Whinny City Pony Con 2022 Reflections Part 1: Thursday and Friday

So, after 3 years, I finally attended an IRL pony con again. I decided to once again post my reflections, following what I did with BronyCon and make one post for each day of the convention with Thursday being tacked onto the Friday post and Monday being tacked on to the Sunday post.

Thursday

When I arrived on Thursday my mood was one of disbelief. I couldn’t believe I was actually here, that this was actually happening. I couldn’t believe I was at day 0 of an IRL pony con again. I was so anxious about being in this social situation again that I ordered takeout from City Works instead of eating it there. I didn’t lobbycon either because I didn’t feel ready to socialize yet, despite my hope of making friends this convention. Missing opportunities to socialize and make friends would be a recurring theme for me this convention.

Friday

After having a quick breakfast from the grab and go place in the hotel, I attended opening ceremonies, which got me pumped for the convention, and then it was off to my first panel. The first panel I attended that day was “MLP Trivia with Illustrious Q and Silver Quill.” This would be the first of many panels I would attend that would feature Silver Quill. It was a pretty fun panel. Those who got a certain number of questions right (10 easies, 5 mediums, etc.) won a comic book. I was too shy to participate. At the end of the panel, they allowed everyone who was there who did not get a comic book to grab one, so I did. Though I kind of felt, and still feel, weird about it since I didn’t earn it by playing the game.

I took the Schaumburg Trolley to the Woodfield Mall after that and had some Chipotle. Woodfield Mall is very impressive. Wish the Sears was still there. I bought a couple of CDs at the FYE, Kiss’ Lick It Up and Steel Panther’s Heavy Metal Rules before taking the trolley back to the con.

I stopped at the vendor hall at some point before the next panel, but didn’t buy anything. I just couldn’t decide what to buy. Whinny City's vendor hall was a lot smaller than BronyCon’s and even PVCF 2018’s. Still had cool stuff though. I stopped at the con store and bought a WCPC 2022 shirt. Nice to be able to buy the con t-shirt unlike at BC 2019.

The next panel I attended was “Writing Horse Music.” While the panel was about writing music, there were a couple tips that I think could apply to a fanfic writer too. Namely, not being afraid to mess up and just start writing. Overall, it was a very interesting panel.

Next panel I attended was Twilight Sparkle’s Secret Shipfic folder. It was interesting hearing how this game was translated into an online version. It also reminded me of how complicated the rules are for this game. I haven’t played it since BronyCon 2018. I miss the guy I played that game with. Anyway, I also learned that the online version is multiplayer only. Got a free card for attending the panel.

I think I ended up just having some Nuts on Clark popcorn for dinner before attending the next panel “OC Shuffle Up!” The premise was everyone wrote down a physical trait on an index card and the presenters would pick a card and the artist would have to draw that trait. I did participate and write down a trait because it didn’t involve me having to get up in front of everyone and talk. Almost everyone in the audience with me was also writing traits down, so that helped. The trait I wrote down got picked and became a trait of one of the OCs, which was cool to see. The resulting OCs were grotesque, but in a funny way. I remember one OC having a super long tail that had a claw on the end and had a Freddy Krueger style sweater. The others were all sorts of messed up looking. It was a blast!

I went to see Loudsdale next. I arrived 10-15 minutes early like I usually do, but I forgot about the Gala, so I got to see the last couple dances there. Others were like me and arrived early too and we all stood in the back with our non-formal clothes and cosplays in a room of more formally dressed people. The music I heard was not formal at all though. There was a square dance followed by the Macarena, kinda like my high school dances. And here I thought these things were all just formal, ballroom dances. Hmm…maybe I should actually attend these Galas one of these cons…

Anyway, Loudsdale was good. They have an acoustic rock/folk vibe. We initially sat at the tables from the Gala, but then they had us all sit in a circle on the dance floor, which fit the kind of music they were playing.

I went to the After Dark Vendor Hall after that. It was a long wait, though others had an even longer wait or were told to come back tomorrow. I really thought the line would be shorter since PVCF and WCPC have had AD vendor halls for a couple of years now, with PVCF 18 being the first. Was also hoping they would have used a larger room. It was about the same size as the room PVCF 18 used. Once I finally got in I was impressed with what they had. One vendor had art from Frist including a WS drawing. No pony pee stuff though. Plenty of Dakis around, but no Soarin’. I was almost going to buy a couple mini dakis like I did at PVCF 18, but instead decided to splash the cash on a full size one. I got a Hitch Trialblazer. The seller put it in a privacy envelope, so no one could see what I bought and so I wouldn’t violate con rules. I was going to go to another panel, but I got tired and fell asleep. I would have more fun the next day though.