When is next bronycon

A sign stood over it that read, "RIP Bronycon. Newark resident, Andy Reyes, 30, looked on. He traveled across the country to witness this — and attend the ninth and final convention. But for some of them, it would be the last time they would be able to see the friends they've made in the brony community over the years.

Reyes, who prefers to go by his fan name of "FableCharm," was one of over 10, attendees paying their respects to the "end of an era" for BronyCon. The convention, which took place in Baltimore earlier this month, likely came to an end because the television series recently aired its last season.

Reyes has also watched the community thin out over the years as bronies went on and pursued other interests. But, he said, that's also part of what is keeping the community alive. After becoming part of the scene, many bronies go on to pursue careers in animation, voice acting and music. Others, like Reyes, try to keep the fandom alive through local meetup groups. He currently serves as the vice chair of the Bay Area Brony Spectacular. The fan campaigns ushered in a new era of movies and television for the long-lasting property.

In the Internet Age, a quick Google search will unearth art, writing, music — any type of fan content for any intellectual property under the sun. This is especially true for content creators. At a panel on Saturday, a number of fandom musicians echoed his thoughts. And when one member of the panel wondered aloud if there would be an audience for pony music after the show ends, the crowd erupted. But what happens when a fandom detatches from its source of inspiration?

The internet has seen the dangers that unchecked fandom can pose. From Kelly Marie Tran leaving Instagram to escape harassment , to Batman writer Tom King attending Comic-Con with a bodyguard in tow after receiving death threats , alone has given us example after example of angry fans turning passion into zealotry. The Brony community has never been immune to criticism — much of it unearned, but enough of it legitimate.

Much of the criticism of Bronies has stemmed from the sheer amount of pornography that fandom artists have produced. This sexualization has extended to BronyCon as well.

Staying online, it can easily seem like the negatives of the Brony fandom outweigh the positives. Yet, at BronyCon, I see this fandom at its most progressive, and its most constructive. Despite the criticism, the most common thing you hear when speaking to Bronies is how the show and fandom changed, and often saved, their lives. I talked to dozens of creators, including writers, artists, musicians, and even voice actors.

Among them all, one thing was constant: joining in the fandom had taught them skills they use today. The artist WubCake proudly stated that the fandom inspired her to begin voice acting, which she now does professionally. Regidar, a college student from Hawaii, credits the joy he gets out of Friendship is Magic with helping him through a number of crises in his life, including homelessness, drug addiction, and mental illness.

For Trapa, facing the shame of feeling that a Disney movie had changed his life, the internet offered a lifeline. On the forums today, the angst is clear. Still, things are already changing. In the food court at Metrotown, an enormous shopping mall in suburban Burnaby, Afion and a dozen other bronies cluster together on a few couches, eating and chatting on a Saturday afternoon.

Several are wearing My Little Pony T-shirts. Some carry plushies of their favourite characters. They seem largely immune to the looks of passers-by. He rocked back and forth nervously as he spoke. He asked that the Post not use his last name out of privacy concerns. Adrian is a relative newcomer to the brony fandom — he only began watching the show in , after his father died.

There was an episode about grieving that helped, he said. In the early days, the brony community existed mostly online, but with the advent of conventions, internet bonds turned into real-life friendships.

Between conventions, groups of bronies often gather at local meet-ups like this one. Now, it feels like his last chance. Aric, whom the Post is also referring to by his first name because of privacy concerns, credits the show with getting him some more friends and making him a little less shy.

Many older bronies have their own stories about how the show and the community changed their lives. She was introduced to the show by her boyfriend at the time, who got her to help organize the BronyCAN. Two years later, she was chairing the convention. Today, Hughes works as operations manager for a tech company, a startup whose CEO is also a brony.

She and her boyfriend live in a small house in New Westminster. She recently finished her diploma, and things are busy. It can be expensive to be a brony. Travelling to and from conventions alone can cost hundreds of dollars, but many devoted bronies have also amassed large collections of merchandise, including plushies, artwork, figurines and sometimes full pony outfits.

He and his friends all have high-end plushies. As the bronies have gotten older, Gardiner has started to see a different type of merchandise appearing at conventions, including bath towels embroidered with pony symbols. Expensive stuff. This, of course, is the whole point of the show. Hasbro created My Little Pony for girls in , and has released four generations of the toys since then.

The accompanying TV shows are simply clever marketing for the toys. As a result, many bronies buy their merchandise not from Hasbro, but from fan artists who create higher-quality products. Hasbro eventually came around to the bronies, and has begun selling higher-end collectibles to its adult fans.

The company has embraced the bronies in other ways, too. Several episodes feature inside jokes that only bronies will catch. But it can be a testy relationship. The bronies get upset when Hasbro is too transparent about using the show to sell toys.

The Season 3 finale caused outrage when Twilight Sparkle, the central character, suddenly grew wings — a lazy attempt to boost sales, fans decided. They still talk about it today. To some extent, the decline of the brony fandom was inevitable.

The show is eight seasons old and the sheen is wearing off. Added to that, a slew of unintended email leaks from Hasbro in December signalled that the show may be coming to an end after Season 9, to make way for the next generation of My Little Pony toys. The revelation sent shockwaves through the community, now facing an existential threat. But many also believe the frenzied heights of the brony fandom in and , which Hughes compared to a Silicon Valley start-up, were never sustainable.