I Write Pursued By A Bear

As many of y’all know, iOS tumblr has banned pretty much all trigger tags, and I use iOS. This means that my tagging system will need to change. Until this gets fixed, all spaces in trigger tags will become periods. For example: domestic.abuse.tw or guns.tw. I hope that still allows my stuff to show up on peoples dashes.

Darkness Day for @brutal-nemesis

This one has a prologue, but before I begin: CW: Antisemitism, terrorism (full triggers for the work are at the end of the prologue)

Last Saturday, the 15th of January, a synagogue in Texas was taken hostage by an armed Islamist. Very few non-Jewish sources covered the attack, and those that did often refused to acknowledge antisemitism's role in the situation. I could write a long essay about the situation, but that's not why I'm making this post. What I'm really mad about at this point is that no one acknowledges antisemitism in American society. It is an incredibly prevalent issue from all areas of the political spectrum: Neonazis are not the only people prone to violent antisemitism.

Why is this relevant to whump, you ask. Good question. Writing is a political tool. And I had no inspiration for this month's prompt, so I wrote a story about darkness and antisemitism. The story I am about to tell is not a depiction of events I know have occurred in real life. But they could happen. Most of the whump I write is realistic fiction, and this is no different. An attack on a synagogue is not some far-off myth. It is real. It happened last week. The hostages last week were lucky that they did not get hurt. They were lucky that the Rabbi had been trained for a situation just like that. It could have ended much differently, but it didn't. So I wasn't ready to have my characters get injured as a result of antisemitism. This story is mostly emotional whump, but it mirrors the real thoughts and feelings of Jews.

I recognize that I take a huge risk by posting this. I let the world know that I am Jewish and that I will not be quiet about it. I'm turning commenting off. All antisemitic reblogs will be blocked and reported. You do not have to read the story if you do not want to.

One final disclaimer: I do not condone any of the behaviors in this story. I am not endorsing anything in this story. I am not lying about real experiences; this is a work of fiction.

HEAVY Trigger Warnings: antisemitism, terrorism, guns, anti-jewish slurs, lockdowns

I've had this blog for just over a year, but I've never formally introduced myself. As the URL would imply, the name's Sydney. You can call me Sydney or S. The pronouns be she/her and they/them.

I have OCs. They are the Rainbow Sweater Squad. Don't ask about the name: I was going to write a back story for it and then didn't. Maybe I will someday. I'm going to try to pull together a new info post for them soon. There's a rough timeline for them, but no real sequential order. My stuff is mostly whumperless whump, such as illness, injury, emotional whump, and disasters.

I'll be honest, I'm not too reliable on posting. However, I try to hit @brutal-nemesis's Whump of The Month every month. I also like creation challenges.

I interact from @cakepursuedbyabear and post fanfic and other fan content on @fanbloggingpursuedbyabear.

Okay now I do the thing where I tag the cool whump blogs I like.

Okay, so I did miss last night. Oh well. I’ll make it up to y’all later. Anyway, I succeeded in writing some fluff, but mostly because I love Judaism. There’s a picture of my hanukkiah arranged like it is in the story at the bottom.

————

The hanukkiah glows against the dark night outside the window. 6 (okay, 7) candles drip wax onto a large sheet of tin foil. The sizzling coming from the kitchen slows as Maria turns off the stove. “The latkes are done,” she declares. She brings the large platter into the dining room and sets it on the blue tablecloth.

“Happy Hanukkah everyone,” Chaia says, reaching for a latke. “As a reminder, we are an applesauce-only household. If you need salt, you can speak to Maria.”

Everyone shifts their gaze to Maria, whose latke is almost white with salt. “Is it good like that?” Victor asks.

“Depends on what food it’s on. Latkes, yes. Pasta, yes. Lettuce, not so much. For my blood volume, definitely.”

Omar scans the room. “The candles are nice. Actually, it’s all really nice.”

“Oh, the Hanukkiah?” Chaia says. “Yeah. Maria really likes the sixth night because she likes to make the candles be a rainbow and having the shamash be white. We also cleaned a lot.”

“Wouldn’t it be better on the fifth night when there are six candles?” Juliet asks.

“Be quiet,” Maria shoots back.

Demetra takes a bite of her latke. “Maria, these are really good. Thank you for having us. This is wonderful.”

“Of course,” Chaia replies, “You are part of the crew now.”

“Ooh we need to get you sweaters,” Maria adds.

“What?” Omar asks.

“Long story,” Victor says, reaching for his third latke. “Anyone up for some dreidel?”

————

Okay so I tried to write fluff, and it kinda worked. Until the end. I'm also Jewish and know very little about Christmas trees. Anyway...

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“You sure you don’t want a big one?” Victor asks, holding the box to a miniature artificial Christmas tree.

“I only have like three ornaments,” Samson responds, “and we both work crazy jobs. This is less work.”

“You have a point,” Victor replies. He opens the box and slides the small tree out. He opens the base and places it on the side table he’d pulled into the corner that morning.

Samson walks up beside him with a black shoebox. He places the shoebox on the table and takes the lid off. Inside is Victor’s collection of ornaments. Samson pulls his three ornaments out of his jacket pocket and adds them to the box.

Victor picks up one of the ornaments that Samson has added, a penguin. “Penguins aren’t from the North Pole,” he remarks.

“But they are from South Africa. My mother turned this figurine into an ornament for her first Christmas here with my father,” Samson replies.

“That’s sweet,” Victor says as he hangs the penguin from one of the branches. “Your turn.”

Samson takes an ornament from the box. It’s a small 9-1-1 token. “You really love your job,” he says, hanging the ornament from a branch next to the penguin.

“Almost as much as I love you,” Victor replies. He leans into his boyfriend. Suddenly his body goes limp.

Trigger Warnings: Hospital Setting, Hypothermia

Kai and Justin rush their patient into the ED. Kai wipes the snow off his brow and takes his gloves off. He waves down Rory and Elissa. “Middle-aged John Doe. Found him unconscious at the corner of Wave and 25th. Hypothermic and low pulse.”

“Let’s take him here,” Rory says, drawing back the curtain on an empty bed. “Transfer in 3, 2, 1.” Rory, Kai, Justin, and Elissa lift the patient onto the bed. Rory turns to Elissa. “Hook him up.” Elissa nods and begins reaching under the warming blanket to attach ECG leads. Rory turns out to face the nurses' station. “Anna, I need three liters of fluid warmed, stat!”

“On it!” Anna replies. Moments later, Anna comes sprinting back holding three bags of fluid. She quickly attaches them to the IV catheter in the patient’s hand and hangs the bags above the bed. She reaches up and squeezes the bags. “Where are we at, Dr. Byrne?”

“79.2 and rising. Slowly. Very slowly.”

Anna directs her attention back to Elissa. “Liss, I got the bags. Go get heated blankets. Anything that gets warm. We need it here.”

Elissa rushes out to the supply closet but does a double-take when she hears an alarm go off. It’s her patient.

Okay, yes, this one is a bit late, but it is still the 26th of Kislev so it’s not too horribly behind. Anyway enjoy the fluff

————

Juliet grabs the bag of marshmallows from the cabinet above the microwave. “Normal, fruity, or winter shapes?” she asks Anna.

“They make winter shapes marshmallows? Since when?”

“At least since I went grocery shopping two days ago. You never answered my question.”

“Uh, winter shapes,” Anna replies. She walks into the kitchen and grabs one of the mugs from the island. She reaches for the bag of marshmallows that Juliet has just put down and tears it open. She drops a couple snowflakes into her cocoa and walks over to the sofa.

Juliet follows her and curls up in a blue blanket. “Which one do you want to watch?” she asks, picking up the remote.

“There’s a new season of Discovery,” Anna suggests. She takes a sip of her cocoa. “That’s good cocoa. New recipe?”

Trigger Warning: Needles, Hospital Setting

“Three, two, one.” Maven slides the needle into Myra’s arm.

“No, no, no!” Myra calls out.

“It’s a little late for that,” Maven replies as she tapes the catheter against Myra’s skin. “You ready to head upstairs?”

Myra shakes her head. “No,” she replies weakly. “Do we have to do this?”

Maven unbrakes Myra’s wheelchair and starts pushing it toward the elevators at the end of the hallway. “Dr. Buhle will take great care of you,” she says.

“Where are we going?”

“To see a friend.”

————————

“Dr. Howell, this is Myra Handler. She’s Dr. Byrne’s patient — the one with the abnormal imaging.”

Dr. Howell extends her arm to give Myra a firm handshake. “Hi, Myra, I’m Dr. Howell. I work with Dr. Byrne. I understand that he referred you for a diagnostic procedure. Is that right?”

Myra nods. “Do I have to?” she asks.

“Legally speaking, I cannot make you,” Dr. Howell replies, “but this procedure is the best shot at figuring out where your pain is coming from and making sure that it is nothing life-threatening. I highly recommend that you have it done. Why are you hesitant?”

“I’m scared,” Myra admits.

I am doing @amonthofwhump's Twelve Days of Whumpmas... with a twist. I am Jewish and do not celebrate Christmas, but Hanukkah this year falls around the same time as the Twelve Days of Whumpmas. Thus, I will be posting stories for each of the 8 nights of Hanukkah, starting with tonight. All the nights in December correspond with the event day, and the three in November have prompts from the rest of the event. Oh, and y'all are in for a special treat because there are three whole fluff stories for this event.

Note: Hanukkah is in no way the Jewish Christmas. I'd be more than happy to elaborate on that, but not on this post.

Night 1 -- November 28: Countdown

Night 2 -- November 29: Hot Cocoa

Night 3 -- November 30: Left in the Cold

Night 4 -- December 1: Putting up a Tree

Night 5 -- December 2: Human Shield

Night 6 -- December 3: Candlelight

Night 7 -- December 4: Flashback

It's whump of the month's one-year anniversary! Woo!

This is, of course, for @brutal-nemesis's Neck Day 2021.

Word Count: 579

Trigger Warnings -- Also Tagged: blood & hospitals

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Victor presses his hands into his sister’s bleeding neck. “How much longer?” he asks the paramedic.

“We’re there,” the medic responds. The ambulance’s lights and sirens die down. The paramedic jumps out the front and opens the back two doors.

How this works: the first line is the day and title and the second lists the featured RSS characters.

Day 1: "You have to let go" Demetra, Andrea

Day 2: Choking Kai, Chaia, Maria, Juliet

Day 3: "Who did this to you?" Kai, Juliet

Day 4: "Do you trust me?" Demetra

Day 5: Broken Nose Anna, Juliet, Rory

Day 6: Bruises Victor

Day 7: Numbness Rory

Day 8: Pneumothorax Rory, Kai, Andrea

Day 9: Presumed Dead / Tears Victor, Maria

Day 10: Flare-up Maria, Chaia

Day 11: Drowning / Dehydration Anna

Day 12: Made to Watch Demetra, Omar, Anna, Andrea

Day 13: "This is gonna suck" / Cauterization Rory

Day 14: Crush Injuries Victor

Day 15: Delirium / Fever Dreams Anna, Juliet

Day 16: Recovery / Scars Anna, Juliet

Day 17: "Please don't move" Andrea, Chaia

Day 18: CPR Rory, Andrea

Day 19: Bleeding Victor

Day 20: Head Injury Demetra, Omar

Day 21: Bleeding Through the Bandages Kai, Demetra

Day 22: Screaming Anna, Rory, Andrea

Day 23: Comfort Chaia, Maria

Day 24: Flashback Demetra, Omar

Day 25: Hiding Kai, Victor

Day 26: Fallen / Waterfall Kai, Victor

Day 27: Passing Out Chaia, Maria

Day 28: "Good. You're finally awake" Chaia, Maria

Day 29: Overworked Omar

Day 30: Left for Dead Andrea

Day 31: Disaster Zone Demetra, Omar, Chaia, Maria, Juliet, Anna, Kai, Victor

“You don’t normally get earthquakes here, right?” Demetra asks.

“Not normally, why?” Chaia asks.

“Your table is vibrating,” Demetra calmly responds. The table’s hum suddenly turns to a jostle. “Everyone get under the table,” she commands. “This may not be an earthquake, but we are going to act like it is one.”

-----------

Samson is the first one to crawl out from under the table when the shaking stops. He surveys the damage. In Juliet and Anna’s apartment, only some glass shattered and a couple pieces of furniture moved. “Demetra, you were right to get under the table. Others might not have been so lucky.” Samson briefly pauses to think. “Maria, do you have a blood pressure cuff and pulse oximeter on you?”

“Yeah,” she responds, “Chaia always puts one in my bag now.”

“You can never be too prepared,” Chaia says.

“Great. You two go knock on doors and see if anyone needs help. Juliet and Victor, start triaging people. For now, just go with first aid vs see a medical professional.”

“Got it, babe.” Victor glances up at Samson as he is dragged out from under the table by Juliet.

“Okay,” Samson continues. “Anna and Kai, you are with me treating people who need medical attention. Grab the stuff from Maria’s bag to help.”

“I have a med kit in my room,” Anna offers.

“Great. Go get it.” Samson crouches down to once again be level with the underside of the table. He locks eyes with Omar. “Demetra, can I see your hand?”

Demetra is curled up in a ball on Omar’s chest. Her right hand is red with blood.

“I know you cut it on a fallen plate,” Samson continues. He grabs a napkin off the table. “I don’t think it’s a big deal. Just a couple of stitches at the hospital. I want to make sure that it’s nothing more, and then I’ll put some pressure on it.” He lightly grasps Demetra’s hand and pulls it towards his chest. He quickly scans her palm, confirming that it was only a minor laceration. He ties the napkin around her hand.

“I’m alive?” Ryan asks as he stirs awake.

“You are,” Dr. Howell responds. “You are in the hospital. I am Dr. Howell. Paramedics found you under a tree all banged up. Some good samaritan called it in. They brought you here, and you’re safe now, but I have a decision for you to make. You don’t have to make it now, but--”

Ryan interrupts Dr. Howell with cries of pain. “Please help me,” he begs. “What they did to me. It’s still there. In my leg. It hurts.” He lurches forward.