Offensive Material

[Mundius]

Piracy isn't offensive. End of discussion.

[Navron]

What constitutes being offensive, vs not being offensive has a lot to do with common sense, but sadly, common sense is a trait it seems less people instinctively have nowadays.

I'd say that being offensive can be anytime you stray from the intended purpose of whatever medium you're conversing with. For example, this website is about making music, the techniques used, and how to improve yourself and others up to a professional level. Due to piracy being unprofessional, it ends up being offensive to those of us here who want to become professional musicians, and have spent thousands of dollars already to get there.

I play a lot of MechWarrior games, which for those familiar, is a lot different than gundam and other japanese style mecha. It would be offensive for somebody to post stuff about japanese mecha in a forum where nobody cares for it.

An easier method of determination is whether the medium is nsfw or not. A nsfw focused website may consider it offensive to post anything considered sfw, and vice versa.

[cplbradley]

I offended someone didn't I
See, I believe that if I offend someone, it's their problem, not mine.
"I LIVE IN A COUNTRY WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH, BUT I NEVER WANT TO BE OFFENDED AGAIN!! :CCCC"
Nothing happens when you're offended, it's not like you're gonna wake up the next day with syphilis because I said something you were offended by.

How about, rather than complaining about people acting immature, you be the mature one and get the fuck over it?

[Navron]

People being over-sensitive is a valid point, but an equally valid point is to live by the mantra of common respect, and common courtesy.

There's no need to go around intentionally offending people for the purpose of showing they are oversensitive.

Free speech may protect those who want to be a dick for the sake of being a dick, but why tread those waters in the first place?

If somebody's wearing a helmet, does that make it ethically right to repeatedly bash them on the head, telling them to suck it up because it isn't doing any actual damage? They have the same right to bash the top of your helmet as well, and soon you're both bashing eachother's helmets repeatedly, but is there anything to gain from it? Is it proving any point other than, "Hey, we can both annoy eachother?" Why bash their helmet to begin with?

There's a great thing we have called free will. Just because I have a right to free speech doesn't mean I have to exercise it to its fullest extent at every possible moment.

TL:DR
We live in a country where people base their lives around rights, vs ethics.

[cplbradley]

I try not to be a dick, but I kinda swear a lot which seems to offend people quite a bit. Also I like to make fun of Christianity a bit, which also offends people quite a bit. Eventually I've come to the mindset that the only person being hurt is themselves, and no one else, then who gives a shit, ya know?

[Freewave]

Sorry man but as Navron has indicated that's a pretty poor attitude. Being offensive just because you LIKE to be and because you don't CARE how others might feel really isn't the brony or MLR way. Most of us try to aim a lot higher as that's what makes this community better than most.

PLUR, Peace, love, unity, and respect.

[Nine Volt]

^brony way

Seriously? Is there some code of conduct all bronies have to follow now? C'mon man. There's no 'brony way'. There's all that 'love and tolerate' bullshit and then there's PLUR (whatever the hell that is). I can respect anyone who can actually follow that totally in their lives, but that's almost an impossibility, especially in modern times.

But seriously, brony way? Is there a 'furry way' too? Or a 'Trekkie way'?

(please don't take this as a personal attack, Freewave. I don't mean it like that)

[Magnitude Zero]

^brony way

Seriously? Is there some code of conduct all bronies have to follow now? C'mon man. There's no 'brony way'. There's all that 'love and tolerate' bullshit and then there's PLUR (whatever the hell that is). I can respect anyone who can actually follow that totally in their lives, but that's almost an impossibility, especially in modern times.

But seriously, brony way? Is there a 'furry way' too? Or a 'Trekkie way'?

(please don't take this as a personal attack, Freewave. I don't mean it like that)

I like to think of it as the "not being a total dick" way.

[Nine Volt]

That's just being a decent person. Not unique to the brony fandom at all.

[Magnitude Zero]

Never said it was, but regardless it IS a "code of conduct" that all bronies should follow because it's one people in general should follow. Not disagreeing with you, but I've seen too many with the attitude of "people think I should 'love and tolerate' because I'm a brony, but that's not true, so I'm going to be a complete asshole to everyone to prove them wrong."

[Nine Volt]

People shouldn't go out of their way to love and tolerate every single sick fuck on the internet, but in the same way shouldn't be massive dickweeds to everyone. Common courtesy, really.

[Freewave]

And that's just it, there's no single extreme reponse that anyone should do. It's common sense stuff.

There's nothing wrong with love & tolerance, it all comes down to WHAT you love & tolerate. If it's haters and trolls then no that's not the answer (ignoring them is). We're not here to take or have to tolerate their sh**. But yes we do need to love & tolerate our fellow bronies unless they are are clearly not worth the effort and are trolling or causing massive drama themselves.

From Makkon himself:

Makkon: "Love and Tolerance

We all know what it means to be a brony. It’s time we all acted the part. I feel many of us have forgotten what it means to love and tolerate, or we’ve bent the meaning to only suit our interests. If this selfishness and disregard for other people continues, this community will not last. It will fall apart, and we will all be to blame. Remember to be kind, generous, loyal, honest, friendly, and respectful. We all watch a show about how to be a good friend. Start paying attention."

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=1144&hilit=tolerance Dec 2011.

I'll elaborate a little more and offer a different mantra if you hate love & tolerance, PLUR (the rave mantra)

P is for Peace, because Hostility serves no purpose
L is for Love, goodwill towards another
U is for unity, We are united together.
R is for Respect, you should care about each other

Again how can we watch a show about friendship and utopian community if we don't believe in aiming for these things in real life?

If you wanna live by "don't be a dick" that works just as well.

[Nine Volt]

Peace =/= friendship
Unity =/= friendship
Respect =/= caring

Allow me to elaborate:
We're (America) at peace with most of the world; doesn't mean we're friends with them. You can be 'at peace' with your neighbor but you can hate his fucking guts. Hostility also does serve a purpose; that purpose would be to defeat other hostility. Yes, there is purposeless hostility as well.

Unity works, but only if we're not taking in to consideration interaction within the group. The USA is 'united' but one could safely say we're not individually united. Yes, we're one country, but people from the South are very different from Northerners; we very nearly became two separate countries in fact. We're not going to blindly declare ourselves 'united' merely because we wave the same flag.

Respect... I have respect for my 8th grade algebra teacher, because he's good at teaching and has done it for a long time, but I don't much care for him because he was a massive douche. So respect does not indicate care, despite the implications otherwise.

And I'm going to disagree with what Makkon said. It doesn't 'mean' anything special to be a brony. Literally the only defining criteria for a brony is to enjoy MLP:FiM. You don't even have to actively watch it. There's no special code of conduct we conform to. We are literally just another fandom. A lack of love and tolerate will not cause the fandom to fall apart. There's no love and tolerate equivalent in, for example, the furry fandom, or the Star Trek/Wars fandoms, and they're doing just fucking swell.

And we both know that a utopia is entirely unachievable in real life. People have tried; corruption, petty desires, greed, and innumerable other flaws that make us human will get in the way. Look to the Bioshock series of games as an example. A utopian society is unrealistic and frankly impossible; we know this, so why do we bother even considering it a possibility?

[Freewave]

Again it's all about our attiitudes. We know the world is a shitty place, I can turn my tv on the local news every night to know that. Should i get depressed, should i hate the world? It comes down to what do we do to turn that around. I see a little light at the end of the tunnel every time this show comes on because it's a show about the way the world SHOULD work. Again this is a show for kids so the golden rule IS pretty basic and so are the lessons but they are also ones we shouldn't forget.

Just because something isn't attainable doesn't mean you shouldn't strive for it. I know the brony community is deeply flawed (just look at the hugging / venting thread to see a lot of depressed people) but it's also better then most. I'm a realist but I'd LIKE to be an optimist and that's what i try for. To me that's what makes being a brony better than most of the real world. That's what influences my music, that's why i believe in giving back to the community, that's part of why I'm here spouting this on here. I'm sorry you don't believe that's part of what we should do as bronies but that's part of what it means to be one to me.

[Mundius]

Oh, boy, not this shit again.

Here's a question for offensiveness- is it offensive to make something that might challenge other's beliefs but for yourself? (Isaac or Time F cuk as an example)

[Nine Volt]

Fuck

Here's a question for offensiveness- is it offensive to make something that might challenge other's beliefs but for yourself? (Isaac or Time F cuk as an example)

What are you asking, exactly? That question doesn't make sense.

[cplbradley]

Are my beliefs offensive to others? Sometimes. Am I gonna stop believing them? Of course not!

Think of it like this: I'm not gonna go up to someone and be like "you're stupid and fat" and not care that they're offended. That's just being a dick. But if I say something like "I think that the idea of an almighty ruling god is total bullshit" and someone gets offended, I'm not gonna give up my beliefs to make them feel better, it's they're problem they don't like my beliefs.

tl;dr I don't act like a dick, just my beliefs offend people sometimes. You respect my beliefs, I'll respect yours. You don't like my beliefs, then get over it.

[cplbradley]

Also on the topic of "Brony Ethics" or whatever, I think that "love and tolerate" crap is just that, crap. Just because I'm a brony doesn't mean I'm not gonna call you a douche.
I've actually been banned from groups over the topic because I disagree with them and that makes them upset.

All in all it comes down to this. Are people assholes? Yes. Am I gonna pretend they aren't to make myself feel better? Hell no, they're assholes! At the end of the day I do whatever the fuck I want and act however the fuck I wanna act and there isn't anything that anyone can do to convince me otherwise.

inb4 banned from MLR forums

[Nine Volt]

Also on the topic of "Brony Ethics" or whatever, I think that "love and tolerate" crap is just that, crap. Just because I'm a brony doesn't mean I'm not gonna call you a douche.
I've actually been banned from groups over the topic because I disagree with them and that makes them upset.

All in all it comes down to this. Are people assholes? Yes. Am I gonna pretend they aren't to make myself feel better? Hell no, they're assholes! At the end of the day I do whatever the fuck I want and act however the fuck I wanna act and there isn't anything that anyone can do to convince me otherwise.

inb4 banned from MLR forums

Finally someone who gets it.

[cplbradley]

I feel the same exact way dude.

[Makkon]

3am responses may have me saying strange things. But I feel like I should say something.

The one thing that can determine your success or failure in life is your attitude. And there are some unsavory attitudes in this thread.

cplbradley: while your beliefs may be offensive to others, you don't need to cram it into people's faces. Just as you wouldn't appreciate a preacher giving you the jesus talk, other's don't care to hear your spiel about how you feel their central core beliefs are stupid. Treat others the way you would want to be treated. And if you want to be treated mean, we can do that. Just drop me a note.

Nine Volt: that quote, which is very old, was referring very specifically to MLR, since bad attitudes, disrespect, and merciless wanton spamming sprees had all the administration on the fringes of pulling the plug. So actually this community was going to fall apart, and it was because people were being serious dicks. You don't have to agree with me because frankly I don't agree with myself anymore with that quote. Being a brony does just mean you are a fan of the show, but being a good person means showing love and respect, and treating people kindly; ultimately that's what I was getting at in that quote.

You can disregard this wall of text, but think of it as a snippet of wisdom from personal experience after a number of years of misery:

There will come a day when you will hit a wall in your life. You will push and strain, and collapse in a heap of self pity because there is no escape from your personal hell, never seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Something has to change, and that wall isn't going to budge.
Your actions and words have consequence, and they come around again to your joy or your dismay. You and you alone will have to change your outlook on life, of other people, and of your circumstances. You can't live your life expecting the world to allow you to remain the same. It all comes down to a choice: You will either humble yourself and change your outlook and the way you treat people, or you will be compelled to be humble and the world will bend you.

Learn to respect people's sensitivities, and treat them the way you would want to be treated. If you do, people will treat you with respect, connections and opportunities will come your way, and people will be willing to help you when you're in a bind. Talent and skill will only get you so far, so unless you're a prodigy or a genius you can try to be a little easier to get along with.

TL;DR: people, work on your attitudes

[Mundius]

Fuck

Here's a question for offensiveness- is it offensive to make something that might challenge other's beliefs but for yourself? (Isaac or Time F cuk as an example)

What are you asking, exactly? That question doesn't make sense.

I make something for myself. I put it online because I find it enjoyable. Is it offensive if you don't believe that it crosses any lines?

[Nine Volt]

If it doesn't cross any lines then why would it be offensive?

[Mundius]

:|
If it doesn't cross any lines then why would it be offensive?

Wait, I didn't make that clear. It doesn't cross any of my lines.