I have returned from Everfree Northwest 2019 · 8:58am May 20th, 2019
Everfree Northwest 2019 was quite the con. Some highlights:
- Aquaman got notes on his fanscript from Nicole Duboc, executive producer and story editor of My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic for the final few seasons.
- Said fanscript then got a reading on stage, with all of the VAs of the characters in the episode actually reading their parts, and Duboc narrating the stage directions. There was even a song in there! The script was great and was easily my favorite season 8 episode, and maybe my favorite episode since like... season 5? It was really good!
Alas, recordings were not allowed for legal reasons, so those who weren't at the con may never be able to see it in is full glory. 
- Nicole Duboc in general was great; she was on several writing panels and gave a bunch of great insight into how scripts are made and how the show is made on the whole. I took extensive notes, and may transcribe or scan them in for people if folks are interested.
Vivid Syntax did a Minific Workshop, where we were given a few random prompts and told to make short stories out of them in just a few minutes. It was pretty fun. I think my favorite (by Rescue Sunstreak) was for the BRAEBURN and KING SOMBRA prompts:
Braeburn stared awkwardly across the table at King Sombra. "You don't look like your picture on Timbr."
My favorite amongst the ones I wrote was for the SANDBAR, SILVERSTREAM, and MYSTERY prompt:
Starlight fixed the young dragon with a hard stare. "Where did you find meat in Ponyville?"
Smolder fidgeted.
- I did a 20 minute long "Twi Talk" on character hooks. I have the PowerPoint on my laptop and will upload it tommorrow, when I am less tired.
- Ingram played a recording of a cut song from the MLP movie. Again, sadly, no recordings were allowed for legal reasons.
- I stayed up past midnight judging Iron Author contest entries with a group of other people, including several strong ones. Aquaman almost managed to win both the ScriptFest and the Iron Author (though his story, a melancholic piece about Diamond Tiara and Apple Bloom, was actually my personal favorite), but a story by PJABrony about Babs Seed, Coco Pommel, and the changing face of Manehattan managed to squeak by into first place (which was my second favorite story, especially after PJABrony did an excellent job reading it at the award ceremony, complete with a very authentic Babs voice). Georg, Carabas, FOME, and some other folks put in some solid contenders as well. I hope to see several of those go up on FIMFiction - I know DrakeyC has already uploaded theirs.
- I hung out with a bunch of cool people; some of you I knew before, some of you I met for the first time. I had a blast talking with you guys.
Anyway, I had a lot of fun. I've got a few almost complete stories, and I'm going to get at least one of them posted by Memorial Day. I've also got most of a review set done, so... yeah. Hopefully, I will actually be posting content again on a regular basis.
Heck, I even watched a new episode the day it came out!
What madness is this?
But for now, I really should sleep. I barely got any sleep at all at the con (I don't sleep well in unfamiliar surroundings), and a four and a half hour long drive each way to top things off is quite draining.
EDIT: I have uploaded my presentation about character hooks from my Twi Talk.
It's times like this that I wish there were more Titan Maximum clips up on Youtube. So want to post a link to Gibbs saying, "Good times. Good times."
Not that anyone is likely to know what I'm talking about. If you like Robot Chicken (made by a bunch of the same guys), though, and the likes of Voltron, it's a show well worth checking out.
I’m sorry that, between Ponytones and staffing, I didn’t get to talk to you or most of the other writers much, but I’m glad you had a great time! Are you going to BronyCon?
That was me
I hope Aqua posts that script sometime <.<
I had planned to meet you but somehow I kept getting sidetracked. Glad you had a great time!
Pretty sure getting your Honorable Mention at Iron Author was the highest praise I've ever recieved from you.
This was tremendous fun. Glad we could meet up. Also, you forgot to mention you got called up on stage with all the VAs, crew, etc. in the opening ceremonies.
Also, note for those who weren't there: The episode song was a parody of Les Miserables's "One Day More." Yes, really.
Will the script be posted online?
My personal favorite was my Sombra/Braeburn prompt.
"Say it!"
"No."
"C'mon, say it!"
"FINE!" Sombra growled . "Welcome to AAAAPALOOOSA!"
"That's it, you got it!" Said Braeburn.
"Kill me." Sombra muttered.
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Aquaman is planning on moving to LA to try and become a professional scriptwriter (one of his prizes for winning the contest, in fact, was Final Draft, the program that professional scriptwriters use!). Scriptwriters use spec scripts to basically prove their competence at scriptwriting. When I asked him this very question, he was not sure whether or not he wanted to use this as a spec script for various reasons. If he does not, he said he'd post it.
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I'm sorry I didn't catch you! I knew you were there but I never managed to catch you, either. Hope you had a good time as well.
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Well, all the community guests are supposed to go up there, so as to give everyone at the convention the chance to see them and know that they're there, making it easier for everyone to
stalkfind them, but I don't think a lot of people realize that, so a bunch of the community guests forget to do so every year. Not that I'm naming names. Georg. Admiral Biscuit.Incidentally, it was cool seeing Vivid Syntax there (who also was up there on the stage at opening ceremonies). Going to have to read more of their stuff; I've been remiss in reading a lot of their works (though I have read and enjoyed a few things they read), but they know their stuff.
Hey, I gave the coveted green thumb to Daring Do and the Weapon of the Ancients and [url=Induction of the Innocent!
And it was great. Particularly in that it played a meta role in the plot.
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My condolences to him, then. D:
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Ditto. It always breaks my heart a little that there are all these con-specific scripts floating around that can never be recorded for posterity.
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It is too bad.
This script was quite good and felt very episode-like. I think someone wrote a plot summary of it, but it isn't the same as actually reading it, let alone experiencing it with the actual voice actors acting it out.
And you know, singing.
It is a pretty cool thing to experience, though, so it's a reason for people to come to cons. And I'd rather we be able to experience these ephemeral things than that no one be able to experience them at all.
I would love to see another ScriptFest again next year, as it was a really cool thing to do.
If you're curious about what Aquaman's episode was about:
The premise of the episode was that Starlight Glimmer took the Student Six on a "field trip" to Tartarus which was actually an attempt to get them to help her reform Cozy Glow. The episode focuses on Starlight Glimmer and her motivations for wanting to reform Cozy Glow, as well as on Gallus, who is nervous about Cozy Glow and is skeptical as to whether or not it is even possible to fix someone like that.
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Thanks for the summary at least!
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I more meant that moving out to LA to try and land a job doing anything artistic is going to be a nightmare. <.<
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I actually ditto'd "I hope he posts the script sometime" from earlier.
Good to see you again this year, TD!
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It was good seeing you as well! Always a pleasure to hang out and talk.
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help, communication as we know it is breaking down thanks to the internet! D:
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Well, we picked a bad place to watch the languagepocalypse then. We should find a site that isn't about communication.
Thank you all for the kind words about EFNW. I'm... SMOFing pretty hard these past few years. Aquaman's script was, indeed, fan-fucking-tastic. And everyone... and I do mean EVERYONE (Nicole and voice actors included) agreed. It was genuinely amazing, and heartbreaking, to see a fan script produced to that level. Doubly so as I was the prime judge in selection, and helped in the edit. In true SMOF fashion, I did as little as possible, while still nudging things in the right direction.
During the on-stage reading of the script, with 12+ VAs, I still got couldn't stop from crying at the sad bit, despite reading this script a dozen times or more. Likewise, the jokes... At least two were my suggestions, and hearing an entire audience laugh at just the right moment is wonderful. But all credit goes to Aquaman... or rather, Dylan Hamilton. I say his real name, and that's because he's going to Hollywood, and going to make his mark. Search results need to reflect his real name here, in the early years. His script was great, as were his presentations/talks in the writing track. He deserves every accolade he's about to acquire!