#rcnj

The Schedule

NOTE: Everything is in approximate times. The schedule did get more off as the day went on, but by the end it was only about an hour behind! Lowkey I blame Ryan - either all his events went long or he's chronically late lmfao

10 AM: Registration

We arrived at the hotel at about 9 AM. Parking was super easy and there were some people there, but not a lot. We got inside by 9:15 and registered right away (they said registration didn't open until 10 but they got us all checked in early!). Then we went to stand in line to get into the conference room where we'd wait to be called for photo ops and such. There were maybe 50 people in front of us.

10:30-ish: Oliver's photo op

So last minute my friend @littlefinnnnn and I decided we wanted a solo Oliver photo op, and I'm so glad we did. He was happy and smiling from the moment we came in and as soon as he saw me he said "Did you knit that shirt?" I told him I crocheted it and he was floored. He complimented both of our shirts and was just so nice I love him

10:50-ish: Ryliver's photo op

After that, we got right back in line to get pics with Ryan and Oliver. The first people who came out of the photo op room were dying bc Ryan's hair was fluffy wavy perfect and thank god for the warning bc that man looked beautiful. Oliver was happy to see us again and my friend gave them bracelets and we got our pic.

After the pic, Ryan looked me right in the eyes and said thanks and that it was nice to meet me. I bluescreened so hard those eyes are even more dangerous in person jfc

11:15-11:30-ish: Ryan's selfies

Up next was Ryan's selfies! He showed up a bit late but I think it was because his photo ops went long. He was like "nice to see you ladies again" and took our selfies for us - highly recommend bc:

After that, we had as much free time as we'd have all day, so we decided to get lunch. I heard there weren't really options at Chicago, but the hotel here had a concession stand with salads and burgers and chicken tenders and muffins/snack stuff. It is probably venue specific though so don't take my word!

We also went to check out the vendor room around this time. There was about 6-7 vendors there selling various merch and it was cute! I got to meet some 911 content creators selling stuff and it was cool :) Did end up getting a buddie backpack and I can't wait to use it lol.

1:10 PM: Oliver/Kenny/Aisha photo op

Next, it was time for me and my other friend to get our Oliver/Kenny/Aisha photo op. There were like 6 people getting this particular op so it was a lot more chill. We were the first ones in line so while they were setting everything up Kenny (in his leather jacket just to kill me I think) saw me, said "118!" to my shirt. Oliver jumped in immediately like "she made that!!! She crocheted it!" and Kenny paused, looked me over, and said "that is impressive." They talked about it a bit and I lost my mind idek if I said anything but I definitely forgot to tell them the pose I wanted but it still worked out nicely I think :)

1:45: Kenny's selfies

After that we went to Kenny's selfie line and god. That man hugged probably every person in line. He wanted to talk to everyone and it was so sweet. When we got up front he was like "Crochet shirt is back!" and we got our pic. He gave us another hug and I held his hands for a minute while we thanked each other and I think I'm in love btw

2:25: Ryan's autographs

This is when the day really started to get behind that I saw. Aisha and Oliver both had private M&Gs happening at 2:30 and this was supposed to start at 2:15. It did not start until about 2:25 so I got to cut the line. It was a little rushed because of that but he did laugh at my picture choice so that made my day :)

2:30: M&G with Aisha

After that a bunch of us ran to the third floor for our M&Gs. I can't say a lot about what was said in there but it was really nice to sit in a room with Aisha and just get to talk to her in such an intimate setting. The dog from her insta stories was there and I was sitting right next to her so the dog got passed to me and I almost cried ily ily ily Aisha. She was so excited about getting selfies with us too and she took a few with me :)

(Also side note that I didn't get back to the panel/autograph room until 3:15 and Ryan was STILL signing autographs for like 15 minutes after that)

3:15-5: Kenny/Aisha + Ryliver panels

So, I sent most of my updates to @911onabcbts as they were happening, and you can find a full video of the panel on their blog, but for recordkeeping's sake, by big takeaways were:

In the episode where the mom with cancer called 911 when she was dying so her daughter didn't have to take care of it: apparently Kenny was like "Chimney's mom died in the same way why isn't he freaking out about it?" So he called Tim to remind him of this little detail and Tim said "Oh." bro completely forgot 💀

[POTENTIAL SPOILER] Someone asked Aisha/Kenny which character would be best to get stuck in a situation/elevator with, and Aisha said "You'll know when you know who isn't good to get stuck with..."

Everyone's dream character blunt rotation is Athena Grant, Except Ryan, who said Bobby (two terrible answers imo...a cop and a sober person but okay)

Ryan really did NOT want to tell people he was supposed to work with Athena before the Bobby's death storyline but the crowd bullied it out of him lmao. When people asked why the plotline got scrapped he said "no comment" Ryan give me 20 mins alone with you and a bottle of tequila

Someone asked Oliver what Buck thought of Artemis II and he said "It proved to him that the moon landing was faked because why are they just sailing around it now when they walked on it 40 years ago?"

When asked which past characters (other than Bobby) they'd like to see again Oliver said he wants the Lucy Donato dynamic back hell yeah hell YEAH

Ryliver's songs for the last two episodes are Eye of the Tiger (Oliver) and Smooth Criminal (Ryan). However the other protested when they both gave their pics so who knows how accurate they are lol

Ryliver's top letterboxd picks for Buddie are Buck: The Lion King, Zorro, Pineapple Express; Eddie: Armageddon, Step Up (With Channing Tatum)

Ryan said Eddie should have hated Max more and did really hate him in his head for taking Buck's spot iktr

Ryan noted a good Eddie arc coming up in the last two episodes! He said it was going to go one way and then he talked to Tim about it and made him rewrite it haha

Ryan and Oliver were unaware of their canon birthdays being one day apart; they said their joint bday party theme would be cowboys...

Ryliver thinks Eddie would be a wolf as an animal, and Buck would be a lion

The actors' comfort shows: Aisha - Love is Blind Kenny - Real Housewives Ryan - Scrubs (OG and reboot) Oliver - The Office (ok whiteboy)

5: Aisha/Kenny/Oliver autographs

Finally, we ended the day getting the last of the autographs. Aisha's line was really short and fast; I got to thank her again for the M&G and for putting queer black women on my screen every week :') Then Kenny's line was probably the longest because he personalized his autographs! When we got to the front he recognized me and said "crochet shirt!!!", hyped up my shirt to his handler and the rest of the line, and shook my hand about 5 times. My last thing of the day was Oliver's autograph, and he called me "Crochet!" and was super excited to see my shirt again. I asked him if he was making one next and he told me that he fucked up the fake knitting on set so bad that their advisor couldn't fix it 😭

After all that I drove home with the biggest smile on my face. The cast was soooo nice all day and I made a lot of friends with people in line! I truly cannot talk this day up enough and even though I dropped a financially irresponsible amount of money on the day I can't feel upset about losing a single dollar because it was so worth it.

If you have any more questions pls feel free to ask, and take a look below at:

My Tips

Okay, so @buddiesystempod has an excellent crash course video for preparing for Rescueverse - I checked it out the day before I went, and I found it really helpful in knowing what to expect! However, here are my personal tips:

Bring a fan: OH MY GOD JUST TRUST ME BRING A FAN WITH YOU. Like a paper/cloth accordion fan. I pulled mine out of my bag within minutes of getting in my first line and it was in my hand for most of the day after. There are hundreds of people in the same room as you all the time, and as the season only gets warmer, you will get sweaty. I rolled up to every photo op not worried about being sweaty because I had a way to cool down! Also, it's a great way to make friends with the people around you in line!

Bring a friend: If it's at all possible for you, I highly recommend bringing a friend. Of course it's nice to have someone you know along to chat with in line, but also: a) you can split photo op costs (every op/selfie ticket is for up to two people!) b) you can get a little more time with the actors if you're subtle about it. My friend and I went to almost every op/autograph together, and so when we got to the front of the lines we stood together while the other talked to the guest. No one tried to shoo either of us away because it was clear we were together, and it was a nice little treat for us to have a few seconds longer, given how fast the ops go!