EFNW 2019: Day 3 - Sunday: A Bright Future · 4:28pm Jun 18th, 2019
Cover Art by Dawnfire!
The Last Denny’s
My alarm did not fail me! Once again, I rose at 7AM to join my companions in the quest to find food. Okay fine, it wasn’t a quest. We just went to Denny’s again.
As per the norm, people trickled in slowly, including Mono, who had no lingering after effects of anything done last night. Especially not memories. Just so you know.
See? Mono totally believes me.
I even got another picture of the world-famous lurker, Bubbles, deep in intense conversation with Corejo and Sammi. I need to find out what they were talking about one of these days.
Little did I know people were stalking me. I guess I had it coming since I was snapping pictures all over the place. Considering my expression, I’m probably talking about either one of my stories or some writing theory and/or technique. That’s what I think I look like when I’m in “teacher” mode. But I could be talking about kumquats for all I know.
Overall Schedule
The nice thing about Sunday was that I had zero plans save for attending Closing Ceremonies. Nothing jumped out at me from the con book and most of the writing things were areas that didn’t really pull me in.
That left me… well, with a lot of free time on my hands! Well, as much as you can when you’re surrounded by like 50 of your friends. 
Con Store Strike!
First, here’s a cool fact for you kids: on the final day of the con, EFNW usually does a 50% off sale at the con store. Oddly enough, they even had shirts from previous years (mostly 2015, for some reason). While none of the shirts really were my style, I definitely went a little nuts with getting a gorgeous Novella pin (seriously, how could I not), a full set of the Student 6 Buttons, two Marina plushies for my fillies (always get two to minimize fighting), stickers I still haven’t decided what to use on, Book Horse and Moon Horse wristbands and a full pony-version Front Page, their primary Con Mascot OC.
...yes, I’m an addict. Deal with it. You’ll see the massive stack of things soon enough, trust me!
Even More Vendor Hall Runs
On my final runs through the Vendor Hall, I decided to throw caution to the wind and actually went through every section. I thankedTalons of Ice and Fire for his epic con art (and epic art in general). I went up to Earthsong and thanked her for being so awesome with Mono (and confirmed they totally senpai each other).
I chatted with imdrunkontea, and found out the origin of his name. Nope, not telling you, you need to ask him at a con yourself (also bought his beautiful “50s Diner Ponk Is Best Ponk” and had him sign it. It’s my hands-down favorite EqG Pinkie picture of all time).
Let’s see, I think that’s it, except for this beautiful pony!
So, apparently, they had a station there where someone had developed a “machine learning” system to scan all of Derpibooru and generate new OCs that you could select, get a badge of the pony and get her emailed to you for a couple bucks. I kept seeing people with them.
Now, I’ll be frank. I’m not sure if I wholly believe it. I mean… these pictures look too high quality to be “generated” by some computer program. How do you match mane, tail eyes and everything else? How do you set it up with the pose?!
I may just not be smart enough. But she’s cute, so I don’t care. And in case you’re wondering, her name is Ivory Rose and she’ll show up in a future installment of Wavelengths as a member of the Royal Guard. In fact, Cursori got a mare for himself…
We decided that they were sisters, likely Warrant Officers (they handle administration/HR/legal, stuff like that) after doing some time with the regular guard. The older sister joined only because the younger did. Cursori’s mare’s name is Indigo Spark! She’ll be featuring, too!
They’re adorable, BTW.
The Group™ Picture
After the Con Store, I asked where everyone was. A few folks were like… a few feet away on the other side of the glass. They were relaxing and being… outside. Yeah, they’d gone mad.
We just chatted about a few different things… and I also outright killed Heartshine when I fired back a completely unexpected quip to Kim about a certain “personal item” offered to me.
See, here’s the secret about getting in those really good quips: have an entire persona built up around the opposite of that particular subject matter, then drop the bomb in person just to see the reactions.
...seriously, no one saw it coming. No one. It was glorious. And yes, you had to be there. And no, I’m not telling.
After that though, as more and more people trickled into this enormous area, it registered on me… we had nearly everyone there. Why not get a massive group photo? We, of course, couldn’t get everyone. Some people had to leave early, Albi couldn’t make it on Sunday, some folks were off doing other things! But I’m pretty happy with this!
Special thanks to Olden Bronie for taking the picture!
Pika Needs a Tuneup
Everyone loved Mono’s Pika Hat’s floppy ears. If you squeezed on pieces in the… hanging parts? Arms? I don’t know what they’re called, they would flop back and forth, as you saw earlier! Well, by Sunday, Pika was pretty damn tired and one of the ears wasn’t floppin’ right.
So Mono got to use me as a Pika stand for a bit.
Corejo thought this was immensely amusing. Looking back. I agree!
And no, I have no idea what I was saying with that hand motion. Seriously. No idea.
Rose Gets Two Sunnys
We did wait for some people to come down and arrive, so while that was going on, I scampered up to my room, since BlackWater was wearing her epic 80s Sunset t-shirt again at my request! I snatched mine from my room, scampered back downstairs (IE waited for an elevator that always takes forever when you’re in a hurry).
At least the view was pretty!
And then, Rose got two Sunnys, a BlackWater and a Novel. All for free. Lucky girl.
Storytime at the Cafe
After the group picture, several of us migrated to that Cafe area. Mono decided to do some writing (and eventually some actual reading from one of her latest chapters, I believe). And from other stories I’ve gotten, I believe she was doing a live reading of Crimson Lips (though, of course, she was reading the chapters before the story got rated M).
All of us just took some time to relax here. No one had anywhere pressing to be, save with one another.
Gilda vs. Ember
However, when I turned around, the most peculiar thing was occurring. You see, Dave, the very same Dave who had purchased my heart-stoppingly adorable Moonie, had also decided to get a LIFE-SIZED EMBER. You’ve probably seen it a few times in these pictures! Well, it just so happens that a full Gilda cosplayer came around with a problem to settle with Ember.
Selfies
I usually don’t do Selfies. They kinda have a reputation for being something a little silly. Now, that’s not an excuse, because I’m extremely silly, but still, I think I felt self-conscious. Or I never thought about it. Well, I had Nat to thank for changing my mind. I saw her doing a few selfies over the course of the con and realized that I should be doing that!
After all, in most of my family pictures, it looks like there’s only Painted, Sunny and Primary. I’m rarely ever in them. So, might as well change it for my other family, right?
Adge’s group had either joined us or were going out for dinner, so I quickly grabbed some pics with them!
After that, it was just a general hangout until some of us decided we needed some food. Now, truth be told, I don’t remember when or where I ate Lunch on Sunday. I was fairly sure I’d eaten before, but I can’t remember when!
When Mono makes that face… nothing you can do will save you.
Snacks at the Red Lion
We decided to do something different and headed to the Red Lion, a hotel a short distance away from where Heartshine and several others were staying. After a nice walk (though I’m vaguely sure I was starting to drag a bit), we plopped down and had some snacks. In my case, I just had a giant sundae. I was on vacation, sue me.
The service there was pretty slow though, so we just managed to get out in time to scamper back to the Doubletree and hit the Closing Ceremonies of EFNW.
A full panoramic view of the Mane Hall before Closing Ceremonies!
EFNW 2019 Closing Ceremonies
Thankfully, most of The Group™ were already there and waiting for us. However, before I could grab my seat, Dave pulled me aside and promptly just handed me the cutest little flat plushies of Sunny and Twi I’d ever seen. Seriously! I’d never even seen these in the vendor hall! I knew better than to protest, and just showered him with thanks until he was embarrassed, at least that’s what I was going for.
Blue “Bee” Venture with her new friends, Moonie, Sunny and Twi!
All of us scattered into various seats across the front left of the room so we could see everything, if not always hear everything.
Now, to really get the experience, I’ve added someone’s kind recording of the closing ceremonies (the best one I found) below if you really want to experience the whole thing… including a very special song that might make you bawl your eyes out.
EFNW 2019 Closing Ceremonies Full Recording
Actually, I want to make you cry anyway.
You see, Vocal Score wrote a song special song for EFNW’s closing ceremonies. At least, I think that’s the only time it’s been played to date (but may be played at BronyCon as well).
The song reduced me to tears.
It was fantastic, amazing, heartwarming and heartbreaking, all at the same time. And while the video isn’t exactly stellar, I sadly couldn’t get it myself. I wasn’t ready. So, please, take some time and listen to Thank You For The Fun" with Daniel Ingram playing guitar, and vocals from the Everfree Staff, Black Gryph0n, and the MLP:FiM "Student Six" voice actors.
EFNW 2019 Closing Ceremonies - “Thank You For the Fun”
Vocal Score Rendition of “Thank You for the Fun”
Of course, we had our closing skit with the cute little twist of the colt, Sharp Focus, finally getting his cutie mark after years of conventions. Poor kid’s has dealt with some stuff, I tell you. They’re so fun and goofy.
We also got our total attendance, which was somewhere near 1,800, I believe, with more than enough to make a sizable donation to the autism group that had been chosen at EFNW’s charity this year.
With massive thank yous to all the special guests, the community guests, the musicians and more, we finally had one more thing to take care of.
Now, in truth, I had been worried about the next moment. I had feared that next year would be the last year of EFNW.
...nothing could be further than the truth.
EFNW 2020: The Future of Pony Conventions
Thornwing, the pony in charge, said very clearly during the Closing Ceremonies of EFNW 2019 that EFNW is not going anywhere. They are going to keep having conventions, year after year after year. It doesn’t matter what’s happening with the show. This will remain dedicated to MLP G4… and maybe, even G5.
What’s more, they changed the date. They changed it to August 7-9, 2020. And with the closing of BronyCon this year, that can mean only one thing.
EFNW is taking over as the new BronyCon.
Okay, time to talk about this. I chatted about this with everyone at the con, but I want you to hear why this is the best possible thing that could have happened.
BronyCon has a certain reputation as a very “adult fan” oriented convention. I’m not going to argue if that’s good or bad. It just is. When I mentioned this to several people, no one liked the idea of taking their kids to BC. The same goes for BABSCon, though to a letter degree and personally, I think that might be lingering (and maybe undeserved?) distrust of the Furry Fandom of San Francisco. Still, both of those cons are more “party” cons than “family” cons.
I know there are a bunch of midwest conventions, but I know very little about them or their reputation. Except for ones held in Vegas. Most know about the one in Vegas, even if we joined the fandom long after those events transpired (2013, so either right before or right after I started watching).
Don’t get me wrong. I loved my one year at BC (I think I met Adge for the first time in person there). I also loved my year at BABS (That changed my life, as it introduced me to Mono, Jyki, Swan and all the rest of the Jurists). But they aren’t cons that I’d necessarily want to bring my family to. Not because of the content of the cons, but because the fans can be a little wild.
EFNW still has a wild side and I’m sure there are plenty out there who can tell me why I’m wrong in this particular theory, but EFNW has always felt more family-friendly to me than any other con. It harkens back to the roots of the show we all love. EFNW respects where the fandom started. No, not on 4Chan, but in 2010 with G4 of MLP. I think this is an awesome thing.
The people who have handled the mantle of responsibility for a convention so well are now taking over as the largest pony convention in the Americas. (sorry, I don’t know Galacon’s numbers). Yes, EFNW had a bigger attendance than BABS this year. With the population of BC now looking to either BABS or EFNW for their pony convention fix, EFNW has set themselves up to take BC’s slot during the year.
Not only that, but they’re moving to a brand new hotel. The Hyatt Regency, which is actually located in Bellevue, Washington. They’re still working out how to get people there (it’s about 20 miles from SeaTac). But the new hotel is enormous. We’re going to get multiple floors that are ours. Bigger spaces for the Mane Hall and all the events.
EFNW has positioned themselves to capitalize on one very important truth.
MLP:FiM may end at the conclusion of Season 9. The fandom doesn’t.
Is the fandom smaller than it was? Absolutely! One can only expect so much longevity, especially in the period of flash-in-the-pan series. But that’s okay. Maybe some of our most talented members have moved on, hopefully to incredibly successful careers that they wouldn’t have if not for their experience in the MLP Fandom.
Here’s the thing folks: We’re still here.
And I can’t speak for the rest of you, but I know I’ve developed friendships and relationships and new members of my family that will be with me for the rest of my life. This is bigger than a single show on Saturday mornings. This is about us.
EFNW knows this is about us, while respecting the heritage of the fandom.
Is this looking on the bright side of things? Maybe ignoring some parts of history? Perhaps. But, I'd prefer to look toward the light than glare at the shadows.
Personally, I think things are only going to get better from here.
Okay, enough rambling. Let’s get back to it! It’s dinner time!
Trying to Figure Out Dinner for 18
First of all, we did have to say goodbye to a couple of people, including Jyki and Mono. Many hugs were given. I’m sure of that! But saying goodbye to those two is easy. I’m super lucky they’re close. And I’m more grateful than I can say.
Second, this was my chance to actually speak to both Cynewulf and Scarlet for the first time in person. In fact, I thought I’d been speaking to Scarlet for the first time, she pointed out that no, we’d met plenty before, because she judged the Sunset Shipping Contest kicked off by Oroboro with me a couple years back! Silly me.
I also got to spend a little time with Winston and FanofMostEverything, though not as much as I’d like before I was pulled away. Oh, yeah, and I was sure to get autographs from them all (more on this later)
However, the next while was spent trying to figure out what to do for dinner. We ended up with a group of roughly 18, if not more. We had intended to be doing Sharps, but they were swamped apparently. At one point, one section of the group headed off to go there, but they were a smaller section and managed to score a table.
Somehow, during all of this, everyone went mad and started to look to me to make the call. I made a few suggestions about the Sharps thing, that Hap all tanked wonderfully (I hate making phone calls).
As I was heading off somewhere though, a man stopped me. Little did I know this would open my eyes and give me a chance to have a greater impact on one person’s life… even if I did ramble.
He stopped me for 5 minutes. I ended up stopping him for 40.
We Are The Light of the Fandom
Sadly, a great deal of my conversation with Olden Bronie didn’t come back to me. However, I decided to reach out to him and ask what he got from the conversation. Thankfully, he has a much better memory than I!
The biggest thing I remember is talking about Spectrum of Gray. Olden Bronie is married and has been married for quite some time. There’s a reason Gray is set fifteen years in the future. When folks first get into a romantic relationship, they rarely understand what it takes to actually make that relationship work. Hollywood and Disney give this image of “happily ever after.” It’s a flat out lie. Happily ever after isn’t a place, it’s a road.
We compared our knowledge of the subject (of which his was far greater than mine), how we’ve reacted. I got to really revisit the topic of dealing with the Truth in Fiction I wanted to talk about during the panel on Saturday.
From Olden Bronie:
We also discussed how we became involved with the fandom and I told you about watching with my granddaughters and you told me about watching with your children. I then told you about how I'd been verbally and emotionally attacked and shunned by my family for going to conventions, watching the show and being involved with others who did. You told you had similar experiences and how it had affected your marital relationship.
There are a few things I remember of our discussion. First and foremost, I had told you how much I appreciated all the 'real' writers letting me hang out with them even though I was more of a reader and comment than a writer. You told me that giving feedback to any writer was important and very valued. You then asked me if I had written a story. I told you I had, an entry for the 2018 Jinglemas. You told me that I was, indeed, a writer and asked if I had other ideas for stories. I said that I did. You then told me to write them and get them out on FIMFiction so that others could see them. That way I could get feedback and learn to be a better writer.I also talked to you about Monochromatic and how her TEL and TEK stories reminded me of an unrequited love that I have for a certain person and overall how beautifully she writes Rarity and Twilight together. I also mentioned about her reading several chapters of 'Crimson Lips' to myself, Carabas and a couple of others whose names escape me at the moment. It was simply amazing and beautiful! I think I told you I gave her some ducks, but I don't remember.
I think at one point, I ended up slipping into full bombastic exploration/lecture mode. I love talking about stories, just like most of you. I especially love talking about my stories. Not because of ego (though I admit there’s a little), but because I’m excited about them and I want to share, like a child bouncing up and down and begging mommy to put their new picture up on the fridge.
From Olden Bronie:
I think we perhaps discussed a couple of my story ideas, but mostly we talked about how great the fandom is, what it means to us and how these pony people are in most ways more of a family to us than our own are. For me, I don't believe I could get through a day without them, even if they may not know me at all. You expressed the same sentiment.
We spoke on life, pain, the light of this fandom and how MLP and the fans around us have changed our lives forever, something we would always have with us, and of course, The Quiet War.
Hap himself had to eventually pull me away, but I shook hands with Olden Bronie, thanked him for being so awesome and insightful, challenged him to write (since he was a writer, dammit) and we happily parted ways.
Seaports It Is!
This is where things get weird. Everyone really looked at me to make the call since Sharps was a total no-go. I looked around and threw up my hands, spying the central table in Seaports. Well, I knew that could hold us all! So, I happily announced that we were going to Seaports… and people followed me for some crazy reason.
Probably because they were hungry and just wanted a place already.
We got all set up, eventually ordered and it all turned into yet another session of The Group™. People were chatting everywhere, back and forth. And the best part about these conversations is that people could drop in and out without any trouble. At least, I did. I didn’t feel awkward or strange. It felt right.
It felt like home.
I know I keep saying that. I don’t care. It’s true a thousand times over. And it’s worth remembering.
Raven & My Kind of Crazy
At some point during the evening, RoMS asked me a question: “how do you come up with the structure of a story?" (Which eventually drifted into how to develop story ideas). He was exploring how other people work their own processes, as he knows (like any good writer), that adapting other’s processes into your own can help you create amazing things.
I’ve done this myself, most commonly when I’m stuck on the idea of what to write next? I know the need to write, but not having a clue what to write. It’s a little different from Writer’s Block. Writer’s Block is where you’re in the middle of a story and you can’t figure out what to say next. The best way I would describe this situation is Creativity Block. You want to be creative, but you can’t find the right outlet.
This was a complex question and the more I unwrapped it, the more complex it became, as I started to unfold my own writing processes for RoMS (and I believe several others listened as I suddenly did this mini-panel about the creative process).
The two stories I talked about were As The Raven Flies, which is slated to be the next Wavelengths story after Teahouses of Saddle Arabia and My Kind of Crazy. Because I love My Kind of Crazy.
In fact, over the course of the weekend, several people asked what they should start reading first. I always had two answers: either The Alchemy of Chemistry if they wanted to kick off Wavelengths for my enormous epic or My Kind of Crazy if they wanted to just totally OD on cute. I think Alchemy showcases what I can do with era-spanning character arcs while Crazy showcases what I can do within a story itself while remaining cute and keeping to my favorite character voice to date.
Anyway.
For Crazy, I started with a simple image: a sad girl sitting on the edge of a pier looking out over the ocean. I added the idea of Pinkie Pie tap dancing along the boardwalk as she comes across the girl. Well, knowing what we know of Pinkie’s character, what would she do next?
Go cheer her up right? But Pinkie’s not one to actually just walk up to someone and say “cheer up.” She’d probably ask what the girl was looking at. If the girl answers, then Pinkie would reply, and the story would spin itself out
I actually read several parts of Crazy, especially one of my favorite scenes, the opening of Chapter 2 when Rarity is berating Pinkie for calling Pinkie’s new shoes Mary Janes when they’re actually T-Straps, to which Pinkie comments that Rarity sounds just like Twilight. Rarity, of course, denies this outright, until she goes off again, abruptly stops and goes “Oh dear, I really do sound like Twilight, don’t I?”
Storytelling is a very organic process for me. I put things together and find out what happens next!
For Raven, I gave a semi non-spoiler version of the story, as only Cursori had read it so far. Raven, I spun out a basic concept of the events that had transpired in Teahouses and how Sunset was dealing with them. Both Celestia and Raven are concerned about her, but Celestia can’t/won’t get involved. So, Raven tries.
I describe the events that transpire next and how Raven, Sunset and those around them deal with the consequences of those events. Of course, I can’t tell you everything, because I want to keep you all as unspoiled as possible!
But to be honest, it was the first time I actually got to truly geek out about Raven in person with someone and I was desperate to do it!
TSSSF IV - The Shipping Home
I think it was shortly before midnight that we finally cleared out. It took some time, but we eventually decided on another game of TSSSF, because there were still people who hadn’t had a chance to play it yet. So there was this big ordeal figuring out where we would go, since the gaming room was closed now and there weren’t any other places in the hotel that weren’t currently being set up and occupied.
Also, a new group was slowly trickling into the hotel, one that would continue until we left Monday afternoon. (Seriously, they looked like they were part of a Mafia Wedding. It was… surreal).
We eventually end up in Carabas and Cursori’s room where I get creative and use a bed as our playing grid.
I gave my now-practiced spiel about how the game worked. In all these games, I’d always gone first, never to win a goal, but just to show the different card mechanics, like swap, replace, copy, etc. This turned out to be a great way to teach people, though my deck is so insane there’s always weirdness. Weirdness that would eventually bite me in the tail.
After my initial setup, it was Bookish’s turn. He decided to take his time. And then some.
Because right then, I got an urgent Discord message, one that was an utter tragedy!
Deathscar was leaving!
Saying Goodbye to Deathscar
Sadly, I didn’t get nearly as much time as I would have liked with the insanely cheerful (and often crazy brilliant) Deathscar. However, I wasn’t about to miss saying goodbye to my close friend, so I scampered over to the lobby and gave him a huge hug. We chatted for a short time, along with the rest of Adge’s Group (I was really happy to spend so much time with them this year) before bidding him farewell.
Finally, I made arrangements to have breakfast with them all (with a potential spot for Tsitra) at IHOP, a proper breakfast destination. After we got things settled, I bid them all goodnight and scampered back to the game.
TSSSF V - The Final Ship
...to find that it was still Bookish’s turn?!
The game went a little wild from here, with people telling fantastic and insane stories (can I just say that I want Carabas to just tell me stories nonstop with that wonderful Scottish brogue?). [Aside, Cara told me the correct term for this is a burr. The Irish have brogues. The Scottish have burrs. You have now been educated!]
The ships got pretty damn crazy, though I’m sorry to say that I eventually started fading out from pure and total emotional and physical exhaustion. I could barely stand because those dizzy spells were slamming into me again and again and again.
I did actually fairly well for myself this time, but I still did house rules and played fast and loose with the goals in order to do the time. However, these were the goals I had ended up winning by the end of the game.
However, when two of the players finally decided to retire, I was forced to override a card that prevented people from winning. I was barely keeping awake at this point and needed to call it quits (as did many others). However, I decided I should do it right, so after going through my hand a few dozen times, I realized I could indeed use the goal without using a new house rule and I successfully for the very first time, used the “All Good Things Must End” card intentionally…
Thereby ensuring that all of us won the game.
That being said, I still got my SunLight.
Philomena Talks & Crashing Heads
At long last, it was bedtime. Tsitra and I trudged up to the elevator and crashed. I got this weird second wind thing and decided to do a bunch of quick research about the new location for EFNW 2020. The next day, Arcshod went up there and began posting photos of the location in the Nook. It looked great. Even my research of the area, short as it may have been, looked pretty nice.
After that, Tsitra and I spoke for what was probably too long about Philomena, my snarky birb bot in the Nook who’s a smartass to everyone because I wrote her to be… well, Philomena! However, there are some logistical issues with her right now, so we’re looking to make some changes.
Eventually, I stopped just long enough to scribble down a journal of the day’s events before finally collapsing into my bed. I was out in minutes.
And so ends Sunday. Only a single day remains of my EFNW 2019 Adventure! I’ve been working on this Retrospective for weeks now and cannot tell you how excited I am to finally be close to having it done!
See you all tomorrow!
-NI
| Prologue: Welcome Home |
| Thursday: Socialization on an Epic Scale |
| Friday: On Psychopaths |
| Saturday: Perfect Friendships |
| Sunday: A Bright Future |
| Monday: Painters, Packing, Piers & Planes |
| Epilogue: Why It’s Worth It |
The teenage daughter of Front Page, Novella is an introvert, a lover of stories, and an aspiring author. Her cutie mark is an open book with a heart. She is often seen using magic to float a book (much easier than trying to hold it with hooves!). She can be moody and distant, but when it comes down to it, she really cares a lot for her family. Who knows, maybe someday she’ll write for the Everfree Press?
Woot!
So glad I managed to capture that song at least from the closing ceremonies. I probably would have burst out in tears as some other people did, if I hadn't been flying so high on everything else.
I wish I could have actually chatted with Carabas a bit (after he complimented me on my great kilt), but a combination of the noise and my s----y brain (I have a problem differentiating sounds from background noise) meant it was nearly impossible for me to parse his glorious Scottish burr. And I'm still irritated that I didn't know ScarletWeather was there until too late.
I nearly started screaming when I saw that EFNW was not only continuing, but, as you said, positioning themselves to be the new Bronycon. The new hotel is in a great location (I used to work about a block away), with awesome food and decent shopping within walking distance for most of us. Getting there from the hotel may be tricky, since the train doesn't run on the eastside yet, but the buses aren't too bad (only one transfer IIRC). I'm planning on actually splurging on a hotel room next year, despite living only a short hop away (I405 traffic is insanely horrible, even on weekends).
I know that I will be sticking with it as long as I can. As long as there is a fandom. This show and fandom has meant so much to me, even if I only inhabit the periphery of it. The sheer degree of creativity involved (both from the show staff and the fandom) has been one of the most inspiring things in my life, and for the EFNW staff to commit to it the way that they have is amazing.
Huh. That time slot for next year means EFNW is no longer impossible for me. I might have to fly out with Core next year... 🤔
Spoken like someone who didn't spend every opportunity he had watching the AI produce wonderfully horrible pony monstrosities. Believe me, there were some doozies. The one I purchased for posterity is far from the best/worst.
In any case, I'm still a little dumbfounded that someone asked me for my autograph. I'll have to be sure to spend more time with you next time.
I remember that random pony generator thing! It was strangely...hypnotizing.
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You should see the one I adopted. Looks like it just snorted a mountain of cocaine.
Flattery will get you all the stories you please.
The education's free, of course.
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Good to have a profile to match onto the great kilt. Nae worries about the lack of parsing. Even in quiet places with compliant brains, folk find me hard to make out. And that was definitely a great great kilt.
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Woot yourself!
I was flying high on everything else AND bursting into tears. What can I say? I'm good at multitasking.
Now that's a ringing endorsement for the area if I've ever heard one!
For me, I look at Star Trek. There are like billions of Star Trek fanfics, but Paramount/CBS was always far more draconic about controlling fan-made things than Hasbro has been. And the Star Trek fandom is still around. MLP is as unique as Star Trek was back in it's day.
We're not going anywhere.
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*scribbles out that "might" for you.*
5076314
Actually, I did see the abominations. I just... I TRY NOT TO THINK ABOUT THE THINGS I SAW MAN! I don't need that level of sanity damage in my life!
...if it helps, it took someone a good ten minutes to convince me to do it at my first EFNW. It's still surreal. However, you're you, so you should get used to it!
And even if you spend more time with me, I'm still getting your autograph again. Don't think that you get to escape it!
5076371
That's one word for it.
5076388
You know I want you to do an audiobook reading of Diamonds now, right?
Oh good. I doubt I could afford your prices!
Oh my god, the pic of Mono with her finger out brought back that reading like a bolt of lightning. I've just been sat here laughing to myself about it!
5082536
Y’all were pretty enraptured by her during that!