Good morning Baltimare! The weekend of August 7-9 2015
marked the 4th Bronycon, a convention for Bronies, started by “Purple Tinker”
nearly 4 years ago. This being the 3rd at the Baltimore Convention Center run
by the Bronycon staff. This was our 2
year in a row of attending the convention. It is a fun filled weekend of some
of the most joyful and friendly people (and ponies) you will ever meet. This year the attendance grew again, with over 10,000 attendees making it 20% cooler.
If you haven't read the previous years post, and/or have no idea what a Brony is, read the link below of our coverage from last year's conference it covers all the details.
We arrived on Friday for the first day of the convention.
The place is full of a wide variety of colorful people. Many in full Cosplay or
a tribute to their favorite characters. Some in full pony mascot gear. Noah had
a huge smile on his face the whole day, was happy to walk around the
convention, shop and possibly join a conga line (once he got his confidence up
according to him.)
Both years he has said his favorite thing was everything,
and that the “Bronies” were his favorite part. I imagine it is nice to be with “your
people”, and it is always a stress reliever to be amongst those who not only do
not judge you, but will celebrate you. Noah can be a ball of stress, we have learned to manage it
over the years, it took a lot of sacrifice and adaptability not just form him,
but from us.
The weekend was full of different types of activities, from
workshops on how to create or perfect your own work (drawing, writing and
animating seminars) or meet up with the creators of the shows, fan fictions and
plushie creators. Video games were played, places to roll play or play MLP
games, basic tom foolery and the premier of Anthology 5. There was also 2 big events
Bronypalooza
Bronypalooza is made up of a large group of Brony musicians (21
bands)who either remix or reimagine songs from MLP friendship is magic. Noah
joined in and danced few songs at Bronypalooza both nights of the convention.
Some famous Bronies who attended were ‘The
Living Tombstone, Cyril the Wolf, BronyMike” Some nice Brony gave us
glow sticks, which was fun. (Noah loves glow sticks). Last year he collected a
lot of “Bro-hooves” this year he did also, but didn’t have to count them.
Special Needs and Bronycon
Bronycon does provide assistance to those with special needs with back door "special access"passes, shorter lines and a handy communication system attendees where to let others know where they feel social or not. Noah was "green" the whole time.
We also attended the Coping with Disabilities Panel for the
second year in a row. This go-get it group full of personal empowerment
discussed what it is like working with a disability, and dealing with it with
the show. They used clips with Scootaloo (flying disability)and other ponies
dealing with bullying. Such as Apple
Bloom dealing with bullying due to her “blank flank”. The group focuses on
skills and strengths and sends the powerful message, don’t give your power away.
you can’t control other people's
judgements or nastiness. For
more on this topic click here for "Coping with Limitations through
pony" article.
Baltimare Arcade
The convention set up an “arcade” which was a lot of laptops some connected to large screens, playing both fan made MLP software and other favorite games. They also had a
Rockband (set up with MLP Friendship is Magic music) and a Dance machine.
Though the highlight had to be Fighting
is Magic, Pony fighting game like Smash Brothers or Mortal Combat without
the blood violence , but with adorable ponies. We watched Rarity and Rainbow
Dash battle. Maybe next year he will participate more, and knowing how into video games he is, it was surprising he wasn't as engaged. Though he still was as an observer and was happy being in there.
Anthology V
The premier of Anthology V was
probably the highlight to Noah, besides the whole convention itself. Anthology
V is the fan made collection of parody, music video-pony videos. Watching it
with a packed room of people who all get the jokes, laughing along with you is priceless. Even Joe was almost “feeling the magic”
finally when they did a spoof of one of his favorite shows the Trailer Park Boys.
It was animated as “Trailer Park Ponies” to the opening credits of the Canadian
mockumentary style comedy.
Trailer Park Boys are a "greasy" bunch, but they generally have each other's backs. It's hilarious and I think it is pretty cool that there are Bronies who also watch the show.
Bronies React
Bronies React is a popular You Tube show exactly as
described. Bronies are filmed reacting to MLP episodes. The show was created by Youtuber ACRacebest
and he and his friends comically react and respond to the show, they also
joined the convention for an hour long panel. They premiered the latest episode
at the convention. Noah who also wants to be a “famous Youtuber” but for
weather (right now) had us stay up way past our bedtime for this as the panel was 11:30-12:30 am. The Convention Center itself was open 24 hours, but most activities went until 2 am. Ah, the days of yesteryear when 2 am was so doable. But we were able to hang later than usual.
The Blank Canvas Marketplace
A huge part of any pop culture convention is merch! Lots of
it. Merchandise everywhere, much of it
here was handmade art, whether they were prints made, clothing created,
plushies made by hand, comic books. Then of course licensed merchandise,
convention specific and related items. We were fortunate to get the group of
plushies made just for the convention. They sold out at the end of the first
day or very early the second day. Some other artists also sold out the first
day. One of the surprising aspects of
this convention is how inspired you can feel to create something yourself based
on the love you have for something. I get the adoration of Friendship is Magic,
if I was as talented or when I do have the time, I would like to create my own plushies, or scarves..or something.
Fun times at the Convention
Rarity searched high and low for a good seat.
Next year Bronycon will take place at the Baltimore Convention center the weekend of July 8-10, 2016. There are events on Thursday evenings, and there will be discounted hotel rooms available, usually you can start booking in January. It was a fun and magical weekend.
Until then Bronycon!
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