Blasting "Caramelldansen" as I Accelerate Towards the Cliff Edge (And Also PonyFest 2.0 Panel Announcements) · 9:17pm Apr 23rd, 2020
That's the closest thing I have to a metaphor for 2019 me heading into 2020.
Okay, so first things first: the reason I wasn't updating the MericaThon blog is actually not because I'm just lazy and forgot about it. The real reason is because about two days after I wrote the first entry, I realized the amount of freelance work I was anticipating wasn't going to come anytime soon, which meant I was therefore out of money basically before the trip even started. Then I talked to the company I'm freelancing for, got a workable arrangement set up with them, and figured, "Okay, no big deal. I'll head back down from the Northeast to my parents' place in Virginia, stay there for a month or two until I'm sure my financial situation is steady, and give this whole thing another shot from a much better financial position."
And that plan would've worked out great, except for the fact that, y'know... the viral apocalypse happened, my source of freelance work had to cut my available work and pay rate again to stay financially steady themselves, and America looks increasingly by the day like it's not going to make it to 2021 as a contiguous union.
On the bright side, all that stuff at least wasn't my fault. Silver linings.
So yeah, the MericaThon as it was supposed to exist is off the table for the time being, since it will likely be a year or two before the non-fascist states Balkanize and the second Civil War begins it's safe to travel and all the fun places in the cities I wanted to visit are open. Another bright side, though: I'm accidentally in very good financial shape because I ended up stuck at my parents' house not paying for rent, and I've found some things to occupy myself with in the meantime. What things, you ask? Well, in addition to outlining (and soon actually drafting) a long-form original project (and selling my soul bell by bell to the Mythical Cool Landlord Tom Nook), I'll also be participating in a couple virtual fic panels during PonyFest this upcoming Saturday, April 25th:
- Head to Headcanon (time tba) - I'll be joining a whole host of FIMFic folks for a spiritual (or direct?) sequel to the panel of the same name at EFNW, during which we will discuss, debate, and (in my case) intentionally proffer the weirdest possible takes that are also somewhat believable on FiM canon, official and non-
- Pony Break: Speedwritten Scriptwriting by PonyFic Writers (10:30 PM EST) - Modeled after the podcast "Story Break," GaPJaxie, Monochromatic, and I are going to take randomized genres, plot elements, and celebrity guest stars, and "break" a post-canon FiM story for the screen in one hour or less (and then probably change the names and use it as a spec script in Los Angeles, but sssssshhhh, don't tell Hasbro that)
I'll update this post with more specific details once the official schedule goes live. Hope to see you all... well, not there, per se, but in the Discord server at the time we're talking on it. I'll keep the emote usage to a minimum, I swear. Maybe.
Hope to be watching, Aqua!
I am sorry that the dream is on hold for now. I hope that we will all come out of this in one piece, and that the dream may live again.
I was hoping the lack of MericaThon updates didn’t mean you had fallen into the sea or somesuch, so I’m glad to see my fears were misplaced.
Good luck, and have fun at the virtual con!
I’ll probably join y’all’s Weird headcanon stream.