BronyCon · 1:15am Aug 16th, 2017
Yeah, OK. I admit it, I guess I'm a brony. And I went down to Baltimore for the con. Everyone I knew was in DC for Otakon, so I was basically by myself. Which was... kind of typical. I kept making references to my August 2014 trip to Lebanon, because frankly, it felt kind of similar. Alone, centered on my hotel, walking everywhere. In fact, I used more taxis in Lebanon than in Baltimore; well, to be honest, there's more public transit in Maryland than Lebanon. The only traces of railroads in poor, battered Lebanon are to be found in archaeological sites, where the old rail lines can be seen stretching above the abyssal holes where French archaeologists dug deep into the tells to excavate the ancient walls of eternal Byblos.
I met horizon, and Horse Voice, and Bad Horse, and Georg. I played Statler to Georg's Waldorf on a few panels. (It's pronounced 'George', btw.) I listened in on Chocolate Voice's Fanfic through the Ages panel, and disagreed strenuously with his premises and his arguments. And I listened respectfully to the Quill and Blade presentation-panel on collaboration. I marveled at the preposterous prices asked for plushies in the dealers' room, and bought a mass-market Applejack for no more than 20% mark-up.
Oh, and heard again and again how everything I've ever done with In The Company of Night is the opposite of what you should do in first setting out, and they were mostly right. Writing fanfic is at least in part, an exercise in the right to be wrong. I can only hope that I've been wrong in a fruitful and illuminating fashion. Do interesting work - good work is a matter for the Good Lord to define.
It was a pleasure to make your acquaintance. Must do it again some time.
Heya Mitch. We only talked a couple of times (because sadly, I only saw you a couple of times), but I've read many of your discussions in the Fimfic Discord chat, and you sound like a very intelligent and interesting person to talk with. I wish I had gotten more chances to sit down with you and chat, so maybe next year? You shouldn't feel so left out and alone at a convention, especially one around ponies. Sometimes, you just gotta sit down with a group of people and insert yourself in. Or, if you ever see me (if you remember who I was), just grab me by the shoulder, spin me around, and start talking.
That's what Quills and Sofa's is all about.
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Thank you, and I'll try harder next time. You should see me at cons I'm supposedly at home in, though. I think I've spent 90% of my time at most of my previous cons either hanging out in con ops or the registration area. And that includes the ones I wasn't actually staffing.
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Ha ha, yeah, I used to get involved with con ops years ago. After a while I quit that so I could enjoy the con versus work and worry.
Good to see you, though only briefly.