ART BY:
 therainbowtroll

The absolute highlight of my entire trip to BronyCon came at Friday night at 8:00 PM. This was when Silly Filly Studios held their Snowdrop panel in the "Hall of the Moon".

Prior to the event starting, I happened upon a Brony who had been trying to create a blog about the disabled and understanding disabilities. He told me how much he wanted to do it for his relative, but he didn't know how to get it off the ground. Needless to say, we both talked all the way up to when the panel started about disabilities, the stigmas associated with them, and how they can be overcome. He took plenty of notes, as he had a tablet with him, and I think I managed to give him the spark he needed to get his blog concept off the ground. Hurray!

The first thing Silly Filly Studios did was show us Snowdrop. For me, it was such a breath of fresh air after having been put through the horrors of the most recent episode of Friendship is Witchcraft: Seed No Evil.

Once Snowdrop was done, the floor opened for questions. Though, *blush* I didn't know where and how the questions were being taken. So, for an awkward moment, I stood in the middle of the aisle trying to figure out where the question line was. It wasn't long, though, until I figured out the microphone was being passed around and it was a "Raise Your Hand" Q&A. :)

When the microphone reached me, they accidentally gave it to my son first. Well, not accidentally as, truly, everyone at BronyCon was making extra efforts to make sure the young ones got top priority. So, microphone in hand, my son yells, "SPIKE RULES!!!!" *Smiles and Shrugs* That's my boy!

Side note, when we met Cathy Weseluck earlier in the day, my son made it a point to share with her how, "My dad's Spike and sits in a box all day." Kids say the silliest things, don't they?

back to the story, after my son did his cheer for Spike, they began to pull the microphone away. I was like "NO! NO! I'VE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS FOR MONTHS! NOOOO!" Fortunately, before the microphone moved to another questioner, my Brony Buddy I was talking to spoke up for me and I got my chance to ask what I wanted to ask.

First off, I introduced myself as "The guy who has been hounding their FaceBook page." They, of course, recognized me and let me ask Meredith, the writer and voice of Snowdrop what inspired the character. Her answer was quite shocking.

Meredith went on to explain that she had NOT based Snowdrop after a blind friend and/or someone blind she knew. Rather, Snowdrop is a representation of how her life, and the lives of her friends, were growing up. She also added how it was also to show how those who were always told they couldn't do something truly could while adding the importance of a parent / child relationship.

Her response was quite passionate and earned a round of applause. Unfortunately, from that point on, most of the questioners kept hounding her on "How did Snowdrop die?". She kept trying to tell the audience that she wanted to keep that to herself. However, they just kept hounding-and-hounding until she broke down and said, "Snowdrop goes to work in the weather making factory making snowflakes. She has kids and grandchildren before dying a natural death.".

You'd think that would be enough. But, as we notice no father figure in the animation, people went on to ask her "How did Snowdrop's dad die?". She handled this one a lot quicker by stating simply, "Snowdrop's dad worked in the weather making factory before becoming a soldier." This earned her an applause.

After Silly Filly Studios aired a clip of their upcoming film, in which is based on the fall of the Crystal Empire to King Sombra, they invited those in attendance to come to the panel and ask any questions they wanted. Needless to say, I grabbed my son's hand and rushed for Meredith.

Upon meeting Meredith, I showed her this picture and explained all the meanings it had to me. Especially now that I'm a ticking time bomb towards becoming totally blind. She was very touched and, according to my son, she even teared up a bit.

Having saw Seed No Evil earlier in the day, I told her how much it made a mockery of her work and that any blind person who'd catch wind of it would be up-in-arms. Truly, the folks at Friendship is Witchcraft went too far in taking a presentation that is inspiring and twisting it into a collection of stereotypes and tasteless jokes.

Meredith and I talked for a good ten minutes about creativity, Snowdrop, and how wonderful it was to meet each other. In the end, I offered her a copy of me and  nishi's, Captain Scuttles. She didn't ask for a signature, but she was honored to have it and a copy of this very picture.

As we parted ways, I thanked her and made a note on how I had done some script writing myself via the Creative Campaign. This caught one of her colleagues' attention. He asked where he could find it and I told him on https://www.lulu.com. When  nishi and I get Creative Campaign 2 polished just a bit more, you'll see it on Lulu as well. :)

Needless to say, nothing topped the experience I had in sharing my story with so many people that day. Meeting Meredith concluded my "Must Dos" for BronyCon and I couldn't have asked for a better, grand finale.

Well, there is one more part to this story. But, I'll save it for the next post. ;)