Tuesday, September 23, 2014

The truth about Adam Baldwin.

[EDITED TO ADD: Re: GamerGate...please note the date this was posted and see my edit at the end of this post.]

When I mentioned the opportunity I had to get Adam Baldwin's autograph at Dragon Con in my Saturday post, I left out one significant detail:

I didn't pay for it.


Adam Baldwin GAVE me his autograph!

I made it through the rest of Dragon Con without spilling the whole story to random strangers (though I did rave about how nice he was when I met him), because I didn't want to cheat him out of his signing fee by inadvertently causing others to expect a free autograph out of him.  There's still a little part of me that's worried I'm breaking some celebrity-encounter etiquette rule by sharing the full story here, but I'm hoping that my story will encourage others to seek interaction with him and support him, because he truly deserves it.

When I came home that night, I jotted down everything I could remember of the encounter and conversation, without sensationalism or embellishment, so I can confidently tell you that the story below is exactly what happened (or as close to it as it is humanly possible to remember):

This year, my second Dragon Con, I went into the Mariott’s “Walk of Fame” with a mission: to get Adam Baldwin’s autograph.  It didn’t take me long to find the snaking line in front of his table, and I eagerly joined the end.  As we inched forward, I caught the eye of a fellow con-goer in line ahead of me.  “Do you happen know how much he’s charging?” I asked.
“He’s charging fifty,” the guy responded.
Fifty.  My heart plummeted.  I’d heard last year that the going rate was thirty, which seemed high to me (a newbie to conventions, though I understand, with so many people, why celebrities have to charge so much for their time), but worth it for the hero of Canton.  But fifty?  I wavered as the line progressed, wondering if I should simply step aside awkwardly and forgo this high-priced piece of paper, and, along with it, the chance to meet him.
Fifty dollars might not seem like much to anyone who’s paid the high price tag that goes along with attending a convention like this, but for me, it is—my husband works for a non-profit missions organization and I stay at home with our two kids, and the only reason we can afford Dragon Con is that we live locally (so no airfare or hotel bill of nearly a grand) and we bought our memberships early at a discounted rate (mine cost $60, a full year in advance).  We’re blessed with enough that we’ve never had to live paycheck-to-paycheck, but our budget is tight enough that fifty seems a big number to me.
The couple directly ahead of me had missed the exchange, and I overheard them wondering aloud about the price a moment later.  “I hear he’s charging fifty,” I told them, cringing outwardly.
“Fifty?” they echoed, wincing a little along with me.  “Wow.”
“Yeah,” I continued nervously.  “I’m debating whether or not to stay in line.”
They seemed like veterans at this whole autographing procedure, though, so I tentatively ventured a question as we took a few steps forward.  “I’m new to this whole autograph thing—do you think it would be okay if I just stayed in line and asked to shake his hand, without buying an autograph?”
“Oh, yeah,” they replied, quickly and with confidence.  “I’m sure that would be fine; he’s really cool.”
Oh, good, I thought.  Maybe I would be breaking some rule of con etiquette I hadn’t learned yet, but maybe not.  Maybe I could still at least shake his hand.  Or maybe I’d cave and fork over more money than my tight budget had room for; or maybe I’d still chicken out and walk away.
Still indecisive, but wanting to be prepared if I did keep my nerve, I began mentally preparing a speech as the line inched forward.  I’m too poor for an autograph, but I was wondering if I could just shake your hand, just to say I did?  I think you’re amazing. I promise I’ll be out of your way again quickly.  I neared the front, and watched as Adam paused to talk to the woman whose photo he was signing, looking her in the eye and nodding while she answered a question he’d asked.  The couple ahead of me stepped up to the table just beside her, and counted out twenties and a ten to hand to the man standing beside Adam.  I steeled myself, adapting a short version for the man taking money, as the couple stepped aside and unrolled a Serenity poster for Adam to sign.
“I’m sorry, I’m too poor for an autograph,” I told him apologetically, biting my lip and cringing nervously.  “I was wondering if it would be okay if I just shook his hand?  I promise I’ll move out of the way quickly.”
With a quick smile, he assured me that that would be just fine, and I anxiously moved over a few inches for the next paying customer.  I watched Adam ask the couple with the poster how they would like him to sign it, and he scribbled “Let’s be bad guys” under their names and signed just above his character.
And then came my turn.
“I’m sorry, I’m too poor for an autograph, but I was wondering if I could just shake your hand, because I think you’re amazing.”  I bit my lip again, nervous, but glad I’d at least gotten it all out in a complete sentence that I was pretty sure came out coherently.
“Of course,” Adam answered, but he didn’t offer me his hand.  He kept them both folded in front of him as he leaned on the table, and he looked at me intently as if expecting more.
“I love the show,” I offered timidly.  “Both my kids are named after characters: Kaylie Eowyn, and William Malcolm—we went with the middle name for him.”  Oh, no, I’m rambling.  I nervously tucked my hair behind my ears and began inching sideways just a bit, anxious to get out of his way so he could move on to someone who was actually paying.
“And how old are your kids?” he asked.
“Three and one,” I answered.
He smiled genuinely and nodded.  “Oh, so you’re right in the middle of it, then.”
“Yeah,” I replied, smiling nervously back.
“And what do you do?” he asked, still holding my gaze like he had all the time in the world.
“I’m a stay-at-home mom right now,” I told him.
“That’s great,” he said, and finally broke eye contact as he glanced at the stacks of photos arrayed on the table between him and the money-taking guy.  “If I gave you an autograph, which one would you pick?” he asked, gesturing to the photos and looking back at me.
I froze for a second, completely taken aback.  I’d barely even glanced at the photos, since I wasn’t getting one.  “I—one with Vera?” I managed to get out, my fingers unconsciously hovering near my mouth, an old nervous habit from my nail-biting days.
He grabbed a photo of himself holding Vera and pulled a silver Sharpie from his pile of markers.  “What’s your name?” he asked, pulling the cap off of the pen.
“Sara?” I answered, still not quite believing what was happening.  “S-A-R-A.”
“No ‘H’,” he verified as he wrote a quick note.  To Sara, Stay shiny, he scribbled.  He signed it, and slid it across the table to me.
“Thank you so much,” I choked out, stammering slightly as I forced my fingers not to cover my mouth in shock.  “Thank you.”  I picked the paper up gently, and Adam finally reached his hand across the table to me.
“Thank you so much for coming,” he told me sincerely, shaking my hand.
“Thank you so much for coming,” I replied, beaming timidly.  “You’re wonderful.  It’s such an honor to meet you.”
He smiled back, and I stepped away, reverently clutching this gift from the hero of Canton as I fought the tears welling in my eyes.  Walking away, I immediately felt like I hadn’t thanked him enough, but surely he knew what he was doing would mean the world to me.
Best con moment ever.

It was awesome.  I was on my own when it happened, so I sent my husband this text after I'd left the table:

My text to my husband after meeting Adam.

I spent the rest of the day grinning ear to ear, and carrying the photo around reverently in a gallon-sized Ziploc I'd happened to pack in my little bag (just in case it rained and we needed it for electronics...who does that?).  It was the absolute highlight of my weekend!

Adam Baldwin at a panel at Dragon Con 2014.

If you'd like to stop reading here, the story's done, but I am going to take a minute to explain why I ended up deciding to post about my encounter, since, as I mentioned, I was worried it might cause some people to try not paying him his signing fee, and after his incredible kindness to me, I truly want to do right by him.

Adam's response to my husband's question, "Do fans often sing 'The Man They Call Jayne' to you?" during a panel, was this look and a low grunt.

On the last day of the con, I mentioned to someone how nice Adam Baldwin was, and they replied, “Oh, he’s a jackass.”

Needless to say, I was a bit shocked to hear a comment like that, given how far from that my own experience with him was, but they didn’t divulge the details of their reasoning.  So I Googled “Adam Baldwin in real life” when I got home.

I’ll admit that I didn’t spend hours digging up every personal encounter detailed online, but in the half an hour I did spend browsing various message boards, blog posts, and online articles, do you know what I found?  With the exception of one person (who, by their own account, instigated a heated political discussion with Baldwin), every single hateful comment centered solely around the fact that Baldwin is a vocal conservative on Twitter...and that’s it.  (Interestingly, I did find multiple firsthand accounts of some “Firefly” con being canceled so last-minute that many attendees didn’t even find out until they landed at the airport; Adam Baldwin was apparently the first of the cast to arrive at the hotel bar anyway, where he sat, beer in hand, and chatted with fans for hours.)

I’m on Twitter, though I don’t check it often.  In those first few days after creating my account, I clicked-to-follow various actors and artists whose work I admired, but I quickly realized that, for many, Twitter is a vehicle for condescendingly echoing one’s own political views (no matter which side they’re on—it’s just not a forum equipped for constructive dialogue over differing viewpoints; honestly, there just isn’t room to engage diplomatically about what you share while maintaining the integrity of your stance, so everyone comes across as condescending when it comes to politics on Twitter).  I wasn’t a huge fan of what my feed was being flooded with, so do you know what I did?  I unfollowed people who posted views radically different than my own multiple times a day and nothing else.  And you know what?  I don’t hate those people.  Distancing myself from their personal views allowed me to continue to appreciate their work.

But, apparently, Adam Baldwin is a jackass, because he dares to voice his conservative views on Twitter.  God, the nerve. [That would be in sarcastic font, if there was one.]

I’m not sure when it became okay-to-the-point-that-no-one-even-bats-an-eye-anymore to assign labels like “jackass” or “horrible person” based on whether or not someone agrees with you, instead of on how they treat you.  Even if you can’t respect someone’s views because you think they’re wrong, do you still at least make an effort to respect the person?  Do you even try to treat them respectfully--much less, kindly?  Or do you write them off as being on the wrong side, and therefore, not mattering?  Do politics really determine someone’s worth or value to you?  Because that seems to be the trend today, and I don't just mean toward Adam Baldwin.

I was no one to Adam Baldwin.  I didn’t bring him a gift, or offer him good press; I am fighting no tragic battles like cancer to pull at his heartstrings.  I’m just a fan.  To most people, I’m nobody.  But for two whole minutes longer than anyone could claim that he owed me, he treated me like I mattered.  For those two minutes, I felt like I had value to him.  And that, ladies and gentlemen, is precisely the opposite of being a jackass.

I don’t care what Adam Baldwin’s political views are.  He’s entitled to hold whatever views he wants.  The truth about Adam Baldwin is that he was incredibly gracious and unbelievably kind to me, and if you can’t see value in him as a person for that, then that reflects far more poorly on you than it does on him.

Should you ever have the opportunity to buy his autograph, do it.  He's worth every penny, and he'll make it a moment worth remembering for you.  And if you can't afford it, then even if he doesn't go so far as to give you an autograph, I'm confident, after watching him with other fans and then having my own experience, that I can assure you that he'll still be gracious and intentional in creating a memorable encounter with you anyway (though maybe don't bring up politics, if you disagree with him).  He's just that kind of person.  That's the truth about Adam Baldwin.

[EDITED TO ADD: If you note the date this was originally posted, my encounter and subsequent Googling took place before GamerGate was a thing, or at least before it had gained the momentum to come up in my searches (so literally the only complaints about him at the time were of his conservative Tweets).  As a non-gamer, I'm not educated enough on the details to have a strong opinion on GamerGate; but I will admit that as I've become more active on Twitter, I've been disappointed by Baldwin's Twitter persona, and his failure to make any attempt to rein in his often rabid "posse" of followers at times.  Again, I hate Twitter, and Baldwin is a perfect example of why--people are complex, not all good or all bad, and you can't see that on a vehicle that leaves too little space to speak with both diplomacy and integrity.  Perhaps we should not consider Twitter enough to judge a person by? :-P ]

Friday, September 19, 2014

Dragon Con 2014: Sunday & Monday.

[See Friday and Saturday posts, too!]

It's hard to top the day I met Adam Baldwin.  But there were still two more days of Dragon Con....

Our first Sunday panel was one of the smaller rooms on the Mariott Atrium level, but it's so much quieter at 9:00 a.m. that I really didn't mind.  And it was much easier at that hour to get pictures of fun costumes, like this "Doctor Who" one:

Are you my mummy?

Of course, one of the risks of early morning panels is that the guests may be too hungover to get there on time...

Two of them showed up on time!

Vincent Caso (Bladezz), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), and Jeff Lewis (Vork) were scheduled for a panel on "The Guild".  Vince and Sandeep arrived on time, though Vince promptly excused himself to use the restroom (and immediately cracked a Red Bull upon his return) while Sandeep told us that Jeff had slept through the photo session they were all supposed to have done before the panel....

Not a morning person.

...though he arrived a short time later, looking like this.

That hair needed help.

Vince jumped up, licked his hand, and helped Jeff with his hair.

Vincent Caso (Bladezz), Sandeep Parikh (Zaboo), and Jeff Lewis (Vork) of "The Guild".

But I have to say, I did not mind the unprofessionalism at all (though I'd probably have felt differently if it had been my photo session Jeff missed).  "The Guild" started as a low-budget web series largely shot in people's homes, so the completely informal tone the panel took right from the start just seemed to fit.  (Written and produced by Felicia Day, it's clever and brilliant and hilarious, and you can check it out here, or stream it on Netflix.)


We got seats in the second row, so we barely had to zoom in with the camera...

Fake crying.

There was lots of fake crying on Jeff's part as the other two continually ribbed him for being late.


Apparently the Red Bull went right through him, because Vince excused himself for a second trip to the bathroom...


...and started on the next Red Bull as soon as he got back.

Great Codex cosplay.

This Codex came in a group along with Bladezz, Vork, and Clara.  Sandeep gave them a hard time for apparently not having any Asian or Indian friends (to cosplay as Zaboo and Tinkerballa, the two non-white members of the guild).


Really, though, this ended up being my favorite panel of the weekend.  The guys were hilarious and completely down-to-earth, and the informality of the whole thing made it feel less like they were celebrities and more like we were all just hanging out and having a chat.  Afterward, Casey even managed to hang back and shake Sandeep's hand (Zaboo's his favorite character on the show)!  I was quite jealous.

No clue who they are, but those wings were incredible!

While I waited for my next panel, I happened to be standing near these two while they unfastened and spread their wings--which was quite an endeavor!  It took them close to ten minutes, and there was a crowd of photographers waiting to snap pictures by the time they had finished.  I'm not sure what they're from, but my pictures do not do the details of their costumes justice!

Padme likes pizza.

I had to get a shot of this Padme eating pizza.

Peeta Mellark of "The Hunger Games".

This Peeta cosplay was fantastic!  I spied his camouflaged arm and had to get a picture; as soon as I asked, he whipped out his paintbrush and posed for me.

Jed Brophy (Nori in "The Hobbit" trilogy, as well as various characters in the LOTR trilogy), Adam Brown (Ori in "The Hobbit" trilogy), Craig Parker (Haldir in the first two LOTR movies), and Billy Boyd (Pippin in the LOTR trilogy).

Casey split off to get in line for a panel with Terry Gilliam, while I managed to get into a panel with guests from "The Hobbit" and "Lord of the Rings" movies.

Craig Parker and Billy Boyd--my seat was pretty far toward the back of the room, so often my best view was on this screen.

Though I loved the LOTR movies (books, too), it's been years since I last watched them, and I've only seen the first Hobbit movie and wasn't overly impressed, so this panel wasn't high on my list of priorities.  But I figured why not try to see Billy Boyd and Craig Parker (whom I also knew as Darken Rahl in the short-lived "Legend of the Seeker"), if I had time?


I'm glad I made it on a day that all four of them were scheduled, though, because Jed Brophy and Adam Brown were just as entertaining as the other two--so much so that they even had me itching to give "The Hobbit" a second chance sooner rather than later.

Billy even sang for us:


I'm sure there are better videos of the moment elsewhere online, but this is the one that I took.

I had a couple hours to kill between that panel and my next, while Casey was in his Terry Gilliam panel, so I wandered a bit.  (...Not all who wander are lost...though, honestly, I often am--I have the worst sense of direction...)

Star Wars Disney princesses.

There were tons of Star Wars/Disney princess mash-ups, like these ones.

Evil League of Evil!

And I recognized this Evil League of Evil ("Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog") as I was passing them in a crowded area, but I did manage to get a quick picture!  I think they're dressed as Penny, Moist, Bad Horse, Captain Hammer, and evil Dr. Horrible.

Me with my favorite blogger, Jen Yates (of Cake Wrecks and Epbot).

I browsed the art show and artists' alley next, and ran into Jen Yates, who writes my very favorite blog, Epbot!  I was hoping to catch her there, which is where I found her last year, too.  This year, I had the presence of mind to ask if she'd mind getting a quick picture with me.  Hers is the only blog I check daily--love it!

While in line for my next panel, the Xenomorph from Friday happened to walk by, so I got a much better picture this time:

Xenomorph!

Is that costume not amazing?

Penny from "Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog".

This Penny ("Dr. Horrible's Singalong Blog" happened to walk by, and when I jumped up from my seat in line to ask for a quick picture, she gladly posed for me--which resulted in a chorus of depressed "Aww"s from everyone nearby who recognized the character.

This year, I found that one of the perks of going to panels alone is that if you're near the head of the line, you may be able to snag a single seat nearer the front of the room as the volunteers try to fill every seat.  I was able to get a seat in the front row for this "Battlestar Galactica" panel!

NO ZOOM.

I did not zoom in AT ALL in the photo above.  That's how close I was!

Michael Hogan (Saul Tigh), Mary McDonnell (President Laura Roslin), Kate Vernon (Ellen Tigh), Richard Hatch (Tom Zarek; also, Apollo in the original series), and Tricia Helfer (Cylon Number Six) from "Battlestar Galactica".

"Battlestar Galactica" was the show I worked my way through during most of my pregnancy with Kaylie, so in some ways I feel like it defined that time of my life (much as "Doctor Who" defined my pregnancy with Wil).  The first season or two were so good....and then every character I loved in the beginning either died or morally disintegrated (or died and then was revealed to have morally disintegrated...), with the exception of two that somehow managed to survive and still be likable by the end.  I remember feeling rather depressed by the end of the show's run (though I loved the twist in the finale), but more recently, I introduced my brother to the show while he was living with us this summer, and we hadn't gotten to the depressing stuff by the time Dragon Con rolled around--so my most recent memories of the show were all good ones!  I think having good feelings about the show as I came into this panel made it that much more enjoyable, and getting a front-row seat made it extra special.

Mary McDonnell, Kate Vernon, Richard Hatch, and Tricia Helfer.

I was never the biggest fan of Laura Roslin in the show, but I found I was actually very impressed with Mary McDonnell in the panel.  The "suggested" theme of the panel was "May the Gods Watch O'er Us", the ideas of theology and religion in the show, and the moderator came with a number of loaded questions.  If you've not seen the end of the show, I'll avoid giving details of the ending, but it does end with the suggestion that we are living in a deistic (even monotheistic) universe, which apparently caused a bit of backlash among the fanbase (because apparently it's not okay to believe in God and be a sci-fi fan--that's a sentiment I've often subtly felt as a Christian who very much likes sci-fi, and one that I think is unfair and, quite frankly, stupid), and the moderator wanted to know how the actors personally felt about the way it ended on that suggestion.  I really liked Mary's response about allowing the writers/creators the freedom in their work to follow their vision and not "ours" (you can hear her full response here, from 19:45 to 21:06).  The ideas of sci-fi and God are not incompatible, and it bothers me when people will only accept atheistic sci-fi as "good"--isn't the entire idea of the genre to explore and extrapolate every reasonable possibility?  I love when sci-fi presents new ideas of a higher being (or beings), whether or not it's an idea that I agree is true, because that's the point.  And I loved that Mary defended the freedom of someone to have a different idea than the standard atheistic one.

That was my last panel of the day, so Casey and I spent the rest of our evening exploring the vendor's halls (CRAZY--way too many people for that to ever be fun!) and wandering around admiring costumes.

Portal cosplay.

Neither of us are video gamers, but Casey did play Portal on my brother's XBox, and he very much enjoyed it (it's on my to-do list).  We saw a lot of great Portal costumes!

Jareth and Sarah from Labyrinth.

There were also quite a few Labyrinth cosplays.

Dancing Doctors.

We happened by this group of Doctors (and Amy) dancing, and joined the throng snapping pictures.

Iron Man, I don't know, and Captain America.

I was super bummed that this photo didn't turn out, because Iron Man turned around took off his helmet seconds later to engage in serious-looking conversation with the other two, and I didn't want to interrupt.


I did get one more shot as they parted ways--Iron Man's costume in particular was just too amazing to leave out!

Ivan Drago and and Rocky Balboa from Rocky IV.

And we caught this great pose by Ivan Drago and Rocky Balboa.


There are always a zillion Stormtroopers.  This one was lounging at the bar.

The Night's Watch ("Game of Thrones").

And I spied these fine fellows of the Night's Watch by an escalator.

Dr. Horrible.

I asked this Dr. Horrible if I could get a picture of him, and he offered to pose with me instead. :-)

(By the way, see my purse with the TARDISes on it?  I made that one, and a brown one with "Firefly"-themed fabric on the flap, to coordinate with my geeky shirts for the weekend.  I'm working on a PDF pattern and a full tutorial for it, which I hope to post soon!  I use them all the time now.)

More Star Wars Disney mashups.

More Star Wars/Disney mashups--I do love that Belle is reading Shakespeare's Star Wars!

Buddy the Elf (Elf).

Casey found Buddy the Elf and had to get a picture with him.

Barf (Spaceballs).

And Barf, from Spaceballs.  He and I have very different tastes in movies...

Casey and me in our "matching" shirts.

...but at least I got him into "Doctor Who"!  And if he won't like Ten the best, Nine's pretty darn great, too.

That wraps up our Sunday, but since Monday was such a short day (everything's over by early afternoon), I'll include it in this post instead of writing up another.

I found the TARDIS!

Would you believe I didn't find this TARDIS in the Sheraton until the last day?!  Of course I didn't know about it on the day I actually wore a "Doctor Who" shirt....

Ron Glass (Shepherd Book) and Adam Baldwin (Jayne Cobb) from "Firefly".

The big panel for me on Monday was the final guest panel on the Whedon track.  I got in line as early as I could, and it paid off--once again, I happened to be in the right place when a volunteer announced an open seat in the front row!

Ron Glass and Adam Baldwin.

It was awesome being so close!  And while I still dislike Ron's no-pictures request (you can hear his reasoning here from 11:48 to 13:05), I chose to enjoy the opportunity to be in the moment and just appreciate the panel, without leaning around heads or upheld cameras in front of me.

Ron Glass and Adam Baldwin.

Of course, I didn't actually get any good pictures of the two of them, since I felt like I couldn't sneak my camera out in the front row during the moments when both were laughing and looked happy...

But still.  It's a "Firefly" panel, and I love Adam Baldwin, so it was still a great time!

Sam Huntington (Josh), Meaghan Rath (Sally), Sam Witwer (Aidan), and Kristen Hager (Nora) from "Being Human" (U.S. version).

Since we really didn't have anything else to get to, I talked Casey into going with me to a "Being Human" panel.  I've watched the first couple seasons of the U.S. version (and all of the U.K. version, which is better, in my opinion), and Sam Huntington was Mimi-Siku in Jungle 2 Jungle (a childhood favorite of mine), and Sam Witwer was in a few episodes of "Battlestar Galactica" and he seemed cool on "Tabletop", so I thought it would be cool to be in the same room as them and maybe hear a little bit from them....It took about two minutes for us to decide "Eh, that's enough" and duck out!  I think I needed to be a bigger fan of the show than I am to really enjoy their on-stage antics, but I'm glad I at least tried.

Instead, we headed to the Whedon track closing panel, where we got to interact with several volunteers on the track as well as the track director/moderator and give some feedback on our experiences with panels on that track.  If you find you have a favorite track, I'd recommend going to the closing panel!  Fan feedback is what helps the tracks improve and expand, and I found it was also very enlightening as to how the individual tracks work and what goes into the beginning stages of planning for next year.  If I ever volunteer, the Whedon track is where I want to be!

And that ends my Dragon Con 2014 weekend.  It was an absolute blast, and I've already purchased our memberships for next year!  Hope to see you there! :-)

Monday, September 15, 2014

Geeky necklace GIVEAWAY!

Introducing an entirely new product line for my Etsy shop: geeky jewelry!  Because Raising Little Dragonslayers isn't just about raising geeky kids--it's just as much about being a geeky parent!  And what geeky mom wouldn't want to celebrate her fandoms with jewelry?

I'm especially excited to announce that I've decided to kick things off with a GIVEAWAY....who doesn't love free stuff? :-)



You'll need to enter the giveaway on Facebook, on the Raising Little Dragonslayers Facebook page--all you have to do is:

  1. SHARE the image on your own wall, and
  2. COMMENT on the original on the Raising Little Dragonslayers page to let me know you shared it!

If you're interested in following me there for updates on my Etsy shop and products, please "like" the page, but you don't need to in order to enter--I won't clutter up your feed if all you're interested in is the giveaway! :-)

You must be able to provide a U.S. mailing address in order to win (if you're out of the country, I don't mind mailing it to a friend in the states).  You must share and comment by 11:59 pm EST, Sept. 22 to be entered.  You are welcome to comment more than once, if you'd like to tag friends or tell me your favorite pieces, but each individual will only be entered once regardless of the number of posts.  A winner will be randomly selected on Sept. 23 and contacted by the end of the day, and will have 72 hours to respond with their choice and mailing address, or a new winner will be selected.

And now, to present your options:

"Doctor Who" Modern Doctors collection: Ninth, Tenth, and Eleventh.

Let's start with the "Doctor Who" Modern Doctors collection!  Each necklace features a pendant with the Doctor's catchphrase and the TARDIS, and a charm unique to that Doctor's regeneration: a wolf for Nine's "Bad Wolf", a rose for Ten's Rose, and a bowtie for Eleven.

"Sherlock" and "Harry Potter".

Next up, two more British fandoms: an "I AM SHERLOCKED" pendant for BBC's "Sherlock", and a pendant with the Harry Potter spells "Lumos"/"Nox".

"Firefly"/"Serenity": Sky, Misbehave, and Shiny.

From the "Firefly"/Serenity 'verse, a pendant with the text "You can't take the sky from me" over the silhouette of our beloved Firefly, a Mal-inspired "I aim to misbehave" pendant with the Browncoat symbol and a pistol charm, and a Kaylee-inspired "Shiny" pendant with a strawberry charm.  (The Misbehave and Shiny necklaces will be available soon in my Etsy shop with the option of purchasing coordinating pistol or strawberry earrings.)

"Battlestar Galactica": Apollo, Athena, Helo, Starbuck, and Boomer.

Next, five characters commemorated from "Battlestar Galactica": Apollo, Athena, Helo, Starbuck, and Boomer.  Each pendant has the text "Battlestar Galactica" at the top, the character's rank and name at the bottom, and their call sign in the center, and features a silhouette of the type of ship they piloted (Viper or Raptor).

"Lord of the Rings" map pendants.

Finally, the Lord of the Rings pendants each feature a vintage-style map of a prominent area of Middle-Earth: the Shire, Rohan, Gondor, and Mordor.

Each image is approximately one inch tall, to give you an idea of the size of each pendant, and is sealed under domed resin.  Necklaces come on matching (silver or antique bronze) 18" chains.

The giveaway winner may pick any one of the designs pictured above.  I have duplicates of the "Doctor Who", "Firefly", "Sherlock", and Harry Potter designs, so those will be listed in my Etsy shop later this week, but I have only one each of the "Battlestar Galactica" and Lord of the Rings designs, so those will be withheld until after the winner has made their selection.

Thanks for your interest!  I'd love to hear: Which is your favorite?