Lemei

I always read it as ridiculous/stupid, not goofy and silly tbh. It's kind of if you don't laugh, you'll cry, but put in visual form lol.

In the recent chapters I haven't seen very much of him being artistically depicted lightly anyway.

I think it’s to show he's a dynamic character. He loves his sister, he was once friends and rival with Sylhan, still cares for Sylhan somewhat in an effed up possessive way (if you can call that caring), and he has his goofy moments. He also is a jealous, insecure, abusive arsehole. People aren’t one dimensional and I think that’s what the author is trying to show.

No. That’s just how some abusers can be. They can look “silly guy” to others but to a victim, that silly guy is an abuser.

I guess that's what's throwing me off. We're reading the story from MC perspective, yet Lister isn't shown through MC perspective (except for the times he really is drawn menacingly)

Not always, but he seems to often be drawn through his own perspective and how he sees himself.

Abuse isn’t always shown outrageously menacing. So perhaps MC sees that not by appearance but what he has gone through and his future expectations from that guy. His calm demeanor and angry attitude is what MC sees, he knows that lister can go between those two demeanors so.

If you’re talking about when he’s around his sister, I feel that it shows he’s immature and insufferable, not as respectable as Lisbet. Interestingly, it also shows us glimpses of how Lister can actually be gentle and love. Really eerie tbh