#pvcf21

There are no longer MLP cons with 7500+ people, and that would be true irregardless of whether BronyCon continued because the fandom has only gotten smaller in the years since. The pandemic hasn't helped. Cons these days are around 1,000 strong and that's still an incredible number, but for whatever reason, it wasn't enough for me to feel the same level of connection that I felt before. A lot of people will tell you that the smaller cons are more intimate that the larger ones, and that's true, but they're only intimate if you can connect more with those 1,000 attendees. If it's your first time and you don't know anyone, it's just not the same as a larger con.

So here I am in the middle of a pandemic trying to regain that strong sense of community from the fandom. I'm also creatively inclined, so I continue to work on various projects throughout this time. The problem is, I have this idea that people will like me if the stuff I make is good, and if people don't love me, it's because the stuff I make is bad. THIS IS COMPLETE BULLSH*T. My family loves me irregardless of what I make, and no pony's ever become friends with me just because I'm a C tier brony musician. That's not how community works. Yet I can't help but look at the small numbers, the lack of comments, the rejection from P@D and EQD and feel like what I do is worthless time to time.

Ponyville Ciderfest 2021, however, completely wiped away that pain.

I'll start with a small niche, the TSSSF community. Over the last year of pandemic, I wrote a website where people can play the card game Twilight Sparkle's Secret Shipfic Folder online because, you know, there were no cons going on (www.tsssf.net if you haven't checked it out). Also attending the con that year was the M. A. Larson cosplayer known as N. A. Larson, who also runs a large shipfic community. I ran into him at the vendor hall, all decked out with his "Ask me about TSSSF" buttons and giant shipfic bag. We proceeded to play a shipfic game on Saturday, and after the con, we met up for dinner together to discuss more abstract things like whether programs are discovered or created. Those informal hangouts + dinners mean the world to me, and I'm so grateful to get to hang out with him irl instead of just online.

One of the larger things going on was the two-day concert; frankly the lineup was killer, and I couldn't pull myself away staying to watch every single musician. So many things went down over those nights, but allow me to try to recall some. Bluebrony was one of the first to perform; I had previously met him at EFNW while grabbing lunch at Wendy's but now I got to hear him live! I was impressed by just how much variety he gave us that night. Later that night, Sound Bandit took to the stage – they were the musician I was most excited to see because Sound Bandit's music was how I discovered Dustcar, a discord community where musicians "race" each other to make new songs every two weeks. Sound Bandit's an active member there, so when they stepped on stage, I stormed the front, along with a dozen other individuals who were clearly thinking the same thing. Hearing everyone scream the lyrics to U SMOOZE YOU LOSE was just purely magical. On Saturday, I quickly feel in love with the Wonderbolts, and couldn't stop head banging to the enormous sound put out by their whole band. I was so close to the stage that at one point, one of them reached their hand out to me, and now suddenly I've been pulled on stage just to groove and throw down! Immediately after them was Koa, who I've only ever seen performed online before, and I was so delighted to finally see her amazing show in person and all of the dances she put together for the act (oh, and of course the last song where Sound Bandit came out and the two of them sang stupid horse).

The audience across both days was basically going wild the entire night! During the Gala, so much collaborative dancing happened, with people linking arms and swinging each other around rather than dancing in place. The stage had a runway attached to it, and it was a common to see the runway lined with attendees all headbanging their hearts out while the singer performed standing there, less than 5 feet away from where we all were. All around us, collaborative dances were breaking out and being lead by various people—at one point Koa lead a block of people in doing the macarena and at another DoTheDaringDew and Step2Harmony were doing a dance involving 4 claps. At one point I just started doing a dance move, and half a minute later, everyone was doing it along with me. At any given moment, I was aware that a lot of musicians, both on and off that stage, were out in the audience right next to me! NeighGative_, SpinScissor, Evershade, WhirlyTail... heck Sound Bandit themself was standing immediately next to me for an hour before the two of us actually realized it. There was definitely magic in the air that night, and it's definitely the most special concert I've been to.

During the day of course, I went to some panels, but I was also feeling particularly musically inclined, so I spent a fair amount of time just wandering around between the renegade stage, music table, and musician meet + greets. I forced myself to perform a renegade set (glad I rehearsed). I expected zero people to actually listen to it, so when Char and Iron Curtain sat through the whole half hour set it meant the world to me + it was great to talk to you + see you around the con the rest of the weekend. I'm also glad it wasn't bad enough that it ended up on @BronyStruggle, thank Celestia. Somewhere in the midst, I also meet other dustcar racers like Alexx and Evershadee briefly. Evershade even remembered songs I made for dustcar <3 —I'm afraid I'm a bad musician friend and couldn't name one of yours songs in the moment :'(

Dropping by and saying hi to the more well-known musicians though has always been kind of terrifying as a C tier (if not D tier) musician, because well... they almost certainly don't know me. I can't approach them as a peer, which means I have to admit to myself I'm inferior + have failed to become a good musician. But honestly, I'm glad I say hi every time because a) I want to show them support because I'm inspired by their music, b) there's plenty I can learn from talking with them, c) talking w/ them in person makes up for feeling completely ignored by them online, and d) there's other random connection points that you make in person. I walked in to a conversation between MathematicPony and Char (I think it was Char) about React and other JavaScript frameworks which is completely up my alley as a professional software developer. I also learned that Koa and I played the same instrument in band, clarinet <3 Crusader + I spent half an hour playing ukulele together and I even taught him the chords to "The Gypsy Bard". At one point, there was a few microphones setup in the room, so I convinced Iron Curtain to do a freestyle rap with me; DoTheDaringDew threatened to send it to Makenshi (oh dear Celestia). So yeah, parasocial relationships: they're still fun.

Then of course, I got to run into even more musicians, but those of which who are more in my peer group. Online, I had been chatting a fair amount with SpinScissor, so when I saw he was going to the con, I kept an eye out for him and lo, I spotted him immediately after opening ceremonies! We ended up spending ~ an hour chilling on Sunday, and I'm so glad that we got that time in. Of course, while we were chilling + singing songs next to a piano, someone else walked over + asked if they could do some improv on it. We obviously said yes, and soon we got another improv jam going. Someone passing by stops to take pictures, and asks what our names are. Only then do I realizes it's freaking Maddie Tourmaline + Kingsley Evergreen, both of whom are also active on Dustcar. Running into both of them was absolutely delightful + we continued to jam out + talk about dustcar of course :)

The con ends at some point, but even after the con, I was still running into old friends. After closing, I spotted Balto, Lunar Cipher, and the rest of the DC Bronies. Balto even called me by my first name which is not on my badge, and if that's not the true tale sign of being in the community, I don't know what is. It was great to catch up briefly with them, even if otherwise we never ran into each other.

So yeah, Ponyville Ciderfest this year was really special, my favorite con of the 7 I've been to, and it's entirely because of how close I felt to the community this time around. I don't know why so many people I knew showed up for this con, and it might not happen again, but I'm so grateful it did happen. It's harder to stay connected online than it is in person, but dammit I'll be following y'all on socials and trying to keep up with everything going on. You all are the best and I love you. Friendship really is magic!