First off, I’ve read a lot of your meta before and I think you’re amazing and understand Tomura better than a lot of other people on here do. Also, I agree with most of what you’re saying here.
With that said, you seem to not only be misunderstanding most of people’s opinions of Shigaraki, but simplifying the situation, especially when it comes to potential abuse, as well. There’s lots of context to show that Tomura was likely abused, and you’re right that we can’t know for sure, but I don’t think it matters if we know. Even if he’s 100% canonically a victim of abuse from AfO, that still doesn’t mean he’s ‘just a brainwashed victim’. You’re right: the LARGEST influence in his life was, undoubtedly, how hero society is broken and the way it failed to save him. It shaped his ideals, why he wants to be a villain. BUT that doesn’t mean he can’t have also suffered from some abuse from AfO.
First off, I’ve got some opinions on how to deal with Tomura being abused.
Abuse warps the way you look to things and react to situations, but it doesn’t take away your autonomy and frankly implying otherwise is kinda,,,, not good. It’s not brainwashing, but it still is something with A LOT of influence. People who’ve dealt with abuse are more than only what their abusers made them. But what’s been done still leaves scars, both mental and emotional, and Tomura would still only be just now starting to have the chance to heal from them, much less recognize he’d been hurt in the first place.
And of course Tomura was also shaped by how society discarded him, neglected him, left him for dead. It’s just that most of us don’t talk about how that shaped his personality and values as much simply because it’s so obvious that we don’t feel the need to.
Simply put, if someone’s a hardcre Shiggy Stan, they’re probably fully well aware that hero society can be massively messed up in several ways, and that it’s the driving force behind Shigaraki’s actions. For most of us who care enough to be vocal about his character, we’re not letting society off scott-free. We’re simply acknowledging that there is harm being done on both sides.
As for whether it’s abusive, I’m not going to go into how AfO could be abusive. We can talk in hypotheticals to get the point across. What I want to clarify here is where you said “I’ve got no illusions that it was benevolent or selfless, but I’d probably call it misguided over malicious,” since it doesn’t fit with how things like abuse can work. Even if AfO was somehow doing everything out of genuine love, it could still be abuse. As you said, this is a issue of separating action versus ideology; the fact is, AfO’s actions should be evaluated for they are. Just because he’s hypothetically misguided doesn’t mean he automatically isn’t abusive. Abuse simply doesn’t work like that.
Secondly, I think you might have a slight misinterpretation of how most Tomura fans think about him. If you’re assumption about how we feel was correct, I’d completely agree with your point aside from what I’ve already mentioned.
Please try and understand the difference between ‘I’ve noticed that in canon, context and theme imply that certain things likely have happened to this character and if so, they would strongly influence major parts of his character and personality’ and ‘because this thing could have happened, this is COMPLETELY HOW HE IS AND THERE ARE NO PARTS OF HIS CHARACTER OUTSIDE OF THESE TRAITS AND THAT’S JUST ALL THEY ARE.’
At least in the context of Tomura, most people are saying the former, so please don’t just act as if everyone is doing the latter. As for other characters *cough* Dabi and Hawks *cough* this is a much more common - but still not universal- issue. Tomura’s not ‘just a brainwashed victim.’ He’s someone who’s dealt with mistreatment on all counts, and is growing though and past them. He was taken from a horrible situation, and put in a better one without realizing that the newer situation could still be negatively influencing his health and wellbeing, and he became so much more than the sum of those hardships. He’s so beautifully complex, and the combination of all these experiences, including ones dealt to him by AfO, is what makes him so compelling!
I can’t speak on behalf of anyone else, but personally, when I talk about or reblog posts pointing out Tomura’s abuse, it is not in any way claiming that it controls and dictates all of his ideals! I’ve spoken to soooo many Tomura fans about topics like this andso far they all understand this point just as well as I do.
So. I agree with your statement. You’re right, Shigaraki is not simply a gaslit puppet. You’re right, Shigaraki is complex. Just remember the situation itself is just as much so, and actually much more nuanced than you’re claiming. You’re right in that we shouldn’t oversimplify Shigaraki’s character. We shouldn’t make premature assumptions. I’m simply reminding you to do the same.
also sorry this got so long i just love discussing meta and stuff like this swdf3rg24h5yjn6umk7i sorry if i come off as too much
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