#bakudeku relationship

[pleaseletmeexist]

People talk a lot about Bakugou’s possible intentions for being an ass to Midoriya, like some tragic backstory, but it comes down to a fundamental misunderstanding. From Bakugou’s perspective, he’s unloved by everyone. He never understood that Midoriya just LIKES him. To Bakugou, he is the most determined manipulator of all time. Him secretly having a quirk basically confirmed that to Bakugou. The real reason their relationship improves after their fight in season 3 is because he realizes, “Oh. He just… cares about me.” Knowing what little we know about his relationship with his mother and her constant belittling, it makes perfect sense that he tries to make up for his actions only after putting them in hindsight.

[chandralia]

bkdk: *suppressing emotions, navigating feelings, getting comfortable with the role in each other’s lives, avoiding confessions, uncertain of the future but knowing their paths always intertwi—*

Todoroki: so you guys are opening an agency together yeah?

bkdk:

based on this newspaper ad we just got sgdkfhdj

[ingeniumscalves]

Not only would it be kinda cute and based if Bakudeku became canon, but also really funny.

Like the (very lacking lol) romance plot would go from the classic Deku being in love with the cute girl he met the first time he went to UA, and her liking him back in the most wholesome and awkward way. They're all blushy and stuttery around each other and it's painfully cute.

But then

Uh oh, Deku falls head over heels first into yaoi pandemonium, and it's a whole friends-to- enemies-to-rivals-to-friends-to-best-friends-to-Izuku-you're-actually-obsessed-Katsuki-you-too-it's-unhealthy-you-both-don't-have-to-kill-yourselves-or-each-other-just-to-get-his-attention-just-talk-to-him-for-the-love-of-stop-pining-and-hold-hands-already mess lol

And I mean, it's really hard not to root for the absolute train wreck of an option

[kiisaes]

koi food

[coladaminx]

So if you watch this scene izuku and kacchan are sitting on both ends of the couch and what makes this scene so sweet and kinda sad is that izuku consciously or maybe unconsciously brings himself closer to his kacchan with the Manga version you can actively see him scooting closer (HE WANTS TO BE CLOSE TO HIM) and be able to actually talk with him Normally ;A; which we find out later he feels blessed being able to be near him and ya know talk and katsuki didn't push him away THEIR INSANE YA'LL!

[assassyart]

Understand my BakuDeku in five minutes!

revamped from last year!

[bakudekublogblog]

my favorite underrated bkdk moment is in like s3 during the provisional license exams and aizawa is like "mmm... the most two interesting characters are bkdk.... all the interesting things that happen in this manga revolve around bkdk.... bkdk are the central figures everyone revolves around" like guys i think this manga might be about bkdk

[sugawara--san]

thinking about aizawa pairing bkdk together for the final exams based on their relationship instead of their grades or powers

[xpyray]

A loose redraw of that Horikoshi drawing

[tragedydenji]

No joke all i need is the manga to include a panel of them sitting in an amusement park together eating crepes. I dont need explicit confirmation, just let them have their amusement park date and show it. PLEASE im on my knees.

[smallmightsupremacy]

Ok but I'm obsessed with the idea of Bakugou and Deku being awkward around each other after the war because they're only just becoming friends again

[denkisauce]

literally when has another ship given as much as bakudeku has. when has another ship encompassed so many tropes all at once while also having the relationship develop the way it has???? sometimes i’m just like dumbfounding by the depth that exists between them like they’re not just childhood friends, they’re not just rivals to lovers they’re not just starcrossed they’re not just punk x nerd or jock x jock or nerd x nerd or whatever the fuck they’ve gone from best friends to broken to fixed to i would die for you x i would kill for you like????? the nicknames???? the fact that katsuki has never told deku to stop calling him kacchan even when their relationship was at their lowest???? the fact that he was carrying his all might card with him the whole time???????????? the fact that izuku is so defensive he unlocked new powers multiple times because of kacchan and katsuki is so defensive he was willing to die TWICE for izuku?????? even the smaller things, all might rooting for them, aizawa saying his whole thing about how the two of them push their entire class to go above and beyond,, house arrest boys???? ohhh my goddddd like i know we all know but i can’t stop thinking about all of this all the time 😩😩😩

[amaranthdahlia]

dekus not just a cutie ft. katsukis full of love dumb of ass for deku

[sapphic-agent]

Let's Talk About Izuku and Bakugou's Relationship

Happy New Year, everyone! Thought I'd kick 2024 off with a new post. I haven't written an in-depth analysis in a while, so I figured now was a good time.

So, I've touched on this before, many times in fact. If you've seen my other posts, you know that I think that the BKDK relationship is a clusterfuck of codependency, abuse, and toxicity. But I don't think I've ever analyzed it frame-by-frame, so here's an attempt.

Childhood

The lake scene has the most focus than any other flashback in the series. It's meant to show us why Bakugou hated Izuku; he assumed Izuku looked down on him and saw him as weak. It's supposed to support the idea that Bakugou has an inferiority complex that's been present since he was a kid and that's why he lashes out at Izuku and wants to be rid of him. Because Izuku makes him feel weak.

But this isn't true. Or, it doesn't paint the whole picture.

One thing the lake scene seems to gloss over is the fact that Bakugou was always mean to Izuku. Maybe he wasn't as harsh and could be written off as just a kid being a kid, but he still made fun of him. He still went out of his way to make him feel bad about himself and humiliate him. He called him "Deku" way before either of them were (or weren't) given a quirk.

And he only ever did this to Izuku, not the other kids part of his posse. He, even at such a young age, saw Izuku as an easy target, someone he could easily shove around because he knew Izuku wouldn't fight back (this would persist for the next ten years).

It's important to note that there's only one instance where Bakugou's behavior towards Izuku turns violent. It's when Izuku defends a kid that Bakugou and his posse are picking on. This is the moment where Bakugou becomes physically aggressive; not when he found out Izuku was quirkless, during the lake, or any time before. It's here, when Izuku stops being the defenseless wimp who won't stand up to him. He doesn't like that Izuku stepped out of the mold he had confined him to (I'll come back to this later).

The truth of their childhood together is that Bakugou was always inherently awful to Izuku. It wasn't like he experienced one bad moment that flipped a switch, Bakugou liked picking on Izuku from day one.

Middle School

There isn't much to say about their days at Aldera other than it's just a progression of escalation from their childhood. They've settled into their roles as abuser and victim. Bakugou knows he can say and do whatever he wants and Izuku won't defend himself because it's been the status quo for a decade.

He revels in that power he has over him, likes to remind Izuku of his "place." And if he steps out of line, Bakugou exerts that power over him to shut him right down, stressing his inability to do anything about his situation. It's a cycle of abuse.

Deku vs Kacchan Part 1

I've already talked about this scene before, but this is also another example as to what I was alluding to above.

As @delawaredetroit pointed out in a post from a while ago, Bakugou isn't feeling betrayed here. He himself has said time and time again that he and Izuku weren't friends. He cares about the fact that his victim now has power of his own.

All their lives, Bakugou had the power and Izuku was powerless. That was the dynamic they were used to and the one that Bakugou was aware and repeatedly took advantage of. But now, Izuku isn't powerless or defenseless. He no longer fits the mold that Bakugou had tied him to since childhood. That's why Bakugou is so upset; not because Izuku kept something from him but because the power imbalance between was shifting.

And it's why he tries to use guilt-tripping here. He wants Izuku to feel bad, wants to reestablish some of the control over him he just lost. And it works, because Izuku tells him he inherited his quirk completely unprompted after the fact. Bakugou knows he has the power in their relationship and has no issues abusing that power.

Sports Festival

I don't have much to say here, but I would like to point out something very inconsistent concerning Bakugou's interpretation of his relationship with Izuku. He claims that Izuku kept following him around and that he couldn't get rid of him, which attributed to his dislike. But even if that was true when they were 5, it's actually the opposite at least from middle school on.

Bakugou went out of his way to target Izuku in the first chapter/episode. He also tracked him down after the Sludge Villain incident. He's initiated every one of their confrontations in UA. And here, he deliberately eavesdropped on Izuku's conversation with Todoroki.

I don't know whether to call it hypocrisy or ignorance, but Izuku was content to leave Bakugou alone. Bakugou's the one who's constantly harassing and obsessing over him.

Final Exams

Izuku daring to display confidence and competence invokes immediate physical violence in Bakugou. He doesn't like that Izuku is talking to him like he's an equal, he doesn't like that Izuku dares to step outside of his role as a victim. Bakugou wants Izuku to act like he's below him and gets agitated when he doesn't do that. He, in this moment, cared more about putting Izuku in his place than his own grade.

Deku vs Kacchan Part 2

I mentioned that BKDK is codependent in the beginning of the post. This is what I mean.

Bakugou can't cope with the fact that he isn't the best and takes it out on the only target he has. Izuku had nothing to do with his shortcomings, but he still felt the need to establish superiority over him; a grasp for some measure of control.

Like I said above, he's well aware of the power he has over Izuku. Do you think he would have tried this with Todoroki? Or Tokoyami? Or Iida? No, because he knows that none of them would have even dignified him with a response. But he knows he can control Izuku in a way he can't with other people. He feels comfortable treating only Izuku as his emotional and physical punching bag.

The Apology

It's interesting that prior to apologizing for treating him badly, Bakugou proceeds to treat Izuku badly.

This interaction is important because it's their first major conflict after Bakugou's "redemption." We're supposed to be at the point where he's changed. But he still resorts to insults and goading. His first instinct is still to put Izuku down.

I've said most of what I needed to about the apology. But I do want to mention that coming from Bakugou's mouth, it grossly understates what happened during those ten years. Because the abuser is the one telling the story, his transgressions don't seem that bad. He's the one controlling the narrative, so his classmates- Izuku's friends- don't know the full story. They don't know what Bakugou put Izuku through. Bakugou comes off looking sympathetic to their peers by speaking "his truth."

Was this his intention? Probably not as Bakugou doesn't really care what others think about him. But it does raise the point that this is the extent as to how Bakugou sees his past self; as a stubborn, overzealous child and not the abuser that he was

[echoedthenerd]

Finished this today!! I loved this scene and I couldn't get it out of my head so I had to draw it.

A QPR fic that I absolutely adore! Would highly suggest reading it, the author does an amazing job on characterization, and it's literally just about characters figuring out they're aroace and then healing together. it's so fluffy :)

Her Tumblr is @radiantallomancer !

[bkdk-and-extras]

Katsuki: My god are you a freaky little fucker.

Izuku:

Katsuki: I love you.

Izuku: I know, Kacchan.