Present Perfect vs. THE LAST BRONYCON EVER! · 1:00am Aug 6th, 2019
I've been back at home for about three hours now. :) Just finished writing this up, so I'm posting it. Note that I wrote up each day after it had happened, then went back and maybe added some stuff in I forgot, so the timelines might be weird. Okay? Okay, let's go.
Day 0:
Driving through Pennsylvania back roads is not a good idea. The turnpike tolls are goddamn worth it! D: (Unless you want a free rollercoaster ride, I guess.)
So after an eight-hour car trip during which not much untoward happened, I arrived in Baltimore, hupped my way into the hotel, hupped over the scary-as-fuck-footbridge to the con center, and was one of the last people in line for pre-registration badge collection. It was a good thing I didn't stop to ask for directions, or I'd have missed out!
LineCon lasted for a good hour and a half, but people found ways to lighten everyone's spirits. (Thank god for Sax Guy, he was 100% amazing all convention.) Badge in hand, I went back to the hotel where everything is too high up D: and met with my roommates, Admiral Biscuit and Shachza. The latter was a pleasant surprise, as I'd been under the impression he wouldn't be attending. The former is always pleasant, if rarely a surprise. :B I mean, I knew he'd be there.
Day 1:
First mistake of the weekend: I decided to take a walk around the harbor because I could see a restaurant called the Rusty Scupper out the window, and it sounded like a place I wanted to go. After finding out they were hella expensive, I had to walk all the way back and oh boy was it hot already. D: So I was sweaty and stinky all day, which I'm sure was to the detriment of all involved.
Also, did not go to the Maryland Science Center because adult tickets were like 30 bucks, holy shit.
That said, the day was good. From the moment I stopped out beyond official Bronycon territory (they've only got half the convention center this year for some reason; the other half, of course, is the half where the wi-fi works) to basically when I returned to the hotel for some rest, the day was nonstop, "Oh, it's you! Shake hands! How are you?" I met everyone from Applejinx to Zyrian, and there are still more people who I have yet to actually see, who I know are see. There are also people like Super Trampoline and Aragon, who appeared for a brief moment and then vanished, never to be seen again. I cannot begin to list everyone who I saw, though I also met a few people who knew me and not the other way around, and I am very pleased those people came up to say hi. :D
Also, Monochromatic is super adorable.
Also, Aragon is super adorable and I want to pick him up and carry him around.
What's weird is seeing people like Wanderer D and ROBCakeran, who I saw at Trotcon just two weeks ago. This is like business as usual with them. It makes the whole experience a little easier to handle, all things considered. Friends are good. :)
I did end up going to one panel, the one about writing children and families, hosted by bookplayer, BlazzingInferno and Epic Yarn. It was a very good and useful panel! By the end, I had pulled out my laptop twice to scribble down ideas for future The Princess's Captain stories.
I get out of the panel and it's raining BALLS outside. <.< Rain in a big city is weird. It just seems like it shouldn't be able to affect anything, yet it does. Watching rain from inside a building with lots of glass is really cool, though.
Other panels I generally said "fuck that" to, because the lines were stupid fucking long. Lines are just fucking long everywhere, holy shit, you have no idea. As many have pointed out, they severely underestimated the number of people who would be here, and they're trying to cram us into half the usual space.
Also high on the "fuck that" scale was trying to get into the vendor's hall, and its two-hour line that wrapped around the entirety of the entrance atrium. I did eventually get in, with Admiral Biscuit and Applejinx, as we helped Biscuit carry a load of books in to restock the Bronycon Bookstore. I wouldn't have made it otherwise. I was able to grab the comic issue I'd been unable to find at Trotcon, and then gave a big 'fuck you' to the rest of the thing because whoever laid that room out was insane and also there were more people than God there.
(Funny anecdote: Aquaman and others have been very carefully referring to it as the Golden Oaks Library for months because Bronycon didn't want their name on it for legal reasons, and then they went ahead and named it the Bronycon Bookstore in the con booklet. Oops lol pwned?)
Most of the day, then, was spent hanging out in Quills and Sofas, or what remained of it. We have to share it with the arts and crafts crowd, which leads to a lot of staff members asking "Who's here for Quills and Sofas?" and mooshing us all into the right hand corner. It's not so bad, though. I sure as hell met just about everyone on Fimfiction there, after all. And there are typewriters.
I had dinner with a handful of writers, including Pascoite, GaPJaxie and Cold in Gardez. You'd better believe I almost shit when he told me who he was. And then I got to enjoy watching someone else give the exact same reaction when introductions were made. :D You never can tell what effect you'll have on people.
Also, I ordered a steak sandwich, expected a Philly cheesesteak, and instead got a literal steak on a sandwich. c.c It exploded.
Speaking of (the effect you have on people, that is, not steak), I ran into GutiuSerenade earlier in the day (and also ShadowOfCygnus and Luna Farrowe, who are marvelous to listen to). Guti is 6'9". That head-craned-up thing that people normally have to do at me, I have to do at him. c.c It's not fair.
I guess the other notable thing I did Thursday was duck out of the Bar Trot. I got signed up for it for free for some reason at Trotcon, and once I figured out getting to it would require walking ten blocks down Light Street into a part of town I don't know in the dark, I said 'fuck it'. I don't regret missing that one.
But yeah, mostly the day has run into a blur of introductions and reunions. I had a good conversation about Disney movies, and another about Fallout Equestria: Dead Tree. The latter was had with someone who's older-school SCPeople than I am! People gave me so many books, I will never finish them all. D: But the good news is, the bookstore is doing hella well and they're sold out of quite a lot of their titles!
So, it's been a good day. There are three days left to go. As I told Flashgen when he reminded me of this, kill me. D:
Day 2:
Today was a day of panels! And they were all voice acting. They were, specifically, "Finding Inner Voice" with Nicole Oliver, Rebecca Shoichet, Michelle Creber and some fandom VAs, and then MagpiePony and TheLostNarrator's "Let's Make a Bad Fanfic Together, Live!" panels, both the E-Rated and 21+. They included NeighratorPony, GutiuSerenade, Ashley H and… honestly, I never got the other guy's name, but he was funny. <.< Those panels were basically Mad Libs, albeit more in-depth, and many a laugh was had, especially at the 21+ version. I can't wait for Magpie to put those up on Fimfiction. :D
Also, while waiting in line for the first panel, I met Scribbler! :D My to-do list for Bronycon was "find issue 67 of the comics" and "meet Scribbler", so now I can die happy. XD She gave me a "Scribbler thinks I'm lovely" ribbon for my badge, too. :)
There were so many more people to meet today, too. I think this is when Super Trampoline finally came in, though that might have been late last night. Georg was a new addition, as well as many, many more. Aragon remains a cryptid, vanishing whenever I get near. He must know my plans. <.< My plan of "be in Quills & Sofas when not elsewhere" worked out really well, though.
I managed to get into the vendor's hall at some point, following RBDash, as the lines were now a thing of memory. I made myself a ridiculous path to follow, to see as much of it as I could, and it worked! Took less than an hour, and I said hi to Bad Horse, who had just gotten into the con, poor guy. I made some unsuccessful attempts to find a G3 Port-o-Bella (I do love older gen collectors, though), was disgusted by dakis piquing my interest, and realized I have a type when it comes to mares. <.< I'll just let you wonder about that. I wanna make one big(ish) purchase, though, and I have a decision to make, which I may just let supplies running out dictate for me.
In a cool twist of fate, I just so happened to run into MustLoveFrogs at the Bronycon Bookstore! :D She'd been at Trotcon, but I hadn't seen her because she wasn't vending. Well, I don't think she's vending here either, but it was so cool getting to talk to her! She's like the nicest person ever. :) And then dumb ol' Skeeter the Lurker showed up and fanboyed like a heccer. >:V
jk Skeeter ilu <3
Also, Yamgoth was handing out small plushies to Fimfic people for like an hour. :D I got a Spike solely because I was amazed they made a Spike plushie. Yamgoth is fun.
I had the honor of hearing Skywriter read aloud the first page or so of the next Cadence of Cloudsdale story. :D Going to cons is awesome!
My one other big plan for Friday was to meet my friend Miles, who lives in Baltimore (and does this), for dinner because hey, friend in Baltimore! Unfortunately, my crappy flip phone has issues with things like "being inside", so 6 o'clock rolled around and I called him, only to catch him as he was just getting home. (He lives about an hour away from the con center. Because you can do that in Baltimore.) He tells me he's been trying to text me since 4 with no response. We reschedule for Sunday, and I tell him I'll probably get a pile of texts once we hang up.
Guess what fucking happened. Like seven texts all at once, one of them from my mom. <.< Geez.
So I went to the ramen place on Light Street that I saw yesterday when I was out walking the harbor. It was awesome. Also, like twenty Rubik's cube people showed up to the place all at once, so I got to sit and watch people do stupidly crazy shit with their hands for a while. (Meanwhile, my hands are just stupid and I failed at chopsticks again. D: I am terminally white.) But seriously, when I showed up at that place, there were like four people there, then they got slammed and when I left, there were bronies lining up out the door. I guess it's popular!
Afterward was the second Bad Fanfic panel (all the way out in the Hilton, literally further across the con center than there is actual con center; also the Hilton has fucking awesome directions boards, and I spent a good ten minutes in line playing with one), and I retired to Q&S, where bloons brought MREs that he bought from, and I quote, "some guy". <.< It was an experience. The chocolate milk was actually pretty good.
Con's halfway down and I'm feeling wrecked as hell. It doesn't help that I went the whole day without my water bottle. >.< Hydration is possible, but difficult. Also, I have yet to see a single EQD person aside from Pascoite and ABagOfVicodin. Weird. But I think my habit of going back to the hotel around 10 so I can decompress and relax with shitty hotel wifi is a good thing and will get me through this convention in one piece :)
Day 3:
The day was good, but I have officially reached "all conned out" stage. I'm actually having a hard time remembering what I did. There's still one day to go. D:
I got up bright and way too early (again), and uh… Well, I forget what happened prior to the RCL panel. The panel, though? Really fucking good! horizon deserves tons of credit, he put in a shitload of work over the last few months for this con, and it really showed through in the organization of this panel. :D I won't spoil the details; by any chance, horizon will have the bracket results up soon. There could even be video soon! I almost cried. :')
Breaking news: I have just been informed there is now a parody of the official Admiral Biscuit shirt. It reads "Not Horse Famous since 1977". The story of how Biscuit got one is hilarious, but I'll let him tell it. :)
After the RCL, it was off to the vendor's room to make the aforementioned hard decision: Do I get the puzzle version of the greatest piece of fanart created by this fandom, or the decently priced Blackjack plushie? I had hoped the plushies would be sold out by the time I got there, making my decision for me, but they weren't. I ended up wandering around with Flashgen for a while before finally deciding on the puzzle. It was the price point, mostly.
Then I had to carry it around while I waited in line for the script reading panel. <.< Not the best idea. On the other hand, I actually survived the three lines to get into mane events, which was packed. The script reading, if you're not aware, was actual show VAs — Nicole Oliver, Ashleigh Ball, Michelle Creber (who does an excellent Rarity!), Rebecca Shoichet and Cathy Weseluck — along with BlackGryph0n and Nowacking, reading a script written by horizon, Skywriter and Monochromatic, our fanfiction community guests. :) I'm so proud of them. Since I couldn't see Aquaman's triumph at EFNW, there was no way I was going to miss this.
It was a very good time. Listening to the actual actresses reading some of those lines was fantastic. The plot contained a lot of obvious headcanon, but it also culminated in a fantastic metatextual message to the fandom. Though, for whatever reason, the best moment I can remember was Nicole Oliver jumping out of her seat when the Equestria Girls theme song came on over the speakers. XD
But seriously, it's so awesome that these three great writers were picked to represent us alongside, y'know, names with wider appeal and actual celebrities. :D I hear we have the con vice-chair to thank for that. Between the sudden rise to superstardom of our lucky few and the wild success that is the Bronycon Bookstore, this has been a really great year for fanfic.
Sometime in the middle of the day, the coolest thing that has ever happened to me at a con happened. I run across Chinchillax in the middle of the floor, and he goes, "Hey Present, do you wanna get interviewed by NPR?"
And I said hell to the fucking yes I do. :D
So I talked to this guy named James for like a half hour about fanfiction! I have no idea if anything I said was useful or worth publishing, but time will tell. :D It was a fun experience. I love talking about stuff I love. I kept rambling off topic. XD
After that, I had nothing to do until the writers' dinner, so I tootled around the vendor's hall again with ROBCakeran. I got cake! And I surprised the hell out of some dude wearing a Ziku Driver and all the Zi-O stuff (he claimed to be the Alicorn of Time). He just hadn't expected to meet anyone else who knows what Kamen Rider is, and the look on his face when I did a bit from the show was priceless. :D Cons bring people together!
There had been a sign on the wall in Q&S since the previous night saying "Somber will be here for 4-5:30 Saturday!" and so I caught up with him after he was done meeting all the hardcore fans and hung out with him, Heartshine, bookplayer and GaraTheAuthor until the dinner herd arrived. Then we were off to Tir Na Nog and it felt like the 90's 2013 all over again! Except, y'know, with like three times as many people.
Dinner was great. I sat with bookplayer, Bad Horse, JediMasterEd, new friend Freglz and Lord Legion. We talked about Finnegan's Wake and Shakespeare and what things are like in Australia. It took for-fucking-ever for the food to get to our table, but I had a crab cake and it was fantastic, reminding of why I cannot eat crab cakes outside of Maryland anymore. :B Also, the Magners Irish Pear Cider I had was outstanding.
After, it was like 9 PM, so I hurried back to the hotel to freshen up then booked it to the Hall of Chaos. I literally speed-walked from the Hyatt, through the entire convention center, to the Hilton and made it in under ten minutes. And it was worth it, because I met up with Professor Holly Oats. :D She finally ate the candy canes. I was, as she put it, more grossed out than her.
The panel we were there to see was Scribbler's Aprilverse Live. I honestly didn't know what to expect, aside from seeing a lot more fic readers than I had at Magpie and Lost's panels. (I had actually met Wuten earlier in the day!) And that definitely happened, but…
Okay, look. There were funny parts, but I couldn't hear most of them because the audience would not shut up. The readers tried, they really did, but I did not enjoy the panel at all. :( It left me in kind of a foul mood, which I think only abated since thanks to listening to Admiral Biscuit talk about how awesome the Dutch are. It was a rough ending to the day of the con that took the most out of me, is my point.
Though I'm starting to ponder self-printing some fanfiction now…
Day 4:
"What's it like being Present Perfect?" -Freglz
"I lead a charmed life. I don't know how it happened." -Me
I swear to god I did nothing today but lug a sweaty backpack through the streets of Baltimore. D:
I wake up earlier than I really wanted to once more. -.-; I have my fourth store-bought cereal bowl of the weekend and I go, "You know what? I can buy food. I should have something more for breakfast. It's Sunday! I need donuts."
Cue a quick Google maps search that landed me at Diablo Donuts in historical Federal Hill! Right next to where I was supposed to go for the Bar Trot. <.<; Yeah, so it turns out Federal Hill is a bohemian hippie area, like Short North in Columbus. It's full of small shops and ethnic restaurants, and it's a really nice area! Diablo Donuts was awesome, I was just sad taking some home would be impractical. (Protip: Get the Captain Chesapeake. Don't ask what's on it until you've tried it, just trust me it's great.)
The main event for me was the EQD panel. Pascoite deserves a big round of applause for his efforts in making fourteen panelists work with a six-panelist setup. It was a good time, though I'm pretty sure most of it was just Sethisto stories. We all have them. XD
"Bronycon's gonna Bronycon. Who knows what they'll do?" -Applejinx
The other big thing for me was actually meeting up with Miles (remember, from Friday?) and going out to lunch. This happened. It was good. But we walked from the convention center to historic downtown Baltimore, which was 1.5 miles away. <.< Lots of walking today. We went to a ramen place he knows, and strangely, it was basically the same thing I went to on Friday, just with different spoons. Still really fucking good, and I struggled my way through the whole thing with the chopsticks this time. Miles wasn't any better, so I felt okay with this.
(Okay, no, that's a lie, he figured out how to twirl chopsticks to roll up the noodles, wtf.)
After a scenic walk back, we parted ways and I headed back into the con. I had wanted to make the Them's Writing Words panel, as I'm sure that was a good time, but unfortunately I didn't get back there until after 2, and the panel was over by the time I made it to the room. I went back to Quills and Sofas, looking for more new faces as well as old faces, to start saying goodbyes. Raugos gave me some freeze dried durian, straight from Malaysia, and let me tell you, friends and neighbors, that was an experience! I wish I'd had a camera on me! Afterward, I caught up with Freglz again, and we headed to the LineCon for closing ceremonies, as we realized there was already a hell of line and the start time was over half an hour away.
That was the worst line of the whole con. I'm not even sure it was a line, because there was a second, completely unattached line next to us and people pointing every which way. When they finally let us in, it was just a big rush. But I passed the time by listening to Freglz finish his story summary, and I have to say, I hope he reposts it on Fimfiction, because it's gonna be something else. :D
Also, he lost his camera. :/ It just vanished between us getting there and him going back up to Q&S to try and find something.
Closing ceremonies was weird, not least because most of us were crammed into the big hall they were using for registration, and there was a delay on the screens pumping the footage out from the main events hall. But it's always nice to see all the guests up on stage together, and M. A. Larsen in particular had some great things to say.
Afterward, I followed Freglz up to Lost and Found for moral support. Unfortunately, the situation with his camera was not resolved while I was present, spoilers. :/ They've got his contact info, at least, and Morning Sun told him how to contact the convention center's security in the morning. Then she kicked us out. :) We wandered around a little bit before he met some Stateside family for dinner, and I tootled off to my hotel. (Finding the entrance with the con center closed was strangely difficult. c.c) I hadn't had any water in like four hours and really needed some.
My plan was to do, well, what I'm doing now, going downstairs in my slippers and sitting somewhere comfortable to update my blog post, but then Biscuit reminded me about Trick Question's dead dog party, so soon all three of us were off!
...To the wrong hotel!
Literally everyone did this. It should be illegal to have two of the same hotel in a city. D:
The party was fun, and honestly really necessary for me, despite the fact that I left early because I have apparently developed an issue with small, hot rooms? But it gave me a chance to see a bunch of people one last time (and try Everclear for the first time; that was different! Once again, wish I'd had a camera!) I also got one more book, because Cold Spike was handing out his extras. (On that note, did you know that the bookstore made $30k? Even Biscuit sold out of all but three of his copious amount of books!) But yeah, I ducked out before pizza or Cards Against Humanity happened because I wanted to come back with time to pre-blog and get to sleep at a reasonable hour.
I left that party too soon. <.<
"Thank you for being you." -Closing ceremonies announcer (I'm sorry, I have no idea who he was)
Remember when I said the party was necessary? Yeah. Closing ceremonies didn't do a whole lot for me, not just because of the issue with the lost camera, but as I was heading back to my hotel room, I was hit with a wave of emotion. I can't really describe it, but I said to myself, "I should go definitely to Trick Question's party," and I did, and I'm glad I did.
I get emotional over strange things. Like kitchen utensils. >.> I got choked up saying the title of In the Place the Wild Horses Sleep, heck with trying to talk about it. I am actually a ball of emotions, rather frequently, they just tend to be directed in unexpected areas. Case in point, I don't actually have a point I'm trying to make here. I could say something pithy or heart-wrenching, but instead I'm just pointing out that things which probably should have had an emotional effect on me did.
I'm very glad I made it to the last Bronycon.
I didn't get to see Baron-Engel. Or grievousfan. Or PaulAsaran. I didn't get to meet many of the fic readers or say goodbye to Scribbler. I didn't get to talk with Aragon for more than five minutes (I only saw him twice!), and I'm jealous Majin got to carry him around. But I'm glad I met and talked to who I did. (And I apologize to all who I forgot; there were so many people this year, I can't remember all the names.) I'm glad I saw what I did. I'm really glad I was here.
God damn does my everything hurt.
Day 5:
ROBCakeran had his label-maker he'd brought to Trotcon, and was making badge labels for all and sundry. At Trot, I was "The Late" Present Perfect because, well, I got in late. <.< It was funny. At Bronycon, though, I asked him for "hecc". And "hecc" was my word of the weekend.
Hecc. Hecko. Heccers. Get hecced.
Mostly because I think it's funny internet culture has replaced English's strongest swear with an extremely mild one. And then misspelled it on purpose because of other memes. :)
Some of y'all are heckin' cute, and you just have to live with that.
There was this weird series of events Sunday evening, where Freglz and I stopped at an ice cream. There was a couple there, the guy dressed as Discord, and they had gotten some ice cream. One of those sketchy looking individuals who wanders the streets of Baltimore asking people for money for probably-sketchy-but-who-am-I-to-judge-really reasons comes up asking for change for parking. I've got a 5, so I give it to him. While the others are trying to scrounge the rest of what the guy needs, I notice Discord's oreo shake tipping a little too late. It splatters all over the ground and his nice, mismatched wingtips. I hold his shake while we conclude the shakedown, then ask if he wants a tissue to clean his shoes. He apparently did not think I was serious, because he was rather surprised when I handed him one.
Point is, don't cosplay as Discord, weird Rube Goldberg shit will happen to you. :V
So the first time I met Saddlesoap Opera, he asked us whether we thought he sounded Canadian enough. No 'aboot' or the like, but he did say 'eh' without realizing it. :) That was fun. I'm just kind of throwing out anecdotes I forgot to include earlier, but maybe let's get to the recap now, eh?
So today started with me once again waking up at 7:30 despite my best efforts to the contrary. x.x The night previous, Bad Horse had floated an idea about breakfast, but I never heard from him, so it was just me, Biscuit and Shachza. We puttered around the hotel room, packing stuff and taking it down to their cars. We stopped and chatted with Cloudhammer and totallynotabrony for a while. We went up to the 6th floor outdoor pool, and Biscuit and Shachza took pictures of plushies doing silly things.
Then it was time to leave.
I would like to mention here that Biscuit is a very good driver. I warned him I'm a nervous passenger, especially on the highway, but he done did a good job. :) Being in a big van helped, too. We went through a thunderstorm, we saw some deer, we sang along to They Might Be Giants, we stopped for ice cream, and I finished editing A Princess's Trials before we hit Youngstown, Ohio, so you can expect that tomorrow! :D
So now I'm home, where things make sense. Where the only thing that changed since I left was the bathtub being cleaned. Where my cat missed me. Where I have to catch up on the literal days of music and videos released while I was away. Where I can relax in my chair finally.
It's nice.
Speaking of videos, one more anecdote. One night, I forget which, Biscuit noticed me watching the newest video by Super Mario Maker Youtuber DGR. It turns out he's a fan of the game and knows a lot of the same streamers I follow. So me, him and Shachza sat and watched DGR try to get over it.
And I never would have known we had that in common if not for Bronycon. :)
I think I'm out of things to say, so I'll end this with a sentiment I've been saving.
I would not have made it to this wonderful convention if not for the kindness, generosity and friendship of Trick Question, Uncr3at1ve and Admiral Biscuit. I am going to remember this for a long time, whenever I'm feeling cynical, that goodness exists in the world, and because it was shown to me, I got to have a good time. Friendship is magic, after all.
And thank god we'll always have fanfiction. <3 Thanks for reading all of this.
And for all that you could easily complain a lot about how Bronycon was run, it didn't matter, because the friends and fans were what really made it and will always make this fandom a great place to be. :D
Aragon is heavier than he appears.
Glad you had a good time! And I’m sorry I was really only around long enough to briefly say hello. It was a bit too crowded for me there.
Oh no, I never even mentioned Sax Guy in my retrospective. What have I done?
Yeah, that was real weird.
I shall sit here consumed by curiosity.
Frogs was there!? Man, that's the problem with these. You don't even know who you missed out on until people start posting their after-action reports.
Oh, the NPR interview really did happen. I thought I'd just misheard or possibly hallucinated something along those lines.
How would you describe it? I'd have to say "car exhaust-flavored astronaut ice cream."
Good to have met you in person.
We were playing Unstable Unicorns! I had many Neighs, and then you had many Neighs!
It was a pleasure to see you again, and I look forward to Trotcon next year
Anyway come to TrotconThe Rusty Scupper is a good restaurant, but yeah, it's pricey. I went there with a group back in maybe 2016. Whatever previous year Gardez had attended, because he was there.
The weird thing about the long lines on Thursday were that only half the badges had been picked up then. So we're talking like 5000 attendees, which is equivalent to peak day the last couple years, and the panels weren't nearly in that much demand then. I don't know why they suddenly were this year. It's more understandable once the biggest crowd is there on Saturday.
Scribbler accidentally had 2000 of those ribbons made, and she was begging people to take them at her panels. c.c
My boss's son lives in Federal Hill. I've never actually made it up that way.
Everclear is disgusting. I used to have a guy on my softball team who'd bring some his brother had brewed. It of course came in a Mason jar, and he had either watermelon slices or mint leaves soaking in it. He said it would flavor it, but the sip I tried of each didn't have any detectable amounts. They were just plain nasty. But apparently having the watermelon in there was more about being able to eat it than flavoring the drink. For a while now, you can actually buy moonshine in Virginia at the state liquor stores.
Cloudhammer was actually very annoyed by sax guy in the registration line. I advised him to break the guy's reed. Can't play without it, but it'd only cost a few bucks to reimburse him.
Dang it. Soge mentioned that Quills and Sofas was a good place to hang out. I'm regretting just how many people I wish I would have said hi to. I owe Bad Horse a handshake at least. And Trick Question deserves a hug from me. I should have spent more of the weekend at Quills and Sofas
I'm glad you walked past when you did, it was perfect timing.
I've always envisioned you on a history channel documentary talking into a microphone in a cozy study, with a name tag that reads:
PRESENT PERFECT
My Little Pony fanfiction expert
We'll see if anything anybody says shows up in the 4 minutes James gets to put a Brony story on the air.
---
I'm glad I had the chance to say hi, man! :D
5100321
Did you just call Aragon fat?
5100334
The durian came in three stages:
I liked it. I think.
5100372
Ohh shit, yeah! :O That game is rad! Sorry we never got to play Sentinels, I did kind of want to and it just never worked out.
5100374
Oh my god. XD If I'd known that, I'd have taken a second one while in the Aprilverse panel line.
5100383
I'm really, really excited to hear that segment, not just because I'm there but because it sounds like he got a really solid selection of fanfic writers for it! And, y'know, me. :P
A) That would be the MLP Fair, friend
B) As a would-be G3 collector myself whose been meaning to hit that scene since always, we should totes talk G3 trades I said as if I owned more than one G3, look I just really want everyone from Year Five okay Butterfly Island was the best year for collectable ponies since the Rockin' Beats have you even seen Waterfire oh my god and/or go to the Fair and see the other side of the Pony pond.
Sounds like I missed quite a few dinners, but that's okay because I would have missed some panels I was interested in. I'll just call it a wash.
Nice chatting with you on the Disney stuff!
You did good on the panels you were on. I don't do well in big crowds but you handled it like a pro!
Quills and Sofas was a nice place to hang when nothing else was going on, even if we had to adhere to the art side of the room. Working with those typewriters was satisfying. I probably got more work done this weekend than I have all last month.
I feel ya on waking up way before you want to. Even dead tired, my body just won't stay asleep after 5:30am.
Glad you could go and make it a weekend to remember!
5100403
I mean, there's always a couple vendors selling older gen toys. NewGreyMare really knows her stuff. But you're totally right. :D
5100406
Strangely, though I am always awkward talking to people one-on-one, I really love being the center of attention, so panels are great for me. :)
It was really awesome saying hi dude :) I feel bad we couldnt talk more :(
It sounds like a bitter-sweet ride. You get all of the good and bad for Bronycon/Linecon one last time.
Will Baltimore become home to another pony con next year? Or will the EFN become the defacto convention?
I don't remember being there Monday morning, but I think we can all be a little forgiven for what we forgot.
I guess I didn't spend enough time in Quills and Sofas to find anyone because it was really confusing to to figure out who the writing and not writers were. Was it Discord and Pinkie Pie, if it was there is an interesting story behind them.
I'm glad you had a good time and that you enjoyed the writing families panel! Meeting you was a blast, and delivering that bit of Faust-canon in person was more memorable than it probably should have been
.
Also, yeah steak sandwiches make no sense to me. I got one once and assumed the restaurant was just garbage (there were plenty of other clues to that affect).
5100393
No he’s more like
dense
he’s heavier than he looks, is what im saying
5100431
I was very pleased to bump into you and pencil ahead of the Gala. :D Sadly, there wasn't much time for more than saying hi with most people. :B At least we'll have Fimfiction.
5100435
No con next year. I imagine Trotcon might become the default East Coast con, while EFNW takes over being the really big con.
Anyway, come to Trotcon. :B
5100445
I'm actually not 100% sure that was you, but Biscuit said it was, so blame him. <.<
5100458
No, the Discord I talked to was in an orange suit, and not with a Pinkie Pie. At least not that day.
5100492
You need to tell everyone about that, because it was fucking mind-blowing and also I've forgotten what it was
And the worst part about that sandwich was they left all the fat and gristle and what-have-you on the steak, so I not only had to cut it into bite-sized pieces, I had to trim it myself! D: Monsters.
5100622
So he's just full of shit thenSo I thought on this some more. Going from Columbus to Baltimore is all highways even avoiding the toll roads... So I was wholly unprepared for the back roads from Akron to Baltimore. Sorry about that.
5100662
Did you actually take the turnpike back? Because I thought I saw you, but there are many small red cars on a highway, who knew.
5100643
Haha, I’ll let the video of the panel tell the fandom at large in Faust’s own words, but the gist of this particular nugget was that the Everfree Forest had portal(s) in it, and Zecora was originally from our world. Gasps swept through the room when she said this, my own included.
5100713
I think I saw you and Admiral about where 70 breaks off and turns into turnpike territory, because I took an exit shortly after seeing you.
Still dodged the turnpike proper and stayed on southern Pennsylvania/ West Virginia highways for the whole trip.
5100718
Some of what you saw on my face was despair as I switched tracks from "I can use this in my story!" to "Wait, this conflicts with my plans for Zecora". :B Someday.
5100727
Well heck. :D Hope you had fun!
Good seeing you at BronyCon! Don't know if I actually stopped to say hi or whatever, but I know I hung out at some of the same places at the same times you were. So, uh, hi!
5100839
I know I saw you, I'm pretty sure I said hi at least once! :)
Wow, 6' 9", that's a big ole stallion.
Shame I didn't get to meet Luna Farrowe or CiG.
I'm glad you had an great time! I'm pretty sure I briefly bumped into you on Friday in the registration hall. (I was wearing a red Nuka Cola shirt). Sorry I didn't get the chance to say hello.
Thanks again for mentioning that puzzle. Probably the coolest piece of merch I got, next to all those books.
5101065
Wait, were you there? @_@ How did I not know?
5101132
Shit, seriously? :O Oh my god, I had no idea you were there, I'd have loved to say hi!
5101166
It's just so unique! :D I'm gonna take it over to my friend's house this weekend and work on it.
5100372
I ended it, and thus lost, with maybe the strangest use of neighs just so we all could get to that panel in time. Sorry, but I was adamant on not missing that panel at all costs. It was great to meet both of you in person and play such a fun game for the first time.
The sax guy was absolutely amazing in my opinion. I really regret not thanking him myself.
5101175
It's cool. I should have said something when I read your name tag, but I was in such a rush to get registered and started, and I figured eh I'm sure I'll bump into him again. The crowds shouldn't be too bad. I was horribly horribly mistaken.
I mainly wandered around with my siblings at the market. But we also went to the panel with Cathy Weseluck, the one with Lauren Faust and Bonnie Zacherele, a Deadtreestudios panel, and of course the final Ponies the Anthology premiere. The only merch I got was a cool poster of Soundwave for 5 bucks and a calendar. But after almost 2 hours in line I managed to get an autograph from Andrea Libman on my copy of the My Little Pony 2017 movie. The line for the movies director was significantly shorter.
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1TPoxoEn2ZW2ZxFxF5Y4DRd_Y3w67T9KIKBhBeVTEuwg/edit?usp=sharing
5101578
Thank you! Two things I wanted to say directly to you about that panel:
- The gag with Guti and Wuten dancing around the ballroom, unable to stop, was inspired. :D
- Luna Farrowe is now officially the only batpony I like. Not just don't hate, like. She's awesome. :D
Also, number three, you are lovely as well. <3 So glad I could at least say hi! (And this is actually really funny! I'm sorry I couldn't enjoy it more live.)
5101598
I squeed a little.
It was actually great being able to meet you, and I sincerely wish I'd found the time to hang out at Quills & Sofas, like, at all. Like GaPJaxie said in his blog post, it was a massive case of too many people, too little time.
But hey, anyway, there's always TrotCon. xP
5101628
You have such style, I am so jealous. XD It was great meeting you!
Anyway, come to Trotcon. :D
5101635
I will definitely be figuring out which cons to go to in the next year! TrotCon is looking like a good possibility because (a) Midwest and (b) summertime con :D
You destroyed that thing, man.
A shame that I did not see you there. I was looking, but you somehow managed to elude me.
It is a shame that I couldn't sit down and talk to you more =/. Glad that you had fun during the weekend.
5101697
It was hell in sandwich form D:
5101704
aw dammit ;_;
5101707
I didn't really spend a lot of time talking to anyone in particular. After like two days of "Oh, it's you! Hi, how are you!" I found myself embarrassingly low on things to actually talk about. ._.
Dude the NPR thing is awesome! Do you have any idea if they’re going to broadcast the story about the con nationally? Now I wanna go figure out what the regional station is and call them...
Also Magner’s is pretty hecc’in Good.
Also it was really cool to meet you, if only briefly!
5101746
I do not know, but I gave the guy my email and asked him to send me a link if it gets posted online. :B I don't actually listen to the radio anymore.
And yes, I'm glad we got to say hi. :D
5101598
Yaaaaaay!
5100383 I wasn't in Q&S. I didn't leave my house Thursday morning because I still had to work several hours on my costumes; then I drove partway to Baltimore, realized I'd forgotten my wallet, and had to go back for it and try again Friday. At the con, I spent maybe 3 hours just carrying all my costume shit to and from my hotel room, and at least 2 hours cleaning up cosplay makeup (which was why I missed the Jimmy John's meetup that I had helped set up for Monday). Saturday and Sunday, I had a series of costume catastrophes so that it took me about 10 hours just to put my !@#$% costumes on, neither of which I got to wear more than half an hour, nor got any photos of. Also, I wasted time by losing my hotel card and my cell phone. I only spent 5 hours total in the convention center at all.
TL;DR: I learned I'm too much of a fuck-up to do cosplay.
5101899
That really sucks man, I'm so sorry you went through that :(
5101746
James (NPR guy) usually works on up-to-the-minute news that's constantly going on air throughout the US. And some of the stories get compiled into a twice daily podcast called Here & Now.
However, this story is really more of a labor of love for James and he's hoping he'll be able to convince the higher ups at NPR to allow him to get something on air. No word on when/if that might be though. He said he'd be lucky to get a 4-minute segment.
I met Baron Engel totally by accident. In the center was earth pony creations with blind-bag engel woodcuts. Turned aroung and he was at the booth over to sign it for me! I just have to brag, since you did 3x more in 2x the time than me.
Wish I would have run into you to say hi, but I lost Friday to the unfortunate necessity of getting a good friend medical attention. It was good to see the last BC running with the king of crowds I remember from 2015!
5101899
I know there are photos of you in costume, so maybe ask around? I forget who had them. ._. Sorry that happened.
5102039
I hope your friend's okay! D:
5101598
You know, for the longest time I was thinking that maybe you had some deep-seated issues with batponies because your OC was one himself.
It was only when I saw your hi-res badge at Bronycon that I realised your OC has feathered wings.
In my defence, though, your OC has a colour scheme that is typical of batponies...