• I'm a junior in high school, and as you can tell by the fact I frequently check TR, a huge nerd to boot. I'm in chess club, and I'm the only female there. Everyone kind of  just makes a joke out of it, but one time one of the guys jokingly said, "Are you sure you're a girl?" to which I responded, "I'm pretty sure." Some other guy randomly replied, "Do you want me to check for you?" What followed was a few good minutes of silence and awkwardness. I have no idea if he was joking or hitting on me.

• ...Dude. You need to stop being picky. So what if someone likes Anime/Manga? Are they only allowed to have just one interest? If they're super obsessed with it, I could understand how you would want to give them a wide berth, but if they like reading it occasionally and still are Nerdy to the max you should be able to overlook the fact that they like to dabble a bit in the Asian artworks. Have some tolerance for we ladies of Science and Manga, goodness!

• A bit late, but I gotta add the one time I ever tried a pick up line... "Hey Baby wanna see my network?" I was joking but it worked!

• Wow I thought I've heard it all, but this series of events-- the music, comic books, the stars, the SAMBA FROM BRAZIL(!), and Katamari Damacy FTW! Amazing story!

• Best: "WHOA--did someone set phasers to shunn-ning!?" (This wasn't even used on me-drats!) Worst: "Trigun or Claymore?" (This was asked to settle a dispute amoung two male anime-nerds after I revealed I knew what anime was). To male Topless Robot singles looking for a geek girl: listen to us! We drop hints-- small ones, littered all around. But we could never, in broad daylight tell others we are ---gasp---nerdy. Listen to us humming "Code Monkey" or quote an 80's movie, then you'll really know if you've found a catch. ;D

• Best: "WHOA--did someone set phasers to shunn-ning!?" (This wasn't even used on me-drats!) Worst: "Trigun or Claymore?" (This was asked to settle a dispute amoung two male anime-nerds after I revealed I knew what anime was). To male Topless Robot singles looking for a geek girl: listen to us! We drop hints-- small ones, littered all around. But we could never, in broad daylight tell others we are ---gasp---nerdy. Listen to us humming "Code Monkey" or quote an 80's movie, then you'll really know if you've found a catch. ;D

• I am reading this first before I see who the winners are, and I just want to say: Why do you all think T-Cake should win? It's written too much like actual prose. Unless you think T-Cake should be given a shirt for his/her (I'm still confused) fan fiction...in which case his post should be showcased on Friday. It doesn't deserve a shirt because I just get the sense that T-Cake made it up and in all probability is a guy and a real creeper at that....or maybe she just fooled me and so really does deserve that t-shirt?

• Reading these comments got me thinking about my own experiences. Bad/funny I was at a Scrabble Tournament and while looking at the leaderboards someone came up to me and said, "I work at NASA, do you like food"?

• yeah I was busy all weekend damn it. However, there are a few ties for the best: "You are shaped like every cartoon woman I've ever masturbated to" And not all that witty but effective is anytime a man has asked me to come over and play video games with him/have star wars marathons/b2f marathons/lost marathons/scifi marathons. Worst? It happens a lot. When I'm on multiplayer and finally speak up... everything stops suddenly and there is a chorus of "OMG, YOU'RE A GIRL?!?!" then I get a billion private messages asking me where I live and for a picture. NO.

• I know this is late, but...The boy I was starting to date was really excited that I had played video games in my wayward youth, that I had collected and played Magic, and that I thought that fencing was cool. He'd mentioned that he collected "toy" swords. After our first official date, we ended up at his place and with great pride, he pulled Cloud's Buster sword from FF VII out of his closet and started carefully swinging it around. My response was to laugh and say, "Put that away, you're really geeking me out." This could be the worst way to impress a girl, but it turned out to be one of the best, because I married him.

• I may be a geek, but I dress like the normal human that I pretend to be and am female/young. So this year at ComicCon, I was approached by a bearded man who stood WAAAAY too close to me, leaned in and whispered "Please tell me you're not just here for Twilight." And then he requested my phone number. I have never been more insulted! To be mistaken for a Twilight fan! I was not wearing a HotTopic "Team Edward" tee, I was not sparkling or blinking spastically or shrieking. I am neither thirteen and emo nor forty-five and lonely. In my world, vampires are bloodthirsty nocturnal killers, not dayloving glittery godlings. I wanted to stake that man then and there, Buffy-style. Worst. Come-on. Ever.

• Walnut, Hi, this is Anna Fischer and I am also a female cosplay photographer who does a how to talk to girls panel called 'how to talk to women at comic shops, anime conventions anywhere!'. I go to about 15 cons a year, but some how impossibly I have never met you. It seems likely that we're the same person from alternate time lines. Hit me up on flickr, coscom or lj. ~Anna walnut said: Oh, I have so many good ones it's ridiculous. I work as a cosplay photographer so I go to 10+ conventions a year, and I run into some INTERESTING folks. I even have a "how to talk to girls" panel I do with a couple people, and that has brought some interesting propositions. However, the best I can currently think of was during an 18+ hentai night at a convention. As we were waiting for the pr0n to begin, I was approached by a short, sweaty little man who was wiping his hands on his pants nervousely. He smiled bashfully at me, then opened his mouth and said... "I CAN SUCK MY OWN DICK." I was momentarily rendered speechless, whereupon my best friend jumped in and said "well I guess she doesn't need you, then!" Unperturbed, dick man proceeded to go into great detail about how he accomplished such a feat. I slinked away with unwanted images of him "walking down a wall". /shudder

• T-Cake FTW (FTL?)

• @zerocorpse: You are right. Anime is dumb. And, non-anime nerd girls exist. Keep looking.

• Boo, I had a busy weekend and didn't enter in time. Fortunately, I'm a secret geek and don't get awkward lines too often. I'll share anyways. I did go to a D&D day at my local comic shop last year. I usually hate going on that day but my husband wanted the extra discounts. I think it's the day when the store smells like rancid pepperoni. I was trying to find a new miniature for my character (I'm picky), and soon I hear this voice from above. I stand up and look down on this little Gimli of a man, complete with balding head and domicile beard (something could live in it). And he begins singing. Singing about my hair (which was red) and yes, rhyming it with fair and frolicking about my person. He also was uncomfortably close. I clutched my little miniature, turned beet red (as people began to look) and ran off, cowardly, to find my husband, who I clung to until we left. This year, I didn't go (surprise).

• @ExecutorElassus That was rather nice for you to apologize on behalf of all men; but I don't blame/hate the male gender (for that one incident that happened) just that one guy in particular. @monkeypicked "I had enough of the judgement and sneering in high school to deal with, I'm sure we can all agree that we don't need it as adults." That is so true.

• Probably my BEST could unfortunately also be subtitled "UGH! Why Didn't I Clue In At The Time?!!!" I blame my obtuseness on having a bad day. I'd really been looking forward to taking the pile of gift cards and cash I'd gotten for my birthday and going on an all out nerdy shopping spree cumulating a mini-marathon of my recently aquired treasures. Except after searching numerous places I was having NO luck finding anything I wanted to spend my precious hoard on. And on top of that it had started to rain. So I was cold, wet, tired and disappointed. But since I was passing it anyways on the way home I decided to stop into a Jumbo Video to see what they had for sale. I <i>finally</i> scored and walked up to the counter to pay for a copy of Farscape: PeaceKeeper Wars (because Farscape = BEST SHOW EVER). Oh - did I mention I happened to be wearing a homemade replica of John Crichton's duster? As my normal coat? So the slightly hefty but otherwise decently looking guy at the counter looks at the DVD and says "You know, if you're interested in saving some cash I'm pretty sure we've got a few copies of this in the previously viewed section. Then it would only be $9 instead of $20. The discs are in good shape - there's just a small white sticker on the top where our logo used to be." Me: "Oh? I didn't really see one. That's ok though I'll just take this." Him: "Just give me two secs. I'm sure I can find it." And he comes out from behind the counter and into the aisle. Eagerly comes back in a moment with another copy. Me (as he's wringing me through): "Thanks. That's very nice of you" Him (with a big smile): "Farscape's a great show." Me: "Yes it is. I went to a Farscape con, got to meet some of the cast - they're fantastic [although I neglected to mention that Ben Browder sat on my lap]. The behind the scenes feature for Peacekeeper Wars is hilarious." However due to dampened spirits I'm only giving this conversation 1/100th of the enthusiasm I normally would. I take my DVD and leave. Didn't occur to me till days later that he was probably subtly flirting - letting me know he was a geek AND saving me some cash at the same time. Or, if he wasn't flirting, and it was just one Scaper doing a favor for another, that at least with the ice broken this would have been the perfect opportunity for ME to start flirting. D'OH! I tend to miss these subtle clues enough that my sister actually said to me one time, as we were on our way out to see the opening night of X-Men 2: "If any decent looking guy knows that a) you are wearing an American Guyver t-shirt and b) that it is NOT random chance you are wearing this to the opening X2 then MARRY HIM IMMEDIATELY. You'll have found your geekish soulmate."

• &#64; Whip Cracka G1 Devastator, of course. ;)

• It seems that nerd flirting is binary (0/1): 1 = getting married, 0=spending ten years trying to figure out what went wrong. Most nerd pickups I read here and worked ended in marriage and multiplication......

• Rob is seriously going to have his work cut out for him trying to choose the winner on this. Good luck all you ladies and thank you for the great reads. Nice to see so many geeky ladies out and about!

• I've been reading TR for awhile now and I feel compelled to finally post, but this is so far one of my favorite posts. Its still odd to see the large number of responses. Plz continue ladies:)

• &#64;ZeroCorpse Really man, really? I mean yeah, there are girls out there that obsess about manga/anime but there are an equal number of boys that do too... are you snubbing your nose at them as well? And what would we be without our obsessions? I consider myself a pretty nerdy girl, I do my best not to judge though. If you like nerdy/geeky things, rock on with your bad self... Feel good about who you are and make other nerd/geeks feel good about themselves. I had enough of the judgement and sneering in high school to deal with, I'm sure we can all agree that we don't need it as adults. I love all Nerds... really. I'm an equal oppertunity Nerd Lover. Even you ZeroCorpse... even you <3

• Ok, I know I am a little late (I'm on the West Coast) but I can't help but enter this one. The Worst: I am sitting at GenCon with three of my friends a few years back. We were in-between table top game sessions and we were killing time playing MTG, when this rather bold chap walks up to our table with a friend, stops dead in front of me, drops to his knees, clutches his chest and loudly proclaims "You can't possibly exist!" Taken aback and getting meaningful amused stares from my friends, I ask him why I can't possibly exist, and he stated that in his reality beautiful girls did not attend GenCon and play Magic. He then asked if he could take my picture as "no one back home was going to believe him." I relented and let him have his picture although I did not leave my seat. Then, amidst the snickering of my group he asked me very seriously if I would attend the R.A. Salvatore panel with him (this strange boy who had not even introduced himself yet), I very nicely let him know that I was planning to go with my friends to the miniature painting contest, to which he replied I "could paint his mini anytime," and ran off. My friends still tease me that my picture is on a ceiling somewhere. The Best: Senior year of college, the snarky, abrasive, adorable, nerdy guy (Who now looks a little like my favorite Doctor) came up to me noticing my Misfits beanie, and said "so you like the Misfits?" which turned out to be the lead into a four hour conversation about the awesomeness of B Movies, Army of Darkness, Bruce Campbell, Riki-Oh: The Story of Riki, books, music, video games, comics, etc. We have since embraced our mutual love of most things nerd, named pets after beloved Gaiman novels, and gotten married.

• I unfortunately have not had the pleasure of dating too many geeky girls. But some years ago I worked at a video rental place and this girl comes in for her interview wearing a vintage ghostbusters shirt. I convince the manager to hire her. We date for a little while, and one day she invites me over to her place to smoke a joint. I get over there and she asks if I want to smoke a Primo. I ask what that is and she replies "That's when you roll up the weed with some coke or crack in the middle. But I don't have any coke..." That was pretty much the end of that one. There was also a girl in college that invited me over to her place for pizza and SNES Mario Kart, which happens to be my all time favorite video game. I thought things were going great. We set up a date at my house for Halloween where we were going to watch scary movies all night. Except she never showed. Never answered her phone. Never came back to school. Just vanished without a word. Many terms later I found out that she didn't like her major so she quit school and moved back to Wyoming. I guess it was not meant to be. And for those who are suggesting that TR become a nerd dating site, there is this place: http://www.gk2gk.com/ Though I in no way endorse it. I've never used it, just seen it advertised on PVP. So users beware.

• The worst way was this guy trying to convince me that he was somehow the long lost Goth brother of The Crow. He even wore The Crow makeup and he carried a wooden stake, I don't know what wooden stakes had to do with The Crow but he told me it was so he could scare off high school kids. Oh and he also told me he once had a conversation with a dead Indian women…..I really wish I was making this up. He lost a bit of interest in me once I told him I thought The Crow was an alright movie. I mean…… if he wants to wear the makeup and talk to dead Indian spirits fine, as long as you're a nice boyfriend and you let me buy my stack of comics on Wednesdays I don't care, and honestly I would have given him a chance but he was too concerned with trying to convince me he was this really dark and mysterious guy. Morel of the story….don't try to be The Crown or Captain Jean-Luc Picard, or Wolverine or any one from final fantasy! Just be yourself and you will see that a nice girl will like you for the geek you are deep down inside.

• &#64;Dalf - thank you for that clarification. Anime isn't in itself a genre. It's an artistic form in which you have dozens of genres. I would hardly group something like Death Note into the same category as Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

• &#64; Zerocorpse "...Correct me if I'm wrong, but we ARE talking about the genre of tentacle rape..." ...Anime is a medium, not a genre. You like Superhero Comics, right? I could say that they're all crap because we ARE talking about the genre that coined the Women in Refrigerators term, the genre that gave us the cheap female knock-off problem (Supergirl? Spider-Woman?), and the genre that gave us the horribly convulted storylines with years of continuity and stupid marketing gimmicks that take money away from faithful readers and alienate potential newcomers. But that's not fair. Comics aren't bad just because of those things; those are problems and anomalies that shouldn't bother you if you follow the correct series. A lot of Marvel Comics are really good and entertaining. You see? That's the kind of generalization that makes your comment utterly näive (I don't think you're stupid, you read TR for crying out loud! Just näive.) And you DO SOUND extremely pretentious and full of yourself. First you rant about how all nerdy ladies like that inferior anime/whedon stuff, and then you rant about how you were misunderstood. It makes you sound elitist, and then anxious. You're a writer, Zero. A writer should express himself clearly from the beggining. Proofread your comments!

• I don't think I really encourage nerd pick-up lines. I'm a consummate geek girl, but I don't really wave my freak flag in public unless I find out that someone I'm with is already interested, so I normally just get the usual catcalls. That said, the last guy I dated figured out that I like anime, so...."Want to watch Inuyasha with me?" After a couple weeks of all anime, all the time, I was done. He didn't like gaming (my god!), scifi shows, Mystery Science Theatre, apocalypse jokes, astronomy, or comic books, either.

• Shit. The third para should read, That's a pretty pathetic excuse for disliking an entire genre.

• &#64; ZeroCorpse - so the fact that there is perverted anime means that anime as an art form is repulsive? That's funny, considering it's (1) usually equal opportunity as there is quite a lot of hentai involving dominant females, and (2) nowhere near what mainstream anime is about. There are a solid number of strong, good female leads in many shows, Rukia from Bleach comes immediately to mind. Last I checked, there's live action porn (as is MOST porn), so i guess that means all live action television is degrading to women, by your logic. That's a pretty pathetic excuse for Anyway I'm thoroughly enjoying this contest, girls. You give me hope.

• &#64;Rivka I'm not an "lol" kind of gal but seriously...lol. You're awesome.

• The Joker? MARK HAMILL's Joker? Psh. You are Calandar Man at best, sir!

• And sadly, nobody seems to get the dark sense of humor, either... Oh well. Nothing new there. Maybe if you would read my posts in the voice of Mark Hamill's Joker, or a foppish Oscar Wilde, you might not be so upset! Anyway. "Wicked pretentious" is my favorite one. I may be wicked, darling, and I may be pretentious, but I have never been "wicked pretentious" (or wicked anything. I'm nowhere near the east coast). But my thanks to the reasonable people who came back with solid answers, and especially the ones who confirmed that the non-otaku/non-Whedonit geek girls do exist. I guess it's largely a matter of luck and locale that has kept me from making friends of a similar mind. I do wish to address the charge that you like anime/Whedon because it's female-centric: You know, there's lots of non-Japanese, non-Whedon stuff that features female protagonists in a much better light, and frankly, the idea that anime or Whedon are pro-female sort of surprises me. Correct me if I'm wrong, but we ARE talking about the genre of tentacle rape, and the writer/producer who made a TV series about a woman who is essentially a mentally-reprogrammable whore... Right? If you ask me, both Japanese pop culture AND Joss Whedon are misogynistic to the Nth degree. Women in both are either victim, lesbian, or ballbuster. I see very few realistic, intelligent, strong women in anime or the Whedonverse. But that's my opinion. Honestly, I was just a little frustrated the other day from a combination of a broken arm, 90-degree weather, and a generally crappy day, and I just wrote a bit more than perhaps I should have. Still, it was interesting to see people pile on. I'm really *not* full of myself, and it's funny that anyone would think so. I love to write, and perhaps that comes off as a bit attention-whorish, but honestly; I'm a geek. My self-esteem just isn't capable of busting the meter. However, it's not so low that I'd lie about my interests to impress someone, either. In closing, this thread has been fun to read, and I'm sorry if I offended anyone; `Twas not my intent, but as I tend to be rather blunt at times, it's a rare person who can get through one of my curmudgeonly rants without mentally inserting an unintended tone of haughtiness and/or cruelty onto it. In fact, I'm not looking; I was only asking an honest question as dispassionately as I can, and the variety of answers-- not to mention the varying levels of offense-- gave me a lot of things to think about. The analytical geek in me is grateful for the data, while the D&D geek is making his saving throws and hoping none of you has any fire. Best of luck to the entrants. And Rob, I'm sorry for the minor threadjack; Please don't revoke my T-shirt!

• Good heavens, I had no idea. On behalf of, you know, dudes, I'm sorry. And I agree with Ender: you all sound completely awesome. *swoon*

• So, um, yeah, I gotta say that almost all of you women sound like fabulous girlfriend material. Rob is sitting on a gold mine of a dating website right now, and would be foolish not to start that up. Rob if you need help, let me know. Because if any of you amazing women live in Massachusetts, then my life is lesser for never having known you.

• liz! you had the best wedding ever!

• Yeah, this is one of the best reads ever. A came back a third day in a row to get more of these stories. I have to agree with several other commenters... T Cake FTW. Good lord! I had to take a shower after reading that story. I might have left me with a lesser feeling of ick had her book not sucked as well. For shame

• Not so much a pick-up as the flipside of one: I used a scenario from Gaiman's Sandman to explain to a guy that I couldn't change the fact that I didn't return his feelings. Given the context of the conversation, the reference was in fact appropriate, not just a random instance of nerdery. Also, once impressed a guy working the games section of Walmart by mentioning the three different game consoles my college roommate and I owned. I was flattered by his comment that, "If went to school with you, I would have hung out with you. And brought pizza."

• The oddest thing that happened to me in recent memory... I was waiting in line when this little nerd child, probably about 12 years old, comes up to me. He looks me straight in the eye, says "you want some of this?" and proceeds to seductively eat an apple... Successful? no. Hilarious? definitely.

• This has to be the best contest yet. Hilarious hearing all these great stories. Worst: "I can be your Edward." What.

• Some of the best pick-ups are sweet, though it's quite the opposite for the worst. I'm curious who's going to win because a lot of these entries are great. Also, it's David Garrett, not David Gale.

• I'm thinking this contest is just to flush the Gynerds and Sheeks out of hiding. The result I fear is inevitable. Thousands of Guy-nerds requesting Gamertags or sending out Guild invites. "Hey baby I'm Krazanus, Join my guild and I'll show you the ways of Spinebreaker mountin'"

• <p>My favorite failed geek pickup attempt was when me and some friends went to try out some DDR at the arcade. We're having a blast, failing fabulously in all our newbiness, when this crew of obvious "regulars", pimped out in giant soaking-wet sweat bands and sparkling just-for-DDR shoes, start making themselves known. They're booing and jeering and guffahing--we're amazed at what dicks they're being, the war was ON!</p> <p>So after what felt like an endless match of death looks and insults, we decide to pack it in and leave these meanies to their sad domain. But lo and behold, after all that abuse, they clunk on over and stammer "...so, now that we've got you beat, can we get your digits?"</p> <p>Thanks, DDR boys; that was one of the most entertaining crash n'burn pick-up attempts I've ever been party to!</p>

• During the time that Yugioh cards were in; my friend and I (Both female) would stop by and visit the local comic book store. We went there mainly to play Yugioh matches with each other and to talk about the Yugioh anime that was currently airing on tv. So this guy (who is around our age) comes over to talk with us. You would think that since we are in a comic store already that the guy might choose to talk about comics, anime,collectable ccg/trading cards or other various geeky things. But no; he proceeds to tell us about this great movie he saw called 'Jason X' and then begins to tell us about this 'awesome' scene where a woman is brutally murdered in graphic detail. And even though it is apparent by our responses that we don't want to hear any more about it; he just won't shut up and continues talking about it.

• T-Cake out of all of these that might be the most creepy and blatant descriptions of how weird nerds can get. Being a male nerd I do not condone such acts...if you choose a winner rob consider hers because...wow...he pulled down his pants in public!

• Best. Thread. Ever. This has been an awesome, horrifying, and intriguing read!

• This is also the man who, one Valentine's Day, took an entire box of Batman valentines and hid them all around the house with little romantic messages on them. :) Oh, and one other geeky bit about our wedding: The wedding program had two quotes in it (the first his choice, the second mine): "Then I will tell you a great secret, Captain. Perhaps the greatest of all time. The molecules of your body are the same molecules that make up this station and the nebula outside, that burn inside the stars themselves. We are starstuff, we are the universe made manifest, trying to figure itself out" --Delenn to Sheridan, "A Distant Star", Bab5 "'So, big guy, what is it? This Great Black-Great White stuff?' 'Just look above you. Do you see? That is called the Immense Board of Lights. And there is the Great Black...and strewn across it, small and surrounded and vulnerable and brave...there is the Great White.' 'Oh, oh yeah. Of course. Hah, you know, that's perfect. That's really perfect. And the Great White... I mean, there's so much more black. Are we losing?' 'No. Once there was ONLY black. We are winning. All is right." --Mr. Nebula and the Great Gamer, "The Overview", Top Ten by Alan Moore. OK, I'll shut up now. :)

• worst: when i was in high school there was a picture of kittens floating around that read 'God kills kittens when you masturbate.' well i used to hang out with all the geeky nerdy guys so that picture just made me laugh. until one day one of the guys that i hung out with showed me the picture and said, 'you should stop making god kill kittens.' i wasnt too happy about that one. i really like kittens! but i does make me laugh looking back on it now.

• Worst: I used to be an avid LARPer AND a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism. Too many bad attempts to count, much less chronicle. I am really here to sing the praises of a wonderful geek. Best: I was at a picnic with another guy, who ditched me behind a picnic table, shucking corn while he ran around after the guy throwing the picnic helping him out. (Nice for the host, sucked for me, as I only knew my date and two other people.) Also behind that table was a tall, handsome guy keeping an eye on the grills. We got to talking, and the topic turned to music. He extolled the virtues of Black Velvet Flag and the Necrotones, two bands that perform lounge versions of punk/metal songs. I thought they sounded awesome; he offered to burn me copies of their CDs. We exchanged emails. He honestly kept leaving the CDs at his place, not actively trying to hoax me into coming over. I went voluntarily after the second date. :) While hanging out on a later date, he had to take care of a bit of housework and sat me down with a pile of graphic novels. 300, The Dark Knight Returns, Who Killed Retro Girl, League of Extraordinary Gentlemen... the good stuff. I'd never read them. He didn't even mind that when he was done, I was still nose-deep in 300, sniffling away at Leonidas' last conversation with Dilios. ("Sire, have you any messages for the Queen?" "None that need be spoken." Crap, now I'm sniffling again.) In fact, I think he was rather pleased. :) We've been married for almost 5 years. Our wedding was at the local planetarium (with a custom star show designed by the planetarium staff... the constellations on the day we met, significant dates in our relationship, and what will be visible on our 50th anniversary. Awesome.) Our recessional was the Katamari Daimacy theme, followed by the samba from Terry Gilliam's Brazil. Our reception was in the science museum, with all exhibits open for exploration and an open bar. We had girls in gowns climbing a rock wall, 3 tuxedos with parts eaten by the Life Cycle of a Raindrop crawl-through exhibit, one tipsy friend grabbing me by the arm and saying "You HAVE to do a shot and get into the spinny tent in the Motion exhibit!", and my normally dignified uncle riding up and down in the pulley exhibit. No Chicken Dance by law; instead we did the Time Warp (with my mom!) He designed our honeymoon around my love of things piratey... a trip to Key West for a run to the Pirate Soul museum and a Carribbean cruise with a run to the Caymans. Even if I lose this contest, I win at having an awesome husband.

• Um...T-Cake wins so far... I have to give the guy points for the long buildup, though.

• I don't know if this is best/worst, but it sure was special. My husband (Mechabeast) and I were at an arcade playing DDR, and this skinny teenage kid approaches my husband and asks if he can play (I can't hear any of the conversation, I heard the whole story later). He tells the kid we only have 1 more song left, and then it's all his. No, no, the kid says. He wants to dance just one song. With me. He'll give him a dollar's worth of tokens. So, yeah, my husband totally pimped me out for a dollar's worth of tokens, indecent proposal style. The kicker? The song the kid picked was "Exotic Ethnic."

• I guess this would be for the worst category. A while back I was in my science class and we were learning about molecular structures, DNA strands, sister chromatin, etc. And what did my lab partner learn from this lesson? Well, as soon as the lecture ended he turned to me and said "Hey, nice chromatits."

• I already entered, so this doesn't count, but reading some of the other entries reminded me of something I haven't thought of in YEARS. I once got a Valentines gift of epic nerd proportions. Vintage. Star Wars. Action. Figures. About 15 of them, mint but loose, complete with all accessories. In a heart-shaped box. Awwwww. And this was a non-nerd boy so he gets extra credit (nerds don't hit on me much - it's usually creepy old men, stoners, players, drunks, or weirdos). The relationship may be over, but the figures will last forever ^_^ I also once had a boy make me a Star Wars shrine with Clone Troopers and Darth Maul. It was very artsy and cool and made me very gooey at the time. However, due to the not-so-fun end of that relationship, the shrine is now hidden out of sight and out of mind in my garage.

• After the end of a crappy, frustrating relationship, my friend told me to tell this cute, nerdy guy at the bar (she knew him) all about it. So I did. For ages. He walked me outside to help hail a taxi home, as one pulled up, he turned and looked at me and said in this faux-macho voice, "So, why don't you give me some sugar?" It was the dorkiest, nerdiest, most awkward thing ever. He got his kiss.

• Just wanted to share this. It's technically not a line, but nothing was sweeter and more geeky than what my boyfriend set out to do. Week after week, he kept on trying to win a second Topless Robot shirt for me. I thought it wouldn't happen since he already won a shirt for himself before, but he persisted anyway. When I finally got the shirt, no pick-up lines were necessary.

• Worst: I was in this robotics competition, where we had to have designed, built and programmed a robot from scratch. This was the final day, where we all bought our robots into the arena to collect balls and throw them into nets (it was some hard programming with no help). I was the only girl. I was hit on quite a lot, but the worst had to be this small guy, with really lanky hair giving me a squashed daffodil he had clearly stolen from the gardens outside and telling me he was a "Level 14 monk who could grow to three times his normal size at will."

• Best: I once met a girl at a wedding reception because we were the only two people there who knew how to do The Time Warp from The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Today is our 7th wedding anniversary.

• my friend whent on a blind date in london a few weeks ago and as she told me more and more about it i couldnt help but think this guy has issues anyway they where in a pub having a drink (as you do) and he took one of her hands in his and mentioned that her hands where cold. (ooookkkkkk right) then he proceeded to say "Let me help you walm them up" and proceeded to try and stuff her hand down his pants. needles to say she ran i think this has to be the worst line/action ive ever herd. hope this counts

• My personal 'best' is the way I met my current boyfriend of six years. In a class, back in high school, I noticed him doodling Dragonball Z characters in his binder, so I struck up a conversation. We talked about the show and I told him how awesome his drawings were. (They really were.) The next day I came to class, he handed me a couple sheets of paper; drawings of my favourite characters from the series. (Trunks and Vegeta, mostly.) I taped them up in my locker and they stayed there for a long time. Nothing like pictures of burly men to bring people together.

• Needless to say-that was the wrost.

• Needless to say-that was the wrost.

• I was at my favorite comic book shop searching for "the incredible Hercules: volume. 131" This was recent…if you follow the series -that I highly recommend and suffered to obtain the latest issue of as I went into the back room of new arrivals- the staff had neglected to tell me I couldn't enter. I spied the issue on an upper shelf my tiny 5 foot nothin' frame had no hope of reaching without help and quickly enlisted that of an old steep stool and my tip toes. As I strained to brush the new ink with my finger tips I failed to take in account my wardrobe choice- seeing the possibilities of on lookers as slim- my pleated red mini skirt left the view of my Harley Quinn underoos open to the public and well worth it as I seized my prize! Oh Jiminy Jesus was I embarrassed as I dropped down and turned to find an older guy ( who I thought was still at the register reading battle for the cowl.) with stubble and eyes as wide as saucers holding a copy out for me- I hadn't known how long he'd been there but I laughed and explained I had already helped myself to the back supple, thinking I would get trouble or worse… Hit on. He waved me away saying it was no big deal and as I passed him he commented. "You like Harley Quinn?" I felt a rush of blood heat my face and nodded, nervously laughing but holding out all hope he'd taken notice of my earlier purchases and not my… underoos. "Love her." I said. "Liked her since I was about seven- watching the show," "Have all of her comics- even the crappy ones…which is most of them." I added. Her smirked and asked: "You ever see the cross over with her and the flash?" I had never heard of such a thing and I wracked my brain, shaking my head. "Er…no…was it good?" I asked. Her pulled down his fly just enough to expose his boxers: Red with the tell tale lighting bolt emblem. " It could be great." He said. This would not have been nearly as creepy if it had not been for the eerie pearl of nerdy laughter he let out upon delivery- A shrill giggle like an Asian school girl mixed with a jailhouse rapist as it rumbled in his throat to rival Salacious Crumb's warble. I don't know how I got outside but I might have ran. The worst part is... That Volume of Herc wasn't even good.

• &#64;Blahblahblah oh man, this reminds me of all the messages i got when i borrowed my boyfriends xbox. i was bored and changed his avatar to a girl (i thought it would freak all his xbox live friends out). i got some messages saying things like "cute avatar, blah blah you are a girl and like tf2 blah blah"

• &#64;Rabiesbunny G1 or G2 Devastator?

• &#64; Rivka I'm always up for discussing the moral conundrums of Marvels Civil War! I've been a Marvel Zombie since I was 5, so you'd probably have to tell me to shut up about it. LOL

• Well, this is more of a pick-up 'method', not so much a line. I had known my now husband online since I was about thirteen. We were both roleplay fans, and were AOLers at the time (isn't is sad, looking back on it?), and had met as part of a Beast Wars Transformers roleplay group. We lost contact, and about a year later, on a Beast Wars Yahoo Group met up again. I had considered him a really good friend, and when I was seventeen we decided to meet, since he lived just a few hundred miles from me. Since I lived only about 5 miles from the Renaissance Festival in our state, we decided to meet there. When we both met, he was wearing a Megatron club shirt - the same shirt I happened to own, which I found a good sign. We hung out the whole day, geeking out like only a couple of fantasy nerds can. At the end of the day - just after the Robin Hood show - he asked me to hold on and ran off to the parking lot. About ten minutes later (it's a huuuuge parking lot) he comes back with a box, and tells me not to open it until he's gone. We'd kissed already by this point, and my curiosity is getting the best of me, but I waited. When he left I sat down on a bench and opened the box up. It was his Devestator. ;_; I cried I was so touched, because his Devestator was one of his favorite transformers - he had me as soon as he gave me one of his most valued Transformers. Like I said, not really a pick-up line, but you know - it WAS a pick up, and it actually worked. ;)

• BEST: I was checking out at my local independent video rental store, a mecca of sorts, with two discs of Stargate: SG1 and one disc of MacGyver (I know. Don't judge.) The rather cute boy behind the counter glances down, and looks back at me saying, "I take it you're a fan of RDA?" to which I reply, "I'm going through a phase." He smiles and says, "I'll keep your secret for you." Then, some what defensive and some what desperate to save face I tell him, blushing furiously, "No, I'm not ashamed." He gives me an even bigger grin and says, "Chevron 7, locked." The next time I came in he gave me his number with a note that said, "Give me a call, for cryin' out loud." Needless to say, I couldn't help myself. :) WORST: My roommate and I went over to her previous lab partner's apartment because he wanted to introduce us to Battlestar Galactica. I only said yes because my roommate begged me, saying she'd already turned down his invites too many times and that he had a huge flatscreen tv (which is rare in the student ghetto, and something to be seen in and of itself). We get there and he pulls out a bottle of wine at least 3 times the size of an average bottle and claims he bottled it himself (Over compensation? Most likely). He eventually starts the dvd, neglecting to tell us that we're going to watch the whole first miniseries that's 4 frickin' hours long. My roommate (sitting safely in an armchair, while I'm stuck next to him on the couch) only has one glass of wine, while he makes sure our glasses are never empty. His arm continues to snake over my stiff back and shoulders, aiming suspiciously for my chest, as he tells me about a Firefly RPG he runs, how he's going to join the navy, and agreeing with me consistently as I comment on the hotness of Apollo. Trying to escape the madness and mixed signals, on his next washroom break he took (one of several) I dumped the rest of the wine and yawned in the most obvious manner possible and told him I had to get to an early study group the next day (lies...) and dragged my friend along with me. I spent the next few weeks trying to discourage him from facebook stalking me, before ignoring him altogether. He is now a cop. How frightening.

• SO. I was playing some TF2 on Xbox live when I start talking to some dudes from Alabama. When they found out I was indeed a girl, one began to talk about his feelings toward his Ex-girlfriend (he hadnt quite recovered). The other turned the conversation into wether or not Id lay William Shatner. He played a damn good demoman.

• I met a guy at work who looked rather like David Tennant, and we hit it off after he loaned me his copy of the book Battle Royale (yes, he is a super nerd). So he invited me over to his place to watch Army of Darkness (yes, I'm serious). After being greeted by two cats, he tells me they are called "Crowley" and Aziraphale". A Gaiman loving boy who looks like The Doctor? Does it get any better? It does. He beckons to his bedroom and says,"Wanna see my lightsaber?" And, NO, it was NOT a euphemism! He actually pulls out expensive replicas of four different lightsabers! Best date ever...until I found out he already had a girlfriend. Huh. Asshole. I guess this is an entry for best pickup with the worst ending.

• &#64;ZeroCorpse: Dude, you just described me, and, no, I don't mean the otaku part. Now, if you excuse me, my Darkdelver is about to go slay my best friend's supposedly unbeatable level 14 blue dragon before me and my fiance sit down to the first season of Sliders (and no, that is not bullshit, just an extremely convenient and happy coincidence) and then watch that terrible Dracula episode in season 3 with the guy from "That 70's Show", because we love to frickin' laugh when he just randomly dies. So go suck it, man. Not only that, but Otaku's also have OTHER likes. My cousin is an Otaku for weird sci-fi animes (like Wolf's Rain and Paranoia Agency), but she's also a 4e homebrew D&D freak who doesn't read ANYTHING unless it sparks a good political debate, LARP's only historically accurate scenarios, and absolutely drives me crazy with her collection of EVERY SINGLE THING Bruce Campbell has EVER done... because he's her one "illogical fluttering of chemical reactions". So, yeah, that's another nerd girl you will NEVER be going out with.

• Just finished reading All Star Batman & Robin: The Boy Wonder by Frank Miller and I thought I would use it as a learning tool so nerdy boys can better understand what NOT to do when approaching the elusive female. Lesson #1 When at a bar do not call a woman "Love Chunks" (seriously Miller Where did you get this?)She will most likely chunk in her mouth. Lesson #2 You are NOT the Goddamn Batman Yes in the comic Batman is so sexy that he can convince a woman to lay down on a filthy dock at night while its raining just so they can get it on. You are not able to do this. Be the adorable nerd that you are and a nerd girl out there will happily lay down on your filthy couch after a long night of playing video games. And she might let you touch her boob. I would say thats not too shabby for a goddamn nerd. Please give me a Toplessrobot shirt so I can cover my "love chunks". I will need a Medium as there are extra chunks.

• &#64;Jacen: Actually, I was just thinking that there should be a Topless Robot real-time chatroom.

• As for the worst, the same one. Since she cheated and left me for above friend. I'm in what I like to think of as good shape 150lbs at 5' 11" whereas he's 450 and an ex-felon for shooting at police after he broke into TWO homes for DOUGHNUTS. Just a bit bitter ^_^;;;

• &#64;Mirra: THAT'S your worst story? Why? How? Why is it pathetic? Because he wasn't cheesy about it? Because he and your friend had an actual conversation about a shared interest? Because he didn't buy anything from you? Sorry, but from your depiction of the story, he just seemed like a nice, honest guy (if a bit young) who was interested in your friend. You have to do better. @Shy: That would probably work on me too. And if he had blue eyes under the sunglasses, there's no way my panties would be staying on. XD

• maybe Topless Robot should have a section for us to post personals!

• &#64;ZeroCorpse: Your assumption that girls who like anime are only giggling little morons who watch anything Adult Swim forces on them is fairly insulting to me. I understand that stereotypes exist for a reason, but society also frowns on stereotypes for a reason. Also, the idea that you would totally ignore a girl who shares all your interests just because she is interested in a single hobby that you don't care for is pretty absurd. Picky is one thing, but most relationships are gonna require some form of compromise. That being said, I do wish you luck in finding your perfect girl. Also, in regards to your opinions on anime. Does it have one of the most oversaturated markets? Yeah Is it overrated? Possibly Is it the worst art form? I think that's pretty unfounded. But then I guess that's what makes it an opinion.

• This is my entry for best. My girlfriend and I had been dating for over two years. We were at a gaming party that we all throw whenever there's time. While we take a break one of my friends (who was in on it) brings out a pillow with a 360 controller on it and an engagement ring around a thumbstick. I got down on one knee and offered the controller to her and asked her this. "I'll be your P2 if you'll be my P1. Press start to join?" She did and even noticed that I had offered her the actual P1 controller.

• Brickbreaker, I think I love you.

• Once while in college I found myself at a party having a knock down, drag out argument with Some Guy about the 90's TMNT movies in particular and comic movies in general. As the party ended, he leaned in and invited me back to his dorm for some further activity and, buzzing on my own patented blend of naivat'e and gin, I followed. We totally did it. And by "it" I do mean "a 500 piece Batman puzzle"

• &#64;Andrea: XD hahaha. Puns! Yes, he's not really one for creative proposals.

• &#64; ZeroCorpse I would love to discuss my distate for anime, the contributions of Jerry O'connell AND the moral and philosophical implications of the Civil War run! Not with you though. You seem wicked pretentious.

• &#64;ZeroCorpse I think maybe your attitude is why you aren't finding the "cool" geek girls. Honestly, most of the ones I know, myself included, aren't into yaoi or manga. I have more sets of dice than most guys I play with, can out play the guys in my raids, and am sitting here looking at my collection of dvds which includes the entire series of Brisco County, Jr. BTW, did you know that the gun Zoe uses in Firefly is re-purposed from Brisco County, Jr? So yeah, that girl does exist. Wonder what you're doing that you've managed to either miss them all or drive them all away.

• I don't know what it is about me, but I've nearly NEVER been hit on, even by nerds. Maybe I just look too non-descript rather than nerdy. I've been chatted up, but it never leads to a "can I get your number?" This being said, I would take nearly any nerdy come on, even a bad one, just to feel like I'm not a total troll. -.- The odd thing is, I've been told I'm pretty a number of times...just not by strangers. Now that everyone thinks I'm ugly, I'm going to tell an awkward story. I used to work in a restaurant with all guys, (I've always been friends with guys rather than girls) and toward the end of our shift, we'd start BSing and telling dirty stories, the way "guys" do. A customer must have overheard some of the risque, perverse, intimate details I revealed about myself, because a few days later at work, he came up to me, asked me a few basic getting-to-know you questions and then, after a brief pause, sidled up to me and whispered "Piss on me, baby". I wasn't really sure what to say, because this guy was basically a stranger to me. So I said, "Actually, I can't. I have a boyfriend". He tried a few times after that, but I was pretty insistent. A few times I've worn anime shirts and a dude has been like "I like your shirt," but then never really acted on it. Now, I don't really have a worst line or technique, but if I could choose the way a nerd picks me up, here's the best I can think of. Having had a good many relationships over my lifetime (that makes me sound old; I'm only 25), I've become fairly picky about what kinds of interests I'm looking for a guy to have. There are lots of guys, apparently, that love anime, video games, and comics the way I do. However, finding one around my age and location who also knows what iambic pentameter is, can name two stories by D.H. Lawrence, or can even string two intelligent sentences together seems to be somewhat more difficult. Fuck, usually I can't even find a guy who will talk about animes other than Bleach, Naruto, and Inuyasha. (These are the same guys who have never heard of Great Teacher Onizuka or Betterman). So, to finish up this lengthy entry, I would love for the following to happen: A guy wearing an Excel Saga shirt and carrying a book of poetry comes up to me and says, simply, "I love your Soul Calibur shirt. Wanna go for a milkshake?" A guy who has my taste in music (hint: it's not Slipknot, rap, or J-Pop) would be nice too, but that is probably asking for a miracle.

• Okay, so a few years ago, I'm out with the girls at a club and my friend starts up a conversation with some guy. This leaves Some Guy's friend and and I to make our own conversation. We start on 80s cartoons and he decides to wow me by insisting that heart was the best Captain Planet power because "nothing beats the power of love." I mean, c'mon. Heart? The kid with the fucking monkey? I rolled my eyes, and he spent the rest of the night following me around, insisting that he show me the power of true love. @Jen the Bug--Dude, you read my mind.

• I'm not a girl so I can't enter, but a girl did once tell me "Hey, you look just like Doctor Who". I really really hope she meant David Tennant by that, the alternatives don't really bear thinking about.

• &#64;Andrea: Zing!

• Hmm. Kaffy, your prom date sounds sweet, but his humor is awfully derivative.

• I know it's counter to the rules but Ophenix just won in my mind. Sexual assault should trump all.

• Long time lurker. The incentive of a TR T-shirt, and the company of other nerdy girls was too great to resist. Best: Nerdy way to get asked to prom: "Can you help me with a calculus problem? ∫dp+∫dr+∫do+∫dm. What do you say?" I do love a good integral... And yes I went with him. ------------------------ Worst: Doing a jigsaw in GaiaOnline (back when it was cool and not so filled with lame 12-year-olds). A guy joins the room, and after the rounds of friendly 'hellos', the following ensues... Him: P4, you are cute. [I'm player 4] Me:...Thank you? Him: It's true Me: XD They're just pixels anyway Him: I can see you through your avvie and you're cute Me:... .__. Compliment gone horribly, horribly wrong and creepy.

• Worst (hands down): "YOU. REMIND. ME. OF. MY. MOMMY." (yes. mommy.) Best: (after I was feeling like shit for screwing up a line of a song I'd performed earlier) "Wow -- you rock as good as Gibraltar, hon." (made doubly precious by the fact that we are both guitar nerds who love George Harrison) :)

• Does being Gay enable you to participate? If so... There's this store next to where I used to serve in the army which sold Games and Books and all sorts of geeky stuff. It's sales people were generaly very kind with the exception of one creep. At that day the creep was working and while I was looking at the PS2 game collection he came up to me and said he needed a faivour. It was just the two of us and he wanted me to mind the store while he goes to the bathroom. I didn't mind, of course. I sat there and kept looking at stuff till he got back. The second he walks in he says "excuse me, I have to do this" and starts searching me. He, like, started at the bottom of my pants, feeling his way up, via my crotch, taking his time while there, and went up ending his search by tapping my chest afew times. I gave him the biggest WTF?! look I could musted and he said "well, that was fun. We should do it again." Eeeeeeew.

• King, I'm sure he didn't mean to be disparaging. I just found the whole random "Here is a list of girls who aren't good enough for my Awesomesauce" to be besides the point of the post. Eva, thanks. To be clear, I'm not disparaging his right to have likes and dislikes--we certainly all do. I just felt this wasn't the place to be airing them. Like, "Ha, these stories are great and all, but seriously, here's what *I* want out of a woman." ;) Anyways, I don't want to beat a dead horse. Back to fun stories of great (and not so great) pick up lines.

• You've all got good entries so far. I only have a "worst" story, and it's not really embarrassingly cheesy or anything, it's just... pathetic. So a couple of years back a friend and I were running an artist's table at an anime convention. Everything was going fine and dandy. Then a boy who couldn't have been older than 15 came up and looked over our merchandise. Noticing we were selling some Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann stuff, he struck up a friendly conversation about the anime. Having not watched the anime past episode 4, I backed off and let my friend talk to him about the deep themes of the series and whatnot. About two minutes later, he grabs one of our business cards, flips it over and hands it to my friend. His pick-up line? "You're cute, can I have your phone number?" He didn't even buy anything from us.

• &#64;ZeroCorpse: Sorry we're all too girly for you, and have the audacity to enjoy media that actually has female heroes. We'll work on making our interests solely things that will get men to like us. Anyway, I've never been picked up like this, but given the number of people I've gotten to know well through doing this, it doesn't seem like a bad idea - talk about media you enjoy until you get to something she hasn't seen, and then recommend it to her with a side of "oh, and I have the DVDs." Actually, that sounds kind of creepy now that I say it. But as a girl nerd thinking of a pick-up line, I'd still probably totally use it.

• Okay, I also need to strike back on ZeroCorpes opinion: he has a point, there, but that's stereotyping. Sigh. Come on man. Don't be a [ ] Too bad if otaku-girls are the only female-geeks he's met, but that's just bad luck. But man also is free to have he's "perfect girl-list", even if someone might think that's idiotic one. About manga: I like comics. Comics. Asian, European, American. You know, there are lots of subcategories in comic-world. Styles range in Asia just as they range in anywhere else. Jen the Bug: you did have terrific opinions there though! I'm gonna print them to my fridgedoor :)

• &#64;ZeroCorpse I'm a geek girl who isn't into anime/manga (well, I like Death Note, but that's because it's a good show), and not really a Whedonite at all.

• meow... I don't think he was meaning to be disparaging... Just like girls dont become geeks for dudes, he's nerdom isn't set around any girls likes or dislike too. Otherwise he'd be putting the moves on the nerd with the deviantart magna... I think he just sees just how many geek girls visit this site and he'd love to find someone with like intrests.

• I've used up my "worst", so here's my "best." It's more a story, really. So one day, I tweet "Who wants to go [with me] for brunch? No one? I actually have to call people?" and this guy I barely know responds "Way to give anyone a chance to respond!" We tweet back and forth a little more and end up getting brunch. We're having a pretty good (and normal, if slightly overphilosphical) conversation, when he suddenly leans in close and says "Do you like anthropomorphic robots?" I'm like, "uhh, yeah?" and he says "Because I'm one!" I know that's not objectively awesome, but it totally worked on me, what with me being a huge nerd and him being otherwise perfectly socially functional. It turns out we like each other (which of course, took us three months to realise.) To be continued.

• Worst: I was playing Perfect World when this guy starts following me around with his char and insisting to hoist cuddle (it's a game feature, for those who don't play it). Eventually it became irritating, so I said: _Could you stop it? And he replied: _C'mon, babe, let's play "healer". ........Srly? o.O' Best: Not much of a history on this one. I asked this guy to do something for me, don't even remember what it was. He replied: _With this cute eyes, you could sudo me into anything. We're together for five years now. XD And for the record, nothing will be worst than "I think I found Narnia". EVER.

• ZeroCorpse, I hate to interrupt your fantasy list here, but keep in mind my above comment: They are not being geeks <i>for you.</i> So you can stop trying to make them feel bad for the things they like, just because they don't meet some sort of fantasy checklist you carry around in your head with you. Besides that, I'm sure there are women out there who do agree with you about the manga thing. Just look harder. And don't diss those who are into it. I am sorry if I've veered off topic. I just felt your comment was out of line with the spirit of the rest of the posts here.

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