26 August 2012

Mission #005: B.U.C.K Debrief Part 2: Interviews with Laurent Malaquais, LaserPon3 and a plushie maker.



I said I had some good stuff for you. My press pass gave me access to some things the common folk did not. I seized the opportunity to grab a couple of interviews.

Below you will find transcriptions of the interviews with Laurent Malaquais, LaserPon3 and the maker of one giant Pinkie Pie plushie.

The audio versions will also be included in our next podcasts.



Picture taken by Absentia, UKofEquestria


Subject: Laurent Malaquais, director of the BronyCon Documentary.


Are you aware that there is a community website for military bronies?

Yes, I am aware of it.


Are you also aware that this was literally formed at the lunch you hosted at BronyCon?

I have heard about that. I haven’t been on the website but I heard that after the military brunch we had at BronyCon in Secaucus, NJ, a military brony community has spawned.

That, to me, is amazing.


Why did you decide to host the military lunch at Bronycon?

We decided that we wanted to celebrate the military and the service that these people are doing for their countries. Because we found that a lot of the people in the military were actually bronies and some of them weren’t comfortable enough in themselves to be openly brony within the military.

To be in the military you sort of have to give up your individuality. You have to be a team, you can’t be an individual. And I feel like My Little Pony celebrates individuality, it celebrates these six ponies that are wildly different. Where in the military I get the strong sense, even though I haven’t served myself, that everyone needs to be one, everyone needs to move as a single unit. People can’t stand out, people can’t have individualities. You can’t suddenly decide that you want to colorize your uniform.

I thought it was a great juxtaposition of military bronies. Because here you are, you’re disciplined into becoming one person and moving as a single unit. And afterwards in your off hours, it seems really natural to me that these kinds of people, that do this every day, would want to celebrate their individuality. Because what are we as human beings if we don’t have a sense of our own identity?

I think that being a military brony, through My Little Pony, gives them an opportunity to relate to this pony, or that pony, and they are able to channel their personalities through these ponies. And it seems very cathartic to me and very healthy.


Have you observed any direction that the fandom is going in/headed for?

The only direction I see the fandom is going in is that it’s growing. And growing big and fast. So I would say that the fandom is wrapping itself around the globe.


From your observations, what kind of an effect have servicemembers had on the fandom?

The servicemembers are amazing. For example, when we had the fire at BronyCon, the military bronies completely snapped into line and seized the opportunity to organize the chaos. And everybody just followed them. They immediately told everyone to go outside, they were orderly and they got everybody out of the building very quickly.

It was like they felt that they had a place within the fandom and that they had a duty. And everyone listened to them, so I thought it was amazing.


What kind of an effect might servicemembers have on the fandom in the future?

LM: I think that servicemembers, as they become more and more comfortable with being bronies and being more out and more pronounced within the community, they will probably throw their own convention. I really think so, because they have all the skills to do that.

They have the organizational skills, the discipline and they seem to know how to network with each other. I think it’s just a matter of being able to be open with the other military bronies.

And when you have a bunch of military guys together, they are unstoppable. 


Is there any way, based on your observations and personal opinions, you think the military bronies should contribute to the fandom as a whole?

Absolutely, I think there is a place for everybody in this fandom.


Anything specific?

Within the fandom? It depends on the person. Yeah, they come from the military but once they walk through the doors, they are no longer in the military. They are individuals and they have their own personalities and you will find different military bronies flocking to different events.

If there are five events going on at the same time, they will probably be at different events according to their personalities and their favourite ponies.


Any interesting stories about military bronies?

We have a couple of stories that we’ve done but we have one really touching story about a military brony that came to BronyCon in Secaucus, NJ. And he was in a very dark place in his life. My Little Pony, as he said, gave him a new lease on life.

And by that, I mean that he was very suicidal and he was about to end it all. The show that he was watching ended on a cliffhanger. So he said; well, I can’t kill myself now, I have to come back and see what happens. And slowly, the more shows that he watched, the more his attitude and his personality improved. And he felt like he had a renewed purpose in life.

It gave him a new lease on life, as he puts it. And he seems very happy now, though he is deeply scarred from being in that dark place. But the show really gave him the opportunity to see something much greater than himself and to see beyond his personal darkness. That was a very inspirational story, we were all pretty touched.

I’m saving his name though, because he is in the documentary and I don’t want to give out too much.


(Sidenote: Laurent said in the Documentary panel that his favourite pony is Rainbow Dash)


Source


Subject: Lazerpon3


Are you aware that there is a community website for military bronies?

I heard about the military bronies at BronyCon and that John De Lancie was there with them, but I didn’t know that there was a website.


Do you know any bronies who are current or former military?

Yes I do.


Now that you are aware that military bronies are "organizing", is there anything you would like to see the military bronies contribute to the fandom?

I’d like to see the military bronies get together sometime and that all the military bronies have something like maybe a badge or some kind of message or something that shows that they are brony, but still not forcing that message onto people.

I would also like to see that they are being creative and maybe make a spinoff of a joke or a prank that is pony related. In their position, that would be really cool to see.


How do you contribute to the fandom?

Yes I do, I make laser art and laser shows. They take months to make.


And what got you into that, mixing lasers and ponies?

I remember when I asked someone a question online and that someone replied to me with a pony video. And I’m not a 4chan or reddit user so I wasn’t familiar with what was going on with the brony phenomenon. The video he showed me though, was very funny. I saw all the related videos and it was all pony. So I was like, what’s going on, why are all these pony videos suddenly popping up?

So I checked out a few and I eventually by accident clicked on a song. I think it was a song by PinkiePieSwear, “So many wonders”. And it was such a great song.

I still didn’t watch the show, but eventually I stumbled upon TheLivingTombstone and AlexS, and heard their pony songs. I was like, wow this is amazing. After that I became more and more curious and I felt like I should try to give the show a fair opinion.

So I watched the first episode and thought it was pretty ok. But I still thought that I was watching a show for little girls and that it was kind of wrong. But then I watched the next episode, and then the next episode and I kept on watching it. I watched the whole first season in one day, like all day and night. 

 And then I got hooked on the show.


And how did you get the idea to do laser shows with ponies in them?

I already did lasers, laser animations and laser graphics. Mostly memes and other things just for fun, in between my work. I saw the shrugging Pinkie Pie and I thought I might just add up to the joke, because I thought it was a joke. And I made a shrugging Pinkie Pi, I still have it on my phone by the way, and it just catched on so well that I thought that I might as well make more.

And that was happening on Facebook because I started joining brony groups on Facebook. And they were the ones who made up the name LazerPon3 for me. It’s kind of a parody, like deadmau5 has a five as an S and I have a 3 as an E (or Y). It’s also kind of a DJ Pon3 look-alike. 

 And that’s how Equestria was made.


Do you have a favourite pony?

Vinyl Scratch


What has been the best moment at BUCK 2012 so far?

That’s an easy question, the Pinkie Pie party when everything went well after a big amount of stress, and hitting that play button and everybody just freaks out and enjoys the show. 

 Especially at the end when everybody came at me and started hugging me and shaking my hand. It just felt so great and that has to be the highlight for me.


Do you have anything upcoming that you could tell us about?

Yes, for next year’s BronyCon I’m working on a small episode, done with multiple lasers, not just one. I’m also working on a Stormwolf - Shadow of a Flower beamshow, I sort of procrastinated with that one a bit and actually should have finished it long ago.

I’m also thinking about doing a song by Renard, the song Make Believe. I’m still sort of speculating what else to do, probably going to do some colabborations with musicians. And next year I’m going to do another colaboration with TheLivingTombstone, but this time he makes the song for me, which I’m gonna use for a laser show. 

 Other than that, I don’t know yet.

 ----------------------------------

 A while after the interview, LaserPon3 tweeted me this:


Get on it guys!





Subject: LunaPetal ( http://lunapetal.deviantart.com/ )


Are you aware that there is a community website for military bronies?

No, I’m not.


Do you know any bronies who are current or former military?

I know of a few, but I don’t talk to them that often. There’s a couple on my facebook that I know are bronies, but I don’t talk to them much.


Do you contribute to the fandom in any capacity (art, music, etc)?

I make quite a few cheap plushies for people who can’t really afford the outrageous prices. I have very little artistic skills apart from sowing.


And you made this giant pinkie pie?

Yes, I made that myself and it took quite some time.


How long did it take to make?

It’s my sixth one so I managed to trim the time spent down to about 35 hours.


What was the cost of making it?

The materials and the stuffing came to about £80, because I had to import the minky over from South Korea.


How much does it weigh?

I haven’t actually weighed it, but I’m guessing it’s around 9-10 kg.


Do you have a favourite pony?

My favourite pony has to be Twilight Sparkle.



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