This may just be me, but I’m noticing an odd habit of people not really liking it when their faves are at all problematic or complicated.
When Deceit was initially revealed, it was all-or-nothing. He was either a horrible, manipulative and abusive figure or completely kind and trying his best. There was no in-between, even though I am of the strong opinion that he’s just morally gray and interesting, not... bad.
I’ve said this before and I’ll say it again: I’m not here to dictate your fandom experience. If Deciet makes you uncomfortable or triggers you, I 100% understand. If you don’t like characters, I don’t mind that, either- you don’t need to justify yourself to me.
But what I’m mainly commenting on is not people’s personal preferences in characters- I’m more concerned with how, at the vaguest hint of doing something morally complex, people seem to go from “sweet baby child” to “horrible manipulative monster” in an instant.
And... no??? Like I said, if this is what you want to write about and explore, all the power to you- but I beg you to stop trying to convince the fandom that a previously loved character is awful because they came to a resolution you do not agree with. Patton is allowed to be moral to a fault- that’s what makes him an interesting character. It feels like half of the point of this video was that- that if you let your morality and selflessness dictate everything you do, you won’t be happy.
And that’s what Thomas allowed to happen.
It’s the same with anxiety, romanticism, logic, and deceit. If given complete control, the results are often self destructive and, well, shitty for others as well. The point of Sanders Sides is finding that balance, as we saw with Virgil’s arc, and a little bit with Deceit’s first episode. The fact that people are immmediatly labeling a good character ‘manipulative’ and ‘abusive’ because he was given too much control is just... wild to me. What happened to a happy medium, or being able to enjoy a flawed character?
If anything, the recent episode made me love the Sides more because of how interesting and dynamic their relationships have become, and I’m excited to see how that unfolds. Again: not saying you should feel what I feel, but please stop this senseless attacking of content creators and fans for liking a character you don’t. It’s bullying and it’s really missing the point.