It was great!! I'm so happy I convinced myself and my husband that ignoring our budget wasn't going to cause us any problems and that we should just go to AX in LA. The budget point wasn't true--we're stuck in a town in CA with a trashed transmission, and are stuck here until it gets fixed--but I am in serious love with cosplaying and conventions, as well as with meeting people I meet on the internet (although I'm pretty sure I lucked out with LeonMorado, he's a 100% awesome person. Plus, his friend SaccharineWrath is pretty much the cutest little fireball you'll ever meet, they were perfect people to be "convention deflowered" with.)

The actual convention was so much more fun than I ever imagined! There were so many cosplayers, most of them I didn't recognize the characters, but there was still a feeling of community I felt with the people there. "We are nerds," I kept thinking. "We fit in." People kept asking to take our pictures, and I got to take pictures of completely random people who were cosplaying people I liked. Where else is it okay to stop people and ask them if you can take their picture, and where else are people both flattered and annoyed that so many people like their costumes? The smorgasbord of merchandise was tantalizing, and there was plenty of good fanart to ogle. I even got to buy a Kirby plushie, so that my friend Matt doesn't have anything to get me for Christmas. Take that, Matt!

There are plenty of pictures to show anybody who wants to see, but I forgot my SD card reader and I'm at the local library, so...you'll have to wait until I get back to my house in a few days.

Edit: I uploaded a bunch of pictures onto myspace, but I'm too chicken to post them all here, too. PM me if you want my myspace url.