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#we WILL get a resolution of bakudeku relationship when this manga ends
flowisk · 6 years
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imo, arguments about whether bakugou is abusive or not are not... unnecessary, but the thing i think is lacking is that we do not move beyond the issue of whether he is or not. bakugou is (obviously) abusive. unfortunately a lot of people disagree. they are wrong. but whether he is or isn’t abusive isn’t the ending point of that discussion, or even the point honestly. i feel the issue is... people are trying to reach this conclusion to say. ‘bakugou is abusive and therefore people can’t do this’ ‘bakugou is abusive and therefore my feelings are justified’ or ‘bakugou isn’t abusive thus this isnt an issue and i shouldnt think critically about it’ characterizing a character as abusive shouldn’t be the end all be all of the dialogue in the first place. knowing bakugou is abusive, and thus going further with that in creative work, and our expectancies of canon is more the goal. for instance, with creative work: if someone -does- want to address bakudeku, or their platonic relationship even, whether talking about a past abusive relationship or going further with their relationship in a post-canon fic... it’s simply unrealistic to not acknowledge what their relationship is in canon. to start from a point where this relationship isn’t taken into consideration is something that immediately jars the characters out of who they are as people and immediately ruins the characterization of the work. the fic is dead out the door. and of course, as far as canon, denials of bakugou being abusive are denials to deku’s character arc and development. if we say, well deku was always anxious, deku was going to be like that anyway, if we ignore the plot points given to us by the manga, we are ignoring deku’s growth and role in so many ways. as someone who was lonely, and friendless, and abused, and an absolute underdog but who has a strong core. as someone who is fighting to gain confidence in himself, and who’s every advancement towards being stronger, fighting for as much control as he can have in a situation, is a personal victory. as someone who’s self sacrifice in childhood was never discouraged and who still has this issue currently. as acknowledging that currently, deku is the faulted party and is left with all of the emotional weight to pull. he is constantly the one doing the emotional heavylifting in this relationship even now, and a resolution in canon where deku is the one who onesidedly solves all this is not ideal. and we have bakugou, who, if left to his devices, has all the trademarks of endeavour. some people have said, possibly, that endeavour showing similarities to bakugou could be an example of endeavour gaining a redemption arc. as much as i don’t want that, i agree it’s a possibility. but my personal hope for the narrative is that endeavour is just an example of the worst possible timeline for someone like bakugou: someone, who brings all these qualities of needing power of others, competing to be the best no matter what it takes or who gets hurt, and being given a powerful role in the hero community. when we look at endeavour we can easily see how in the worst environment where bakugou is allowed to go unchecked he could rack up that power, continue to grow as resentful of deku as endeavour is of all might, and destroy everything that stands in his way to try to reach where deku is. after all, bakugou is a child, and endeavour is an adult in a position of power who shares qualities with bakugou. it’s like if bakugou ‘never grew up to be conscious of others, considerate of others, or about being a hero beyond being strong’. it is even diminishing for bakugou to not acknowledge his abusive behaviour is setting him up for that path. people fixating on whether or not abuse happened doesn’t let us talk about deku and the abuse he faces without having to argue about whether it occurred, bakugou and how he needs to grow to avoid becoming an abuser as an adult, the critical role of children who have learnt toxic behaviours and how it is -necessary- for them to be intervened with and taught, and not avoided by the adults in their lives. there is so much more people could be doing with this that they don’t. think about it.
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