Back from BUCK! Hear all about it! · 3:58pm Aug 26th, 2013
This blog post is long enough without a length introduction so I'll just ask for you to enjoy yourselves as I tell you of what I did at BUCK. First though there is fanfiction progress to inform you of so enjoy that as well.
Fanfiction Progress
I kind of got lazy with chapter 2 and only started working on it on Wednesday. Yeah, not the best of news to give and as a result not much of it has been done yet. On the good side of things I did come up with a neat way to open the chapter that I think is smooth, detailed, and humorous. I also found my sheet of info regarding the titles I had come up with for each of the chapters.
I wouldn’t really consider this much of a spoiler but chapter 2 of The Shy Knight and the Rainbow Princess is to be called Campfire Chat. Furthermore the 3rd chapter of the fanfic is to be called Campfire Chat Continued. The reason for this being is that when planning out chapter 2 of the fanfic I felt it was likely to turn out rather long, and when I realised there was a point in the chapter that would be perfect to end it at I decided to split the 2nd chapter into two chapters. To reflect this, and the fact that the 2nd and 3rd chapter are still regarding the same issue, I decided to have them as a part 1 and part 2 but instead of naming them simply part 1 and part 2 I’m choosing to name them Campfire Chat and Campfire Chat Continued. That’s really all I have to say for fanfiction progress though, I shall try and get more done next week.
My time at BUCK
For long time followers of my blog you will no doubt remember the few occasions I have mentioned BUCK, the UK Brony convention. Well that convention happened to be this weekend, and I happened to have attended it as my very first Brony Convention. This blog post is dedicated to my time at the convention and the things I was able experience within my two days there.
Now then, unlike many of the attendees I had not booked a hotel nor are lucky enough to live within the area of the convention. I do however have an aunt and uncle who live within an hour's train ride distance from the convention so I stayed with them during the weekend. Anyway, after a train trip and a taxi ride I arrive at Bridgewater hall and find an incredibly long queue awaiting me. Lining up with everyone else, I soon found out that I happened to be standing right behind Knighty of all people. I had no idea he was even British. Naturally I began to chat with him though the conversation was cut short when I was informed I was in the wrong queue; thanks to my 20% cooler ticket I was able to skip ahead and get into the convention earlier than most.
Naturally the first thing I did when I got inside the convention was have myself a cup of tea. But after that I went along and got a sort of front row seat for the opening ceremony (more a 4th row seat buy it was close to the front). This would later turn out to be a silly thing to do as I had not realised the merchant stands had already opened and that I did not have to wait until after the opening ceremony to begin buying things. Anyway the opening ceremony ran its course; I don't really remember anything about it other than that one of the guys attempting to cosplay as Surprise looked more like Alder from Pokémon Black and White.
The ceremony ended and I immediately dashed out to the merchant stands. Two reasons for this great speed, the first being that as I don't like buying merchandise online I have had very little of it, and the second being that my little brother wanted me to get a Pinkie Pie plushy for a friend of his (a friend who is interested in ponies and he shall be attending the same collage as... needless to say it is in my best interests to strengthen their relationship so I have someone to talk about ponies with). He gave me £15 for this endeavour; the cheapest I found was £60. Looking at it now I realise the folly of this, it doesn't even look to be a well-made plushy, it's supposed to be a collector’s item but it's still got pin tacks in it. Whilst hunting desperately for a Pinkie Pie plushy though I did browse through various other stalls and it was on this Saturday that I brought the majority of my souvenirs. I now proudly own the first 3 volumes of the IDW My Little Pony comic, the first 2 of its micro-series, the 9th comic (and start of the Big Mac story), and an artwork of all the IDW comic covers for the first arc. As such it contains my favourite of the comic covers; 
Following on from that I brought various MLP prints, there was some real nice artwork there, though lacking in FlutterDash. I did eventually find something related to FlutterDash, a wonderfully crafted clock, but it had already been brought. I then went onto a Mare Play UK stand selling My Little Pony DVD's... Region 1 only... why would you..? They were also selling card binders though, with 6 limited edition cards free with it so I naturally purchased it... and then lost the binder immediately. Later on in the day (I obviously did not do all of this purchasing at once, it was spread out through the intermissions as it were) I found out about the BUCK Legacy card game and being a fan of card games I brought it. More on that later for one of my later merchandise related activities was finding more MLP artwork prints... and the guy was doing commissions. ReakkorShrike he was called, and after a little discussion I soon asked him to commission something FlutterDash, cute and cuddly I wanted it. I probably could have been more specific but I did not want to be all there explaining every intricate detail I would like to see for it. I'll be sure to show off the piece of artwork once it is sent to me but for now I can present this, a few examples of the guys artwork; 
I also brought a build-a-bear Twilight Sparkle. On with other activities of the day, being the critically acclaimed fanfiction writer you know me for (perhaps some embellishment in that statement), I naturally felt the need to attend the Britania fanfiction competition judging. Three quite good fanfics were read out, all at least well written. The first one was decent enough and had the right tone even if it started to sound like a Axis Power Hetalia crossover after a while but I felt it did not have enough impact with its feels. The third one was absolutely hilarious, though rather plain, if I had known that the themes within it were the same as the themes currently plaguing Britiania in her own canon adventures I would clapped harder. The clear winner to me though was the 2nd entry, as simple as it was in terms of story it was a technical masterpiece and demonstrated skill and technique through telling the story entirely through a rhyming poem. Through this BUCK con activity I was able to meet Sketchy Sounds, someone I've chatted with on the internet before as he happened to be the 2nd person to comment on my UK Bronies forum thread; UK Brony convention BUCK, are you attending?. To note, he has an epic moustache.
My last major activity for the day though was playing a video game. For some reason on the convention schedule they had it listed as Project Awakening whereas the actual game goes by the name of My Little Pony: Rise of the Clockwork Stallions. A demo version of it is apparently available so just click the link to find it and download if you wish. I greatly enjoyed the presentation, it's clear a lot of hard work has gone into this game and it was an absolute blast to play. Wonderful to see such a large, high quality platform game being made, though I will admit I find the creation of background characters and fan-made characters (such as that snow one from that animation I have yet to watch) before certain characters such as Fluttershy have even been made playable but all in all it is shaping up really well and I love the amount of depth and hidden things there are in the stages.
That was what I got up to on Saturday, now it's time for Sunday. Instead of taking a taxi to the convention I happened upon some Bronies on the train and chose to walk with them to the convention. If I recorded their online usernames correctly then the two who I got along quite well with were Nomadic and Dk0987654321. I also met and got along fairly well with another Brony, and it was thanks to my 3DS and its street pass feature that I was able to jot down his username, Alexphoenixwing.
Getting back to the convention though, this time I immediately set forth for the merchant stands. I knew my little brother would never pay me the extra £45 for the Pinkie Pie plushy so I set forth to return it... the vendor had vanished. The guy I had brought the Pinkie from had just up and disappeared. I had to come up with an alternative plan, the ridiculously expensive Pinkie Pie was apparently a collector’s item, and the person who cuts my hair happens to love Pinkie Pie so as an alternative to pay (she cuts mine for free anyway because she is friends with my older brother but I'm still counting this as paying her in some means) she'll be getting the Pinkie Pie plushy. For my little brother's friend though I went and got two Pinkie Pie artworks, one involving pocky and one involving Loki. Speaking of my little brother, I also opted to get gifts for my brother (my mum and dad did not want anything though I'm still a little miffed I didn't get them something). For my oldest brother I got two hand-made key rings of Sweetie Bot and Big Mac, for my older brother I got him an Applejack bottle opener, and my youngest brother a painted picture of Crackle. Finally, in regards to the merchant stands, I have to say that the folks running the Mare Play UK stand are truly generous. They could not confirm if it was my lost card binder, and yet they gave me a new one for free. I'm truly thankful for it.
One of the key problems at any convention is that sometimes there are things you want to do that all take place at the same time as one another. For me this included a Super Smash Bros Brawl tournament, a free all-you-can-eat buffet, and the Ask Britania panel... so I went to a comic book store instead. Whilst in the queue for Super Smash Bros I decided that I wouldn't enter the tournament and instead participate in the free play sessions later on. One of the people also planning to play some SSB was doing the same, and had the idea of going to the big comic store in Manchester where they actually sold the IDW MLP comics. I opted to follow. I came out of the comic store with the longest receipt I have ever had and a bag filled with 15 manga's. I'm happy to declare my Rurouni Kenshin series complete.
When I got back to the con, well... problems arose. The buffet had already started and I had no idea as to where to go to get there. I decided to go with two others and promptly became lost. Dying of thirst, I hailed a taxi to take us there. Most of the food was gone, the Ask Britania panel was going to start soon, and I needed a drink. The queue to the bar was huge, and it looked like I was never going to be served. I fled the buffet, sprinted all the way back to the convention, leaped towards the bartenders and paid for several bottles of coke that I gulped down in seconds. This was not an enjoyable part of the day and while I'm saddened I missed out on the buffet I at least didn't miss out on the panel.
Ah yes, the Ask Britania panel. It was engaging experience, quite fun and interesting to learn about the tumblr, the mascot of BUCK, and her current predicament. I also found the whole OC (Clarion Call, not Britania in this case, it makes sense in the context of the story) taking over the computers and answering questions in characters to be most amusing, and much to his probable displeasure, I now ship Clarion Call with the host, Hazel Hooves. I even asked a question at this panel myself, and shall probably be spending the next few days reading the entries on Ask Britania.
Afterwards I ran on to finally get a game of Super Smash Bros Brawl in. Sadly they had chosen to run a 2nd tournament and it was only through the luxury of a single free play that I got a chance to play it at all. That said I loved the applause when I managed to slaughter everyone in the match with Ganondorf. What was that about being bottom tier?
My next big activity was getting in a game of the BUCK Legacy card game. They were holding a session were they went through how to play and got small groups going where we got to play. It's a rather fun and unique game which I shall have to inform you about in more detail in future. As for the then experience though, I started my game session off with an Earth Pony Mare of the Stalker class and wielding a whip. I also purchased a hot blooded bird. Upon starting the adventure phase of the game I ended up taming a phoenix, good for me because the person beside me draw an event card where everyone had to roll a dice to see if they avoided it. I died so... yeah, little pet phoenix had to revive me quite quickly. It is ironic to note then, that despite being the first one to technically die I ended up being the only one to survive. Just before the boss round of the game everyone else got killed leaving me along against a boss with a standard attack strength of 20 and the added value of five players dice rolls. Needless to say I chose the escape option, managing it thanks to my whip which added a plus one to my escape roll. We never got to finish our 2nd dungeon exploration but as I was the only one to survive our first expedition, and the only one as such with a medal, I was considered the winner of the game.
The very last thing I got around to attending was the My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Q & A Panel to whom I had mixed feelings on. Despite how we were not allowed to hear anything about season 4 (sure, ComicCon gets season 4 spoilers and even previews of British TV shows but what do we get; none of that) and Amy Keating Roger's online connection was as glitchy as a Bethesda game at best, some interesting questions and answers occurred. Truly, there was a lot of fun had. That said it was also a huge embarrassment for me, and I'm sure any Brony with a grain of respect for the community as quite a number of fans continually interrupted the writers and voice actor whenever the word fun was said. They all decided to act like Pinkie clones and begin chanting fun whenever the word fun was said, and the annoyance of the show's staff were clear on their face, as at the start they struggled to get a word in.
All in all though, despite a few grievances and errors made due to my inability to find my way around a city I've never been to before, I had a terrific time. It is certainly something I wish to do once more, and I shall try as best I can to attend next year as well. Thanks to all of you who managed to read to the end of this very long blog post.
sounds like you had a good time.
It was good to meet you, glad you had a good time. You could say it was lots of *looks left and right* Fun!
... lucky bastard
Nice to see you had fun. Next time do you think it would be easier if you go with a friend next time?
Hey, Rurouni Kenshin! Awesome! Nice to hear you had a good time.
You were there?! Dammit, how did I not know this.
Oh well, didn't have much time to talk anyway since I was on the tech team.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it though
Sounds like you went through a lot to get there and have a good time. (sighs) well going to a convention isn't easy, even harder if you're by your self. Will probably fare no better for me, can't really take anyone with me if I go. Anyway sounds like it was worth it, a great time and new pals I definitely have to try BUCK next time. who knows might meet you there some day
Region 1 DVDS really, did you see anybody actually buy them?
1309512 That I did, a good time I had indeed. Thanks for commenting.
1309572 Do not say that word,
Do not say that word!
Yes, it was very nice to meet you, and I hope you had a good time as well. Also, thank you for adding me to your watch list. I hope you enjoy FlutterDash stories and comedy because story-wise that is just about everything I write, Thanks you as well for commenting Dk0987654321.
1309609 Lucky would be having a coincidental three week time-off already scheduled around the time of BUCK... oh wait, I did.
I guess a lot of it is to do with me being lucky. My Mum had ordered my Dad to take a three week break from work (by extension this meant I also those three weeks off) so he could rest, the family could go out together, and he could cut down the giant fir tree in our garden. This happened to be around the time the BUCK convention was going, and I happen to also have relatives who live near where the convention was taking place so yeah... all of it was quite fortunate. Thanks for the comment Fernesh.
1310295 I did indeed. As for my next time of visiting the convention, I've already been planning it out. I'm thinking of booking a hotel for next year, the moment they announce BUCK. Provided I have the money I will probably get the Summer Celebration Ticket (or whatever they decide to call the high priced ticket) and as such also book the hotel to enjoy the conventions events on Friday.
As for people going with me, I know of only a few Bronies within my area and I actually enjoyed the independence I had at the convention, so I think I'd prefer to go by myself and meet people and/or friends at the convention itself. That said my little brother has expressed interest in going with me next year, though I'm pretty sure this is on the basis that I pay for his ticket. Thank you for commenting.
1310701 Yep, I wouldn't call it the best but I would say it is my favourite manga series. Speaking of Rurouni Kenshin, I've got to see if I can find a copy of the film in the UK. It will probably be available in subtitles only but I've heard good things about it. Thanks for commenting.
1312143 To be fair I did not know you were there either, sorry I missed the opportunity to talk with you as well. Interesting to hear you were on the tech team Fireseeker, I hope you still managed to have fun at the convention even with the work.
As for future reference on how to spot me at the convention (provided I do not change one bit within a year... not even the clothes) as well as how to have known you spotted me at the current convention I will give you some 'spot Souldin' hints. I have brown hair and a wicked brown moustache (as any fine gentleman does). At the convention itself I wore a Truffle Shuffle Rainbow Dash jumper, almost always had my coat on (it has pockets, lots of much needed pockets), and was wearing both a backpack and Hatsune Mike shoulder bag. Both of my wallets have Hatsune Mike on them and if you have a 3DS then you've likely been visited by my avatar (my street-pass Mii is my avatar in case I come into contact with anyone I've met on the internet) who will have shouted out to you 'Fimfic Souldin'. My clothes may likely change by next year but just about everything will end up staying the same. Thank you for the comment Fireseeker.
1312261 Yep, it took much whining.
Rarity's method is indeed effective.
Also, if you can, do try and attend BUCK. It was a great time for me and I hope that others that attend it will also have a great time. If you do then best prepare your wallet. Whilst there are not as much merchandise there as the anime conventions I've been to (this is made up for by all the scheduled events and activities such as game demo's and ask panels) certain things don't come cheap (like that Pinkie Pie plushy,
curse you Pinkie Pie plushy).
Finally, I did not see anyone purchase a DvD but the numbers were dwindling and I could see that the toys that came free with the region 1 DvD's were being brought. Thanks for commenting.