Emerald Glow

Most of the detailed thoughts I have on this ep have already been covered multiple times, so I'll just add that this ep was the highlight of Season Three so far for me. Something I've noticed over the years is the way MLP in the past has saved the stories with the highest stakes and darkest themes for the series openers and in S2, the finale. While I'm not as versed in the minutia as some of y'all, it seems as thought this was the DARKEST mid-season ep we've had to date. While I'm still organizing my thoughts on this, I'm going to be curious to see if this more serious, higher-stakes tone will endure throughout the season. On one hand, I'm a little concerned that learning heavier on the "Twilight Battles Major Villain" schtick is going to get old if they start using it more outside the season opener/finale eps. On the other hand, these higher stakes, if managed well, do imply that they're attempting to "grow" the characters and the world a little bit, which could be interesting to see. What was that book that Luna was holding all about? Why all this darkness all of a sudden? What was that "somepony will learn her destiny" bit in the series preview teaser, anyway? This show's never really gone in for season-long story arcs (unless one counts the Grand Galloping Gala), but I can't seem to shake the feeling that we're building up to a big reveal here. Maybe we'll finally find out why the Great and Powerful Celestia rarely does more than deliver plot exposition and delegate stuff to Twilight? ;-)

One of my fandoms' Canons closed in 1969 (almost 10 years before I was born), with the exception of a couple of reunion albums/specials. The community certainly isn't like it was back in the day, but there are still stalwarts who pass around pics, write fanfic and keep up on what things there are to keep up with. At that point, the fandom is less about the fandom, and more about the People you meet through the fandom, and the other interests you share. Doesn't make it any less a part of your life though.

Not sure this counts--Im working on losing a fair bit of weight, about 2/3rds the way to goal. When I get there I've thought about getting a non-MLP related tattoo, but on my hip in "cutie mark" position.

Overrated: the background "fan-service" ponies: Dr. Whooves, Derpy, etc, They're fun where's waldo sight gags, but that's about it. Underrated: Hmm. Maybe Applejack.

Hard to say--the pilot was solid, but each episode after seemed better than the last. I was pretty certain by Applebuck Season, but Boast Busters might have finally put me over the edge.

They're all awesome in their own ways, but I went for Tara Strong, if only because of her awesome performance in Star Wars... *gets blank stares* Sorry, prepare to have the next hour of your life erased. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SBzRmWeC6Ds&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Ditto to early fall.

I'll be honest--I think some fandoms lend themselves to shipping, and some don't. One of my pet peeves is fandoms that seem to create ships because it's the "in thing" right now. Until this post, I would have said that this universe is not really built for shipping, however, I think you make a decent argument for rainbow dash/fluttershy. Hope to have something smarter to say once I get a chance to read more fic.