Rooster Teeth’s 18th anniversary. It’s a strange feeling writing about it. I can measure a lot of my life by Rooster Teeth. The company has been a part of my life for quite a while. I’ve known about it since about the start. I’ve always said my full introduction started about 3 years in. That makes this year my 15th anniversary as a fan. I hope that doesn’t come across like I’m claiming a badge or honor in a passive form of gatekeeping. I’m not. If you clicked on the website for the first time today, if you’re reading this on posting day or years after, and you enjoyed a single piece of content you have just as much a right to consider yourself a fan as anyone else. And by interacting with anyone here you have interacted with the community. Before I digress further on that, what I said about my time here was meant for context. This post will be a lot of context. What we’re doing today is celebrating. Celebrating the accomplishments of a company just as much as the accomplishments of the community. Rooster Teeth has created one of the longest running web series, maintaining a regular release schedule. Rooster Teeth has adapted and innovated digital production time and time again. The evolution of the Sponsor program is evidence of that alone. Lazer Team isn’t the first crowdfunded film but in 3 days broke records for funding. Rooster Teeth has taken risks in launching several branches, offering the opportunity for the company and creators to grow. RWBY and Achievement Hunter are their own international successes lasting years. The lists go on. As for us, the Rooster Teeth Community, aside from breaking quite a few websites just from force of our interest over the years we have attended & contributed to a convention lasting 10 years and continuing on. Every year we raise hundreds of thousands of dollars #4theKids! The Tower of Pimps has been in Minecraft & there is a bit more of RWBY in Doctor Sleep than just a corporate sponsorship. But what I think is our greatest accomplishment together just is having the community itself. It’s hard for me to think of something on the scale of Rooster Teeth and the community that has lasted as long as it has. Sure, there’s big things like the MCU, Star Wars, and Harry Potter* that are relevant for a long time with huge exposure and some cyclical ones like Star Trek and Lord of the Rings,* but through various factors those don’t feel the same. But when I think about smaller scale things, they lack the time. Rooster Teeth has been around for longer than LOST, Breaking Bad, and even The Office. All of which started AFTER RT, had their time of shining, and though their popularity persists, I don’t feel as much connection between the fans and investment in the content now. Some of that could be the continuing release of some of my favorite content, but I still think A LOT about Camp Camp and quote RT Shorts to myself and friends. I also have A Simple Walk into Mordor, the Extended Edition, on my shelf. There’s just something special about a community that has lasted so long with a continuity to it. ------- *Funnily enough these are all Cool Nerd Stuff… ------- Things change, it’s an inherent part of growth. Things are VERY DIFFERENT NOW than they were in 2003. Some of that is good, and some of that has been a challenge. This last year alone has been on its own. Bringing it back to RT, RTX@Home was pulled off this year. But there was also the reveal of some very bad goings on. I’m going to follow the trend of not naming names for the benefit of those effected by it and not giving traffic or thought to the offenders. Things definitely haven’t been perfect. That’s life. It’s unfortunate and I’m of the belief that we can always work to make things better. Before I get too dark though, I want to remind you of something. We’re still here. The RT Community has endured those and other setbacks. It isn’t a place for hate, but somewhere we can keep bringing out the best in each other. In creativity and in our day to day interactions. My favorite thing, that I work every day to hold myself to, is Be Nice & Work Hard. I have that written on my door so I see it every time I leave my room out into the larger world. We’ve been around a long time. I’ve made so many friends and memories as a part of the RT community and they have been integral to who I’ve become as a person. The positivity I hope I can just demonstrate. I approach things with a sense of humor and an analytical eye. I would say I also owe a lot of my success academically to my particular corner of the community with RvB super fans and theorists. I can do immense research and analysis of nearly any media. I wrote a whole thesis paper on RvB. (I mention this often, and more on it later.) I’ve also just learned a lot. I don’t just mean all the fun trivia from the podcasts. Having such a diverse and big community I feel I not only learn something new every time I talk with someone, but I feel good coming to anyone and asking most questions because of the welcoming people who encourage learning and working together. I can feel this getting rambly, I hope you’ll indulge me just a moment longer. (This totally isn’t just a cheap method of wrapping the post up.) I really appreciate Rooster Teeth for giving me 18 years of entertainment and experiences. I want to thank the rest of the Rooster Teeth Community for letting me count myself a part of it. I’m looking forward to the next 18 years and whatever it’ll help us make. Finally, in reference to my much belated Red vs Blue Zero finale/season review. 1) Things got really weird personally at the end of the year. I’m good, and was then, but a lot of my mind was taken up by world and personal events. B- I also found myself getting very sidetracked while writing it so I think I need to break it into two things. My thoughts on RvB Zero as a whole and the paper I kept trying to write while talking about my review. I tried to address the concerns that people have had to the new season and direction of the show. In that I had to reference a lot of what RvB has been. Including the review of Singularity I never did. My opinion of the Pizza Quest saga is something to discuss but more over I just kept finding myself essentially discussing what Red vs Blue is to me and what it has been. With 18 seasons under the belt and more to come, I think that is a discussion worth having. So, I can’t give a good timeline, but I will do a short RvB Zero thoughts post soon (spoilers, I really enjoyed it and have faith in this new team/direction) and after that I will start a much bigger project: What Is Red vs Blue? -A Public Service Analysis- That’s it, I’ve gotta get back to that live-stream. Happy 18th Birthday, Rooster Teeth. Be Nice & Work Hard -008 TAG BAG #RT18 #RoosterTeeth18 #RTCommunity #TheFuture #RedVsBlue #RvB #RedvsBlueZero #RvBZero #RvB18 #StopDolphinPoaching