[Tony hesitates.] I think... you want to be better. [He sighs, sounding a little frustrated again.] I know you're not all bad, Gene. I know there's good in you. I've seen it.
[Despite the memorydump, he's still having a hard time understanding why Gene keeps being so... Gene. He wants to be good, Tony knows he has the potential to be good, and he even seems to recognize now when he's doing something wrong... so why does he keep being an enormous shitlord screwing it up? It's like every time he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, he turns around and runs screaming in the other direction.
Tony wishes he knew what to tell Gene; something to give him purpose, or direction. But "stop doing that thing where you're evil" is pretty lame constructive criticism. He just doesn't know how to teach someone who wants to do the right thing but keeps doing the wrong thing how to... not keep doing the wrong thing.
Sadly, the distance between their experiences is still too vast. He's seen the worst moments of Gene's past, and felt the guilt and the shame and the toxic power of Gene's conviction that he was on his own and no one would ever stand by his side. But Tony, who's always had a loving and supportive father and best friend, who has been indulged and encouraged all his life -- he still doesn't fully grasp just how thoroughly Gene has locked himself into his destructive cycles.]
I have so many insightful things to say here that I can't say b/c it's not IC b/c Tony's dumb
[Despite the memorydump, he's still having a hard time understanding why Gene keeps being so... Gene. He wants to be good, Tony knows he has the potential to be good, and he even seems to recognize now when he's doing something wrong... so why does he keep
being an enormous shitlordscrewing it up? It's like every time he sees the light at the end of the tunnel, he turns around and runs screaming in the other direction.Tony wishes he knew what to tell Gene; something to give him purpose, or direction. But "stop doing that thing where you're evil" is pretty lame constructive criticism. He just doesn't know how to teach someone who wants to do the right thing but keeps doing the wrong thing how to... not keep doing the wrong thing.
Sadly, the distance between their experiences is still too vast. He's seen the worst moments of Gene's past, and felt the guilt and the shame and the toxic power of Gene's conviction that he was on his own and no one would ever stand by his side. But Tony, who's always had a loving and supportive father and best friend, who has been indulged and encouraged all his life -- he still doesn't fully grasp just how thoroughly Gene has locked himself into his destructive cycles.]