There's a lot of validity in the idea that older Bakugo is a traumatized pro-hero with major PTSD... but you know what's kinda fucked up to think about? The fact that Bakugo is also a 22-year-old pro-hero with major PTSD even before that, too.
It's almost easy to imagine that things are actually better when he's older (the therapy finally a routine, the trauma long set and on the path to being healed)... and that it's his whole 20s that are spent as a pool of disaster trying to recover from the war(s).
He looks back and barely even remembers being twenty, much less twenty-five or twenty-seven. Barely remembers how little he slept, not at the hands of trying to balance hero work and getting a degree at the same time, but just out of the pure insomnia that came from trying to move on and every nightmare attached.
Hardly ever showering, never shaving (not that he ever grew much of a beard, but the facial hair was definitely there. There's pictures of him on the news with an awkward, grown out haircut and patches on facial hair that make him look positively... immature), barely even eating more than a few protein bars or an energy jelly drink-a day. It's a blur, and his friends are hardly there to pick him up out of it because they're all going through it, too. Somewhat.
It's definitely weird if you meet him during this period. He's not all there, at least, not all of the time. He doesn't really register your interactions, the friendship you extend to him (a younger, or ever older, version of him would've shown you that deep seeded ferocity in response, tried to bite the hand that fed him, even if it were love... but 20s Bakugo... doesn't seem to notice). Even though only one of his eyes is clouded over, the good one never seems to brighten up.
There's definitely moments when the old him shines through: when he's with Deku, when he's in the midst of battle, when he finds out that Todoroki still does a shitty job at chopping scallions. But it's a long time before he's even close to the same, able to step out from underneath the fog of simply surviving and into the sunshine of recovering.
But I think sticking through it with him is worth it.
(It's a weird moment, a happy moment, the first time you realize that Bakugo has changed. That the pouring rain outside hasn't bothered him since he showed up at your apartment. He forgot his umbrella, he's been quite careless ever since the war—wet and shaggy hair frizzed up, cheeks red from cold—but he doesn't seem to mind, with his bare feet up on your coffee table, his eyes gazing out the window. You hand his tea, and instead of gulping it down in one go, letting it burn in his throat, he winces at the heat.
"Tastes like shit," he says, and you laugh because it always does. Just this time, he noticed.)
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my baby sibling is 11 years younger than me (currently 14) and the gayest high school freshman you'll ever see. and whenever we talk i'm like [jokingly] [shaved head hoodie or button up and cargo pants] how do i look. and they're like you look sooooooooo cool every time we talk you're wearing something cool you're like the coolest looking person i know. and it's very sweet. and i assume a 1:1 to what it would be like to time travel back to 2012 to talk to myself at 14 years old. just an instant hit whenever i'm on facetime with them of knowing i'm changing some future gay kid's life in the antique store
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i’m very sorry, but you guys have got to properly label your ao3 fics because “bad parents jack and maddie fenton” is starting to really get on my nerves.
and if, in the middle of the fic, you decide to add a tag like that: PLEASE communicate that you’ve done so in the chapter notes. because i don’t recheck the tags after i’ve bookmarked something.
please. i don’t think it’s that big of an ask.
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I've been listening to Loser, Baby from Hazbin Hotel on repeat despite having a minimal interest in Hazbin Hotel and tbh I think Loser, Baby might go in the "songs to listen to if you need cheering up" playlist lol.
It's just such a funny song but also the message isn't horrible. I love that it starts off sounding like Husk is just being a dick to Angel Dust for the sake of being a dick but no, he has a point to make (although I will say that it definitely feels like Husk is intentionally making it seem like he's being a dick to be a dick just to get a rise out of Angel, especially in the show lmao). So here are my takeaways from it:
Because I vaguely know what Husk is like in terms of his personality overall, I'm pretty confident in saying that he was intentionally trying to get a rise out of Angel to prove a point. Genuinely watching Angel slowly lose his mind as Husk bullies him is hilarious lmao
The entire song is basically Husk trying to get Angel to accept himself as he is and realize he's not alone, because Husk and Angel's flaws and trauma don't have to completely destroy them.
Disney underutilized Keith David in The Princess and The Frog
Husk says "But letting walls down, it can sometimes set you straight" and I think that's one of the biggest takeaways from Loser, Baby. Sometimes (usually. always) opening up is the first step to recovery.
The message of Loser, Baby is very much "You're not alone and you should feel more than free to embrace and own your flaws" and I love it. Loser, Baby doesn't suggest that being a loser is a bad thing, but something to embrace. Husk's goal isn't to put down Angel Dust, it's to get him to embrace a part of himself he's grown to hate and tell him that being damaged doesn't mean he should give into hopelessness (hell, he even accepts the parts of Angel that Angel himself hates with no hesitation), and especially in the context of the episode Loser, Baby appears in it's not a bad message.
i love these two and i love this song and i love how loser, baby promotes embracing aspects of yourself you hate
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