i'm not sure how people can read twilight as a manipulator with how much worrying he does about his mission with the forgers. like him putting on that one outfit in the cruise ship arc, just to be a cool dad for anya, and then his reaction when it is a decisive failure?
and even aside from that, twilight cares so god damn much, he's so incredibly empathetic, but he hides from it with the "it's for the mission" lie, because GOD knows this man is afraid of intimacy / close connections. that's why we get so many instances of twilight looking at a situation and relating it to his past experiences in westalis and the war (and why we get so many instances of the "it's for the mission" lie, because this man is desperately trying to hide from the reality that he cares about this family.)
Right?!?!!! He just can’t allow himself to follow and admit his emotions. He comes up with “logical” explanations for his feelings (like when he said to himself he’s just tired after he acknowledged he’s jealous of the Briar siblings) and once it slips out of his control, he goes into denial i.e. “for the mission” mode - he convinces himself he’s doing everything for the mission. He reminds himself time and time again that at some point he wouldn’t be able to be with Anya and Yor anymore.
From his past experiences, he knows he’s gonna loose whatever he’s built with someone sooner or later (either they part ways or they die) so he doesn’t allow himself to acknowledge he’s close with someone.
Speaking of empathy, I think that among many others, one of the best pieces of evidence for it is how he treats dogs - creatures over which he has the upper hand.
He apologized to one dog three times in the span of a couple of minutes. A dog that was hostile towards him.
This is probably one of the most genuine and “unedited” Twilight’s facial expressions we’ve seen so far. At that moment there was absolutely no need for him to put on a mask or control his expression, there was no one else around except Bond.
Speaking of Bond, in the “saving doggy from the fire” chapter, when the crisis was averted, Twilight got on Bond’s eye level to tell him that he’s gotta be careful because Anya would be heartbroken if something happened to him.
This is something parents do to their kids to help children feel safer, to show them they’re giving the kid their full attention.
And then he goes right into the “for the mission” mode at the slightest sign of affection from a dog. (Good thing Bond doesn’t buy any of hit, judging by his annoyed “borf borf” XD)
I think this also ties back to your original post about Twilight not being used to receiving any kind of gratitude for his actions. He just kinda doesn’t know what to do with it, because literally moments later he gives Bond the Proud Dad look that speaks for itself.
If all of this is not Twilight being a big softie at his core then I’m an alien from Mars.
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