DM: At this point, you've got many options for earning renown. I have a few ideas in mind, but I'm also open to suggestions.
Twilight Sparkle: I could get involved in local politics. Coordinate a few public works.
DM: Coordinators and consultants don't exactly earn national recognition.
Fluttershy: I've always wanted to try my hand at playwriting…
DM: Ooh. Ambitious, but, uh… impossible to build that much cred in two months. Trust me.
Applejack: Y'know, I have connections too. Maybe I can lean on them!
DM: Sure, if you want your own float in the Summer Harvest Parade… The Gala, not so much.
Rainbow Dash: Can I get famous in an underground fighting tournament?
DM: They're called "underground" for a reason.
Rainbow Dash: Well, I'm a pegasus. Couldn't it be "aboveground?"
DM: ...Ugggh.
Pinkie Pie: Ooh, nice pun! And that gives me an idea: Stand-up comedy!
DM: Alright, I've heard enough.
27 hours of driving one way happened at this point, and I don't think my future self will have fully recovered from it. But I do have some excellent news to share.
They won't announce it for a few more days, probably, but I've been given as official a confirmation as it gets: I'm going to be a Community Guest at Everfree Northwest in Seattle! Comped badge, might sit on a panel somewhere, the works. It's a big first for me, and I have all of you to thank for it. This is gonna be nuts.
Notice: Guest comic submissions are open! Guidelines here. Deadline: February 20th.
I live in Orlando and the frustrating thing is that this is a big tourist city, with lots of nice convention centers. We get big names like Megacon, yet... no pony conventions!
I know this may sound crazy... but if you manage to find the time off, you could always drive to a con near you?
For example... the Grand Brony Gala is in Tampa, FL in July 10-12, 2015?
You just gotta look and prep.
(pony conventions are seriously getting out of hand in terms of the sheer number of them...)
The trouble is getting time off and funding for it. I got work, daughter has school, and we only have one far for the family so if my daughter and I go, the wife has no transportation other than the bus. It's not impossible, just a lot of work.
July 10-12 is a weekend! Just take the Friday (July 10) off and make it a family trip! Bring your wife!
Another option, of course, is only going on the 11th and/or 12th. You can get one or two day passes as well!
That way, nobody needs to take a bus and you get a some quality fun family time together! The biggest factor is probably more funding than timing considering it sounds like you live within an hour's drive.
Hah, I'm in Orlando, as well. Like you, I'm confused at the lack of pony here. Especially since we have that nice big convention center sitting there. (Seriously big. I work there, it's huge.)
Yeah, the traffic... *sigh* Lemme just say, that's all day shift's fault. I'll leave it at that.
And you think Megacon was big, the Plastics show (as in, the trade show for the plastics industry. ALL of it. Every freakin' nation that has a company that produces plastic anything and/or makes machinery for making plastic was there) we just had a couple of weeks ago filled the entire convention center. As in, every hall and meeting room of BOTH buildings. That's a sight to see.
Still would be nice if we had some pony here. I mean, they needn't get an entire hall, I'm sure they could just rent room 224. That's pretty darn big itself, easily could be a "main hall" for a smaller gathering, with some of the nearby meeting rooms set up for other spaces. If you ever come across someone wanting to do that here I can point them to someone in Sales & Marketing.
I'm stuck in Utah. I would go, but then I'd have to drive up there and I'm not sure I have the money to afford the tickets, get a hotel, food, etc. But then again, it is in a month so maybe if I save up I might be able to go. But then I also have to deal with my anxiety since there won't be any friendly faces there (that I personally know, I doubt anyone there would be a jerk) and I tend to keep my like of ponies to myself.
I guess what I'm saying is that we'll see what happens.
@Mykin: Hey! No need to be anxious! Everybody there will like ponies (whether they're more open about it or not). After all, it IS a pony convention... For cons, people tend to find roommates to keep room costs down. If you want, PM me and I can add you on Skype. We gotta start somewhere with arranging a mob to well... mob Spud, right?
@Digo: Awwwwww... sad to hear that. Don't worry though. There's always next year. And I guess if you want, taking a look at another con slightly further away...
There is always next year, you are right Although... if there is one in the Ft. Lauderdale area, I could totally bug my old man for crash space. He loves his granddaughter.
@Evilbob: I think being anxious is just an inevitable thing for me. I know I need to chill, I just haven't quite figured out how yet. Again, I've got a month though, so hopefully I'll be over it by then.
As for the offer...I'll keep it in mind. I actually need to get the days off first (I'm one of those silly people that have to work on weekends...every weekend actually), but when I do I'll take you up on that offer. I rarely, if ever, take days off so my chances are good.
Still not looking forward to the 11+ hours drive up there, though.
Other side of the country? I can beat you all on that when it comes to distance, I've got an ocean in the way. I'm not going to be going to a con in America unless I've got plans to meet up with friends there.
I'm guessing that some "Thrillin' Heroics" are called for. Maybe something involving a snappy outfit. A mighty symbol for ponies to rally behind, and then...... The Big Reveal!
Pay an assassin (be sure to tell them your going to save your target's life, as it is a ploy) to take a shot at somepony important (might get lucky and it will be of the thieves guild), then when the assassin takes the shot, you jump in front of them, take the hit (time it so that way it doesn't kill you by mistake), and at some point when they ask what you want from them as a reward for saving their life, just ask for a ticket to the gala. If they ask why, just say "It's been my life long dream to attend the biggest equestrian social gathering ever".
A part of me keeps thinking they should make a rock band and quickly go on tour. Find some magical instruments that make them play as well as famous musicians and they're bound to become famous enough to get invited to the gala.
Then find out that the instruments are actually possessed by the spirits of those musicians and have them attempt to take over the bodies of our party while at the gala. Chaos ensues and...well, I'm getting a little ahead of myself here. Plan should still be solid enough though if they can pull it off fast enough.
There was a fight once between a player and an alien on the wing of an A300 jetliner. While it was taxing on the runway. Said PC was only armed with a hot burrito. And cuss words.
A story of how I insulted the Equestrian air force, and how I got away with it (or, at least survived).
We played a "nicely" themed game of pony, in pretty much the world of GTA V, and the GM was rather accurate in "how things worked", despite the world was pony, and much larger. I took it upon myself (after a few mishaps of trying to roll to shoot a gun properly) to pick up the driving and flying skill (we could start with 2 skills or train 4 of them up to max).
... Several out of game days later...
Yeah, I pretty much had to save some of my more blood thirsty allies from prison, and made a bet with Spitfire that if could survive one hour against her best pilots, in an "aerial combat encounter" with live-fire rounds, then my buddies get set free. Little did I realize, my plane was going to be no match for theirs.
Suffice to say, she at least figured out what I meant by "survive" after I flew by in a small, weaponless, plane. She was also rather honorable about the whole thing, despite my (suicidal) wording.
Sadly, I could not say if it was stunt plane or not, but it was used for performing stunts out of it, so I guess that counts?
I once wrote up a somewhat stubby flying wing spaceship. Originally this was for the Serenity (Cortex) system, but I never got to play the design until years later (at least 5, possibly over 10) for an Exalted/Heaven's Reach campaign. (The latter version is at https://www.rpnation.com/threads/hummingbird-class-courier.51860/ if you're curious.)
My PC was the ship's pilot & owner. There was, of course, tight-space flying (traversing a wormhole between solar systems that had turned organic and alive - thus, traversing a lightyears-long snake at FTL), remote ops (just when the villains thought they'd caught the party, my PC leaped way up (magic-assisted jump) and landed on her ship, which had zoomed in out of nowhere just in time to catch her, after firing off a few shells artillery-style so they would land just as the bad guys were fetching their anti-ship weapons, distracting them while she picked up her allies and escaped), and all the usual things you'd expect of a Millennium Falcon/Serenity style PC ship.
I don't know if it counts, but said PC also had a collapsible flying spear that she used like a witch's broomstick. Given the stunts she was willing to put her home (the ship) through, let's just say her stunts with this thing started with "bring an A-10 to a tankfight" (another PC had what amounted to a hammerspace-capable tank), and flying over everyone's head at a busy starport in her introduction scene (no one else was using that airspace). Just about anywhere most PCs would be expected to run, she flew, often through confined and/or collapsing architecture (not infrequently collapsing in part because of her actions).
For a terrible run-through of a Ravenloft game, we randomly stumbled across the smoking wreck of a downed plane. Because of it's anachronism, we were given the description of an oddly shaped dragon's corpse, broken apart and made of something metallic. We found a survivor who was a modern day marine, able to scrap together some materials for body armor and craft himself a rudimentary gun. His name was Dan, and my character insisted we take him with us until we could find a way for him to get home (which his descriptions made no sense.)
Also, because my character was entirely speced for weather, lightning, etc. and had odd powers of energy storage, he was able to find one of the plane batteries and hook it up to himself like an actual battery, increasing his energy capacity for electric spells.
Fool! You can remove someone's talents and even strip them of their will. But one thing you can never equalize is my legend. Even if I were reduced to your level, my legend STILL dates back to the 12th century! That, and my dashing good looks.
OBJECTION! I argue that it is instead an excellent Applebloom episode which equates to a half-decent CMC episode but is not the same because you don't have Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle absorbing as much of the episode's already detestable nature!
True it is an excelent applebloom episode but it features "All" the CMC and even though they don't ever "Cut" to Babs in Manehatten, she is mentioned. Plus Best princess makes an appearence and you should be over the moon for that.
I regret none of these bad puns and blatent clues ^_^
I work nights. Technically, from my point of view, this comic updates in the late afternoon, and all the businesses in my area don't open until midnight.
They won't announce it for a few more days, probably, but I've been given as official a confirmation as it gets: I'm going to be a Community Guest at Everfree Northwest in Seattle! Comped badge, might sit on a panel somewhere, the works. It's a big first for me, and I have all of you to thank for it. This is gonna be nuts.