Hi! *waves and grins amiably*
Whether or not anybody remembers the benignly silly star formerly (and currently) known as Este, I still have two or three cents to add.
I propose the following hypothesis for the analysis of everybody here:
We're taking this all just a wee bit more seriously than is perfectly necessary.
Valid points have been made by all sides. Opinions have been expressed. Anybody who has read the thread is aware of these points, opinions, and such.
So... is there any room here for agree-to-disagree?
Any room for I'll-let-you-collect-sanities-to-sell-on-the-black-market-if-you-just-do-it-while-I'm-not-looking? No? Pity.
How's this, then: Be discerning about it, folks. Sure, offer the in-joke to anybody you like, but also take their intro seriously. Give them a chance to see a little craziness, but show that you're willing to find them just as interesting as you want them to find you. Be easy on the newbies. They're newbies, and the wide world of RAF can be a scary place.
Animorphs fans are few and far between in the real world, and forums suited to them are even fewer online.
Yeah, it's a fine and dandy thing to gently let them weed themselves out, and the result is that most members of RAF are very well suited to RAFian weirdness. For the most part, nobody really bats an eye anymore at the presence of seals, icecube/dragons, nothlit dinosaurs, and sentient stars on the forum. Nobody minds Ellimists and Planeswalkers, once they've been here awhile and met the people who assume those personae.
For a newbie, though, that can be a smidge hard to stomach.
So:
1. Better to have them figure out early on that HEY GUESS WHAT, we like to have fun here. They don't have to act uptight unless they really are uptight, because we accept whatever craziness they have to offer (and then some).
2. That being said, when we tweak their brains, let's remember that they do HAVE brains. Actually comment on their intro post, okey? Pleeeeeease? For me? *huge eyes of adowability*
Maybe I'm a pacifist stellar dweeb, but I'm YOUR pacifist stellar dweeb. Can we split the difference? Just... y'know... tact.