Put me on the list for flashing the rom twice.
What didn't work:
1) pc odin to el26
2) wipe
3) flash aokp
4) flash gapps
5) wipe
and
1) pc odin to el26
2) flash aokp
3) flash gapps
4) wipe
5) flash fc18
6) wipe
After each failed boot, a PC odin flash to el26 would then fail on assert on AOKP zip AND on the cm9 zip i had on my sd card (darchstar's original build). Had to flash to calk's 2.8.1 (the most recent gb rom I had available) and then odin el26 on there. Eventually, I downloaded an el26 cwm flashable zip, so I did that. My odin flash count increased from 9 to 15 now
Process that DID work:
1) el26 via cwm flash from calk's 2.8.1 (probably would have been fine with odin but I was getting frustrated)
2) flash aokp
3) flash aokp again (noticed was much longer the second time as others have said)
4) flash gapps
5) wipe
6) reboot
Scared to try to odin el26 and flash fc18 right now lol. Figured i'd report in with this to see if it helps anyone else while I do