I’m still thinking about these panels, and the last one in particular.
Shigaraki has ‘father’ in these panels. He’s always been careful with it - and we assume also with his other hands; it’s one of the very few things he doesn’t seem to want to destroy.
The fact that he doesn’t remember his past life - that the hand doesn’t actually hold any memories besides traumatic fragments - means it’s not the comfort object we assumed it was. Instead, besides the rage and nausea, he seems bemused by it.
The way he’s holding ‘father’ up, it looks as if he’s examining it. He’s got both hands on it, thumbs on the edges, leaving the rest of it, most of it, visible. The way you hold something up the light to squint at it, not certain what it means for you, not certain if you want it.
The words he says while doing so, that he had been empty - of memories, feeling, life - adds to that. Shigaraki knows the hand is supposed to hold meaning, yet he can’t figure out what.
I can just imagine Shigaraki, during a quiet moment, staring at the hands, poking at them, tracing the palm lines. Pensive? It probably makes him feel empty still - that he likely can’t remember the person behind the hand? - and yet he still keeps the hands. Still cares for them.
