Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Mission (semi-)Complete!

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Highlights from BronyCon 2019: Mission (semi-)Complete!

In which son_of_heaven176 collects a lot of brony-analyst signatures.

Saturday, August 3, 2019: The Third Day of the Final BronyCon

After the TF2 panel, most of the analysts headed to an empty section of the Convention Center’s second floor. Sweetie Bloom had the crowd arrange themselves in a serpentine pattern, and she received some help from a fully-costumed Teric.

However, something was missing: the analysts needed to sit! It was Sweetie Bloom to the rescue again, bringing chairs for the analysts to sit on. The crowd of fans parted like the Red Sea to allow Sweetie to pass, and before long, the line was ready to go.

However, the shenanigans were not reserved for when I reached the front of the line. As the line wound its way towards the TF2 crew, I ran across Teric, who was making sure that people were able to leave the area (we were in a balcony overlooking the stairs to the ground floor and vendor hall). Of course, I had Firebrand’s wedding present, and we have one of Firebrand’s friends, so out came the gift and my trusty clipboard.

“Teric?”

Teric (in full costume, remember), pointed to himself. Me?

“Yes, you. I have a gift for Firebrand that I would like you to sign.”

Aww!

After he signed it, I asked, “Of course, please make sure not to tell Firebrand about it.”

My lips are sealed.

Also in the line was MisAnthro Pony. It took me a while to realize that it was him, though, since I did not really know him by face. But when I figured out that it was indeed MAP in front of me, that was yet another signature for the wedding present. Behind me was yet another brony YouTuber, Kenisu of Dragons. For whatever reason, I did not get his signature right away, but I did ask him to let me get his signature after I finished going through the TF2 analysts.

Near the front of the line was Sweetie Bloom, and right next to her was Firebrand! I wanted Sweetie's signature, but having Firebrand nearby posed an issue: he might see the gift! Fortunately for me, though, the people around me in the line had cottoned on to what I was up to. Therefore, the person right behind me (Kenisu was quite a ways away) was more than glad to distract Firebrand while I got Sweetie’s signature on the Brony-D&D-cast copy of the wedding present. (In case I didn’t make it clear in previous Highlights, I had two copies of Firebrand’s wedding present: one copy for brony analysts to sign, and another copy specifically for the Brony D&D cast to sign.)

After getting Sweetie’s signature, it was finally time to talk with Firebrand. Memory serving, I had him sign my BronyCon 2019 con book:

As you might already know from my blog post “A Salute to Joshua Burner,” Firebrand is my favorite among the brony analysts. And there in the Convention Center, I let him know why: I told him that I looked up to him, even though he was younger than me, and that he was a beacon of hope to me: though he is a younger Millennial, he is also a conservative Christian and a knowledgeable person. He knows where he stands and why he stands where he stands. Yet he has friends of all stripes.

In response, he asked me if I knew of a comedian named Brad Stine. “Nope,” I answered. He then recommended a book of his. I didn’t have any blank pieces of paper, but I did have the flyer for the Pizzeria Uno happy hour, so I asked Firebrand to write down the name on the back of that:

Yes, I still have that flyer.
... I haven’t gotten the book yet, OK?

After talking to Firebrand, I went down the line of analysts, collecting signatures and autographs—and asking everyone who signed Firebrand’s wedding present to keep quiet about it.

Once I was through with the analysts, I tried to get Kenisu of Dragons’ signature … but he was nowhere to be seen!

Oh well. I got a ton of signatures anyway. And in that flurry of signatures, the Chasing Imontillo picture (which I bought back in BronyCon 2018; remember this Highlight?) was almost completed!

Almost.

When I was with Sweetie Bloom, I had gotten her to sign Firebrand’s wedding present, but I did not get her to sign the Chasing Imontillo picture. But lucky me, Sweetie was outside of the crush of people when I finished getting the signatures and autographs of the sitting TF2 analysts. Perhaps Sweetie needed some air? Either way, I approached her and asked for her autograph. She gave it, and with that, the collection was finally complete!

“Chasing Imontillo”, with the cast’s signatures.

However, I had a different collection to complete. Lightning Bliss had headed straight to the Vendor Hall after the TF2 panel, so her signature wasn’t among the ones collected in the flurry. In other words, my Prance YouTuber collection was still incomplete! I had run across Dark Wind by this time, and after I cheered him up a bit, he and I headed to the Vendor Hall.

A/N: While I was typing this blog post, I finally got confirmation from Firebrand that he saw the wedding present! And he liked it! He really liked it!

You may recall that I refrained from showing the present in previous Highlights, and I redacted its prayer from the post “A Salute to Joshua Burner”. Well, now that I know that the Burners have seen the present, I’ll be fixing up those posts in the coming days. But to save you from having to wait and/or navigate, they are also here.

First is the copy signed by the brony analysts whose signatures I was able to collect at BronyCon:

Second is the copy signed by the Brony D&D cast:

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Next Highlight (Chronological Order): Vendor Hall Completion and Lip Sync Battle
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