering in their heads, however, once they gain confidence and feel comfy with you, they will not stop talking and asking questions that allow them to get to know each other well. They are people who captivate you when they speak, make you smile unconsciously, motivate you and encourage you. They speak with passion and purpose, they listen carefully and are interested in what makes your heart race. Their favorite topics of conversation are personal ones, hobbies, interests, goals, aspirations or dreams, or significant experiences. They may enjoy reading or watching videos in their free time, as they have a need to keep their mind active and entertained, as they are prone to getting bored easily. They can work in the communication area or even the creative area, as they may have manual skills such as drawing, sculpture, painting, cooking, construction, among others of the style.

#astrology #mercury #mercury in the 1st house #1st house #astro note #astro obsrvation #mercury in the 1st #mercury in the 1h #mercury in 1h #mercury in 1st #birth chart #natal chart

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anarcho-physicist · 4 months

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i helped* write a new physics textbook and it has a cool (and free) website: softmatterbook.online

*a little bit. The vast majority of the book was written by van Saarloos, Vitelli, and Zeravcic, but a whole bunch of people contributed little bits of writing (myself included) and are credited in the preface.

This book is an accumulation of some of the most fundamental results in soft matter physics, many of which were first discovered or derived very recently. The website hosts a bunch of extra resources (videos, notes, demos, etc.) sorted by the chapters of the book:

Fluid Dynamics

Elasticity

Brownian Motion

Colloids

Polymers

Liquid Crystals

Interfaces, Surfaces, & Membranes

Pattern Formation out of Equilibrium

Active Matter

From Designing Matter to Mimicking Life

It also lists a whole bunch of labs all around the world that are studying the sorts of systems described in the book, as well as mailing lists you can sign up for, conferences, workshops, youtube channels, and software packages. I'm absolutely biased (see below) but I think it's a really great resource for anybody interested in soft matter!

I spent the first year of my PhD helping to put this thing together. I translated research papers into problems, hunted for typos, and wrote most of the solutions in the instructor's manual. I don't make any money off the book sales (my PI told me they made it available for as cheap of a price as the publisher would allow), but my PhD stipend was funded for the year to work on this thing instead of having to TA.

I was ridiculously lucky to get the chance to work on this thing, even if at times it felt like learning how the academic sausage gets made.

#soft matter #physics #science #mathematics #academia #topology #196 #chemistry #biology

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growingstories · 10 months

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Farming

High-rolling lawyer James Christophers is a name partner in a prestigious firm, specializing in liability cases for pharmaceutical clients. He is known for his handsome, muscular appearance and confident attitude. Despite his tight schedule, which includes early morning workouts and back-to meetings-back, James enjoys the city and life his spends weekends at bars gay, always with a new boyfriend in town.

Recently, James inherited a vast farm in the middle of nowhere in Northeast Ohio from his late uncle. As he was married to his mother's sister and childless, James is the sole heir. Although James flies to the farm in the company jet during weekends, he finds the intensity of combining the farm and his city life overwhelming.

It is during one of these visits that he meets Jackson, his neighbors' 20-year-old son. Jackson, who prefers to be called Jackie, reveals that he is on the brink of losing his wrestling scholarship if he doesn't win his next match.

In a surprising turn of events, James proposes a deal to Jackie. If Jackie loses the match, James will pay for his last year of tuition In return, Jackie agrees to work on the farm during his free time while attending school. Unfortunately, Jackie loses the match and immediately starts working on the farm. The initial weeks prove to be challenging as he tackles manual tasks such as harvesting and yard work, providing enough physical exercise to maintain his muscular physique. As the holidays approach and there is less work to do on the farm, Jackie realizes he has gained weight due to his continued wrestling diet.

In the spring, James visits the farm and unveils his plan for a flourishing agricultural business. He introduces a new fertilizer for wheat and corn, promising faster growth and larger yields. Although it is not yet available on the market, James decides to conduct a trial season. The whole village becomes interested, and James offers to share the results after the next harvest.

Even though there is a lot of hard labour Jackie keeps eating like he did as a wrestler, during the summer, Jackie continues to gain weight, reaching a staggering 260 pounds.

Also James sees his weight climbing. Despite the weight gain, the crops thrive, and James seizes the opportunity to sell his shares in the law firm and invest the money in expanding his farming business. The town becomes dependent on James for their seed supply, and he even keeps some wheat for the local bakery and corn for his own livestock.

Eventually, Jackie graduates and secures a job at a real estate company out of state. This leaves James in need of a solution the to farm work. He finds Danny, the son of a local baker.

Though Danny lacks ambition, he possesses a strong work ethic. Unfortunately, working alongside this young man becomes detrimental to James' fitness goals, as he gains weight due to the delicious goods from Danny's mom she prepares everyday for them.

Desperate to lose weight, James spends two months at a fitness resort. Upon his return, he successfully sheds the excess fat and gains some muscle, resulting in a weight of 205 pounds.

However, he quickly gains weight yet again after consuming too many pastries from the bakery, reaching 237 pounds. Concerned the about rapid weight gain, James reaches out to his previous clients for the trial reports, only to discover that the hormones in the seed additives cause an increase in appetite and muscle growth, as well as the faster storage of fat in humans and animals.

Faced with this startling revelation, James contemplates his options. After studying the fine prints he realizes that he is legally protected and not liable for the consequences of the seed additives. Unsure whether to inform the baker or Danny's mother, James decides to continue with the next season, planning to visit a fitness resort as soon as the seeds are planted. However, amid the increasing demands of his growing business and the rapid weight gain of his animals, he struggles to find a solution for his own weight.

Frustrated, James strikes a deal with Danny. In exchange for not revealing James' secret of not eating, to his mother, he pays Danny a bit more. Danny agrees to eats both his and James’ food his mother baked. Weeks and months pass, and James remains unable to lose the weight. Without the motivation of his previous lifestyle, he is less concerned about his appearance.

Meanwhile, Danny's newfound popularity because of his new size leads him to overeat even more from his mothers goods.

After a year, Danny has gained an astonishing 220 pounds of pure fat, reveling in his newfound sense of power and masculinity. In town, he becomes popular among girls who appreciate his larger frame. However, the consequences of his actions, as well as his increasing weight, continue to unfold.

#fictionalweightgain #maleweightgain #maleweightgainstories #weightgain #weightgainstories #fictionalstories

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engineeringmath · 18 days

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College Physics by Openstax Chapter 6 Problem 29

A large centrifuge, like the one shown in Figure 6.34(a), is used to expose aspiring astronauts to accelerations similar to those experienced in rocket launches and atmospheric reentries.

The centripetal acceleration of a large centrifuge as experienced in rocket launches and atmospheric reentries of astronauts Problem: A large centrifuge, like the one shown in Figure 6.34(a), is used to expose aspiring astronauts to accelerations similar to those experienced in rocket launches and atmospheric reentries. (a) At what angular velocity is the centripetal acceleration if the rider…

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#centripetal acceleration #centripetal force #circular motion #College Physics #College Physics by Openstax #College Physics by Openstax Solution Manual #College Physics Complete Solution Manual #College Physics Solutions #Physics Solution Manual #Physics Solutions #Solution Manual for College Physics by Openstax #uniform circular motion

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sirfrogsworth · 2 months

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This might sound like a weird question, but have you ever come across a camera with a Bird Watching setting? I have an Olympus SP-800UZ and one of the modes it comes programmed with is literally called that, for taking pictures of birds in the wild.

As someone whose special interest is birds, I love this setting and use it a LOT, but I've never been able to find another camera with a setting like it, and at some point I told myself I didn't want to replace the camera until I could find one with a similar setting.

The reason I ask is because I've been following for a while, and I've come to respect your opinions on photography.

I tried researching your camera and figuring out what exactly the bird watching mode does and even the official manual did not say. If I were to guess, it just sets the camera up with certain parameters that are usually ideal for photographing birds, but I don't think it does anything special that other cameras can't do. You would just have to set a different camera up to those parameters rather than the camera doing it for you.

If I were to guess, it probably enables a certain autofocus mode for small subjects and limits how slow the shutter speed can go so you don't get motion blur when very zoomed in.

However, I know exactly which features are important to get good bird photos, so as long as the camera has the following features, you don't really need a dedicated bird mode. Though if a camera has a "pet mode" it would probably work similarly to the bird mode you are used to.

Most important bird photography features...

Good autofocus

Good zoom range

Image stabilization (Either optical or sensor, not digital)

Autofocus has come a long way in the last few years. It's difficult to assess the autofocus from specifications alone, so you will probably need to rely on reviews to know if the camera locks in on subjects well. Some cameras have pet and wildlife autofocus features that can be very helpful in tracking smaller subjects like birds. So I would look out for any camera that has a pet autofocus mode or a review that says it locks onto smaller subjects well—even if they don't mention birds. If it can lock onto a chihuahua, it can usually do so with a bird too.

Birds and wildlife in general tend to get spooked easily and it is often difficult to get close without them running or flying away. So having a longer zoom range can really help you keep your distance and not startle your subject. I would say the minimum focal length for getting good bird shots is around 300mm (on a full frame camera). Some cameras only quantify their zoom by magnification (20x, 30x, 40x, etc.) and don't really say what that is in relation to. So focal length is a better metric to assess how zoomy a lens is. 10-35mm would be wide angle. 50mm is about like our eyes. 100mm is slightly telephoto. And 300mm and above would be very telephoto.

You may need to google the focal range equivalent to a full frame 35mm camera. So you would search "[camera model] 35mm equivalent focal range" to figure that out. And as long as it goes past 300mm, it might be a good candidate for birding.

When you have a camera that zooms in that far, any movement will be exaggerated—especially if you have naturally shaky hands. Not only can that introduce motion blur into your images, but it can make it very difficult to track your subject. Looking through the viewfinder will result in a wiggly mess and you won't know what you are pointing the camera at.

Image stabilization helps negate that exaggerated movement.

There are 3 kinds of stabilization. First is optical, which is built into the lens with a floating glass element. Then there is sensor stabilization (often called IBIS for "in-body image stabilization") which allows the sensor to shift and move to counteract any motion introduced by your hands. And the last form is digital stabilization which is done using the camera's software.

The first two are physical solutions that can adjust on the fly much like a chicken's head.

The digital solution is mostly just fancy image cropping. It zooms in a tiny bit on your image and then aligns a continuous crop to give the appearance of a stable image.

The lens and the sensor are still a jiggling mess, but this constant cropping allows you to see the illusion of a stable image in your viewfinder and in the videos you take. And while this is very helpful for tracking subjects and capturing video footage, it will not help you negate motion blur—which is why the other two methods are preferred for still photography.

Bigger cameras can often forego stabilization because the zoom lenses are bigger and heavier and don't shake as much and they let in a lot more light so you can raise your shutter speed to freeze motion. It's still nice to have, and if you have IBIS and optical stabilization combined on a big camera you can almost take pictures in the dark without camera shake, but all of those conveniences can get costly.

The camera you have now is called a "bridge" camera or a "superzoom". These are (relatively) inexpensive cameras that use a smaller smartphone-style sensor but with a more classic camera body surrounding it and a non-changeable lens. Small sensors have one big advantage where if you put a zoom lens in front of them, they can see from Alaska to Russia.

For instance, your camera has an 840mm equivalent lens. That is near telescopic.

For reference, this is what an 800mm lens looks like for a full frame professional camera.

It weighs 10 pounds and costs about $13,000.

Granted the image quality of that lens is in another universe compared to your superzoom, but if you are mostly interested in documenting the birds you are encountering, a superzoom is a neat tool to have. It's like digital binoculars.

So I guess the question is, do you just want to document your bird adventures or do you want to delve into artistic bird photography?

You can upgrade to a nicer superzoom and get some improved clarity and ease-of-use features, which is totally valid. You could even get a "premium" superzoom that can do artistic bird photography in ideal lighting conditions.

Or if you go with a more professional interchangeable lens camera system (ILC), you can achieve some stunning artistic photos like these...

Freezing a bird midflight while catching a fish is just not really feasible with a basic superzoom.

Let's talk about the advantages and disadvantages of a superzoom bridge camera as compared to a more professional ILC setup.

Superzoom Pros

No learning curve. These cameras are designed for novice photographers and have very good automatic functions. You can pretty much pull them out of the box and start taking pictures without knowing the fundamentals of photography.

Incredible zoominess. You can get amazing zoom power for a fraction of the price.

Budget friendly. The top of the line superzoom camera is still only about $1500 as compared to the top of the line mirrorless ILC (for wildlife) which is $6500 *without* a lens. And the lower to mid range superzooms are even more affordable, especially if you consider used options.

Superzoom Cons

Noisy images in low light. These cameras are mostly suited for bright sunny days. The small sensors and cheaper lenses do not capture very much light. In more challenging lighting situations you will tend to get very noisy images due to using a high ISO to compensate.

Inconsistent image quality. Under the best of circumstances, you can get some really beautiful photographs. But when you push the camera to its extremes, the image quality can start to deteriorate. Low light causes noise. The more you zoom in, the softer your images will get. Low megapixels limit your options to crop in on far away subjects—which is often an issue with wildlife.

Deep depth of field. A lot of bird photographers like using shallow depth of field to blur the background so the bird really stands out in the photo. Small sensors can have a very hard time blurring the background unless the subject is quite far away and you are zoomed all the way in. But when you are all the way zoomed in, the image can get soft and lack detail. So you trade image quality for a blurry background.

Lack of professional features and accessories. There are many advanced features that can make bird photography much easier. Some cameras have advanced motion tracking that can allow you to capture birds in flight. The latest generation can even track a tiny bird's eye. There are also accessories that are only made for ILCs. Like motion activated shutter triggers that will take a picture of a bird automatically if you set up a camera near a feeder. There are flashes that work at very long distances. You can get camouflage skins for your lenses so the birds can't see you. Stuff like that.

ILC Pros

Lower image noise. With a bigger sensor and better lenses you can shoot with a very low ISO in good light and get incredibly clean noise-less images.

Better high ISO performance. If you are in low light, you can increase the ISO and still get a very good image. The noise on an ILC is much less distracting and easier to deal with—especially with advanced noise reduction software.

Background blur is easy. Due to the much larger sensor and telephoto lenses, almost every telephoto image will have beautiful blurry backgrounds no matter how small the aperture is.

Sharper, faster lenses. The lenses are much sharper and let in a lot more light. The quality of the image does not decrease as you zoom in. And the sharp optics allow a lot of leeway for cropping. So even if a bird was super far away, you can crop the image after the fact and it will still be quite detailed.

More megapixels. A lot of bird photography needs to be cropped in due to subject distance. Having more megapixels allows for more cropping. (I know I keep talking about cropping, but it really is a huge aspect of most bird photography.)

Advanced autofocus. This is the big game changer, especially on the new mirrorless cameras. The latest Canon and Sony cameras have eye detect autofocus for animals. You can literally lock onto a bird's eye while it is in flight and get perfect focus. It's bonkers.

ILC Cons

Steep learning curve. A lot of people think they'll get a big ILC and immediately get better pictures than their smartphone. They are often disappointed when that isn't the case. You really need to learn the fundamentals of photography to get good photos out of an ILC (free course here). They do have automatic modes, but without learning about aperture, shutter speed, and ISO (the exposure triangle) and how to balance them and when to prioritize what, you might end up with *worse* photos than a smartphone.

Wildlife photography can get very expensive. Big lenses with a lot of zoom are some of the priciest available. There are some budget options, but you will have to sacrifice quite a bit of zoom and light-gathering capabilities. The quality of the photos is usually worth it, but you may have to learn how to get closer to birds to photograph them.

Heavy as heck. Superzooms are very light and portable. A wildlife ILC configuration is very unwieldy. The camera is heavier. The lens is long and heavy. Carrying all of that gear into the wilderness can be quite a hassle.

Some camera suggestions...

Superzoom Options

If I'm being honest, in the sub $300 range, I don't think you'll be able to drastically improve over what you already have. All of the cameras in this range are quite similar and while a few might have some features that are helpful, the image quality is going to be roughly the same.

You are probably going to need to spend at least $400-700 to get a meaningful upgrade from what you have.

The top-of-the-line superzoom would be the Sony RX10 Mark IV at $1100 used. You can get the previous model, the Mark III, for about $900 used. It's a wonderful camera and the image quality and features rival or even surpass some ILC options. If you don't have the time to learn an ILC system but want the best possible quality, this might be an option. But an ILC will still give you better results if you are willing to put in the time.

For more mid-tier superzooms, you might look into the Panasonic Lumix models. They use slightly larger sensors than most superzooms and are known for their lens optical quality along with their stabilization.

The FZ1000 is getting very old, but it is still a powerful camera at a good price. The only downside is the focusing system isn't as advanced as newer cameras. But it will be better than what you have and you can find one used for around $400.

The newer FZ1000 II or the FZ2500 would be great options that have more modern autofocus and a lot more bells and whistles. They are fairly similar and can both be found for around $650 used. They do great video as well.

These are not the only options, but they are ones I know of and models I have heard positive things about. If you want to see what else is out there I would google "bridge superzoom cameras" and then maybe add your price range as well. Read reviews and watch YouTube videos to get a sense of the cameras you are interested in. As long as the camera has decent autofocus, I don't think you need a specific bird feature—so I wouldn't limit yourself in that regard.

ILC Options

When trying to come up with a good bird photography setup for interchangeable lens cameras, there is basically an easy, medium, and hard mode depending on how much you spend.

As I mentioned, the top-of-the-line mirrorless cameras have autofocus tracking that can lock onto a bird's eye while in flight. They have both IBIS and lenses with optical stabilization. They have burst modes that let you take 30 photos per second. They have 50 megapixel sensors that allow you to crop to your heart's content and still have megapixels left over.

It's quite dreamy if you have the money.

But I'm guessing if you are coming from an Olympus bridge camera that is probably a bit more of an upgrade than you were thinking.

So if easy mode is not viable, let's talk about medium and hard mode.

If you still want the bird detecting autofocus, in body image stabilization, and a pretty zoomy lens, Canon has some newer mirrorless cameras that would take amazing artistic bird shots. It's still spendy, but not $9000 spendy.

The Canon R7 is a great APS-C mirrorless camera with IBIS that can be found used for about $1300. It has 32 megapixels and due to having a slightly smaller sensor, you even get some bonus zoom out of all your lenses at about 1.6x. It's still a much larger sensor than a superzoom, just not quite the size of the Alpha 1.

Alpha 1 is Full Frame. R7 is APS-C. And Superzooms don't get any bigger than the 1" sensor.

Pair the R7 with the RF 100-400mm lens ($600 used) with optical stabilization, and you would have a stellar bird photography setup for about $1900. (It would be a 160-640mm equivalent lens on the R7 due to the 1.6x crop factor.)

Which is probably still way more than you want to spend.

So we have the hard mode option.

No bird eye autofocus. No stabilization. You have to learn the fundamentals and practice in order to get good shots. However, wildlife photographers have been getting AMAZING photos with the gear I'm about to suggest. In fact, all of these photos were captured with the hard mode ILC combo.

The Canon 7D Mark II has been a beloved camera body for wildlife photography for many years. Many pros still use it to great effect to this day. It doesn't have bird autofocus, but it still has one of the best DSLR autofocus systems that was ever developed. It can even track moving subjects, it just doesn't know it is tracking a bird so it is more prone to error on occasion. It can be found used for $500-600.

The Canon 400mm F/5.6 telephoto lens is one of the most affordable lenses Canon ever made for wildlife. It is an old lens, but it is sharp and takes beautiful images. No stabilization, but it is big and heavy so that isn't a huge deal. You can also carry a monopod rest it on. And on the 7D II, it is the equivalent of a 640mm lens. It costs around $650 used, which is very inexpensive compared to other telephoto lenses.

So you are looking at around $1200 for the combo. But the photos you can achieve with these two items will blow pretty much any superzoom out of the water.

To sum up...

ILC photography is always going to have a steep learning curve and expensive barrier for entry, but you can achieve some truly stunning results.

Superzooms are getting better and some of the newer ones can still take excellent pictures of birds under the right circumstances. They are lightweight and hassle free and allow you to get incredible zooms for a low cost.

If you mostly take photos of stationary birds outside on bright sunny days, you will be fairly happy with a superzoom.

If you want to take photos during darker times like sunrise or sunset or in a dense forest... or if you want to take photos of birds mid-flight, you will probably have to get an ILC.

I hope that was helpful. I know I overdo these answers, but I try to help as many people as I can by giving a broad overview of the topic and the myriad ways to go about things.

#photography #long post

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disabled-dragoon · 2 years

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Disability Aids: Where to buy

I’ve been getting a lot of questions about disability, sensory and mobility aids and where to buy one, so I’ve decided to just collect a global list of everywhere that I can find! I try and update this monthly. If there’s one you want me to add on or change, just say!

Links and information under the cut!

Updated: 12/10/2023

Disclaimer: Any link marked with (*) cannot deliver outside of their country of base/international shipping policies are unclear at the current moment of writing.

Follow this link to find a list of databases that have information on disability aids around the world.

Global:

The Active Hands Company: Based in the UK but operating globally, this company deals exclusively in grip aids that can help and be used by people with various disabilities- including limb differences, cerebral palsy, arthritis, brachial plexus injuries, stroke survivors, multiple sclerosis, nerve and spinal injuries, TBIs and much more. You can find their FAQ page here if you would like more information. They do ship internationally, but please be aware that they are currently warning of a potential delay to orders due to postal strikes. Some products they do include: angled knives, gym/sports grips, zip grips, cutlery grips, anti-spill aids, magnetic laces, openers, small item grippers, specialised mugs and hand splints, to name but a small few.

Handicare: I’m putting this one here as they have a global office, offering their services in 40+ companies, as well as offices in Belgium, Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, UK, USA, and Spain, with their HQ located in Sweden. Their aim is to “provide solutions and support to increase the independence of the physically challenged or elderly people. They offer accessibility products (i.e. stairlifts and their installation), patient handling and care equipment, and vehicle accessibility solutions.

Invacare: This company is located in Ohio but has offices all over the globe so I’m putting it here. There’s a tool on this website that will direct you to the closest office/country to you. Products they offer include independent living aids i.e. shower and bathing aids, comfort aids i.e. bedding and furnishings, manual mobility aids, powered mobility aids, and patient transfer aids.

Karma: I believe this company is originally Taiwan based, but I am putting it here because of their extensive global service network, including supplying to the NHS! They offer a range of powered and manual chairs, as well as accessories, and have a tool on their site that allows you to locate your nearest seller.

Kuschall: I can’t find where exactly this company is situated, and all social media links take me to Invacare Europe so for this purpose I’m assuming they are at least partners. There is a tool to let you change to your country’s nearest site, and dealership locator. This site deals in specialised wheelchairs. They have a visualiser tool which I really like, which lets you see the wheelchair that you chose and refine its features i.e. handle colour, frame colour etc. etc.

Medline: This is a global institution dealing in delivering hospital grade supplies to patients around the world. Some products include: hospital grip/slipper socks, fall prevention equipment, skin health, maternity equipment, face masks and wound care! There’s a tool on the website as well that will link you to the site for/closest to your country.

MEYRA: **TW for flashing and eye strain** There is an option on this site to change the page language. Headquartered in Germany, MEYRA operates as a wheelchair manufacturer and rehabilitation aid supplier across 70 countries, and offers a range of manual wheelchairs, active and sport chairs, electric wheelchairs, children’s manual wheelchairs, Netti brand rehabilitation wheelchairs, as well as other rehab products and seating and ramp solutions. There are options on this site to change page language and font size.

Performance Health: To clarify, I’m not entirely sure on the overall delivery policies of this company, but they appear to have offices in America, Australia, Canada, France and the UK (there is a tool on the site to switch between each respective country). They sell podiatry, daily living, mobility, orthopaedic and therapy aids- e.g. braces, fall prevention, hot and cold therapy, tape, exercise tubing, mats, compression products, insoles, incontinence products, wheelchair, crutches and ramps, to name a few. You can search by category or brand.

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Australia:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

(*)ActivTec: This is an equipment maintenance service, suggested by @hell-on-sticks. Last update they helpfully added:

“Adding to this that if you're in Australia, ActivTec is a national company that does disability and mobility equipment repair that can be done both privately or through the NDIS. They've got offices all over the place - mostly east coast, I guess you can't be disabled outside Perth on the west coast or something /s - but it's always a good idea to know where you'll go if your aid or equipment breaks.”

You can find the company’s FAQ page here for more information.

Gilani Engineering: Based in New South Wales and offering a range of mobility and living aids, disability vehicle and home modifications, Gilani also offers installation on select products, and international shipping. Their product lists are too extensive to list entirely, but items include: wheelchairs (including paediatrics), powerchairs and scooters, wheelchair ramps (and installation) and accessories, bathroom, bedroom and living aids, patient transfer aids, home lift and grab rail installation. They also sell a large array of vehicle modifications- such as dual pedal systems for driving instructors, steering lollipops, alternate braking and accelerating systems, access solutions and boot hoists, to name a few.

Incontinence Products: Caringbah based and supplying “washable, reusable and disposable incontinence products and continence aids”, this company aims to market towards men, women and children at an affordable price. They do deliver internationally! You can find shipping information here. Some products they offer include: diapers and diaper bags, wipes, clothing protectors, onesies and body suits, swimwear, beds and mattresses, chair, floor and mattress protectors, beamers, gloves, face masks, and many others.

(*)SwitchSticks Australia: A company specialising in luxury and engraved canes, as well as the seat cane (a cane that can be turned into a stool when needed) and accessories. The international shipping policies of this company are unclear.

TabTimer: “TabTimer™ is an Australian Company dedicated to supplying devices to help people and their carers keep medicines, nutrition, hydration, toileting and regular personal care tasks on-time using assistive technology and assisted listening reminder devices.“ -TabTimer, About. This company offers timing and medication aids, including diabetes equipment, pill organisers, talking watchers, help and SOS buttons, alarms and alerters, large clocks and talking reminders, to name a few. They deliver internationally.

Canada:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

(*)Access Abilities: Claiming to be award winning and with stores in Oakville and Etobicoke, this company offers mobility equipment purchasing, rental and repair services. They also offer free in home assessment services, home delivery and set up, and aid in helping to find funding for equipment. According to the company, products they stock include “mobility scooters, wheelchairs, walkers, lift and recline chairs, stair lifts, CPAP and more. We stock the best brands, such as Pride, Invacare, Tena, Bruno and Maple Leaf Wheelchair.” -Access Abilities, Products. International delivery policies are unclear.

(*)Action Medical: The following text is from the “Service” page of the website:

We provide a full range of services on all the equipment we provide to you, and even the equipment you've purchased elsewhere. Services range from basic repairs and tune-ups of existing equipment such as walkers or lifts, to installations and set-up of new equipment in your home, such as grab bars, platform lifts, ramping systems, etc. We can even help you with home and vehicle adaptations to make your lift more accessible. Contact us for more information.

You can find the company product list here. International delivery policies are unclear.

Canes Canada: Thank you to @sugarsh0ts for the recommendation! This company ships “anywhere across North America”, and says that international deliveries may be subject to a holding policy, but you can contact them with any questions. They offer to deliver your canes uncut, or cut them for you if you send your measurements (and offer information on how to properly measure a cane!). A few examples of canes they offer include: standard canes, hiking canes, novelty canes, seat canes, folding canes, men’s canes, women’s canes, animal handle canes, extra tall canes, collector canes and umbrella canes, and many many more, including forearm crutches and accessories like cane holders! You can also browse by price, and there are separate sections to search by colour, handle style and material style!

FlappyHappy: A stim toy business for “autistic children, teens and adults”. You can find their tumblr here and a list of products here. I quite like that you can search for specific types of stim toy i.e. chewables or fidgets or tangles etc. They do offer international shipping; you can find more information on shipping here. If you need discreet packaging, you can ask for it.

(*)Independent Living: “Independent Living is a business dedicated to personal freedom and mobility. We have been a supplier of mobility aids and personal care products to the elderly and persons with disabilities since February of 1988.” -Independent Living, About. There is no pricing or delivery information on this website as I believe you have to contact them directly with any enquiries (their contact details are here, and the enquiry form is here), or visit their store, located in Regina, Saskatchewan.

(*)LifeSupply: LifeSupply sells to “patients, caregivers and medical professionals” within Canada, offering an extensive range of products that include but are not limited to: mobility aids, maternity equipment, IV equipment, acupuncture, catheters, baby and child care, incontinence care, veterinary and pet supplies, personal care equipment, orthopaedic equipment, respiratory care, and beauty and skincare products, to name a few. I’m unsure, but I think this company can deliver some products outside of Canada, and delivery prices would depend on the delivery weight. You can find more information here.

(*)The Mobility Market USA: A partner of The Mobility Market UK, this is essentially the same concept- second hand mobility aids sold and bought by mostly disabled people- but it delivers across the US and Canada instead. Again, you need to make an account to buy and sell items, and it is my understanding that you have to contact the sellers directly (there should be information on the advertisements) if you wish to make a purchase. There is an option to translate this website into other languages (besides English) if you require it.

(*)Senior Store: Though they can also deliver to the US, I’m not entirely sure on the international shipping policies of this company. The products they offer are too extensive to list individually, but the categories they fall in are: Covid 19 related products, lift chairs and recliners, bathroom safety, mobility, bedroom and livingroom, personal aids, incontinence products, kitchen & dining, pillows and seating, therapy products, bariatric products, foot, hand & elbow, alarms, special clothing, special phones & alarms and leisure products, They also offer rental on some products i.e. those of hospital grade.

Sidestix: Though they only (at the moment of writing) seem to offer two types of forearm crutches, they do offer a vast array of crutch accessories as well as this thing they call Fingrips which appears to be specialised handles, mainly for cycling. They ship internationally and have stores based in Canada, New Zealand, USA and Australia.

France:

(All links in French in case translator needed)

(*)CENOMY: A French supplier of AAC and communication equipment, and a redistributor of Liberator UK. You can find their products here, as well as a wider catalogue/shop here. As well as communication equipment, they also offer sensory aids- both in terms of sensory devices and objects to create a sensory environment. Other items offered include eye tracker and eye control equipment, supports, adaptors and alarms, touch tablets, software and environment controls. The site crashed before I could find information on international delivery policies.

Hop’Toys: This company does deliver outside of France, however they do not deliver in the DOM-TOM or outside of the EU; for further delivery information and prices please see this link. They mainly deal in sensory aids, learning and education aids, and communication equipment (as a distributor of Liberator UK). They also offer items in relation to specific disabilities, such as Alzheimers, adhd, sensory issues, visual impairments and hearing impairments. Items offered included weighted bedding and clothing, school aids, daily and eating aids, sensory and motor games, occupational and speech therapy aids, and skill development aids (including behaviour management, social skills, facial expressions etc.).

Senior Boutique: I couldn’t find much in terms of delivery information, but they claim to deliver all over France, and services in Belgium allow for international delivery, but please check this with them. They distribute a wide variety of disability and healthcare aids including hobby aids (i.e. gardening aids), daily living support (bathroom aids, eating aids, comfort aids etc.), clothing, mobility aids (including the Ta-Da Seat Cane) and incontinence aids, amongst a wide variety of others.

Germany/Deutschland:

(*)Mein Hilfsmittel: Parts of this site are in German and may need to be translated if you are unfamiliar. This company rents manual and electric wheelchairs, mobility scooters, rollators, stair climbers and oxygen generators across Germany. You can find a list of the products they rent here, information on renting here, and contact details here.

(*)Prenkte Romich: A distributor of Liberator UK and seller of AAC equipment across Deutschland, Austria and Switzerland; they do not ship to other countries. You can find shipping information here. This page is in German so will need to be translated if you are unfamiliar.

Ossenberg: “One of the leading German manufacturers of forearm crutches, walking sticks and orthopedic aids.”- Ossenberg, About Us. There is an option to read this page in either Deutsch or English, so if you are unfamiliar with either it may need translating. To buy as a private customer, please follow this link. Personally, I like that certain products (like wrist straps, forearm crutches, walking sticks etc.) have their weights, basic sizes and materials stated in their product titles. On international shipping they say: “Of course we also ship our products abroad. However, the shipping costs vary depending on the country and region.”

Italy:

AllMobility: This company was founded by two disabled people. They created and now distribute the “Buffalo 150″ transfer board, selling it in 15 countries abroad. Disability aids that this company sell include: ergonomic aids, transfer and mobilisation aids, hygiene aids, daily living aids, positioning aids, and paediatric aids. I can’t find information on pricing on this site, it’s my understanding that you have to request the information from the company. Also, while they distribute all across Europe, I believe you have to contact them to find out if/how they can ship to your country. There is an option to change the language of the site between English and Italian.

(*)Bodytech: This page is in Italian so may need to be translated if you are unfamiliar. This company specialises in products such as ergonomic chairs, wheelchairs, cushioning and positioning aids. I cannot find information on international delivery, or pricing. It is my understanding that you must contact the company for a quote.

(*)Cambratech: This page is in Italian so may need to be translated if unfamiliar. Cambratech is a company that specialises in the creation of disability aids for people who are visually impaired. Their aid catalogue includes items such as sticks and stick accessories, alarms and clocks, tools, reading and writing aids, home and daily living aids, technology aids and sport and hobby aids. I don’t think this company offers delivery outside of Italy.

Japan:

Rakuten Ichiba: Naturally, this page is in Japanese so may need to be translated if you’re not familiar. I think this company offers international delivery- you can find delivery information here. The range of items they offer is extensive, including, but not limited to: braille (signs, guiders, paper etc.), contact lenses, medication management and assistance devices, communication aids, mobility aids, incontinence aids, treatment machines, body measuring devices (glucose monitors, weight monitors etc.), sanitary aids, first aid equipment, face masks, medical clothing, and much much more.

Malaysia:

(*)HomeCare Shop: I’m not sure on the international policies of this company, but you can find a list of store locations here. They sell items related to continence care, PPE, nursing care, orthopaedic support (including sport support), personal care equipment, foot care, nutrition and supplements, and mobility aids. There are also specific sections on their site in relation to being bedridden, childcare, stroke care, diabetes care, beauty and health, fall prevention, back pain and body pain solution, elderly care, post-surgery care, hypertension and sports injuries.

(*)Pinang Medical Supplies: The operator of HomeCare Shop, they work to supply medical and disability equipment to hospitals and clinics, with the HomeCare Shop geared towards the public. I am not entirely sure on the international delivery policies of this company, but they have 20+ stores across the nation (click here for store locations) and stock a significant number of global brands (click here for a list).

New Zealand:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

(*)Creative Living: **Potential warning for eye strain**. This company provides a range of products to ensure better kitchen and bathroom accessibility. I can’t find anything regarding delivery policies, but they are the sole provider in New Zealand of the UK based companies, “Nicholls and Clarke” and “Impey Showers”. There is no pricing information, though I think this is because you have to contact them about your specific needs in regard to product fitting. Their contact information is here.

(*)Mobility Centre: This company is a not for profit organisation that aims to deliver “a range of products from small daily living aids through to mobility scooters and wheelchairs” to allow customers to live an “independent and active lifestyle”. Options on the site allow you to shop by category (bedroom and seating equipment, braces, supports & rehabilitation, crutches and walking sticks, daily living & kitchen aids, grab rails and ramps, incontinence products, mobility scooters and power chairs, toileting and bathroom equipment, walkers & walking frames, and wheelchairs), or by condition/disability. You can also rent and/or hire some equipment from here. They only deliver within New Zealand, and do not deliver overseas or to PO boxes.

(*)Northable: Northable allows for the sale and hire of disability equipment, such as: mobility aids, daily living aids, home and bedroom aids, continence aids, and bathroom and toileting aids. They claim to be committed to ensuring “that we are providing you with the correct information and equipment suited for your individual needs.” -Northable, About Us. You can find contact information here.

Orthotic House: A company that “helps bridge the gap” of disabled and specialised footwear, including socks. They have men’s, women’s, children’s and unisex footwear ranges, and claim to be able to ship anywhere in the world, though the shipping rates on their website are created with Australia and New Zealand in mind. You can find shipping information here. There is an option on the website to change the pricing according to Australian, Canadian, British, New Zealand and US currency standards.

South Africa:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

(*)CareChamp: There are a couple of instances of heavy italics on this site, in case you struggle with that. Based in Cape Town, CareChamp aims to “set the highest standard of home care in South Africa”, providing comfortable care and services to clients across South Africa. As well as selling mobility aids, they also offer rental services on certain products, and home care services with trained nurses. They also aim to set up a college in the future. I do not believe this company delivers internationally. You can find their FAQ page here.

(*)Medop cc: “Leading manual and electric wheelchair suppliers in South Africa” -Medop cc, Homepage. Delivery policies of this company are unclear however, they have offices in Johannesburg and Cape Town that allow for operation across South Africa, as well as operating through dealer networks in Botswana and Namibia. And, though their speciality lies in the supply of quality manual and electric wheelchairs, Medop does also provide personal care equipment, such as canes, crutches and rollators, bathroom aids, patient lifts, pressure care, hospital beds, and much more. Personally, I like the FAQ page that gives quite extensive advice on choosing the right wheelchair.

(*)Prima Care: Prima Care supplies medical and mobility equipment across South Africa, with offices and showrooms in both Cape Town and Johannesburg. They also hire and rental services, and I do not believe they offer their services outside of South Africa. You can find rental information here, and product information here. For further information and contact details, see here.

(*)Pro Mobility: Originally dealing in adapted vehicles and hoists, the founders of this company opened their first concept shop in Cape Town in 2021! It is, and I quote, “a welcoming, wheelchair friendly space for any person with a disability or impaired mobility to come and see all the available items”. I don’t believe they ship internationally, and I think you have to contact them or visit the showroom if you’re interested in purchasing/renting their equipment. You can find their contact information here.

Spain:

(*)Eneso: I’m not entirely sure on the delivery policies of this company, and if you are not familiar with English and/or Spanish, this page may need translating. Eneso offers a range of sensory equipment, communication equipment, learning resources, adapted toys and activities (for children and older) and computer aids (including switches, buttons and mounts). They also offer items in relation to creating sensory environments.

INDESmed: This company is based in Madrid but claim to deliver all over the world. There is a handy tool on their website that lets you see if they have a store in your country as well. They offer a range of crutches, walking sticks, walkers, walking boots, compression socks and reading glasses, with a few accessories for each- like ice shoes for canes!

KMINA: Please be aware that this page may need to be translated if you visit it. I believe this company does ship internationally as they appear to have an active Amazon shop, as well as bases in Spain (to ship to Europe) and America. They provide an email on their website to arrange other shipping where possible as well. This company mainly deals in crutches, walkers, accessories and bathroom aids. It looks like you have to buy each crutch individually (if you’re wanting a pair) but I am not sure.

Taiwan:

Kymco: **Potential TW for flashing lights when you click the link***. This is a company headquartered in Taiwan but they do have global offices. A motorcycle and ATV distributor that offers a range specialising in mobility scooters and powerchairs, I can’t find any price information but I believer there is an enquiry option for any item you are interested in.

(*)Step2Gold: Had an anon recently direct me to this company. They deal in a specialised seat cane called the Ta-Da chair. It seems to be more streamline than the average seat cane and is opened via a twist function, but the price is quite steep. They do not sell directly to individuals, but they do have distributors of the Ta-Da Chair in North America, Europe, Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, Greater China, and Australia. They also have a distributor map (which you can find here) that allows you to pick your nearest distributor. Here is another link to a post with a few other distributors.

Thailand:

(*)Freedom Move: There’s an option on the site to change the language from Thai to English, but it may need to be translated if you do not speak either language. Also the prices for products were given as Baht so if you are unfamiliar you may need to use a currency converter. Freedom Move sell four main products/brands: the Ta-Da Chair, the EVOSS cushion (a specialised support cushion, that supposedly aids pressure distribution when sitting and promotes circulation), the HurryCane cane, and an electric scooter. But I also noticed neck and shoulder supports as well as a portable massager. You can find the products here. I am unsure on international delivery policy.

(*)Kaigo Sensei: I don’t know if this company delivers internationally. They sell electric wheelchairs- light and reclining, patient transfer chairs and the Ta-Da Chair. You can find their products here, and shipping information here. Parts of this page may need translated.

UK:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

Ability Superstore: A large UK distributor of mobility aids ranging from sensory items, pet care, mobility aids, kitchen aids (i.e. preparation boards, baking equipment, specialised utensils), bathing aids, toilet aids, clothing and grooming aids, skincare aids, hobby aids, accessible games and leisure items, and exercise equipment to name but a few. I think they deliver outside of the UK, but if you are ordering from outside of the UK (or from certain postcodes which you can find here), you will have to contact them for a quote.

(*)Age Co: This is an organisation owned and operated by Age UK, a registered UK charity that aims to help and provide a better quality of life for older people i.e. by combatting loneliness, dealing with the cost of living crisis, protecting against covid etc. Age Co claims that 100% of their profits go towards Age UK. Products that they offer include: car insurance, motor breakdown cover and care, funeral plans, legal services, stairlifts, homelifts, bathing equipment, incontinence aids and personal alarms. I cannot find any information on delivery outside of the UK.

(*)Aidapt: A UK based distributor of mobility and daily living aids. I’m not sure if they deliver overseas, and unfortunately it appears you have to make an account and login to see the prices, but their product range is extensive. Items they offer include, but are not limited to: mobility aids (crutches, canes, manual wheelchairs, rollators, ramps and accessories), adapted cutlery, gardening equipment, reclining living and lounge chairs, bathing, hygiene and bedroom aids, handlebars and rails, daily living aids (trays, footrests, cushions etc.) and many many others.

Careco: A UK based company that offers a variety of living and mobility aids, from mobility scooters to stair lifts, to car boot hoists to transfer aids. They also offer a range of refurbished mobility aids in different styles, for cheaper than you would expect. They do claim to deliver to an international client base, but please contact them with questions/for a quote.

Cool Crutches: As the name suggests, this is a UK company that, much like Neo-Walk, offers an incredibly colourful array of walking sticks and canes, as well as offering replacement parts! They are suitable, according to the FAQ page, for anyone between 5′ and 6′5″, and are height adjustable. The colours and patterns are varied (and there is even an option to design your own!), but the prices are quite steep. They do offer international delivery! You can find their delivery page here, which also contains a list of prices for delivery. Thank you to @disconnectivetissue for directing me to this one.

(*)CompleteCare Shop: This company delivers to both mainland and non-mainland UK, with delivery charges available on the website, however they are unfortunately not able to deliver internationally. I recently bought a rollator from here that came quite quickly and in excellent condition. They offer a large collection of mobility aids- rollators, walkers, wheelchairs, scooters etc.- and other disability aids for all aspects of life, including bedroom aids, daily living aids (seats and hygiene products, for example), kitchen aids, medical equipment (like crutches, rehabilitation equipment, hearing aids etc. ) and even disability aids for children. An enquiry form can be found on the site if you have any questions.

Disability Horizons: Disability Horizons was a lifestyle magazine ran by a selection of disabled writers, for the disabled community, exploring issues and stories relating to disability, that unfortunately closed in April of this year (2023). They also run a shop, sourcing and distributing a range of disability aids from across the UK, and they can arrange overseas shipping! Products offered include: adaptive clothing and t-shirts, art and cards, home aids, kitchen aids, books, mobility aids, living aids, wheelchair aids, bathroom aids, vitamins and car aids. You can find a link to the online magazine site here. The shop is still running, though may be rebranded in the coming months.

The Dyslexia Shop: This shop is UK based but it does deliver internationally! They do an incredibly amount of learning resources for neurodivergent people, but specifically people with dyslexia and dyscalculia, including, but not limited to, tinted paper and notepads, different types of specialised grip pens, overlays, educational games, sensory toys, teaching aids and software. And they also offer an incredible range of books, both childrens books i.e. teaching about disability, featuring disabled characters etc., and non-fictional books on the topics of dyslexia, ADHD, autism, dyscalculia, disability education etc.

(*)Essential Aids: They sell a vast array of disability, mobility, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, work and leisure aids, as well as offering a range of childrens disability aids, sensory aids and NHS aids as well. They have aids that help in hobby areas (i.e. writing, gardening, sewing) and exercising, they sell comfort aids and warmth aids. They have outdoor aids as well, like ramps and hand rails, which is just fantastic. I do not know if they deliver internationally but you can contact them to check, and they use Royal Mail services.

Feet Feet: A company dealing in “orthotic insoles to treat every major foot condition”, this site is organised so that you can sort by specific condition, product or seek advice regarding an ailment. Products offered include bunion correctors/splints, foot massagers, assistive sock aids, support braces, insoles, risers, lifts, shoe cushioning/padding and callus cutters and much more.They do deliver internationally! (I think) You can find delivery information here.

(*)HealthAndCare: Unfortunately this company cannot deliver outside of the UK at the moment, but all mainland UK deliveries are free, and the majority of products can also be delivered to Northern Ireland, the Scottish Highlands and offshore UK islands! Their product range is extensive. They offer a large array of braces and supports- from back supports to shoe insoles- general health and pain relief items, daily living aids (including but not limited to: hearing aids, bathroom aids, mobility aids, kitchen aids and medication storage), sports and rehabilitation equipment, education equipment, and even safety training!

(*)Healthcare PRO: So I’ve had a look and they don’t deliver overseas, but they do deliver to both mainland and offshore UK! Here you can find more delivery information. Healthcare PRO offers a range of health, living and mobility including telephone aids, reading and writing aids, walking aids, wheelchairs, bathroom aids, eating aids, bedroom equipment, hobby aids, games, alarms, reachers, monitors and sensory equipments etc, a long with a vast array of other items in all categories. They also offer a selection of childrens aids as well.

(*)Incontinence Choice: This is a UK company that specialises in incontinence products. They offer a range of items, including incontinence pads of varying sizes, bed and chair protection, adult nappies, washable and disposable incontinence pants, as well as a range of both female and male incontinence products. They also offer products from some specific brands, such as Age Co, TENA, Vivactive and Always, and have a discreet delivery process. Unfortunately they only offer shipping to mainland UK and certain non-mainland territories. There is no option for international delivery at this time, and there is a notice on the website that delivery services have been impacted by the Royal Mail strikes, but they are working around it. Here you can find more information on delivery, including the non-mainland territories they deliver to and prices.

Liberator: A UK supplier of extensive AAC equipment including switches, joysticks, apps and software, learning aids, adapted stylus’, controls, adaptors, cases, eye tracking and control software, pointers, and accessible computer equipment, as some examples. They have a large web of international redistributors which you can find here. They also offer training regarding some software and devices that they sell. You can find information regarding funding and assessment here. They also offer sensory aids.

(*)Manage @ Home: A company that deals in disability aids for a variety of every day activities, including mobility aids, eating aids, leisure aids, door handles and bathroom aids, amongst others. Currently they deliver to UK mainland, as well as UK islands and Northern Ireland, though if ordering from the latter two you are advised to contact the company about delivery. I’m not sure what their international shipping policies are or if they ship outside of the UK.

(*)The Mobility Aids Centre: I’m waiting to hear back about international delivery information but I’ll update when I do. They have a showroom in Peterborough, England if you wish to visit them in person. The Centre claims to pride themselves on offering mobility aids that “is more than just wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walking aids, bathroom equipment and small living aids”, providing things such as pushchairs, standing frames and bespoke wheelchairs as well. They also offer things like sensory loss aids, peddle exercisers, therapy equipment, medication aids, fall aids and specialised furniture, to name a few.

(*)The Mobility Market: I found the link to this on the website for Scope, a well known, registered disability charity in the UK, and I’ve had a little look around. It’s essentially like ebay for mobility aids; it’s people selling their mobility aids to others in need. There is no definitive amount of aids on here so if you’re looking for something specific, i.e. like a cane, it might not be there the first time you check. Objects are second/third hand, and, depending on how much the seller lists them for, can still be quite expensive, though noticeably less so than some other providers. You can also list your own mobility aids as well, but to both buy and sell you need to make an account. I do not know what shipping policies are like- I imagine it depends on the seller- but they do have a partner site that operates across the US and Canada.

MobilityPlus+: A UK based company that claims to ship worldwide. They deal in electric wheelchairs, rollators and accessories, and also include shipping costs for international shipping on their website if you are not from mainland UK. From personal experience, they’ve been excellent when it comes to replacement parts for my chair though obviously I don’t speak for everyone.

Mobility Smart: This company can arrange to deliver outside of the UK but to do so you have to call them. They have instructions for this on their website, as well as information on finding your country dialing code and a currency converter. If you’re in the UK, they have a showroom! As well as mobility aids, they offer items in categories such as paediatric care equipment, daily living aids, driving aids, continence aids, bathroom aids, ramps, specialised footwear and medical equipment, amongst others.I have been informed that there tends to be a markup with this company when it comes to continence aids, in comparison to stores like Age Co or Incontinence Choice, so please be aware of that.

Not Your Grandma’s: Do you find yourself wanting colourful compression socks but can’t find any designs you like? Do you struggle to find designs that fit? Maybe your disability has left you feeling overwhelmed and you’re just looking for advice. Well! This company (suggested by @cripplecore, so thank you for that) may just be what you’re looking for! They specialise in colourful compression socks, but also offer some disability stationary and accessories. Their founder also has a blog/handbook and podcast relating to all things disability, and is looking to release a range of larger sized products, and offer a waiting list for those interested. Personally, I think this site looks incredibly cute! (They also offer international shipping!). I have ordered from here and think it’s great, if not a but pricey.

Neo-Walk: You may have seen this company on Dragons Den. They offer an array of colourful and customisable walking sticks and accessories, as well as offering a 10% student discount (using a code that can be found on their FAQ page and with proof of student ID)! They also offer international shipping.

(*)Podiatry World: Podiatry supplies equipment for foot and leg care, and products they offer “arch supports, bunion protectors, gel socks and straps, impressions, instruments and packs, foams and felts, rotary tools (burs), treatment chairs, pain relief products, and much more.” You can find a list of their products here. I’m not sure on international delivery policies.

(*)Quingo Scooters: Quingo mobility pride themselves on their five wheel mobility scooters, which they claim to offer more stability and manoeuvrability than regular three and four wheel scooters. They offer a few different models, ranging in price, as well as a motorised wheelchair, accessories for all models, payment plans, and the option to test drive before you buy! I can’t find any information on international delivery, but they claim to deliver anywhere in mainland UK, and they have a “sister distributor” in the US by the name of Comfygo.

(*)RNIB: Or, the Royal National Institute of Blind People. An organisation in the UK dedicated to ensuring and providing accessibility for those who are blind, partially sighted, or otherwise visually impaired. I took this quote from the site directly: “We have a wide range of products for both adults and children who have sight loss or a vision impairment. All our devices and tools are designed to help you do more at home, work or at school.You’ll also find a range of book titles in audio, braille and large print, and leaflets on eye conditions and living with sight loss.“ This link will bring you to the organisations website (with information on dealing with sight loss, eye health, the aims of the organisation etc etc.), and this link will bring you to an interesting piece on their work in making video gaming more accessible!

(*)Sensory Direct: I’ve checked an unfortunately this company is unable to ship to PO boxes, or overseas unless you hold a trading account with them. You can find information on delivery, i.e. prices, locations etc. here. This company deals specifically in sensory aids, with tools on their website allowing you to sort by age category, condition and environment. They offer a vast array of items including, but not limited to, weighted blankets, sensory toys, classroom kits, educational aids, weighted clothing, puzzles, toys, games, chewys, seating, lighting etc. etc. They also sell products to aid with the development of skills, such as life skills, social skills, fine and gross motor skills, creative skills and sleeping.

Single Handed: @parafoxicalk introduced me to this company through this video, showing a member of the company reviewing a grip toggle, so you may have seen them doing the rounds! Single Handed aim to design carry technology of the “highest quality”, “for able-bodied and less able people alike”, allowing for “easier use [carrying] for those with balance, shaking, or disabilities which make carrying a traditional tray more difficult, dangerous or even impossible in some cases.” They’re eco-conscious in their designs, deliver internationally, and deal in anti-tip trays, grip toggles, glass collectors, and large double handed mugs.

(*)Skiggle: This is another site I found, courtesy of Scope. Skiggle is a registered disability charity, providing help to disabled people (adults, young people and children), their families and their carers by offering a place to rehome surplus disability aids. It’s like a more relaxed version of The Mobility Marketplace, in that it is a sellers community of disabled people, in which you can post ads selling your items, or ads asking for certain items. The majority of items that I have seen are free/relatively cheap, but there are certain items that may be priced (i.e. car seats, mobility scooters) and the site reviews these on a case-by-case basis. I quite like the look of this one to be honest. Here’s the FAQ page if you have any questions regarding the marketplace.

Smartcrutch: Thank you to @some-weird-queer-writer for pointing this one out to me. I have been informed that they are also available in America, Canada and potentially Australia, but there is a notice on the site to contact them if you have any questions so you can find that information here. I’ve dug a bit further and it appears they do deliver overseas. This site offers an array of colourful forearm crutches, in sizes XS, S, M and L (extra small, small, medium and large), as well as “spares” (a range of spare crutch parts i.e. pivot screws, ice shoes, replacement feet and straps). Prices on the XS crutches range between £74.99-£114.98, whilst prices on all other sizes range between £131.99-£227.98. I believe there is also the option to buy either a single crutch or a pair.

The Stick & Cane Shop: Walking sticks and accessories with a twist. Like a stick for all occassions type of deal, this company specialises in sticks for walking, for formal/fancy dress, for country walking, for collecting, and for doubling as an umbrella. They also offer accessories and adjustable sticks.

(*)WalkingSticks: At the time of writing this, this site cannot deliver outside of the UK due to courier issues, however if you are able to benefit from it it seems amazing. Despite the name, they sell everything from canes, to crutches, to walkers, to even mobility aid accessories. And you can search by specific requirements, features and prices!

(*)Whizz-Kidz: “The UK’s leading charity for young wheelchair users.” This company is a bit different to the others in that it is a charity and you, specifically, don’t buy the equipment; there is an application process instead, a waiting list and then they may or may not provide the equipment for the young person (under the age of 18) in question. Here is information on the application process (FAQs, eligibility criteria etc.), and here is a link to wheelchair training workshops that they offer for people aged 2 to 25 years old, including workplace training, school training and sports. They are a charity so there is an option to donate as well, and they also offer youth group services, support for families and siblings, and work placement/employment opportunities.

USA:

(All links in English in case translator needed)

1800Wheelchair: Thank you to @cesium-sheep for directing me to this. They said, quote, “It was a mediocre experience and their branding is very senior-focused but they have a huge selection of all kinds of mobility aids.” I’ve had a look at that seems to be the case; they offer a vast array of wheelchairs included lightweight, heavy duty, beach, commercial, transport and bathroom wheelchairs, as well as accessories i.e. bags, cushions etc. As well as scooters, lifts, walkers, bathroom safety aids and accessories (including shower stools, hand held showers etc.), furniture, pediatric aids (wheelchairs, furniture, bathroom care), accessories and parts. As well as distributors across America and UK, it appears they also have distributors in both France and Canada!

Advantage Medical: A supplier of rehab and physical therapy equipment, including hand therapy, mobility aids, exercise equipment, patient transfer equipment, tapes, daily living, CBD, PPE and much more. They can arrange for international delivery “nearly anywhere in the world”, though customs and duties are the responsibility of the customer. Here you can find more information on shipping.

(*)Comfygo Mobility: A “sister distributor” of Quingo Scooters, that deals in mobility scooters, electric wheelchairs, manual wheelchairs and accessories for each. They offer a slightly wider ranger than their sister company, and also offer repayment schemes when purchasing. I’m not sure on their international delivery policy, but apparently, as well as their own stores, they may be found on Amazon, Ebay and sometimes Walmart.

(*)Comfy Splints: Exactly what it says- they sell adult and paediatric splints for the hand, elbow, knee, ankle and foot, with the goal of making them as comfortable as possible. I can’t find any explicit information on international delivery, although they are partnered with companies that do deliver globally, like Medline and Rehabmart, so I may be wrong. They have contact information listed here if you have questions.

Fettermans: A US based company that offers free shipping to continental US, Fettermans is also partnered with Amazon, Walkeasy and Sidestix. They deal in crutches (for adults and children), crutch hand grips and other accessories!

(*)HealthSmart International: HealthSmart provides a range of crutches, canes, walkers and wheelchairs (as well as accessories) as well as a number of other disability aids, including, but not limited to, blood pressure monitors, physical therapy aids, bedroom and bathroom aids, and professional medical equipment. They claim to deliver some products internationally, however upon further digging the website also says they are currently only shipping within the United States, so please contact them if you have any questions regarding this.

(*)ICS: This company deals in orthotic shoes, socks and insoles for those with diabetes, AFOs (ankle foot orthotics), arthritis, partial foot amputations, and general foot issues- promising a comfortable and “perfect” fit. They also offer a specialist fitting service, that I think allows you to find the perfect size and shoe for you. Shoes for both men and women are offered across a variety of brands, and when searching for shoes you can filter by gender, foot width, boot height, brand and shoe size. I can’t find any information in regards to international delivery.

(*)Mobility Warehouse: They mainly deal in mobility equipment- powerchairs, scooters, rollators and living chairs- but also offer a range of bath safety aids, mastectomy care, diabetic shoes, compression socks and hospital beds in store as well. They also offer replacements, repairs and servicing of the equipment you buy from them should you run into issue. International shipping policies of this company are unclear.

Pride Mobility Corporation: As well as the US and Latin America, this company has bases across the UK, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, India, Japan, Middle East, Slovakia, Slovenia and Canada. They also offer a tool on the website to find your nearest dealer. They offer a wide range of mobility and power chairs, lift chairs and mobility scooters, as well as rehab equipment.

Rehabmart: I think this company ship internationally. It is founded and operated by qualified occupational and physical therapists, and sells a range of medical, mobility and rehabilitation equipment. They claim to sell over 18000 products, and there is an alphabetised list of the categories they deal in.

Sensory Tool House: They do deliver outside of North America! However some of their products may not allow them to so it’s best to check your order. They have an online chat function and typically get back to you within a day or two.This company offers a range of “products and services [to] specifically support those who are neurodivergent and/or have a disability”, as well as offering community events at some of their locations (i.e. sensory play and sensory rooms), teacher, student and carer resources, training (in workplace and educational environments), and the ability to create a wishlist/gift registry. At the moment of writing, they appear to offer 850+ products, ranging from such things as educational products, toys, guides, utensil supports, folding chairs and weighted bedding, to name just a few.

Therapy Shoppe: “If you're looking for innovative sensory products, fidget tools, educational toys, occupational therapy tools, autism or special needs toys for learning, play, self-regulation, sensory integration, handwriting, motor skills development, fidgeting, and much more... you've come to the right place!” -Therapy Shoppe. This is a US based company that deals in the supply of sensory products. You can find delivery information here, including shipping charges. They do deliver outside of the continental US, but there is a minimum delivery fee and prices are based on overall order weight. Again, refer to the delivery information for more details.

(*)SwitchSticks US: A partner of SwitchSticks Australia and HealthSmart International. They specialise in walking sticks, quad sticks and seat canes. International shipping policies are unclear.

WalkEasy: A partner of Fettermans Crutches, they work with crutches, canes, parts and accessories, and it is my understanding that they deliver internationally as well. Their selection seems to be somewhat varied, ranging from platform crutches to cane holders for walls, and they offer replacement parts for most of the items they stock.

TheWrightStuff: If you’re ordering from outside of the US they offer contact information to get a quote, which you can find here. They only offer English speaking customer service at the time of writing. Again, thank you to @cesium-sheep for the recommendation. As well as mobility aids (wheelchairs, walkers, ramps, etc.), this company also offers more generalised disability aids including, but not limited, to gardening and exercise equipment, writing aids, utensil grips, adaptive reading aids (i.e. magnifiers, lights), adjustable tables, gas cap removers, bedding, comfort accessories, bathroom aids and dressing aids, to name a few.

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