The whole discussion of Big Mac just makes me wonder more about our little fandom’s obsession with background ponies and side characters. They aren’t the main characters. They have little, if any, characterization and yet people get absolutely livid over them.
I don’t know of any other fandom that does this (possibly Star Wars, but I’ve already pissed off enough people with my heretical beliefs about Boba Fett so I won’t get into that,) and I genuinely don’t know what to make of it but the phenomenon fascinates me. I don’t get it because having a constant stream of named characters to develop and keep track of annoys me, and I’m glad the background pony love seems pretty much the domain of the fandom where I can ignore the stuff that doesn’t interest me.
In Big Mac’s case I wonder how much of the outrage is because some people want a developed male character to latch onto other than Spike, who I genuinely and deeply find awful. Personally, I don’t think the show needs such a character. At all.
I will now await my being burned as a heretic.