As a kid I wanted to see more of Linus, Charlie Brown, etc, not this "intruder". She was dumb, she wore sandals, had the same name as a candy I didn't like (kids!). But she's one of the most complex characters, w/specific anxieties/issues, who feels things very deeply. And she's fierce and funny.
She rocks. I always related to her “stubbornly weird misfit” attitude.
And in hindsight, Patty and Marcie gave off major queer vibes, I think my gaydar picked that up before I even knew anything about any of that
Patty and Marcie being queer is one of those cultural things that has gone from being like a really dumb punchline (like "the Scooby gang is stoned hur hur") to them being adopted as rep by a significant number of people, yeah.
Also in retrospect I always thought she was a better pairing for Charlie than the rarely-seen redhead he was a always pining for, which is just another tick in the box of my own egginess vis a vis always liking the queer-coded ladies in media.
