Another year, another MCM — but honestly, this might have been my favourite one yet. Guest-wise, this had to be one of the strongest line-ups in years. With talent from Final Fantasy VII, The Boys, and even Demon Slayer, this year really felt like MCM decided to level up and show off.

Day 1 kicked off at the eBay stand, where I somehow walked away with a custom trading card featuring my own face on it — which is still surreal. From there it was straight over to the Dungeons & Dragons booth, where an evil, non-binary version of me was forged. As one does.

Next stop was the Gundam stall, and honestly… I was not prepared. The amount of exclusive merch on offer was borderline dangerous to my bank balance, and yes — I absolutely overspent. After that, I sat down for some Magic: The Gathering, then somehow ended up leaving with a free set of Marvel cards. And I need to stress this part: ALL of this was free.

After some more wandering, decompressing, visiting the Predator pop-up and general con-going chaos, Day 1 wrapped up — but that was just the warm-up.

Day 2 is when the real magic happens.