Day two of RTX, we got going a little sooner than the first day this time around, hoping to get a jump on the lines going into the expo hall. We were not the first nor the only ones with that intent, there was line outside of the ACC, that went down the block and went around the corner, a good few minutes of walking, and that was just to get inside the building. Eventually they opened up all the entrances and we could file on in at a more consistent pace. Jaron, Chris, and MrWartburg got in line for the expo, which they finally got sorted out and working, while I had a prior appointment setup for today. I was asked if I would be interested in being one of the judges for this year’s cosplay contest, not planning on competing or having any other plans for that time, I said yes. So there was Ash Schmidt (the best of show winner from the year prior to me and RT Production Assistant), Bill Doran (a costume and prop maker, he’s got a YouTube and Twitch channel, check him out), Grace (aka Zonbi, she does the YouTubes and Twitch too) and then little ol’ me, not quite certain what I’m doing there.
There was a meeting right before the prejudging contest started, just so we could go over the process. @Gilby (Adam Ellis) was there too, Jaron and I had actually bumped into him the day before, in the hallway, as he was trying to make his way somewhere discretely and we totally blew his cover and caused a massive scene (ok, maybe it wasn’t that bad). So the prejudging went smoothly, lots of awesome cosplays, there were like 95 entries into the competitive category, some of those entries were more than one person and there were about a dozen or so noncompetitive entries as well. @Ooual was in the competition too, she had done a killer Day 5 psycho cosplay with some truly incredible makeup work. I got to meet Wesley Falk, who does set design and a multitude of other tasks for RT and then ran into Marcus LaPorte outside the Fake AH escape room and talked with him for a few minutes before he had to take off. There were still a few hours to go before the actual cosplay competition started and I decided to finally check out the expo hall, now that the lines were all sorted out. I had to stop by the Button Mash booth, where @lukemckay was set up. He was able to print a limited run of the old RT Comics that he and Griffon had done and seeing as I never took the time to buy them when they were in stock on the site, I was going to make sure I got them this time. Due to complications with printing and time though, there were only a few of the comics available and I had to put down an order for them. I did get a couple hard cover Balls2That books, got a sketch done in the famous Lukemckay art style, and picked up a “best of collection” by Enzo, who makes the web comic Cheer Up, Emo Kid.
I met back up with Jaron and MrWartburg at an improve panel, I showed up about halfway through but it was still hilarious, Shannon McCormick and Jen Brown really know how to put on a show. Eventually time was up and I had to get back for the cosplay contest. Having now been on both sides of the spectrum, as competitor and judge, I can tell you that being a judge is no less nerve racking than competing, at least for me it was. Seriously, I flubbed it when I had to introduce myself, because I didn’t know what microphone to use. That was the worst of it, everything else went without a hitch but that anxiety though. That was the day as far as RTX events go, went back to the room shortly afterwards and then we walked to Franks that evening for hotdogs and chocolate milk (I was the only one to get a chocolate milk, everyone, even the waitress was like “seriously?”)
Dawn of the Final Day (of RTX). I had never had Voodoo Doughnuts before, MrWartburg and Chris saw fit to change that. We stopped in at Voodoo, met up with MrFusion there, grabbed our tasty treats and took off for the ACC. Our plans were to try out the AH Escape Room, the line for it was already growing by the time we showed up so we had a sit down and ate our doughnuts. I only bought a raspberry filled powdered doughnut, nothing particularly fancy. Jaron, on the other hand, got himself a banana fritter topped with caramel, chocolate chips, and… yeah I don’t know what all else was on it but there was lots and it tasted good. Then we waited in line. For five hours. That was less fun. I had wanted to check out the Fight Animation Choreography panel because I missed it last year, unfortunately the panel started and ended while waiting in line. Next year I’ll get to it. Anyway, we finally get our turn at the room, grouped up with five others who were in line with us, and started our heist/escape. We succeeded, we didn’t walk away with the biggest haul but we still walked away with more than what others had before us.
(We totally had Marcus on our team and didn't just pull him in for the picture.)
That event pretty much ate up the most of our day, we wandered the expo floor again and watched the PUBG let’s play on the main stage for a bit. I was getting worn out by that point and nearly falling asleep in my chair so I took off to the registration booths to get some water from the drink stands and wake up a bit. I woke up but the drink/food booths were closed or out of water. Hung around the ACC for a bit longer and then went back to the room once the other guys were done and going there too. Later that night we all recorded some let’s plays for MrWartburg’s channel, that was a blast, hilarity ensued! Once that was over we drove to an In-N-Out for dinner with Moe, he started on his journey home afterwards and we went back to the room.
Post RTX: Monday. I was presented with a special offer the day before, for the opportunity to take a tour of the Rooster Teeth studios. So after some quick coordinating, Jaron, MrWartburg, Chris, and myself caught and Uber and were on our way to the RT studios that afternoon. The place was amazing! Adam Ellis was our guide throughout the complex, let me just tell you that guy is an incredible person and has a fabulous beard to boot. Once we had checked in at the bungalow he took us over to the production shop, quite a few people were busy unpacking and storing away sets from RTX. Soon we caught up with Marcus, an exemplary example of humanity, who gave us a rundown of how things operate in the shop and showed us some of the cool equipment and collections they have to work with. He had to step away for a minute, so Adam showed us to one of the break rooms to get out of the heat. We saw @Barbara there, initially she looked like she was about to call security because a group of random hooligans had broken into their break room but Adam was with us so things were cool and we weren’t arrested (really, I’m sorry if we startled you). Then it was back to checking the place out, Marcus joined us again and introduced us to Kit. Kit is a neat guy, he’s got some forges set up and is in the process of building himself a power hammer, I got to have a conversation with him about smithing for a few minutes before we made had to be on our way. The order of how things went down after that I don’t remember very clearly but we walked by some offices, saw Burnie’s office (not very impressive), checked in on Gus’s office (more impressive than Burnie’s). We walked in one stage during lunch time just as lots of people were sitting down to eat, we didn’t stick around and bother them. Stopped by The Know office, said hi to @Ashley , Ashly said hi back (she’s cool). Checked in on @Jeremy in the AH office, he was working on something super-secret or maybe he was just playing a video game, difficult to tell, their security measures are so top notch you can’t see anything they don’t want you to, this picture that Jaron took, this isn’t him being really bad at holding still to take a picture, this is actually what we were seeing in the room.
@geoff showed up in the office, really nice guy, asked how our day was going and wished us well as we were leaving. Had a chance to explore where RT does their broadcasting and peeked at the sets of the RT Podcast, Off Topic, Fan Service, and the new show Tuesday Night Game Fight. That was the tour in a nutshell, and a fantastic experience. Props again to Adam and Marcus for being such wonderful hosts and taking the time to show us around!
Later, after leaving RT, the four of us went to an Alamo Draft House to catch a showing of Spider-Man: Homecoming. Never been to an ADH before, great place, the theater in my home town has been ruined for me now. The movie was excellent, I definitely recommend going to see it if you haven’t or even if you have, go see it again. That night we went to 6th street to find some deep dish pizza and only partially succeeded, the place we went to was out of everything but two small deep dish pizzas, so we split it between us then went back to the hotel to clean, pack, and get a short sleep before leaving at 4am to catch our flight back home.
See you guys next RTX if not before!
Take care!
Comments (10)
Lamkia Keeper of Snarky Sarcasm
1 year ago
Hello~
Now that it was actually pointed out in the OCC, do you and Jaron have similar names out of pure coincidence or was it deliberate? I thought about it in passing before, but thought I would finally ask at the risk of sounding like an OCC newb.
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Joron093 Keeper of The Forges
1 year ago
Deliberate, I guess. He's my brother.
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Lamkia Keeper of Snarky Sarcasm
1 year ago
Well then, that would make sense. Thanks!
By the way, the items you have in your journals look really amazing. Those are some really nifty skills you've got~
+1 Cool
Joron093 Keeper of The Forges
1 year ago
Thank you!
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Fly Keeper of Blades
1 year ago
The site is playing tricks on me...
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RoseMaryM PYREverse Artist
2 years ago
I just wanted to say, the things you craft (like, the swords and the viking kit etc) are really damn awesome! Also those drawings/sketches in your gallery are super rad!
I hope you have a good Valentines day!
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Joron093 Keeper of The Forges
2 years ago
Thank you! I hope yours was a day filled with joy!
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Jaron097
2 years ago
+iIIII-II iiiIII iiiIII iiIIII-II iiiIIII iiiIIII-IIII iIIi iiIII iiII iIIII-III iI iiiIIII-IIII iIIII-I iIIII-IIII iIIII iIIII-I iiiIIII-IIII
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+1 Cool
TinaBobina Wubba Lubba Dub Dub
2 years ago
Gotta give the friend request portion of your profile a thumbs up.....even though people don't ever seem to read those things.
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Joron093 Keeper of The Forges
2 years ago
No kidding, you'd think people would at least check out the profile of the person that they're trying to friend. Thanks for the comment too, I never check this section often because, well, I don't get comments.
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