shigarakiss:

don’t get how people can relate to and understand stain but not shigaraki. i find it very hard to understand how stain came to the ideals he did, whereas shigaraki makes complete and perfect sense, is sympathetic and presents a large moral quandary (in the sense he’s been groomed since he was a child for this role).

shigaraki can admit he’s petty and through his reaching out to bakugou (which is fucked up, but understandable from shigaraki’s pov) we can see how he views authority and its actions towards certain people. we know his group is composed of people society has ignored and that shigaraki blames all might both for not being there when people need him and due to the fact large scale heroes like all might contribute to the bystander effect in his mind.

we are aware the villain alliance is a group of people who are neglected on the edges of society and that bnha’s society has failed them. we are aware shigaraki sees pictures of bakugou at the sports festival and thinks ‘they’re failing this kid, he’s just like me, i want him in our group’. this comes from the warped perspective that shigaraki has where he is grateful towards the person who groomed him into the role.

shigaraki’s failure to ‘mature’ is not only because he is an angry person (he is) but because he’s an unhealthy person who has had his environment controlled by those around him, who has had his anger fed by his guardian. in fact, his childish nature, lack of proper guidance and strangely stunted growth is one of the first things the teachers note about him after his first encounter.

ultimately, shigaraki’s role so far is quite tragic. he clearly cares for afo, but it’s clear afo is careful about the information he gives shigaraki because he’s puppeting him and clipping his branches here and there so he grows how afo wants. and as far as that, it’s 100% clear afo is manipulating him, but whether he cares for shigaraki beyond wanting to get back at all might by ‘corrupting’ nana’s kid is hard to say. it presents this extra layer of unclear tragedy where the person shigaraki cares about most possibly only sees him as a tool.