#soldier / ambulance driver

[lovecharged]

[justjensenanddean]

How to achieve work life balance? Jensen is fortune that he really loves what he does, so it doesn’t feel like work. It‘s an artistic expression. He gets a lot of joy out of it. Only downside is not being in 2 places at once. Fam gives him so much joy 2. You always need more time, so make sure 2 be present (x)

Best gift? Jensen loves the photo albums he‘s gotten that collect his cons or jobs through the years. Lots of talented people in fandom. Takes him down memory lane in a beautiful way. (x)

Exec producing, one positive, one negative experience? Jensen: positive is the collaboration early on, the mission before the script, collaborating with other artists & creative minds. Downside: dealing with the studio & network, who also have opinions. (x) The most frustrated & the most vocal Jensen got during The Winchesters was them not signing Drake, but stringing him along forever & making him do chemistry reads for Mary without him having the role secured yet. (x)

The dumbest way Jensen has ever gotten injured (reprise from 14)? Hopped onto a wet, curved planter in the dark while waiting for a cab because he didn’t realize it was curved. Has a chin scar from that. cab driver didn’t take him bc of the blood, had to call an ambulance (x)

(lizzie2110)

Panel 2

Jensen explains that sometimes the stars of shows burn bright but flame out quickly, but there’s the journeymen who work continuously. They‘re the backbone of the industry. There should be a special oscar ceremony just for them. He likes to consider himself one, Rob is one (x)

Question about ad libbing. It was encouraged on Countdown and Jensen really got to play. The rest of the cast was ready. A big reward for him is when the crew laughs at one of his lines. (x)

He also got freedom on Tracker. Justin Hartley is one of the funniest people he knows. Elwood said „what I wrote is just a suggestion, go play“. Justin has to play straight on it, but understands Comedy so well. (x)

There‘s also a lot of things that Soldier Boy has said that weren’t scripted. He can’t tell us what because that would tell us too much about him. (x)

The different ways to explain masturbation in Gen V was suppose to be one line… it ended up a split of Jensen and Kripke as they tried to outdo each other (x)

It takes Jensen and 2 costume people to put on the Soldier Boy suit. He can’t sit down in it because of the breast plate. He‘s wearing compression pants and a compression shirt underneath it. (x)

Jensen didn’t have a lot of dialogue last week, Kripke was mostly there for other people and cameos. On Gen V he and Kripke workshopped together and the crew couldn’t decide so they kept three takes in cut together. (x)

Was Jensen a teacher‘s pet or a troublemaker? He asks what grade. 1st to 4th he talked too much & was rambunctious. When he got older & in high school he was the teacher‘s pet, "just because I worked the system" (x)

(KeepFrmDrowning)

Jensen Ackles | JIBCon 2025 (Rome, April 5, 2025)

[lets-try-some-writing]

Do you think if any of the Tfp bots have seen any human deaths? Like any sorta of a death, old age, illness, infected injuries or sometimes people just die unexpectedly. It’s most likely any of the soldiers that work around any of the bases. if a human were to die more violently like bot human and ‘con fight happened and they didn’t know such a small creature could bleed so much.

I do imagine they have. It's likely not something they are fond of talking about, but civilian casualties had to have happened at some point after their initial arrival. Strength differences and all that.

Optimus, while attempting to save a car and its passengers before they went hurtling off a cliff edge, ended up grabbing the vehicle just a bit too hard. He overestimated the strength of human steel and the humans he was attempting to save from certain death died anyway. All Optimus could do was push the wreckage down the cliff anyway to make it look as if nothing had happened on his end and go back to base with servos coated in red.

He learned a grim lesson that day, and Optimus never again used all his strength for anything on earth again, save for combat with Megatron.

Ratchet was mistaken as a proper ambulance at one point, and an emergency at the roadside had him pulling over to transport a crash victim to the hospital. He had his holoform in the drivers seat and he instructed the bystander who volunteered to help, but the effort was in vain. The unfortunate victim passed away halfway to the hospital from blunt force trauma to the head. Ratchet thought he had more time since the organics he was familiar with generally had a higher constitution. The loss did not bother him too much after a while, but it was a bit of a wake up call after he dropped off the body and the bystander before speeding away.

He put a little more effort in understanding humanity after that. If only to stop needless death.

Arcee was neither involved with or the cause of any human deaths, but while the team were still integrating on Earth, she watched a marine get hit with a rogue piece of shrapnel and quite literally explode, at least in some areas. It didn't register for her at first, but the moment the humans started flocking and panicking, Arcee knew what blood was and just how... unfortunate the innards of a human are. She learned just how fragile humanity is, and while did not shake her, it was enlightening and she offered her condolences later.

Bulkhead has never actually witnessed a human death in person, largely because he was already a naturally cautious mech when it came to his strength, so there were no accidents. However, the first time Bulkhead saw a human die in a movie, he may or may not have gotten emotional over it. A simple scene with an old man bidding his family one final farewell had Bulkhead reconsidering the functional immortality of his species for a while. Then he watched Marlie & Me-

Bumblebee witnessed his first ever human death in a similar manner to Optimus. He was out racing illegally and trying to make up for the loneliness of being part of such a small team by filling the void with a competition. But one human got a bit too excited during the race, and a few bad decisions later, one of the racers rammed directly into Bumblebee, sending them both spinning. Bumblebee was disoriented but otherwise unharmed when he transformed. But looking at the wreck? The other guy was anything but that. Bumblebee didn't need to look hard to know that the red smear on the inside of the care was about all that was left of his competition.

He stopped racing after that.

Smokescreen, Wheeljack, and Ultra Magnus have yet to witness any human deaths up close and personal. They have seen movies, but not any real expirations. Ultra Magnus doesn't care to. Smokescreen is afraid to see what happens when a fleshy dies, especially after the Darkmount incident and Optimus's near death. Wheeljack, surprisingly, has witnessing such a thing on his bingo card. He's not looking forward to it, but it's bound to happen and he wants an excuse to get a drink.

[mariacallous]

People keep writing to ask what they can do to help Ukraine. The country's soldiers face renewed attacks from Russia. There is a simple way to make sure that more Ukrainian soldiers survive, and to send a message that we support them: by funding armored evacuation vehicles. I am announcing a campaign to do that right now.

These are very unusual vehicles built to specifications that allow them to function at the front. They give the courageous drivers and medics a better chance of fulfilling their mission of rescuing wounded Ukrainian soldiers, and of surviving themselves. Russia targets medical facilities, including frontline evacuation teams.

Our goal is to finance two of these vehicles quickly, so that they can be ordered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health right away. I am organizing this fundraiser together with my Polish friend, the extraordinary activist Sławek Sierakowski. His Polish platform is here. We started in Poland yesterday and we are, as I write, minutes away from raising the $300,000 needed for the first armored ambulance! Amazing work from the Poles. Now let’s see how quickly we can raise the second $300,000 for the second vehicle.

I hope that we can catch up quickly and fund the second vehicle, using this platform from United24.

I want to thank everyone who joined in the first two big fundraisers I did together with United24: the first was for drone detection systems, and the second was for mine-clearing robots. In both cases, were were able to meet our goals, and to save many, many lives. In both cases I asked Ukrainian colleagues what was needed most. This time the answer was armored ambulances. So I have alread made a donation today, in the hopes that you will join me. Here is the link. Show Ukrainians that they are not alone.

Today American and Ukrainian negotiators are meeting in Saudi Arabia. I wish I could say that this will bring the war to an end. The Russian ground attacks will continue until the balance of the conflict shifts, until Ukraine's and its allies find a way to demonstrate to Moscow that continuing the invasion is impossible. We must all hope for peace, but react to the reality of an ongoing war. Medics are risking their lives right now. So please do what you can.

[odinsblog]

“The world’s most moral army” is barbaric, commits war crimes + violates the Geneva Convention on an hourly basis

Israeli forces in the occupied West Bank have tied a wounded Palestinian man to the hood of a military vehicle during a raid on the city of Jenin, appearing to use him as a human shield.

A video posted online on Saturday, and verified by Al Jazeera, showed Mujahed Azmi, a Palestinian resident of Jenin, strapped to a military jeep that passes by two ambulances.

The family of Azmi told the Reuters news agency that Israeli forces carried out an arrest raid in Jenin, during which he was wounded.

When the family asked for an ambulance, the military took Azmi, strapped him onto the hood of their jeep and drove off.

Abdulraouf Mustafa, a Palestinian ambulance driver, said the Israeli soldiers refused to hand over Azmi to them.

“The jeep passed by and the wounded man was on the hood,” Mustafa told Al Jazeera. “One arm was tied to the windshield and the arm was on his abdomen. They drove past us. They refused to give us the patient.”

(continue reading)

[wangxianficfinder]

Fic Finder

July 26th

~*~

1. hi! pease help me find this fic because i really want to re read this.

junior quartet got sent back around sunshot campaign (i think?) because in the future, the four were there in the guanyin temple face off with jgy, together with lxc, lwj, wwx, and jwy. they were really losing and the seniors told the juniors that they're going to find a way to get out of there. turns out, the seniors sacrificed their life to send the juniors to the past through an array but the juniors didn't know about this. jin guangyao also went back in time because he got into the array in time.

here are some details that im not sure if they're are a part of the fic or it's from others (my mind sometimes mix things up). i hope these help:

- jingyi found young jingyi when they were sent back.

- the juniors went to burial mounds and the people there wer skeptical about them

- later part of the fic, zizhen was not accepted in his family (i forgot why) @moonyramie

FOUND? ❤️ Tragedy is Not the End by Hobbsy3 (T, 358k, wangxian, Time Travel, Torture, Hurt/Comfort, Golden Core Reveal, Canon Divergence from Qiongqi Pass, Angst with a Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Yunmeng sibling bonding, good dad wwx, good dad lwj, JZX Lives, JYL Lives, Junior Quartet Dynamics)

~*~

2. Hello there again! Im looking for this one sci-fi fic where wei wuxian was a scientist and lan wangji was a military soldier. They met during an Alien invation. In the fic they try to figure out how to kill the aliens or how they even got in earth. Thankyou!

FOUND? Number 2 sounds like Son of a SoliderMan, by FireAwayy, who deleted it and quite a few other Untamed fics because of harassment. // Also had Jiang Cheng and Wen Ning as ambulance drivers, Lan Xichen, Nie Mingjue and Song Lan as solders who were sent into the area.

~*~

3. Hi! This is for ficfinder. I read this fic a few years ago. Its MDZSXTGCF crossover. Im not familiar with TGCF so maybe there will be some incorrect use of some term and relationship. WWX dies after he jump from a clif and then he become ghost in the ghost city. He work/become a friend with hua cheng. WWX wore a weimao (its either weimao or a red umbrella). HC and XL then feel some disturbance and with WWX they visit a place where they jail jun wu (?) In some mountain. But when they arrive, the jailer tells them its not jun wu. HC, XL, and WWX then continue their investigation and they meet with LXC and NMJ. I think there WWX identity is revealed to LXC and NMJ. They found out that the disturbance is because of yin iron that are thrown to the magma in nighless city acting up. To stop that WWX sacrifice himself and he died again. When i read that fic its still ongoing but i dont know what this fic status right know. Thats all i can remember. Thank you! @idontknowwhattowriteforusername

FOUND! Hi! Im #3 i just found the fic. Its 🔒Can we skip to the Good Part? by pink-lotus-pods (kkomaism) (T, 107k, HuaLian, WangXian, Canon-Typical Violence, Crossover, YLLZ WWX, HuaLian are in Love , Married HuaLian, Slow Build, Canon Temporary Character Death, Ghost WWX, Fix-It of Sorts, Canon Divergence, Blood and Violence, Character Study, Panic Attacks, WWX Has a Mental Breakdown, It Gets Worse Before It Gets Better, unbearable amounts of sexual tension, Suicidal Thoughts, mild but it’s still there!, Additional Warnings In Author’s Note, Genius WWX)

~*~

4. For fic finder, please! I am looking for a modern fic where Jiang Cheng and Wei Wuxian are raising Jin Ling together and they had a happy little family life, but struggled financially. The two were strippers who eventually catch the eye of Lan Xichen and Lan Wangji who begin to tip them ludicrous amounts of money. I remember the fic laid out their salaries and tips and they were making hundreds of thousands of dollars but they still bemoaned that they were broke and struggling. My confusion over their finances is what I remember most about this fic, lol. Would love to read again, if this rings a bell for anyone! Thank you!

FOUND! Silk & Satin by Brieeze01 (E, 171k, WangXian, LXC/JC, Modern, Stripper/Exotic Dancer, Strippers & Strip Clubs, Pole Dancing, Falling In Love, Love Confessions, Idiots in Love, Child LSZ, Child JL, supportive brothers, hardworking brothers, Uncles and nephews, Love Story, Emotions, brokeass pole dancers meet billionaire bachelor brothers, Kinks, Lipstick, High Heels, Blindfolds, Anal Sex, Oral Sex, Rough Sex, Gentle Sex, Lube, Strip Tease, Dancing, Dirty Dancing, First Kiss, First Time, Love Bites, Anal Fingering, Rimming, Romance, Silk, satin, Slow Burn, Happy Ending, Wholesome, Pining, kink appreciation, healthy family relationship, Healthy Relationships, Everybody uses lube, Lapdance)

~*~

5. Hi I was wondering if you know about a certain fic that takes place during the cloud releases study arc. Where Wei Wuxian wakes up one day suddenly and inexplicably pregnant with an egg. I'm pretty sure its incomplete but I read it a while ago and it was interesting. One of the main parts I remember is Jiang Cheng asking/trying to convince Wei Wuxian that he's not pregnant and it's just a "food baby". @wolfcubx2

~*~

6. Hi! First of all thank you for the existence of this blog, I'm pretty sure it's saved my sanity more than once at this point! I'm looking for a post-canon fic where wwx is telling lwj something like "of course I died screaming, I was being torn apart, but I died calling your name bc you were the only good thing I had in my life"

Unfortunately I can't remember whether it was a long fic or a short fic, or even the rest of the plot, I read too many to keep track lololol so I don't have anything else to go on, but that part really stuck out to me and I wondered if it might ring any bells for anyone else! (And if nothing else I might get a different fantastic recommendation out of the deal!!)

~*~

7. looking for this fic, I don’t remember much but it was abo, modern au with wei ying as an omega and lz as an alpha. there was a part in it where wei ying was presenting to lan zhan and lan zhan was thinking something along the lines of omegas don’t actually do that anymore, or something like that.

FOUND? Tastes Like You by airinshaw (E, 30k, WangXian, A/B/O Dynamics, Modern AU, Alpha LWJ, Scenting, Claiming Bites, Getting Together, Light Dom/sub)

~*~

8. Hello Hello!!!! So I've scrolled through 20+ pages of my Ao3 history for a fic but can't find it. So I'm hoping yall can help!! Lan Wanji was a vampire who lives alone in the woods away from humans and his family. Wei Wuxian was a traveling merchant who ends up crashing Lan Wanji's place. He breaks the man's privacy by entering a room containing a portrait of Lan Wanji's mom, this inturn leads to Wei Wuxian being kicked out. Lan Wanji feels guilty after a bit and goes out to find him. Wei Wuxian ends up in a bad situation and Lan Wanji attempts to save him. They both end up in like a ravine and Wei Wuxian is near death. The two kiss and Wei Wuxian purposefully cuts his tongue on Lan Wanji's fang. At the taste of Wei Wuxian's blood Lan Wanji goes feral and bites his neck. Wei Wuxian dies right then and there, Lan Wanji is convinced he killed him despite desperately trying to turn him into a vampire. Lan Wanji was successful after a few minutes of mouring and hating himself Wei Wuxian comes to. It ends with a time skip to vampire Wei Wuxian buying something in a market dressed in a sun hat and long sleeves buying something for Lan Wanji @crimson-gay-sought-flower

~*~

9. Hi! Do you know the fic where there's a scene with WWX taking the Wen Remnants away and LWJ is his husband and they kiss goodbye but then WWX tells them no one saw that? I think it might have been a arranged marriage au .. @abijo2024-blog

FOUND? seldom all they seem by Fahye (E, 25k, WangXian, Canon Divergence, Arranged Marriage, or rather Arranged Betrothal, followed by Weapons-Grade Thirst) They're engaged rather than married during the rain scene, but I'd say everything else fits. Hope that helps!

~*~

10. Hi!! I'm looking for a fic where wei ying gets his original body back and absolutely no one recognises him. Wei ying doesn't realise this though and walks around gusu in lan clothing. However people start to think lan wangi's gotten a new consort and get mad at him for doing that to wei ying. @louvoilite

FOUND? Is Your Old Body Considered a Halloween Costume? by The_peregrine_falcon (G, 3k, WangXian, WWX's original body, Junior quartet makes an appearance, LWJ is chief cultivator, Fluff,Canon Compliant, Post-Canon) but I don't recall the villagers thinking he was a new consort

~*~

11. Hello I'm DESPERATELY looking for a Tumblr fic, it's relatively short, in which a demonic cultivation is brought forth to the sects in a conference, and he asks for incense and prays to WWX who, lo and behold, is a sleeping god. Please help??

FOUND?🔒Calling Heaven by mondengel (Not Rated, 2k, WangXian, God au)

~*~

12. Fic finder please! I am looking for a fic that I can’t remember if it was time travel (like WWX went back in time) or if it just was au starting with him as a child. Child/teen WWX joins a theatre troupe and he performs a veiled dance at a Nie gathering and teen Huaisang tries to propose to him thinking that WWX was a beautiful female dancer. It is only several years later that they meet again and realize they had that shared moment. It is a WangXian fic, but this is the scene I remember!

FOUND! The Darkness Before Dawn by PsycheStellata707 (M, 113k, WangXian, WIP, Angst with a Happy Ending, Time Travel Fix-It, Canon Divergence, BAMF WWX, Attempt at Humor, PTSD, Oblivious WWX, WWX-centric, Blind WWX, Sentient Burial Mounds, Everyone Lives AU, Except Those Who Deserves to Die, Oblivious Pining, Not Canon Compliant)

~*~

13. Soo ik it's a discontinued fanfic of wanxian , and I'm not sure if it's been deleted or the name is changed but, it was on Wattpad i think, and was called 'i will fix everything ' it starts with Wei yung returning in time to when he was at gusu lan for learning, he is sitting in class when he opens his eyes and is shocked by this fact , but then he sees suibian near him and he unsheathed the sword and slit his throat. later it goes as he shows his memories to everyone and they find a way to save

~*~

14. Hello,

I'm looking for a fic, set Modern day, no magic, where Wei Ying runs away/is kicked out? during high-school and years later Lan Zhan finds him at a framers market/ crowded street? .. the scene I remembered specifically that led me to trying to find it is Lan Zhan calling Jiang Yanli and saying "I found him" after seeing him in the streets, and her thinking he means like at a morgue so she starts crying and so he continues with "I found him alive" ...I think Wei Ying also lives with the wens on their farm ...  I realize that that is not alot of information to go on but I read it so long ago, its all i remember, I can't even remember if it is worth searching for to reread but that didn't stop me from spending 3 hours looking before giving up and finding this page to ask

Thank you for taking your free time to to help random people find lost fics! @cassie-joy567

FOUND? clean from the war (your heart fits like a key) by sysrae (E, 28k, WangXian, Modern AU, Reunions, past xy/wwx, xy is fucked up but not evil because it's a modern AU and I said so, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, past wwx/jfm, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Abuse, Rape Recovery, transphobic violence, Victim Blaming, Past wwx/others, allusions to past self-harm)

~*~

15. Here I am again, begging on my knees: can you help me find a fic where wwx finds a book describing a shrine to a good he's never heard about, and goes out to find it. He ends up discovering lwj ascended a long time ago, but he is bound and his temples were burned and devotees killed by the sects, lead by the Lan. Turns out they bound and imprisoned his body and he can only manifest in his temples, and WWX helps him escape the confinement. It is (was?) a WIP, featuring Wangji and Bichen having human forms, lwj is the one who helps wwx master demonic cultivation, creepy rituals that transfer the conscience of a past sect leader into Xichen, and the one who received wwx's golden core is jyl. Please?

FOUND!🔒 We'll Build This House on Stone (Altars) by FluffyHippogriff (E, 270k, WangXian, WIP, Romance, Supernatural Elements, Old God LWJ, Dumb Baby WWX, Friendship, WWX Finds an Ancient Altar, what happens next will shock you, Hijinks & Shenanigans, YLLZ WWX, There's Always a Price, But For Once It's Not WWX's Sweet Bod, Angst with a Happy Ending, Explicit Chapters Will Be Individually Tagged, Bichen Sword, Wàngjī Guqin, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Nonbinary Character, Nonbinary Bichen)

~*~

16. Hi I have been looking for a fic I read and cannot find where Wei Wuxian doesn't realise he and Lan Zhan are dating. I believe it had a scene where the two of them go grocery shopping and run into Lan Zhan's ex, Mo Xuanyu, who tries to persuade Lan Zhan that they should get back together. Obviously, since he believes he has now started seeing Wei Ying he says no. There was something about Wei Ying secretly picking up ice cream for Lan Zhan. If anyone can remember it that would be fabulous, thanks! @funny-it-worked-last-time

FOUND! without your new eyes by anaphoricae (E, 66k, WangXian, Modern, Didn't Know They Were Dating, Sexuality Discovery, Self-Discovery, Literal Sleeping Together, mentions of WWX/others and LWJ/others, Drunk LWJ, Teacher LWJ, WWX is a… throws dart… computer scientist, No Angst, Jealous WWX, Flirty WWX, Eventual Smut, Bottom LWJ, Fluff, Non-Sexual Intimacy, WWX's Love Language is Physical Touch, Guess what: even more non-sexual sleeping together, the plot of the fic is just… co-sleeping, call it the Nap Fic ™, Podfic Available, WWX isn't so much 'oblivious' as he is wilfully blocking some feelings subconsciously, WWX 'idk how I feel' to 'I'm gonna marry him' pipeline)

~*~

17. Hello, I’m looking for a short M or E rated fic, modern au, where wwx talks on social media, likely TikTok, about the benefits of having an older partner who knows exactly what he wants and communicates that clearly. Lwj is older than wwx and has some sort of corporate/business job. There is a chance this was a single chapter in larger work that is a collection of short fics.

~*~

18. Hi! I'm trying to find a Lán Qǐrén/Wēn Ruòhán fic that was deleted on ao3. The title was "God & Monsters." I don't know the author's exact name but I know it had "jupiter" in the username. It's an time travel fic where LQR goes back in time when he was younger during his studies at cloud recesses with WRH, JFM, YZY, etc. I just know it's not "Cursed couple." @cherry1928rev

~*~

19. Argh! For FF, I'm looking for a time travel fixit where Su Minshan time travels and nopes out of CR study arc. It's written in his pov, and he's kind of Indiana Jonesing it, studying the burial mounds for forgotten magics. ANYWAY hope think it would be easy to find Su Minshan redemption/time travel as being reasonably unique, but no. I even failed to bookmark it so help!! @mreisse

FOUND? Dark Promises Amid Rising Screams by meyari (M, 88k, SheYao, WangXian, Time Travel Fix-It, Unreliable Narrator, Major character death, Not Really Character Death, Discussion of Genocide, PTSD, Chronic anxiety, Panic Attacks, Warning: JGS, Warning: WRH, Mind Control, Canon-Typical Violence, Politics, Self-Esteem Issues, Self-Sacrifice, Asexual Relationship, Aromantic Relationship, Aro/Ace SS, Aro/Ace MY)

~*~

20. Hi! I remember having read this fic where Lan Zhan is face blind and didn't really notice Wei Wuxian came back to life in a different body, because he just recognised wwx's behavior. It was a very sweet fic and I'd love to read it again, but I totally forgot what it was called and I don't think I bookmarked it :(

I'm pretty sure I read it on ao3, but perhaps it could have just been a tumblr post.

I hope someone knows which fic I'm talking about, but I'm also open to other fics where Lan Zhan (or other characters) are face blind. @ifyourelostjustlookforme

FOUND! Faces by osiesaur (G, 1k, WangXian, lwj is faceblind, wwx and lwj are both learning to communicate better, WWX in MXY's body, they're married, LWJ POV)

~*~

[feralrabidcrow]

Can The Mercs Drive

Scout: He doesn't have a drivers license, but in like, a desperate situation, he would know enough of the basics to get a car to move. He would be absolutely horrible at it, though. And his probability of crashing is high. He loves riding shotgun in cars and talks about how one day he's gonna get a super fancy sports car and impress all the girls, but he's never going to get around to actually learning how to drive.

Soldier: He cannot legally drive, he should not drive, he should be kept as far away from a driver's seat as possible, and yet he has stolen the company van on multiple occasions to go get McDonald's with Demo. Most of the dents and scratches on the van are from Soldier. He is far too confident for his own good.

Pyro: Pyro has never been seen driving, it seems safe enough to assume that Pyro cannot drive, but also I think it would be funny if they could, they just never have because no one trusts them to. Imagining Pyro driving like, a massive monster truck with flame decals.

Demo: He can technically drive, it's just that most of the time he's too drunk to drive. If he manages to get sober enough to be in a state of competence, he's an impressively responsible driver.

Heavy: The problem for Heavy isn't driving, it's finding vehicles with driver's seats that he can comfortably fit into. His driving skill is pretty average, nothing special but he's reliable when you need to get somewhere.

Engineer: Not only is he able to drive just about any vehicle you put him in, he's the team's mechanic and loves to work on modifying vehicles. Spy was hesitant to let Engineer mess around with his car, but it goes a hell of a lot faster now so he can't really complain.

Medic: He knows how to drive, but he's not legally allowed to. Not that he would let that stop him. He has a makeshift 'ambulance' that he likes to drive around in, complete with organ fridges for emergencies. He also has a history of stealing cars, including a catering van from a wedding that came with a certain little dove.

Sniper: As a guy who lives in a camper van, he definitely can drive well. He's especially skilled at driving large vehicles. He's one of the teams go to drivers when they have somewhere they need to be, alongside Engineer.

Spy: He has an expensive convertible sports car that's his pride and joy. It's a total speed demon after whatever Engineer did to it, and he likes to go out speeding down the long roads in it. However, he doesn't know how to drive larger vehicles.

[misfitwashere]

TIMOTHY SNYDER

MAR 11

People keep writing to ask what they can do to help Ukraine. The country's soldiers face renewed attacks from Russia. There is a simple way to make sure that more Ukrainian soldiers survive, and to send a message that we support them: by funding armored evacuation vehicles. I am announcing a campaign to do that right now.

These are very unusual vehicles built to specifications that allow them to function at the front. They give the courageous drivers and medics a better chance of fulfilling their mission of rescuing wounded Ukrainian soldiers, and of surviving themselves. Russia targets medical facilities, including frontline evacuation teams.

Our goal is to finance two of these vehicles quickly, so that they can be ordered by the Ukrainian Ministry of Health right away. I am organizing this fundraiser together with my Polish friend, the extraordinary activist Sławek Sierakowski. His Polish platform is here. We started in Poland yesterday and we are, as I write, minutes away from raising the $300,000 needed for the first armored ambulance! Amazing work from the Poles. Now let’s see how quickly we can raise the second $300,000 for the second vehicle.

I hope that we can catch up quickly and fund the second vehicle, using this platform from United24.

I want to thank everyone who joined in the first two big fundraisers I did together with United24: the first was for drone detection systems, and the second was for mine-clearing robots. In both cases, were were able to meet our goals, and to save many, many lives. In both cases I asked Ukrainian colleagues what was needed most. This time the answer was armored ambulances. So I have alread made a donation today, in the hopes that you will join me. Here is the link. Show Ukrainians that they are not alone.

Today American and Ukrainian negotiators are meeting in Saudi Arabia. I wish I could say that this will bring the war to an end. The Russian ground attacks will continue until the balance of the conflict shifts, until Ukraine's and its allies find a way to demonstrate to Moscow that continuing the invasion is impossible. We must all hope for peace, but react to the reality of an ongoing war. Medics are risking their lives right now. So please do what you can.

Armored Ambulances

[scotianostra]

The leading Scottish suffragette, Evelina Haverfield, was born at Inverlochy Castle on August 9th 1867.

Evelina’s birth is recorded as ‘Honourable Evilena Scarlett’, she took the name Haverfield from her husband. Her childhood was divided between London and the Inverlochy estate. In 1880 she went to school in Dusseldorf, Germany, after which she married Major Henry Haverfield at the age of 19., who was 20 years her senior. The marriage is said to have been a happy one they had two sons together, The Major however died in 1896. Evelina married again two years later, a another military man, Major John Blaguy. This was not a happy union and after some time they drifted apart. The rest of her life was informed by devotion to a cause.

She became an enthusiastic supporter of the suffragette movement and was arrested during suffragette demonstrations in London for hitting an escorting police officer. Her only regret was not hitting him hard enough, promising to bring a revolver next time. During that heady time she met Vera Holme. Their companionship was to last the rest of her days.

At the outbreak of the First World War the suffragettes supported the war effort by founding a Women’s Voluntary Emergency Corps and a Women’s Voluntary Reserve Ambulance Corps. Evelina became commandant in chief of the latter, looking, it was said, every inch a soldier in her khaki uniform, although she later left after a disagreement of an undisclosed nature.

Evelina joined the Scottish Women’s Hospitals and devoted the next two years to overseas service with them. She served in Serbia with Elsie Inglis, as a hospital administrator and was part of a small group taken prisoner when the armies of the Central Powers overran Serbia in October and November 1915.

Under appalling conditions of poverty and military oppression, Evelina and those with her, struggled heroically through the winter to provide food and basic care for their wounded Serbian patients and some of the local civilian population. In the spring of 1916, Evelina and the other 'Scottish Women’ were released through the International Red Cross and returned to England.

In August 1916 Evelina went to Romania in charge of 18 ambulance and transport vehicles as part of two units of the Scottish Women’s Hospitals. These units were in support of Serbian soldiers fighting on the eastern Allied front. The stronger enemy invading armies drove the Russian, Romanian, and Serbian defenders out of southern Romania and north of the Danube river delta.

During this two-month retreat by the Allied forces, Evelina and the transport drivers were working non-stop under constant enemy fire, in desperate situations, while rescuing wounded soldiers and driving them to safety.

By early 1917, with the fighting on the eastern front over, and unable to return to Serbia because of the enemy occupation there, Evelina returned to England, where she remained until after the Armistice of November 1918. In England she raised money for clothing and canteens for Serbian soldiers, gave public speeches on behalf of Serbian relief, and helped to found a Serbian Red Cross Society in Britain.

After the Armistice she returned to Serbia to supervise the distribution of much needed food, clothing, and medical supplies. When this was done, in 1919, she made plans to found a home for Serbian war orphans in a Serbian mountain village. It was there, in Baijna Bashta, that she contracted pneumonia, probably brought on by overwork and fatigue, and died prematurely at the age of 52, revered and honoured by the Serbs for her five years of humanitarian work on their behalf. The Serbs issued a stamp commemorating this remarkable women in 2015, a woman few Scots have even heard of…….

Buried in Serbia today, Evelina’s gravestone reads:

‘Hear lies the body of the honourable Evelina Haverfield youngest daughter of William Scarlett 3rd Baron Abinger and of Helen ne Magruder his wife of Inverloky Castle Fort William Scotland who finished her work in Bajina Bashta March 21st 1920 through the war 1914-1920 She worked for the Serbian people with untiring zeal. A straight fighter as traight rider and a most loyal friend. R.I.P’

In 2015 Evalina was one of five Scottish women and one English women, who worked as doctors, nurses and drivers honoured on a series of stamps in Serbia, the others were Dr Elsie Inglis a campaigner for women's suffrage and the founder of the Scottish Women Hospitals in Serbia. Dr Inglis was one of the first female graduates at the University of Edinburgh.

Dr Elizabeth Ross, one of the first women to obtain a medical degree at the University of Glasgow. She travelled to Serbia as a volunteer and tragically passed away during the typhoid epidemic in 1915.

Dr Katherine MacPhail OBE, involved in humanitarian work in Serbia throughout WW1. She is remembered for opening the first paediatric ward in Belgrade in 1921.

Dr Isabel Emslie Galloway Hutton who joined the Scottish Women Hospitals as a volunteer in 1915 after she was turned away by the War Office in London. She served in France, Greece and Serbia until 1920.

The sixth was English woman, Captain Flora Sandes, who was the only known British female to bear arms during WW1.

This may have been seen as a great adventure for many, but as with all wars there was a price to pay, some of the women ended in desperate tragedy. A total of 21 died in Serbia, many after falling ill with suspected typhus.

[andromeda-grace]

Writeblr Introduction

Hi, I’m Andromeda (she/they). I am returning to Writeblr and decided to start a new blog for my WIPs and writing updates! I want to use this blog to shout out other Writeblrs, make posts about my current WIPs, and experiences in publishing. I mostly write original fiction but write fanfic when the inspiration strikes. I love Writeblr games and asks!

This blog is a safe space for all identities, gender & sexuality, neurodivergence, race, and religion. I do my best with content and trigger warnings.

My Writing: Genre and Representation

I love horror, sci-fi, and fairy tales 

I don’t enjoy romance (if it’s only the pursuit and drama), but I love writing nuanced love stories where people communicate well and put effort into building relationships

Lots of queerness and queer relationships

BIPOC main characters

Neurodivergence- shout out to the undiagnosed ADHD queens, the anxiety, and masking/coping behaviors

Trauma, out of context, is seen as personality

Smut- sex is a part of life and it’s fun to write. Get down, make mistakes, get messy. My sex scenes aren’t just conventionally attractive people putting on a show. I emphasize body diversity, complexities of gender identity, and emotional state

Tropes:

Found Family

Villains

Redemption- working to be a better person, even when it’s hard

Poly-Amory- we often have more than one close friendship, and have variety and nuance in those different relationships, so the same thing goes for romance

Morally gray/Feral girls- women have so much responsibility put on them for the emotional wellbeing of others, but what if they aren’t capable of that? (think Broad City/ Bottoms)

Finished works:

The Devil You Know- short story- Out now! Find your copy here

Genre: horror, vampires, fairytale

Vibe: The Green Knight x The Witch

Anya has built a quiet life for herself, trusted as the village healer as long as she keeps her magic hidden. All of that changes when a strange traveler arrives at her doorstep. The man looks human, but Anya senses an old and powerful magic within him. Intrigued, she allows Owen inside. He claims to have been an apprentice to a witch, and Anya, despite her suspicions, finds him to be a kindred spirit. They begin a romance, both finding comfort in one another.

Their peace is broken when a family comes to Anya in crisis. Their child has been cursed, and is transforming into a monster. Desperate to save the boy, Anya asks Owen for help. He can grant her the power to break the spell, but it requires blood and forbidden rites. Knowing that she can’t break the curse alone, Anya faces a choice with deadly consequences.

WIPs:

Bubblegum Capital

Genre: Queer Cyberpunk

Vibe: 1984 x Legally Blonde

Novaczek is on the brink of fame. They’re an amateur gamer about to break into the pro leagues. But their dreams are crushed when work denies them time off for the championship.

Novaczek decides to play on shift and is caught. Everything comes crashing down. They find themselves at rock bottom having lost their job, company housing, and girlfriend all at once.

In a world where your value is measured by your social ranking, Novaczek has to claw themselves back up, hustling for money and favors from friends. As they work their way back up the ranks they discover an underbelly where nothing and no-one are what they appear to be.

Love, Asunder

Genre: Gay Vampires, Family Saga

Vibe: 1917 x Hellboy

James Townsend was supposed to be starting his new life, an American abroad, with a Fellowship at Oxford University. All of that changes when Germany marches on Paris. James can’t remain in the classroom while teachers and students leave their desks for the battlefield. So James enlists as a volunteer ambulance driver on the Front. The days stretch long with violence and misery, but he finds purpose and friendships in the trenches. 

Then he meets a man, a smuggler providing supplies and information to the Allies. Etienne is so different from the soldiers, bright and charming. They begin a secret romance, disappearing together when they can, and writing letters in between. 

An opportunity comes to meet in Paris, and James is overwhelmed at the opportunity to spend time with Etienne in the City of Love. Free to spend their days together, James quickly discovers just how much Etienne has been hiding from him, and enters a world of magic, beauty, and death. 

Tropes and fun stuff:

Butch witches

Femme werewolves

Playing the vampire tropes straight

Magical Underground

Found Family

Bio-Family responsibilities

Many, Many different kinds of love

I'll be sharing moodboards and snippets along the way! Looking forward to learning more about the other talented Writeblrs out here!

tagging: @hillnerd-art @suffrajett @starknstarwars @em-dashes @blind-the-winds @leave-her-a-tome @athenswrites

[ghostpoetics]

Hello! I recently found your blog and I was wondering for someone starting off with your books, which one should I purchase first? They all sound and look incredible 🩷

Hi! First of all, thank you. :)

Besides A Flame in the Night and Witch Soul, which are part of a series, all my other books can be read however you like. As far as where to start first, it really depends on what you're interested in! All my books tend to be in some vein of Gothic or horror romance with varying levels of levity or serious content. (Usually, I lean toward the dark, gruesome, and serious.) It really depends on if you want to read about vampires, demons, witches, fish monsters, Bibleslash...or all of the above! It also depends on if you want MM, FF, MF, MMMF, MMM, or FFF.

The popular ones are Providence Girls (sapphic horror romance by the sea) and The Saint of Heartbreak (JudasxDevil romance). It is difficult for me to choose a favorite or to gauge which one will resonate for a beginner. I will say Sacrament is probably my favorite. However, it is very dark and should be read after becoming familiar with the content warnings. King of Hell, on the other hand, is probably the lightest in tone and is something I wrote very off the cuff as something fun.

More about my books, including the content warnings, can be found at my site. I'll give a brief summary of all of them below!

A Flame in the Night: Or Marriage, Two People and Their Silver-haired Vampire. An MMF vampire romance. In 1924 Paris, a former soldier—now flouncy and bisexual-in-denial clubgoer—named Léon and a clever and serious burlesque dancer and ex-war ambulance driver named Claire meet a mysterious vampire named Matthias.

Witch Soul: An MF vampire/witch romance. (Léon is genderfluid but generally is okay with being called a man.) A witch named Millie encounters Léon, and she has a secret: She has a witch soul, meaning that she is possessed by a demon.

Providence Girls: A sapphic seaside horror romance in early twentieth-century New England where two women meet while one is changing into a Deep One, or an eldritch fish monster from The Shadow Over Innsmouth. Vin is Lavinia Whateley from “The Dunwich Horror” and Azzie is Asenath Waite from “The Thing on the Doorstep.” Contains body horror and has a generally melancholy but hopeful tone.

King of Hell: An MM vampire/demon romance and post-apocalyptic revenge road trip with found family. A vampire in Hell named Laurențiu, who is one of the favourites of King Paimon, gets the help of his king to get revenge on an old friend. Also, there's a hellhound named Daisy.

Unholy With Eyes Like Wolves: Carmilla x FMC x Countess Erzsébet Báthory (AKA Elizabeth Bathory). A fallen noblewoman named Noémie is sent to Báthory’s castle to be her handmaiden while mysterious murders are happening.

The Saint of Heartbreak: A Judas/The Devil dark fantasy romance that takes place over the course of almost 2,000 years. Two of the Bible’s greatest villains find solace in one another. Described as sensuous, melancholy, and lyrical.

Sacrament: An MMM dark vampire romance between a man, his best friend, and the peevish vampire lord who inconveniently barges into their lives. In 1898 Paris, a man named Maël gives up his autonomy for the sake of his loved ones to become the familiar of a lesser vampire lord named Sebestyen. Very dark, very gruesome, very Gothic.

[eriquin]

The Trolley Problem, Part 77

Hopper gets to deal with the decisions he made before they went through the gate.

(master post)(also posting to ao3)

When they got back to the lab and through the gate, things started to happen quickly again. There weren’t many guards left at the lab, and the ones that were there were too shocked to see them come out alive to stop them. Hopper saw that Joyce and Will had made it the rest of the way. He’d left them by the gate, and now they were wearing fresh clothes, clearly having gone through decontamination. 

One of the guards took over giving orders. He said that they weren’t equipped to handle Eddie’s injuries there. They piled into a van to rush him to the hospital, rather than wait for an ambulance.

The drive over was tense. Hopper sat in the passenger seat with that one guard driving. He recognized him as a local, though he couldn’t remember his name. Steve recognized him, too. They didn’t say anything to each other, though. Steve was in the back of the van with Wayne, trying to keep Eddie comfortable. 

Joyce and Will sat in the middle seats. Joyce kept her arms around Will the whole time, but she leaned forward to ask questions. “Where the hell did everyone go?” 

Hopper stared out at the road. He knew where they’d gone. He’d made the deal with the lead scientist to give them their best shot at getting her boy back, but he was having second thoughts.

The guard frowned and kept his eyes on the road. “They got a lead on whatever they were looking for,” he said. “Cleared out. Haven’t checked in.”

It was Will who put it together first. “El,” he said quietly. “They were looking for El.” 

Joyce’s jaw dropped. “But they couldn’t...” She glanced over at the guard, and then at Hopper. She made the leap to the right conclusion faster than he would’ve thought possible. “Hop. What did you do?” 

Hopper clenched his jaw. “What I had to, to get us through there.” At the intense silence behind him, he turned around to look at the people in the back of the van. “They weren’t going to let us through, Joyce. I made a deal so we could go and get your kid back. You and Wayne’s.”

Will looked back and forth between his mom and Hopper, and then turned around in his seat to look at the rest of them. Joyce had a hard glare on her face. “Hop,” she hissed. “Hop, you didn’t tell them. Tell me that you didn’t tell them.”

“I told them what I had to,” he said.

“But the kids, Hop. All the kids are there with her.”

“They’re not gonna hurt those kids,” Hopper said. It sounded ridiculous to say that they’d promised, but he’d made them promise not to hurt the rest of the kids when he’d told them where El was. “They’ve got a bunch of trained soldiers, Joyce. They know how to manage a few teenagers.”

It was Steve who snapped next. Hopper hadn’t even been sure he’d been listening. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he yelled. “Tommy’s going to go apeshit on those guys. They’ll fucking shoot him.” 

The driver swerved a little, and Hopper braced himself against the seat. “Tommy?” he asked. “Tommy Hagan’s there? But if he’s there—”

“Yeah, Mr. Perkins. Carol’s there, too.” Steve kept glaring at Hopper.

“You told me she was safe!” 

“She was safe!” Steve’s voice took on a high pitch. “Until this asshole sent your boss after her.”

Wayne reached out and put his hand on Steve’s shoulder, forcing him to sit back down. He didn’t say anything. Joyce didn’t say anything, either. Steve was still breathing heavily enough that they could hear it through the van, but nothing else broke the silence. Perkins kept driving, mindful of the injured boy in the very back, and they made it to the hospital in one piece. 

The emergency room was a madhouse. Multiple ambulances were coming in, and Hopper found Powell directing people. He went over to him to find out what had happened.

“Damn good to see you here, Chief,” Powell said. “Something happened at the middle school. Bunch of lab folks there said they tracked that cougar, or whatever it was, through the woods and to the school, of all the damn things. Chief, there were kids there.”

Hopper ran his hand over his face. “Shit. What are we looking at?”

“A lot of injuries, but mostly the adults. The kids managed to make it to a phone and call us in. One girl got caught in the crossfire. She’s in surgery now. There’s... Well, the lab had...” He lowered his voice and they stepped off to the side, away from the crowd in the waiting room. “Chief, something doesn’t smell right about this. The lab folks had a bunch of people pulling rank. Said something about the Department of Energy? They said they killed the thing, but they won’t let any of our guys in to see it. They just kept bringing out injured soldiers.” 

“Aw, hell,” Hopper said. “This is gonna be a shit show, huh?”

“That’s what I was thinking.” He smirked. “I’m real glad to see you, Chief. Means you get to deal with it instead of me.” 

Hopper gave him a scathing look, but Powell wasn’t fazed at all. “Thanks, Calvin. I’m looking forward to it.”

“Where’ve you been, anyway?”

He jerked his thumb at the rest of the group as the paramedics brought Eddie in on a stretcher. Wayne and Steve followed after him, and Will and Joyce behind them. Steve looked like he was about to fall over. Perkins came in last, looking dazed at the whole mess. He went over to the check-in desk to ask them something, probably about his daughter.

“Holy shit,” Powell said. “You found them? Byers and Harrington and... Hasn’t the Munson kid been missing since Monday?” 

“Yeah.” He wiped his hand over his face. “It, uh. It’s a long story.”

“You’ll be a hero for this, Chief.”

“No,” Hopper said sternly. “Don’t say that. Too many people died. Too many got hurt.” He looked at Perkins again. It didn’t look like anyone was giving him answers. “That girl at the school who got shot. You know her name?” 

“Uh, Carol Perkins.” Powell hooked his thumbs on his belt. “The kids that were with her are all up on the second floor, waiting for her to get out of surgery. I sent a car out to find her parents.”

“That’s her pop there,” Hopper said, gesturing at the desk with his chin. “I’ll tell him.”

And he did, though Perkins looked like he wanted to strangle him when he understood what had happened. He managed to hold himself back from shouting at Hopper in the crowded waiting room, but it was a close thing. Joyce took him away and led the way up to the second floor, with Will at her side. The doctors that had taken Eddie back also let Wayne through with him. Of their whole group, it was just Hopper and Steve still there.

Steve looked right through him, staring instead at the double doors that Eddie had been wheeled through. He clutched at his sides, and his face and hair were still filthy with dirt from the Upside Down. 

“Hey,” Hopper said, patting him on the arm and trying to get him to focus. “Will’s alive. Munson’s alive. You did it, kid.” 

He blinked a couple of times and focused on Hopper. “They’re alive,” he said. “Yeah.”

“You should go up to see the other kids. Or, hell, get someone to look you over. You look like you’re in shock.” 

“I’m fine,” he said automatically. “I’m not hurt.” 

He braced Steve in place with both arms, trying to get him to focus. “Yeah, but kid—”

“I’m not a kid,” Steve said, shrugging him off. “I don’t care what I look like, I’m not. I know what happens next, remember?”

“Okay, Harrington, but I heard from Powell. The lab took care of the... the thing in the woods. The wild animal.” He kept his voice low, glancing around at the people who might be in hearing range. “You’ve got to calm down. We rescued the ones that we could. It’s over.”

The kid got a hard glare in his eyes and lowered his voice to a whisper. “Don’t trust what the lab tells you,” he said. “It’s never over. It always comes back.” 

Hopper furrowed his brow. “Okay. Maybe you’re right. But you need to take a breath. It’s gone for now. That’s what matters.”

Steve pressed his fingers to his temples and shut his eyes. “Yeah. Yeah, okay, Hop. It’s gone for now. But Eddie’s still hurt. Carol got shot. I don’t know what else happened to everyone.”

“Then go upstairs and find the ones that are here,” Hopper said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’ll go make some phone calls and find out where everyone else is.”

Steve let out a long breath and wiped his hands over his face. “Fine,” he said. His face settled into a look like he’d made a decision. “Hopper. Don’t listen to what the lab tells you. I don’t know what they told you before, but they’re full of shit. They don’t have as much power here as they think they did.” He lowered his voice to a whisper and said, “The gate is still open.”

Hopper grimaced and nodded. He gave the boy another pat on the back and a gentle shove towards the elevators. Then, he headed outside to have a smoke. 

A black car pulled off while he was standing off to the side with his cigarette. He knew what it meant, and as much as Steve had warned him, he still had to pick his battles. He got into the car to talk to the people from the government about what happened next.

Taglist: @neonfruitbowl

[bettyhofstadtdraper]

Canadian WW1 drag performer Ross Hamilton as “Marjorie”

Ross Hamilton was born in Pugwash, Nova Scotia, in 1892. He enlisted in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in 1916 during the First World War. Ross first served as an ambulance driver before joining an all-male team of performing soldiers. Using a high falsetto singing voice, he played a female character on stage named Marjorie. The first outfits Ross put together were made from tent canvas, old curtains, pillow feathers and rosary beads. Hamilton became a member of the famous vaudeville-style acting troupe, the Dumbells. For the rest of the war, Ross performed in shows for the troops. He and Marjorie were so popular he had to change out of costume before going back to the barracks for fear of being mobbed by fans. As one soldier said, “When [Ross] marched into a mess in costume, every officer would stand to attention until he was seated. Then, in a truck driver’s voice, he’d call for a drink—and the illusion soon vanished!” Ross volunteered for service when the Second World War broke out in 1939. Once again, he found himself entertaining soldiers as part of a group called “Chin up.” This time, his female character was a middle-aged opera singer. However, military authorities discovered that Ross was gay and discharged him from the army. Unfairly, members of the 2SLGBTQI+ community were officially barred from military service during the war years for no reason other than their sexual and gender identities. Ross retired to a quiet life in a log cabin back in Nova Scotia to read, garden and help others in his home community. He died in 1965 at the age of 76 (source).

[thechanelmuse]

The first paramedics in America were Black American men.

Currently reading this book.

Here's some excerpts from a Times article on it:

Paramedics are lifelines in U.S communities, responding to all kinds of medical emergencies. And yet, the history of the emergency medical services (EMS) is little-known. In American Sirens: The Incredible Story of the Black Men Who Became America’s First Paramedics, author Kevin Hazzard, a former paramedic, spotlights the Black men in Pittsburgh who pioneered the profession and formed a model for emergency medical services that other cities copied. In 1966, the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) published a white paper that was a damning indictment of the nation’s emergency response system. Ambulances were, in some cases, hearses that were driven by undertakers from the funeral home that would later plan the patient’s funeral. In other situations, the sick and injured might be tended to by police officers or volunteer firefighters who were not trained to provide emergency care. Americans were more likely to survive a gunshot wound in the Vietnam War than on the homefront, according to the NAS report, because at least injured soldiers are accompanied by trained medics.  This lack of emergency care hit home for Peter Safar, an Austrian-born anesthesiologist at the University of Pittsburgh and a pioneer of CPR who helped to develop the modern hospital Intensive Care Unit (ICU). He lost his daughter in 1966 to an asthma attack because she didn’t get the right help between her house and the hospital. So he coped with the loss by designing the modern ambulance—including the equipment inside, plus its paint scheme. Perhaps most crucially, he also designed the world’s first comprehensive course to train paramedics. The first people to take the course in 1967 were a group of Black men who were in Freedom House, an organization that originally provided jobs delivering vegetables to needy Black Americans. At first the idea was to switch the delivery service from delivering food to driving people to medical appointments. But, within eight months, the drivers were trained to handle emergencies including heart attacks, seizures, childbirth, and choking. Their first calls took place during the uprising following the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. in 1968. Read More

Put respect on the history and Freedom House's Ambulance Service. FHAS was closed down in 1975. You know why. Pushed out the way, defunded, and unqualified.

My home library is 600+ books spanning genres and authors from different countries. When I tell you I've been on this reading/researching/purchasing binge for a while now, collecting all of the forgotten and little known (thorough) history books about my people. Ain't nobody about to ethnocide, continue to bury, latch onto, or try to peddle some revisionist history about Black Americans on my damn watch. Add historian to my name. It's looking like a Schomburg Center up in here. I need new shelves.

[eretzyisrael]

In June 2021, Nathan Thrall published a lengthy essay “A Day in the Life of Abed Salama” in The New York Review of Books. Writing for HonestReporting, Salo Aizenburg described it as “a virulent anti-Zionist manifesto that relies on numerous errors, omissions, misrepresentation and misquotes to paint a one-sided image of Israel as a uniquely evil entity that seeks nothing more than the removal and domination of another people.”

Thrall has now turned his essay into a full-length book, a review of which appears in the New York Times.

Thrall’s book takes a fatal Palestinian school bus accident in February 2012 as the thread to critique Israel. Both Thrall and reviewer Rozina Ali, however, turn fact into fiction by using the accident as a means to bash Israel and portray Israelis as indifferent to the tragic event.

Ali writes:

The road the bus had been going down had been paved so that settlers could travel to and from Jerusalem without having to go through Ramallah, creating “the illusion of a continuous Jewish presence from the city to the settlements.” After Israel built new bypass highways for settlers, most of the drivers who used the old road were Palestinian. These Palestinian motorists were stopped at checkpoints, which meant traffic piled up, which meant that, to escape the bottleneck of cars and trucks, drivers had a habit of overtaking slow-moving vehicles by veering into the opposing lane of traffic.

Over the years, Palestinians and some media have used the catch-all excuse of “occupation” to absolve Palestinians of responsibility for their own actions. This has even included Palestinian men beating their wives or abusing animals. So Ali’s charge that Palestinians drive dangerously because of Israel is sadly all too predictable.

In the most emotive part of the review, Ali says there is “one particular detail about the accident that continues to chill me”:

The bus is ‘crackling with flames.’ There are screams and shouting. The children burn inside. The crash happened a few minutes’ drive away from a settlement and seconds from a checkpoint. An Israeli ambulance could have bypassed the checkpoints and taken a direct route to the scene of the accident. But about half an hour in, Thrall writes, ‘not a single firefighter, police officer or soldier had come.’

Children are burning to death and Israeli rescue forces are nowhere to be seen, apparently. It appears that Ali and Thrall relied on the inciteful remarks of then-Palestinian health minister Fathi Abu Mughli, who accused Israeli rescue services of failing to provide timely assistance, resulting in more casualties — a charge contradicted by eyewitness reports at the scene.

Media coverage from the day also tells a very different story.

Israel Radio reported that it took rescue forces seven minutes to reach the accident scene.

And Haaretz reported:

More than 50 ambulances and several rescue helicopters were called to the scene of the accident, near the West Bank settlement of Adam. The injured passengers, including three very seriously injured children, were admitted to several hospitals in Israel and in Ramallah. Later, however, Israel’s Magen David Adom ambulance service and the Palestinian Red Crescent agreed that most of the Ramallah patients should also be admitted to Israeli hospitals.

Not only were Israeli rescue services on the scene within minutes but Israel also went out of its way to treat the wounded Palestinian children.

In addition, Israel’s political leadership offered support:

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was visiting Cyprus, offered the PA ”any aid requested.” President Shimon Peres telephoned Abbas to convey his condolences. Peres asked the Palestinian leader to tell the grieving families that his thoughts were with them in their time of anguish, and assured Abbas that Israel would provide the best possible medical care to those of the injured who had been taken to Israeli hospitals.

Ali concludes her damning review by calling “to examine the apartheid system that intentionally divides Israelis and Palestinians, as Thrall does so convincingly in this grim narrative.”

The BBC interviewed Israeli medical worker Shalom Galil:

Mr Galil said Israeli and Palestinian emergency services had worked closely together at the scene. “Palestinian firefighters were involved. As far as I could see, there was full co-operation between the firefighters of Judea and Samaria [West Bank] and the Palestinian firefighters.”

Israeli and Palestinian emergency services worked together; Israeli hospitals (where Arab doctors work with their Jewish colleagues) treated Palestinian children.

Rather than an example of an “apartheid system that intentionally divides Israelis and Palestinians,” this tragic event was evidence of the contrary. What’s more, it showed the essential humanity of Israelis when it comes to saving lives.

But that’s not a narrative that Nathan Thrall, Rozina Ali or The New York Times want readers to see.

[frogspawned]

this is such incredibly poor reasoning. biden is actively alienating his own party, you know, the thing he needs to have behind him to win, the people who want him to win this fucked up binary of bad options, to appeal to people who absolutely will not vote for him. who cares if they are stirred up! they don't like him anyways! they were never going to be swayed to the left, particularly in the current extremely polarized political climate in the united states. you're alienating your base for ZERO return. why are mainstream democrats always pulling this same tired routine? it has NEVER worked! you're just cutting away your own support, like some idiot sawing at his own rope while dangling over a cliff, because some of the other guy's might slip loose (spoiler they won't).

if trump wants to be the most pro-israel president in history, why are you competing with him for it? let him fucking die on that hill. your actual voters, your staff, the whole fucking world world are all BEGGING you to get off the hill.

"my opponent wants to wear the shit crown, but gosh, his followers -- who hate me viscerally and will never support me under any circumstances -- won't like it if i don't fight for the shit crown. oh well! guess i better wear it first!"

i'm already holding my fucking nose knowing i'm going to have to vote for this joke, because the alternative is the the same but worse! at least i can try to shame biden, and pressure him! we've moved the needle incrementally, and the momentum is building. too slow, but it is. the us abstained for the last UN vote for ceasefire. which is not enough, laughably paltry by any stretch, but at least it's creeping in the right direction. trump's going to continue to fund israel's war machine gleefully, with no hold's barred, if not ramp it up. he will actively enjoy any protest as red meat for his followers. because then he can whinge and posture and puff himself up. biden has an emotional attachment to the idea of israel? who gives a shit joe! maybe one should care more about the reality than the idea, and the reality is undeniable at this point. it's standing stark and naked before the world.

the reality is the united states has poured BILLIONS into a genocide machine who openly celebrates ethnic cleansing. idf soldiers put up selfies and funny tiktoks, and loot the homes of the palestinians they've slaughtered for the crime of existing on land they want. idf snipers target aid workers and doctors and children. they block food and medicine. they blow up trucks of flour. this is not speculation -- even if someone doesn't believe what their own eyes can see, every day, of the horrors pouring out of palestine, then take israel's word for it. they're proud of what their doing. they celebrate it. they snipe old women and beat old men to death, use children as bait for ambulance drivers, tear down homes and temples and mosques and centuries old olive groves then post it for their friends and family to see. they actively corroborate their own war crimes on tiktok.

but because it's easy, because the us has always done it, because it makes money for contractors and makes evangelicals giddy about the apocalypse, we'll just continue to pour anti tank rounds into their hands, missiles, drones, whatever tools they need to """mow the grass"""" in gaza. the military industrial complex has the us in an inescapable chokehold, in every facet of our lives, and god forbid we stop throwing lives and money and blood down the endless money hole. they might stop bombing people if we stop sending them bombs! and then how will israel sell that prime beach front property?

and in a decade we'll wring our hands and coo about what a tragedy it was, how sad, how inevitable, and throw up a fucking memorial in some park so we'll never forget.