It's funny how the dst fandom will treat Maxwell as a misunderstood man who deserves forgiveness but will treat Wagstaff as the spawn of the devil himself.
This isn't me saying you have to like Wagstaff. I'm saying that the way most folks hate this old man is because one of the more popular characters doesn't like him. (At least that's I keep seeing)
Chat I love WX, don't get me wrong. But they're not some helpless little guy who has no autonomy, that Wagstaff manipulated and abused. If they truly did have a problem with Wagstaff keeping their body around don't you think they'd do something about it? If Wagstaff truly did have issues with Woodrow putting their consciousness in a robot he probably wouldn't even let them build the first one.
The reason why Wagstaff was wanting to stop the experiment was because it was starting to have a negative effect on WX and their mental state. The situation started dissolving into an obsession for wx, and Wagstaff being the closest person had a front row seat to it.
WX killed themself, literally. I think if I watched my friend kill themself to turn into a robot I think I would also start to question the safety of this experiment. Especially when they just keep going without thinking about the consequences.
When Wagstaff tried to make his concerns known how did wx react? We're literally shown in disconnected:
They had an argument, and when Wagstaff finally put his foot down they threw something at him.
I'll acknowledge that Wagstaff burning their research and equipment was kinda fucked up. I acknowledge that him sending them to the constant was also fucked up. But im tired of people treating WX like they don't have any responsibility for it. Both parties handled the situation in ways that resulted in negative outcomes.
I don't think Wagstaff was keeping Wx's human body alive was a reference to him denying their gender. Wx is not just Nonbinary. They're not just a trans allegory, they're a character much like other characters in the cast that struggle with their issues. WX has no concern for organic life and everything that comes with it, that includes the complexities of social relationships between humans. They're an asshole. And brings complications for them in unique ways such has:
Learning how to live with people in an efficient manner in order to ensure their survival.
This isn't me saying them being nonbinary is not an important part of their character, I'm saying that it's not their entire character. They have made decisions that resulted in them being hurt without thinking about the concerns of the people who care about them or their well-being. Wagstaff's reaction albeit extremely harsh, reads more like someone who was just trying to them to recognize that they're hurting themself but WX stubbornly refused to admit that. We've seen it Nature and we've seen in their skill tree short, WX does not care about what happens to them as long as they get what they want in the end. They're self destructive but not in the depressing way that they want to die but in the way that they don't care.
I'm sorry for the nonsensical ramblings about this. Please don't take me venting my frustration with how folks treat WX as this helpless little creature that Wagstaff abused as me saying you're wrong in your interpretation. For all I know I can be completely off the mark with my analysis
