mijan | My dear fandom, you are love.

First, I must get the negative out of the way:

Dear Chicago Hilton,
You are Teh Suck. You are arrogant and obnoxious. You gave away our non-smoking room before we arrived on the first day, and we went through three rooms in the first 24 hours after arriving. (It was only after I let you know exactly how displeased I REALLY was that you made any attempt at amends via our bill.) Your security guards targeted costumers and treated us like second-class guests. You do not understand the meaning of setting aside a "room block", which should ideally be a designated area or section of floors dedicated to people from a specific group. Oh, and one of your waiters stepped on the bristles of my hand-made Nimbus 2000 during the welcome feast, even though I'd carefully tucked the broom upright against the table and out of the way. Not cool. You were obviously not prepared to host a Harry Potter convention. You had no idea what it entailed, and were unable to accommodate the sorts of activities that are inherent to such events.

I hope that we never have another HP convention at a Hilton.

Dear flu virus,
You are also Teh Suck. You arrived right around the same time I arrived in Chicago, and treated me to laryngitis, sinus and chest congestion, sore throat, fever, and other such delights. You wore me out, and did your damned best to keep me from presenting my roundtables, reading my fic, and generally enjoying the convention. I'm just glad I'm tougher than you. It wasn't easy, but I didn't miss anything. You can't take my squee from me!

I hope I get my voice back sometime this month.

And now, the positive... and there's SO MUCH POSITIVE.

Dear Fandom,
You are LOVE. You really are. Everything that was right about Terminus was right because of you - the people of fandom. There was so much, so let me just list a few:

- The way I'd barely walked through the door of the hotel before I was promptly tackle-glomped by many dear friends who were as excited to see me as I was excited to see them.
- The fandom-organized unofficial events, such as the fanfic reading at the comic book store... and the way nobody was angry at me for having to run off to another fandomer-organized thing. Even more amazing... people ran back to the hotel with me. Thank you.
- The chandelier. DUDES. I sporfled. I may find large groups of Wizard Rock squealing teenage fangirls to be a bit annoying at times, but considering my dislike for the Hilton... that was MADE OF WIN.
- The way everyone at the welcoming feast cheered for the revealing of the Nimbus 2000. That was SO MUCH FUN. It was so completely silly, but it was really really fun.
- The way the H/D and Slashers' meetups felt like family reunions. You guys are family to me. Really. I can't describe it any other way, and it means a lot to me.
- Surprise buttsex! :D
- Surprise friends showing up at my hotel room door in the middle of the night. That was the best surprise ever. <3
- Getting to meet some of my readers! SQUEEEEE! I was so nervous that nobody would show up to my fanfic reading. I didn't know what to expect. Seriously, you guys might think that I made your night, but really, it was the other way around. That was the best gift I could have ever received. Thank you for giving me the drive to write again... and to remind me why I loved that story in the first place.
- For the good friends who came to my bachelorette party, and humored me, even though I had laryngitis and tried to sing kareoke anyway because I was being a typical Gryffindor about it. Thanks for not being upset that the venue sucked, and for making the evening fun and generally awesome no matter what. Any party with you guys would be awesome, no matter where we went, or what we did.
- For the people who attended the party on Friday night - thank you for the pleasure and the privilege of sharing that experience.
- Being told that I was "THE Harry"... by a lot of people... including Brian of "Draco and the Malfoys". That was really special to me. It kinda validates the fact that I love running around in my Harry costumes so much. It also helps me feel that I have an identity at these conventions, and a role to fill. It's a role I love, and I'll keep doing it as long as people want me to keep doing it.
- Random hugs. Random hugs are awesome.
- For the random words of kindness or thoughtfulness from so many people, for so many reasons, throughout the course of the convention.
- The way people cheered when I was quoted on the Wrockumentary. I was sitting in the dark in the back of the audience... and I blushed so much my cheeks burned... and it was great. It made me feel really good about myself. And later, I found out who some of the people were who were cheering. Thank you.
- For all the lovely ladies with whom I danced at the ball on Sunday night. You were all beautiful, and it was absolutely wonderful. Thank you.
- For random late-night philosophical discussions with dear fandom friends when we all know we should be asleep but talking is far more important.
- Realizing that I know people from every corner of fandom, every aspect of the convention, and every part of the world. I love you guys. All of you.
- The way that fandomers are thoughtful people who care in so may ways. Nowhere have I encountered such a diverse and unique group of people that creates such an amazingly positive energy as all of you. It's amazing. You're all amazing.
- For the Birthday Cupcake in the Hilton lobby. Thank you guys.
- The Birthday cake on the train platform in Kansas City as we arrived back home. A few of my friends from the Wizard Rock corner of the fandom were taking the train further than us, but they got off the train and came onto the platform with us to say goodbye, and the next thing I know, they've got a piece of cake with candles, and they're singing Happy Birthday on the train platform. That was love.

There were so many things that were RIGHT about Terminus, and they were all due to the people of fandom. I can't express right now how much you all mean to me, and how much affection I feel for so many of you right now. That's the fandom I know and love. That's our fandom.

I'll post more details later, but for now, I had to write that. Now... I'll get about five hours of sleep before I go to work. On my birthday. While I still have that cold. It's okay. There are greater things that keep me going.