As a newbie to the Comic Con experience, I was only able to get my hands on tix for Thursday and Sunday. Which left me with copious time to check out some the happenings outside the convention.
First on my list of outside activities was “On the Set with Vikings,” an interactive experience from Vikings on History Channel in which participants got to dress up as vikings, have photos taken on three different sets and receive a promotional video at the end. The Vikings Twitter held a contest so folks could win a chance at early admission and beat the punishing crowds:
Punchy at the Newark airport after a missed connection and several further flight delays, I tweeted this and was rewarded with the keys to the kingdom:
I showed up bright eyed and bushy tailed, ready to get my viking on. What I have learned in my brief time as an entertainment blogger from experiences such as the Divergent movie premiere, bestseller book signings, and Ballroom 20 is that waiting is an integral part of any fandom experience. This being no exception, the other winners and I proceeded to have a very “Breakfast Club” experience in the production trailer as technical glitches delayed the experience. (PS the Vikings folks were awesome! They let us sit in air conditioning, gave us water and suffered us pawing the Vikings merchandise.) Fortunately these guys were among the early crew:
Meet Megan and Micheal, the founders of The Guardians of Midgard, a Viking age reenactment group. These guys know their Vikings shizz, and are impressed with the accuracy of the portrayal of Norse life in the show! So in lieu of shaking dandruff on our drawings, sharing our feelings, and doing this:
We got schooled in Norse weddings, viking acid tripping and ‘blood eagles.’ Fun fact: ‘viking’ is a verb, ‘Norseman’ is the noun! So the proper use is: “That Norseman is going to viking your ass.” Who knew? Also, Meg makes and embroiders their outfits, and Michael made his chain mail by hand using 35,000 steel rings! It weighs 38 pounds! Amazeballs!
We finally went through the experience, where I got tattoos, braids and a wicked neck wound, then was off to the photo opps!
“You’re making me look just like Angelina – right?”
The promotional video that was produced is absolutely hysterically-awesome because I am the world’s most awkward person in front of a camera (seriously, it’s like my face forgets how to ‘face’)! Ultimately, we had stills taken against a green screen, at the prow of a Viking ship, and in combat with a shield maiden. These were all incorporated into a video including footage of the rest of the cast that ‘introduces the newest Viking’ (AKA me). I would show you my video, because I am all about second-hand embarrassment, but I did the math and realized that this would actually qualify as first-hand embarrassment, so hell-to-the-no. I will let you see one of my stills:
Here we are on a Viking ship about to get pounded by a wave. (I’m pretty sure I’m going to win all the awards for my performance in this pic. It’s like I AM part of a wooden ship!) This one’s my fave because of the dude in authentic norse shades. Correct me if I’m wrong, Megan and Michael, but Vikings did, in fact, originate the ‘Ray Ban’ brand.
Upon completing the rounds,we received a swank beer horn, which I thought was the pinnacle the event, but we ALSO scored a spot on the pre-line for autographs and photos with the cast on Friday morning! KILLING IT!
That’s right, I got a little face time with Travis Fimmel (Ragnar), Alexander Ludwig (Bjorn), Kathryn Winnick (Lagertha), and Clive Standen (Rollo) who is my new favorite person in the whole world!
I came into this with Ragnar on the brain, as I am always tweeting dirty and lascivious things thoughtful and spiritual comments about him with Susan and my other tweeps, but Clive was just super-excited and totally into the fan thing (ditto Alexander, who is just ridiculously cute), so he won my heart! Also: MAN-BUN!
“Really? You gonna be cute like that? You guys are making me want to punch you in your stupid, beautiful faces.”
Then it was time for the photos! Wheeeeee!
Errrrngh. I am a nerd. Love me.
If you handed me a magic marker, I could literally outline the parts of my hand that Travis’s back was touching and the area on my forearm that was in contact with Alexander within an eighth of an inch. Heaven.
The lovely Ms. Winnick, who, I learned from my Viking Norse scholars (see? I learned sumpin’), is an actual black belt, and has founded several martial arts schools.
Then there was Clive.
Sigh.
So big. So warm. So damp. Unfortunately, upon reviewing my photo ad infinitum, I noticed the wedding band on his finger. This has dashed my hopes of him becoming my “Extra European Husband,” which I am pretty sure is a real and legal thing.*
All in all, this was the perfect way to kick-off ComicCon – without even going inside!
Tragically, season 3 is not scheduled to air until 2015 sometime (why hast thou forsaken me, History Channel?) So might I suggest the following activities to wile away the long wait:
- Dressing up as a Norseman and going viking at your local Trader Joes.
- Re-watching the first two seasons to not only keep your anticipation at a fever pitch, but to also keep your ears in shape for the adorable Scandinavian accents.
- Checking in with the Guardians of Midgard events page to find opportunities to meet up with them and hone your mad vikings skillz.
- And, of course, obsessively googling your favorite Vikings cast members to keep you warm through the long winter to come!
What did you do outside the Con? Did the Constantine experience actually make you want to watch Constantine? Which warm, damp norseman do you want to squeeze up on? How much does your chain mail weigh?
* TN legal disclaimer: “Extra European Husbands” are neither ‘real’ nor ‘legal.’
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