Avohkah Tamer

Glad to see someone else commemorate this day of remembrance. Thanks to conner, we shall never forget Lesson #486 on how to get banned.

Save an XL for me please?

#3 is my vote.

One Large, please!

XL, please!

Big news, the MLP movie trailer just hit! Pretty crazy stuff. I didn't actually know this issue until I watched the episodes, but yeah it was really noticeable. It's not due to a framerate difference so much as when other countries speed up the episode slightly to fit their network's timeslots or to fit in more ads. I'm usually one to wait to watch things until they air, like when Steven Universe episodes release early, but in this case since episode 13 was one I was really looking forward to, I broke down and watched it. I did luckily manage to find an upload of Episode 13 (The Perfect Pear) that was captured at the correct speed and pitch, and I'm glad because this was probably my favorite episode all season. Feels ramped up to 11.

If you know where to look on streaming sites, Australia actually aired episodes 12 and 13 this week before their hiatus break, and fans got recordings. I might go check it out myself, because I was particularly interested in those episodes. I actually didn't know the EqD specials were happening, I'll have to look those up!

Apologies, I've been a lurker on BZP for almost 14 years, it's difficult to break that habit. Fluttershy's episode was pretty good. Definitely cool to see how her character's developed and changed since season 1, and she's now able to stand for herself and pursue her dreams. Seems like all the Mane Six are going in similar directions, and I wonder where that will lead once their goals are accomplished. Next week's Sweetie Belle episode almost feels like a thematic continuation of the Applewood Derby episode last season, showing that the CMC aren't so little and dependent anymore. I wonder if we'll get similar character growth stories for Scootaloo and Apple Bloom eventually, like how each of them got a Luna dream episode.

I really liked both of the premiere week episodes. A slice-of-life season premiere is sort of a welcome change, in my opinion, from the usual high-stakes villain plots. I loved seeing the more relatable, down-to-earth side of Celestia, the mane six actually using creative teamwork in a fun scenario, and in episode 2 the Starlight/Trixie antics were also pretty great. I didn't like this week's episode quite as much, since the babysitter story was pretty predictable and not terribly interesting, but I was pretty impressed with how well they wrote/animated Flurry Heart to actually act like a real baby or toddler in nuanced ways. Decent episode, just not my cup of tea. Next week is a Maud episode, so that should be fun!

Season 7? That starts on April 15. If you're asking about Whinny City con, that just ended on Sunday.

I just spent the weekend at this year's Whinny City Pony Con, which was really fun. Always nice to have a convention within driving distance. Can't wait for season 7!

I feel bad about not posting here more often, given how slow this topic is. I definitely still watch the show every week. I thought Legends of Everfree was pretty good. The new powers are interesting and I'm glad they get to keep them for future installments. Also just finished watching today's episode, "Where The Apple Lies". Solid episode with a decent lesson. Some fun easter eggs in the background ponies too. I hear the finale episodes just aired in the UK, but I'm avoiding spoilers until they officially air in the States. I'd rather not put myself in the post-season hiatus any sooner than I have to.

In my village, we have Daryl, Daryl the Pony.

Huh, I'll have to check it out. Sounds really interesting and I'm not really sure how it managed to slip my new game awareness radar. On a side note, I can't see a blog entry with this title and not link this Neverhood music.

I can never NOT watch this.

0118 9998 8199 9119 7253 As for billing information, you can find that here.

*comes out of hibernation/lurk mode* Almost exactly five years ago, I started watching Episode 1 of MLP:FiM. It's been a long time since then and lots of things have changed, but I'm glad to still be a fan. In the past five years, I've put together numerous song covers, was a part of multiple voice-acted projects (which were unfortunately scrapped D:), made a lot of friends in the fandom (and still regularly do so), and even attended two conventions (and after this weekend, three!). It's not the biggest part of my life, but it's a lot of positivity and friendship that I'm thankful to have. I was going to try to do something special for my annual song cover this year, but unfortunately the flu kind of wiped me out all month, so I haven't had enough time to record anything. I know only a handful of you ever hear my , but I still plan to hopefully maybe possibly put something new together within the next month or two. Nothing concrete's been decided, so if you have a song you'd like me to do, I welcome ideas! For now though, I'm especially looking forward to Whinny City Ponycon this weekend, the first brony convention in the Chicago area since (the extremely fantastic and memorable) Midwestria in 2012! You can expect an entry on that soon.

As some of you may be aware, I had 4 consecutive weekend vacations this summer, due to BrickFair VA and Bronycon being a weekend apart, and my family planning two camping trips for before and after my convention trips. I'm on my way home from the final camping trip now, so I figure this gives me a good chance to recap. Four vacations in a row sounds really nice and relaxing on paper, but to be perfectly honest, I'd say they make things more stressful than if they were spaced out. Imagine the stress of planning and packing for a trip, times four. And the whiplash of going back to work for several days between the vacations (and having to make up for the missed work each time) just served to make things even more hectic. Even still, the trips were fun. Vacation 1: Camping with family (July 24 - 26) My family typically has made plans to go camping once or twice a year for the last 10 years we've had our pop-out camper. Nowhere too remote, the farthest we've camped is in the Smoky Mountains (that was a really fun trip), but usually we just go somewhere more nearby, like Wisconsin. Plenty of campground areas there. Anyways, camping trip went fine, weather was excellent, swam in the lake and did typical camp things, nothing really stands out as worth mentioning. Oh yeah, and I got an awful sunburn while out on the lake. Like really awful. Even though I used sunscreen. And re-applied it hourly. Why. Vacation 2: BrickFair VA (July 29 - August 3) So I'm not gonna lie, this year's BrickFair was not quite as great as past years, for various reasons others have already touched on in their recap entries. Still great overall, just not... as great. Personally-speaking, though, the first few days were somewhat ruined for me by a really bad mood and a lot on my mind stemming from stress from home (so for those of you who may have noticed I wasn't quite myself for a lot of the con, that's why). Thankfully though, the good outweighed the bad, and I still had a whole lot of fun. It's always great hanging out at the BZP table each year, whether I'm participating in shenanigans with Team Farm Animals, hanging with the BZP staff, getting to chat with old friends, or meeting new people. BrickFair is easily the highlight of my year every year, and I'm really glad to call all of you my friends. All in all, I didn't get to do as much as I'd have liked to do this year (those 6 days went by way too fast), but you can be sure I'll be back next year. Vacation 3: BronyCon 2015 (August 7-9) Going into this convention, I had no idea what to expect. The largest event I've really been to is BrickFair, and that's a completely different sort of con that has a much smaller number of attendees outside of public hours. As soon as I stepped off the light rail from the airport, seeing dozens and dozens of fans and cosplayers walking the streets of Baltimore was really surreal and made me start to realize the scope of this event. The convention center itself was absolutely massive too, with the vendor hall alone being roughly the same size as BrickFair's expo hall. I eventually met up with Aanchir and Lyichir to hang out and get my stuff into the room, worked out a schedule for the panels I wanted to see, and just enjoyed the con. Overall, the atmosphere was just so incredibly positive and friendly, and the panels and music performances at Bronypalooza I got to see were phenomenal. I'm told the convention ran without a hitch, and hit a new record with over 10,000 attendees this year! If at all possible, I'm planning to go back next year (since it doesn't conflict with BrickFair again!). Vacation 4: Camping with family (August 14-16) For whatever reason, my family picked the exact same campground as the last trip. I mean, it's a decent one, so it's not all bad. Anyways, not a whole lot to say here that hasn't already been said above since it's largely the same experience. I did manage to avoid a sunburn this time, so that's a plus. So that's how I spent my vacation days this year. It's been quite a ride, but I don't think I'm gonna plan consecutive vacations again if I can help it. It's just too much! D:

"Hatpile?" "Sure!"

#Galidor2016

If you guys are really cool with me staying with you at your hotel, that would be awesome, and I would of course be more than happy to cover part of the hotel costs if so! Although rooming with you guys would definitely solve part of my dilemma, that still leaves the questions of travel (which I can probably figure out), and also where I'd stay between the cons. How long do you have the room for? Are you hotel-hopping straight from Brickfair to Bronycon, or are you heading home between the conventions?

That would be awesome, although the hotel costs won't be fun. Assuming I can even get convention rates before or after the two conventions, it's $145 per night in Baltimore, compared to a little over $100 per night in Chantilly. I'm looking to save money anywhere I can. It might actually turn out to be cheaper to fly home and then fly back to Baltimore a few days later.

Thanks for the tip. If I stay the whole week, I may check some of that stuff out, but ideally I'd prefer to do stuff like that with friends rather than just wandering around on my own.

As I've mentioned elsewhere in posts and comments, I'm hoping to attend both BrickFair and Bronycon this year due to their relatively close proximity to each other and being on consecutive weekends. (For reference, BrickFair is July 29 - August 2, Bronycon is August 7-9). Here's the problem. Should I fly home after BrickFair and then fly back for Bronycon, or do I try to stay somewhere in the DC/Baltimore area all week until the end of Bronycon, and then fly back home? If I stay the whole 2 weeks, I don't know what to do or where I should stay in the days between BrickFair and Bronycon. Should I reserve extra days at the Holiday Inn post-BrickFair and just chill at a hotel the whole time, or should I get to the Baltimore Hilton early and stay for a few days prior to Bronycon? Or, heck, is there anyone who lives in the area who's attending both cons who I might be able to stay with for a couple days and then hitch a ride to the Baltimore Hilton? That would save me so much hassle (and money o_o). As of right now I haven't actually purchased any reservations or plane tickets because I'm not sure how this will all pan out, but reservations for both cons are running out and plane ticket prices are going up, so I need to figure this out pretty dang quick. If I have to make a decision to only attend one, I'll pick BrickFair. Sorry for the rambling. Any help or advice would be immensely appreciated. Edit: I should also mention, regarding BrickFair: Please PM me if anyone's looking to save some money and either has space available or would like to share a 2-bed hotel room at the con. I should have space available.