#no way to prevent this says only country where it regularly happens

[brasskingfisher]

So, America has just seen it’s 128th mass shooting this year (averaging 1.48 per day) and the 89th instance of gun violence at a school, yet apparently the biggest threat to kids and what needs to be banned are those dangerous queer-o-sexuals and transes.....

[wilwheaton]

WINDER, GA—In the hours following a violent rampage in Georgia in which a lone attacker killed at least four individuals and injured nine others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. “This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,” said New Mexico resident Edward Turner, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations. “It’s a shame, but what can we do? There really wasn’t anything that was going to keep this individual from snapping and killing a lot of people if that’s what they really wanted.” At press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past eight years were referring to themselves and their situation as “helpless.”

‘No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens - The Onion

[printedword]

[rhyslucia]

Copied from a user on reddit:

Fifteen thousand five hundred forty-three.

Here it comes yet again: "No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Happens Regularly"

Are we not tired of this? I sure as fuck am.

"The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face."

We live now in a country in which our children are randomly put to death in public, so that our congressmen can pose with weapons of war, by Right Wing Terrorists. We live in a country where the amount of stickers in the back of our lifted trucks equates to how many rounds of AR ammunition are stockpiled in our closet.

We live now in a country where we ban books, where we ban drag shows, where we ban doctors from helping kids in crisis, where we ban women from making choices with their bodies. We ban people from voting because some don’t like how they might vote, we ban representatives from state legislators for how they have voted, we ban immigrants, we ban some stem cells, and we ban transgender athletes, we even ban water bottles on planes.

BUT WE DO NOT BAN ASSAULT RIFLES (or assault-like or lite rifles or especially Semi automatic ones as some ammosexuals like to point out) DO WE?

Our children are randomly put to DEATH in public. Our Teachers, our friends. Our Family. Some of them just want to go and enjoy an afternoon at a mall together. Never to return. To protect somebody's right to randomly put another innocent person to death, once a month, once a week, once a day, once AN HOUR.

Well since my last update, a 14-year-old was shot in the head. What did this child do? She was playing hide and seek.

When it becomes unmistakably obvious with each death, a little piece of us dies inside, and within 10 years, or 1 year, or 1 month. The pain of that is too large to process, so we simply pretend that it doesn’t hurt anymore. We simply pretend that it doesn't hurt to think of the horror and the terror of those children and those adults in their final moments. We simply stop dealing with it. Or fighting back against it. Or recognizing that the gore and brains on the sidewalks outside the malls of this country and our streets might as well be our own.

And it turns out the good guys with guns can’t stop it. And the responsible gun owners can’t stop it, and the politicians won’t stop it and insist that thoughts and prayers are working and if you disagree with them you are one of those who doesn’t believe in an almighty god who is absolutely in control of our lives?

That translates insanely as the solution to all of these nightmares. God and we want the Fifteen thousand five hundred forty-three people shot to death in this country already this year? Did God want them dead?

I say bullshit.

Now we have news conferences, and without emotion, it’s read off the number put to death this TIME, and the number transported to the hospital and how badly they feel. Do you realize they now treat the public execution of more people, as if it was…BAD WEATHER?

Gun massacres are not bad weather.

So we ban licenses to carry handguns in Texas, give the ability for open carry all over the United States, and Ban mental health care by cutting the budgets. Ban abortion because we are pro-life, and ban books because the children are too precious to be indoctrinated, and ban drag shows because we must protect kids from grooming and we must make sure those kids are happy and fit so SOMEBODY CAN GET A WEAPON OF WAR AND EVERY OTHER DAY PUT GROUPS OF OUR CHILDREN TO DEATH.

But at least those kids were not taught something as terrible as CRT.

80 percent believe in banning assault weapons. 80 PERCENT. 81 percent believe in raising the age to buy guns or at least keeping the age at 21. 81 percent believe in enforcing existing gun laws, and 87 percent want background checks for all gun purchases and these numbers are from 2 WEEKS AGO in a poll done by FOX NEWS.

And yet non of this can pass our elected officials? BULLSHIT.

It is time for a change. Spread how you feel far and wide. Copy this, put in your story (how many of us now have been personally affected or know someone at this point), and let your representatives and the whole goddamn Country know, the whole damn planet!

NO MORE!

So now to boost the signal on some actual honest to god things that could be done about this never-ending nightmare?

For starters, the next generation is tired of this shit and is planning a sit-in at the capital on June 6th. Here is a relevant link:

https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1655293349245452289

And also this goes without saying this group has some amazing ideas:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/

This website is dedicated to having the media stop reporting the perpetrator's names to prevent glorifying mass murderers

https://nonotoriety.com

The Gun Violence Archive is also a really useful source on shootings. Their statistics are highly accurate and they have an up-to-date list of all that occurred in the last 72 hours

https://gunviolencearchive.org

@Emilyinyourphone on Instagram shares scripts and other resources for calling your local representative, it even has a campaign right now for mothers to get their loved ones to call instead of flowers for Mother’s Day.

Copy this post or take their info but please. Take a minute and boost the signal.

Some stats to back up this rant because Credible Hulk always comes angry and with sources.

Guns deaths by state

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state

and just because it’s becoming increasingly relevant by the day

Texas Mass Shootings Up 62.5 Percent Since Permitless Carry Bill

https://www.reformaustin.org/public-safety/texas-mass-shootings-up-62-5-percent-since-permitless-carry-bill/

This WaPo article on the damage that an AR-15 does to a body is sobering but important reading.

THE BLAST EFFECT | This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart

https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/interactive/2023/ar-15-damage-to-human-body/

And finally, Check out

https://www.everytown.org/

They’re pushing to end gun violence. The more people who make their voices heard the bigger difference we can make.

[jaycafe]

Well, there's also "'No way to prevent this', says only country where this happens regularly", but that's less funny and more bleak

[kristablogs]

No Way To Prevent This Says Only Nation Where This Regularly Happens

PHILADELPHIA—In the hours following a violent rampage in Pennsylvania in which a lone attacker killed at least five individuals and injured several others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre…

Read more...

[pennzance]

Bit of a different post from me today. This is a long comment from Reddit about the recent gun violence in Texas (case not specified, too many to count and rising), and it has some good information in it along with some commentary I happen to agree with.

Reddit user Col_Irving_Lambert writes:

"Here it comes yet again: "No Way To Prevent This,’ Says Only Nation Where This Happens Regularly"

Are we not tired of this? I sure as fuck am.

Now that I have your attention probably after seeing this post for hopefully multiple times I’d like to get something off my chest and personal soapbox today. Buckle up,

"The first girl I walked up to was crouched down covering her head in the bushes, so I felt for a pulse, pulled her head to the side and she had no face."

We live now in a country in which our children are randomly put to death in public, so that our congressmen can pose with weapons of war, by Right Wing Terrorists. We live in a country where the amount of stickers in the back of our lifted trucks equates to how many rounds of AR ammunition are stockpiled in our closet.

We live now in a country where we ban books, where we ban drag shows, where we ban doctors from helping kids in crisis, where we ban women from making choices with their bodies. We ban people from voting because some don’t like how they might vote, we ban representatives from state legislators for how they have voted, we ban immigrants, we ban some stem cells, and we ban transgender athletes, we even ban water bottles on planes.

BUT WE DO NOT BAN ASSAULT RIFLES (or assault-like or lite rifles or especially Semi automatic ones as some ammosexuals like to point out) DO WE?

Our children are randomly put to DEATH in public. Our Teachers, our friends. Our Family. Some of them just want to go and enjoy an afternoon at a mall together. Never to return. To protect somebody's right to randomly put another innocent person to death, once a month, once a week, once a day, once AN HOUR.

Well since my last update, a 14-year-old was shot in the head. What did this child do? She was playing hide and seek.

When it becomes unmistakably obvious with each death, a little piece of us dies inside, and within 10 years, or 1 year, or 1 month. The pain of that is too large to process, so we simply pretend that it doesn’t hurt anymore. We simply pretend that it doesn't hurt to think of the horror and the terror of those children and those adults in their final moments. We simply stop dealing with it. Or fighting back against it. Or recognizing that the gore and brains on the sidewalks outside the malls of this country and our streets might as well be our own.

And it turns out the good guys with guns can’t stop it. And the responsible gun owners can’t stop it, and the politicians won’t stop it and insist that thoughts and prayers are working and if you disagree with them you are one of those who doesn’t believe in an almighty god who is absolutely in control of our lives?

That translates insanely as the solution to all of these nightmares. God and we want the thirteen thousand nine hundred people shot to death in this country already this year? Did God want them dead?

I say bullshit.

Now we have news conferences, and without emotion, it’s read off the number put to death this TIME, and the number transported to the hospital and how badly they feel. Do you realize they now treat the public execution of more people, as if it was…BAD WEATHER?

Gun massacres are not bad weather.

So we ban licenses to carry handguns in Texas, give the ability for open carry all over the United States, and Ban mental health care by cutting the budgets. Ban abortion because we are pro-life, and ban books because the children are too precious to be indoctrinated, and ban drag shows because we must protect kids from grooming and we must make sure those kids are happy and fit so SOMEBODY CAN GET A WEAPON OF WAR AND EVERY OTHER DAY PUT GROUPS OF OUR CHILDREN TO DEATH.

But at least those kids were not taught something as terrible as CRT.

80 percent believe in banning assault weapons. 80 PERCENT. 81 percent believe in raising the age to buy guns or at least keeping the age at 21. 81 percent believe in enforcing existing gun laws, and 87 percent want background checks for all gun purchases and these numbers are from 2 WEEKS AGO in a poll done by FOX NEWS.

And yet non of this can pass our elected officials? BULLSHIT.

It is time for a change. Spread how you feel far and wide. Copy this, put in your story (how many of us now have been personally affected or know someone at this point), and let your representatives and the whole goddamn Country know, the whole damn planet!

NO MORE!

So now to boost the signal on some actual honest to god things that could be done about this never-ending nightmare?

For starters, the next generation is tired of this shit and is planning a sit-in at the capital on June 6th. Here is a relevant link:

https://twitter.com/joncoopertweets/status/1655293349245452289

And also this goes without saying this group has some amazing ideas:

https://www.sandyhookpromise.org/

This website is dedicated to having the media stop reporting the perpetrator's names to prevent glorifying mass murderers

https://nonotoriety.com

The Gun Violence Archive is also a really useful source on shootings. Their statistics are highly accurate and they have an up-to-date list of all that occurred in the last 72 hours

https://gunviolencearchive.org

@Emilyinyourphone on Instagram shares scripts and other resources for calling your local representative, it even has a campaign right now for mothers to get their loved ones to call instead of flowers for Mother’s Day.

Copy this post or take their info but please. Take a minute and boost the signal.

Some stats to back up this rant because Credible Hulk always comes angry and with sources.

Guns deaths by state

https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/gun-deaths-per-capita-by-state

and just because it’s becoming increasingly relevant by the day

Texas Mass Shootings Up 62.5 Percent Since Permitless Carry Bill

This WaPo article on the damage that an AR-15 does to a body is sobering but important reading.

THE BLAST EFFECT | This is how bullets from an AR-15 blow the body apart

And finally, Check out

https://www.everytown.org/

They’re pushing to end gun violence. The more people who make their voices heard the bigger difference we can make."

If you can, please re-blog and boost the signal. This shit is getting out of hand and has been for WAY too long. Zance out.

[whokenobi]

another day another fucking school shooting with three families not putting their fucking 9 YEAR OLDS to bed tonight, another 3 not saying goodnight to their family member, and countless emotional victims we can’t even know. this country is fucking distopian. I saw an Onion article headline on twitter today that said “‘No way to prevent this.' Says only nation where this regularly happens.” and that fucking says it all. so frustrated, so sad, so fucking angry and just ready to burn it all down. i don’t even have kids of my own yet, but i know so many kids & so many families, they’re friends of mine and i’m so scared I can’t even imagine how terrified they are. this needs to fucking stop. thanks for letting me rant.

This comes a year after the Tenn Gov refused to back gun control legislation, who is surprised. It’s certainly not me. 3 more babies who won’t go home to their families tonight, 3 more educators who gave up their lives to protect those kids. It’s truly just so fucking awful.

[futuretrain]

"no way to prevent this" says the only country where this regularly happens, etc. etc.

Imagine inviting someone to your home as a guest and you're settling in and they say "wow, your squirrels are so quiet!" and you have to pause and ask them what the fuck they mean. The squirrels in the walls. How do you keep them so quiet and out of the way? Still not quite comprehending what you're hearing, you ask them to repeat that. Why would they think you've got squirrels in your walls.

And your guest frowns in equal confusion, incredulous that you don't have squirrels in the walls. LIke, at all? Then something clicks together in their mind and they go "oh, you do the same thing as [mutual friend] does? Patching up the wall thing? So it actually works?" and it takes you a minute to process that they don't seem to actually believe that not having holes big enough for a squirrel to get in through actually leads to not having squirrels in your house.

You verify that yes. Everyone else has fixed the squirrel problem by patching the walls. Everyone else but they actually patches the walls, and nobody else but they keeps having the squirrel problem. They're the only one who does that instead of patching the wall. Your guest is insulted by your tone, insisting that it can't be that simple and that it's completely unrealistic to always keep your walls patched or to never have a squirrel in your house ever. Everyone has a squirrel in the house sometimes. You won't win this argument.

And that's what it's like to talk with americans on the internet.

[brasskingfisher]

More arty chaos!

Felt I should share my daily chaos sketch from today since its vaguely topical. I really wish there was more I personally could do to help, but the best I can do is offer hugs and support to the people affected by what's happened.

[theriverdalereviewer]

school shootings were always my biggest fear as a student and now I still fear them as a teacher

[alycosworld]

Tainted

Scaramouche X Reader

WARNING: mentions of (nearly) sexual assault

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

A/N: I seem to have more angst/comfort ideas for genshin but I'm not sure why...also, I'm on holiday in a foreign country! I have no work and I'll probably spend all my nights on Tumblr after exploring the city in the day, so please please please send in some requests! I'm bored and although they might take some time, they might help me get back into writing more regularly. I'm pretty sure this is gender neutral but if I made a mistake, feel free to tell me. This has NOT been checked for any errors (I'll get around to it at some point).

I'm not sure if Scaramouche is ooc, since he doesn't say anything that nice in the game or in any official works, but I definitely think he has the capacity for it. And I like soft Scar <3.

If at any point you feel uncomfortable, PLEASE DO NOT READ ON. I felt a little icky after writing the assault bit so do not force yourself to read any further or read at all. I do not want to make anyone reading this unhappy. Any victims of sexual assault or harassment, I hope you heal

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Keep walking. Just keep walking. Get home as fast as possible.

Avoid dark spots, avoid all people, avoid secluded areas. Just get home now.

That's what you told yourself after it happened. Archons, you didn't even know how you should feel. Ashamed? Angry? Disgusted? Upset? Confused? Afraid? The amalgamation of these emotions just made everything worse. You felt sick to your stomach. You wanted to cry and scream and vomit and disappear all at the same time.

You felt like you were covered in grime and you don't even know how you managed to get away. You should've done something, anything! But in the moment, you couldn't.

Your day had started normally. You went to the Adventurer's Guild in Inazuma, doing your commissions and taking up a few extra quests to help people out. Even though you were walking home later than normal, you didn't think much of it. Until somehow, you lost your way. In the dark, things became a little more vague and confusing, so you ended up taking a left and ending up in a dark alleyway between two dimly lit buildings.

You walked through, lost in your own thoughts, until you heard some chuckling and some incoherent remarks made by someone exiting one of the buildings out a back door and into the alleyway.

Glancing up, you saw that the person was a man - quite tall and well built with flushed cheeks: he was clearly not sober. You paid him no mind, staring at the ground as you continue to walk, determined to get home to see your boyfriend, Scaramouche. Though he wasn't one to worry, knowing that you could handle yourself, you did want to see him as soon as possible.

"Well, what do we have here?" The man asked, and you looked up at him again, tilting your head in confusion but staying silent.

"What's a pretty thing like you doing out here all alone?" He asked, a suspicious smirk on his face.

"I'm going home." You said firmly, not wanting to give him any ideas.

"Oh? A handsome young thing like you, going home all by themselves? Let me walk you, I promise I don't bite." He continued, clearly not getting the hint.

"I'm alright, but thank you for the off--"

"Stop being such a fucking tease! Wearing an outfit like that, you're begging for it." He pinned you against the wall despite your attempt to politely refuse any moves he tried to make. He caught your arms above your head and harshly shoved one of his legs between yours.

"Don't like to me, hon, you know you want this." He whispered huskily. You had fought countless hilichurls, abyss mages and monsters far more intimidating and dangerous than that man that day, but you couldn't seem to move. All you could manage was a fearful 'please, don't do this'. Struggling was futile, for some reason you couldn't escape his grasp. You had fought beasts ten times this man's size but violating you like this? It made you break.

He gripped you harshly and even managed to kiss your neck a couple times, making the tears stream down your face uncontrollably, until he heard some voices. You recognised them immediately: members of the Adventurer's Guild. He must be known it too because he stopped as soon as he heard, offering you a sickening grin and scuttling away before you could react.

"We'll finish this some other time, sweetheart. I promise."

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

You didn't get any help from the Adventurer's Guild members who you heard, instead opting to rush home as soon as possible, trying to figure out what to do next.

The only solution in your mind was to crawl into your lover's arms and tell him what had happened. You didn't want anyone else to know - you know you could trust Scaramouche and you knew he would help you.

But he didn't.

You got home and wiped your tears before entering the house, hoping to look somewhat presentable despite having experienced such an impactful event. You dropped your belongings carelessly, not flinging at the loud sound they made as they hit the floor. You immediately made your way to the guest room Scaramouche had turned into an office of sorts, for him to work on Fatui business. The bedroom door was open and empty and he was nowhere to be found on the first floor, so that was the only other place he could've been. You were relieved to see him sitting at the desk, deep in thought with some maps and other sheets of paper laid out in front of him.

"Scar, I--"

"Not now, (Y/N), I'm busy." He said hot even bothering to look up at your frazzled and shattered state.

"I know but, please, Scar. While I was--"

"If you know that I'm busy, why enter in the first place? I'm working. Leave me alone." He said harshly. You didn't say anything, instead opting to nod silently and close the door. Since this was the first time you had experienced this pain and discomfort from being touched and defiled in such a way, you decided that maybe you should put it aside. After all, maybe it was something so jarring. Maybe it didn't matter. Maybe Scaramouche's nonchalance was justified. In a twisted way, you blamed yourself for overreacting and decided to just forget about the incident. If it didn't mean enough for Scaramouche to even look at you, it clearly wasn't something worth fretting over. You were just exaggerating, right?

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

You tried you absolute hardest not to let the incident bother you, but you unknowingly started changing your habits to prevent what had occurred from happening to you again.

"Wearing an outfit like that, you're begging for it..."

You started wearing less revealing clothing, going as far as wearing gloves at some point and covering your neck with collars and scarves through the hot weather.

"We'll finish this some other time, sweetheart. I promise."

Initially, you just avoided dark or secluded places, even when you were with other people, but eventually, you were too scared to leave home at all. You didn't leave the confines of your small garden and if someone passed by, you would quickly hide yourself away. When Scaramouche had unknown guests and colleagues over, you would hide in your bedroom and make him promise not to mention you or acknowledge your existence in the slightest.

You even started taking longer showers and refused to bathe with Scaramouche, confusing him since you used to enjoy it so much. But you wouldn't let him see you in such a vulnerable state now that you were contaminated. You didn't want him to know that you had been tarnished in such a vulgar way, and you spent long moments scrubbing at the parts the stranger had touched. You were worried that Scaramouche would blame you for being assaulted - because in a sick way you thought it was your fault, despite having been nothing wrong. You had twisted the story in your mind to make it seem like you were responsible for the crime committed against you.

Eventually, Childe had to visit for business purposes, but you had become good friends with the eleventh Fatui Harbinger since he was friends with-- well, he and Scaramouche had a relationship, to say the least.

"So where's (Y/N)? Normally they're all over you and making you as embarrassed at possible." Childs grinned, and Scaramouche just frowned and narrowed his eyes.

"They're in our room. They don't really want to see anyone right now." Scaramouche said. Even though you told him not to mention you anymore, since you were so hellbent on avoiding all human interaction, he thought it would be okay to tell Childe. He was your friend too, after all.

"Is something wrong? What happened?" Childe asked, concern in his eyes.

"I don't know. They've been avoiding everyone, including me. They barely talk to me and insist on sleeping downstairs." Scaramouche confessed.

"Let me talk to them."

┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈❀┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈┈

Childe exited your room after hearing what to had to say, and he was disturbed and sympathetic, at the very least. Scaramouche saw his wide-eyed, grim expression when he exited the room and immediately had questions.

"What?" Scaramouche asked.

"I'll come back tomorrow to continue our work." Childs said, referring to the business he originally came for.

"But we have to--"

"Scar?" Scaramouche stopped all his trains of thought and turned to the sound of your voice. It was hoarse but still as beautiful as ever. He knew you had been crying from your puffy eyes and tear-stained cheeks.

"I think you have other matters to take care of." Childe winked, before giving Scaramouche an informal two-fingered salute and showing himself out.

As soon as the door closed, Scaramouche turned his attention to you, not coming too close in case you didn't want to be near him.

"Yes, Love?" He asked, more concerned than you had ever seen him.

"Can I talk to you? If you're busy, that's okay, it's not that impor--"

"I'm not busy." He shook his head, and you offered him a sad and grateful smile before sitting on the edge of the bed while he took a seat on a nearby chair.

"So, uhm, a couple of days ago I was walking home and I kind of got lost...so I tried taking this alleyway and--" You stopped yourself, meeting Scaramouche's attentive gaze before continuing.

"There was a guy. And he-- he t-touched me. I-- I didn't know what to do. I could've easily fought back but I just got scared and froze up because that's never happened to me before and he kept saying that I wanted him-- but I didn't! I swear, I didn't. I know it sounds bad since I didn't stop him but I really tried, I just couldn't. And he started k-kissing me...here," You gestured to the spots on your neck that you could still feel being violated.

"And I felt so horrible and he didn't go any further because some people were coming, so I ran home. I-I...I didn't know what to do but I felt like I should tell you because I thought you would help me, but you said you were busy so I just-- It-tried to brush it off but I just couldn't get it out of my head! And before I got away, he told me that he'd come back and finish me off and so I didn't want to go outside anymore in case I ran into him. And I started to cover up since he said I was asking for it because of what I was wearing and then I just got scared and I felt dirty. I tried so hard to forget and clean myself but it kept coming back-- I can still feel him on me! I hated it, I still hated it! You have to believe me, I wasn't trying to get him to notice me, I just..." You broke down after finishing what you had to say. You had already been crying since you told Childe, but now you were choking out sobs and your face was drenched. Scaramouche stood up from his chair and sat next to you on the bed, a safe distance away just in case you still weren't comfortable with being touched.

"I believe you. I know you're not like that." Scarsmocuhe started calmly. In all honesty, he wanted to interrupt you as soon as you said that this man approached you. His blood was boiling and he was ready to murder this man for you but kept himself in check because you didn't need senseless violence or revenge right now, you needed comfort. What hurt him the most was that you were blaming yourself because he didn't bother listening to what you had to say on what was probably the worst day of your life.

"It's not your fault you were touched like that. You are not to blame, at all. I-- I should've listened to you when you came to me - as soon as I turned you say I thought something was wrong but I didn't bother asking about it. That's entirely my fault." He admitted, which surprised you. It took Scaramouche a lot to admit his mistakes, but for you? He didn't care. You constantly put up with his sour attitude, he can definitely listen to you and admit he was wrong.

"You sure? Because I still--"

"I'm sure." He said simply.

"But why did you start avoiding me?" He asked, wanting to understand the situation entirely.

"Well, because..." You started, unsure if he would get angry if you told him. While you were contemplating, he offered you an encouraging expression. It wasn't a smile, but it was more than enough to put you at ease.

"I didn't want you to think I was tainted. Of course, you wouldn't want to be near me after that had happened." You sighed, wiping up the last of your tears.

"You really are an idiot, you know?" He said, but after seeing the clueless and almost hurt look on your face, he immediately wanted to take it back. He didn't mean to be insensitive, he just...well, he often explained positive emotions with his very wide negative vocabulary.

"No, I didn't-- uhm..." He mentally cursed himself for not knowing what to say, but you didn't interrupt him and made a small gesture for him to keep going.

"What I mean to say was, I don't think that you're tainted or anything like that. And I still...want to be...near you-- eugh!" He pretended to be grossed out at his own words in true Scaramouche fashion, but he knew you knew he didn't really mean it and was beyond delighted when he saw you giggle at his facial expression.

He sighed and acted angry as he opened his arms ever so slightly. You noticed the movement and quirked an eyebrow when he hesitated.

"Is it okay if I come closer?" Scaramouche asked, unsure if you wanted to be touched after the incident.

Your heart swelled at his care and then you slowly watched as he stiffly wrapped his arms around you comfortingly. Although you had hugged and cuddled on countless occasions, he still wouldn't stop being so robotic unless you did something. It made you laugh and he pulled away slightly to glare at you, so you decided to just pull him back in and hug back.

And when you relished in the touch of another human being, the touch of the person you love, you began to cry. The last time anyone willingly touched you was in that alleyway, and so to have someone be so gentle with you and have no bad intentions, you were overwhelmed with emotion.

Scaramouche must've felt your tears staining his clothing and skin, and quickly pulled away with poorly hidden concern in his eyes.

"Are you okay?" He asked, but you just continued to sob and nod.

"I love you!" You choked out. He sighed and gently patted your back.

"I...love you too." He said, before making another expression of mock disgust. He slowly moved to hold both your wrists in his hand and kiss down to your neck, pulling you into his lap with your legs straddling one of his.

You soon realised that he was covering up the placed the stranger had touched you with his own ministrations, effectively replacing the grime you felt you gained after the incident. After you came to that conclusion and Scaramouche was done, he didn't meet your eye, blushing profusely. It was justified since he didn't usually initiate any kind of affection acts, but you just cupped his jaw and kissed his cheek, smiiling at him with purity and a newfound confidence in the both of you.

"Thank you, Scar."

[nameless-sdk]

BUFFALO, NY—In the hours following a violent rampage in upstate New York in which a lone attacker killed 10 individuals and injured three others, citizens living in the only country where this kind of mass killing routinely occurs reportedly concluded Wednesday that there was no way to prevent the massacre from taking place. “This was a terrible tragedy, but sometimes these things just happen and there’s nothing anyone can do to stop them,” said New York resident Anthony Grady, echoing sentiments expressed by tens of millions of individuals who reside in a nation where over half of the world’s deadliest mass shootings have occurred in the past 50 years and whose citizens are 20 times more likely to die of gun violence than those of other developed nations. “It’s a shame, but what can we do? There really wasn’t anything that was going to keep this individual from snapping and killing a lot of people if that’s what they really wanted.” At press time, residents of the only economically advanced nation in the world where roughly two mass shootings have occurred every month for the past eight years were referring to themselves and their situation as “helpless.”

[comrade-meow]

Why a hand gesture has South Korean companies on edge 👌

It took three years for players to notice the "offensive" hand gesture lurking in one of South Korea's most popular multiplayer games.

When players made their avatars laugh, talk or give the "OK" sign in "Lost Ark," they clicked an icon featuring a gesture that might have appeared benign to many: an index finger nearly touching a thumb.

But some of "Lost Ark's" users began claiming in August that the gesture was a sexist insult against men, and they demanded its removal.

What happened next underscores a trend in South Korea among anti-feminists, who have been increasingly pushing companies to repent for what they see as a conspiracy within the government and private companies to promote a feminist agenda.

Smilegate — the creator of "Lost Ark" and one of South Korea's biggest video game developers — quickly complied with the requests for removal. The company removed the icon from the game, and vowed to be more vigilant about policing "game-unrelated controversies" in their products.

A gender war has been unfolding in South Korea for years, pitting feminists against angry young men who feel they're being left behind as the country seeks to address gender inequality. 

Now, though, the latest development in this war is reaching a fever pitch. Since May, more than 20 brands and government organizations have removed what some see as feminist symbols from their products, after mounting pressure. At least 12 of those brands or organizations have issued an apology to placate male customers.

Anti-feminism has a years-long history in South Korea, and research suggests that such sentiments are taking hold among the country's young men. In May, the Korean marketing and research firm Hankook Research said it found that more than 77% of men in their twenties and more than 73% of men in their 30s were "repulsed by feminists or feminism," according to a survey. (The firm surveyed 3,000 adults, half of whom were men.)

The fact that corporations are responding to pressure to modify their products suggests that these anti-feminists are gaining influence in a country that is already struggling with gender issues. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development says that South Korea has by far the largest gender wage gap among OECD countries. And roughly 5% of board members at publicly listed companies in the country are women compared to the OECD average of nearly 27%.

A suspicious sausage

The online firestorm that has spread across South Korea's corporate landscape kicked off in May with a simple camping advertisement.

GS25, one of the country's biggest convenience store chains, released an ad that month enticing customers to order camping food on their app, promising free items as a reward. The ad showed an index finger and a thumb appearing to pinch a sausage. The finger-pinching motif is frequently used in advertising as a way to hold an item without obscuring the product.

Critics, though, saw something different in that hand signal. They accused it of being a code for feminist sympathies, tracing the use of the finger-pinching motif to 2015, when the symbol was co-opted by Megalia, a now-defunct feminist online community, to ridicule the size of Korean men's genitals.

Megalia has since shut down, but its logo has outlived the group. Now anti-feminists are trying to purge South Korea of its existence.

Source: Megalia, @starbucksrtd/Instagram, @gs25_official/Instagram

GS25 removed the hand symbol from the poster. But critics still weren't satisfied, and began trawling the advertisement for other feminist clues. One person pointed out that the last letter of each word featured on the poster — "Emotional Camping Must-have Item" — spelled "Megal," a shorthand for "Megalia," when read backward.

GS25 removed the text from the poster, but that still wasn't enough. People theorized that even the moon in the background of the poster was a feminist symbol, because a moon is used as the logo of a feminist scholar organization in South Korea.

After revising the poster multiple times, GS eventually pulled it entirely, just a day after the campaign launched. The company apologized and promised a better editorial process. It also said it reprimanded the staff responsible for the ad, and removed the marketing team leader.

The online mob had tasted success, and it wanted more.

Other companies and government organizations soon became targets. The online fashion retailer Musinsa was criticized for offering women-only discounts, as well as using the finger-pinching motif in an ad for a credit card. The company defended the use of that motif as a neutral element regularly used in advertising, and said its discount program was meant to help expand its small female customer base. Still, founder and CEO Cho Man-ho stepped down after the backlash.

South Korean demonstrators hold banners during a rally to mark International Women's Day as part of the country's #MeToo movement in Seoul on March 8, 2018. Dongsuh, the Korean company that licenses a Starbucks ready-to-drink line in the country, was attacked in July after one of its Korean Instagram accounts published an image of fingers pinching a can of coffee. The company pulled the ad and apologized, saying that it "considers these matters seriously." The firm also said the image had no hidden intent.

Even local governments have been caught up in the pressure campaign. The Pyeongtaek city government was criticized in August after uploading an image to its Instagram account that warned residents of a heatwave. It used an illustration of a farmer wiping his forehead — and critics noticed that the farmer's hand was shaped similarly to the finger pinch.

"How deeply did [feminists] infiltrate?" one person wrote on MLB Park, an internet forum used primarily by men. Another person shared contact information for the city government, encouraging people to flood their channels with complaints. The image was later removed from the Instagram account.

Gender wars

At the core of the anti-feminist campaign is a widespread fear among young men that they are falling behind their female peers, according to Professor Park Ju-yeon, professor of sociology at Yonsei University.

The sentiment has grown because of a hyper competitive job market and skyrocketing housing prices. The government has also rolled out programs in recent years to bring more women into the workforce. Proponents of those programs have said they're necessary for closing gender gaps, but some men have worried they give women an unfair advantage.

Another compounding factor: Unlike women, men in South Korea have to complete up to 21 months of military service before they're 28 years old — a sore point for some men who feel unfairly burdened.

Anti-feminists have also taken umbrage with President Moon Jae-in, who, when elected in 2017, promised to be a "feminist president." Moon pledged to fix the systemic and cultural barriers that prevented women from participating more in the workforce. He also vowed to address sexual crimes in the wake of the global #MeToo movement.

This year's corporate pressure campaign adds another complication, as brands weigh the possible fallout.

Young men are "big spenders," said Professor Choi Jae-seob, a marketing professor at Namseoul University in Seoul. He added that many young people today are driven by personal political values when they buy things.

Ha, a 23-year-old university student, said he pays attention to what companies say about gender issues before making a purchase.

"Between two stores, I would use the one that doesn't support [feminism]," said Ha, who declined to give his full name because he said that gender is a thorny topic among his peers.

Ha said he's far from alone. When his friends were discussing the GS25 camping poster, for example, he was surprised to find that many of them felt the way he did: "I realized that many men were silently seething."

"I realized that many men were silently seething."Ha, a 23-year-old university student

The gender war leaves companies in a tough spot, according to Noh Yeong-woo, a consultant at the public relations agency PR One.

By not responding to allegations that they are taking a stance on gender issues, that could lead to what Noh called a "constant barrage of accusation" and the creation of a stigma. It also means that companies are actively monitoring online groups and studying what their users have designated as hidden codes or associations, to avoid being called out.

"They are continuously checking for the next problematic symbols," Noh said of brands in South Korea.

Stigmas and fighting back

Some women, though, say that the corporate apologies are also creating a climate where some people are afraid to identify as feminist.

"It's the new Red Scare. Like McCarthyism," said Yonsei University's Park, referring to the mass hysteria to root out communists in the United States in the 1950s.

Lee Ye-rin, a college student, said she has been a feminist since middle school. But in recent years she has found it impossible to be open about her stance.

"It's the new Red Scare. Like McCarthyism."Professor Park Ju-yeon, professor of sociology at Yonsei University

She recalled an incident in high school, when some boys openly heckled a feminist friend of hers while that friend was giving a class presentation on the depiction of women in the media. Lee and her classmates were too scared to defend the friend.

"We all knew that a person who would step up and say that feminism is not some weird thing would be stigmatized, too," Lee said.

In response to this year's anti-feminist pressure campaigns, though, some feminists have been fighting back. The apology over the camping poster from GS25, for example, prompted feminists to call for boycotts against the company. Some people shared images online of themselves shopping at rival stores, using hashtags that called on people to avoid shopping at GS25.

Balancing act

As there doesn't seem to be much hope of finding middle ground for those waging South Korea's gender war, experts say companies have to figure out ways to avoid being dragged into a brand-damaging fight.

Noh, from PR One, encouraged companies and organizations to educate their employees on gender sensitivity — and even reconsider the use of symbols that have become heavily politicized.

Finger-pinching motifs "are images with complex metaphors and symbols and they already carry a social stigma," he said. "So, once you get involved in it, it's hard to explain them away ... the issue keeps spreading until they are removed as demanded."

Park, the Yonsei University professor, said that part of the problem is that many South Korean companies are led by older men who don't have a firm grasp of present-day gender issues. The average age of an executive-level employee at the country's top 30 publicly traded companies is 53, according to a 2020 analysis by JobKorea, a Korean version of LinkedIn.

That suggests a level of irony. Maybe it's not that some of these companies have a specific agenda, as online critics are accusing them. Perhaps for some of them, high levels of leadership are just not in tune with the debate.

To Park, the vitriol directed at companies has also buried some of the underlying, systemic issues that contribute to gender inequality, along with debates about how best to crack the glass ceiling or address the division of labor at home, among other concerns.

"Some very important debates are being buried," Park said, adding that today's gender war is being fought on the tip of the "iceberg." "It's not a fight about the fingers."

[plan3tlvrs]

Promise

erenxblackfem!reader

<3 erenxblackfem!reader (anyone is welcome to read)

<3 contains: slight mentions of racism, slight nsfw, major fluff, some angst?, mild language

<3 setting: 1950’s

<3 summary: you and eren’s relationship is forbidden due to the time period you live in. and it was easy to keep hidden until one quite night in your home.

___________

The school bell rang as you gathered your books holding them to your chest tightly. You placed the extra books that you didn’t need for homework tonight in your locker before meeting up with your friend Darcy. 

“Did you hear about that black boy that got murdered a few weeks ago?” Darcy said holding up a newspaper as you both walked down the hall. 

“Yeah my momma had the news on all night listening about what happened” You sighed as another young black male was tragically killed at the hands of a white man. 

This wasn’t anything new to you living in the south in the middle of the 50’s was one of the worst places you could live at as a colored girl or any color at that. As long as you weren't white nobody cared about your well-being nor your feelings or how you were treated. 

You grew up regularly being called slurs and many other derogatory names a woman of color could hear. 

“You got any plans?” Darcy said as you walked down the dirt road to your small homes. 

“I think Eren is coming by later to take me somewhere” You smiled at the thought of him.

Darcy laughed a little as you looked at her concerningly “By coming by later you mean sneaking you out of your bedroom window just to sit in his car” 

“Darcy stop you know we can’t do much” You rolled your eyes at her. 

It was true you and Eren couldn’t do much why? It was simply because you were black and he was white. Jim Crow laws prevented you from showing your relationship out to the public. This meant no drive in dates, dances at the teen club, or burgers and fries at the diner together. 

You didn’t mean to fall for someone the opposite skin color the way you met just happened out of no where really. You remember walking down the busy street to get milk for your mom as she was making cornbread with the rest of your dinner tonight. Walking down the street getting weird stares as if you were the outcast. 

You just walked with your head down and stared at the ground as your feet moved against the chalky pavement. Clutching your purse in hand you pulled open the door to the small market. Upon opening the door a body hit yours as fast as the wind did knocking you to the ground. 

Eyes widening you quickly tried to pick yourself up as a pale hand reached out in front of you. Taken back by the kind gesture you pulled your hand away from theirs quickly continuing to look down. 

“It’s alright I won’t hurt you I promise” The voice was soft and kind. 

Looking up your gaze met a boy with brown hair and forest green eyes. His hair was pulled back into a bun which was something that made him so interesting to you. The green haired boy extended his hand out, encouraging you to reach for it. Taking a leap of faith you put your hand in his immediately feeling the softness of yours and his. 

“Thank you so much kind sir I best be on my way now” You spoke, wiping off your knees and then your skirt. 

The boy didn’t say anything back, he just stared into your eyes as if they were the most beautiful things he had ever seen. 

“Wait let me help you with groceries, it's the least I can do” The boy shrugged his shoulder a bit. 

The rest was history after that, you learned the boy's name that same day he went by Eren and you simply adored him. At first you had to keep your friendship on the low for obvious reasons. You didn’t feel yourself start to have feelings for him until the day he mindlessly knocked on your door while your parents weren't home, thankfully you were an only child. 

Snapping yourself back into reality you realized you had made it to your house waving by Darcy you stepped in quietly. Your momma didn’t usually get home from work until the early mornings leaving a few minutes before you came home from school. And your dad was on his usual business trip he had said he went to New York in a letter he sent a few days ago. 

Night had hit unexpectedly as you were deep in your studies with books sprawled around you in your upstairs bedroom. Picking up your books and placing them on your desk so you could have them ready to pick up in the morning as you rushed out the door. You sat down on your bed with a sigh looking at the clock it was around eight thirty and you decided to get ready for bed until you heard a knock on your window.

Going to the balcony you opened the doors stepping out to be met with the silence of the night. Your breath hitching as you felt two strong arms wrap around your waist from behind. 

“Hi darling” The voice said softly in your ear. 

“Eren you can’t keep doing that” You relaxed your muscles placing your hands over Eren’s. 

Eren turned you around in a swift motion before placing his hands back on your hips. 

“I know I just like seeing you jump” Eren smiled a little. 

“You're an ass, you know that right?” 

“Just for you” He smirked, taking your hand and leading you back into your room. 

He sat on your bed pulling you next to him after you closed the balcony doors and the curtains so no one could see you with each other. Getting caught was your worst fear, of course things would be bad for the both of you but more so you getting caught was worse than Eren. You had only seen each other during the night as it was easier for him to sneak out and come over since your mom was at work and your dad across the country. 

“So I aced that math test you helped me study for” Eren said, turning to you and bringing out a paper with a huge A+ on the front. 

“I'm so proud of you baby you did so well” You cheered for him putting your hands on his cheeks. 

“R-really?” Eren said softly with red cheeks. 

Eren’s family didn’t give two shits about his school life; they just wanted to marry him off to another rich white woman and have kids with her just to keep the family business running. No matter how hard he tried to show his parents that he wanted to graduate high school and become an engineer they denied it. 

“Of course I am Ren” Smiling you caressed his cheeks pulling him in for a sweet kiss. 

Eren dropped the paper bringing his hands to your waist as your arms settled on his shoulders connecting at the nape of his neck. 

“You're so beautiful” Eren groaned, leaning down to attack your neck in kisses. 

“Eren” You whined as he continued to trail them down your neck. 

“Yeah baby” He continued to kiss your neck as one of his hands came up to squeeze the flesh of your chest. 

“I want you” You breathed out as he pulled back from the crook of your neck with wide eyes. 

“Are you sure?” 

You nodded your head and pulled him in for another kiss, this one rougher than the other. 

An hour later you were in your bed covered in a sheet of sweat and the covers of your bed as your chest rose and fell. Eren next to you in the same position as you snuggled into his side stroking his chest with the tips of your fingers. 

Never in a million  years would you imagine lying naked in a bed next to someone of the race that was supposed to hate you. You felt so lucky to have Eren at your side just hoping that one day you could reveal your relationship to the world without being in so much fear. 

Your eyes fell heavy as you felt Eren’s lips pressed to your forehead and felt sleep take you over.

“What in gods name is going on here!” 

Your body jolted up along with Erens as you held the covers to your chest only to be met with the eyes of your angry mother. 

“Mom I-” You tried to explain but she was already beginning to yell again. 

“What the hell is a white man doing in your bed matter a fact what the hell is he doing in my goddamn house?!” 

You looked to the side to see Eren with the same wide eyes as yours as he looked at your mother who had obviously gotten off work earlier than you expected. 

“Um I'm-” Eren forced himself to say he would be lying if he wasn’t scared out of his mind right now. 

“I don’t care who you are get the hell out before I call the police” Your mom tried to calm her nerves as she gritted her teeth. 

Eren hurriedly pulled on his clothes even putting on his socks backwards in the process. Even though he was scared shitless he still managed to give you a peck on the lips before going to your balcony and disappearing into the night. 

Moments after your mother didn't say anything to you she just shook her head and slammed your door shut after leaving. When she left you felt tears stream down your face like hot springs thinking this would be the last time you'd see Eren you sunk back into your bed. 

Your eyes almost closed until you heard your balcony window being opened again as Eren stepped through your eyes widened. Sitting up Eren looked around the room for your mother and seeing that she wasn’t there he came and sat on the edge of your bed. 

“I thought you left for good?” You smiled through tears caressing his cheek just like earlier. 

“I would never leave you darling” Eren kissed your lips but this time he kissed them with passion and with love like no one was watching. 

“You promise?” You spoke through tears. 

“I promise” 

[sabakos]

nah, they do it for any mass shooting that makes the news cycle. there's a wikipedia article on it:

my use of "mass killing" was an attempt to compare apples to apples even in countries where guns are relatively harder to obtain. which do tend to have proportionally fewer mass killings regardless, of course!

I feel like that Onion article they post after any mass killing of "only country where this happens" is probably not true? But like when 3 or more people die from violence in a populated area somewhere in the "Global South" or really any place other than Europe we generally don't hear about it at all here in the US. Probably in many cases, the exact death toll as a result of mass killings isn't even known the authorities in that particular country to a satisfactory degree.