Wil Wheaton had a panel at the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo over the weekend and something extra wonderful came out of it. A mother asked Wheaton to tell her newborn daughter (via video to be watched later in life) why being a nerd is awesome. He hits just about every point I try to hit when someone asks me what it means to be a nerd – it’s not what you love, it’s how you love it. We’ll allow Wheaton to explain further…

(via Laughing Squid)

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Earlier this week we reported on a few new scripted series coming soon to the Syfy channel but the network also has a few reality shows in the works you might be interested in. One centers on cosplayers, the other is basically the Real World with geeks.

We’ve previously confirmed the United States has the geekiest administration in history but earlier today we found out we might have been duped! President Barack Obama is not a “real” geek as we assumed but a horrifying Fake Geek Girl!! While speaking on his sequester plan, the President was asked why he can’t force Republicans and Democrats to cooperate by locking them all in a room together. He replied, “The fact that they don’t take it means that I should somehow do a Jedi Mind Meld with these folks and convince them to do what’s right.” Big mistake, Mr. President. But the White House was quick to respond with the above image tweeted from their official Twitter account and www.WH.gov/JediMindMeld smartly redirects to “What You Need To Know About The Sequester.”

(via Geekosystem)

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Our friend Ashley Eckstein of HerUniverse.com has dubbed 2013 the Year of the Fangirl! To celebrate, they’ll be highlighting a different fangirl every day and she’s looking for your help finding them. Take a look at the introductory video above, there’s a few rules but you can find out more and nominate someone at HerUniverse.com.

(via The Bird and the Bat)

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I had a disquieting thought while gaming the other night. I had started to play Secret of Mana, a Christmas gift from a friend determined to catch me up on old-school cartridge classics (I was a PC kid). Secret of Mana is not an easy game, but the story is kid-friendly fare, and the cutesy, cartoonish monsters wouldn’t be out of place in a Pokémon lineup. I was digging it — hard — but after I gleefully called to my partner that the game world used a cannon-based transportation system, the thought appeared. See, for months, I’ve been immersed in commentary on why games have yet to gain mainstream recognition as an important, culturally relevant, adult medium. Yet there I sat, bloodlessly whacking chubby yellow bunnies with my pixelated sword.

And I wondered: do I need to grow up?

Ohhh, so this is why everyone is so scared of the “Fake Geek Girl.” I get it now. Totally legit problem we absolutely need to do something about. But seriously, Patrick Willems does a great job at poking fun at the controversy, and uses some real internet comments to do it. (We’ve seen a similar take on this before actually.)

(via Slate)

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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.

I’ve been telling myself to stay out of this debate. I’ve been assuring myself that any time spent reading rants, posts, and their circular comments will only make me feel resentful and defensive. I tell myself that the fight is over and no one won. I rationalize that only a few people are ruining it for the rest of us and therefore, those few should just be ignored. I vow to stop drawing attention to this ridiculous creature, to stop reinforcing the idea that the “Fake Geek Girl” exists.

“Why don’t you just drop it?” “Why can’t you take a joke?” “Why aren’t you over this?” I ask myself these things too.

The truth is, I don’t know.

You might recognize Nerdache Cakes as the the young woman whose confectionary treats we feature here frequently, from an incredible birthday cake based on Gurihiru’s Baby Avengers, a set of Gotham City character cookies, to an entire cake based on one piece Avengers fanart drawn by Adventure Time‘s Natasha Allegri. In response to an anonymous poster who decided that this wasn’t enough evidence that she genuinely enjoyed the things she spent hours recreating in dough and fondant, she has created a gift for all of us.

I’m sure it will completely fix the “fake geek girl” “problem” forever. In the meantime…

I won’t say this comic from Jemma Salume is better than the one we posted last week from Meghan Danger, but it wins for illustrating exactly what artist Tony Harris seemed to be accusing certain cosplayers of in his recent Facebook rant. In the most literal, comedic way possible. Hit the jump to find out what happens when this “Fake Geek Girl” preys on the unsuspecting, “Super Mang” reading dude at VeldtCon.