People often discuss how Dabi's personal agenda brings him apart from the lov, bringing it up as the perfect example of how little they actually cooperate, but like. I feel like one argument they always fail to make when mentioning that is that Dabi has always had Shigaraki's okay to do so.
When people say that Dabi "doesn't care about the League", they often take it to mean that he acts against orders and ghosts them to avoid duty. But that's completely fanon...? Please don't forget that this panel exists.
Dabi literally checked with Tomura before he went off to do his own thing and Tomura let him.
That is trust.
Do you really think that Shigaraki would've let Dabi be the Vanguard Leader if he had so little faith that Dabi could act as a good second in command to vouch for Shigaraki's will when Shigaraki himself wasn't on the frontlines?
Or have we forgotten that Dabi has literally never been shown to act against Shigaraki's orders, either?
Let's do a recap. Training camp arc: Dabi successfully kidnaps Bakugou with minor losses on their side, and - ironically - he only loses the members who weren't sticking to the plan and went off on murdering sprees of their own. Shigaraki's first mission as a leader, the Usj attack, ended with a lot more losses on the League's ranks, not to mention the loss of the noumu he was entrusted with, also unlike Dabi. Just saying.
Chisaki's arc. Dabi was absent for most of it, true. But when he came back, he was literally on the frontlines again. He did his part in Snatches murder, even when we were later told he had some amounts of regrets over orphaning families.
Machia's arc. Dabi was, once again, there on the frontlines. His flames were useless against the giant, so it makes perfect sense when he told Shigaraki he wanted quits. Remember, Dabi's prolonged use of his quirk burns him. This wasn't Dabi not caring about helping. This was Dabi realizing that he was more useful elsewhere. Like recruiting Hawks, who he thought was an helpful asset for the league at the time. And again. Shigaraki let him.
Plf arc. Dabi gets dragged back. He shows reluctance about being pitted against an army, and I mean, who the fuck wouldn't? Let's be real. They were only six vs thousands. And Dabi is painfully aware of his own limits, so much so that he avoids fights whenever possible. But he sticks around all the same, and fights seriously too. Dabi. Who is all like "I don't care about your personal feelings". "Why do I have to fight them". "I don't care about the League". That Dabi. He stayed, and he fought.
Dabi, who still gets to be a leader even after Shigaraki's ranks expand, because he still has Shigaraki's trust.
Current war arc. Dabi, who is still painfully aware of his limits, goes back for Twice. Let's not forget here that Hawks has been taught to fight with his eyes closed since he was a child. Meanwhile Dabi has no hand-to-hand combat skills and can only rely on a quirk that burns him when he uses it for too long. That Dabi still went up against a Hawks at full power. Hawks who had all his feathers, and could still arrest him in his sleep. For Twice. When Dabi's prior precedent for trying to fight Hawks and Endeavor was waiting for them to have a foot in the grave. When Dabi literally had no reason to even march back to where Jin was, because there was a war outside that he was meant to fight. I mean, sure, some might argue that he was there to settle some kind of score with Hawks and nothing else. But then why going out of his way to reassure Twice? Why the high five, why the reminder that Toga and Compress were counting on him? Those are not typical things Dabi does. He's not buddy-buddy. Those were done for Jin's benefit, because Dabi saw how distressed he was.
So. Newsflash, Dabi does actually care about the League. And he IS cooperative, even if he bitches and moans about it. That doesn't mean that he's not also a lone wolf, or a rude asshole, or that he still has an agenda of his own. It just means that Shigaraki is aware of it, and that is fine with him.
And before anyone argues with that, too. Let me remind you of another important panel:
Shigaraki is absolutely the kind of leader who lets his underlings pursue their own goals.
When Spinner showed doubts about his leadership, Tomura didn't force him to stay in the League. Rather, he showed him better leadership, and gave him a reason to stay.
Hell, he never even forced Bakugou to join their ranks. Sure, he kidnapped him. But then he also untied him and gave him a chance to speak up for himself, and when everyone else protested, Shigaraki reminded them that they should've treated Bakugou as an equal, if they wanted him to be one of them. Basically, he gave Bakugou the choice of expressing his wants (when the heroes chained him up to a podium and forced him to take a medal he didn't want).
So. All of this to say... People want to think that Dabi is a lot more independent and self-reliant than he actually is, but I feel like in doing so they not only mischaracterize him, but Shigaraki as well.
Never forget
