Deaf Bakugo - Tumblr Posts
How do we feel about hearing impaired Bakugo? I know I’ve seen some HC’s of it here and there but not a lot (at least not in my area of tumblr).
Now I am not part of the deaf/HoH community and am absolutely not an expert on this by any means. I don’t understand all the day to day struggles as in depth as I’d like to. I just really don’t want to be THAT person you know? 😬😬
ANYWAY back to my thoughts at hand
I have some mixed feelings about it all, of course depending on when he loses his hearing, or maybe he’s never had it all to begin with.
If it started occurring when he was young I feel like he would be pressured into getting a cochlear implant, by his mom mostly. To me she feels like the type not to embrace that openly. I could genuinely see her getting upset when he as a child responds to her less and less. Or when he asks for things to be repeated, for her to slow down when she talks.
He’s expected to get everything right the first time and that’s just not how it works- she’s the mom that unironically says “read my lips” like that’s just something everyone can do. Also says things like “didn’t you hear what I said?” or “I know you’re ignoring me”, she definitely screams at him when he doesn’t respond quick enough. In instances like the last lines I see him sticking his device to something and leaving it there for her to find as a giant fuck you.
But generally within the surrounding community, life just not readily accessible to everyone. She would see this as the only “acceptable” option for her son to be normal (what the fuck even is normal).
I think when he grew up he would come to resent her a lot for not allowing him to choose for himself. Growing up in a household that views you as a disappointment is hard.
In this scenario I could see him learning sign on his own, whether it be online in his spare time, of course when he’s a little older. Or with the help of his father- I feel like he would be much more accepting and helpful here. Actively trying to get his son into a community where he feels like he’s understood. One where he is enough as he is.
To jump to something happier like I intended this to be-
Katsuki would be such a passionate sign user. His personality and attitude being so expressive; there’s no way he’s being misunderstood anymore. Of course he can still use his processor for school and his hero work, but when he’s off the clock he definitely doesn’t wear it.
Of course there’s the HCs of his friends learning sign to communicate with him better, and it pretty much becomes a must when he refuses to wear the device unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Him teaching them the basics and then bringing them to a deaf function would be a great bonding experience for him and the squad, they’re all learning so much and getting to be people he can rely on a little more. Instead of being so alone.
My favorite thing to think about when it comes to stuff like that is that everyone’s sign name would be something hilarious to him, if not offensive. He definitely gives them their names without them knowing it. But would eventually have to change them when he introduces them to other people in his community.
(The sign for shitty hair is probably something that would get a lot of confused looks, and finger spelling is waaaaaaaaay too impractical for day to day conversation)
Thanks everyone so much for 40 notes on this I appreciate it so much 🥺
How do we feel about hearing impaired Bakugo? I know I’ve seen some HC’s of it here and there but not a lot (at least not in my area of tumblr).
Now I am not part of the deaf/HoH community and am absolutely not an expert on this by any means. I don’t understand all the day to day struggles as in depth as I’d like to. I just really don’t want to be THAT person you know? 😬😬
ANYWAY back to my thoughts at hand
I have some mixed feelings about it all, of course depending on when he loses his hearing, or maybe he’s never had it all to begin with.
If it started occurring when he was young I feel like he would be pressured into getting a cochlear implant, by his mom mostly. To me she feels like the type not to embrace that openly. I could genuinely see her getting upset when he as a child responds to her less and less. Or when he asks for things to be repeated, for her to slow down when she talks.
He’s expected to get everything right the first time and that’s just not how it works- she’s the mom that unironically says “read my lips” like that’s just something everyone can do. Also says things like “didn’t you hear what I said?” or “I know you’re ignoring me”, she definitely screams at him when he doesn’t respond quick enough. In instances like the last lines I see him sticking his device to something and leaving it there for her to find as a giant fuck you.
But generally within the surrounding community, life just not readily accessible to everyone. She would see this as the only “acceptable” option for her son to be normal (what the fuck even is normal).
I think when he grew up he would come to resent her a lot for not allowing him to choose for himself. Growing up in a household that views you as a disappointment is hard.
In this scenario I could see him learning sign on his own, whether it be online in his spare time, of course when he’s a little older. Or with the help of his father- I feel like he would be much more accepting and helpful here. Actively trying to get his son into a community where he feels like he’s understood. One where he is enough as he is.
To jump to something happier like I intended this to be-
Katsuki would be such a passionate sign user. His personality and attitude being so expressive; there’s no way he’s being misunderstood anymore. Of course he can still use his processor for school and his hero work, but when he’s off the clock he definitely doesn’t wear it.
Of course there’s the HCs of his friends learning sign to communicate with him better, and it pretty much becomes a must when he refuses to wear the device unless it’s absolutely necessary.
Him teaching them the basics and then bringing them to a deaf function would be a great bonding experience for him and the squad, they’re all learning so much and getting to be people he can rely on a little more. Instead of being so alone.
My favorite thing to think about when it comes to stuff like that is that everyone’s sign name would be something hilarious to him, if not offensive. He definitely gives them their names without them knowing it. But would eventually have to change them when he introduces them to other people in his community.
(The sign for shitty hair is probably something that would get a lot of confused looks, and finger spelling is waaaaaaaaay too impractical for day to day conversation)
More deaf!bakugo
I never really thought about it before but what about him getting a service dog? One to help him navigate and hear the world for him when he doesn’t want to wear his implants.
He gives me German shepherd or even Doberman vibes, big notice me breeds. Not that he’s looking for attention or anything but we know Bakugo and he isn’t one to look over
They’d shove their wet nose in his face just a minute before his alarm goes off (he’s such a light sleeper that the vibration wakes him up without fail) just to get some cuddles before starting their day together.
On a different note though his service dog wouldn’t only be good for hearing for him. They’d be a welcome anchor in his life, and his feelings.
It’s such a hard thing to be Deaf to begin with and I make no move to know all the struggles. But I can only imagine how it would feel to lose your hearing over time. By something you have no control over.
The options he does have to stop the loss would not be an easy choice for him- either give up his dreams and passion (being a hero) which is everything to him, or slowly lose the most accessible and acceptable form of communication.
He would have such big feelings going through it and finally having the comfort of someone who doesn’t care that he can’t hear them, is staggering. His dog doesn’t think somethings wrong with him, like other people do. Or that he should do this or that to make things easier on others. They only care about him.
When he’s having a particularly rough time I think he’d benefit from deep pressure therapy, then laying on his chest or in his lap- just a real grounding presence to help secure him.
On Being Prepared
A deaf/hard of hearing!Bakugo x gn!reader one shot
If there is one lesson that hero work has taught you it’s this: you can never be prepared for everything. Sure, you can think of a million different scenarios, make a plan b and then keep going until you hit plan z. You can spend hours prepping the night before. But even with all that it is impossible to be prepared for everything.
And this? This you were not prepared for.
All things considered it was a pretty ordinary bust. You and Bakugo had been following a few ex members of the liberation front for months. They weren’t particularly dangerous, had been low level lackeys at best, so you had fully expected for the two of you to kick ass, take names, and then make it back home to your shared apartment with plenty of time to cook dinner together. The two of you tracked the villains to a long abandoned construction site where they had intended to buy quirk enhancing drugs. Cutting off their points of entry had been easy and, while they put up a decent fight, it took less than an hour for you and your boyfriend to subdue the villains. As the two of you were waiting for the police to show up though a large hunk of concrete, apparently knocked loose during the fighting, dislodged and began hurtling down to earth, right where you were standing. It was coming in fast but thankfully Katsuki was faster, as he pushed you out of the way with one hand and raised the other to blow the concrete into a million pieces with a perfectly timed explosion.
“Fuck that was close. Thanks Love,” you said as you stood up and dusted yourself off. Katsuki didn’t respond. “Hello? Katsuki?” you tried again, but still no response. As your boyfriend’s eyes finally turned to look at you, you noticed panic there and it was like someone poured ice water into your veins. “Baby, what’s wrong? Are you ok?” you asked panic seeping into your own voice as you stepped forward and grabbed your boyfriend’s now shaking hands. “I can’t hear you,” he finally said, tears starting to well in his eyes. “What?” His eyes darted down to your lips as you spoke and he choked on his words when he responded. “(Y/n) I can’t hear you.”
That had been three hours ago now. You sat holding his hand in a hospital room, acting as his ears as the doctors try to explain. They tell you how that last explosion must have been the straw that broke the camel’s back. Mention how, in retrospect, neither of you should be surprised that after 20 years of popping off explosions right next to his ears, Katsuki had finally lost most of his hearing in both. Recovery Girl had tried her best to repair the damage but there was nothing more that could be done. Katsuki would need hearing aids and they recommend he learn sign language for when he isn’t wearing them or in case the damage gets worse. “You can come back in tomorrow to pick up hearing aids for him,” the doctor tells you before walking away and leaving the both of you to process.
Katsuki is quiet the whole way home.
You try to communicate with him but he refuses to look at you, which leaves you no options so instead you go to your phone to start looking up resources for the deaf and hard of hearing. Even once you get home he heads straight to the bedroom and closes the door behind him. You have just started cooking dinner alone when your phone buzzes with a text from him: “How am I supposed to protect you if I can’t fucking hear”
Takeout it is tonight.
You abandon the cooking in favor of going to the bedroom. It’s a heartbreaking sight. The mirror has been shattered and one of Katsuki’s fists is bleeding from where the glass shards had embedded after he punched it. He’s sitting on the bed staring blankly forward and his eyes are red. You go into the bathroom to get a wash cloth and wet it. When you return you sit next to him on the bed and gingerly clean his knuckles, extracting any remaining glass. When you finish you press a gentle kiss to the broken skin. You pull up the notes app on your phone and begin typing:
“Katsuki Bakugo, you are the strongest man I have ever met. I knew it when we were just kids back in UA. I knew it when we decided to open up a hero agency together. And I know it still now. You may be deaf but that does not make you weak. We’ll figure this out together and you’ll be right back to protecting me and everyone else in this city. In the mean time let me protect you a little bit.”
His eyes water again as he reads over the message but he quickly scrubs the threatening tears away. “Only for a little bit dumb ass, then it’s right back to me protecting you,” he types back. You roll your eyes then erase your last message and type out a new one: “Bet I can learn sign language faster than you can” The scowl and angry typing you get in response is worth it to know that he’s still the stubborn, competitive bastard you fell in love with.
So no, it’s not possible to prepare for everything; but as long as the two of you are together, you’re pretty sure it will all be just fine.