EQLA has come and gone, and my experience
there will never be forgotten… and not just because of the impromptu Gangnam
Styles. There was never a dull moment (obviously) in my opinion, and just like
some of SoCal Bronies that were there, I did feel the post-con depression for a
couple of days… (Also, I did not suffer from "con crud"!) And, now that I can focus at the task at hand, I give you the
write-up version of my experience at EQLA. For those of you who would rather watch
me talk about it in video from, the links are right here:
Otherwise, the page break is unlocked,
so click away…
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The drive to the
convention, itself, was pretty self-explanatory. My friend and I were just
listening to pony music all the way up to Anaheim. After checking into the
hotel, we trek our way to the convention to pick up our badges.
Even before the
opening ceremony started, after my friends says "Hi" to Sabersparks, Saber confuses
me with one of the Mane6 Devs of Fighting is Magic! That did throw me off a
little, considering I look nothing like that black guy, but whatever. Anyway,
the opening ceremony, itself, was just awesome, and I already had the feeling
it was just going to get even better as the Con continued.
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| The only ones in full-body custom cosplay suits... and I know them IRL... |
Before the Pony
Physics panel started, my friend and I explored the different vendor halls. My
friend bought a Trixie poster while I drew a picture for Solrac. My friend even
bought us tickets to the pre-screening of the Brony documentary. (My ticket
number was 177… *wink reference wink*) Unfortunately, at the time, we had a
hard time getting into the second vendor hall due to the limit of people who
could be in that hall, which had the limited edition Applejack card. I did get
a change to get a picture taken with both Celestia and Luna while waiting for
the next panel to start.
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| Chillin' out with the two P's like a G, son... |
Basically, after
the Pony Physics, I just stayed through the rest of the panels presented that
day until the Pony Dance Party, since everyone had to leave the room so they
could set it up. My friend stayed with me for most of it, but did leave after
the Lauren Faust panel to head to the food court. During that intermission,
they were playing a "Party With Pinkie" mashup with Gangnam Style and… well… you can figure out what happened after that. (FPLOONinal Note: That is the only video I could find with that incident...) Anyway, my friend did come back in
time for the SolraCON panel, but didn't want to stay for the PONY.MOV panel.
Ironically, he did stay and, despite him telling me how he didn't want to see
it beforehand and how he wouldn't like it anyway, he did end up liking it a lot…
Before the Pony
Dance Party, after I danced alongside other bronies on the convention floor
itself (More Gangnam Style!!), we went with Doctor Whooves back to his hotel
room at the Convention, where he was sharing a room with the Fausticorn. After
talking about plans of a future pony panel at an upcoming anime convention
(side-story pony-related but EQLA-irrelevant, long story short), we all head back
to the convention in time for the PDP to begin!
After Mic’s
encore at the Pony Dance Party, my friend and I head back to our hotel room and,
while he went up and immediately fell asleep on the bed, I stayed up internally
complaining and not complaining about the free hotel WiFi… But, then again, I didn't sleep at all (unless you count passing out “sleeping”).
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We woke up
pretty early, not because of wanting breakfast as soon as possible, but because
of getting in line so that we could get our ticket, thus gaining us access to
buying a voucher for the next autograph signing at the Convention hotel. While
in line, Snowflake (the MVP of EQLA, in my opinion) pulls me to the side to
assist him with singing “Winter Wrap Up”.
Even after receiving
the ticket, we still had time left before the next VA panel, so we went through
the vendor hall again, especially certain areas we had a hard time getting to
yesterday. We even played some Fighting is Magic, since two guys had their
laptops out and allowing others to play on the Convention floor. (I even got to participate in another Gangnam Style in the panel room.)
After the VA
panel, which as you may know ended in Gangnam Style, my friend and I immediately headed
to the autograph signing. He got Tara to sign his custom Twilightlicious shirt
while I got Brenda to sign the back of my badge.
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| Despite what some people might think... This is still awesome... |
We quickly went
back to see the end of the Writer’s panel, and this is where I find what
happened next ironic to me. My friend though that the next panel would have the
brony musicians back, and he didn't want to see it, but when he did figure out
what the next panel actually was, he was pretty bummed. But, then again, there
was a typo on the projected schedule, but not in the Conbook itself, so for
once, he shouldn't have relied too heavenly on the projected schedule, but I
digress (since he did “misplace” his Conbook on Day 1).
Just like with
Day 1, after the Writer’s panel, but mainly after the Sound is Magic panel
since I did change seats during intermission, I stayed through the rest of the
panels until the Charity Auction, since the both of us had to leave to catch
the documentary pre-screening. It did bum me out that I wasn't there to see the
rest of the auction, but to me, it did seem the planned time lapse for it was a
bit short, considering what items were being auctioned and how long each item
took, considering some of the more memorable moments (especially the last one linked on the word "moments") that happened while I was there. I did hear how it
ended with Gangnam Style and there wasn't a closing ceremony from some of the
SoCal Bronies and a few others I know from college hours after leaving the
pre-screening. (FPLOONinal Note: I do talk about the pre-screening of the documentary in Part 4 in the video form of this...)
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| The ONE time my camera decides not to auto-flash... |
Overall, just to
restate it again (sort of), EQLA was freaking awesome, amazing, and I had the most fun I
ever had at any Con for some time now. With EQLA 2013 scheduled for May 10-12,
according to the back of the Conbook, I know I’m definitely going to be there
(as far as I know, that is)!!
