By Polemical & SevenHeads
In the bland fogginess that blankets the world, there exists a shining beacon. Unbridled desire flourishes; lust for love and life. For the past four years, atavistic masculinity finds shelter from the endless haze in a convention hall in Orlando, Florida. The light is blinding. At MareFair, the world inverts for three days. The flat and gray shift, become vibrant and unique; a safe harbor from the currents.
At the second convention, I got the chance to speak with a former janny, staff member, from the first con about how this Fair came to be. The convention’s founders were inspired to carve out a space for their passions. Since My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic ended, the blending of Bronydom into the miasma of Furrydom began. Vendor halls began selling non-brony merchandise, and panels with no relation to Bronydom or My Little Pony crept their paws into brony conventions. At MareFair’s first opening ceremony, Trotcon ‘23’s furry cosplay panel is referenced, an event which sparked the creation of MareFair per the janny. The most prominent European brony convention, Galacon, also lost its way and held a fursuit contest last year.
When I descended upon the 2024 convention’s venue, it was surreal. Sure, Bronies were scattered throughout the lobby, but this was also like any other fandom convention. That wasn’t the strange part. “Mares.” The single simple word would echo around the halls with a response to follow. “Mares!” This word became a ubiquitous signal for Brony occupied space. The significance of this word is likely lost on you.
When confronted with the bold proclamation of “mares,” the foot soldiers who enforce the prevailing norms, Der Normie, recoil. They, normies, cannot withstand such unmoored actions, unconcerned for their pearl-clutching. A post which has since been deleted by some no-name account accused such exclamations of being “sexist” and “freakish,” things that make her “uncomfortable,” and MareFair’s response is yes.
This isn’t for you. It’s for me. It’s for us. It’s for (you). It’s an act of praise and an acknowledgment of one’s allegiance to a. fandom’s origins on a Mongolian basket-weaving forum founded on the uncompromising love for a little girl’s television show produced by and subsequently ended by Hasbro. Such a statement stakes a position antithetical to our gynocratic order.
The second time I attended MareFair, a mutual who frequents anime conventions told me, “MareFair reminds me of anime conventions of old. There’s an unashamed aspect to it that is very rare.” I am paraphrasing, but I remember the message’s essence so vividly.
This convention is alone in offering this experience: a total release from the “real world” and entry into another. Nothing exemplifies this more than a panel known as Wetbrain. Wetbrain is a creation of artist Dattebayo, which combines audience interaction and a timed drawing competition. As an audience member, participating in Wetbrain means fighting for your prompts (colloquially known as tags). These tags are contorted by the artists into something horrific, grotesque, lewd, and beautiful.
The great and evil enemy seated at the other end of the panel hall seeks to destroy all that is sacred. Voting coalitions form to fight against them. They vote for tags like anthro or futanari.
They despise our hooves and clop kino. In the few moments between the end of the vote and the release of the results on a German man’s early 2000s ThinkPad, every breath is silenced until “Derpy Hooves” appears on screen and cheers erupt from every aisle. The artist that serves the will of the people saves himself through merit alone while the rest suffer.
The failing artists might attempt to rely on notions of “good art” or their moral principles for not fulfilling a tag. These failures and rule breakers spark a chant. This chant, or more accurately a demand, is a shout to commit non-consent acts to the artists or, simply, demands of death. Such a chant is not unusual. That’s just one of the many entertaining eccentric theatrics MareFair puts on.
PTS vs Irl, where anons come together to put on a play relating to and referencing /mlp/’s culture. Clopper’s Cave, Bronies indulge in their more lewd tastes. Safe to Explicit panels are sprinkled throughout the three days, covering the presenter’s favorite Mare to more controversial topics such as Josh Haber being a better writer than Lauren Faust. The MareFair Concert, wherehorse-famous artists like Prince Whateverer of Green Hay shared the stage that night with DJ HorseSchnitzelHaver, who led a non-consent act chant with a packed dance floor. Room parties with alcohol galore and conversations without bounds occur. Friends swap esoteric and strange gifts. All a part of the Spirit of MareFair.
As the Libtard is so fond of saying, everything is Political. While MareFair does not engage in Politics, it is Political whether the organizers desire it to be. Every description given for memorable events happens within itself in spite of everything outside of the convention. It is a glimpse before Woke’s intervention into daily life. It is a redoubt from grey-gooification of men’s hobbies, and it sparks violent outrage.
MareFair pays attention not to the whims of gynocractic moralizing and demands from irl-jannies to be “normal” or snide comments for a “fandom relevancy” (whatever that means), but acts in favor of its spawn point, /mlp/ and related off-shoots. MareFair is unmoored by the confines of Normiedom with its choking appeals to the Spook known as Popularity. Attendance and dollars raised only grow year by year. Though the total amount has yet to be tallied, the amount raised at the charity auction is about $104,000 for Fallen Oaks, an equine rescue and rehabilitation center.
People who only care about a fandom’s relevance are parasites. When the pop-culture moment fades, they’ll discard it because they only care about a relative measurement, an opinion poll. It’s shallow. If we aren’t relevant, they wouldn’t feel the need to address us. The idea that people should smash their fandoms together, flatten them, and mix it all together into oneinterchangeable Gray Goo Mass is utterly alien to me. As if we need to remove more uniqueness and love from the World!
It’s possible that MareFair will amount to just Nostalgia bait, as furries and MLP fans have pointed out. But, as it currently stands, what MareFair fosters is an alternative path. A rejection of the status quo and trailblazing of what the momentum of creativity can manifest. As this year’s opener boldly says, “Imagine if there were dozens of Mare Fairs.” Imagine if Bronydom not only lasted beyond seven years after the show’s death, but the board, Marefairians, and Bronyjugendexpanded beyond just Orlando. The implications and possibilities are beautiful. I no longer want to imagine, and neither should (You)!
If you wish to participate in an approximation of MareFair, please join other members of the Bronyjugend at this year’s Anniversary stream, starting on 10/9 and will be live over the next thirteen days. See you all there /)