Bronycon: A Tragicomedy in 5 acts — The Land · 1:36am Aug 9th, 2019
Conventions of all kinds are interesting places to be, but there was something special in the air for this Bronycon. It could be due to the larger crowds than those in your typical Pony Con, or the reduced space which brought the attendees together, maybe even how much of other fandoms seem to seep into pony nowadays[1]. But mostly I am pinning that to the sense of finality given to the whole thing. As the days moved on, you knew that what you were seeing would probably never again happen in this space.
Quills and Sofas was my homebase during the con, a place where I could sit down and relax by hammering on those typewriters, reliably get some water, and find people to talk to when I wasn’t sure what else I could be doing. Sadly, it was forced to share its space with the more general “Arts and Crafts” side of the fandom, so at any given time we could be asked to vacate the room, and wait for them to bring in people who registered for the (paid) panels they were hosting. At least we had a group of dedicated tables, meaning that we were never actually competing for space, and it did feel good to just walk in disregarding the huge lines outside.
The dealer hall was another highlight. While it was nearly impossible to get inside on the first day, eventually the lines abated, and I found myself roaming its halls quite a bit. The Golden Oaks Library, AKA Bronycon Bookstore, was a sight to behold (for all the 5 minutes its stocks lasted), but there was much more to it. My merch haul looks something like this:
Not pictured: The set of wooden magnets now decorating my whiteboard.
The wood prints, in particular, make for great living room decoration:
I love these little “Stealthy Brony” things you can hide in plain sight.
Other than that, there was plenty to see in the dealer’s hall. I probably spent more time than I should admiring the little Sweetie Bot being demoed in one of the booths.
Behold, your future overmare.
Riské art was extremely prevalent, with tons of more-than-suggestive Dakis lying around. The plushies were also amazing, it is fantastic to think much people have evolved in crafting them by now [2]. All in all, this fandom has certainly attracted many great graphical artists. And, judging by how many stands were closed come Sunday, I’m sure that most made a killing this time around.
Panels were always crowded, and at any time of the day one could see lines snaking around the convention halls. I heard the Lauren Faust autograph line took over 4 hours by itself! I attended few panels, and every single one was completely packed. The Mane Event Hall in particular impressed me, with a very high quality display, which was used particularly well by the musicians.
But the atmosphere of Bronycon isn’t made by the places where it happened, but in the little sights and sounds you can see. It is manifested in the cosplayers running around, the sing-alongs being held along its halls, people asking and giving hugs and bro-hoofs, all the plushies everywhere. It is this place where one can see families with their kids in one corner, and not far away witness people holding a dakimakura[3] wedding. And I kept finding myself just staring at it all, letting the atmosphere wash over me. Maybe more than anything else, Bronycon is a bunch of weirdos running around having way too much fun, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.
At the end, somebody got the idea of creating a Bronycon memorial, where people could leave mementos for the convention that was. Some of it may look like trash without the proper context the time, but I am sure that everything there holds some meaning, to someone.
F, Indeed.
[1]: It has always been there, of course, but it seemed more noticeable this time around.
[2]: Not buying any plushies took an act of will.
[3]: AKA, Fuck Pillows.
Oh, man, I almost bought that laser engraving of the treebrary.
My favorite part of the shrine was the tall green Virgin Mary candle, which you can see near the bottom right corner of the shrine. Just perfect, lol.
Seriously though, it was great to see you again, Soge! :)
Those wood prints are gorgeous!
This is so true and so lovely
I'm trying to work out a clever link between your Waiting for Godot title references (if indeed that is what they are) and all the queues the convention apparently had. Unfortunately, I'm not clever enough.
The whole daki thing is probably the most alien bit to me, having thought about it. The con I go to is fairly strictly all-ages, so dakis are a) the mildest type and b) a tiny part of the merch anyway. I think I'd be mildly creeped out by having them be a significant thing, but that's just me.
Yeah, I'll admit to that feeling nice. Also eventually getting waved in without asking because they knew who the Q&S people were.
Never saw the wedding, but I'll admit that not just seeing them in the vendor hall, but people carrying them around in general was a little weird to me.