BronyCon 2018 Con Report! · 11:16pm Aug 10th, 2018
I still tear up when I think, "For just a moment, we were here."
I've always wanted to see "the big one." I told myself that I couldn't wait forever, that you never know how much time you really have to experience something this huge (and how right I was). So back in June, I jumped in and bought a ticket. It would be different this time – I wasn't running any panels, I wasn't volunteering (LOL), and unfortunately, my convention buddy, Charlie D, couldn't make it. It was terrifying, but I knew I'd get to meet some folks I'd only spoken to online, and I knew the experience would be a great one.
I was going to BronyCon.
Thursday
The fun thing about a salaried job is that you work until your work is done. My manager is pretty understanding, but we had a major research initiative kicking off, and I ended up staying later than I wanted. However, after a lot of stress, furious emailing, and some delegation, I was able to get out of work at a time that was just shy of comfortable.
Then I went to the wrong airport terminal.
See, we've got two at MSP, and recently, Southwest (which is the best airline I've found) was moved to terminal 2. I, a Very Smart Pony, didn't bother checking where my flight was leaving from, and I only barely made it to my flight as they were deep into boarding.
But I made it. I was in the center seat, and I spent the whole flight talking to a guy who flies around the country selling IT products to investment firms and a woman who had just lost her son-in-law that morning to drug addiction. I took two lessons from it: talk to strangers, and keep your life in perspective. A nearly-missed flight doesn't seem so stressful in retrospect.
That last part was kind of heavy, so here are two cute horses I bought.
They're holding hooves! 💙💛
After a short Lyft to downtown Baltimare at eleven at night, I saw it: the convention center, sleeping soundly and ready to be filled with Bronies. In some ways, it didn't feel real until I saw the banners that decorated the streetlamps. They were adorned with stylized pictures of the convention mascots: Mane Event, Blank Canvas, and Hoof Beat. Each one proudly displayed, "BronyCon," and suddenly, it hit me that I was there.
I met up with Breakfast Tee (Sky) at the hotel (thanks for the recommendation, dude! It was a great place to stay). We chatted for a bit, but I'd promised DoTheDaringDew that I'd come down and say hi. Dewey was great to talk with, and I'm so, so, so glad I got to meet him in person. Funny to think I just met him online a month or so ago, all because he visited a lake in Minnesota that I've been to many times before. I hung out with Breakfast Tee some more, and at around 1:30, I called it a night.
Friday
I woke up and wandered over to opening ceremonies. The mascot cosplayers did a fantastic job. I loved seeing Sheva and my friend Eli up on that stage welcoming everyone, and I can only imagine what must have been running through their heads.
I wandered around, taking pics with cosplayers and taking it all in, and eventually I met up with Dewey to open up some packs of MLP CCG cards. I still need to learn how to play properly, but it was fun opening them up and having him explain to me which cards were good. I want to build a blue/orange deck someday, and I think I have some good cards for it now!
I took an initial spin through the vendor hall, where I got to say hi to Charlie Worthley (yes that Charlie) at the Ciderfest booth. I didn't buy much on the first day, but I scoped it all out.
One of the few panels I attended was Scribbler and Neighrator's writing panel. I couldn't stay for the whole thing, but they gave some great advice, especially for newer writers, and it was good to get a refresher on a lot of the basics. Also, Neighrator: how was my first line of this blog? 
Regardless of my (lack of?) skill with opening lines, my impostor syndrome can go shove it for a while, because I won the Flash Fic contest! Scribbler saved the day there, as whoever was supposed to run it didn't really show up. I was about to step in when she appeared with the dice, and the whole exercise was a lot of fun. Plus, I ran into DaOtterGuy after narrowly missing him at the panel earlier!
Side notes: I really like the "Quills and Sofas" space, and even if the writing track could use another set of eyes (foreshadowing!), I liked that the authors had their own place to chill. Also, you can read my winning entry, "Horse Luna," here.
Dinner that night was with Shalrath, a sci-fi and horse author, at an Irish Pub called Tir Na Nog with roughly ALL the writers. I sat next to Alara (writer of "Not the Hero") and Bad Horse. I actually had the privilege of meeting Bad Horse back when I was in Pittsburgh, and it was great seeing him again and talking philosophy. I also got to see Zyrian and a bunch of others, and Couch Crusader popped up at one point, too! He kind of does that. 
Just being among that many writers was a humbling feeling, and it reminded me what a vibrant community we have here on FIM Fiction. Thanks, Knighty.
After Tir Na Nog, it was time for… Tir Na Nog! I met Charlie Worthley, Kenishra, Assassin Monkey, and their whole group on the way back to the hotel, so I stopped by and shared a drink with them. It was great getting to see them, unwind, and make Kenishra drink all of our bitter, bitter beers. Also: hAaAaAlLeLuJaH!?!?
hAaAaAlLeLuJaH!!!
After that, I got to meet up with Chaotic. He's known as Sojourner around here, and he's the fantastically talented guy doing the reading of Sensation (go support his Patreon if you've got some cash to spare). He introduced me to a bunch of the other Readers, like Scribbler and Gutui and Neighrator, and I got to chill with them a bit (thanks for putting up with a hanger-on, everyone!). They're good folks, and now I desperately want to spend more time listening to all their work.
That night, I also got to hang out with Dewey some more. He's a night owl. I am not. As I've learned at these conventions, though, sleep never wins. We ended up talking late into the night about the deep stuff and the not-so-deep stuff, and it was great having a friend to just chill with. I crashed at around 4 in the morning.
Saturday
It's probably been literal years since I've slept until noon. Once I was up, though, I was up, and after some food (I think? It's all fuzzy), I went to Lena Hall's panel, where she talked about finding the Brony fandom. Turns out, she has a similar story to a lot of us: she was feeling down one day, and MLP:FIM caught her eye on Netflix. She told herself she'd just watch one episode, and we can all guess where it went from there. I had to duck out a bit early to sign up for Tabitha and Bill's "No, YOU Act!" panel the next day, but I loved listening to Lena fangirl about the show.
After that, I put on my Fashion Plate cosplay and looked FABULOUS as I strutted around the convention center and vendor hall. I finally got to meet Tsitra360 (great guy, and WOW THAT MERCH!) at his vendor table, but sadly he was out of his awesome Spyro print. I volunteered at the Ciderfest table for an hour and a half or so, then met up with Brasta Septim, Sparky Brony, and Chaotic for dinner.
A Herd of Word Nerds
We went to a place called Kona, and holy **** folks, that sushi was life-changing. I got the salmon with a micro-thin slice of lemon on top of each piece, and it was like an explosion of sunshine with every bite. We chatted about writing, fandom stuff, and that freaking delicious sushi until Sparky had to run to a panel.
After that, and still in my cosplay, I showed up at Dewey's renegade stage set. He did a fantastic job playing through his great new EP (pick it up if you haven't), and I still have "Carrying My Water" stuck in my head a couple weeks later. He's also a huge Fashion Plate fan, so he was… we'll say surprised to see me wearing it.
I swung by the Writer party that Trick Question was putting on and got to catch up with Zyrian and then with Eli, the co-chair of BronyCon. We met back at Ciderfest a few years ago when we were roommates, and I'm so proud of all the cool stuff she's doing these days. Plus, she asked me to help out with the writer track next year, and how could I say no?
I caught the tail end of a panel with Bad Horse, Wanderer D, and… someone who I should really be able to remember. They went into some of the more advanced tips for writing, and I learned a TON. Some of it was stuff I'd worked with before (use of space/movement to progress the story), but I was legitimately impressed at all they were able to share.
After that, I swung by the "Movies in Pony Voices" panel just in time to hear the end of Braeburn and Big Mac starring in Brokeback Mountain. I sat with Chaotic and Gutiu (I think that's who it was? Sorry, I'm still bad at names + faces!). I tagged along with them for a bit, then peeled off to catch the end of the concert after Dewey and I grabbed a little more food.
Odyssey's set was amazing, and it brought a tear to my eye as it closed out. He was so grateful and positive and full of joy, and the mood at that concert was overwhelming. I heard Discord, Luna, and… someone tell me what his last song was!
Color! Beautiful, blurry color!
With that, I turned in one more time.
Sunday
I woke up thinking it was Saturday and that I still had two days of con left, then I got reeeeeal sad.
BUT! There was plenty more fun to be had. It started with "No, YOU Act!" with Tabitha St. Germain and Bill Newton. They were so kind and helpful and enthusiastic, and I'm proud of my acting as Gilda during the script reading. I also got some pointers on script-writing (relevant!) during the Q&A afterwards.
I had lunch with a BUNCH of authors at Chipotle. One of the coolest parts of BC was just getting to be there with so many other people who practice the same craft. I try to recreate the same thing with the author meetups at the Midwest cons, and now I have a feeling to strive for.
Seriously, fanfic writers are awesome people. 💜
After one more vendor hall trip and catching sight of Whirlwind Flux's awesome self-made Soarin' plush, I sat in on the Charity Auction, which is always tons of fun. I didn't get anything, but I loved it, and Dusty and Foal Papers always do a phenomenal job. Afterwards, I finally met up with Larscis, who'd been volunteering all weekend, and he shared how close the Brony fandom is to raising $1 million for charity. Hint: come to Ciderfest.
And then there were closing ceremonies.
You've all heard the announcement by now, and I can't imagine how hard it was on Sheva to tell everyone. I met up with Eli afterwards and gave her a big hug – it was an emotional time for all of us. I could go into my thoughts about BC ending, but I'll save that for another time.
I'll cherish this picture. It's beautiful for so many reasons.
I grabbed dinner with the musicians (and Derpy!). We put our names in at Hard Rock, but we had to wait at Barnes and Noble until it was ready an hour later. It was okay, though. Dewey and I went for another walk around the harbor, where we talked about Horses at Home Con, some of his projects, and where we want the fandom to go.
Dinner was fantastic and all too quick, but I learned that Derpy has the choicest taste in desserts, specifically cheesecake. From there, I went to the hotel bar with Dewey and (non-Couch) Crusader, and Chaotic joined us later. The former two went off to talk shop, and I walked Chaotic out of the con after we talked about content creation, his history (now I know where "Sojourner" comes from!), and what's coming next. It was great seeing him, and as he left (after dropping me off at the hotel), the goodbyes starting hitting me really, really hard.
I met up with the writers again back at the bar. I mostly talked to Nyronus about cyber-punk future RPGs (yaaaaay nerds!), and I chatted with Bad Horse a bit more. When they began to leave as well, Dewey returned, just in time for the bars to close, and we went for one more walk around Baltimore.
Two very, VERY sleepy friends
I'm lucky Dewey's such a cool guy. We're both kind of sentimental, and we'd talked about our post-con traditions, which in this case meant walking all around and revisiting our favorite memories from the weekend. We ended up staying up and chatting late into the night. At around 3:30 in the morning, I realized there was no point in sleeping – I'd have to be up at 5 anyway for my flight, so we got to take our time.
And more than anything, I noticed those banners again: the official BronyCon banners that were decorated with the mascots. I've never seen something like that before – it's a symbol of this wonderful fandom I'm a part of, and rather than hide or be embarrassed, those banners are a testament to all the amazing things that I and others have experienced because we weren't afraid to come and be who we are.
The fandom is evolving. It's always been evolving, but with the big announcement that next year will be the last year for BronyCon, we're all feeling it more acutely. I don't know what comes next, but the one thing I've heard over and over and over again from others is that being part of this community has been life-changing. I've met new friends, done things I'd never dreamed of, and been told that my stories have improved the lives of others in huge, tangible ways. So much has happened to all of us because of these cartoon horses. One day, the ride will end, but it won't change the fact that all of us went through this crazy decade or so of pony together.
Those banners summarize it all for me. They tell the world that, for a moment, we were here. Thousands of fans, people who wanted to celebrate love and kindness in a dark world, came together to live life in a way they could be proud of. We didn't hide. We raised banners to announce our presence, and even more than that, those banners were an invitation to everyone: come join us and be a part of this amazing world of ours. There are still fans joining us for the first time, and even if they're here for just a moment, they're lives can be forever changed.
I cried just a little taking pictures of them. I don't think Dewey noticed.
I'm also crying a little right now, to be honest.
I said goodbye to my newest convention friend at around 4:30 in the morning. We were exhausted, but we'd squeezed every last drop of joy out of the convention that we could have, and on my way back to the hotel to finish packing my things, I smiled.
For a moment, we were here.
Monday?
The Lyft to the airport was silent. I spoke to almost nobody, partly out of a lingering reverence, but mostly because I was dead tired. As soon as I got on the plane in my second-row window seat, I was out until the stewardess announced we were landing.
My sleep schedule was utterly fucked, but it was worth it.
Tying it All Up
I've helped run a lot of conventions, both pony and non. BronyCon was special for me, if only because I wasn't volunteering and, in some ways, had to start from scratch. I didn't have my usual convention buddy (but again, a giant shout-out to Charlie D for being there when I kept panicking about being alone on Saturday), so I had to step out of my comfort zone, and what I found was an incredibly welcoming convention, even for its size. I see why a lot of people prefer the smaller conventions, and I think I have to agree overall, but I'm glad I made the pilgrimage while I could.
There's one year left, and I promise I'll do everything I can to make the writing track worthy of all the great memories this fandom has brought us. Save up now – it's going to be one hell of a con.
I'll see you there.
~Vivid
wow, wish i could go. This looks like total fun.
Glad I got to see you too! And hope to see you again next year ~!
Yes! I escaped the camera.
Next year I'm gonna make the pilgrimage too.
The one piece of negative feedback I've heard about this year was that the writing track could've been better organized. Guess that's covered!
Ahhhh! Bad Horse AND Alara were across the pub from me AND I MISSED THEM!? NUUUUU!
4918037
I hope you can make it next year! And if not, hopefully you can catch one of the Midwest cons.
4918043
Totally! I'll see you there!
4918192
Sorry but I live in Alabama, but thank you anyway
4918047
Thanks for hosting that night!
Only because I was already exhausted.
4918080
Sweet! I'm holding you to that.
Here's hoping.
4918134
I think we all had that feeling about one person or another. Guess we'll just try to catch more folks next year!
Was great meeting you, I've been thoroughly enjoying "Sensation"
4918134
Sounds like some kind of informal sign-in sheet would be beneficial! I always wonder how all the writers make themselves known to one another in a big group; I suppose it's a bummer to hear it sometimes it doesn't happen.
(also while you're here I just wanted to ask if you got my PM about the Month of Macabre thing, it's cool if you're not taking submissions, just thought it'd be fun to join in)
I didn't hear that the next bronycon is the last. I really should make it out to that one, I'll actually be in a position to be able to go
4918218
You sent me a PM? I'm so sorry, I missed it! I'm terrible at picking them up on Fimfiction because literally 9/10 are people demanding I do readings of their fanfics.
And yes, a sign-in sheet might have been nice, though it may have affected the informal friend-group feel of it all. To be fair I was a pretty last minute addition and if I had met them I probably would have just dissolved into a squeebly mess of fangirgasms and everyone would have been awkward about it.
4918200
Especially since next year promises to be even fuller with talented writerly folks.
Was great finally meeting you!
Had a good time hanging out, even if it was only for a little while.
4918206
Was great meeting you, too, and I'm so happy you're liking Sensation! If you have feedback, please let me know. I'd love to hear it.
4918322
4918218
(furiously taking notes for next year)
Sign-up sheet. Brilliant!
4918245
Glad you hear about it now, then. I hope you can make it! I would love to see you in person.
4918926
Was great meeting you, too! And I'm glad we got to have dinner together. See you there next year?
4919109
yep, now it's just social anxiety and awkwardness that's holding me back instead of both of those and money. Plus I might actually be able to make cons that aren't in the summer.
4919728
Those two can be a pretty powerful force. On the plus side, you know you'll have at least one friend there.
4920141
yep, they can be a pain. And it is nice that I'll know a couple people there.