2014 D20 Girls Mag - Free Comicbook Day Issue by Le Nurd Mystique, LLC

CONTENTS

D20 Girls

A LOOK AT D20

Editor in Chief Erika Litherland

4 5 6 7 12 28

What is D20? What is Division 20? Catch Us if You Can! National D20 Day 2014 Meet the Managers D20 Girls Out and About

Content Editor Tara Watson

FEATURES 10 GoldieBlox

Winter ‘13

Summer ‘13

Winter ‘13

IN THIS ISSUE

Newbs Guide

16 Unconventional Women in Time 22 I’m Huge in Japan

Winter ‘14

Fall ‘13

Summer ‘13

20 How-To

MAGAZINE

24 FanFic: Bloodwind 25 Products We Love 26 Ask Chiki

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

D20 Girls Magazine is published four times per year. Manufactured and published in the United States of America. The Editor-in-Chief welcomes submissions from all sources. Such submissions should be addressed to EDITOR and sent to submissions@D20Girls.com. D20 Girls Magazine is a copyright of Le Nurd Mystique, LLC. Products named in these pages are trade names or trademarks of their respective companies. The publisher shall not be responsible for slight changes or typographical errors that do no lessen the value of the advertisement. The publisher’s liability for other errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is limited to republication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue or the refund of any monies paid for the advertisement.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Today is one of my favorite days of the whole year, free comicbook day. There a lots of days that I love, but this one is important to me because it’s one of the best opportunities for people who are just getting into a fandom to learn more about it. And that makes it exactly the sort of day that an organization like ours can really get behind, because we love it when we can share fandoms with others. But it’s not just a great day for us as consumers, we thought it could be a great day for our publication too! For those of you who have read us before, thanks so much for your past support. Our magazine has seen a lot of changes over the past few years and we’re so thankful for our readers both of our print magazine as well as our online magazine, which you can find at www.d20girlsmagazine.com. If this is the first time you’re hearing of us, welcome! The issue you’re looking at is the perfect chance to really see what you’ve been missing out on! Our magazine is fairly unique. Written by a volunteer staff of members of The D20 Girls Project, this quarterly publication grew from a 30 page magazine to a nearly 80 page magazine that brings in talented writers, artists, photographers and models who all have one thing in common, we’re all geeks and nerds. You won’t find random beauty tips, regular street fashion, and general romance advice in our pages or on our website, because you can find that anywhere. We may provide costume make up tips, and we have a writer who looks at how to take a character’s style and apply it to your street wardrobe, and you could even find ways to share your nerdy hobbies with your significant other, but we work hard to make that content unique and, above all, geeky. I hear you, I hear you, “That all sounds really girly...” but our content doesn’t stop there. We review games of all sorts, we talk about our favorite fandoms, and we discuss social issues hitting the industries we hold dear. We share what we love, and what we hate, and we’re still a constantly changing group. The past year has been a lot about learning more about who we are and what we want as a group, and while we’ve made a lot of great changes we know that we have more ground to cover. We expect the next year to be full of even more growth and change, and while this can sometimes be scary we hope that you’ll look upon it the same way that we do, with a great deal of hope. And that you’ll always keep on reading. And for goodness sakes, get out there and enjoy free comicbook day! You have to wait a whole year to enjoy it again! So don’t miss out! --Erika Litherland Editor in Chief FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

WHAT IS D20? The D20 Girls Project is a non-profit organization that combats the negative portrayal of women in geek culture by empowering women who identify as fans of various geek and nerd industries. The Project is committed to creating opportunities for women and strengthening the nerd community as a whole. WHAT ABOUT YOUNG GIRLS? While we do hope to be able to provide young nerd girls with positive role models, and often hold family friendly events, we are not an organization for children and not all of our events are appropriate for minors. To apply for The D20 Girls Project you must be at least 18 years of age. We do offer a mentor program, which allows girls who are at least 16 to apply with parental consent. They will then be paired with a mentor and allowed to attend appropriate events with us. DO YOU ALLOW TRANSGENDER WOMEN? Yes! HOW DO I JOIN? Website: Under Construction Facebook: Facebook.com/D20GirlsProject Email: Info@D20Girls.org Phone: 1-877-646-0010

WE FOCUS ON FOUR KEY PURPOSES: 1. Support Network To Promote, support and empower women who identify as fans of various nerd industries. 2. Community Outreach To strengthen the geek and nerd community as a whole through volunteer work, community outreach events, and cross-promotion. 3. Public Perception To humanize female geeks and nerds by countering negative stereotypes and unrealistic portrayals of women in geek culture. 4. Personal Development To open doors for our active girls personally and professionally, offering learning opportunities and experience in various field. DO YOU DO MODELING ANYMORE? The D20 Girls project used to be a home for nerd modeling and promotional modeling. As our organization grew, we realized that we were growing in two different directions. Division 20 was created to take over the responsibilities of helping models grow their portfolios and finding them promotional work, while we became focused on community outreach. Division 20 is an affiliate organization of ours, but we function independently. You can be in both, but you are not required to be in both.

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

WHAT IS DIVISION 20? Division 20 is a nationwide modeling, talent and event management service. Our main focus is ‘Geek Girls’ and the “Geek Industries’ Including but not limited to anime, all varieties of gaming electronic and non-electronic, Comic Books, sciencefiction, steampunk, and many more similar fandoms and genres. WHAT CAN IT DO FOR PEOPLE? We specialize in providing models and other talents to various clients in the ‘Geek Industries’. This includes but not limited to trade show booth staffing, convention staff, product/catalog photo shoots, awards presenters, street teams, voice over actresses, retail demonstrations, costume characters and more. For the members of Division 20 we provide the service of finding and securing jobs and paid gigs in varying fandoms, locations, and events. This aids the members in building up their portfolios and gaining more experience in areas that tend to be a little more difficult to get into.

WHAT CAN PEOPLE EXPECT FROM IT? Our company prides itself on the professionalism and knowledge of the gaming & comic book industries. We not only provide quality results for our clients when it comes to providing dependable, professional, and knowledgeable models and other talents but we also provide satisfactory and safe jobs and opportunities for the members of Division 20.

WHAT ARE THE GOALS? Our goals are simply to provide the industries that we love with knowledgeable and real ‘geek girls’ to promote the products and services of this industry; to offer these services at an affordable cost to the small businesses and retailers that make up the foundation of this industry. HOW DO I JOIN? Contact Division 20 via Website: Division20.com Facebook: Facebook.com/Division20 E-mail: Director@Division20.com Phone: 1-877-646-0010 x102

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

CATCH US IF YOU CAN!

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

NATIONAL D20 DAY Once a year we take a whole day to recognize our members for everything they do in their states! We work hard, we have fun, we make friends and we promote a positive image of what it’s really like to be a nerdy girl! And on June 20th, we like to stop and say THANK YOU to each of our managers, girls, and the fans who keep supporting us! Since last year, we’ve started our transition, moving us officially forward as a non-profit and started to restructure our organization to better reflect what we want to become. We have a long way to go, but we’re so proud of the work that’s being done!

Photos by Chiki Photography

We hope that you’ll join us in celebrating The D20 Girls Project on National D20 Girls Day by sharing your favorite D20 Girls memories with #nationald20day or making your own ‘I Love D20’ picture to share with us, and checking in on both local and our national fanpage to see what exciting events you can take part in with us!

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

NEWB’S GUIDE TO THE MULTIVERSE:

On Being Arthur Dent

By Amanda Baldwin

Warning: This article pokes fun at your life, universe, and everything, but don’t panic, it’s mostly harmless!

mention that human beings, who are almost unique in having the ability to learn from the experience of others, are also remarkable for their apparent disinclination to do so.

When I first put my theme together, I characterized myself as an ever-newb. A curious collusion of cataclysmic happenings and personal circumstances has led me to leading a life that is quite uniquely common. I am allowed to claim this special paradoixcal privilege, on the premise that since everyone is unique...no one is. It is the same conflict that every human faces: being just smart enough to realize both the problems of the human condition AND our complete inability to do anything about it. Not to

So, of course you’ve got to do something. And that’s how you end up laying down in front of the two ton machine about to knock down your house. The hard lesson is that even if you save your house, someone is bound to blow up your planet, all over a paperwork error and an apathetic city council that insists on building a bypass that no one really wants. Perhaps the incompetence of humans is why so many people turn to religion, or, the structured belief that what is happening is ultimately Somebody Else’s Fault. Whatever your religion, whether it be a dusty old one that you keep on a top shelf in the garage or a new shiny model that you just got and insist on showing all of your friends, it isn’t really helping. On the topic of religion, suffice to say: in the beginning the

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE WINTER 2014

Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move. Science is certainly making a Dent, but it’s sort of like scooping a cup of water out of the ocean and yelling out ‘I’ve got this one!’ Every time a scientist discovers something, they are also adding to the ten light year long list of things we’ve yet to figure out. I personally am convinced that every bit of our bits is made up of a smaller bit which is in turn are made up of something smaller, which may or may not contain tiny robots. Though I spend too much time in psuedo version of deep thought. So, what have we got so far, among the religious zealots and radical atheists? Well, honestly it’s a big mush of extraordinary genius and naive incompetence, and it is often difficult to tell which is which. Not to mention how many awful people you get the profound lack of pleasure not to be able to avoid meeting. The chances of finding out what’s really going on in the universe are so remote, the

only thing to do is hang the sense of it and keep yourself occupied. Some people find satisfaction in putting down others. Yet you could visit every person in the universe, in alphabetical order, from the beginning of time till the end of it all, and you probably aren’t going to be satisfied. Not to mention the odds of you repeating someone are just astronomical, especially when you account for tricky time travelers, alternate dimensions and how many people are named Jane. There are some pleasures, though. At least you weren’t created randomly and only exist for sufficient time to become self aware enough to care when you splat into mush on a foreign planet. Nor do you have the computing power and pessimism of certain sour androids I could mention. Me, I prefer drinking. Anything that makes me feel like having my brains smashed out with a slice of lemon wrapped round a large gold brick does me just fine when I get to thinking of how peanuts I am to the size of space. After all the daunting facts are laid out, if you are still serious about working things out, you’ve got to get out there and make some mistakes. You need to trip and fall and manage to miss the earth completely. Only then will you learn how to fly.

Mistakes are life, and you’ve got to find yours. Find your droll, common, divine purpose and love it for every little nonsensical detail. It is yours and it’s not like anyone else’s, even if it’s perfectly identical. Go kiss forty-two people and hate every minute of it. One of them’s bound to teach you something. You live and learn.... at any rate, you live. Make your mistakes proudly, with the full knowledge that someone else has made bigger, more awful ones than you. For example: It is a mistake to think you can solve any major problems just with potatoes Set some deadlines for yourself. Everyone needs something to keep themselves motivated. Then relax and enjoy the wooshing sound they make as they go by. Know, KNOW for certain, even if it isn’t true, that you may have not gone where you intended to go, but you have ended up where you needed to be. Life... is like a grapefruit. It’s orange and squishy, and has a few pips in it, and some folks have half a one for breakfast. Find a hole that fits you well and be happy. Spend some time mucking about in the water and having a good time. Has this article been confusingly wandersome? Well of course it has. Being Arthur Dent is being a creature created in the mind

of the great Douglas Adams (also, I wrote it backwards). Through it all I have found one major lesson in his works: Things are weird and strange. Before you were born, they were weird and strange. After you pass on, no matter what changes you make to the world, it will remain weird. Also strange. There is a theory which states that if ever anyone discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened. There’s not really any conclusively correct way of coping with it all, except to just live. And laugh. And don’t forget: Don’t Panic. Points if you can count how many direct or hidden references and sneaky Adams quotes there are contained in this article! Hint: It’s less then 42. 42 should be the answer, but I simply didn’t have the room!

Amanda Baldwin is a regular staff writer for The D20 Girls Magazine and an active D20 Girl in the Idaho/Washington area.

WINTER 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

From Goldielocks to GoldieBlox,

Creating Load Bearing Dreams Through Story By: Stephanie Hull

In September, 2012, 29 year old Stanford Engineer Debbie Sterling launched an innovative toy: a construction set with story book designed to catch the interest of young girls. She called her creation “GoldieBlox” after the main character of the book she write to add an interactive element to the engineering toy genre. What specifically sets the $30 GoldiBlox apart from toys like Lincoln Logs, Tinker Toys or the classic Erector Set is the purposeful introduction of the basic principles of engineering contained within each story: the girl (aimed at the 5-9 year set) reads the story and builds along with Goldie,learning about

wheels, axles, pulleys, force and friction. The pieces will interact with subsequent books to facilitate creativity. “Growing up, I was always intimidated by the word, “engineering,” says Sterling. “I thought it was just for boys. I’m creating GoldieBlox so that girls, from a young age, can learn that engineering is for them too. By incorporating a female role model character, storylines girls can relate to and a sense of humor, GoldieBlox will lessen the intimidation factor and get girls excited about building.” In short, she set out specifically to assist in acquiring the spatial thinking skills necessary for a career in engineering. Sterling is no stranger to strong female role models. Her grandmother was one of the first female cartoonists and one of the creative minds behind “Mr. Magoo.” With that background, it should come as no surprise that she wrote and illustrated the prototypes for the books herself. Once she had the concept, she set up a Kickstarter (an online threshold pledge system for funding creative projects) account, raising more that a quarter million dollars in a month. Using that funding, she produced the first book

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and toy, “GoldieBlox and the Spinning Machine,” selling out the first run-set for February 2013 release in less than a month. Her company, appropriately named “GoldieBlox, Inc.,” started taking orders for the second run, due out in April 2013. Currently available only in hardcopy, Sterling plans to release the books for the iPad and iPhone, complete with narration and animation. GoldieBlox has it all: a curious and relatable female character, an intelligent and creative designer and a firm grasp in how to attract females to a field traditionally dominated by males. It won the Editor’s Choice Award at the World Maker Faire in September, the very month of its first release. The toy can be preordered through Debbie Sterling’’s website, www. GoldieBlox.com. After all, as the website says, “Engineers are solving some of the biggest challenges our society faces. They are critical to the world economy, earn higher salaries and have greater job security. And they are 89% male. We believe engineers can’t responsibly build our world’s future without the female perspective. We are here to bring the female voice into engineering.”

WINTER 2013 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

MEET THE MANAGERS Meet the members of our national staff and our current state managers! If you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see your state here, contact us! We have girls in 70% of the United States, and are currently hiring for new state managers to help lead them! If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re interested in learning more, or applying, you can find us on facebook at facebook.com/TheD20GirlsProject or email us at info@d20girls.org.

Executive Director Jenica Human Resource Director Erika Youth Program Director Elizabeth Social Media Coordinator Laurelin

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

Alabama Karen Arizona Stephanie Arkansas Tiffany California J.C. The Carolinas Brittney Georgia Madison Hawaii Bethany Idaho + Washington Alexandra Illinois Jacqueline Indiana Susan FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

Kansas + Missouri Tara Kentucky Lola Louisiana Andrea Maryland Melissa Ohio Jenna Oregon Amanda Tennesse Megan Texas Jazmine Virginia Rachel Wisconsin Amanda

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE WINTER 2013

WINTER 2013 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

BLOOD WIND Walls. There is little to hope for in what’s left of the world, other than the walls. Thick, stone, solid walls. Out in the desert, they lie in wait. Waiting for the walls to crumble in the hot wind. People cower behind the walls, knowing that the safety they provide only serves to stave off the inevitable. We are beaten. Those who remain simply wait for the death that lurks in the shadows. The walls are crumbling, grains of sand shearing off in the winds and swirling away to rejoining their fellows in the dunes. It is only a matter of time. Those who wait will kill us all, if we don’t first destroy ourselves here, in this last bastion of what used to claim to be humanity. Even now, people kill one another in the stony streets over crusts f bread, or the rats that tried to make off with them. There is no hope in onlooking eyes. Everyone knows that next time, it could be them. Killer or victim, it makes no difference. Living has no meaning, and those who thinks it does are insane. Down a sun-beaten lane, peddlers hopelessly hawk goods, precious jewels, heavy golden chains, fine silks that hold no worth now. Trinkets cannot feed a starving mouth, and the prices of figs and nuts are too high. People wrapped in rags lie against the thick sandstone walls here, skin stretched tight over too-prominent bones, waiting for death to take them, indistinguishable from those who have had that last desire answered. Huddled against a wall, a glassblower cringes, his shirt

almost blinding in its whiteness, a sharp contrast to the filth and decay of his surroundings. Cody. A voice whispers in his mind, echoes of a past he cannot remember. Cody. Yes. That was his name, once. Cody, get up. What was the point? There was no getting away, no escape. “No escape,” the words passed cracked lips, voice a strangled tearing of sound, dry and broken from lack of use. How long had it been since he’d spoken? “No escape.” A clinking, and sun-seared eyes searched out the source of the sound. The man knew he was mad, his mutterings to the voice only served to prove it, so the image in front of him held no surprise. A perfect slice of watermelon, ruby red and glistening, beckoned to him. Mouth aching from the inability to produce saliva, the man shook his head. Just another hallucination. They came more frequently now, luring him deeper into his own nightmares. Closing his eyes, he leaned back against the wall, sand scraping and bouncing off his back on its way to the ground. No, Cody. You have to get up. Why wouldn’t the voice leave him alone? Was it not bad enough that he was dying alone in this squalor? Opening a weary eye, he sighed. The fruit was still there, sun sparkling off of the dripping liquid like diamonds. “You’d best eat it, boy,” the man leaned out a square hole that had been carved from the line of buildings, all the same stone as the walls. He leered at the glassblower, golden tooth gleaming, then gestured toward the melon. “They’ll kill you for it, you know.”

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FALL 2013

By: Tara Watson No! Don’t do it! The voice took on a tone of command as he looked at it. Head shaking, he pushed himself from the wall. “Not real,” he mumbled as the wind whipped tendrils of sand over the wall from the waiting desert. The scent of the fruit, juicy and clean and sweet, rode the wind as well, filling his senses even as he denied it. Without thought, he lurched toward it. NO! Unseeing, his hands found the fruit and he raised it before him. This close, the diamonds were liquid rubies, the red meat shining through the droplets. Through the hole, the man’s eyes shone with greed as he watched. Don’t do it, Cody! Stop! No, not greet... excitement. Expectation. The man paid him as little mind as the voice, the pull of the redness in front of him too much to resist. He lifted it to his lips, ruby water dripping like blood as he bit down. NOOOOooooo! The voice fled as the wind howled over the wall, carrying gold-tooth’s victorious cackle throughout the city. Any hope that had remained vanished with the wind. All motion, all semblance of living, stopped in its place as the people completely gave themselves over. I was the end. On his knees, against the walls, one man’s white shirt gleamed in the harsh sun. Red blood flowed from his mouth and hands as he devoured the last of the fruit, dooming all. Out in the desert, those who waited stirred. Now was the time. It was the end.

FALL 2013 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

D20 GIRLS OUT AND ABOUT

Right Top: Kansas/Missouri at Super Nerd Night Right Bottom: Tennessee at Marble City 2014 Below: Texas

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

Left: Idaho/Washington Below: Carolinas

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE

D20 GIRLS OUT AND ABOUT CONT.

Right: Idaho/Washington Below: Representatives from multiple states at Escapist Expo

D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014

Left: Illinois Below: Kansas/Missouri

FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2014 D20 GIRLS MAGAZINE