By now everyone and their mother has heard of NYCC, so sit down, buckle up, and follow me on an adventure of dank memes and costumery.

This was my fourth year at this festival of capitalistic nerdom, and I was thrilled as ever to go. I was riding in with my shotgun, An Awkward Kaylee, and eager to start my weekend off with our joke costumes, Nurse Poke Ballin' and Officer Poke Swag.

As you can see, we take cosplay super seriously.

And of course, such delicious dabbing had to be shared with another ardent meme fan, none other than Jnigs. Or Jessica Nigri. We waited in line for about half an hour to meet her personally, and I gotta say, it was worth every minute. Not only did she let us bequeath our LED glasses to her as a LIT lord, but she was the one who suggested our own dabbing homage.

Once that was done, it was off to our photoshoots, and hanging out with the amazing babes of Big Beautiful Cosplayers. Unfortunately, Mike and Sharon weren't attending our NYCC shake up, but the rest of us were able to hang out and have a blast. Many hugs were exchanged, and sappy declarations of love between photos. However, I did fail both as a (mostly) basic white girl and media junky, only getting selfies with Gabby Nu Cosplay and Miss Gotham Cosplay. Missing from my photo barrage are Morgan Le Gay and Tom Catt Cosplay, who were also in attendance.

We also took this time to wander the massive dealer's room and exhibitor's hall, as we knew we wouldn't able to do that the next days in our cumbersome costumes. But did we get pictures of it?

Nahhh. That would have been TOO smart. But trust me. It was cool. I promise.

Now here's the part where I tell you a story about the kindest, sweetest artist you could possibly meet in Artist's Alley. His name is ArtistAbe and he's popular for his many depictions of Harley and Joker, as well as many other DC characters, in a Disney-esque style. Kaylee was a huge fan of him, so we tracked down his booth so she could buy some prints (remember, always try to support your fave art babes). I immediately recognized his Halloween Harley and mentioned that my friend had cosplayed that last year.

Cue good ol' Abe's head jerking up with possibly the most dazzling smile I've seen this side of a toothpaste commercial. He asked if he could see, so I promptly pulled up a picture and explained how Miss Gotham Cosplay had really loved the character art and loved being Harley. He was pretty much as happy as a clam and asked that we send her his way so he could talk to her in person. I told him sure, and what she was wearing today in case he spotted her. He then drew a custom doodle on Kaylee's poster, because he's just that kind of an amazing guy.

Now, you might think that the story ends there, but it doesn't. I've tried finding Miss Gotham in person so I can tell her about the conversation I had with one of her art idols, but we kept missing each other for several hours. The next thing I know, my lovely cosplay lady is running up to me with tears in her eyes. She had gone to his booth and while she was waiting in line, he spotted her and called out her name. He REMEMBERED her name from me mentioning it once! He then proceeded to talk with her for a good amount of time about her cosplay and her experience in general. What kind of person does that??? A freakin' amazing person, that's who. So please, go support Artist Abe by either following his DA, commissioning him, or buying a print. A-plus human being there.

And what better way to end the day, than with Kaylee going 0-100 real fast. Neither she or the law of Kanto have any chill.

With our solidly fun day behind us, we headed home like the meme riddled trash that we were. And by home, I mean the red roof inn we were staying in. We ate Olive Garden and watched Friends on the TV while laughing our heads off about some inside joke that's probably not even that funny. We went to sleep at about 11 pm, like the little old ladies we are, and dreamed about rolling into day 2.

Saturday of NYCC was probably my favorite. We were leaguin' super hard, with Kaylee dressed in Janna's Tempest skin, and me as Illaoi.

Let's get one thing straight. I love Illaoi. Like deep, soul mate, meant for each other love. As soon as I got the whole costume on, I felt so badass I was ready to kick down every door that stood in my path. Kaylee, however, encouraged me away from the property damages and often held them open for me instead.

We met up with Miss Gotham Cosplay once again, who was dressed as Bunny Riven, and proceeded to have a bomb time. Although it's hard to tell in this picture, I was wearing five-inch platforms to get me up towards Illaoi's commendable height. I was sitting at a comfortable six four with my hair included, and yes, the weather was fine and the view was nice.

We were interviewed at the Verizon booth, and it was as awkward as you can imagine, then we did a couple of photoshoots. After that, Kaylee and I stuffed our faces with delicious carbs and sugar. You know... healthy con stuff.

Because of the cumbersome nature of our costumes, we wore out pretty fast and were headed back to the hotel right about as darkness started to fall over the city. It was particularly beautiful watching the lights of NYC twinkle and blink at me as the Imperial Port Ferry shepherded me away, but instead of documenting that quiet moment I instead took a selfie of Kaylee and me in the hotel bed. Yes, that is my hair covering her face. Why would you need to see her face when you can look at my hair???

Or final day was a bittersweet one. NYCC was ending, but we also got to spend time with my friend who had moved to the big apple a couple years past. We were dressed as bunny suit Fionna and Flame Princess, but a mild tights snafu left me with black instead of red or orange coverings. Oh well, first world problems, amirite?

It was also my second time ever using my new airbrush, and boi I learned a lot. Mostly that I have a whole lotta face and chest to cover and that takes a whole lotta time. Live and learn, right? Pro-tip tho, wearing red body paint makes your teeth look super white by comparison.

And so we did a couple more photoshoots, hung out with our friends, ate $20 worth of street food, and said goodbye to all the peeps we wouldn't see again for four months. So no, we didn't go to any panels, and no, we didn't see any major celebs, but that's not why we attended. For us, NYCC was the chance to hang out with friends, meet new people, and show off the cosplays that we were so proud of. It isn't for everyone, and maybe it's not even for most people, but I wouldn't have it any other way.

And thus, we headed back to our car and began the six-hour drive home. Of course, we did have artificial enhancement to keep us going, so I will leave you with a picture of Kaylee double fisting Starbucks. Mmmmm, dat caffeine.