#anything persistent and of love incident-specific importance can just. get skipped

[thehardkandy]

tonight i am walking the strut of "that bitch who put all her sheets through the wash" which i understand isnt really an earthshattering achievement but if it keeps me on top i will take it

[arcticdementor]

David French has written a bit of a tale.

…

It, as one would expect, is a passionate call for his position, well-written, and absolutely uncompelling. Matt Shapiro has made some interesting back-and-forth discussions, accepting French framework.

I, on the other hand, am here to bury it.

The first objection is that this history isn't actually true. French's example of the height of courage against comprehensive speech codes was a 2007 incident at SFSU, where a student organization were investigated over stomping a makeshift Hamas flag. He uses this as an example of things that were shocking then, but no longer happen. Yet it doesn't take much leafing through FIRE's recent news to see lists of similarly poorly-founded investigations, often where investigations focus on speech that is just as obviously covered by the First Amendment, nor where harsher punishment have been brought to bear than mere investigation.

…

This points to the second fault. French points to the fall of speech codes, and the rise of a legal community able to protect obvious infringements of rights (sometimes, after significant expense); and even if he's a little approximate with the order of those events, I'll concede that. And even if he's a little prone to highlight FIRE's victories under his helm than the surrounding cases other parties didn't win, I'll concede that it's hard to win a court case which never starts.

But in response we've seen Bias Response Teams sprout, in many cases specifically to avoid those weaknesses. Administrators wanting to slap down a disfavored student organization know to gather more varied and vague discomforts or allegations of unrelated bad behavior. Schools have carefully-vetted catspaws announce which religious denomination has the most acceptable positions on orthodoxy, rather than doing it themselves. Far more severe, though, is many of these organizations have learned to not use direct power, and place matters such that no one need overtly recognize the attack as focused on the speech. And while French is happy to list early, weaker examples of these behaviors, he somewhat overlooks that he doesn't have many good cases for fighting them.

…

And those are the overt, obvious, and simple ones, unactionable only because they're so far outside of mainstream behavior that we don't really care to defend Kashuv or chase down Bone. They're not in closed-room meetings with ever-so-deniable asides talking up someone's religious background. They're not the calls to your employer or licensing board. They're not a corporate legal theory that has increasingly found even off-duty interactions between employees so actionable everyone needs be trained against it and anyone brought to their attention needs be reprimanded, or that (wrong) philosophical discussion in a forum opened for that very topic can be harassment. They're not IRB sanctions; they're not CPS sent on a full-home raid. I already pointed to CLA v. Martinez, so I'll skip doing so again.

It's also not the stuff that's in outside of the law, regulation, or Constitution, but is simply a bad norm; French lists college administrators providing anti-recommendations to potential employers based on speech, and then doesn't consider how little FIRE (and other groups) have been able to act against these. Calls to employers, sometimes pretending to be patients or customers, have become endemic, as Scott Alexander have found out. The surprise interviews from national media, increasingly, targeted at the ones who only scarcely touched the edges of conventional "public figures": the retweeters or facebook sharers who suddenly find a camera crew waiting for them at home. There's the game of telephone, turning heartfelt tales of fighting with depression or logrolling over a one's favorite book genre into bizarre accusations of racism, as I've personally seen done to Scott Aaronson's comment 171 or to Larry Correia.

It's not the stuff that's a certain loss: the conservative religious positions that could be purged from Silicon Valley wholesale without even meeting the strict Roman definition of 'decimate' (but with a good many 'good riddances'), the gun owners who can increasingly lose their livelihoods without due process or even a day in the court of public opinion, the obscure, the strange. Those who lack time machines to stop their past-decade's self from being a Kashuv-esque putz for a day, or who now have interests or backgrounds or natures that would leave them more vulnerable to a shaming campaign. Whose financial interactions are in a vague intersection of state and private power that loves to talk up reputational risk, or whose livelihood can depend on licensing boards with similar focuses.

Which is why, when pressed, French emphasizes courage, and to his defense, he can list quite a long array of direct horrors he's seen or had target him.

…

These are horrible incidents.

They also got away with it. While most wouldn't show up in databases I have access to even were they prosecuted, contemporaneous reporting points toward no arrests being made even in the most clearly unlawful threats. French does not name the ministry nor consider if "more difficult" might have been downriver of state action of the sort he'd oppose. The college administrators -- in this case so egregious that French, summing up the judge's decision, says he's "never seen anything like it, before or since" -- still received qualified immunity. The statements and framing at the core of the case are no less accepted fact among campuses and educators (and high schools, and so forth) today, beyond modification for those denominations that have since allowed gay marriage. And it's not exactly deep precedent, these days: not only did it rest on Georgia Tech's unwillingness to brief as to how the pamphlet reflected a government interest, the Lemon analysis in that case ends on a note that increasing factions would see as a demand to "tolerate intolerance" today, including the majority in CLS v. Martinez and Obergefell.

…

Which... gets to the last point, and the most unpleasant revelation. I'm not straight, not religious, so forth. Why do I care? It might well be a pity that Sklar's career in civil engineering went backseat to politics, but I can't in all honesty pretend that I've not been a beneficiary of the broader LGBT movement's tactics. Why should we care, when a search for "Reditors Against Gay Marriage" could only find devil's advocates?

Except these aren't the only people that get hit by them. Forget "no bad tactics, only bad targets". The reality is that these campaigns feel no need to be limited to just conservatives. Brendan Eich was kicked to the curb (and not for the abomination that was JavaScript), true. I've also seen Democratic furries booted from a low-level seat over internal politics that splashed his sex life into the media and a Drupal developer canned because he dated an autie. Proclaiming conservative positions might put you first on the chopping block, but there's an ever-spiraling array of struggle session and public humiliation awaiting those who step wrong elsewhere. For those of us who found liberalism appealing because it offered a peace treaty against this sort of harassment, this is a bit of a disappointment. Indeed, it's not hard for those of us who had drifted to Left during the Bush era to remember how important it was that not every gay man be a hero just to live their truth.

[simplybakugou]

Can I get a scenario of the reader is a writer and Katsuki finds out and teases her for it, but is secretly deeper in love with her and Kirishima finds out about it and sets them up. Katsuki then finds out all the romance stories and poems were about him?

A/N: I made this as hcs/scenario only cause requests like these are difficult for me to make it sound fluid and flow easily as a scenario if that makes sense, so I hope you don’t mind! Saying that, I poured my heart and soul into this specific request and I really liked how this turned out. This one personally meant a lot to me. Thanks for requesting and hope you enjoy :)

Pairing: bakugou x female!reader

Warnings: swearing

Word Count: 1956

✐posted 07.28.2018✐

Every individual person has a passion. Whether it’s drawing, reading, sports, musical endeavors, there’s something unique that everyone pours their whole heart and soul into. For you, it was writing.

And not the modern typing it up in Google Docs/Microsoft Word I just roasted myself lol, you loved the traditional pen and notebook type of writing. 

In the way people had diaries where they stored their thoughts and personal emotions, you had a book where you wrote anything and everything that came to mind. Be it poems or short stories, the minute an idea came to you for writing, you immediately grabbed your book and wrote away to your heart’s content.

Even though your love for your passion was strong, you didn’t dare tell a soul about the notebook’s existence. 

But, every writer must have a muse or a driving force that allows them to have that inspiration to want to write. When you got into middle school, that driving force died down. You’d barely opened your book in years, it collecting dust on your shelf. You were simply unimpressed with what you were seeing on a daily basis.

But everything changed once you got into U.A. High. There in the second row all the way towards the window was your newest muse: Katsuki Bakugou.

He was brash, the most aggressive person you’d ever met. But with every moment you spent with him, you became more and more intrigued. He had small flashes of kindness to him before reverting back to his normal self. It made you want to chisel through his thick, stubborn skull and figure out what was it that drove him to want to be number one.

And through watching Bakugou’s ambition, you became engrossed in your muse. Every word that you etched on your paper correlated to him. You couldn’t come to terms with these feelings, simply classifying them as a spark towards the fire that was your writing.

You could have never known what you were feeling. But it was simple: you were utterly, deeply, and hopelessly in love with that idiotic hothead.

On the other hand, Bakugou, despite his abrasiveness, was not your usual angered sixteen-year-old. He was intelligent, driven, and very observant. The minute you walked into class 1-A, he hadn’t paid any attention to you, classifying you as the rest of the extras in the class.

But he observed how kind you were, how gentle you were with everyone, how your eyes lit up at the mention of the things you loved. He noticed it all.

Similarly to you, Bakugou couldn’t come to terms with these feelings. Every moment that he spent with you, he couldn’t understand why you were always on his mind or why you made his heart speed up in a way that was indescribable. Nevertheless, he hated the way you made him feel. He hated that he couldn’t stand to see you frown, the little wrinkle by your brow that turned or how your lips turned downwards when you were upset. He hated how pissed he got when he saw you talking to another guy from class. He hated how often his mind would drift off during class, staring at you all the while. And he hated how vigorously you scribbled down notes when hearing a useful piece of information.

To Bakugou, your effect on him was so difficult for him to comprehend. But it was simple: he was utterly, deeply, and hopelessly in love with the nerdy girl from class.

The incident occurred on a regular afternoon. You had invited Bakugou, Kirishima, Mina, Sero, and Kaminari to your house for a little hang out session. Bakugou claimed he was forced to come due to Kirishima’s persistence, who in reality knew how hopeless his two friends were, but was honestly intrigued by your every move.

Bakugou had excused himself to go to the bathroom while everyone else played a few PlayStation games. He had intended to go to the bathroom, but he couldn’t help himself from peering into your bedroom that was wide open.

Your room was pretty simple, a bed, a chair, a writing table filled with books. But one book in particular caught his attention. It was a simple leather bound book that was closed shut with a knot of a ribbon. 

Bakugou grabbed the book, undoing the knot and opened it up. He skipped through the first pages as the dates at the top indicated the work to be done years ago. But as the dates became more recent, Bakugou became more interested. 

You had written about a certain airhead who was too stubborn for his own good, too arrogant, and too deplorable for anyone to like. And yet you went on to describe how gentle he could be with a few stubborn actions, how ambitious and driven he was, and how emotional he really was. 

It was evident to anyone else who would have read it: you were writing about him.

The thing is… it was evident to anyone but Bakugou. He couldn’t decipher who you were spouting your love for.

Bakugou tried to ignore the fact that you became even more etched into his brain, but he simply couldn’t. This incident didn’t help his lovesickness. If anything, he fell deeper in love with you.

But even so, he refused to acknowledge the feelings he had developed even more. He refused to believe that a normal girl had fazed his ambitions, had made him think more than just himself, and who could make his heart skip just from her laughter. It was preposterous for him.

Unknown to Bakugou’s knowledge, Kirishima, his beloved friend, had noticed Bakugou snooping through your things when wanting to go to the bathroom as well and wondering why it took Bakugou so long.

His initial intention was to tease Bakugou for being so nosy. But he decided not to go through with it due to the emotion written on Bakugou’s face as he begun to read your writing. There was a gentleness to it and a softness as well. Kirishima couldn’t help but sigh.

The hell am I gonna do with these two…

A few weeks went by since the incident, and Bakugou began to notice you writing down on a separate piece of paper when something sparked your passion. You always wrote notes down on a piece of paper before going home and scribbling away in your beloved notebook.

“The fuck are you writing so much about?” Bakugou asked, knowing full well what you were doing.

You froze, this being the first time someone called you out. You rubbed the nape of your neck nervously. 

“Mr. Aizawa mentioned something important for our next test and I need every bit of information I can get to pass.”

Bakugou wanted to press the matter further, wanting to know who you were writing about, wanting to tell you how he felt. He wanted to know whether the feelings were mutual or not. But he chose not to bother you, never bringing up the incident again.

Kirishima, watching from the sidelines as always, became more and more irritated with the two of you as each week went by. He had thought Bakugou would have came to his senses and confessed, but the stubborn hothead did no such thing. 

Since then, Kirishima took it upon himself to be your matchmaker. He would mention you to Bakugou with every chance he got.

“____ looks nice today, huh, Bakugou?”

Bakugou became disheveled, wondering why his friend would comment such a thing out of the blue. He then assumed Kirishima had feelings for you, making him even more pissed. He scoffed.

“She looks the same every fucking day.”

Kirishima shook his head. His friend was absolutely hopeless.

He then moved on to try and coax you into asking Bakugou out. And well… that didn’t work out either.

“____ what do you think about Bakugou?”

You nearly choked on your breath from Kirishima’s sudden question. You blushed, sweating profusely. 

“Well… he’s an alright guy. I mean, I don’t feel that differently about him than I do with all the other guys in this class. Kirishima, the weather’s real nice today, huh?”

It was evident to Kirishima that neither of you were willing to make the first move. So, instead of beating around the bush, he began to be direct. Very direct.

One day while hanging out with just Bakugou in his house, Kirishima confronted him.

“Bakugou, you like ____, right?”

Bakugou’s red irises nearly popped out of their sockets at the statement. He looked at Kirishima with the most bewildered expressions expecting to see him claim that it was a joke. But Kirishima did no such thing, keeping the intense and stern look on his face.

“Tch, the fuck makes you think I have feelings for that shitty girl?”

Kirishima rolled his eyes at his stubbornness.

“Oh, please. No one else probably sees it, but I see the way you look at her and how pissed you get when other guys talk to her. You’re not like that with any of the other girls from class so it’s obvious that you feel something for her.”

Bakugou desperately wanted to tell him that he was wrong, but he couldn’t. He had grown tired of forcing himself to contradict himself.

“So, maybe I feel something for her. That doesn’t mean shit.”

Kirishima scoffed.

“Bullshit. I’ve seen you even snoop around in her room and read whatever she was writing in that leather book. Something ticked inside you after that.”

Bakugou was slightly embarrassed for getting caught, though he’d never admit it.

“I just read about her writing about some guy who she likes from class. She wrote shitloads of poems and shit about that dick all over her book and it fucking made me pissed.”

“You idiot!”

Bakugou looked at Kirishima with utter offense. Kirishima had grown exasperatedly tired of Bakugou’s sheer stupidity.

“She’s obviously writing about you!”

“What?”

“I’m saying that ____ feels the same way about you that you do for her. So, grow some thick skin and ask her out for god’s sake!”

Bakugou was speechless. He had never anticipated that he was the mystery guy you spewed your love for on those pages. And Kirishima had given him a wake up call.

Kirishima sighed.

“All I’m saying is that it’s exhausting to see you two feel the same way about each other and not do anything about it. You gotta be a man and ask her out, man!”

Any other time, Bakugou would’ve practically murdered Kirishima for assuming he could speak to him in such a way, but Bakugou was at such a loss for words that he couldn’t do anything about it.

Regardless, he knew what he had to do.

The next morning, the lunch bell rang and you had gone to eat with Ochako. 

“Oi, ____.”

You immediately froze, turning your head to look at Bakugou. You didn’t even know that he knew your name.

“Yeah?”

Bakugou looked away, utterly embarrassed to have to confess in such a stupid way.

“You don’t have a boyfriend, right?”

Every hair on your body stood straight at those words. The sheer thought of Katsuki Bakugou even concerning himself with your love life was absurd.

“No, but why–”

“Good.”

Bakugou turned around, walking slow enough for you to hear his next statement. 

“You better be ready at 5 on Saturday. I’m taking you out, you piece of shit.”

You nearly passed out at his words, Ochako having to fan you and give you plenty of water to keep you from fainting.

What came next for the two of you was enough for any romance author to write five volumes worth of romance.