After Trotcon! · 1:19am Jul 20th, 2022
Hey, I'm way more on the ball with this than I was with my SeaquestriaFest blog.
Which I still haven't written yet. But I'll get to it in due time!
I was there early Thursday morning, long before the festivities began, and spent some of the morning hanging out in the lobby jamming to Brand X music while writing a cute little fluff piece about a pony who runs a wheel loader in a quarry. I even had to look up some quarry facts, since I know y'all love actual facts in stories.
Thursday night was the official Linecon. It was even more enjoyable than usual, since due to technical difficulties, registration opened two or three hours late (I don't remember exactly).
Went to some panels and got some merch. Mostly buttons, even though I rarely wear them. I'm terrible at remembering the names of booths, and while there's a vendor hall map in the con book, that's not how it was actually set up during the con. There were a couple more panels I wanted to go to but didn't for one reason or another: 'Oops, all Glimmer' sounded like it would be fun, and it features our favorite kite-flying horse. Not to mention the Writing For Yourself panel.*
that pony sure does love kites
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*As an aside, I wish that Trotcon had listed who the panelists were in the con book. They usually do, but didn't this year.
I spent a lot of time just hanging out with people and chatting and whatnot. I'm gonna try and remember everybody but I know I'll forget somebody, which is why making a list like this is dangerous.
Roomed with Shachza, AlwaysDressesInStyle, and BadHorse; hung out with WandererD, Zyrian, and Shalrath. In the vendor hall, I found OleGreyMane and his wife (I don't remember her name). Chatted about harnesses and wagons and such with BlueBook, ran into RuneSoldierDan somewhere along the line I think it's the first time we've met or conversed anywhere. Attended Bad Horse's six shades of FimFic panel** with Trick Question and JMac (and many others--that was a surprisingly full panel, especially since it was largely focused on the math of FimFic). Ran into Naliah, Dreams of Ponies, and I Thought I Was Toast a couple times (mostly when they were in a line or I was), and Rocket Lawnchair who makes adorable kirin arts. Managed to catch up at least briefly with SudokuBrony, who managed to confuse me at first with ObiWan cosplay, and PUBLIQclopAccountant who, on Saturday, was wearing the promised orange shirt with safety yellow runways. I wish I'd thought to take a picture of that shirt, it was amazing. And easy to spot. I don't think I saw PsychicKid but I might have. . . .
Managed to miss EngineerBJ for most of the weekend despite his highly-visible getup, but we finally ran into each other in the vendor hall.
Now we see how many people comment that I forgot to mention them . . .
Of course there's also the people I know at the vendor hall.
Fiaura and Ruirik and the OC Doctor—who makes me pay extra whenever I want to run an idea by him.* Can't blame him, to be honest. The guy who has the trains, who I've been introduced to probably dozens of times already and I cannot remember his name. I'm tangentially friends with New Grey Mare now; she's got a great selection of pony action figures from all generations, and I think she's the one who sold me a Silver Glow many Bronycons ago. And a couple other people whose names I do not remember at all. Which is embarrassing considering the number of times we've talked at one con or another.
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*Last year, Ruirik gave me a little wooden card that said "Senpai has noticed you." This year, the OC Doctor gave me a little wooden card that said "Senpai has filed for a restraining order."
I do need to give a mention about the charity auction. I've scored some cool stuff for good prices; I've got a signed Peanut Bucker and a registration book that was stamped with dozens of Peanut Bucker stamps; I got a Pirates of the Caribbean book signed by Argenberger Argleburger Argembarger and some other swag I can't even remember; this year the taps were wide open and everything I had any interest in went out of my price range fast. Which is good for charity; they set a new Con record and raised $18.000.69! And they ran out of time before they could even auction off all the donated items!
After the fact, I heard that the representative for the charity was confused that meme items went for more than some actually valuable items—like, somebody paid over a hundred dollars to make one of the Riff Ponies drink a bottle of butter-flavored soda. Or bid over a hundred dollars for a signed jar of mayonnaise . . .
Point is that we raised a bunch of money for a charity!
Anyways, come to Trotcon!
**Bad Horse's panel was about how users interact with the site, how unregistered users often make a significant impact on a story's views and heat. He also discussed how there are multiple authors and their followers by genre and there isn't as much crossover between genres as you'd expect . . . I won't step on his toes too much giving a summary, since we are all trying to convince him to publish his findings as a blog post.
He was using older data for reasons, which turned out to be a neat blast from the past; some of the authors on his charts have retired from FimFiction and gone on to other things, while others aren't even on his list but would be if he did the same analysis again.
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It was! In fact it was my first time meeting any Fimfic people RL at all.
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Ooh, fun! Was it everything you hoped for?
Her tag read Mrs. V, which is what she's called in school. She'll also respond to her longtime BBS moniker of Tigerose.
Thanks for spending so much of your Saturday afternoon with all three of us.
She's got the stuffs for sure, like a whole tub of G3 including an abused Precious Gem and a Desert Rose (wrong pose for my purpose). Next year I hope she brings her random parts bins, because I've got a little list... Okay, not little at all.
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It was a lot to take in! And I was a bit blind, being new and something of a stranger to the social side. But it filled up a week very well. I have my own retrospective and impressions posted here: https://www.fimfiction.net/blog/991639/anyway-that-was-trotcon
Next year perhaps I shall try to surf more dedicatedly with the Fimfic crew, or with the tabletop peeps who I got along with quite well. I'm a huge tabletop player so toying with the idea of joining their team and trying to run some real events.
That is true. Wish you were at my panel on Sunday too.
While you were at a pony con I was at Anime North in Toronto bemoaning my woeful sales. Turned a profit but was almost 2k down from the last one. Oh well.
At this point, your SeaquestriaFest blog will probably read as follows.
The last con I went to, a $2 bill went for $400. And not in the charity auction, but during closing ceremonies.
Some people are very generous!
Hmmmm, Maths.
Vicarious traveling through reading! Your sacrifice for the common good is appreciated. ^_^ Linecon! Oh the horror! I hate waiting with nothing to do. I'd have packed a book.
Unraveling the mysteries of views and "heat" is always interesting.
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Ah, so this is where you stashed the double asterisk footnote!
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Linecon the First was more or less an accident. I'd initally been looking for a place to sit after looking around for Registration. Didn't find it. Found a chair. Looked up and saw the Registration sign. Convenient that!
Met back up with Biscuit for some wandering and decision-making, and we ended up stopped near the chairs across from registration again (we were also waiting for Always Dresses In Style to show up). Spent some time chatting and then someone asked us if this was the line for registration. Looked around, and sure enough, there was a line leading away from us.
So, yeah, we parked and a line formed around us. Biscuit's theory that people will join a line if they think it's going somewhere interesting is apparently true.
Registration opened more than 3 hours late.
I was there! I don't know if I saw you though, cause I have no idea what you look like. Did get a lot of drawing done at the various linecons though, including the start of a series of race-swapped Mane 6 pictures I plan to make into stickers.
"I even had to look up some quarry facts, since I know y'all love actual facts in stories."
Thanks for the effort you put in. :)
"Attended Bad Horse's six shades of FimFic panel**"Did the footnote for that one go missing?Oh, it's in the comments.
With an additional cute picture in addition to information. :D
Anyway, thanks for the blog post, and again, I'm glad the con seems to have gone well. :)
One day I will raise the necessary money to make the jaunt across the Puddle and attend one of the 'murican cons. One! DAY! *Shakes hoof at the skies*
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I approve this theory.
It was really awesome finally meeting you!
My only nutpick about Trotcon is it was hard for me to interact with others because they would always walk by so quickly, and shy me is lime how do i make friends?
rip
didn't get to go this year
I tried to find my bright orange shirt [e-mail confirms it was the "3 stripe safety tee"] on the Boeing website, but it must've been on closeout when I purchased it (along with my three plush airplanes—737, 747, & 777) back in April 2020. While pulling up that website to search, I was relieved to find that Boeing still sells some shirts in the extremely bright colors I so enjoy.
The Mac & Cheese shirt I wore to Bad Horse's panel on Friday is still available here.
Finally, the Jazz Cup Suicune shirt was from https://www.redbubble.com/shop/ap/109388446
And now you know how to steal my look [the plaid shorts were probably from Kohl's, and the hat was a free hat from attending a Madison Mallards game].
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Ah, BBS, that brings back happy memories
It was my pleasure! I do love rambling on and on.
It was years ago and my memory's not always the best, but she might well have been the source of the Silver Glow action figure I have. Somewhere. . . .
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I do regret missing it, I don't know if I had a legit excuse or if I just forgot. Most likely the latter, if I'm being honest; you shoulda banged my head with that light saber a time or two and insisted that I attend your panel
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A profit is a profit . . . right now we're up at the shop for a multitude of reasons, but it could turn at any moment. As they say, make hay when the sun shines.
We're either gonna run into each other at a con soon enough, or else my craving for Canadian cuisine and a free weekend is gonna do it. Drag Saddlesoap along and we'll make a party of it
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Not true, I've got pictures and memories of the canal and the fog and the Oyster War and Annapolis in general, not to mention the machines on the beach digging out the wind- or storm-blown sand. And that's not even touching on the eclipse and Elly.
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Some people are in it for the meme, and have the wallet to back it up. And it's all for charity, so why not?
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ing math, how does it work?
F
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Hopefully next year.
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I mean... I get profit sharing. I took a week off work and only made $140
Which I blew on more t-shirts