Final Iteration · 9:33pm Aug 5th, 2019
And so Bronycon comes to an end. A lot went well, a lot went poorly. All told, this last visit to Baltimare can be summarized in four words:
It went horribly right.
Wednesday
This really should've told me what I was in for. I got in far too early, well before noon when registration didn't start until 6:30 that evening. And the line was already forming more than an hour in advance. (I passed by Littleshy as he was recording it for posterity, got to tell him hi.)
Fortunately, I was one of the winners of the RCL's Canadian standoff* to decide who get the panelist badges. By the time I got out, the line to get in the line to get in the line had wrapped around three corners of the convention center.
* "You can take it." "No, you can take it." Repeat ad nauseum.
But before I left the building, I looked over the convention map... which was oddly truncated from previous years, using maybe half as much space as the '17 and '18 conventions. Including folding in Quills & Sofas, the writers' lounge, with Pastel Pastures, the arts & crafts room.
Yeah, if you haven't already heard, this was Linecon 2019. The organizers thought the declining attendance trend would continue, apparently never considering what kind of effect declaring this the last of its kind would have. Though I wouldn't realize just how bad it would be until the next day.
Thursday
This was an especially exciting day, since I got the first ten copies of Oversaturation ready to stock in the bookstore. Outside the convention center, I ran into Monochromatic, Corejo, and their cohort and walked with them as they retrieved their books as well, discussing the finer points of horsewords. At the booth itself—and let me say, it is surreal to see an almost empty vendor hall, especially after this weekend—I got to see Wanderer D, Skeeter the Lurker, ROBCakeran53, and especially Admiral Biscuit, who had an entire wagon loaded with books and typewriters.
I drifted for a while after that, but soon attended my first panel, the title of which should tell you verything you need to know: "The Most Metal 1980s Show Ever Invented: My Little Pony Generation 1." Suffice to say, the things that befell Dream Valley make Ponyville's average week look quiet in comparison. Not just the singing purple shoggoth that was the Smooze, but also thieves of youth and beauty, porcine sorceresses who literally glassed the landscape on a whim, and that time a bunch of flutterponies were honey-glued to the floor of a giant beehive that was also on fire. (Also, there was an interdimensional cop with the voice of Optimus Prime and the body of a giant enemy allied crab.)
Quick digression: One scheduling change I appreciated when first looking at the schedule was that, rather than go directly from one panel to the next, which would sometimes require racing across the entire convention center, there were fifteen-minute gaps between blocks of content.
Unfortunately, a good rule of thumb was that you needed to show up half an hour early in order to guarantee a seat. Meaning that not only could you miss a panel because you were attending another panel, you probably would. Even if they were in the same room.
Guess what I had planned next on my schedule? Yeah, didn't get to that panel on writing families.
Instead, I ate, hung out at Quills & Sofas, and at some point learned that the bookstore was also going horribly right, including a line so long that security had to separate it into two stages. The bookstore was near the central aisle of the vendor hall, which meant that without that separation, it was blocking two or three other stalls.
The "Pastels & Sofas" situation was interesting. We were stuck in a little four-table gulag in one corner, but we could just waltz through the door no matter how big the line for the next arts & crafts event was... provided they weren't kicking us out because of needing to rearrange the room, or to prepare for a mediation session that wouldn't mix well with manual typewriters.
Q&S was as great as it ever was, aside from those interuptions. It's always nice getting to meet a bunch of other people who I only really see at these. I can't even pretend to try to list them all, so I apologize in advance to everyone who said hi, shook my hand, discussed my work, thanked me for my copious commentary, or asked me to sign their copy of Oversaturation for not bringing them up by name. (Skywriter, Super Trampoline, Thought Prism, Moosetasm, Aragón, Chinchillax, ClockworkMage, Csquared08, Tangerine Blast, RoMS... Yeah, I'm so sorry, guys. I have little memory for faces or names. Most of this blog exists because I was literally taking notes for a lot of it.)
I never felt genuinely horsefamous until this con. And while I may be an F-lister (F for fic, of course,) that's still better than Z.
The other panel I was able to attend on Thursday was "Physicists Invade Equestria," and it was awesome, featuring such findings as Cloudsdale floating at an alititude perfect for cloud formation, Shining being able to throw Cadence at the same initial velocity that a quarterback can toss a football, and the Cheerilee equation being the key to understanding the electromagnetic nature of magic. Also, based on how much force moving the sun should require, Celestia should never have lost to Queen Bugbutt.
That whole "fifteen-minute break" thing I mentioned earlier? Yeah, that didn't apply between the physics panel and the opening ceremonies. There was no hope of me seeing those. They tried to set up something just outside the vendor hall—and don't even ask what that line looked like on Thursday and Friday, to say nothing of the line for the line for the bookstore—but the operative word there is "tried." First the audio wasn't working, then the video wasn't working, then I left in disgust, since I could actually hit up the vendor hall without violating the fire code.
There I got to see Blue_Paladin42 buy my book. Which is every bit as surreal and gratifying as you might imagine, especially when he asked me to sign it.
I spent the rest of Thursday at Quills & Sofas. I believe it was that day when RobCakeran and Trick Question did battle with their plushies and the former declared a flashfic prompt of Princess Big Mac vs. Pinkie. I delivered, to his delight. The tale will go up in my traditional post-Bronycon anthology soon enough.
Friday
First things first, I got the second and final wave of Oversaturation to the vendor hall, burning my last "Oh, don't mind me, I'm just restocking" excuse. (Sorry I was only able to bring twenty copies; this isn't actually part of Ponyfeather Publishing, so I had to transport all of them by myself, and Amtrak only allows two bags per passenger.) I picked up some gorgeous buttons from Akili-Amethyst, the artist who does all those Kingdom Hearts-style stained glass prints. (Specifically a Derpy and a Daydream Shimmer, for obvious reasons.)
I also got a 5x9 print that contributed to my second biggest mistake of the con. One that, in hindsight, I have to smile at because of the sheer naivete involved:
I tried to get an autograph from Lauren Faust.
Yeah, you can imagine how well that went. I'm not sure if the line even moved. Though I did get to meet Viga of Atop the Fourth Wall. We had a lovely discussion of the fanfic community versus a more convention-oriented fan experience. It really highlighted the longevity something like fanfic has relative to the source series. We and others who create rather than just consume will be the ones keeping the lights on as long as the ideas flow.
After spending the better part of an hour without seeing the line actually move, I went to MagpiePony and TheLostNarrator's awful fanfiction MadLibs, which were a lot more fun. I managed to accidentally give Spike a crush on Cheese Sandwich. Other highlights included Lyra and Silver Spoon competing for gold in the Equestria Games' inaugural Braeburn toss (it's a hippgriff tradition!) Bulk Biceps, Winona, and Gilda in a twisted blend of heist story and Gift of the Magi; and Lost spelling a certain instrument "aquarina." (As if the Water Temple wasn't obnoxious enough...)
I won't lie, after that, I got back in the Faustograph line for a bit. Hope springs eternal. After leaving again, I went to Movies in Pony Voices, another Mag/Lost production. It was every bit as good as it sounds, with Tree Hugger as Agent Smith, Pinkie as Tony Montana, and Fluttershy as R. Lee Ermey in the opening scene of Full Metal Jacket, among other highlights. A few issues with mike feedback honestly added to the experience given all the in-character ad libbed reactions to it.
As you might have gathered, this panel took place in the Hall of Chaos, a conference room in the hotel adjoining the convention center used to host 21+ content. The next panel in that room was a roast of M. A. Larson, and when I got out, the line was so long, not only did it stretch across the connecting skybridge and back into the center, at least one member of the staff was having a minor breakdown as she tried to herd the assembled cats.
Yeah, I stayed out of that one, though I did hear tales of Larson bringing giant Sharpies both inflatable and functional.
After meeting Alondro and living to tell the tale, I went back to the Hall of Chaos for the M-rated variant of horrible fanfic Mad Libs. (Huh. Friday was a very MagpiePony/Lost Narrator-rich day for me. Didn't think about it at the time.) I didn't contribute much; I just made a terrible OC's mane partially plaid. Said OC sought vengeance against Derpy for killing his mother, Cranky Doodle, only to learn that Derpy was his father! Also, Keanu Reeves killed Garble by crashing into Las Pegasus and Fluttershy slew both Daybreaker and Nightmare Moon with a spaghetti noodle. Wonderful silliness all around.
The night closed out with someone bringing a few MREs to Quills & Sofas, to our delighted curiosity. The peppermint rings were eerily reminiscent of the ones my office puts in the conference rooms...
Also, a pair of redheaded twins cosplaying as Flim and Flam wanted me to sign their copy of Oversaturation, but even after Flim checked his hotel room, they couldn't find it. So I signed their hats instead.
(Also also, while we were waiting, someone asked to see Flam's badge to see if he knew him. The badge just said Flam. As I said at the time, I don't know what he was expecting.)
Saturday (or, the Best Day in Monochromatic's Life)
This was a very special day for me. In order to lend extra scientific credibility to the RCL's Best Fic Ever panel (and darn it, we missed an opportunity by not saying that as a group,) I performed my first act of cosplay, as Rule 63 Sci-Twi. (The mustache and beard were the result of Arcane Experiment #23, which is why I didn't dye them.) It got a fair amount of approval, though I'm not sure if anyone ever got any photographic evidence. Mind you, I'm not sure whether or not that's a bad thing...
In any case, after we got everything prepared (by which I mostly mean Horizon got everything prepared,) it was time for the panel! And it was an absolute blast, aside from having to snub a lot of deserving authors from any kind of mention, Estee especially. The finals (Hard Reset vs. The Enchanted Kingdom) were especially tense considering how we ran through the usual process backwards: First horizon gave his ultimate judgement in the event the panel couldn't decide (Hard Reset,) then the rest of us voted (2-2 with one abstention, meaning it would go to horizon,) and only then did we ask the audience. And the result...
Well, you did read the header for this day, didn't you? Kingdom won by a hair in a finale that even I might have thought was scripted. Sometimes narrativium leaks into even our world.
Almost immediately after that was the script reading, and I was thankfully able to get in line in time. The script itself was entitled "A Matter of Principals," and I will happily take it over the Starlight/Discord episode, not least because it provides the satisfactory conclusion to Equestria Girls we might never get otherwise, being set just before graduation for Sunset's class. The Celestias switch places, the human analogue of Mayor Mare goes more mad with power than either of them thanks to the promise of an infinite budget, human Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara actually get to do something, and Princess Luna's only reaction to a Celestia smacking literal Cthulhu with the sun? "'Tis about time." And, of course, there's a lesson about moving on and taking all the hard-earned lessons from a special place out into the world with you.
I am heavily summarizing, of course, but this was truly fantastic. And Mono and Skywriter got to chip in on some bit parts, which is truly awesome. There was a notable absence of Twilights, but given that only her singing voice was available, I suppose I understand the ommission. (That or someone else voicing her would summon Tara Strong in a burst of shadows and fairy dust, and she would need to go through registration before joining the reading. Normal registration, since she wasn't a guest. That, of course, would take far too long.)
And then... Then came the biggest mistake of the con. One that I had been looking forward to. A Magic: the Gathering Cube Draft (which, for the uninitiated, involves putting together a bunch of cards, splitting them into fifteen-card pseudopacks, and having people draft with them.) It was basically the con in microcosm, in the sense that they never expected that many people. Unlike the con, they didn't have experience on their side either. The whole thing was poorly managed, poorly thought out, and poorly corrected when problems did crop up. The actual games I played were fun (inasmuch as two blue-black control decks can permit fun) but the entire process left a poor taste in my mouth.
Especially when I realized I passed up Lauren Faust's personal panel for it.
Thankfully for the tournament organizers, that happened the next day.
(One bright note during the actual draft:
Venerable Ro: Hey, Twilight, could you cast a bottomless root beer spell?
Me, without hesitation: Wrong Twilight.)
On a happier note, then came the final authors' dinner (after I Clark Kented my way out of my costume. Yay for a character who can justifiably wear street clothes.) Mine was apparently the musical chairs table. No fewer than four different people sat in one of the chairs. Meanwhile, Thought Prism and I discussed MtG lore, with Distaff Pope joining in when we moved to pony. Shakespearicles gave a lovely toast on riding this wagon until the wheels fall off, then getting out and pushing. I'm with him.
After that was the Community Guest Author Meet & Greet, where I thought I'd be meeting GroaningGreyAgony for the Estee autograph exchange. While playing PM tag with him, I kind of accidentally became an unofficial fourth author. A few people recognized me. One called me a legend. Still processing that. Also got to talk to Aragón while he was in line for Skywriter. You know, even though both would see each other at Quills & Sofas later.
Look, I never said this was a well-thought-out event. Though in a lot of cases, it wouldn't have been likely that the people in line would've gotten a chance to interact with the authors in question beyond pure happenstance.
There was also a cosplay combat thing going on at the same time, which seemed to be somewhere between LARPing and playing pretend in term of severity and rules hardness. Given how I was back in my full Sci-Twi regalia, I made sure I kept enough distance to avoid getting dragged in... even if it might have been fun to role play a hopelessly out-of-his depth human Dusk Shine (or even further confused Twilight) in one match.
In any case, I was able to work things out with GGA, spent a bit more time in Quills & Sofas, and then took the opportunity to wash out the bad taste of the draft with Josh Scorcher's Friendship is Magic: the Gathering panel. It's fairly basic, introducing the philsophies of the colors, how they interact, and where characters fit. He made some interesting arguments there. I don't agree with all of them—especially how he feels Scootaloo got screwed by her cutie mark—but it was a fun crossover panel.
Also, apparently someone informed him of Friendship is Card Games afterwards. Which is cool, if also a little terrifying.
Sunday
This was a day with a mission. I got up early, got a hearty breakfast, went to the autograph line, double-checked the times just to be sure I had it right...
And was immediately grateful I did, because I'd read one line down of where I'd meant to on Friday. Faust's autograph sessions didn't begin at 9 today. It began at 11:30.
So I thought about it. From what I'd heard, three hours might be enough to guarantee I'd get some face time with the woman who let us all play in her sandbox, especially since the part of the plan that banked on there being few early risers had panned out.
But this was the last day of the last Bronycon. All I wanted to do was thank her for what she'd done. But surely countless others had already said the same words. Wouldn't it be better to thank her through deeds? To show that I had taken the lessons of the show to heart? Better then to spend these final hours not waiting for the one who started it, but with those who continue it.
And that's how I decided that the real Lauren Faust autograph was the friends I made along the way.
I told Quill Scratch this while he was working on a series of essays about Administrative Angel. He declared that I had won Bronycon.
So, instead of a third round of waiting for Godot Lauren, I went to see Family Feud (which was, of course, Hooffields vs. McColts.) I'd actually been part of the survey, thanks to RainbowDoubleDash. Highlights among the questions:
• What is a daily threat to Ponyville? #1: The Everfree. #2: Twilight.
• What might be sold at the Carousel Boutique's going out of business sale? #1: Dresses. #3: Rarity's dignity. #5: Sweetie Belle. #9: Spike.
• You've made it to Equestria, but you're... #1: Still human. #5: On fire. #6: In G3.
• Who is best pony? #1: Fluttershy. #2: Twilight. #3: Rainbow Dash. #4: Applejack. #5: Derpy. #6: Pinkie. #7: Luna. #8: Rarity. #9: Starlight. #10: Trixie.
(When Trixie was revealed to be the bottom of the list, RDD held up his crocheted Trixie and made her shake with indignation. It was great.)
I only saw Hap once over the con, but it was an encounter to remember, since I gave him the most concise summary for the Schrödinger equation tattooed on his arm that he'd ever heard: Everything wiggles.
Hmm. I may need to get in tocuh with Pineta about that...
My shift at the bookstore came at noon, and the place was picked pretty darn bare. At one point, Georg came in with a single copy each of his Gaberdine duology and the Sisters anthology, and both got snapped up inside of fifteen minutes.
Then ObabScribbler came by and this happened:
Me: Hello, horsefamous person!
Scribbler: (checks my badge) Hello, other horsefamous person! (Gives me a "Scribbler Thinks I'm Lovely" ribbon.)
So yeah. In a beautiful bit of synchronicity, the next thing on my agenda was Scribbler's writing panel. I was lucky enough to fold myself in with Pascoite, Trick Question, and Winston as they got in line. There were some gems in there on story planning, worldbuilding, and cultivating character depth.
Shortly before they closed out Pastels & Sofas for good, I was able to get in a quick game of Magic with Admiral Biscuit... using his cards, since I only had Commander decks on me, and that format is the polar opposite of quick. Which meant I couldn't actually do anything as his Elf deck got the perfect draw. Turn 2 Priest of Titania gets there when the opponent's deck has literally no answers.
As for the closing ceremonies, second verse, same as the first. I never attended it. I also somehow aggregated a posse in my dithering. We went to the vendor hall to see what last chance offers could be had at the bookstore, which is how I got the very last copy of the Flash Sentry Diaries, Bad Horse's Stupid Unicorn, and a signed copy of Trick Question's anthology.
Not much happened after that. I spent the rest of the day in my hotel room catching up on the new episode, writing the reaction portion of the card blog... and then spilling water on the edge of the laptop. It's fine, thankfully, but it still spent the night upside down over a towel to be safe. I took the opportunity to read some Trick stories I hadn't yet.
Monday
And then I sat down and decided to write a review of what happened. First
No, we're not going that recursive. I went back to Baltimore Penn Station unnecessarily early given my train, looking for fellow Bronycon attendees both obvious and subtle. Pretty sure Applejinx sat a bench down from me without noticing. I took the time to wrap up and post FiCG: The Last Laugh.
And on the train itself, a woman in a human Rainbow Dash shirt sat next to me, and I asked, "So, how did you enjoy Linecon?"
We had a pleasant bit of conversation. I mentioned how I was a fanfic author. She said she was a voice actress, specializing in Sunset. After a bit more, including me taking the time to mention Oversaturation, I asked what her handle was.
It was Wubcake.
Yeah.
So in the end? I got that 5x9 autographed anyway.
tl;dr: 8/10: Not a perfect send-off, but a very fun one after adapting one's schedule.
Why is Bronycon ending? Botcon didn't begin until Transformers was in the wilderness, it's G2 line in it's last year, it's comic and cartoon cancelled and Beast Wars was such a shot in the dark Hasbro branded it in the Kenner line
giphygifs.s3.amazonaws.com/media/jNdw5Qmy5MOpq/giphy.gif
Regarding the space allowed, I have it from one of the con staff that two other venues booked areas of the BCC where Bronycon wanted to set up in as well. One only lasted a day and the other cancelled. By the time staff was made aware of the cancellation the budget had already been set and there wasn't enough leftover to secure the extra space.
5100169
Because the con staff
can'twon't commit to leasing the Baltimore Convention Center for the minimum 3 years.Baron just got back after airline shenanigans and regaled me with a thumbnail version, which mostly amounted to “everyone sold everything. And then they did it again.”
I really, really wish I’d had the budget to go. If that windfall had come in just a month or two earlier . . .
I gave up on Ms. Faust's autograph line so many times that I had a place reserved for not being in it. At one point, I just started working the math: # people in line / maximum signatures per minute / 90 minutes = oh @#$$ no. I just didn't see any way through which didn't involve getting rid of everyone else in the line, which was both rather rude and would have required somewhere to place the bodies. Which would have meant standing in line, as the Hiding The Dead panel was in the Hall Of Chaos and people were backed up for three blocks.
I spotted you in the mad libs line. It was particularly memorable because that was when I found out that horsefame means nothing. 'So here's FOME. His follower count is in the 1500s somewhere. Do you know what this means for getting into that event? Absolutely. Nothing.'
Also, Celestia's Tiny Pickle.
(I'll let him explain that one.)
I... I need to know these things.
Glad TEK won. You probably would have heard my shrieks of indignation all the way from North Carolina had Hard Reset won.
Online it's easier for me to voice opinion and "show" emotion. I don't really react much but I've been told it's a sight to see me argue emotionally in person. I don't get loud (because my throat and lungs literally cannot handle sustaining high volume, or I'll be so loud that I'll startle myself) I just get forceful.
It's strange to think that I'd go to the mat for someone I don't think I've ever even gotten to speak to let alone that I do not know or have never met to defend their work triumphing over something that I hold to be literary garbage and shouldn't have even been up for that title.
Control decks are zero fun. My last tournament (as in last ever) I played against a blue-white hard permission deck. My deck was built for me by a friend, and the logic behind it was sound in being a guaranteed winner- it revolved around stacking counters and attributes onto Primordial Ooze, buffing my own life, and dropping 2/2 creature counters, all every turn. This turned into "I'm going to pla-" "nnn... Nah." For about fifteen minutes.
In retrospect I probably would have been very recognizable as the person in the Sunset leather jacket cowering as close to the wall as possible in abject terror, or repeatedly mentioning to anyone who would listen that I shouldn't be here and shouldn't have come.
So, gonna toss out a link for people to order their own copies of the book eventually?
We failed to socialize. You were not traumatized by the hideous beauty that is my face and the sweet torture that is my voice. This will not do, but I am at a loss as to what may be done about it. I suppose I will just have to survive, forever knowing that FOME will remain untarnished by the great ordeal of meeting my illustrious self.
And then there was the Thursday Merchant Hall Line. I want to hear your war stories.
You know. The one which was basically playing a thousand-person game of Snake across the plaza area. Bend. Twist. Back and forth. Up the stairs. Down the stairs. Twist some more. Warp. Tesseract. Because that line nearly killed me, and it wasn't just because that was where I found out that the hotel had lost my room. It was waiting for the sake of waiting some more. It was waiting because everyone else was waiting. It was waiting because if you didn't wait first, there might not be anything to wait for.
There was a certain process to being in that line. Personally, I went through a lot of virtual murders. Like the guy wandering along the full length while singing 'This is the line which never ends.' I killed him. About fifty times. And then, because this was before I discovered horsefame is useless, I briefly considered wondering whether a name reveal would be good for advancing three places. But that was clearly impractical, so I quickly moved to the Clop Solution: exactly who do I have to @$%^ in order to move in this line?
(Four places.)
Children were conceived in that line. Then they were born in the line and since a newborn baby can occupy a space, freed things up for their parents to run for a bathroom. You reached the end of the line and you were at BronyCon for G5.
That. @#$%ing. Line.
...and after four days, I had a few books.
I'll let you decide. Good panel, by the way! Lots of good points for all the stories presented.
reginaldstephens.com/images/best_story_panel.jpg
I am the dread messenger, Dragon Turtle.
5100169
To hear tell...after years of slow bleed in attendance, the Baltimore Convention Center raised their rate to levels that turned out to be unsustainable. Persisting would have required starting over in an entirely new venue and I think the staff was a bit burned out by that point.
(Oversimplifying the issue, the frustrating high-attendance low-space ratio was not due to poor planning or them having some mistaken impression that people would not turn up. It was all due to it being the best amount of space they could afford. It's a bit more complex than that, but it will do for starters.)
You, an F-lister? Then what does that make me?
Glad to hear how things went. I think going horribly right is the best way the con could have ended. A little chaos, and more than a little bit of unexpected enthusiasm, just like how things began.
And we creators will continue to create, keeping the light aglow. Some because their wells of inspiration are bottomless, and others because it was always a slow burn with them to begin with.
Who knows? Maybe I'll get to see you at some future BABScon or EFNW.
Safe travels, FoME, and may your well never run dry.
Glad you had fun
Yeah, Flashgen and I decided we dodged a bullet when we went by and signups were already closed. It looked like a hot mess when we walked by at 4 and it looked like the whole group was still drafting in one huge pod an hour after the event was supposed to have started.
Dude, that's so sick!
EEEE I was so excited when I heard her, had no idea she'd be there and was quite the surprise, but was very awesome.
Yes and no, yes there were inflatable ones there, but not sure if Larson brought them or someone else. The Functional one was a gift he was given by the Roasters at the end, which he immediately used to sign Saperspark.
Damn.. that is..... that is...... yeah you won Brony....
LIES!!!!
The Brony Psychology Panel conclusively proved WITH SCIENCE! That Twilight is best Mane 6, while Luna is (By an absurdly high amount) best Non-Mane 6
Managed to score the aragorn collection and Admiral Biscuits The Haunting even got him to sign it, was so awesome.
Linecon 2019 was epic, and fun and just.... while clearly not well planned, the people made up for it. The random fun, like Looney Turtle hosting a near constant dance party on the second floor, or getting word of MA Larson slumped outside the con center like the hobo we all know he is, trying to guilt people into buying his books. Or just meeting so many amazing people in person, including you. Was just amazing
Oh and follow up from that Firebrand panel, where he was stumped on a color for Cadance, had a thought, while lacking the obvious nature theming of Fluttershy or AJ, most of her behavior and reactions to things seems to focus on just going with it, on accepting how things are and trusting things will work out. Most of her advice to Twilight is the same type, to relax, accept the way things are, that everypony has a purpose they are meant for, to just wait till you find yours, etc... Along with (depending on how you interpret her love powers working) said powers being along the line of 'you two are destined/meant to be together, accept it. It led me to think she's got a good deal of Green to her, thoughts?
5100206
Heh, I lucked the hell out on the Thursday con swag line. Went down to see how horrible the opening ceremonies line was, and while that was a solid "nope" I ended up down in the lobby during a point where so many people were trying to get into the opening ceremonies line, the vendor hall line was only like, 1/3 of the way down the main hall.
Glad you had a good time, it's nice to see highlights for those of us that couldn't attend. And I'm fairly certain you were already famous before you went to the con. Also, congrats to Mono, thats quite the bragging rights.
5100175 5100176 5100226
Well, this clears things up considerably. I was working mostly off of supposition with the odd rumor sprinkled in. So, you know, the usual Internet journalism standards.
5100180
I did consider swinging by his booth to say "Hi, you're awesome and so's your roommate," but I sadly never got around to it.
But yeah, the vendor hall wasn't so much bustling as teeming.
5100194
Working on it. There are a fair number of details to hammer out and I've been occupied for the last several days.
5100200
I do plan on going to EFNW next year. I could always wither before your full glory like a mortal beholding Zeus there.
5100184
Like all social constructs, horsefame is contextual. It's great for establishing yourself with the authors and readers you enjoy before meeting them in person. It's not so great for the "Do you know who I am?" routine. For skipping lines, the far more reliable key was sponsor badges. Even actual celebrities have go through the security line, but only if they don't go by private jet.
Also, how'd you know it was me?
I beheld the line in all its horrific, writhing glory from above, by the stairs down into that charnel pit of bodies that did not yet know they were locked in an eternal struggle. And though it fell on Thursday, it rose again on Sunday. The line to get into the closing ceremonies was merely a different configuration of the same living construct. In each case, I chose to not go down that particular road to madness.
Ah yes. This is fun. Hopefully someone else actually reads this far:
So the first SFW Mad Lib fic ended up involving Cozy Glow interrogating Spike about the whereabouts of the princess's tiny pickle. ("Which princess?" "I'll ask the questions around here!") It was replaced with a wasp, Indiana Jones-style. The wasp then terrified the princess so much, she fired a spell that irreversibly turned the entire Hooffield family into fried chicken (which, like muffins, is impervious to transmutation.) Spike is an avid gherkin collector, so he's the natural suspect. (He also has stuffed and mounted sea serpents and an unhealthy amount of Cheese Sandwich merch in his rec room, but that's neither here nor there.) Of course, Cozy was the true pickle thief.
And yes, Cheese Sandwich. They just asked for a character. I was happy to provide one.
5100193
As an example—and the only actual numbers I wrote down during the panel—Luna moving the Moon requires 7.5 * 1026 N, while Celestia moving the Sun requires 1.1 * 1037 N. For comparison, the gravitational force between our sun and the core of the Milky Way is 2.25 * 1032 N.
This, of course, assumes the sun and moon of Equestria have the same masses as ours, but if that's the case, these horses register on the Kardashev scale.
And yeah, the match probably would have been frustrating if I hadn't dealt with for worse frustration scant minutes earlier.
5100207
Thank you/How dare you.
I'll let you know when and if I remove one of those reactions.
5100208
Well, he does have a Fimfic account. We'll see if anything comes of this.
5100227
Bugsy, I say this in the nicest way possible, but there's a lot of alphabet between F and Z.
The bookend interpretation may be the best way to look at this. Certainly one of the nicest.
Here's hoping I do get to see you in person one day.
5100236
It looked like that because that was what was happening. Did you ever hear how so many people played black that they ran out of Swamps? I can only hope that gets the organizer to take a look at the power balance of the cube in addition to how to competently run drafts.
And yeah, just happening to sit next to Wubcake was great. We shared our favorite Sunset tropes, like her doing horse things while human, or her first brushes with human technology.
5100266
Needless to say I will inform Baron of this.
It’s the thought that counts, right?
The line gulag real
5100247
Glad to provide a taste of the action. And yeah, this was more a matter of internalizing my renown.
5100277
Hopefully!
5100238
Remember, it's Family Feud. A hundred random congoers is hardly an accurate sample size.
Besides, I wasn't wearing a lab coat at the time. Of course it was scientifically inaccurate!
Well maybe if someone just used the bookstore that happened to be in the vendor hall, Mitch.
As for Cadence, I would definitely lean towards Red. Her purview and magical specialty is emotion, her advice is as much "do what you feel is right" as it is "trust in destiny," she's a self-confessed adrenaline junkie (see "Three's a Crowd,") and let's not forget the Mama Bear moment in "Beginning of the End."
Hmm. A Gruul empress. Wouldn't that be ironic?
I met you too! Moosetasm and I ran into you a couple times in the wild, and conspired to mug you and buy two copies of Oversaturation when you did your restock run.
I also got maybe a better shot of your cosplay than 5100207 that I shall dig up in due course. It was fantastic cosplay, though. I regret not catching you for a side by side picture!
Glad to hear you enjoyed the M:TG panel; Moose and I were curious what you thought.
I’m jealous that you got to meet Wubcake, but also happy for you. As for Lauren Faust: Moose and I spent six motherbucking hours in her line on Friday, which we ultimately agreed was worth it but never again. We could’ve turned back at any point, but I knew I’d regret not catching her, and I didn’t want to live with that regret—even at the cost of eXXXtreme LineCon.
5100285
Hmmm, good points there. But does show how she's a bit hard to really pin down. And very true, he should have used the bookstore. Granted, then odds are everyone would have their books unreadable under pages of Larson signature if he ever did come by the bookstore.
5100266
...
...there was this subtle clue. I'm not sure everyone picked up on the fact that you were wearing a badge with your name on it.
I'm glad that you had a great time
Oh, don't forget the creepy zebra and his
soulshadow-sucking suitcase that empowered a giant sapient smoke cloud to rule over Dream Valley. Or the evil penguin king who wanted to freeze the whole world, pony and human alike. OR the time that poor baby pony got sick and needed four magic horseshoes to cure her or she'd fade away into nonexistence.G1 was DARK o.O
5100276
I mostly said that in jest, but yes, the Alphabet is a pretty roomy place. (And I'll take care not to look too closely for my spot within it.)
But really, the greatest revelation to me was that Admiral Biscuit plays Magic, and evidently has for a very long time. I wonder if I could rope him into some long-distance Commander sometime...
5100276
But that's the most useless part!
I still go with my "atmospheric/stellar blanket" theory, or "Celestia raises the metaphorical sun, a la Hogfather" theory better. It just doesn't make sense otherwise because of... everything. It brings up the question of what happens to the stellar bodies after the raising, among others. My internal scientist screams at the assertion that Equestria's sun moves at all, when we've learned from recently depicted orreries that they have a vaguely similar solar system model to ours.
Also that wasn't the event that made me quit Magic. What made me quit Magic was the trust fund kid who bought all his cards through the shop with a stiff commission. So he was allowed to play the four Black Lotuses that he owned (not reprints mind you, the real deals valued at a minimum $5,000 and he gloated that one of them cost him $15,000 alone) along with unproxied foreign-language high-value cards that made up a significant percentage of his deck... in an actual sanctioned tournament... before the rule change that allowed foreign-language cards... I threw the table, walked out, and never touched a deck since.
Also all the "linecon" jokes make me think of a joke about the Soviet Union. Something along the lines of the guy waits in successive lines and decides he's going to kill the guy in charge, but gives up because the line for that is even longer than the other lines.
Clearly you weren't taking enough notes; I didn't show up to the con until Friday.
Seriously, though, It was great to hang out with you in person. I was gonna write my own events summary, but my take would probably end up as more of the usual, for the most part, just tinted through the lens of a first-timer. Gonna try and crank out that one fic idea I got during my stay instead.
5100266
We shall see. I blew through a huge chunk of my funds on this trip and I honestly don't know if I'll be able to recover in time to do anything next year. I really dug myself a hole.
5100276
Jeepers creepers, what a mess.
On one hand, I can now say I've seen a 32-person draft in action. On the other hand, I've seen a 32-person draft in action...
If the organizers can be credited for one really good idea this year, this was it.
Dude, I was just hanging out in the vendor's hall one day, and she walked by and handed me a business card, by which I mean a full-page color-it-yourself version of this! I so want a Tempest plushie with that expression, I just sat and looked at it for a while because it's fucking beautiful I'm rambling ._.
Those guys were doing their thing while I was waiting in line for... something. I wish I'd been able to hear them. Someone told me they were basically in character for the entire con with, as he put it, "Disney performer levels of professionalism".
I was wrong. This was the best moment in the script reading. XD
If he doesn't blog about it, ask Shachza for his story of how that final day's autograph line went.
5100207
Gasp! It me! :D
5100207
Oh, you got a good pic! I was going to offer mine, but it's mostly a blurry mess. Couldn't get my phone to really focus where I wanted it to, so the only thing in focus in my pic of the panel is someone's Pinkie Pie ears a couple rows in front of me!
5100363
Glorious, isn't it?
I found it somewhat funny that both of us had read about half of the stories featured, but had read the half the other didn't. I dunno, just amused me for some reason.
5100365
Honestly, that was probably one of the best pictures I took all weekend. The rest were very blurry or supersaturated with light. I'm not much of a picture taker, so I was fiddling with my phone settings a bit too late to get some quality photos.
Linecon or not, I'm sad I missed it. I moved out of Maryland two months ago, and it just wasn't feasible to go back.
When I went in 2016, I had a great community experience meeting many from the WriteOff.
I'm glad it wasn't all bad for you, and you made the most of it.
If you come to EFN next year, I'll dig out my modern deck and play you a few rounds.
I was only able to be there on Saturday, but even that small taste was great! It was the last day of our family vacation and while my daughter was into it, my wife and son were humoring me by tagging along. Did make me regret not attending in the past tho. I did make the RCL panel which was fun - I know of several more stories I need to read now! It was also nice putting faces to names finally. Also went to the VA reading afterward - that was a blast! Alumx reading for principal Celestia was priceless - his videos are so bizarre. I DID make it to Lauren Faust's panel - she tossed out a few nuggets that will make for some great and / or disturbing fimfic fodder.
Didn't even try to get any autographs - just not enough time. Same with the vendor hall. Only managed to make a couple of passes. Did go by the bookstore but from what I could see everything I would have been interested in was long sold out. Only thing I picked up was a signed / numbered Andy Price print. I really wanted a con t-shirt (I usually get a shirt from any con I attend) but the con swag store appeared to be non-existent by Saturday afternoon.
I heard that they actually had the largest attendance ever - something over 10,000. I'm wondering if that was the peak single-day attendance. When I registered, my badge number was something over 14K and the girl working the desk mentioned the max printed was over 18K.
Living in VA I probably won't ever make one of the west coast cons, but I there's going to be Seaquestria in Ocean City, MD in 2020 so I'm going to try to make that one. I hope a lot of the fandom that was attending Bronycon will come to that!
It was great seeing you again!
I'm so sorry I didn't hunt your ass down this con and make sure you got to attend fight night.
Sitting here, just watching it from afar, has been crazy. Mostly I just feel regret that I sent far too few books
It's a small thing, all in all, but it's the small thing I did so I feel it pretty strongly.
I've got a lot of experience with both going to cons and arranging/volunteering for them, but sounds like Bronycon got hit with a double whammy. I'm hoping the Dublin Worldcon isn't as line-ful! (Any FIMfiction people heading there, by the way?)
Still, sounds like it was overall a good, if crowded, finish. And I'm very glad that the book store was a success!
5100296
Clearly, you're a B-lister (B as in "Bugsydor", of course.)
It sounds like you had an alright time, Friend of Most Everyone. Sorry your cube was dissapointing (we started making our own out of Modern Horizons just to have something new to play that wasn't one of us smooshing the other). Wish I coulda been there
5100484
What he said.
Also, Achievement Unlocked: You found Heavy Metal Waldo three BronyCons in a row.
I actually enjoyed being in that line talking to you, Trick Question, and Pascoite. When linecon happens, you gotta make your own fun with the time you spend in line, right?
The panel was good, too.
Wow. So many wonderful people all together. Which I suppose is rather the problem the con suffered from, but still. Waves of jealousy coming across the Atlantic. UK PonyCon is a nice thing, but nothing like the same.
Maybe in a year or two I'll get my whole family to come over to EFNW. It was my daughters who got me into MLP, after all...
Your writing is delightful to read, anyway, and it sounds like an amazing time was had. Congrats
So which fic won the title of greatest horse story ever?
5101251
From winner to third...
I feel like I'm posting this in all of these blogs, but I really wish I had more time to chat up with you during the con. So many people, so little time.
5100207
Hey, this is a great photo (Although it is missing Pascoite). Thanks for sharing!
It was great to meet you at last, and thank you for your kind words about Where We Belong
.
(at least I think that was you… Was it you? The weekend is kind of a blur)