We're Movin On Up!

Check out our new website:
http://www.thefakegeekgirl.com/
Same name, same address, brand new look!

The .blogspot will stay active for archives, and we may come back and do a post here every now and then.  Who knows!?

I hope you all will stay on this journey of Fake Geek Girling with me over at our new page.

Live Long and Perspire or whatever!

xo,
The Fake Geek Girl

Want of the Day: Wet Seal's Superhero Style Section

There are people who get mad when they see mainstream mall stores carrying nerdy clothes.  They see it as a corporatization of their favorite properties, pushing what is cult into the mainstream.  To them, it means that any teen girl can waltz into a Forever 21 and come out boasting bonafide love of characters and stories that they don't know the first thing about.

But I love it!!

My entire life, I could only show off my love for all things nerdy if I was willing to don a size XL men's tee.  To this day, the question at the end of the convention swag line is always: "Large or Extra Large?"  Of course, men's.

It's such a relief, therefore, to find things that actually FIT.  To find things that tell people that even though I'm a girly girl, I too can like superheros and science, magic and Magic: The Gathering, Captains Picard and America.  It's a recognition by the companies that create and promote these properties that women can participate, too!  And the more those companies recognize women as a legitimate source of income, the more products they'll create for us.  The more products they create for us, the more other members of the nerd community will recognize that us ladies deserve a place at the gaming table.

Don't be upset if we wanna wear a cute dress to said gaming, though.  Cause this might be my next event outfit...

[Wet Seal via So Geek Chic]

Want of the Day: Black Milk's Superhero Collection

UGH you guys!  My heart yearns for this Rorschach tee!!

YUP.  Black Milk Clothing has released promo photos for their upcoming superhero, leaving us all with an incurable urge to go shopping.

[Black Milk Clothing via The Mary Sue]

Monday Pick-Me-Up: Knights of Badassdom Character Cards

We all know about the upcoming amazingness that is Knights of Badassdom, yes?

If not, you need to reevaluate your life choices.  All of them.

Done reevaluating?

Okay, good, now watch this trailer:

I was sold when the voiceover wouldn't stop saying "World" at the end of every phrase.

In a marketing move almost as genius as the movie itself, they've released character sheets [that to me look more Magic-card-esque than a true character sheet, but whatevs].

Take a look, my knights!

If I could create stuff like Knights of Badassdom forever and ever, I would Have It All.  I.e. someone please give Danny McBride my number.  We'd make beautiful movies together.

[via 411mania.com]

Want of the Day: Hot Pink Steampunk Necklace

I have never really been huge into steampunk cosplay.

Don't get me wrong, when done well, it looks so fly.

But I don't do it well.  Though I've had a handful of great ideas [Steampunk Guardians of the Galaxy, y'all, with me as Rocket!], I don't have the sewing/crafting/fabricating skills required to execute my really dope ideas.

But I may have to push my costuming to the next level, because I've found an accessory that cannot be ignored.  And it's PINK!!

[KTOctopus via Geekologie]

The pink is girly.  The green is gaudy.  Finally, a character concpet that I can really connect with!!

Duchess Felicity Anne Wraithchild is one of London's most famous socialites and hostesses.  Her parties are known around the world for their extravagent themes, generous menus, and unparalleled entertainment.  Her meticulously curated guest lists can include royals and rebels, celebrities and scallawags.  The noted pirate Professor Horatio Culpepper is almost always in attendance.  Popular rumour has it that the Duchess and Culpepper are lovers with an uncannily stable romance, but what no one knows is that they are also frequent partners in piracy.  Felicity uses her sizeable social network to discover new adventures and most especially treasures, which add to her already sizeable fortune...

Oy vey.  I really just fell down the steampunk rabbit hole there.  It's like Alice's, only with more corsets, clockwork, and varying shades of brown.  Well now I'm adding a little pink and acid green to the mix!  GIT READY, PROFESSOR!  AIRSHIP UP IN FIVE.

Want of the Day: Kill Bats Tee

AHHHHH!

There are no words.

Only shouts of joy.

I say again.  AHHHHHH!!

[Teepublic via Geeks Are Sexy]

Friday Art: The Wrath of Princess Peach

Check out this warrior princess take on a fave Nerd Girl Classic:  Princess Peach!

"The Wrath of Princess Peach" was created by deviantArt user pikminAAA, who has lots of other art I heart, from the spooky...

...to the adorable.

From the badass...

...to the plush!

[pikminAAA via So Geek Chic]

Want of the Day: A Dark Crystal Wedding Cake

You all know how much I love my 80s fantasy.

It combines everything I want:  magic, glitter, a quest, some high collars, Tim Curry, theatrical special effects, trippy landscapes, creepy-cute creatures...  THE LIST GOES ON!!

Well, what better way to express my love than by having a full-on Dark Crystal wedding cake!?

This creation by Little Cherry Cake Company is perfection!

Look at all the lovely little details!

80s Fantasy, will you marry me?

[Little Cherry Cake Company via io9]

Want of the Day: Han Solo Cup

I thought I already knew how to party.

Oh, how wrong I was!

If I did know how to party, I would have long ago (in a galaxy far, far away) invested in this Han Solo Cup.

Han took shots first, guys.

[Lenny Mud via Geeky Merch]

Want of the Day: Macabre Victorian Dolls

Today I need something a little macabre to fill the hole that True Detective has left.  [And OMG, I did not breathe for that whole hour of television and whoever was the production designer for the Carcosa sequence needs to design everything ever.]

It's mostly sticks, fabric, and paint.  HOW IS THAT SO SCARY!?

Good thing artist Jessica Harrison has created these delightfully violent Victorian-inspired porcelain figures!

These glass women capture the elegance and homogeneous femininity of the 19th century, then contrast it with vicious acts of mutilation.

 

Check out the links for more, including a beheading and lots of viscera!

[Jessica Harrison via Bust]

Want of the Day: Michonne Barbie

I can't even...

If this had existed when I was a wee one playing with Barbies, I'd have been all over this doll.

Okay, who am I kidding?  I still love Barbies, and I totally still want this doll.

[Peewee Parker via Geeks Are Sexy]

Sunday Mixtape: Pink Edition!

They've finally discovered my true planet of origin:  "GJ 504b is not only the planet with the lowest mass of any that has been directly imaged in the past, but is also pink."

In celebration, welcome to The Pink Edition of Sunday Mixtape!!

The mission to explore Planet Pink will be led by none other than Mars Explorer Barbie!

"Mars Explorer Barbie is the “Career of the Year” Barbie for 2013, and it’s certainly a plus to see a science oriented Barbie take center stage."  Indeed!  Of course, I especially love the pink-accented space suit!

If Barbie encounters any hostile aliens, she'll need some backup!  Good things she has a slew of redesigned lady characters to choose from.  She can form the ideal team!

How about Drachea Rannak's Sailor Mulan?

Or how about Redditor Gnatman64's Gandalf the Pink?

I'll leave all the exploring to the professionals.  And, yes, by professionals, I do mean a doll, a Disney princess, and a grown man dressed as a wizard.  Besides, I'd much rather be doing my nails!

Want of the Day: Dragon Egg Cookie Jar

Delicious and dorky!!

[ThinkGeek via The Mary Sue]

Career Lessons I've Learned from Fantasy and SciFi #1

Oh, life!  You crazy beast!  All the emotions, all the relationships, all the thoughts, all the experiences...  It's all so big.  So epic.  So vast.

Nothing captures this vastness as well as fantasy and science fiction.

For example, navigating high school felt as big as being a Slayer, even though I was not literally fighting vampires and demons after school.

Hey, a girl can dream.

Forging a career is just as big as vanquishing demons, just as epic as mastering the Force, just as vast as Middle Earth.  So, no matter how many career groups I attend or Lean In-inspired trend pieces I read, the advice I get will never be as poignant nor as lasting as the advice I get from my heightened heroes of fantasy & sci-fi.

I'd like to share some of those with you, especially as I am in the midst of learning most all of them.  I'm making this an ongoing series.  Mostly because it would most definitely be a TL; DR sitch if I tried to compile them all in one post, but also because I expect to come up with more of these on my quest for Internet fame/nerd-cult icon status.

Lesson 1:  Fear is the mind-killer.
I have always wanted to be an entertainer.

I'm not sure where that instinct came from, but for as long as I can remember I've had a fierce desire to take audiences on a journey with me.  I love making people laugh, cry, smile, hug, scream, do spit takes, feel ALL the feels.

I was always so certain what I wanted to do, and I thought that put me ahead of the game.  Instead of being forced to take a random class my parents chose, I took acting classes.  I started doing plays as soon as I could read the scripts.  I did show after show after show after show.  I even auditioned for some pretty real things, like Steppenwolf and Les Miz and what may have been Jurassic Park.  [They kept the name of the project confidential, but the timing and casting call makes me think DINOSAURS.]

Damn right, I'm clever.

Needless to say, I didn't get any of those things.

If I did, I could totally have been a child star.  And now I'd probably have a glamorous party lifestyle, no money in the bank, and an eating disorder and/or drug problem!!  But, hey, the tabloids would love me, baby.

I still love you, Lindsey Lohan.

The rejection extended beyond big auditions.  Fast forward to junior high.  Sixth graders couldn't be in the school play; my eligible seventh grade self was cast as just a chorus girl in Grease.  Eighth grade and a big move to the suburbs came, and I had one scene in the school play.

There I was, someone who had always wanted to be a Real Actress, someone who had always been given lead roles, suddenly in the background.  Why didn't they want me as their lead?  As a Sandy or at least as a Marty?  Was I not good enough?

And suddenly there was fear.

Fear of not being good enough.  Fear of being given small roles because I was somehow inherently worse than the performers around me.  Fear of not being entertaining enough or pretty enough or talented enough...  The fear made me nervous.  Like, real nerves, not just pre-show-excitement-let's-get-this-party-started nerves.  Debilitating nerves.  Before the fear, I'd go into an audition or a performance with just enough extra adrenaline to give me stageworthy energy.

Now that there was fear, every performance found me thinking, "Am I acting well enough?  Is the audience enjoying what I'm doing now?  Am I good enough to be up here?  Am I pretty enough to be an actress?  Do I have talent??"

Unfortunately, high school did nothing to tell me I was good enough, smart enough, and gosh darn it people like me.  Instead, at the time of life when confidence and self-esteem are at an all-time low, I was being given ever-increasing signs that I should give up on my dreams.  I was rarely cast, and never as a lead.  The closest I got was a handful of featured dancer roles, but otherwise I had fewer roles and fewer lines.

A vicious cycle began.

I was afraid I wasn't good enough, so I would be nervous at auditions.  I was nervous at auditions, so I didn't do well at auditions.  I didn't do well auditions, so I never got a lead.  I never got a lead, so I knew I wasn't good enough to be a lead.  I knew I wasn't good enough to be a lead, so was I good enough at all?

Fear was killing my mind, my confidence, and my talent.

But, like Paul Atreides, I need to let go of my fear in order to tap into my inner power and strength.

My first step in releasing fear was that ol' chestnut: recognizing you have a problem!  So, instead of pretending to be confident all the time, I actually started sharing my real feelings, my fear with people.  This has led to a lot of crying in rehearsal.  And crying at home.  And just general crying.

Hey, don't judge!  Fear is, like, scary.

BUT!  When I release my fear, I have all this extra room for other stuff.  And listening.  Like learning.  And growing.  I actually feel like I'm progressing, y'all!!  I'm, like, becoming a better person and stuff.

All that said, I'm still scared of spiders.
And ghosts.
And heights.
And pretty much everything.

But at least I'm not letting it kill my mind!

Lesson learned, Dune.  Lesson learned.

Cosplay Envy: Eve Beauregard

Eve Beauregard creates stunning, classic cosplays.

Her costuming skills are accurate, yet the cosplays she puts together go beyond simple recreation.

Her choices of materials are creative, her crafting is usually done from scratch, and her love for and connection with the characters she chooses shines through all her photo shoots.  Her cosplays don't just mimic a character.  They tell a story.

[via Geeks Are Sexy]

Want of the Day: Everything on "What Would Khaleesi Wear?"

TRUE CONFESSIONS:  I love fashion.

Oh...you already knew that...?  Well then, it should come as no surprise that my clothes and accessories make a difference in how I feel.  And sometimes, I want to feel like the Mother of Dragons, our favesies Khaleesi Danaerys Targaryen.

Good thing that there is a tumblr that tells me exactly what contemporary clothes Dany would don.  What Would Khaleesi Wear? is a well-curated collection of styles that look at home on the runway or atop the Great Pyramid of Meereen.

And I want pretty much everything listed on this website, from the glamorous gowns...

...to the intricate hairstyles...

...to frickin' DRAGON UNDERPANTS!

Any/all of these would make me feel like taking Westeros in fire & blood!

Forever An X-Phile

[via Lucy Knisley]