Jeric

Luna (cause it already happened).

Maybe succumbing to Nightmare Moon for some beneficial but misguided reason and it backfires?

Yes, and there is nothing wrong with it.

Erase Poof from Fairly Odd Parents

Resurrect Danny Phantom

Remember the girl from Robot Chicken

Yeah. Those unneeded horns and wings that don't belong need to go.

She would be the equivalent of Carl Sagan or Neil Degrasse Tyson. Sure, she would be a scientist, likely with a PHD in both Astrophysics and Chemistry with a personal admiration of history. Her primary focus would be in both research and as a Science Communicator.

1. Be an adult. By that I don't mean be mature, I mean no kids. I'm no creeper.

2. If I come to a BBQ at your house and you put mayo on anything you give to me ... its war.

Seriously though, for almost every standard I can think of, there is some outlier that would make me question it. Same for anything that I am traditionally accepting or tolerant of. I can say I won't make friends with a racist, but even really good people I know have some form of ignorance that lends itself to at least a passive aggressive racism. I can say I don't mind diametrically opposed views, but if all you talk about is how this or that is going to ruin America ... meh.

Anti-brony spies? What exactly are they spying for? What would they gain, from joining a forum of pony-lovers and pretending to be like us?

They're after me lucky charms.

Hard to say. I only know one Furry in the real world who happens to be an FB friend who I went to high school with. My opinion of him is that he is a decent guy with an unconventional personality. I don't take my positive view of him as a representative for an entire sub-culture or fandom any more than I would label all members of a political party, philosophy, religion, ect based on personal experiences with one or a few people. I didn't do that back in early 2011 when my facebook was flooded with image macros of ponies, and that non-judgmental approach (eventually) allowed me to be a fan of a show with a little social stigma attached.

If the question is, "Do you have an issue with people wearing fursuits or fetishizing anthropomorphic art?" then my answer is no. Its not my thing, but who cares? There is a mountain of tastes that are not my thing. I am disappointment that there isn't more of a spiritual or totemic purpose behind the Furry fandom. Totemism needs a resurgence like Wicca, but that is a whole 'nother topic.

@Milky Jade

"I am Jack's exploding brain."

My thoughts on this topic, and your posts in particular are this: after wading through social media comments that make me lose faith in our species, the spirit of the Lyceum showing up in this thread changes that.

Good posts

Why did they change "Why" to "I'll Try" for 'Find a Way'?

According to the tweets, most ponies have a private garden, which they "personally fertilize". Also, pegasus poop contains lots of helium, which allows it to float and not fall on the heads of earthbound ponies.

As long as it isn't anyone's job to handle waste disposal. Can you imagine the cutie mark for being a sanitation worker?

Did they ever reclassify this film's rating in England? I know if had an 'All Ages' rating and it caused a stir at one point. I could be wrong.

I loved the movie, and am finally sold on Disney focusing on CGI because of this. That means nothing though, since this movies has some odd moments that start driving me mad when I rewatch it. I get the distinct feeling that the movie evolved so many times in early development that that what was finally produced is mostly a 'best of' reel.

Then there are the missed opportunities. Would it have killed them to do a reprise of 'Would You Like To Build a Snowman" when Elsa was standing over Anna?

  = What it would have done to every person in the audience hearing Elsa respond to Anna's earlier requests from the door.

Frozen had a few missed moments like that.

Honestly this is a very VERY difficult question. I find relatable aspects to most well written characters. Here are just two.

Larry Underwood (Stephen King's The Stand) - The growth arc he goes through always felt a little like my personal trajectory from teen to post college.

Holden Caulfield (Catcher in the Rye) - Mostly the narrative version of Holden, not the story tense presentation. This sense of detached optimism felt very natural to me. Inquisitive concern for the innocent.

Brick Tamland - 'Cause I love lamp

1. Why not? 2. Are happiness and usefulness/compassion mutually exclusive? 3. Difference to whom?

Sorry for the delayed response. Dental surgery ... fun stuff.

I should have qualified my list with stating that these are (some) of my personal philosophies and I the ones that I try to live my life by. I in no way think that anyone should ever subscribe to my world view or internal musings. In short, I am not saying that my outlined philosophies are how you or anyone else should live their life. Now to your questions.

Why not? - in response to the purpose of life isn't to be happy -  Emerson was a strange man in many ways. What he meant by this can be interpreted many ways, but how I take it and what I apply it to is this: Happiness is never my goal I set out for. For me, doing that is a gateway to selfishness. Compassion and practical living within a civil society is important to me. Happiness is often a byproduct and not the motivation. I also love this quote since the usefulness aspect is applicable to natural selection, and Emerson was nothing if not versatile with his words. 

Are happiness and usefulness/compassion mutually exclusive? - They can be. It's easy to be addicted to the warm fuzzies you get helping others. This raises some interesting questions regarding altruism and motivation. If someone loves the feeling they get from being helpful and compassionate then how much of the motivation is selfless? Is compassion (not empathy) still an altruistic act? Even if it isn't, is pure altruism with no emotional connection or (sigh) ROI make the act less 'human' by devaluing the personal connection? 

I am not saying I agree with those questions, but I love pondering why we as individuals act, and what our motivations say about us.  

Difference to whom? - Oh boy is this the elephant in the room of philosophy. Again I am going to answer through my own personal filter. Our lives on this planet are fleeting. The HUGE majority of the 113 billion or so that have walked this Earth are forgotten, so the chances that I discover or create something that will echo through the ages is pretty low. HOWEVER ... that doesn't mean my existence is meaningless or has no significance. The most immediate impact we have is through our interpersonal connections. Our family and friends. That is how we start to leave an impact while we live, and after we are gone.  

Also, take for instance the creative aspects of the Brony Community. Much of the fiction and music is amazing for fandom inspired elements, but even the great BronyDanceParty and Living Tombstone did not create in a vacuum. Writing, composing, creation, are temporal collaborations. Everything we see and experience influences us. If we create something one day, it is based on something we have experienced. Our influences have influences, and this makes what we say and do a way for the ghosts of societies and individuals long gone to continue to be meaningful. What we do now, will in some small way, shape the future. Even if our names are forgotten.

Difference to whom? To everything around you.

Kids don't pick up nuance until repeat viewings at an older age

Secret if NIMH is a better example of quality anyway (if you are going to invoke Bluth)

Well, outside of maybe Breaking Bad, I've yet to watch ANY series that didn't deal with charater inconsistencies. In television, sometimes the characters serve the plot, not the other way around. It's just an unfortunate truth. if you expect motivations, development, and dialog to be too consistent, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

Deus Ex Machina is an acceptable device for a younger demographic. Easy resolution.

None of that matters though. FIM has a few rough episodes, yet even the clunkers are superior to any other animated show intended for smaller children. The Ponies would have been a welcome respite for me in the 2000's when my daughters were younger.

Hard to pick one.

The  most poignant for me were two specific tracks in Final Fantasy VII. I remember the final battle with Sephiroth and the chanting ... still amazing. The Aeris theme too.

Not annoying to me. Though I do think that the characters have been more effective when an episode focuses on just one of the CMC and another adult character (Granny, RD, Rarity, etc.). Even if those episodes didn't exist, the CMC are still used to showcase moral lesson's that wouldn't work as well with the Mane Six.

As I typed the above I realized that far too many shows from the 80's and 90's had horribly developed child characters. Compared to some of those, the CMC are freaking Hamlet.  

No originality here. No order of importance. Two of these are Emerson. The Whitman line is my favorite piece of 'Song of Myself'.

1. Truth resists simplicity

2. “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you have lived and lived well.”

3. Understand your limitations, but challenge your understanding.

4. “Be silly. Be honest. Be kind.”

5. "In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less/and the good or bad I say of myself I say of them"

I don't like defining other people, but I'll call myself a transcendental libertarian.

This one is easy. They basically modeled Luna after your typical redemptive agonist template but removed some of the items that are exclusive to main protagonists or duagonists. Fall from grace, redemption, inner struggle/dark half, striking and powerful physical characteristics, passive and active flaws, loved but not worshipped, social inadequacies, intelligence, and either relatable motivations or malleable motivations. There is literally a list of do's and don'ts on creating characters like Luna. Like with most of MLP, the show stops short of over explanation and allows your mind to fill in gaps.

They stopped short of creating too many flaws so that people that relate on some level have empathy and understanding without over pitying Luna.

A square is a rectangle, but a rectangle is not a square. there, I just solved this entire thing.

Math wins all arguments

Those comments on You Tube are ridiculous. If you can't have empathy for an 11 year old, who can you feel for?

I still see these as outliers. Maybe it is the optimist in me, or maybe I am just deluding myself.

Neither for me. I'd love my own kids if I had any, but I don't like other people's kids. Not in a hateful sort of way, more like I just don't want them around me.

I am so glad someone said that. I am so showing my wife this when I get home since she thinks I am crazy for thinking that. I love my daughters, but some of their friends ...

I suppose that there are enough similarities to allow for crossover appeal, but I hesitate to paint a broad stroke when defining ANY community, group, or individual. As an outsider to when the media first picked up on the Brony fandom, I know how easy confirmation bias can creep in to a discussion. Also, if you parse aspects of one fandom you can draw similarities to another fandom pretty easy. I personally consider them distinct. Assuming 100% conversion between the two is like calling all Star Trek fans Futurists. Some futurists are attracted to the ST universe though.

I could go deeper into anthropological (ha) constant of our species world building and telling stories using personification and anthropomorphism, but that is a bit off topic. I just thought of Totemism when I watched the videos that were posted above.