Tuesday, September 24, 2013

Epbot Exemplars, with a side of Nathan Fillion

Have you missed cheering on our latest batch of Exemplars as much as I have? Then let's get to it, peeps!

Exemplars are geeks who know what they love, and show it with pride. I keep it mostly girl-centric here at Epbot, but I always reserve the right to feature anyone who helps inspire me to be a better me.

First up, here's 6-year-old Ainsley in her FANTABULOUS Sorceress outfit from He-Man:


I want one in my size! (Thanks to her Mom Nicole for sharing!)

Seven-year-old Annika already has a great history of costume choices:

 (Not gonna lie; I am especially delighted by the Jedi, given her name.)

That's Annika's mom Bobbi-Lynn on the left as Professor McGonagall. She writes, "I remember when the boys would only let me play Star Wars as Princess Leia, who always needed to be rescued.  I never got a blaster or a light saber! ... Hopefully you, along with others, helping smash through the geek girl barrier will make 'us' not so picked on while growing up for loving what we love."

She also sent along a "sneak peek" of Annika's costume for this year:


Say it with me, now: "SPOCK!" (I always hear that in Shatner's voice. ALWAYS.)

Of course, every little Vulcan has to break into an adorable grin SOMETIMES, right?
RIGHT.
(Hee!)

Here's Jenni S. and her family as the 4th, 5th, 10th, and 11th Doctors:
Guess which one's my favorite. ;)

Sometimes there's an unfair push-back against all things princessy and pink, but I say: love what you love. (And I DO love me some ruffly petticoats and tiaras from time to time.) The good news is, little girls already get that. Check out Mica H.'s four-year-old here, who has a crush on C3PO, knows every good princess dress should come with a sword...


...and asked her mom to make her a Hulk Dress so she could smash things daintily:
I think Mica says it best: "My girl likes robots and monsters and dinosaurs.  She likes the color pink.  She loves bugs, dresses and dirt. She likes long hair, swords and playing rough.  …And I really really  hope she stays that way."


And finally, Vivienne here tells me Epbot helped inspire her steampunked Zoe-from-Firefly cosplay for Calgary Expo, but I think you'll agree that her daughter stole the show:

... dressed as Captain Tightpants.

Oh, but it gets better:
!!!

BUT IT GETS BETTER:

"The best comment of the day, however, came from my daughter. We finally caught sight of Mr Fillion after waiting in line for very many minutes, and I squealed "Captain Tightpants!" My daughter said, very indignantly, "No! I'm Captain Tightpants. That's Captain Hammer."

Vivienne also writes that her little Mal-ette (Mallet? HA!) prefers cars to princesses, Spider-Man to Dora, and sleeps with a baby zombie - though maybe I should have asked for details on that last one. o.0

****

This batch was mostly younger Exemplars, but I also love featuring older kids, adults, and everyone in between. If you'd like to be considered, just send me a photo of yourself or your child being geeky - ie in costume, with a collection or creation, or at an event - along with a quick description. And don't forget to include names! 

53 comments:

  1. That photo with Mal-ette, Steampunk Zoe, and Captain Hammer (heh), it literally made my day.

    Thanks for sharing these great stories and costumes :)

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  2. Love that last photo! I'm willing to bet Mr. Fillion got a kick out of little Mal-ette and her comment. Too cute!

    All of these a great, actually. I'm so glad you do this feature!

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  3. Love the sword-baring princess. My 4 year old step-daughter is all science all the time, loves Doctor Who, and is the world's biggest Iron Man fan. But when given a choice the color will always be pink. As she went along with her explorations in the yard this summer she tells me "Princesses can science too." Yes, indeed, they can.

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    1. That's so awesome. I have a master's degree in aerospace engineering and I wear dresses to work almost every day...my favorite is a bright pink, full skirted, 50's style dress! You can definitely be girly and still be into science!!!

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    2. "Princesses can science too." That is too wonderful! I can't wait for all these great girls to grow up. I love the world they will make.

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    3. I like to think of Ada Lovelace, Countess of Lovelace. While she may have not been a princess, she was nobility and she is considered the first computer programmer!

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    4. Now I'm desperately wanting there to be a T-shirt with an appropriate design, and the phrase "Princesses can science too" printed proudly across the front.

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    5. Princesses can absolutely science too (I love that Princess Bubblegum in Adventure Time is a scientist)! Smart girl! And count me in for a t-shirt!

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  4. That cutie pie in the hulk dress just makes me smile! What a great reminder to BE YOU regardless of whose stereotypes you may smash! :)

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    1. That would make a great T-shirt, too! Hulk in a skirt with the caption "Smash stereotypes!"

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  5. Khalysta of Versailles (France)September 24, 2013 at 5:17 PM

    So cute ! All of them.
    Love love love. My daughter was the only bear at a Carnival party where all other girls were pink princesses. She had a lot of fun growling and scaring the princesses :)

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  6. I love, so much, that a little girl dressed up as Mal -- and that whole story was perfect. And getting to meet the man himself -- dude.

    I dressed my own kiddo up as Captain Tightpants three years ago for Halloween -- gotta share these pics. Especially because the number of my friends on FB who even got the reference was woefully low.

    https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.444562182911.244214.584747911&type=1&l=b1876b230a

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    1. D'oh. That should have been: Another Mal costume

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    2. Love the pics, Leena! Adorable!! Thanks for sharing!

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  7. Absolutely LOVE that last photo!!! Thanks for sharing!!!

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  8. In sixth grade I always wanted to color the boy pictures as opposed to the gender correct pictures. Maybe because the boys got cars and motorcycles to color, and the girls got baby animals and happy flowers appropriate for someone 7-9 years younger than we were.

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  9. "That's Captain Hammer!" Oh, I had a giggle fit over that. :D Too cute!

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  10. Nathan Fillion seems so generous & genuine with his fans. Have you ever seen the pictures of him with Wil Wheaton and his wife, Anne? Hysterical!

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  11. I must say, I am quite jealous of little Mallet there!! ;) And her mom, too, who seems to have retained her cool upon meeting the fabulous Captain Hammer (of course, I'd have probably lost control of my leg muscles if Nathan Fillion touched me)!!

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  12. Oh, but it gets better! Mr Fillion is wearing half my brown coat - yup, he took the long brown coat I was carrying and TRIED TO PUT IT ON.It was hilarious. And a bit small. But if you look carefully at his back arm, you can just see the coat dangling there. Squee!

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    1. It's true! You can see the coat arm! Nathan Fillion always makes it better! :D

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    2. I bet it smells like him. SO LUCKY. I think I hate you. ;)

      For real, though; if I'd been sure that my offspring would turn out to be awesome nerdlings like these, I'd have gotten around to using my ladybits for Their Intended Purpose while they were still open for business. (shrug) It's fun to be The Auntie That Makes Costumes, though; I've VERY popular this time of year, and I get to dress them up and send them home. :)

      Cheers, thanks a lot,

      Storm

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    3. Storm... i have had a dreary few days and you have just given me a genuine giggle with your "lady bits" being open for business comment. Thank you

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  13. OMG, those are truly fabulous and I love the picture with Nathan Fillion.

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  14. These are all adorable! And I appreciate the glimpse into the next generation of geeky awesomeness, so thanks for sharing!

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  15. These posts always give me so much faith in the future! I'm personally not much into pink, but I love seeing girls embrace geekiness without feeling the need to give up things that are traditionally considered girly. I did always love throwing off the guys in my class at college (I was the only girl in my computer science course) by totally out-programming all of them in a frilly skirt. :)

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  16. What awesome exemplars. My favorite pic, by far, is Annika's close up. I just love that stage where their grins are a glorious mix of big kid teeth, holes and baby teeth. That just made my day!!

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  17. Aah! That is the most adorable Spock I have ever seen. And the whole Nathan Fillion story/picture is awesome.

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  18. I am squeeing so much over the last series! And mini-Spock also. They are all wonderful.

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  19. Oh that last picture is precious. AND I TOTALLY WANT THAT SORCERESS COSTUME!! :D

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  20. Love all the costumes and folks mentioned in this post but Ainsley's costume keeps making do double-takes. The craftsmanship on it is, as you said, FANTABULOUS. Wow! Wish I had half those skills!

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  21. I just about had a sandwich-covered computer screen reading that line, "I'm Captain Tightpants. That's Captain Hammer."!!!!! So funny! My coworkers are probalby wondering about me right now. :D And I love the family of Dr. Who's. So awesome that they can all get into the geekiness together. What a great batch of Exemplars!

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  22. Love these features! I remember being made fun of in school cause my favorite color was blue. I hope for a more open minded future for my sons! (one of whom loves pink!)

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  23. This whole post was made of awesome, Jen! LOVE the Sorceress costume, that super-cute Spock-ette, and the story about Captain Tightpants vs. Captain Hammer made me chortle loudly for several minutes. Just fantastic!!!

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  24. Very cool! I can't remember if I've sent you pictures of my daughter in her last few costumes... Alice in Wonderland, but not in the blue dress, the Alice from Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. The Alice in armor and a vorpal blade... love seeing these kids dress up as the things they LOVE!!

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  25. Can I have a Sorceress costume in my size, too?!?! :D It reminds me of the Halloween when I went as She-Ra (because there was no Sorceress to be found). The creativity and costuming skills of these exemplars and their families is AMAZING!

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  26. She-Ra is awesome. I am thrilled to see a little girl enjoying it as much as I did! (Did I mention I have a white horse, and someday we're going to cosplay as She-Ra and Swift Wind? Oh yes, it will happen...)

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  27. I was She-Ra way back when, but it was the vinyl costume and the plastic mask. Costumes have gotten way cooler since I was a kid. Love the crafty parents hooking their kids up with such great costumes. My boy hasn't decided on a costume yet.

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  28. Just saw this on Not Always Right and thought of you: http://notalwaysright.com/ballerina-rex/32012

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  29. BEST. EXEMPLARS. EVER. I am LIVING for the teeny Sorceress costume! And yeah, I got sick of being told I HAD to play Princess Leia by the boys, so I saved my money and went to Toys R Us and got a Han Solo Blaster (that I wish I still had). Showed up to play and said "*I* have a Han Solo blaster. Do any of YOU have a Han Solo blaster? Then I think it's clear who's playing Han Solo today."

    Just finishing up my Eighth Doctor waistcoat, and my fingertips are sore from handsewing. Haven't handsewn this much in a while, so my Marge Simpsonesque sewing callouses weren't there to protect me. Wearing it as part of my "Doctorsdonna: Donna Noble At The Exact Moment Of Trans-Species Metacrisis" costume to a small con here in San Diego on Oct. 4th, and I'm glad you said to go ahead and send you pictures of it, because, girl, be real-- did you think I wouldn't?! ;) Now I just need to figure out how to make a fake stalk of celery, because even if I wanted to wear a real one on my lapel, I'm buggered if I can figure out how to attach it! If I make a fabric one, I can pin it on with my Sixth Doctor Cat Pin...IT'S A MASH-UP! COSTUME MASH-UP! WOOT WOOT!

    Your Pal,

    Storm

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    1. I wish I could post some pictures, Storm, because I have quite a bit of fake celery! You'll never find plastic stuff in the store. My sister and I made some by using light green felt. For the stalks, we used some heavy interfacing and sewed channels down the length to give it a little curl. For the greens, we made some basic templates using real celery, then shaped wire into stem "frame". We stuck the interfacing and frame between two layers, and then cut out a nice frilly shape. The final touch was using a dark green fabric marker to give it some shading.

      Oh, and for mashups ... I made my sister a crochet hedgehog (like the one Radagast saves in The Hobbit) but wearing a little Seventh Doctor question mark vest. She nearly exploded with squee.

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    2. Aren't YOU the clever one, though? I'll bet they look SO real! Thank you for your ProTips; I'll try that when I have more time. :)

      Yeah, I looked at Micheal's and they had a bunch of fake veggies out (I assume for Thanksgiving centerpieces?), but no celery! I read on a Who costuming site that you could cut the "stalk" off of a faux callalily and glue leaves to the top, but they didn't have those, either (WHY do I keep going there? They NEVER have what I need). So, I ended up buying some green Sculpey and formed the base out of that, baked it, painted it a bit, stuck a bunch of silk leaves at the top and a pinback on it, and called it a day. It's passable, I think; I can only hope that once people see it on my left lapel, along with the other Doctor items, they'll "get" it. I also made a Cat Pin (Sixth always wore one, and I found NOTHING CAT at Micheal's, not so much as a charm, button, or lousy STICKER. Seriously, I'm done with them) and a TARDIS key, both out of Sculpey; the cat is pretty cool, but the key is dorky. Ah, well, it's a teeny con, I'll be one of like 12 people in any kind of costume, and it's not like I'm being judged by YaYa Han or some junk. ;)

      My hope/dream is to find someone who can fabricate a Seventh Doctor red question mark handle to fit onto my Sixth rainbow umbrella, because THAT would be some bad ass mash-uppery!

      Your Pal,

      Storm

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    3. Wait, somehow two things JUST registered in my tired old costumer brain:

      1) Both the hedgie and the sweater = Sylvester McCoy references! Your sister has great taste!

      2) YOU CAN CROCHET A HEDGEHOG?! Girl! GIRRRRL! Hedgies are THE BEST! I have a GIF-loop of a hedgie swimming with toys in a tub that I watch when I'm upset. I'm like Howard Moon from "Mighty Boosh" with his Calming Cute Kitten Photo that Naboo gave him; "STOP! Look at the hedgie! Watch the hedgie, isn't he sweet? Calm, peaceful.....hedgie."

      (Uncle Voice) One MORE thing! I couldn't afford proper Jelly Babies (the shipping costs more than the bloody candy!), so I bought what was supposed to be gummy penguins from Trader Joe's, figuring if not babies, better penguins than bears. I got them home, and I swear to Bowie, they don't look like penguins-- they look like tiny gummy ADIPOSE! HA! So, I guess I'll change it up to "Would you like a Jelly Adipose?" :)

      Your Pal,

      Storm

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  30. Jenni S here :) Yaaaay, so glad to be featured! Our geeky family may not have any geek girls (other than myself) but I'm happy we made the cut :) One commentor said they thought they made my fez, but no, I made it myself. Quite simple - just a cardboard cone covered in felt, and hot glued to a headband :) I also made my bustle (side bustle?) tie, waistcoat, I also made my eldest son's scarf and vest. My husband airbrushed my youngest son's #5 shirt :) And he still wears it quite often! We're heading out to Ottawa Pop Expo in December, and have a few more Who related costumes to share then :D The family that geeks together...

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  31. Everything should come with a side of Nathan Fillion. So much cute! The kids aren't bad either ;)

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  32. This Video is not quite an "exemplar" if we're using the cute female child definition, but definitely a bad-a$$ geeky chick.

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  33. Thanks Jen for posting these for us to enjoy. I have so much love for this group of exemplars - especially for my own little Spock. (Who is thrilled that she is on the magical, mystical Internet!) :)

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  34. Ah! So much geeky adorableness. Tiny human geeks are my favorite. & I swear I'm not just saying that because we're raising one (soon to be 2) ourselves, lol.

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  35. That Sorceress costume is so adorable! Any way you have the instructions for making it? I'm going to my first Comic Con this weekend :)

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  36. OMG, How did I miss this post? That's my daughter Ainsley up at the top in all her Sorceress costume glory! Bridgette, I know I'm crazy late, but I'd be happy to talk you through how I made it.

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