Project: Fight like a Girl

Project: Fight like a Girl- a two of a kind (the second of which is my personal copy) large-scale print of my piece "Fight like a Girl" signed by 50 members, past and present, of the cast and crew behind the My Little Pony cartoon, books, and comics. Included with a purple velvet mat and a sleek black frame to tie it all together. Raised $2,000 at the BronyCon 2014 Charity auction to benefit CureSearch!

Allow me to provide some backstory and insight on the piece (I apologize for length, but this piece means a lot to me)- a few months ago, I was approached by kefkafloyd  and asked if I would be willing to create a piece for International Women's Day as part of a content boost. As a feminist and also someone who likes to spread positive messages, I was totally all for it. As I'm sure a lot of you know, it kind of took off a lot better than I expected. It won in the WLF competition for starters and from my observation, it's more importantly resonated with girls of all ages (and guys too for that matter, which is freaking fantastic!) I can't even begin to tell you guys how happy it makes me when a little girl tells me how much she loves that piece. Kefkafloyd graciously offered to do a single large-scale print of it for me, when I was struck by an idea. I asked him if he would make a second one, that we could have signed by the voice actresses of the mane six and auctioned at BronyCon. During BABSCon, thanks to the efforts of charity staff, the charity print was signed by Tara Strong, Andrea Libman, and Ashleigh Ball, with Tabitha St. Germain's signature expected to be requested at BronyCon since she was in attendance.

But why stop there?

I couldn't help but wonder how far we could take this project- why not make a statement on the power of a positive, empowering feminist message and the amazing things it can accomplish and contribute to? If you believe in a positive message so strongly, wouldn't you take a chance to show what it can do? And what better way to demonstrate a positive impact than raise money for charity- CureSearch for Children's Cancer?

BABSCon was winding down, and I asked Jim Miller if he would potentially be willing to do me a huge favor and bring the two posters back to DHX Vancouver- after all, there's plenty of amazing folks who work on the show, but it's rare for us to have the opportunity to meet them. I was curious to see who we could get on board with this. Jim agreed to bring it back and see what he could do. (And I totally gave him a huge hug at BronyCon.) About a week and a half later, it was back in my possession and with a CRAZY amount of signatures and a list of who he had sign it and what they do on My Little Pony. I was floored! Seriously, I teared up a bit at the sight of it- I couldn't believe what I was holding. I think it was at that moment that I realized this could be huge.

Over the previous months, it's been making the rounds to FanimeCon, TrotCon, and Everfree Northwest, collecting more and more signatures from anyone and everyone involved with My Little Pony. At one point I wanted to bring it to San Diego Comic Con in hopes of a couple more signatures, but was hit with the news that I had to accompany my dad on a trip that weekend to assist him with a court case. On the small chance that it would happen, I sent the two posters to Karen aka glittering-pony , who some of you might remember as the con chair of Equestria LA (and she's freaking amazing.) But when we found out that Lauren Faust wasn't scheduled for any panels or signings this year, hope seemed lost on that front.

In a last-ditch effort, I contacted Bronies for Good and asked if they had a way to contact Lauren. They said it was a slim chance that she would respond, but gave me the email they had on file for her. I sent her a message explaining the project, included a photo, and hoped for the best.

Imagine my shock when she replied early the next morning.

Imagine my ADDITIONAL shock when she told me she was willing to arrange a quick meetup to sign it.

Imagine my disappointment when I was an 8+ hour drive away and couldn't be there myself! Haha, but oh well- hopefully our paths will cross another day.

Immediately I got in touch with Karen to relay the message, and she agreed that it was doable. Hence all my vague freaking out on Twitter. I was over the moon! Still kind of over the moon, honestly! Lauren Faust herself signed this piece. And oh man, front and center and in gold! Talk about perfect. What started as a "what if" project went way above and beyond my wildest expectations.

"Holy crap" doesn't even BEGIN to accurately express my disbelief, as you all can probably guess! But there's so many that have contributed- it's amazing, and it makes me get all sappy every time I look at it.

So without further ado, here is a list of everyone that signed the poster prior to the auction:
Lauren Faust - creative stewardess
Jim Miller - co-director
Jayson Thiessen - co-director
Tara Strong - voice of Twilight Sparkle
Andrea Libman - voice of Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy
Ashleigh Ball - voice of Applejack and Rainbow Dash
Tabitha St. Germain - voice of Rarity, Princess Luna, Granny Smith
Cathy Weseluck - voice of Spike
Nicole Oliver - voice of Princess Celestia and Cheerilee
Peter New - voice of Big Macintosh
Michelle Creber - voice of Apple Bloom
Claire Corlett - voice of Sweetie Belle
Ingrid Nilson - voice of Maud Pie
Rebecca Shoichet - voice of Sunset Shimmer and singing voice of Twilight Sparkle
Kazumi Evans - singing voice of Rarity and Princess Luna
Maryke Hendrikse - voice of Gilda
Michael Dobson - voice of Bulk Biceps
Michael Dangerfield - voice of Braeburn
Chantal Strand - voice of Diamond Tiara
Ishi Rudell - co-director of Equestria Girls
Daniel Ingram - composer
Devon Cody - producer
Kristen Newlands - executive producer
Terry Klassen - voice director
Tim Packford - storyboard supervisor
Sabrina "Sibsy" Alberghetti - storyboard artist
Nicole Wang - storyboard artist
Cory Toomey - storyboard artist
Rebecca Dart - character designer and art director
Phil Caesar - background designer
Melinda See - layout coordinator
Steph Mahoney - layout supervisor
Chris Leionen - layout supervisor
Matt Herring - layout supervisor
Kat Stenson - layout artist
Ken Chu - animation director
Steve Wedel - animation director
Lesley Crawford - production manager
Adam McGhie - sound engineer
Rex Liwangi - animation revisionist
Rachel Kenzie - editor
M.A. Larson - writer
G.M. Berrow - writer
Josh Haber - writer
Andy Price - comic book artist
Katie Cook - comic book writer
Heather Breckel - comic book colorist
Tony Fleecs - comic book artist
Georgia Ball - comic book writer
Heather Nuhfer - comic book writer

Goodness, I hope I didn't miss anyone! I can't even begin to express how much this piece means to me and how amazed and thrilled I am that it did so much good. Huge thanks to Dan, Karen, Jim, Lauren, and everyone else who's had even a small part of getting this piece to where it is now!