BronyCon 2019 · 10:46pm Aug 8th, 2019
Netflix asking the real questions:
I know I say it every year, but BronyCon was the experience of a lifetime!
Back in 2012, I was focused on meeting the celebrities and getting autographs. And then I got really big into adding to my Brony swag collection. But last year, and this year especially, I've been really focusing on the people, and the community. Pictures of hugging Lauren Faust, having lunch with John DeLancie, or getting kissed by Tara Strong are cool and all. But the memories that really stick with me are the times I spent in person with all of my friends from around the world. And the best part is, you don't need to wait in line for an hour to do that. You just need to share a room with Pastel Pastures. But we'll get to that part later.
Wednesday
Wednesday morning, Mrs. Shakes, our girlfriend Chrystal and I woke up at 3:30am. We had already packed the car with our luggage, activities bins, and the cosplays that we had been working on for weeks. We grabbed the last few things we needed and we hit the road at 4am. The trip down the east coast from Massachusetts was pretty smooth that early in the morning. We got into Baltimore around 11am.
This year I was once again bunking with Gary Oak, HorseVoice, and Reia Hope.
But first things first. There were rites to be observed. Like our annual tradition of cracking open a bear.
> goddammit intensifies
Then it was off to pre-registration and setting up a table for the My Little Assassin activity. After all, the sooner it started, the more time it would give the players. Not to mention the fact that the people in charge of scheduling triple-booked my Thursday time slots! 
Not only was I scheduled to do my sign-ups at the same time I was supposed to be on the Writing Comedy panel with Gary Oak, but they also had my Discord Fixes Everything activity at the same time too! My name was on all three of these things!
But lo, they did not have a table for me at preregistration. But anyone who knows me knows that I'm the kind of take-charge person to not let this stand. So I commandeered a table and got to work. And good work it was. I got 75 of the 100 slots filled that night. I spent the rest of my time organizing the information and photos and printing everything for the next day. I figured, I'd just grab 25 more real quick and then speed off to be on Gary's panel.
But the Con had other plans.
Thurdsay
Despite having many many 'bears' with Gary Oak, I still had to wake up early and have breakfast, and finish working on the Assassin activity. I managed to have enough spare time to go to Pastel Pastures and help Mrs. Shakes (A.K.A. Knit Wit) set up her activity to make tutu's, and then spend some time in Quills and Sofas.
Turns out that was easy since they were in the same room.
Yes, in a brilliant move by the events manager, they had decided to eliminate the Quills and Sofas room. The staple meeting location of the fanfiction writers. This would not stand. And we therefore staked a claim on half of Pastel Pastures. The result was about as stable as any other territorial occupation, with just as much conflict. But we had a space none-the-less. And that was good enough.
While in Q&S 2.0, I managed to grab as many selfies as I could.
It was good to see you again, B_25.
Stay classy Anonpencil.
Here I am with Flutterpriest and OH MY GOD IS THAT ROBCAKERAN53!? AUTHOR OF MY LITTLE DASHIE!? THAT FIC CHANGED MY LIFE!
Flammenwerfer, you are far too well dressed for this event. Blitz, you're setting a bad example. Muwun... you are far to adorable to be getting mixed up with these guys.
And what trip to Q&S would be complete without Pen Stroke?
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Even with all my prep work, I could not have been prepared for The Barcast & Co to come to my signup table in StableTop Games.
And by "&Co" I mean the horde of people following them around. And a crowd draws a crowd. So the line for signups went from 25 to the tune of an additional 75 people. Making for a total of 151 people playing Assassin. So I had to hand write a bunch of new forms, print even more photos. And ultimately had to miss out on being on Gary's Writing Comedy panel. Big props to B_25 and Muwun for all the help in Stabletop Games! You guys were a life saver! I managed to get everything done by the start of Opening Ceremonies. Which was good because that was when I needed to host Discord Fixes Everything.
For those of you who are familiar with Starlight Glimmer Fixes Everything, I assigned everyone a random episode of MLP and they had to write about how Discord would fix it in 30 seconds or less. Of course, you had an hour to actually write about it. The turnout was less than I hoped, but more than I expected. I still need to transcribe everything and get that uploaded to Fimfiction.
After all that me and several others from Q&S decided to go get food. Jimmie Johns actually ran out of bread, so we went across the street to Chipotle. They looked like they were 14 hours into an 8 hour shift. And the rice in my burrito was really under-cooked. A few people decided to go to BronyPalooza but I was all like, nah, miss me with that migraine and called it an early night. Went back to the room and tied on a few drinks with my ladies and went to bed.
I should note that there was 6 of us sharing 2 beds. Gary got an extra cot for himself. But me and the gals all shared one bed. Fun right? Well, I thought it was going to be a queen size bed, like we comfortably share at home. But it was only a full size. And that was cramped. Oh sure it was fun at first being in the middle of an intimate snuggle pile, but dear god, the air conditioner just could not get enough cool air in that room for us like that.
Friday
Friday morning was a chance to sleep in a little. Mrs. Shakes' activity wasn't until 1pm and there wasn't a ton of things I was itching to see in the morning aside from Lauren Faust's panel, Creating Equestria. But after that, I did take the opportunity to make my way through the vendor hall. I was pleased to see that the book store was already nearly sold out. Congratulations to all involved! In hindsight, I wish I had taken the time to clean up my E and T rated stuff to add to the shelves. But such is a busy life.
Anyway I did manage to get a few things while I was down there.
I finally managed to get the Cadance funko I had been searching for.
I got Discord for cheap because the box is banged up pretty bad in the back but I don't care about that.
I got the Cream Heart plushie because of course I had to.
I actually traded for the Sunset Shimmer figurine at the swag swap.
And the Dash plushie was a gift. Thank you.
As for the mouse pad...
... I have no excuse.
But it is damn comfy!
ANYWAY
Mrs. Shakes did another round of making tutus as Knit Wit, and then friendship bracelets. Both activities were a huge success.
At 2:30 I followed the Barcast crew over to Pickles Pub for their big meetup. On the way they managed to clog up the revolving door in the Hilton. I think they had about 70 people. But once we got to the pub, we took over the place.
It was good times.
After that, I was looking forward to that evening. The Grand Galloping Gala. I had never gone to it in the past. But this year we finally did.
Mrs. Shakes as Cadance with her light-up dress caught all the eyes in the dark ballroom.
Our girlfriend Crystal as Chrysalis.
Shakespearicles as Shining Armor gets all the mares. (or rather, they get him)
Crystal made her own changeling wings. I made their horns, crowns, ears and pegasus wings from scratch.
The gala was a mixed bag. It was hot, crowded, and there was only one water cooler for a couple thousand people. The 'play' performance was irritating. I mean, it was entertaining and all, but the actresses were a bit too enthusiastic when they were screeching into the microphones. I was expecting... you know... a gala. Maybe some gentle live music. Or instrumental covers of pony songs to dance to. But the majority of it was really loud yelling into microphones, and you simply could not get far enough away from the loudspeakers.
We managed to have a few dances but ended up leaving quite early. It was a shame though. I must admit it was a bit of a thrill seeing the envious looks we got when the three of us were each kissing and dancing with one another.
Saturday
Since we didn't really get a chance to show off our cosplays for very long at the gala, we decided to wear them for Saturday after my second session of Discord Fixes Everything. So most of Saturday was a bit of walking around with my ladies to see and be seen. And being stopped every five steps to pose for a camera. But it made Mrs. Shakes and Crystal feel like celebrities. And the weekend was as much for them as it was for me. That's how relationships work. We did catch part of a few events and panels. By the time their feet started to hurt it was time to get changed anyway to meet up at 6:30 to go to the Writer's Dinner while the girls had themselves a ladies night.
The Writer's Dinner
I was standing outside the con, looking at my watch, 6:27pm like, "Where the hell is everyone?"
Silly me. I thought we were meeting up outside the con at 6:30 and walking over there. But no. The dinner itself starts at 6:30. So after a brisk jog, I made it in time to assuage any worries for Wanderer D. I took pictures of everyone's tables for him. Lucky too, because a lot of people left before he could get them together for a group picture.
About halfway through the dinner, BadHorse got his annual birthday present. And as that was happening, I was sitting there, thinking, are we going to do the song? No, not the birthday song, the Badhorse song.
Sadly, no.
But, surely, someone is going to say something.
Wanderer? C'mon! This is the last BronyCon. And maybe the last Writer's Dinner. Are we really just going to go quietly into the night? Am I really going to be the last violinist on the sinking ship?
Trick Question walked by and saw me staring at my drink in deep, worried thought.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
I nodded. "I think I want to make a toast," I said.
"Do you want me to get everyone's attention?" she asked.
"Not yet." I hadn't even thought about what I was going to say. But something needed to be said. I knew I wasn't the only one feeling that impending dread about 'the end of pony'. I wanted to say something about pledging to be the last violinist on the sinking ship. But that was the wrong message.
Lenny Kravitz, "It Ain't Over Till It's Over" had been playing in my head all evening.
Damn right it ain't over!
A grabbed my drink and stood up, hitting it with my spoon until Trick Question jumped in and shouted for everyone to quiet down. And then the room was quiet. All eyes were on me.
"This is the last BronyCon. But anyone who tells you that 'this is the end', is wrong! This doesn't end unless we let it. And I am not getting off this ride until the damn wheels fall off, and then I'm getting out and pushing!
TO PONY!"
It was as much for myself to hear as anyone there. But when I looked around at the renewed resolution in everyone's faces, I knew that it was true. This is our fandom, and it will live on as long as we want it to, as long as we are willing to work for it, and push, and keep this ride going! And I'm sure as hell not going anywhere.
-
My galvanizing words put me in the right mindset for the panel that evening hosted by GaryOak, It's In Our Hooves Now: The Importance of Fan-Fiction After the Series Ends. Because if there is one thing the man loves almost as much as puns, it's subtitles.
The panel room was packed. Standing room only. I had never seen a writing panel like that.
Our message was in tune with my toast: It ain't over. We are going to keep it going. And here's how...
The panel went very well. We talked about the importance of relating to old fans of the show, as well as being approachable in your writing for new readers. But no matter what, as long as we keep doing what we do, the fandom lives. I was glad that our message was able to reach so many people. Dozens of people came up to us in the hallway to ask questions, or to just say that we had given them hope.
Believe me, I can say with no ego that it was truly a wonderful day in my life.
After the panel, Gary and I went to a small gathering in a hotel room and I got a Drunken Tarot Reading from Horizon. Blitz was ready to go to sleep.
Sunday
After catching the Jackbox games in Mane Hall with Laurent Faust,
Sunday was another cosplay day for Mr and Mrs Shakes as Mr and Mrs Cakes. 
We walked around to see and be seen again for most of the day.
While I was waiting for Mrs. Shakes to get a drink just outside the vendor hall, I met Round Trip.
"What the hay!?"
Other than that, the only thing I really wanted to go see was closing ceremonies, since I had never gone to them before. And this was going to be THE closing ceremonies. Mrs. Shakes isn't a fan of lines so she went back to the hotel while Crystal and I waited. The charity auction ran long and the mob for closing ceremonies grew restless. They decided that there wasn't enough time to clear out Mane Hall. So that crowd stayed in there. For a few minutes I wasn't sure if Mr. Cake was about to be part of a mob rushing into Mane Hall, or a full-on riot.
Ultimately, they just threw open the flood gate and let everyone into the adjacent registration area where there were big screens and speakers. During the chaos I managed to grab a selfie with M. A. Larson, watching from the nearby curtains.
The closing ceremonies were... good enough. I'll admit, during the Con Chair's final speech, I almost got a little misty. I waited until the end, since I had asked the vice chair at the Writers dinner if they could have everyone, and I mean everyone, sing the My Little Pony theme song one last time. She thought it was a great idea, that there wouldn't be a dry eye in the house. But ultimately it was cut for time in lieu of a short... play by the mascots. *sigh* Oh well.
I was a little disappointed that we didn't get to all sing together, and also that my Ask A Throuple W/ Shining, Cadance, and Chrysalis panel didn't get selected. Especially since the Ask A Couple panel was such a big hit in 2016. But again, oh well. Maybe I'll do a separate blog about that and have a live stream. Maybe.
Anyway, as soon as closing ceremonies ended, I had to rush back to the hotel and change because up next was meeting Gary Oak and Co. for the annual Meat Up. Because Gary Oak and puns. I got back to meet them at the con just in time for security to usher everyone out of the building. And since we didn't want to see what the Baltimore Swat Team tear gas smelled like, we decided it'd be best to vacate.
Outside, Reia Hope bought some ice cold water for just one dollar.
And then we walked down the street to Fogo De Chao
Do you like meat? Well if you do, that place has a lot of it. All you can eat, in fact!
After the Meat Up, most of us went back to separate rooms. Gary and I went to Trick's hotel part. By the time we got there, the party was in full swing. RobCakeran was... well, himself.
We played CAH and made a ruckus.
And of course, I had to sign this Card Against Equestria,
Eventually we had to get kicked out around midnight.
We went with Horizon back to the Hilton where he did more Tarot readings. But I decided to crash the con staff part in the ballroom next door. I got to talk to Andy Price. I didn't have time to text anyone about it before he left though. After that, I went back out into the hallway where the rest of the group was.
"Hey Shakes, do you want to go to sleep at a reasonable hour and hit the road on time in the morning?"
"That sounds like the rational thing to do, Gary."
"How about we stay up until 2am instead."
"Y tho?"
"So I can pick up my commission from Tony Fleecs."
"Like, at his hotel room?"
"Yeah."
"... Okay."
As soon as that was done, we went back to the hotel room and passed out.
The next morning we all had to wake up early and check out. They had a plane to catch and we had a 6-hour drive ahead of us. But as I watched Baltimore disappear in my rear-view mirror, I didn't mourn. This wasn't the end. The Star Wars fandom went on for decades after Return of the Jedi. There are shelves of essentially licensed fan fiction, that was accepted as canon to the expanded universe lore. We are the O.G.s of this fandom. We are here, now, on the ground floor from the beginning. And that's what this is.
Not the end.
This is only the beginning.
It was awesome getting to hang out with you Shakes, hope to do so again sometime. And thanks for signing my card, lmfao
Well said. =)
To my shame I hadn't thought to give a speech, so I was surprised, but encouraged by your words. You inspired everyone that night man. Cheers!
Did somebody say ice cold water?
So many great authors that I follow were there, yet I somehow missed meeting every one of them...really wish I could have met at least one of you guys! That would have been a fantastic part of an already amazing convention. It was also my first, and sadly last, Bronycon. I hopefully will be able to go to other cons, but that won't be for awhile yet.
Awesome blog post, as always. Rather than dwelling on BC being over, I've already started looking forward to whatever adventure we share next, whenever that may be.
Fantastic recap! It was great meeting you again, truly a highlight of the con. I pray to party again someday with the world's strongest writer. Stay awesome.
Was good to see you again. Tell knit wit I apologize if I seemed out of it helping with the friendship bracelets; I was dangerously sleep deprived the entire weekend for various reasons, but am glad I got to help people make bracelets!
You're god damned right
You know, if you look at the historical view, there have always been great literary movements but they'd come out of things just like this. The Algonquin Round Table was a workplace. The Inklings, producing Tolkien and C.S. Lewis and others, was Old Norse fanfiction. Greatness is not designed to be greatness: greatness comes out of comradeship and shared passions, and we have all of that, to the Nth degree.
We're not going anywhere. Heck, we're not even going to get bored of ponies, much less go away
On to even better adventures and friendship!
Goddamnit, you made me misty there at the end.
Loved the Cosplays though!
TO PONY!
Really wish I'd been able to go this year. I'd love to have met you. Seems like literally everybody was there. While people tend to go to their regional cons, I don't think there will be one unified con like this again, which makes me sad. Do you ever go to any other cons?
I had a good time working with Knit Wit and Crystal and I am glad I got to meat (damn it Gary now I am doing it) you shakes!
I am sorry to alot of you writers like B_25 and Anon that I didn't stop by and say hi at Q&S but between helping knit, gophering and doing some things I wanted to do I just didn't have the time.
Like shakes said, this isn't the end! The show may end, BronyCon maybe gone but it all still lives though us writers and fans! We can only hope for a G5 reboot and the hope that if G5 is popular enough that BronyCon will make a return! Hang in there all! This is just the end of one era and a beginning of another!
On a side note: were you in the Registration hall for the staff thank you shakes? If so How did I do on getting everyone going
Hear, hear!
Darn tootin the ride's not over... also I need everyone to keep going to conventions because I never got to go to any but will be literally a stone's throw from EFNW next year
Never got a chance to go to one but all the shenanigans I've seen on YouTube where priceless.
I never got to go to BronyCon but you’re right we ain’t never gonna go (and plus there are other cons to go to
) TO PONY! 
it was awesome seeing you at BronyCon! it was really cool being able to talk to you in person, and i’m glad i was able to help with My Little Assassin!
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I have gone to Everfree Northwest and Equestria L.A.
I'd like to go to BabsCon next. We'll see.
And yeah, I saw you in the registration hall during the closing ceremonies. You were hard to miss.
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Thank you. We all worked really hard on them.
Meeting you in that hotel elevator was so awe-inspiring it was distracting and I got off on the wrong floor. That must be your superpower.
5102723 But you did get off.
I also had a lot of fun at Bronycon. And even if it was for just a few seconds, it was really cool to meet you at the second "Discord Fixes Everything."
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Pretty sure you've heard this a lot but I gotta tell you this again... YOU ARE THE BEST.
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Being at that Saturday night panel was fantastic. You guys killed it. I hope someone got a recording, because it’s one for the ages.
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Thank you. That means a lot to all of us.
Man, wish I'd been at that dinner. I really needed to hear those words of encouragement. At least somebody recorded it, and its majesty will echo throughout the ages.