All right, on to Part Two - The Panel:
So after meeting the Rifftrax boys, Robyn and I were killing time in the hallway to recover from the experience. So we posted an update here and just chilled for a while. Suddenly some guy approached us and asked us if we wanted to learn a card game. I was hesitant because I always get frustrated learning the rules of a new game, but we didn't have anything else to do so we followed this guy to some table and we learned how to play a demo version of the card game Blue Dragon. At first we were a little confused about what to do, but we slowly got the hang of it. We were getting a lot of attention, as the guys who were teaching us didn't seem to have anyone else to recruit and they were taking a real interest in what was going on. The fact that two cute girls were playing probably helped a bit too! Anyway, for the longest time I was winning, and Robyn kept using all these moves to prevent me from doing any damage to her life points, so the game dragged on for a while. She was able to whittle me down to one life point as well, so we were at a stalemate. But then, just as I was about to deal the final blow to her, she used a card that not only protected her from my attack, but threw my attack back on me!! So Robyn beat me!
After that, it was about 4:30 PM - time to head to the panel. Not the MST3K panel mind you, as that didn't start until 7:15, but we needed to get in line then so we could make sure we got in. The first panel we were going to was an [adult swim] panel on the show The Venture Brothers at 5:15, and following it would be one on Robot Chicken. We figured that sitting in for the other panels would be our best bet, as the rooms aren't cleared out afterward and we could get better and better seats as the time for our panel of choice got closer. But we were in for a surprise...
When we arrived at Room 6B for the Venture Brothers panel, we saw a line to get in, which was expected. After all, [adult swim] is extremely popular. So, we followed the line to find the end of it. Well, the line not only went around the corner, but all the way down the long hallway, out the door, down the stair, and continued to the street! "Oh God", I thought, "We're never going to get in." There was hope though, because as we were walking past all the other people in line, we spotted a few obvious MSTies, including one Robyn saw at Super-Con! So while I waited toward the back of the line, Robyn approached the man and asked him if we could join him in his spot further up the line. Luckily, he had no problem with that, though I don't know how the people behind us felt. I felt bad about cutting, but I came all the way from Maryland to see this panel...missing it was not an option. It was a necessary evil in my opinion.
And then we waited. 5:15 PM rolled around, and we didn't get into the Venture Brothers panel. The line had progressed enough that we were inside the building again, but at the end of the long hallway.
6:15 PM - Time for the Robot Chicken panel to start. We had progressed about halfway up the hallway. I was starting to worry. Even if we could get into the MST3K panel, we wouldn't have good seats. I couldn't believe there were so many people.
6:45 PM - I was starting to freak out. I was trying desperately to stay positive, but I was really thinking it was hopeless at this point. Suddenly, the man that we had played Blue Dragon with earlier popped up when Robyn went up ahead to scout out the situation. Since he was working at the con, and knew that we came all the way here just to see the panel, he said he would see what he could do to get us in. Though obviously, he couldn't make any promises. He disappeared around the corner.
7:00 PM - We had inched up enough that we could see the corner where that the line turned into, but not the door. We weren't that far now. I was still nervous, but I had regained some hope that we could still get in, even if we were cutting it close.
7:10 PM - I have never been more anguished in my life. Why wasn't the line moving forward any more? Was the room already filled from the previous panel and nobody was leaving? Robyn was trying to cheer me up, and saying the it wouldn't be the end of the world if we couldn't get in (we'd still have the Rifftrax show), but I really wanted to get in. I
needed to get in.
7:12 PM - The line finally started moving at full speed! Oh my God! We moved up the line, turned the corner, and the door was within sight! Closer, and closer we came...we were only about 10 feet from it now...so close...then, the line stopped. The doors shut. There was a sign on the door that said "Closed". There we probably only ten or fifteen people in front of us. I wanted to die. The card game guy stood with us at that point to make sure we were all right, but he couldn't really do anything. Then the door opened again and one of the employees peeked out of the door and talked to one of the line ushers. A glimmer of hope. Then the door closed again. My heart was stomped on
again. It seemed like hours that we stood there, waiting...it was over. We couldn't do anything but stand there dumbfounded. There it was, the door that would lead to Fangirl Paradise was right in front of us, and we couldn't get in.
Then, a freaking miracle happened. The employee in the room popped out again and said there was room for fifty more people. I think Robyn and I exhaled a sigh of relief at the exact same time. We were well within the fifty person limit! We rushed in the room, and frantically searched for a good spot to sit.
We originally went to the west side of the room where there were still plenty of empty seats in the front row, but the panel tables were on the far east side of the room, so I wouldn't have been able to get any video footage, or really see much of anyone on the panel. It sucked, but it was better than standing in the line outside. We sat there for a minute or two, and right in front of us was a slightly sheer black curtain. Robyn got up to see if she could find slightly better seats in the middle section of the room. Suddenly I realized that there were people behind the curtain in front of me. Oh my God, it was
them. I could very clearly see Bill behind the curtain, and I swear he looked right at me. They were all there. I was so close to them...then Robyn signaled me because she found better seats. I jumped up and bolted to where she was.
We were in the middle section near the isle about fifteen rows back. The furthest side of the panel was still slightly obscured, but I didn't care. I was so relieved that we were there. Now I could finally relax!
The the lights dimmed, and the show started. My Deep Ape review covers that pretty well, and my videos up on YouTube cover the rest, so I'll skip over all that, as I'll simply be repeating myself.
Once the panel was over, Robyn and I got up and rushed to the front of the room where the cast was. Too many fans had rushed the stage, and the guys were still up there talking to each other and signing stuff for the fans below. My mind was only on one person though. ;D
Joel started to come down the stairs of the stage. It was all happening in slow motion. He was absolutely gorgeous. I swear the jacket he was wearing was flowing in some imaginary breeze. I felt like a deer frozen in headlights, as I just took in the fact that he was only a few feet from where I was standing. But there were too many fans trying to get his autograph and pictures. I couldn't force my way in. I suppose I could have cut in front of someone, but the idea of doing that in front of Joel made me fear I would look bad in his eyes, so I refrained. So I just stood there, watching him and trying to decide if I would be able to have him sign both my Episode Guide
and get a picture. Judging by the sheer amount of people and the limited amount of time before the next panel started, I figured I only had time for one. So I chose the picture.
I was so fixated on Joel that I didn't realize RAD was literally standing right in front of me! It only registered for me when another fan called his name and they chatted for a minute. I took my focus off of Joel and decided that I had to introduce myself to RAD, since he had liked a picture I drew on the board and asked me to send it to him and Mary Jo. He recognized me immediately, and I got a hug from RAD! Yay!
Since RAD knows about my unabashed Fangirlism, he asked me in an all too knowing voice, "Have you gotten to meet Joel yet?" I shook my head no, the anticipation building up again. RAD stood there and smiled. He knew how great this was going to be for me. ;D
By this time, the announcers in the room had said multiple times that the previous panel needed to clear the room. Fans were still approaching Joel, but he was slowly making his way towards the exit. The announcers were getting more urgent in their requests, and Joel was slipping farther away from me. I couldn't stop him. I didn't know how to get his attention, and my chances of meeting him were fading.
He was stopped again a few feet in front of me by some more fans, and RAD turned around from up ahead to me. "Did you get to meet him?" I sadly shook my head. "Come here with me", he said, "I'll take care of it". OMG I love RAD so much I can't even begin to describe!!!
"Joel, I'd like you to meet Livia, a good friend of mine". Joel looked me directly in the eyes. I was calm and composed, but when those pretty blue eyes met mine...I went fuzzy for a split second. He gave me the warmest smile ever, shook my hand and said how nice it was to meet me. I was in Heaven. The another fan butted in and talked to him for a minute, but I was not going to leave it there. As soon as he was done with the fan, I asked him if I could get a picture with him. He happily accepted. I handed my camera to Robyn first, but she wanted to get in the picture too so she handed it to RAD and he took the picture. Without even thinking about it, I snaked my hand around Joel's waist for the photo, and let me tell you, it felt
soooo right. He was a lot shorter than I expected (still taller than me obviously), but I dunno...he just fit perfectly. God I know that's weird to say, and a dirty innuendo could totally be made of that, but man, all was right with the world in those few blissful seconds...
After that, we exited the room and went out into the hallway. Joel fell behind, as he took one last picture with a fan, and then he walked out the same way we did. It was a one way hallway, and the management forced the fans to exit into the main lobby on the right. Joel went left, away from the fans. It was this weird automatic response, but if the management had not forced us to go anywhere, I would have automatically followed Joel. I probably would have followed him off a cliff I was so smitten! Once you get a taste, you want more! ;D
Once in the lobby, Robyn and I sat down on a bench to compose ourselves again. We sat there for a while, and while Robyn posted on the Forrestcrow board the titles of on the Anniversary Set, I noticed all the brains walking out into the lobby. First Mike and Bridget, then Frank, followed by Kevin, Bill and his wife Virginia (who were holding hands, awwww) and Paul was there too I think. They all went towards the exit and out to the street. It was just so cool to see them all talking to each other and walking together.
Robyn and I sat there for a little while longer as she put her computer away and I called for my mom to pick me up. The we left the con and headed out to the street. We were on the second floor, so when we exited we had to head down some stairs, and on the way down we saw Joel, Josh, Trace, Mary Jo and RAD walking down the street. I wasn't going to bum rush the Brains, as they were done with work and it would have been crappy to bug them further, but I did yell out a goodnight to RAD. Unfortunately, he didn't hear me from the stairs.
So that was it. I left Robyn with my Episode Guide, since she had a pass to the con the next day, and she was going to have Joel, Trace, and Frank sign it for me. Then she left to catch her train back home. My mom then picked me up, and the entire ride home I was beaming. I kept looking at my picture with Joel lovingly, zooming in on the display screen so that the picture looked like this:
Of course, I mean no offense to Robyn for cutting her out of the pic, but at the time, all I could think about was Joel and I...man, I'm such a dork! I went home, immediately blogged about it, jumped up and down giddily for a few more hours, and then fell into a sleep full of wonderful dreams...
Comic-con was amazing.