Dearest Rachel –
The weirdest part of this isn’t so much that Daniel has decided not to go this weekend, as much the fact that I’ve been asked to drive Logan to a pickup point where he can meet a friend of his, from whence they’ll drive up to the convention in Milwaukee together. It’s one thing to be your child’s chauffeur; it’s something entirely different to end up with the job for someone else because of your child, but not including him.
It’s also not so much that Daniel has, to borrow from the apostle Paul, “put away childish things.” He’s your boy, too, after all; extending childhood as far as possible is rather in his DNA, wouldn’t you say? It’s more a combination of the fact that the fourth generation series has been off the air for a few years now – and for whatever reason, the fifth-generation series, while not awful or anything, just doesn’t resonate with either of the boys – and the fact that the fanbase has long since decided to go political, particularly in directions that Daniel doesn’t agree with or go along with.
Not that this hasn’t always been present within the fandom, to be honest; it’s just gotten more and more obvious over time – at least from this outsider’s perspective. For all the times you guys went to the brony conventions – and bear in mind, I would only drop in occasionally after work to deliver food, or to otherwise hang out in the hotel lobby at the one based here in the local suburbs – there was an emphasis on tolerance, which may have been what drew in the periphery demographic it did in the first place. Indeed, there used to be a jocular, if mildly vulgar, meme about how those within the community would “love and tolerate the $#!@ out of you!” And I can certainly see how that would appeal to certain folks who were having difficulty figuring out who they were.
Of course, there was that one “convention” you guys got me to attend, which I describe in quotes because it was (at least, to me) more of a vacation than a convention, being held as it was on a cruise ship. Had a wonderful time, and most of the attendees I got to know were quite personable, even as I didn’t always follow everything that everyone was talking about, since I wasn’t as steeped in the lore of the show as everybody else. But I had to admit to you that I found something… off… about the individual who organized the whole thing and served as our host; nothing obvious, but just ever so slightly within a version of the uncanny valley. Normally, I hate to play the pronoun game, but I honestly couldn’t tell which gender ‘they’ were, so I will resort to the newly-fashionable and ungendered plural form under the circumstances. When I asked you if you noticed what I was seeing, you shrugged and admitted that, while I may have had a point, it didn’t cross your mind to ask, and the subject never came up. Everybody just had a perfectly civil good time together, and none of these potentially uncomfortable questions were brought up, or even thought to be.
Which is the way things ought to be.
But somewhere along the way – and I don’t know if they had begun before you had to leave – that attitude of ‘let’s set this aside and just enjoy our common interests together’ began to fade throughout society in general, and the brony fandom in particular, as there were so many more of the transgender persuasion there than in society at large. If I was right about our host, any interactions that we would have had with them in the years since would have seen them absolutely proclaiming their status as such, even to the subsumption of their interest in My Little Pony in the first place (which, you’ll remember, is why Daniel and the others were a part of this community in the first place). It’s at this point that it all stops being any fun for those who just want to enjoy MLP and others who do likewise. The fact that it’s a semi-political opinion that he disagrees with just adds a cherry the size of Equestria atop this distasteful sundae; it’s why we aren’t allowed to enjoy stuff like we used to, and I don’t appreciate it.
So, no, Daniel isn’t going to the convention in Milwaukee this year, or likely any year to come. And come to think of it, the fact that the foursome that used to go is down to two anyway (Erin appears to have given up on the fandom as well, both for similar reasons as Daniel, but with the added excuse that her work schedule is a nightmare, especially as the convention edges its way further toward the Christmas shipping season) probably doesn’t help, either. Which leaves just Logan to head up there – and while he’s found others to go with, he needs assistance getting to the carpool meetup point. And that’s where I come in.
As it happens, Logan had himself put together and ready to go by nine o’clock, figuring we would need to be at the meetup location (a Raising Cane’s just off Palatine Road; I don’t recall if it was up and running before you left) by nine-thirty. But he insisted we wait until the guy he was to be riding with let him know he had gotten off at the Willow Road exit; no sense sitting around waiting for him there when he could be snug and warm at the house instead.
It turned out to be a good call on his part, as it was nearly ten by the time we headed out, without any such specific notification (although he did get a message about his ride passing by O’Hare at some point, so it wasn’t as if we were entirely without warning). And we timed it such that his ride showed up barely a couple of minutes after we did.
I do hope that Logan has a good time up there; he seems to be able to mix well with others in a way that Daniel can’t (or hasn’t tried to; I’m never entirely certain, to be honest). Oddly enough, this probably means that his stories will probably be more interesting than mine – and that, in spending time with Daniel in lieu of him, I’ll be otherwise occupied, so you might not hear much from me anyway, so it all evens out.
Either way, I suppose you might as well keep an eye each of us this weekend, and wish us all luck. We’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 