Welp this conversation has gone downhill and off track. Should have asked someone like me about all of this.
There is a clear difference between playing defensively camping etc, and going for time. The difference is most notable in Smash because going for time tends to be based on mobility. Mobility differences in Smash are huge compared to most fighting games (even including fly mode in Marvel for example, there's nothing drastic like Sonic vs Ganon, Wario vs slow person, etc). You'll see poor Haggar vs projectile user or occasional teleport, but that's more specific to the character moveset instead of general moving around mobility and much rarer than the differences in Smash.
There are some actions you could interpret that fit both strategies. It's usually in Falco's best interest to be lasering, and the penalty for choosing to laser instead of sit around is pretty nonexistent lol. Whether he's trying to stuff your approaches, or trying to time you out, it works for both. However, even under "gay" circumstances there's usually a reason for lasering besides simply eating the clock. But look at where Falco is while using laser. If he uses it to stop approaches or rack up damage, staying basically in one spot, and goes in when there's an opening... well that's not really playing "gay" lol. Now if he uses laser, sees you getting close, and basically focuses on getting away to do MORE laser (not merely retreating laser, but crossing past you or going over to the other side of the stage to laser), then yeah he's being a poon lol.
The Peach example: mobility again is the issue. Not "Man Peach has gay walls or pokes". Stages also matter, I'm pretty sure he picked that stage to abuse that. She's not the only character or only MU with that issue on that stage but yeah.
Now why do people hate "playing gay" or running away more? Because even if it's the game being played at the peak of the metagame... it's winning by stifling conflict in the ultimate manner. Falco shooting lasers is lame, stifles conflict by making approaching hard, but at the end of the day you can see a light and there's some hope or opportunity of hitting him. Might suck depending on your character, but that's just how things are. Running away however... is completely lethal in that regards. There are plenty of situations where doing it, in all honestly, strips away your opponent's chances either entirely or down to something heavily biased in your favor. And it does this through the absolute antichrist of fighting: not even being there basically lol. Through the mobility Smash offers characters, you can abuse it to avoid conflict with great success and win based on time. For "fighting" games, you can't really be upset that people dislike, well, not fighting frankly lol.
