Disclaimer: This post is based on the opinion and observation of the Lead Writer herself! Please respect her thoughts and opinions! Also, we didn’t mean to go political for one thing but had to! Also, if you don’t like it then don’t read it!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Whew! We are finally on the last day of 2016. You know what that means? It is time for the annual Bests and Worsts list of the year on this blog. This past year was pretty much the worst year to many and there have been really good moments along the way but balanced with the bad too. Let’s start off with the Worsts because I think I have a bit more than the Bests!

Worsts

Celebrity Deaths: First is that this year had a lot of celebrities dying and that included David Bowie, Prince, Pete Burns, and the most recent Carrie Fisher. It felt as though this past year was the big year for us losing the most epic of celebrities even the ones that were overlooked such as the guy who was in the R2D2 suit, I am not kidding there was an actual three foot tall dude in that robot suit in the original Star Wars trilogy.

Worst Election Year EVER! Yes, I have to mention this when normally here we are not political but this year has been the worst election especially with the winner. As everyone knew and voted, it was pretty much Hilary Clinton vs. Donald Trump all year and man it was a heated battle which caused me to ask on Facebook towards America, “WHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!?” After knowing who won and that was Donald Trump. Heck, the world was even upset since there were countries watching who who will win and I know they wanted Hilary like the popular vote which she didn’t win and did find out as a fact that back in the past Presidents did win based on popular vote which would’ve been great but nope! The electoral college chose Trump to win over the popular vote this year. I keep on wondering why would they want someone who is going to embarrass us with the next four years? Let 2020 get here so we can have a better election because I don’t want him back in office.

Most B. S. Press Turndown: MegaCon Orlando! I had to mention this because we did have another turn down by a convention for press and that is our most popular and biggest convention in town and that is MegaCon. I did put Orlando due to how there is Tampa Bay MegaCon and not sure if that will happen again this year but we did get press for that but due to scheduling conflicts, we couldn’t make it but at least we know we can get it. Why Orlando turned us down? Apparently, even Nerdy Shirts mentioned this in his review and I added some notes, that it was due to how we didn’t cover them in the past. Here is the thing, if you know the story of us starting we didn’t start until a few months later from MegaCon 2012 on Blogger and didn’t start doing press until a year later but in Tampa over at MetroCon. We haven’t been back to Mega for three years due to branching out to other conventions like Omni, since they were the ones who reached out to us, Holiday Matsuri, and MythiCon. We did try AFO last year and you know the story with that. Will we go for Orlando again? Yes and hoping we get it this year because we have done so much for the convention community and since we are a small blog now getting slightly bigger, it does show that we can gain more experience and Nerdy Shirts did say that bigger conventions should give smaller blogs even some that are starting out press badges to help them get their name out there. Plus, unlike most blogs, we do interview the big stars, heck we just interviewed Steve Blum this past Holiday Matsuri and it would be great that we get more stars which we wanted if we done MegaCon like the Doctor Who companions, Kevin Smith and Jason Muse, even Adam West and the guy who played Robin in Batman who are now retired. Please let us cover Mega this coming year because just heard that Tim Curry is a guest this year.

Worst Movies: Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad! This goes to two movies since this year D. C. Comics and Warner Brothers tried to topple over Marvel Studios by bringing in Batman v. Superman and Suicide Squad. WGondras and I didn’t see either but heard that they both sucked! I would believe because I’ve seen the reviews especially with Black Critic Guy and both Bennet and Gabe doing it. I did do a post on where D. C. and Warner Brothers are better on and that is on TV because when they do movies they try so hard to copy off the success of Marvel but when they do it their story in film falls flat on their face or faces. As in, when they did the BVS film, they had characters that just stood there and when Nostalgia Critic did his review he had his cast do that “Oh, this person is there!” and whoever played them they went, “Hello!” and just left. That was a really good example of that idea and that’s not what we want in a movie when it comes to comic movie adaptations. At least with Civil War, you have all the characters involved and interacting with each other throughout the film not just stand there! I did hear the best out of Suicide Squad was both Marg Robbie as Harley Quin and Will Smith as Dead Shot which I might see that on NetFlix. Still, D. C. and Warner Brothers are better off just doing shows since what I’ve seen of Arrow, The Flash, and Legends of Tomorrow they were all great and the casting was even greater and not just saying that when they got the guy who played Harry Dresden on the Dresden Files tv show was on Arrow. Still, Warner Brothers, just stick to TV!

Weakest Season for a TV Show: Season 3 of Agents of SHIELD! Yes, I had to mention this on here because it was the worst season of Agents of SHIELD! Even though I need to catch up on season four of this series, Season 3 took on the Hive storyline and just made it bad. I am really sorry that I felt like I crapped all over it but Seasons 1 and 2 were better than this and the start of this past season was better because they did take the time to write all these seasons. I never thought back to season 3 until now because I wanted to forget about it and how it felt a little rushed even I would’ve written a better Hive story by instead of having Ward come back and becoming the Hive, I would’ve had the guy that Simmons interacted with on that planet be it instead by acting all okay on Earth but then turn around and not okay! I did feel better that Simmons and Fitz finally made love! Sorry, spoler!
Runner Up: Agent Carter Season 2! I think most of us have to agree that the second season of Agent Carter was a bit weak. Gondras didn’t like how they changed up the story and made the twists and turns different from the original story. If we gotten press for MegaCon, we could’ve interviewed Haley Atwell and asked her about her thoughts on it but as you can tell, we didn’t like it as much. Even though the series will be on a hiatus at the moment due to Atwell doing a different series, hoping if it comes back

Worst MakeUp Product According to YouTube: Nikki Tutorials Pallet with Too Faced! I had to mention this since this year it was all about the YouTubers collaborating with popular makeup brands and Too Faced was one of them. They collabed with Nikki Tutorials wt creat the Power of MakeUp pallet. I did get my paws on this and some people did say that this pallet had inconsistencies and that dealt with the pigmentation in the shadows and the highlighter, Pink Truffle. I did admit in one of my Favorites post that I mentioned this pallet is that one of the shadows did have to be built up but I did notice the other shadows were pretty pigmented and stayed put all day. I even remember a YouTuber did do a tutorial with this when she got it in Canada and so many people got on her case about it when she said it was really pigmented to her. To me it deals with the type of primer you use whether it is the Shadow Assurance primer that came with this pallet or anything you use like how I used the Maybelline shadow primer I love a lot! Also, I do believe that Too Faced should’ve taken the time to formulate the shadows like their Chocolate Bar pallets since it could’ve helped fix the inconsistencies and made it better.
Rummer Up: LimeCrime Super Foil Shadows! I heard about these but never bought them myself since I heard bad things about them and that is the LimeCrime Super Foils. They are a duo chrome shadow that features two colors in one compact and they are activated with water to give the metallic effect that people love even with the Duo Chromes that MakeUp Geek makes. As I have heard, LimeCrime is known for their own crimes such as the website being hacked and the owner putting down her customers, and there was recent sacadal where a contest dealt with buying a gift card to be entered into a drawing for over a $1000 in their products as a prize which normally contests don’t require that. Anyways, what made this the worst product from what I’ve seen on YouTube? Apparently mold and rust grows in these shadows even with not using the shadow itself! What did LimeCrime say about it? They said it’s harmless! How can it beharmless when you are putting rust and mold near your eye? Even people are wondering that too! Apparently the pans in these shadows are made from tin which rusts eery easily and when you are making a shadow that is activated with water you need a stronger metal! I need to ask Doe Dar something…have you seen the Wizard of Oz? The Tin Man rusts when water hits him due tow tin rusts easily when water hits! Plus, the eye is the most sensitive thing on us and you can get injured in that area or even go blind, take it from me since I’ve been blind since 2008 from an eye condition and it’s not easy. That is why I took a look into the fake lashes thing but back to what I said before, I wouldn’t buy this if I were you if you found it somewhere since I heard this item got taken off of LimeCrime’s website. I would also say stick to using shadows from MakeUp Geek, Colour Pop, Urban Decay, and many more that we all trust and love!

Worst Tragedy: The Pulse Shooting in Orlando… I had to mention this here since not only we had so many deaths in the celebrity world but we also had a worst emount of deaths but at a night club all thanks to one guy shooting up a night club in Orlando and that is known as Pulse. This took place when I was in Daytona for a pre-employment program and I just froze when dorm staff told me about this. I had to look into it and can’t believe that something like this would happen especially on a night where so many people were trying to enjoy their nitht like everyone else both gay and straight. At least the guy was found and was killed, I know that sounds mean of me to say but if he did survive then the House of Blues would’ve been next. Near Pulse right now, there were flags installed on the light poles saying “Orlando Unites” and even Tom from Soul Switch wore the shirt with that on his final night performing with them back in July. Again, I don’t get why people should have guns and gun control should take place since tragedies like these can be prevented. My heart still goes out to the victims that lost loved ones during this shooting.

Worst Device: The Galaxy 7 Note! ::groans:: I had to mention this since this thing has been on the news everywhere all this fall! It is the Galaxy 7 Note! If you all haven’t heard or heard all over, it is a phone that looks like a tablet and it was the latest in the series this year along with the IPhone 7! This device was known for overheating and causing fires while being on the charger. Someone in Hong Kong lost their apartment to it and even a guy got bronchitis while sleeping as it caught on fire on the charger. TSA wouldn’t even allow this thing on board of any flights due to what happened! Even someone in Daytona had one and had it recalled when news of this started rising. All thanks to this, Samsung did lose a lot of business due to the recall or shall I say two recalls of this device. I am so glad I am with Apple and have an IPhone SE since I upgraded to it this year finally when my IPhone 4S’ power button had a spring broken. Good thing is that I went with bigger storage with it too. Speaking of which.

Worst Tech CNo Ear Phone Jack in Iphone 7! Reason why I had to mention this is that I know we are trying to go wireless but IPhone 7 having wireless ear buds due to not having no ear phone jack was a bad idea. Yes, I know there is a lightning jack to plug in regular earphones but people were mad about that as well. What even sucked more was that some guy made a video about drilling a hole to create a new earphone jack into your IPhone 7 which newsflash it doesn’t work that way! People tried it and pretty much bricked their phones! There goes the Apple Care repair thing! I am hoping with the next phone they have an earphone jack with hhow bad this went.
Bests!

Movie: Dead Pool! Oh yes! I have to start the bests list with movies and to me Dead Pool takes it this year! Wow, a Fox Entertainment movie takes the trophy? Well, when you look at it, Dead Pool is still a part of Marvel and Fox did a pretty good job on this film. As in, getting his attitude, the comedy down, and even the action! Heck, the audio description that I had with this film even described it to a T! When I heard that Regal got it for this film, I was like “Count me in!” And I did get a Dead Pool hoodie! Oh by the way, even Ryan Reynolds, still better as Dead Pool than Green Lantern! I did hear this a second one coming out and can’t wait!
Runner Up: Civil War! It was hard since I almost thought Dr. Strange should’ve gotten runner up for this but Civil War kind of gets it more because it was a very good comic adaptation even though the ending went differently from the comic and it worked out very well. As said in the Worst Films slot, this movie did a lot better than what Warner Brothers did with BVS because it had all the characters interacting and being ivolved like they’re supposed to and made the story as compelling as it is. Also., Spiderman is back and he was played very well and of course, if you guys want me to, do you want me to write my thoughts about Spiderman having a movie in Marvel?

Best Death Battle; Dead Pool Vs. Pinky Pie! Speaking of the Merk with the Mouth, at least he didn’t pop out of nowhere, he had another Death Battle and this time against one of my fave ponies from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Pinky Pie! I know, I tend to go for the action-packed anime and action packed movies but I do love the newer MLP series that they have done since the dubbing in it was better and the animation was done right. Anyways, enough of that! This was a pairing that I never thought I would hear and when I told Gondras he was even more surprised! I don’t want to spoil who won but I will put the video and a fair warning…y6eah Pinky Pie’s description and stats may be so cute and nerve racking and also torture to some of you but the rest is still entertaining and that is why it got this slot!
Runner Up: Jack and Daxter vs. Ratchet and Clank! I do have a runner up and that is the match between the biggest couples of Playstation history and that is Ratchet and Clank vs. Jak and Daxter! This was made in time for the Ratchet and Clank movie and it was an amazing Death Battle! Todd Habercorn also voiced one of the characters in this battle and he did a very good job and that is why I wanted to know how it was working with Wiz and Boomstick since last year. I will get to ask that question if he comes back for a convention. I would say watch this battle and see who won!

Best Book Series I Wished I Didn’t Judge Too Much On: The Hunger Games Trilogy! Yes, I did judge way too much on The Hunger Games Trilogy! I remembered taking Theory of Creative Writing back in college and my teacher was always doting on it like it was the best book trilogy. I did meet a woman at my work experience who was a major fan and told me how she liked it more than the movies and decided to sit down and actually read it and like her, I really like it! It is not to the point of that teacher who doted on it but it is more of “Ma“, these aren’t as bad as I thought!” I guess I was worried that it would’ve turned into Twilight but it’s not. It is pretty much what happens if people had to survive by being controlled and to keep from rebelling against the capital and in order to take out people a contest must be held to thin out numbers. This is supposed to be a young adult book but by the time I read Mocking Jay, my thought was “Is this for young adults? This feels more like a college age series!” Even the first two felt more college age than high school age reading. If I would, I would write a paper on the trilogy for college.

Best Book: The Aeronauts Windless Book 1 by Jim Butcher! I had to mention this one since I have to mention my most fave author, Jim Butcher! I have read the Codecs Alera and now waiting on book 16 of the Dresden Files and found out that he wrote this one known as the Aeronauts Windless and that was the first in a newer series he is doing. I couldn’t stop listening to this on my digital book player due to how many twists and turns it took in the book! I can’t wait to see what the next one will bring since Jim is starting on it after Peace Talks is released! I am hoping it gets released in 2017 because I’m waiting for it in audio and Gondras is waiting for it in print!

Best Reading Device: Victor Reader Stream! I have to metion this and that was during my work experience, I had this device purchased for me and it is the Victor Reader Stream! It is a digital reader device where I can download podcasts, read Talking Books, and even Bookshare books which I finally got back! Also, this thing can record things which came in handy for getting the brownie directions when I made them recently with the leftover chocolate chips and toffee bits when I made cheesecake for my birthday.

Best Voice Actor Encounter: Interview with Steve Blum! I finally got to meet the guy behind the voices of our childhoods and that was Steve Blum! iIf you read my Favorites post recently, I did get to interview the man since I wanted to do it for a while now! I can’t wait to interview many other guests in the new year!
Runner Up: Finding Out We Had a Good Word In for Brian Beacock! Well, I had to mention this because I never heard this until Omni. One of the guests this year was Brian Beacock, the voice of Takato in Digimon Tamers and we were trying to arrange an interview with him and when it was being arranged there was a good word put in about us. He even told us about that and that made us really happy and feeling good! We never had a convention do that when it comes to interviews because we have been turned down by other conventions and since we have done press for Omni since it started and done our job and enjoying it, this was a major first for us. Maybe I should mention that on the MegaCon form, eh?

Best Thing Released: MY FIRST BOOK! I know there were many things released but the best thing ever released was by me! I released my first book self-published under Light Switch Press and it is known as The Blind Perspective: Conventiom the Dark! I have been a convention attended since 2004 and have gotten many experiences and have told them to friends and it got me wondering why not put them into a book? Well the most memorable and wrote it since last year. Well, it was done last year and took a year to be edited. I was happy that this took place and that people could read what I went through as an attendee before going blind and then went blind later. I did have business cards with me to promote it at Holiday Matsuri and if you have seen the videos on YouTube, I have linked it to the Amazon and Barnes & Noble pages where you can buy it. Here are the links again! So, please buy it!
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01M16V8IO
Barnes & Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-blind-perspective-marinela-ortiz/1124670077?ean=2940156810611

Best MakeUp Collaboration: Tarte with Grav3yard Girl! Well, final item of this year is the Best MakeUp Collab with a YouTuber and that is with Grav3yard Girl! I loved Bunny ever since I stumbled upon her on YouTube and started watching her many videos. She is different and quirky and I love that in many people! It is not that bad being weird. Anyways, this year Tarte Cosmetics has collabed with her to create two liquid lipsticks and a face pallet and I was able to get my paws on the face pallet which includes eye shadows and a bronzer, blush, and highlighter! I loved this thing and I had to keep myself from using it everytime I take out of my drawer! I even loved the smell of it which reminds me of the Coldstone waffle bowls cooking! I loved to use the eye shadows the most along with the blush since they are so pigmented and made with the Amazonian Clay blush formula which is amazing! She did bring it back for Christmas recently on the Tarte website or shall I say Tarte did it since there are people who didn’t get it the first time. I didn’t get the lipsticks at first since I only wanted the pallet the most and love it the most! I really want to meet her since she has been my most fave YouTuber of all! Even Gondras has watched some of her stuff after witnessing me watching her.

Well, that is it for this year’s Bests and Worsts! I know it took me all day to do this because of the amount of Worsts from this year! I am looking forward to the next year because a lot of us wanted this year to end so badly after so much has happened. Yes, I did enjoy having my book come out but 2017 will be the year that I want a better life as in I am going to look into living on my own for real, things aren’t go so well at home by the looks of it and I am not getting any younger guys! Also, I am working on getting my aareer as an Assistive Technology instructor started since that was my work experience tog et my toes wet and I have been missing it and I am looking into continuing to be certified in that. Also, I have been working on a new cosplay for 2017 with the funds I got from the work experience which is finally coming to life! What is it? I wanted to do it this past year but I did get another cosplay made instead since I had everything I needed for it but for next year it is Link from Legend of Zelda as a Pokemon Ranger! Basically it is my Pokemon Ranger costume but what if I changed the red to green and give it the Zelda touch. I did buy the Silveon last year at AFO and got the goggles, elf ears, and hat before and after Matsuri which was a process in the making. It will be done by Omni 2017! So, anyone going? Go there or stay tuned to Instagram, I will try to get a pic up for it! I am also working on another book at the moment which is my very first fiction piece to be self published and I will try to get it done by mid-summer so it will also be released by next fall or so or even earlier depending on the time I will be working on it. So 2017 will be a huge year! Happy New Year!