beta
The reason it’s not great ML isn’t disclosing that MC is actually a namer (specifically his) is because now that we know they are going to develop feelings for each other/what is most likely a positive relationship, once it is revealed (I’m guessing by MCs parents in some pseudo humorous way like “you’ve always had this birthmark”) MC is going to immediately overthink it as “ I never had free will and we never had feelings for each other, we were only driven together by the words on our skin just like all these posts on Reddit said, just like all these media outlets said, I can’t trust my feelings and now I certainly can’t trust YOU.”
That’s why it’s bad.
Also, please note, withholding information IS considered deception. Deception can be a form of manipulation, however manipulation is not necessarily deception. “All squares are rectangles”, you know? If he was actively manipulating, this would be gaslighting MC into thinking he wasn’t a namer. However, since he’s doing it indirectly, I’d say it’s just on the side of deception.