#healthy bakudeku

[kimbapkimbapp]

Bkdk make each other stronger

We all know the unhealthy part of their relationship but let's get into why I think they're healthy for each other.

Katsuki at the start of the series was someone who repressed his emotions so badly to the point he bullied Izuku to cover his jealousy and admiration for him. As I said before, Katsuki never thought Izuku was weak, he thought HE was the one who was weaker and he couldn't stand that.

To Katsuki the definition of strong came with a strong personality and quirk, but Izuku was the total opposite of that. Why then did he admire him? Because there's something so strong in a soft and kind heart. And that is the true essence of being a hero, something that Katsuki just couldn't have (but it is in him).

Izuku shows his sadness, his happiness, his anger, his fears and his passions. Katsuki deeply wants to do that, but he represses himself because he thinks that that's being 'weak'. But as Katsuki grows with Izuku, he realises that there's something so powerful about opening yourself. He isn't afraid of showing his emotions that much because if something hurts him he knows he will stand up again, and that's true strength.

Katsuki only cried with Izuku because secretly, he has always wanted to open up his heart, and Izuku doesn't judge him for that. That's why Izuku makes him better.

On the other side, Izuku was someone that didn't take action to accomplish his goals. In the first episode we see that even if Izuku wants to be a hero more than anything he doesn't do anything to pursue that dream. Yes sure, he has notebooks filled with hero analysis, but he doesn't go outside of his perfect and idolised world. And Katsuki tells him the harsh truth 'you can't be a hero without a quirk (strength)', you need to work it up.

Because let's be fr, Izuku wasn't doing any type of training. And yes, you can be a hero without a quirk, or are you telling me that mineta's quirk or the brick head guy are stronger than a quirkless person? Let's be fr.

But Izuku needed to put his feet on the ground, and that's what Katsuki made him to. Izuku tries to be better every time because Katsuki challenges him. And he gets better, waaay better.

Katsuki wakes Izuku up for the very first time with the sludge villain, showing up the true nature of their relationship from the very beginning. A Katsuki who shows up his true emotions when he looks at Izuku and a Izuku who shows his strength when looking at Katsuki.

Izuku taught Katsuki strength by acknowledging himself, and Katsuki taught Izuku strength by working hard for his goals, and I think that's amazing.

[sugawara--san]

deku is both a night owl and a morning person you know that bitch gets no sleep. and bakugou is neither but at least he gets his beauty rest

[seagreenstardust]

“When toxic behavior is portrayed as romantic, it’s problematic. When problematic behavior is portrayed as a character flaw for a character to work through, it’s good storytelling.”

Katsuki Bakugou, my friends.

His behavior was problematic but never once portrayed as romantic at the same time. Katsuki said and did awful abusive things, and he also chose to be better when he was given the chance. If you’re still hung up on chapter 1 Katsuki now then I don’t think you’ve been reading the same story I have.

I can’t speak for everyone, but I’m not shipping Izuku with an irredeemable abuser. I’m shipping him with his most important person. His narrative foil. His childhood friend who made awful mistakes and then made it right when he saw he was wrong. The person Izuku looks up to and strives to emulate, despite their past struggles.

Bakudeku is so good because of how flawed these boys are, and how hard they’ve worked to get over it, and how much they matter to each other after it all

[kidokear]

I'd like to think that Katsuki could never get used to Deku in suit (in a good way)

[kenzie1alizabeth]

My brain is just a constant battle between bkdk and kiribaku while shinkami and dabihawks sip their tea in the background

[thehauntedmarionnette]

Bakudeku correct quotes part four; Gays? In our hero academia? Most likely.

Katsuki: Just a minute. I need to go take out the trash. Izuku: Oh. We're going out? Katsuki: Wh… Katsuki: What do you want to be for Halloween? Izuku: Yours. Katsuki:... Katsuki: …yeah, that would be pretty scary. Izuku: Hey, random question, what are your favorite flowers? Katsuki: Peonies, why? Izuku:... Katsuki: Were you going to get me flowers? Izuku:... Katsuki: Izuku: ᶦᵗ’ˢ ᵃ ᵖᵒˢˢᶦᵇᶦˡᶦᵗʸ Katsuki: You got a date yet Izuku? Izuku: No… Katsuki: Well you do now! Get your ass up and hold my hand! Izuku: I’m in love with you. Katsuki: We called off the prank war last night at midnight, dork. Izuku: I know. Katsuki: Ah. Okay. Um. Cool. Neat. Very cool. Cool. Cool. Coolcoolcool- Izuku: I don't need to go to bed. I'm not tired, I'll be fine. Katsuki: But, darling, I'll be so lonely without you. Come curl up in my arms so I can feel whole again. Izuku: O-oh. Well. Are you trying to seduce me into healthy sleeping patterns?? Katsuki: Is it working?

[seagreenstardust]

Ochaco gets wounded by villains: Izuku shows the same genuine heartfelt concern he shows to everyone

Katsuki gets injured, kidnapped, threatened or even insulted: Izuku loses his mind, forgets how to be a human, and maybe develops a new quirk in retribution

[nightowl1556]

"Biggest fan favorite" HA! Good one... 🤣🤣🤣

[marimeeko]

Do you think 8 years was originally the best amount of time they could make the suit? Or did they give Katsuki a prognosis of like 10+ years before a suit could be ready to replicate Dekus powers? And then, to these prodigy scientists, these experts in the support gear technology, these best of the best, katsuki said:

No, not good enough. MAKE IT FASTER.

And then threw every spare yen he could possibly afford at them.

[seagreenstardust]

It’s become so apparent to me that whenever Katsuki yells at Izuku in seasons 4 or 5 it’s usually a direct result of him getting flustered. If Izuku shows any ounce of caring about Katsuki, of being happy because of or for him there’s is almost always an explosion of shouting in result.

Katsuki Bakugo doesn’t blush when he’s flustered, he yells and blows things up and it’s astounding to me how clear that is in canon. He’s emotionally regulating the only way he knows how. We know his internal landscape is rapidly changing at this point so it makes total sense for him to end up in these situations where he doesn’t know what to do or how to handle or even identify his feelings so he falls back into what’s comfortable just to maintain a little equilibrium

[smallmightsupremacy]

I still think about this picture....... a lot

[alumi-san]

The fact that Bakudeku is still high on AO3 ship stats... I hope they're gonna fall next year and instead, Tododeku, Rodydeku, or Izuocha gonna get the recension they deserve

[cookie-dough-writes]

I was never really around for old fandom culture but Oh my god I feel like we need to bring some of that attitude back. Bring back the word squick, I BEG. Some times in life people indulge in questionable stuff which might make you yourself uncomfortable, that's great, it's good to know what you don't like, but some times you just have to move on. You don't need to send a paragraph to someone explainging ummm their [harmless] take was totally wrong or that they're an evil person for making something a bit questionable.

It's good practice to breathe and move on. You need to pick your battles. Telling someone to kill themself over a POST ONLINE, no matter how dodgy, just is not constructive and rarely blows off steam. Just breathe, and move on.

[greenbeen-with-an-e]

I genuinely despise bakugou's character and his "friendship" with izuku. Even "Deku" being his hero name saddens me. This to me is symbolic of him carrying on the abuse dealt to him by bakugou's hands. Though I doubt horikoshi intended it that way, what with his obsession and blatant favouritism of bakugou's character that clearly hinders the character development of his MAIN character.

Random thought.

Do you think Bakugo would be a better character if his mom smacking and yelling at him had actually been used for a "Bakugo is from an abusive home." Instead of slapstick.

Like in a moment where he jokes about it to a other UA student who is like, "Dude...do you think that's normal? Cause you shouldn't."

No. For me that's feeding the wolves that are his fans. With the track record of horikoshi, he's gonna use it to JUSTIFY bakugou's shit, with double fucking standars that makes you ask ¿if bakugou can be angry for the abuse he suffered, why can't izuku?

At this point, i despise when fans make mitsuki abusive just to woobify bakugou.

Also, i sincerely find bakugou the most boring character in the story that gets unnecesary attention when he did nothing to deserve it.

He could have been a great background character, instead de get the worst written rival and deutoragonist in manga history.

If bakugou had been given that background, i would still despise him, because nothing justifies abusing others just to feel better about yourself.

Not to mention that hori committed a mistake when he described way back as narcicistic, and that is that it gives more justification as to why he shouldn't be paired up with izuku in anything, or to give him unearned victories in the first place, that just feeds their world view making them double down on their toxic traits, and the fact that the narrative doesn't call him out correctly for said behaviour makes his "character developtment" more artificial than it should.

I had my expiriences with people of this particular psycological trait, and the best thing you can do is cut them out of your life, a right hori denies to Izuku.

In layman terms, even with that supposed abusive background, he would still be the same putrid disgusting character he has been till now.

[habken]

If you're willing to share can you give a few reasons why you think Bakudeku works so well as a ship? (I also ship them and love your art!)

okay...

I think they just naturally fall into each other’s orbit. Living in each other's minds rent free 24/7. Their entire lives are so intertwined. Even when things were bad between them, there's never been a point where they haven't been part of each other's life in some capacity.

They've influenced each other so much you can see little habits they share and behaviours they've picked up from one another. Izuku acting more like Katsuki when he wants to win is the obvious one, but even little things like the way they think out loud and pinch their lips and stuff are similar.

I don't think it's right to undermine Katsuki's bullying and the falling out between them, but coming from a place where there's a lot of animosity and hurt and then having that turn into a relationship where they both mutually care for each other and challenge each other to do better and be better is really interesting.

I think that's part of the reason it's such a compelling relationship in general, not just in a romantic way. They start off at the lowest point - we see them at their absolute worst and then we get to watch as they mend that fractured friendship and build up a genuine and healthy bond.

To me personally, the trajectory of their relationship was evident as soon as episode two, when Katsuki chased after Izuku after the sludge villain to let him know how much he "didn't need his help." That's the point that I decided I was interested to see how their characters developed as the story kept going, and I think it was such a huge payoff.

I think it also made for a lot of interesting fanworks. In the earlier days especially, you really had to work at it to make things good between them. Canonically, their relationship really is a slow burn lol, so if you wanted to write something that followed close to the actual story, there had to be tons of build up. I've read stuff where the beats felt so similar to what happened in the actual series which is crazy. It's a ship that lends itself to deep and lengthy analysis and a lot of people ended up being pretty spot on because of that.

I also think what's special about them is how intentional they work to make things right between each other again. They want to know each other's feelings, they want to be rivals and fight alongside each other, and be neck in neck and constantly chasing after each other. They want to be close again. Izuku offering Katsuki an olive branch and asking him about his fighting style after their bout at ground beta and Katsuki finally grabbing onto it is such a turning point for their relationship. It's a conscious choice on both their parts to work towards mending what was between them.

And I could go on and on about Katsuki's character arc, but that's a different post lol. For simplicity's sake, his arc is about recognizing for himself where his weaknesses lie, seeing how his actions hurt and shaped Deku, and working not only on himself, but on repairing the rift between them that he caused. He works with Izuku, shares and keeps his secret, trains with him, and eggs him on more and more lightheartedly as the series goes on.

His choice to care for Izuku, let him into his life again, and make up for what he's done is really important. Nobody is really forcing him to atone for his past and it's his desire to do so despite the lack of external pressure that makes that change feel genuine and meaningful. Training with Deku to master his quirks, sacrificing himself for Izuku during their fight with shigaraki, apologizing to him in front of the entire class and letting go of his pride, choosing to call him by his given name, dying with Izuku's name on his lips, fighting the big bad and continuously repeating that when Izuku can't handle it, he'll step in for him - all of these things are so telling of the kind of care he purposefully put into their relationship, and the way he grew and changed throughout the story.

And I think that in light of everything else, the fact that they remain important to each other right until the end is what makes it such a beautiful relationship, no matter what context you want to see it in. They love each other! They can't imagine a world in which the other isn't part of their life, and they actively and continuously work to make that a reality.

They're soulmates that intentionally chose to be so.

[lexithwrites]

i know codependency isn't healthy but GOD i love codependant bakudeku its just so good there's something about them needing to know the other is still okay even if their rooms are next door, izuku pressing his ear to katsuki's chest to hear his heart, katsuki waking up in a cold sweat because he thinks deku has run off or been taken from him, always touching whether it's shoulder to shoulder, thigh to thigh or their fingers slightly intertwined, refusing to room with anyone else but each other because they'd be running over to each others apartments if they lived apart anyway, helping each other through physical therapy, the stubborn attitude katsuki has when izuku has to go somewhere and he cant come, izuku sniffling when katsuki stays out late on a mission for longer than he planned, only for him to rush home and make dinner with him to make up for it GOD HELP ME