As happy as I am about Bakugou FINALLY being more calm about Midoriya, it's still sad how Midoriya shakes when he hears Bakugou's voice. Do you think it's because he still is a little scared of Bakugou, or its a habit for all the other years?
the thing is, you don’t get over ten years of abuse in a few months.
since the beginning of the manga, Izuku flinches whenever he’s in the same room as Bakugou. he admires Bakugou’s determination, yes, but that doesn’t make all those years of being bullied, abused, and put down any less traumatizing.
like. i love Bakugou. everyone knows i love Bakugou. i’ve probably written a short book’s length worth of meta about him and his character growth and development and where i think he’ll go in the future. but Bakugou seriously fucked up with Izuku. he emotionally and physically abused this kid for ten years–Izuku is 15. that’s over half his life.
Izuku has been abused for longer then he hasn’t.
Bakugou literally tells Izuku he should just commit suicide. and it is 100% not treated as a joke.
1) you should never joke about suicide, and 2) what the fuck. this is the kind of shit Izuku has put up with for his entire life. even the first page of the first chapter, we’re introduced to little Bakugou beating up little Izuku.
Bakugou just walks by and Izuku is scared out of his mind and shaking. Izuku even says that he’s gotten used to cowering before Bakugou. he’s been conditioned to do this.
just look at what his mental picture of Bakugou is
poor boy is terrified. and it doesn’t end there.
again, because of Bakugou, Izuku is shaking. Bakugou isn’t even in the room, but Izuku knows that Bakugou will immediately attack him.
hell, Izuku even outright admits that he hates Bakugou. he admires him, yes. but that doesn’t nullify the many, many different ways Bakugou has made Izuku feel like he’s worthless (which includes calling him the name “Deku”).
Izuku gets a little better around Bakugou after this, since Bakugou doesn’t do much to him since the Heroes vs. Villains training exam. Bakugou would rather avoid him than interact with him, which is a relief for Izuku.
but again, ten years of emotional and physical abuse doesn’t just disappear after a few months of relative peace.
hell, this one isn’t even directed at Izuku and he’s still shaking because of Bakugou’s tone of voice.
that shit stays with you. there is a reason Izuku is so shy and hesitant, and it’s largely due to Bakugou bullying him and shooting him down constantly. thanks to All Might and his time at UA tho, Izuku’s confidence is growing, but when it come to Bakugou… it’s still very complicated.
antipathy: a deep-seated feeling of dislike; aversion.
Izuku wants to beat Bakugou and is very inspired by him, but he’s still largely scared of him. and he really does hate Bakugou. it’s mentioned more than once.
the difference is that Izuku likes avoid conflict unless it’s necessary.
and god. i love Bakugou. i love him so much ok. but i refuse to ignore all the shit he did to Izuku.
Izuku is just walking by and Bakugou screams a death threat at him and Izuku tries to get the fuck outta there as fast as possible.
while i’m certain most of Bakugou’s threats are hyperbolic at best, it’s still feels incredibly horrible to have stuff like that thrown at you.
Bakugou addresses Izuku here, and first flinches. then Bakugou moves forward SLIGHTLY and Izuku BACKS AWAY. Bakugou isn’t even close to him right now, he’s all the way across the room. but Izuku still flinches and backs away.
there are several things i wanna point out here.
Izuku is stuttering. like. consistently, he is stuttering, because he’s scared of Bakugou’s reaction, even tho he knows he has to do this in order to pass the test. he has to do this, but he really, really, REALLY does not want to.
second, Izuku mentions that when dealing with Bakugou, everything he thinks is bad about himself comes back to him. his self confidence drops. again, this is directly due to all those years of abuse and bullying by Bakugou. i’m sure any time Izuku contradicted something Bakugou said, or tried to get him to do anything, he reacted with violence and jeers. which leads to…..
Izuku isn’t even doing anything. he’s asking Bakugou to cooperate with him in order to pass the test. but he implies one thing that sets Bakugou off (that he can’t beat someone, as in, he’s not strong enough to do so) and Bakugou fucking attacks him. he HITS HIM IN THE FACE WITH HIS GRANDE THING.
i don’t care why Bakugou did this, it was totally uncalled for. that was just absolutely uncalled for. which was the point of the scene. to show just how uncalled for this action was, because Bakugou’s a goddamn bundle of emotional issues and a damn good chunk of them are centered around Izuku.
Bakugou gets better after this fight, thank goodness. he was forced to put aside his pride and work with Izuku to win. the narrative is slowly, but surely, chipping away at his pride and his negative behavior. every time Bakugou does something bad, the narrative punishes him for it, and rewards him whenever he does something good.
Bakugou is getting better. i’ve written so much meta about this that it’s ridiculous. that doesn’t excuse everything he did in the past, however. but hitting Izuku with his grenade arm thing was the worst thing he’s done since the Heroes vs. Villains exam. after this, he pretty much leaves Izuku alone.
Bakugou has a lot of complicated emotional issues that fuel a lot of his behavior, but as the series progresses, he’s gotten better with how he handles them.
this is the first time Bakugou addresses Izuku since the whole kidnapping thing. Izuku still looks a little freaked out and nervous. not as much as he would’ve been before, but it’s still there.
it’s because Bakugou hasn’t been picking on him lately, and Izuku even notes this. not since the Kamino incident, which is when Bakugou gets his first inkling of understanding about the situation between All Might and Izuku.
in fact, when it comes to that issue, Bakugou is always calm.
Bakugou is always calm whenever this issue is brought up. in fact, he’s the most calm we’ve ever seen in the series whenever this issue comes up.
(…. also i just realized the combo of pics above would make a nice graphic. but anyway)
Bakugou isn’t yelling. he isn’t raging. he doesn’t even seem particularly annoyed. no, he’s just…. calm. maybe a little pensive and contemplative. but no violently loud or angry emotions are shown anywhere, which is remarkable given the kind of person Bakugou is.
so Bakugou is getting better… he’s realizing some things about Izuku. some things about Izuku’s relationship with All Might. he’s finding out about a lot of things, and a lot has changed in his attitude because of it.
however, Izuku still flinches when Bakugou calls him in the second to last panel. again, Bakugou is calm throughout all this. yet Bakugou calling him still causes that momentary reaction.
Bakugou is growing and improving and becoming a better person, but Izuku has been abused and bullied by him for over half his life. he hates Bakugou. it’s going to take much, MUCH longer than a few months of peace and quiet for Izuku to not react with fear towards him.
it’s going to take a lot of work, and teamwork, and patience, and a damn fucking good apology from Bakugou. it’s going to take years before this conditioned behavior finally goes away, if it goes away at all.
i do think that Bakugou and Izuku could become tentative friends, over time, but…. it is going to take so much more than just a few months to get to that point. as it is, we’ve only climbed a small hill. that final moment of peace and acceptance and apology is atop a mountain, and it’s going to take the entire manga’s length of character development between these two to reach it.
izzy806
pixelskylines
germansingergirl
baratheonpilled
tangentwithtanner
janainaart
discoholicmusic
blakekathryn
andulkaphoto
snowghoul
