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Author Topic: The Issue With Megan  (Read 4532 times)

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Offline Al-1701

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The Issue With Megan
« on: April 24, 2017, 04:35:41 PM »
I'm sitting down to tell a story of Megan becoming the Weather Witch's apprentice.  I've known this for a while, but it was really in my face as I started planning things out.  There's nothing to her character.  Characterizations were not all that deep or involved in MLP media at the time, but you got the sense of the ponies' foibles, flaws, and mannerisms.  You were given enough to fill in the gaps and have a pretty good idea of what they would do in their free time and what they want.

Megan was so vanilla that you couldn't even get that out of her.  She had no foibles, flaws, and was just on default nice.  I had to write a backstory to justify her interest in the weather and wanting to be the Weather Witch's apprentice.  I thought about how I was impressing so much original head canon on her character.  However, I wasn't breaking her character because you can give her just about any interest and there's nothing to contradict it because there is nothing there period.

Even Danny gave you more of a sense of his character.  "The Great Rainbow Caper" and "The Return of Tambelon" showed his interest and ability with technology.  Megan?  Nothing.  She's just Little Miss Perfect who is always kind and nurturing.

I stand by the assertion having humans in G1 MLP was not the problem.  The problem was how Megan was presented.  She needed flaws and vulnerabilities so we had a reason to cheer for her alongside the ponies and even her own siblings who had flaws and vulnerabilities to spare.

Anyway, Megan, the vanilla of MLP, GO!
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Offline LadyMoondancer

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2017, 04:54:49 PM »
I completely agree.  Her siblings had more personality, while Megan was just, like . . . generically nice?

She was better in Rescue At Midnight Castle because she had an actual character arc, where in the beginning she was filled with self-doubt, telling Firefly "I can't do this, your friends are going to be disappointed when they see it's only me", and then being determined to try anyway, and finally realizing that, yes, she DID have the bravery to fight Tirak.

I kind of wish we hadn't seen her ever again after RaMC because it was such a good, complete character arc, and I feel her return kind of . . . ruined her.  For the reasons you said.  (Also it really screwed with the continuity, lol.)

I think making her the Weather Witch's apprentice is a pretty interesting idea, though!
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Offline dragonfly

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2017, 05:25:05 PM »
That'll be an interesting read! I was never a fan of Megan & co. And where were their parents? And I felt kinda bad poor TJ never got in on any of the fun stuff.

Offline Taffeta

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #3 on: April 24, 2017, 05:37:49 PM »
You definitely have to wonder where the parents were xDD

I agree totally about Megan. It's like she was forcibly thrust in there to be the 'little girl every girl wanted to be like', roaming around ponyland and helping the ponies solve problems they could obviously solve without her there, as they had clearly been doing so from long before. It always irked me she had the Rainbow of Light when she wasn't in ponyland half of the time, too.

I think she is that kind of vanilla character who always has the right lines to say - and so they sometimes come out cliche. I also think that she's the kind of character kids might have resented more than liked because she was there in with the ponies and there wasn't anything particularly special about her to say she should be priveleged like this (if that makes sense?)

As a kid, I had four episodes of MLP on VHS and I actually am not sure if Megan is in any of them. Someone can probably tell me. I know she's not in Ice Cream Wars or, I think, Revolt of PE which were the ones I had and watched the most. The others were Sweet Stuff and the Treasure Hunt and the Would Be DragonSlayer. I think Megan is a judge in the Treasure hunt but it's a bit part? And I can't remember with the other at all. So she didn't figure hugely in my childhood. She's rarely in the comic (I remember her being in a story with smooze and occasional other appearances but never in a huge sense). Yet I also remember as a child actively disliking her. I never wanted Megan and Sundance as a kid because Megan was involved, so as a kid I had zero interest in Sundance, either.

Considering the animation had such a minor impact on my perception of her, I think that genuinely for me it was the idea of a human in the ponyverse that I disliked. But I didn't dislike characters like the Weather Witch and so on - they BELONGED in that world, whereas Megan didn't. Thinking about it now I realise my rationale was actually quite complex and specific (although I also hated blond dolls at the time, so that might have been a part of it as well).

In terms of Danny, I actually quite like him, most of all because of the crossover into Jem. Basically there's a character called Danny in an episode of Jem who is a teenage runaway. He has very similar features to the MLP Danny, and so my headcanon is that (bearing in mind we see no parents for these guys) that Megan, Molly and Danny ended up in care and Danny thus ran away and turned into a troubled teen for Jem and friends to help.  In this episode of Jem, Danny runs away from an abusive father and ends up getting some of Jem's orphans into trouble with him, also running away. But at the end he helps save the day by interfering with Techrat's technology to allow JATH to play. You mentioned his technology interest, and that is hinted at here too. I absolutely am sure, considering that Jem and MLP writers and voice artists crossed over, that there was an inside joke here that this was the same character. Danny never had a doll, so there would have been a lot of carte blanche to do something like this.

Screencapture of Danny from Jem (The Music Awards) with MLP capture for comparison:
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That headcanoning through Hasbro's own products gives Danny depth for me that would otherwise be lacking.

I don't really have an opinion on Molly, although she is as blond as Megan, but then she wasn't a doll here, and was even less in my awareness than Megan was, as she didn't appear in the comics at all I don't think.

So I would say yes, Megan is vanilla, but no, it's not just about that which makes her irritating. There is also (at least in my case) some anti Real World humans entering Ponyland bias involved as well.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2017, 05:44:11 PM by Taffeta »
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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #4 on: April 24, 2017, 05:43:02 PM »
Maybe you can just have Majesty come dispose of her and paradise estate and set up shop in the castle again...

But what would you put in the second paragraph?

Har har.

Offline Gator

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #5 on: April 24, 2017, 06:10:31 PM »
In my opinion, Megan and family live on their farm with TJ, have parents, and every now and then the Pegasus ponies bring them to Dream Valley for visits.  Almost like a Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe kinda deal.  Adults don't know about this magical world they have access to.  I too like Midnight Castle Megan the most.  The series Megan was too much cotton candy blue and pink.  I do like how she and Sundance come together in Katrina. 
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Offline Baby Sugarberry

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #6 on: April 24, 2017, 07:10:58 PM »
I'd wager Megan was left deliberately blank, much as what's-her-name from Twilight, for the same reason.  Both are meant as viewer/reader inserts, for whomever is watching to drop themselves into the story along with a very stereotypical little brother and little sister.   I mean the bushwoolies have more character development than Megan...  :huh:

She's just very... decent at everything, has no outstanding flaws and thus no real room or motivation for improvement.  It's also what makes her rather bland, since it tends to be a characters struggles that make them feel human.
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Offline Ponyfan

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #7 on: April 24, 2017, 07:21:07 PM »
I'm pretty sure all of the trips to Ponyland took place when the parents were away or somehow time in Ponyland isn't the same as our time. After all Megan, Molly and Danny spend several days at a time in Ponyland how come no one ever notices they're missing?

In Rescue at Midnight Castle when Firefly is brining Megan home it doesn't look like any time has passed from when she left. It is still dark and TJ is still in the stable.


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Offline Kazzellin

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #8 on: April 24, 2017, 08:17:06 PM »
What kinda irks me with the "humans in ponyland" scenario actually is from RaMC. Scorpan -
 aka, the prince. End of episode, then never heard from or of again. I guess he rules ponyland? :huh:  Who knows. Maybe the ponies were grooming and testing Megan to be his bride or something? :lol: That could be why she's so nice and vanilla - she fits with many of the first Disney princesses. :lol:
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Offline Koudoawaia

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #9 on: April 24, 2017, 09:29:30 PM »
Yeah the reason I don't like Megan is she's too perfect especially for someone that young. Prime example of a Mary Sue.
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Offline orangepeachmango

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #10 on: April 24, 2017, 10:56:32 PM »
i was just wondering the other day why they decided not to include humans in regular ponyville g4, and if anybody missed megan. i sort of mulled it over and decided that Why would Anybody miss megan, she was so darn boring; and they decided not to put humans in g4 so they could get more money by doing equestria girls.
though its not really the same thing, since theyre like, purple and stuff. i think they could still squeeze in megan if they wanted to. but i doubt they want to.
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Offline northstar3184

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #11 on: April 24, 2017, 11:42:11 PM »
I like the theory that was pitched by one of the arena members awhile back: What we're seeing when we watch the G1 episodes is Megan's imagination when she plays with her toys. That's why we don't see any of her flaws. She isn't old enough/mature enough to see her own flaws so she comes across as the perfect little girl in her imagination. This theory would also explain the simplistic, one-dimensional characterizations of the ponies and other characters; a lack of continuity between stories; and why there's a rotating cast of characters.

We all know the real reasons for these attributes, but from a story perspective this theory ties it altogether.

Offline Al-1701

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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #12 on: April 25, 2017, 02:34:06 AM »
I've never liked the St. Elsewhere scenario.  It feels like a cop out.

Even the writer's guide was bland with Megan's characterization.  All the ponies were given these different mannerisms and going modes of behavior.  Megan was literally described as the perfect teenager role model for the little kids.

I've explained it as Megan and her siblings only visit during summer vacation, and the entire n' Friends series took place over one summer.  Mostly they only do day trips, but sometimes they stay overnight and explain to their parents they're out camping.
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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #13 on: April 25, 2017, 09:14:45 AM »
Megan was bland. I think the writers did this because toys. Make a pretty blonde chick save the world with ponies and rainbows, and little girls will buy it. Doesn't have to have any character at all. "Heck, make her as flat as my desk. Just make sure little girls will buy the toys! Or else you're fired!"
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Re: The Issue With Megan
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2017, 09:23:38 AM »
Is anyone familiar with Spike (not the dragon lol) from G1 Transformers, and if so do you think he was more interesting than Megan, less interesting, or about the same?

I didn't think he was super interesting, and he also had the "I don't have any real flaws" thing going on, but he seemed a little more "real" to me than Megan.  I think he worked better because he spent a lot of time being interested in and learning about the Transformers, whereas with post-RaMC Megan, there didn't seem to be anything for her to learn about the ponies;  she knew enough about them / their world that they turned to her when there was trouble.   Whereas TF Spike was constantly being amazed by the Transformers, and was often kidnapped to kick off the plot.
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