Two years ago last night I hit the hay early, knowing that there wasn’t anything constructive that I could do for the soon to be live website that me and Jamie Frevele had been slaving over for a straight two weeks, and that I’d have a long day ahead of me. That long day was followed by a lot more, and now it’s been a spectacular two years since we launched. We quite literally would not be here without you guys.

Lemme take a look at what’s happened since our last birthday…

We’ve already let you know what our most talked about and most popular posts of 2012 are. But as the people who write all those stories you read, we at The Mary Sue have to admit that we have favorites of our own. They might not have garnered page after page of comments or tons of hits, but darnit, we like ‘em. So now, in our final roundup of 2012, we’ve let our biases out to play to share with you our Favorite Articles of 2012.

Here’s to a geek-tastic 2013!

Yesterday we gave you our most commented on posts of 2012, but most commented on is not the same as most popular. And by popular we mean looked at. The number of time a specific URL was visited. And what holds true on the internet holds true here: people like galleries (as long as they’re not too annoying). So without further ado, here’s the ten most viewed posts we wrote this year. We would have had to go to twelve to reach a post that didn’t have a gallery of some kind in it (although that post would have been the announcement of The Casual Vacany, J.K. Rowling‘s first post-Harry Potter novel).

We’ve had quite the year here at The Mary Sue. Looking back on it now, we can say without any snarkiness, it was a great one. Part of that has to do with all of you, the folks who visit our site daily to participate in (usually) engaging conversations. When we post an article, we hope it garners discussion, even if that discussion is about how much Peter Jackson must have spent on shampoo for The Hobbit or how hilarious tap dancing zombies are. Some posts never get any comments (and how sad they must be) but others take on a life of their own when a particular topic gets readers talking whether the topic was controversial or not. We like it when things remain civil and do our best to step in when they don’t, but it’s always interesting to see different perspectives. Here now are our Top 10 Most Talked About Stories of 2012 on The Mary Sue.

The month of December means one thing for everybody, regardless of what particular end of the year holiday they celebrate. Namely, that’s it’s the end of the year, and everybody’s got to get a new calendar and start teaching their muscle memory how to write the date again. You should all be comforted to know that The Mary Sue is here for you in these troubling times. Starting today, you’re going to have a chance to win one of four Hark! A Vagrant 2013 calendars featuring the art of Kate Beaton. We’ve got two copies of Drawn and Quarterly’s There She Blows and Beethoven Birthday Party for folks in North America. Read on for some sample pics and entering info!

Last week we announced that we were taking submissions of creative stuff inspired by Blade Runner and made by fans for a contest where the grand prizes were none other than some very impressive 30th anniversary collectors edition Blu-ray sets of the movie. And now that the entries have been sent, received, and thrown up on our Facebook wall, we’ve reached the second phase of operations: You guys get to decide who wins. Here’s how.

Still in shopping mode today? We can’t blame you. Having done most of our Christmas purchasing online today, we’re still very much in the zone. If you’re in the same boat, we’d urge you to take a minute and check out the online store over at SportsGrid.

Sit awhile and let your humble managing editor tell you the tale of the Mary Sue/Her Universe Meetup that was crazy awesome. It began in tragedy: an unexpected and last minute change in location! Would anyone see the tweets? Check the updated post? Get frustrated and give up on the party entirely?

It’s true! We’re coming to New York Comic Con 2012 and we want to meet you! What better way to do that then by hosting a party with HerUniverse.com‘s Ashley Eckstein, voice of Ahsoka Tano in Star Wars: The Clone Wars! Want to join us? Hit the jump to find out how! 

As you may have heard, our beloved Jamie Frevele has left us, and while that’s sad for us, it might mean something exciting for you. The Mary Sue is seeking a brand new kick-ass employee to help keep the site running! This is not like our usual intern postings: it’s for a permanent position.

“Hold on,” you say, darting your eyes about confusedly. “What’s ‘The Mary Sue?’” UPDATE: We have currently closed submissions after receiving a staggering amount of applications! We’re currently trying to give them all a pass before we move on to the interview stage, so please bear with us.