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Favorites: March and April 2017!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! It is that time again and that is my Favorites for March and April! Last time, I felt like I didn’t feel like I had that many favorites and I had to type that list into Word Press due to having no computer access until around the first two weeks of March. Well, mid-March actually! I learned my lesson, never go online for free versions of Windows products. What do I have? Let’s see!

Fave Cosplay Moment: People Recognizing Me as Link! As you know, we did press for our fourth year at Omni Expo and this year I finally got to have a new cosplay! Yay! I used some of my work experience money to gather parts and that was mostly to finish Pokemon Ranger Link from Legend of Zelda. This cosplay was in the planning stages back when I first did Pokemon Ranger Rusty, which you can see in my video interview with Eric Stuart, and after graduating I didn’t have the funds after 2015 and knew I had to put it off until I get the funds. I did get Silveon which we dubbed the name “Silvy” for this. I was glad to get the goggles from Black Flame Creations, the hat from Amazon, I found the gloves and did have a ong wig to tuck into my shirt, and finally my overshirt with the patches. What was most impressive about my cosplay besides wearing elf ears for my first time is the Eageslash that Gondras made into the Master Sword and Shield. Even the judges were impressed during pre-judging with all the Pokemon and Zelda elements and one of them did say, “I can see the spirit of Pokemon.” What was awesome was that during Saturday, we went into the food court since we were starving and didn’t eat on the way which is a bad idea and that will change for MegaCon ::does Side Show Bob groan:: (Don’t get me wrong, I am excited to go to MegaCon after not being there for five years but will explain some stuff in the review after the convention!) and on the way back to the convention, we had to pass by Auntie Ann’s since it was inside the Florida Mall. People noticed who I was and they followed with their gazes and I didn’t know until Gondras noticed and told me and I was happy. Yes, I hardly smile due to having a fixed chip in my front tooth but I was still happy. I think this has been my fave cosplay this year especially with the goggles which I should mention that down below!

Fave Interview: Josh Martin and Chris Rager! This year’s Omni had another double interview and that is with Chris Rager, Hercule Satan, and Josh Martin, Magen Boo. Before the convention, I tend to request who we want to interview and we wanted a double interview with these two and we got it! I had so much fun interviewing these two because not only we went a little close to time but off topic but we enjoyed it! It is like my interview with RJ Heady last year which I also had fun during, which you can also see on YouTube. And yes, I am Link in that video and the one with Paul St. Peter. It was fun!

Best Attempt At MakeUp: Doing Winged Liner for First Time! I did have to look up how to do winged liner since I NEVER did it before. I know I should’ve practiced but due to being busy with preparing for the convention and going through all the computer problems, I didn’t get to do it. I did it blindly as best as I could and even took the tip of do it subtle like since one video I saw as basing their Link was based on a older Link. I had a bit of eyeliner issues with the Wet N Wild liner I used which had the chiseled tip which was hard to work with and the girl who did Cosplay 101 was surprised that I did it for my first time for the cosplay when I commented on one point she made. I may have to practice this since I dibuy the NYX black pencil liner. I know people usually use a gel liner but the pencil linder I used did work out as well.

Fave Cosplay Accessory: Legend of Zelda themed Goggles! I had to mention these on here since it seems to be a liking for most people too. When I started getting into steam punk stuff, I fisited a stand by these guys known as Black Flame Creations over at Anime Festival Orlando. I got their Harley Quin themed goggles which you know me when it comes to Harley. I am talking about animated and comic book version not the movie version. Anyways, they did say they will do custom jobs on their goggles and mentioned Zelda elements they can do and I decided to go with them for my goggles for Link due to how awesome they are! If you haven’t checked these guys out, I highly highly highly recommend them for goggles. I really want to see other stuff and hoping I run into them again. They did tell me and recommend me to Aunt Matilda’s steam punk items too. Still, check out Black Flame at blackflamecreations.com and tell them I sent you! Anyways, I even wore these to Orlando Overdrive (sorry, footage coming soon from that) and people also liked them too. That is why it’s a fave item even with my compass earrings I got from Amazon and the necklace that I got from Etsy.

Fave Phone Case: Rarity phone case! My fave item I found in a convention is a phone case done by someone who made the Kakashi 3DS XL case I used to have but it broke all thanks to it being dropped. I need to get another from her but she did advertise on Omni’s group that she had phone cases and I asked about My Little Pony which you know that I love that series. She did have IPhone 5 cases that fit my SE ever since I got it and I found one of Rarity. At first I wanted Twilight Sparkle since she is my first fave pony along with Pinky Pie being my second while third I would give to Rarity and the girl sold out of Twilight but she did have some of four of the others which included Pinky and Rarity. I almost got Pinky but the Rarity one looked prettier in a way and shinier! I may have to ask for a Twilight in the future and hoping I can ask for another DS case of Twilight too if I can. I am not sure what my funds will be for Mega at the moment but hey I do have a nice phone case!

Fave Eye Shadow: Shooting Star by Surreal MakeUp! I had to keep myself from using this a lot since it so pretty and shiny and I don’t want to go overboard with it either and that is Shooting Star by a brand called Surreal MakeUp. I mentioned them the most in my review on Omni because they were the first makeup brand I have seen at a convention! I normally find cosplay makers, artists, the usual anime vendors, and so much more but not a makeup brand this brand is an indie one. They came from Clearwater and they are all natural and the owner and her husband are very nice. I was debating on either getting one of her lip items but when she mentioned Shooting Star that was when it became a winner of my wallet! It is a beautiful shimmery shade and it will look amazing! On that Sunday, I wore my Midnight Blue eye shadow all over my lid and Shooting Star in my crease. I have to warn you guys, this is a pigment and it is stupidly pigmented! As in, you may have to dip your brush once and tap a bit and then dab! She will be at DragCOn and other places if you pay attention to her website: http://www.surrealmakeup.com and I have been mentioning in some comments on YouTubers’ videos that are going to check her out. And also, what’s cool about her brand is that if you don’t know what to get but still want to try her stuff, she offers sample pods which you put the pods into your cart and then look through the site and when checking out you write down what you want to sample. It’s worth a try at least. You rarely get that from most brands. So, I will be giving Surreal MakeUp the Star Pawprint of Approval!

Favorite Primer: L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Face Base! ::hears record screech and people gasping:: What!? Can’t a girl try something new? Well, the story is that I can’t use the Nivea Post Shave Balm ever again. ::tosses it out the window:: Because my skin became irritated! I know I raved about it last year all thanks to Nikki Tutorials raving about it and makeup artists used it but what I didn’t know is that this thing sinks into pores and can clog them since the skin does absorb this product after you shave…well when you are a man shaving. I did feel it tingle after I shaved my chin. So, I had to stop using it and did learn the hard way too that the Nivea is not a sensitive skin friend either! I know, how ironic? All thanks to a video from Jeffree Starr, he did a video where he did a half and half test of two face primers and one is expensive as all high heavens and the other drugstore which is my fave place of all for makeup and he tested the L’Oreal Magic Perfecting Face Base and oh man! I love it! I have to thank Jeffree for this because when he mentioned that this is meant for all skin types I knew I had to find it and glad that it is still existing. It may be a tiny pot of primer but usually you don’t need that much to begin with and this did last me a month and a half! My skin did calm down and I did feel a slight tingle since my skin is not used to something new but it did calm down as I used it and it felt so good whenever I applied the primer and my concealer did go on smoothly along with my foundation and all my makeup stayed on pretty well. I will be getting this for now on! Goodbye Nivea!

Fave Mascara: Maybelline Angel Push Up! I never thought I would try a falsies mascara until I tried Maybelline’s Falsies Angel Push Up! I am glad that this mascara give me the same affect as a pair of false lashes when I don’t wear them. What is the point of false lashes when they can cause problems. Read my Cosmetic Controversy post on those. Anyways, I find the tube interesting looking since it almost reminds me of a pushup pop but with a mascara tube! I did like how my lashes felt with this one and willing to keep trying other mascaras to see how they feel.

Fave New YouTube Channel: Vivid Barnicle! So, lately I have been watching Wheeaboo story videos since Wheeaboos are a bane of our existence. I do admit I did have a bit of a Wheeaboo side in my earlier days of getting into anime but it did die down since I got into other things like Doctor Who and My Little Pony and much more. I stumbled upon this one girl known as Vivid Barnicle and she reads a lot of stories that are horror like where people had many experiences with Wheeaboos. For anyone who doesn’t know what a Wheeaboo is they are basically a person who is overly obsessed with anime and Japan and bases Japanese culture on what they see in anime such as believing that there are still samurais like Rurouni Kenshin walking around when they haven’t exist in many decades. Also, I did take Japanese courses and it is not as easy as many would think. Anyways, some of my fave stories include a girl who tried dying her skin in a bathtub with sharpies and alcohol for her Homestuck cosplay and one that was really recent where a girl got attacked by one Wheeaboo that attended her college and caught her stealing stuff including her Yuri On Ice costume she made. It is amazing how much people become very obsessed with anime stuff. So glad I grew up!

Best Series Come Back: Mystery Science Theater 3000! Yes! It’s back! For those of you who are nerds and haven’t grow up as much as I did with this series, MST3K has come back and in full force on NetFlix and so many people are happy including us, as in me, GOndras, and Nerdy Shirts! For those of you who are new to knowing about this, it is a show where a guy and his two robots riff on cheesy sci-fi and horror movies sent by their worst enemy! It is hilarious and some of the jokes are funny as each movie goes on. Even Movie Bob was happy to see it back that he was in tears at first and then laughing so much with the first episode. What made us happy was Patton Oswald is a character on this which fits with him and it feels like he takes his pony character from My Little Pony and turned it into Max on this. It was even awesome that Felicia Day being the new Forrester in this one. Yes, we have to drop by her table at Mega for a “hi!” Plus, the theme song is always catchy!

Well, that is about it for this bi-montly favorites! Make sure you follow us on Twitter and Facebook for the latest updates including when we put up the Orlando Overdrive footage! I really need to get that from Gondras. What is next? Maybe another book review or maybe last minute convention info for MegaCon and still waiting on news from anyone on email interviews. So sit tight!

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by moonleopard85 on April 29, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, beauty, clothing, conventions, cosplay, Favorites, Interviews, Movies, Television

Posted by moonleopard85 on April 29, 2017

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2017/04/29/favorites-march-and-april-2017/

Concerts: Orlando Overdrive 2017 Review!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Yesterday was Orlando Overdrive and man it was awesome! We only there for some of the acts but not all because Gondras felt exhausted from work earlier in the day but hey we did have fun from what we saw! We will be putting videos up onto our YouTube so you should be following there, our Twitter account for updates, and Facebook for more updates!

Let’s see what I got and who we saw!

Event: Orlando Overdrive
Location: The Geek Easy inside A Comic Shop!

Location: Let me start off by talking about the location itself! For those of you who may be new to knowing about some of the hangouts outside of the club district basically the Geek Easy is a bar/food hangout inside a comic book shop called A Comic Shop that has been around for a while. It used to be smaller but it got renovated to be more spacious and having a better stage, sound, and even a bar/food area to get drinks and food which is awesome! They do do events such as anime showings, concerts, and even dances because back in the day there were raves there too and even a few burlesque shows. Manime Man used to do his Anime Nights every month at this place but now at Bikkuri Lounge, which I recommend that place for Japanese cuisine especially how big of a bowl of ramen and udan you get! While the Geek Easy does grilled stuff such as burgers, grilled cheese, and their tots are in the shapes of Tetris blocs which throws everyone back! They are delicious and I highly recommend if you go to any event or just hang out!

The Acts: This year, people got to vote on the Ongaku Overdrive website for who they want to see and nine of them get chosen to perform. I did vote for some of them but two we didn’t get to see that I voted which were Ben Briggs, which I wanted to see a few times but always missed, and EyeQ, which he is an awesome rapper especially with doing his own Attack On Titan raps! Who else did I vote for? I will reveal down below!

Jasper from Random Encounter: As we got into the event, we were a little late which it does take a bit to get to my part of town to get me from where Gondras lives, wtis guy was on the stage performing. He used to play accordion for another nerdcore band called Random Encounter which took their separate ways but this guy is still performing! Never thought hearing a guy on accordion was awesome! He took requests from the crowd and even quizzed them in what song he was playing. With one song I was thinking of Mario Kart 64 and Gondras tried to say Mario 64 and got it wrong. He did do the actual song that Gondras was thinking but what was even funnier was when GOndras tried to request “Birdhouse In Your Soul” by They Might Be Giants. He got the old “Don’t know that one!” I can “Nyu” that one and would be funny if I start doing nerd music that way.

Boy Without Batteries: This is one of the other artists that I voted for because I enjoyed his music a lot from the times he performed at the Anime Prom Nights Manime Man did. He does chiptune music and hooked up an old school Game Boy to his soundboard and acts like he is playing the Game Boy while performing the song. It is like doing the chiptune song with a guitar controller or something from Rock Band. I didn’t know what he was doing because my vision sucks and glad that Nerdy Shirts described it to me! You guys should check this guy out after seeing our footage. One song I did like by him was one that almost was like a combination of “Last Chance” by Kascade and “You Are” by Paul Oakenfold which was the version from the Electric Daisy Carnival set from last year! (I listen to the set time to time since I am a bit of a techno fan.) Still, should check him out.

Under Polaris: And the final act that I voted for is Under Polaris which was a blind vote. I never heard of these guys but they are essentially a metal band that does video game covers! You know me when it comes to metal and when I heard this I knew I would enjoy these guys! This band did covers to music from Batman: Return of the Joker, Double Dragon 2, which was a tribute to a close friend, and one that Vivi would appreciate if she heard it unless it is in the footage, Lavendar Town from Pokemon Red and Blue Versions. I did tell Stellarnan I used to have Red Version until my brother’s ex-wife threw away my Game BOy color when my nephew was borrowing it. (Still mad about that!) They did also do the “Suicide Mission” song from Mass Effect 2 which that made me and Gondras happy due to being fans of that game.Thank goodness I voted for these guys after hearing them!

Shammers: Next is a rapper and his buddy that we tend to see a lot at these events and that is Shammers! A heads up, we didn’t get any footage of these guys rapping because Nintendo has been content I.D.ing everyone who has been reviewing anything or using their stuff when it is supposed to be fair use! Sorry about that but we already went through Copyright Claims done twice in two years with some of our videos from Holiday Matsuri. His partner, Professor Oak, are known for doing Pokemon raps and puns as well. Heck, they even did a rap battle towards their fave consoles which were of course the Nintendo line versus the Sega line. Stellar did ask which one I was on and since I had my Tri-Force goggles from my Link cosplay, Nintendo despite playing both systems as a kid. They did do their Pokemon Snap rap and they did ask the audience to hold up pics of their fave Pokemon so they could do a Pokemon Go based rap. So, it was really improve rap this time! A nice variation this past night.

Sci Fried: Another band that I never expected liking and that is Sci Fried. These guys were surprised that they got voted to perform last night since they were more underground but the crowd had spoken and I could see why! These guys do rock/metal music based on many sci-fi properties such as Alien, Lord of the Rings, and did one song based on the bosses’ point of view in a video game! These guys were amazing and wishing they would open for Traverser because they would fit with their sci-fi sound. Also, I did suggest these guys to Omni Expo to perform next year when they return to the Florida Mall hotel! I would love them to rock the Main Events stage that Friday or Saturday night!

Geekapella: We left during these guys’ set since Gondras was starting to doze off but we did catch them a bit. This group is a ten person group that does geek-style acapella music. I tend to like Rockapella and this was a nice new group that did video game and anime acapellas. They did the first theme song from Attack On Titan and then went into “Still Alive” from Portal, and one of them did their own version of “Creep” which is not that bad! If we saw these guys again, hoping it is the entire set and I would vote for them again next year if we get another press opportunity.

Rating: 5 Star PawPrints Out of 5! This event gets the highest on our rating scale since it was entertaining and very fun! Nerdc cre music has been taking a big rise and a lot of people have been enjoying it. Will any of this music end up on this month’s Top 10? You will see soon! In the mean time, you should give Ongaku Overdrive a big hand for putting on this event even having it moved at last minute which was still a success! I am hoping we get to do press again next year for it and even thank Manime Man for letting us do it! Also, check out the bands above! You won’t be disappointed and give them a like on their social media and stay tuned for our footage from this year’s event!

What is next? Well, I have something special in line for everyone and of course I do have the Top Ten Songs of April for you guys! Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on April 24, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Gaming, Movies, Music, Restaurants, Reviews, Travel, Video Games

Posted by moonleopard85 on April 24, 2017

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2017/04/24/concerts-orlando-overdrive-2017-review/

Convention Spotlight: MegaCon 2017!

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! It is time! It’s time to do the time warp and announce that we are doing press for…

Convention: MegaCon
Location: Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, FL
Dates: May 25-28, 2017

Oh yes! We are going back to Orlando’s biggest convention when it comes to comics, sci-fi, cosplay, anime, and even horror and that is MegaCon! This convention used to be family owned during the eight years I’ve been from 2005-2012 and was sold to Fan Expo two years back and if you remembered that we didn’t get to have press a year ago and our buddy and videographer, Nerdy Shirts, did do a review on this convention for us. I am proud to announce that we will be doing press at this year’s event. I bet you’re wondering what happened with Tampa, due to time issues with me in Daytona and Gondras working we couldn’t make it but be glad we can make this one and bring you a review and hoping interviews! Let’s get a move on shall we?

Location: Like every year, this convention is held over at the Orange County Convention Center which is in the center of Downtown Orlando on International Drive! If you have been to this con in this past and possibly others held by Mega or at least the Home & Garden Show or even the NFB National Convention at the Rosen Center that connects to the center, you all know this place is HUGE! Sorry Fun Spot!

This place has a lot of restaurants in the surrounding area so you have a lot of options for eating such as Red Robin, Denny’s, Perkins, and so much more along International Drive for food. Also you have tons of hotels to choose from because Orlando is known for that. I would say check the hotel you are planning to book for any rooms left because this year may cause rooms to be booked all over! I do recommend the Extended Stay which you can get a kitchen if need be in your room!

Guests: MegaCon has a ton of guests this year and I am mentioning some here:

Felicia Day
Tim Curry
Stan Lee
Yaya Han
Stan Lee
Meatloaf
Mike Tyson
Nicholas Brendan
Eliza Dushku
Jenna Coleman

You can check out http://www.megaconorlando.com for the full list and I am hoping they update the voice actors part soon because I missed Eric Veil last year along with Monica RIal and other people. I hope they bring those two back because I would love them in the Shique Hot Seat with the other guests I would like to interview from this year. I don’t want to jynx but will announce over on our Twitter page and Facebook page!

Mail-In Order Autographs: What caught my kitty curiosity is something called “Mail-in-Autographs” which really surprises me. Fans that can’t attend can either send in items for the guests to sign or they can order 8 X 10 photos of the guests to be signed. You can check out http://www.OfficialPix.com for the services starting this month since we are already in April!

Photo-Ops: Besides the Mail-In-Order Autographs, there is always the photo-ops where you can get up to three of your buddies to get a pic with one of the celebs invited to this convention! These ops will be selling three to four weeks of the convention which you can keep checking megaconorlando.com for more info and services!

I guess that is good for this post! If you all want more info such as more guests, attractions, travel info, and even contest related things, you can just head over to http://www.megaconorlando.com for all the info! Also, I will bring the Last Minute Convention Info two weeks before this con because knowing that this con will be busy and so will everyone preparing like we will here at Nerdy Shique Universe that I will bring this info as soon as possible! Make sure you’re following us on Facebook and Twitter for updates when our Last Minute Con Info goes up along with any interview info when we have our list of guests we’re having in our Shique Hot Seat this year. Stay tuned for everything!

What is next? Of ourse the March and April Faves of this year alongside nire book reviews coming up so stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on April 6, 2017  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Cartoons, comics, conventions, cosplay, Movies, Television, Travel

Posted by moonleopard85 on April 6, 2017

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2017/04/06/convention-spotlight-megacon-2017/

Bests and Worsts of 2016

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!

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by moonleopard85 on December 31, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, beauty, Books, conventions, Favorites, Internet, Interviews, Movies, Television

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 31, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/12/31/bests-and-worsts-of-2016/

Holiday Matsuri 2016 Cosplay Gallery

Here’s our collection of cosplay photos, featuring entrants and winners from the Cosplay Runway.

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by moonleopard85 on December 30, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Cartoons, clothing, comics, conventions, cosplay, Gaming, Manga, Movies, Television, Video Games

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 30, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/12/30/holiday-matsuri-2016-cosplay-gallery/

Holiday Matsuri 2016: Interview with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Now it’s time for another interview!

Mary Elizabeth McGlynn!

I bet you’re wondering “Wait a minute! Didn’t you interview her a while back?” Yes I did! I did mention how we interviewed her at MetroCon 2014 and you have read that back then or when I posted the link in the Convention Spotlight for Holiday Matsuri. She hasn’t been to an Orlando con and glad that she got invited to this one since this one is the most wonderful con of the year and hoping that others would invite her and Steve to more of them.

Why another interview with her? Gondras figured since we haven’t seen her since that we should do another interview with her and it was a last minute decision when I went to meet Steve first to arrange his interview. It did give a nice update, especially when I asked her about the new live-action Ghost in the Shell movie along with Scarlet Johannson playing the Major in it. So, here it is and enjoy!

What is next? The Voice Actors Supershow!

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by moonleopard85 on December 28, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, Cartoons, conventions, Interviews, Movies

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 28, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/12/28/holiday-matsuri-2016-interview-with-mary-elizabeth-mcglynn/

Holiday Matsuri 2016: Interview with Steve Blum

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Time to bring in the interviews!
Steve Blum!

Our first interview was with Steve Blum! When I heard that he was coming to Holiday Matsuri I was really excited since I never got to meet him. I know he was in Orlando for a convention in 2011 but due to scheduling conflicts, which I had my annual eye doctor appointment when Florida Anime Experience was going on, I couldn’t go! I was honored to not only meet the guy and get my copy of Gurren Lagan signed by him but to interview him! What did I ask him? Just watch and see!

Also, a few tidbits to bring up and first is that they were supposed to give us a private room to interview but it didn’t happen so sorry if the location was in the vendor’s room this year. They really need to give us that private room like Omni did and should’ve mentioned that in the review that was a Need for Improvement! Also, Gondras goofed up and thought I was finished with the interview when I thanked him after he did his best fan experience story which I was thanking him on his work for all these years. Yes, I still remember when Toonami first started back in the 1990’s.

That is it for this post! Stay tuned for the next one!
Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Time to bring in the interviews!
Steve Blum!

Our first interview was with Steve Blum! When I heard that he was coming to Holiday Matsuri I was really excited since I never got to meet him. I know he was in Orlando for a convention in 2011 but due to scheduling conflicts, which I had my annual eye doctor appointment when Florida Anime Experience was going on, I couldn’t go! I was honored to not only meet the guy and get my copy of Gurren Lagan signed by him but to interview him! What did I ask him? Just watch and see!

Also, a few tidbits to bring up and first is that they were supposed to give us a private room to interview but it didn’t happen so sorry if the location was in the vendor’s room this year. They really need to give us that private room like Omni did and should’ve mentioned that in the review that was a Need for Improvement! Also, Gondras goofed up and thought I was finished with the interview when I thanked him after he did his best fan experience story which I was thanking him on his work for all these years. Yes, I still remember when Toonami first started back in the 1990’s.

That is it for this post! Stay tuned for the next one!

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by moonleopard85 on December 27, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, conventions, Gaming, Interviews, Movies

Posted by moonleopard85 on December 27, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/12/27/holiday-matsuri-2016-interview-with-steve-blum/

Review: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! Sorry, still waiting on the stuff for the Convention Spotlight, I will see if I get the interview questions in the next day or so since I did send the head of press at Tampa Mega an email last night. Anyways, I do have a review!

Movie: Batman: Mask of the Phantasm

I know you’re thinking, “Mari, that movie has been out for many years since the 90s!” I know but I never seen it! Yes, “GASP!” Here was the thing, I went to FYE with Gondras on my birthday this past Tuesday and we were looking around and we stumbled upon the many Batman Blue Rays and found Mask of the Phantasm on DVD along with Return of the Joker from Batman Beyond. These two movies were $7 each and we couldn’t pass them up since we were surprised that these didn’t get a Blue Ray release like the many other movies such as Forever and Batman & Robin which were the two movies least liked by everyone. Even the “Bat Credit Card” joke from Nostalgia Critic still makes me laugh!

When we got back to my place, we did put Mask into Gondras’ laptop to watch to remedy myself from never seeing it. I did remember it being in theaters in the mid-90s or was it earlier, but this was around the time Warner Brothers still put animated features in theaters and that included Space Jam and the first three Pokemon movies. As you know, I have been a fan of Batman The Animated Series when I was younger and have enjoyed watching it and that is how I started loving Harley Quin, especially the episode where she was living with Poison Ivy. Anyways, if you remembered my last post about D. C. Comics belonging and this animated series was the perfect example of sticking to TV.

Movie Synopsis: This movie takes a look at more of the earlier days of Batman and how Bruce met his first love, Andrea Beaumont when he was a college kid from what I can get. This does show flashbacks mainly of how he started designing the suit and at the same time keeping time with Andrea. As time goes on, things have happened to Andrea’ home and causes her to return a ring that Bruce has propsed to her with and causes her to become someone else.

What I thought: I thought it was really good! I never seen this movie and after seeing it for my first time, I did get to see one story that shown something that led to present day Batman. Well, more like this movie was from the beginning of the series at least. I thought that Cat Woman was his only love until I found out that Andrea was his first and thought that would make sense if he met someone at an earlier part of his life after losing his parents early on.

What was surprising was seeing the Joker in this one too but the good thing is that they kept with the continuity of how he went through the chemicals and changing from being someone involved with the mob to a villain. Mark Hammel will always be Joker to me and Gondras of course! Also, the character of the Phantasm was interesting. At first, people on the police force thought it was Batman causing attacks on mob members but there was a special chemical that was left behind as the Phantasm’s mark not Batman’s since we know we tend to see one of his Batarangs stuck in the wall or anything else to say, “Yeah, I was here!”

What was great about this movie was how touching the scenes between Bruce and Andrea being together throughout the film. I did mention in the last post that I liked how in the D. C. animated stuff was how there were lighthearted moments in the drama. This was a romance story since it did start off a bit awkward like some relationships due to how Bruce was starting off as Batman and she wonders where he was until she figured out what went on at his parents’ grave site. I did find it sad in the ending how Bruce thought he lost her again due to how the final fight was at the World of Tomorrow exhibit that was around which was also a theme park and the Joker rigged it with a bomb. She wanted it to end after what happened to her father and how he was connected to the mob and why she went after them as the Phantasm. Yes, it did show her alive but it did go the way of “He doesn’t know that.” I guess the creators wanted to show as the series went on that he did move on and found other women to fall for and of course Cat Woman was one of them.

IFinal Thoughts: My final thoughts on this is that this was a masterpiece to be placed on Blue Ray. It would suck if they waited until next month to do it when we got the DVD for a discounted price. I am wishing Warner Brothers and D. C. made their movies like this rather than how they are doing now because of how the TV shows are getting better and there is still more to do with them. Sub Zero did follow this film and it was an okay film after seeing it on Cartoon Network but the other animated movies that were released were really well done. Still, this movie should have been on Blue Ray, especially with putting the audio at a better volume since I did notice that it kind of dropped out in some scenes and not as loud as it Joker’s laughs.

Rating: 5 out of 5 Paw Prints

That was it for this review! I am hoping I hear back from Tampa Bay MegaCon for my Convention Spotlight! I know this will also lead into my July and August Favorites for this year! Stay tuned!

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by moonleopard85 on August 11, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in Cartoons, comics, Movies, Reviews

Posted by moonleopard85 on August 11, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/08/11/review-batman-mask-of-the-phantasm/

D. C.: What Screen Should It Be On?

Hello Shiquers and welcome back to Nerdy Shique Universe! I am still waiting on answers from Tampa Bay MegaCon to my interview questions, but in the meantime I decided to do something special.

Disclaimer: This post is based on opinion and observation. If you don’t like it, get out!

Comic books have been showing up a lot in media ever since Marvel Studios has shown up and pretty much beaten the box office with their movies. Of course D. C. has shown up to be part of the competition but their movies have not been the best. How so? Well, Marvel has been showing really good interpretations of the comic stories, picking really good actors to fill in the roles like Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Christopher Evans, as Captain America, even the younger Olsen sibling to be Scarlet Witch and now Benedict Cumberbatch to be Dr. Strange for the movie this fall. Not only that, they did get SpiderMan back for a movie next year. Plus, can’t forget, they do know how to make the banter between characters sound real, especially with Civil War and Guardians of the Galaxy.

What about D. C. you may ask? Well…well…to me that the TV and cartoons translate the comic books better than the movies. Don’t get me wrong but I did enjoy the Christopher Nolen Batman movies despite how the third one had me bust out laughing when Batman was yelling, “Where is the trigger!?” in his best Jack Bower inpersonation. To me, the tv and cartoon shows do the D. C. comics a lot better because they are translated well. I haven’t seen Batman v. Superman, Superman (the newer btw), and now Suicide Squad, which worried me and Gondras the most because of what we heard from reviews that the movies weren’t that great. Heck, I seen Nostalgia Critic do his review on Superman and oh man… We did see Green Lantern and it wasn’t great with what we saw. Anyways, how I see it is that D. C. is trying too hard by making their films as dark as Marvel but too dark. I understand that most stories in D. C. are dark but there are times when you do see lighthearted parts in it. I seen that with Batman the Animated Series, Batman Beyond, Superman Animated, heck, even Teen Titans had a lot of jokes and banter within the dark bits. Also, the storytelling, especially with Suicide Squad from what I heard, is pretty choppy. I can believe it since the story in Green Lantern felt rushed and forced from remembering it.

What D. C. Should Do? Should stick to TV with their stuff! How so? Well, I admit I have seen some of Arrow and Flash and from what I’ve seen all thanks to Gondras watching them on Netflix and Hulu, they are both good! I even give props to the actor who originally played Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files tv show as a detective in it. The story they took in both shows pretty much fits with the cohesive storytelling you’d expect in the movies. Yes, they changed a few things, especially with Arrow but both shows had really good stories to work with. Even the cartoons when they were around even kept the storytelling as before like with Batman had. I know they all went dark but they did it without trying too hard and did mention earlier that there were pretty touching moments between characters. To me, with how tv shows and cartoons work they work better for D. C. and Warner Brothers since Warner Brothers is known for making cartoons for many years and that is pretty much their element. Now wishing they don’t cancel anymore good things when the action escalates like with Young Justice and Green Lantern Animated.

Well, that is it for this post! I know I am basing the D. C. movies on reviews but reviews do help us decide what we should see or what to stay away from. Gondras was worried about the Suicide Squad movie and I was mostly worried about Harley Quin not fitting with what I seen in the cartoons and video games, which in my opinion Hynden Walsh should’ve done the voice in Arcum City. Still, I am goi8ng to see the animated version on NetFlix if htye have it since I seen a review on that one and heard it’s pretty good! In the end, D. C., just stick to TV, that is what you do well!

Next time will be the Tampa Bay MegaCon Convention Spotlight.

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by moonleopard85 on August 5, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in Cartoons, comics, Movies

Posted by moonleopard85 on August 5, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/08/05/d-c-what-screen-should-it-be-on/

Convention Impossible: MegaCon 2016

MegaCon 2016 Review: The Beginning of Something Truly Mega

Hello there Shiquers! My name is Kristen G. Rosario (AKA Mr. Nerdy Shirts himself) and I’m here to give you my take on what I thought of this year’s MegaCon. Of course you’re asking yourself, “Where’s Mari?”, “Why isn’t she doing this review?” and “Why do I have to care about what Nerdy Shirts says?”. Those are all valid points, but unfortunately Mari was unable to attend this year’s MegaCon due to other priorities.

She has entrusted me to do this review because I was able to go this year, and also for the fact that we’ve been good friends for quite a few years now, so she knows I’m going to be quite honest with my take on the convention. Now that we have that out of the way let’s get started with this review.

To begin with, this was my tenth year going to MegaCon as my family has made it a tradition to go to MegaCon on the Saturday when it’s in town. Over the years and with the addition of many friends during my time in MegaCon, I started to enjoy this convention more and more. MegaCon is the first big convention I’ve ever been to. This is only my second time doing this, but I decided to get a full weekend pass for this year’s event. I have been doing it with other conventions I’ve gone to (like Holiday Matsuri, CEO, and Omni) so I’ve been trying to make it a habit of doing it more often with Mega.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well I want you to know that this review is coming from the perspective of someone who knows how MegaCon should be. Over the course of the ten years I’ve been going to this convention, I can easily tell you that it’s not perfect and it hasn’t been for quite some time.

This year is different though, as Fan Expo (a company that makes money through conventions) bought out this family-run business early last year and decided big changes were in store. The first big change was the amount of days MegaCon was around, now moving it to a full four days instead of three. The second change moved the convention, which was typically a Spring convention (usually held between February and April) into a Summer one as now Mega was going to be held at the end of May.

There was even an event last November called MegaCon Fan Days that was only two days, but a sample at the kind of convention Fan Expo was offering. Overall though, I was curious to see where they would go with this as I was kind of 50/50 on this since bigger companies buying or even partnering with smaller companies has never really worked out that well. There are other smaller changes that occurred that I will get into throughout my full review.

Speaking of my review. I’ll be breaking my review up into a few categories, with overall thoughts at the end.

Getting a Ticket:
Within the last few years, MegaCon has seriously hiked up the prices for all the kinds of passes that they offer. When tickets went on sale for MegaCon 2015, nobody was happy by the amount they were asking for all of these passes and the company that ran MegaCon were forced to drop some of the prices due to fan backlash. They were still a bit high, but the prices on the passes were now a bit more reasonable.

The passes for this year’s convention were about the same, but offering more for those willing to pay. For instance, this year when you ordered your tickets in advance, you would now get the option for the actual pass to be sent to your home, thus eliminating the need to get in line to pick up your ticket. The VIP and new “Premium” passes even got a sweet bonus (besides the usual swag) that’ll let you use them to get into the next big MegaCon event (which I’ll get into that later). For the general admission passes though, the biggest problem was the limited kind of passes they had to offer.

They had a 4-Day Pass (Deluxe), Individual Day Passes, and a Child Pass. That’s it. They weren’t offering any three-day passes, Thursday & Friday, Saturday & Sunday or even a two-day combo pass. I paid $100 for my Deluxe Pass (because I bought it at the convention) since I wanted/knew I could go all four days. My brother though still had to pay full, Deluxe price despite him only being able to go three of the four days. What kind of crap is that?

They seriously couldn’t figure out a pricing system? Fan Expo couldn’t make it to where there were three-day and two-day combo passes that costed at least $15 – $25 less depending on what days you were going? That just reeks of stupidity. And then there were the press passes.

Now one of the other reasons Mari was unable to go to MegaCon this year was because her press pass application was denied. Why you ask? Because according to the response email she got from them, they were mainly focused on getting press who have been to MegaCon before.

This makes sense at first, since they want veteran MegaCon press attendees to get the word out on all of the new changes Fan Expo has made. What doesn’t make any sense is them not letting about the same amount for newer press attendees for press passes attend as well. You need positive feedback on both fronts if you want more people to attend your convention.

Getting In:
This year had an entire entrance section dedicated to picking up pre-ordered passes, or purchasing ones there. Those who had to purchase said passes there were required to fill out a small paper slip with their personal info and how many tickets they wanted to buy. This was really stupid as even during their busiest day (Saturday) they still made you fill this out before going to purchase your ticket.

Then there was this policy they had where you couldn’t pick up a pre-ordered individual pass a day or so before you could use it. My brother experienced this when he was only allowed to pick up his deluxe pass and not the other two day passes he bought for the next day.

This became a problem as now my brother had to wait in an enormous line just to pick up their pre-reserved tickets on Saturday. What didn’t help was that they only had about four ticket booths each to support the pre-ordered tickets section and purchase said tickets section. They should have seriously been more prepared for this, plus they had plenty of room to add more booths in the ticket section of Mega.

Vendor Hall:
Previous Vendor Halls at MegaCon have always been hit or miss. That’s not say what they offered was any good, but the way they were organized and prepared always seemed a little off to me. They always made the vendor halls feel like they were underestimating the amount people that were to attend. This year’s MegaCon promised the biggest vendor hall in the convention’s history. Well they definitely weren’t wrong about that.

This year’s vendor hall was definitely an upgrade compared to other years. The first thing you notice after getting out of ticket section is that all of the spaces in the alleyways between the booths are much wider. This made it easier to get around the place as previous years didn’t feel like they really did that (even Saturday didn’t feel that half bad). Plus the amount of booths now was amazing because there was so much more variety in what they had to offer (though I did count at least 2-3, 3-4 of the same kind of Pop Vinyl Figure booths).

The areas for themed sections of the hall (ie. Artist Alley, Tattoo Alley, etc.) were definitely more organized and properly handled. The attractions in the halls were great and definitely offered some great photo ops.

Though one of the better improvements of the vendor halls was the Celebrity Section. Like I said previously, one of the bigger improvements was the amount of space they got for the vendor hall. This definitely helped benefit the amount of people who were there to help with autographs.

This section was very big and even on Saturday it was still easy to get through. Every celebrity had a line section dedicated to them, which really worked out to give more space to the people moving around the area. The biggest celebrities of the convention (John Cusack and Stan Lee) were both put properly on one end of the Celebrity section as to reduce the clutter throughout the autograph area.

One final thing to note is that they had an alleyway on the side of the vendor hall, near the exit to this area, dedicated to getting into any part of the hall. This helped immensely when just trying to get to one specific section of the vendor hall.

Photo Ops Section:
Now I didn’t put this section in the previous one because I kind of have a gripe with this area of the vendor hall and here’s why. About four years ago I purchased a VIP experience with Stan Lee for myself and my father. One of the perks of this package was getting to take a picture with The Man himself. Me and my father went in there, got to say hello to the legend, shake his hand, and then got to take the picture. I still consider this one the best moments of my entire life.

This year I got to do that with my brother, but it wasn’t the same experience at all. Organization wise, it was much better than previous years as they properly took care of the lines (most of the time). My biggest gripe however was how they handled the pictures. There was no chance to really say hi, no chance to shake The Man’s hand, just “click, NEXT, click, NEXT, click…” (that’s almost verbatim of what me and my brother heard inside the Photo Ops Section).

While it was nice to take a picture with Mr. Lee, it just didn’t feel the same as when I took it with my father. It felt less like taking a picture with someone, and more like taking a picture with a statue. My brother went through the same experience when getting a picture with Burt Ward and Adam West next to the ’66 Batmobile. Just click and go, click and go.

Now like I already said the lines were organized for the most part. The reason I’m saying “for the most part” is because they wouldn’t let you set up a line beforehand until around 30 minutes before the Photo Op with the celebrity began. Now anybody who’s been to enough conventions knows that even when officials say something like that, people still set up a line.

They’re saving a whole hour (or perhaps more) of their time at this convention to get in, meet the celebrity, take the photo, and go. Do not tell them they can’t wait because they will stand there like a statue and wait until there’s a makeshift line behind them.

Panels:
When it comes to any convention, the one thing I looks forward to the most is the panels. Running into friends, wandering around the vendor halls, and even seeing some amazing cosplays is great, but going to panels gives you that chance to get an exclusive experience when it comes to going to a convention. One of the big changes this year was that 98% of the panels were free to get into (unlike other years where you had to buy “exclusive access”). This meant that a huge majority of the celebrity Q&A sessions everyone had access to (though there’s still the issue of lines).

To deal with the issue of a majority of people having access to these panels now, they put some of the bigger celebrity ones in the Chapin Theater. This was a giant auditorium area that I had no idea the Convention Center had. To even deal with the line into this theater, they had an entire separate room across from the auditorium dedicated to handling the lines. There were only two panels I went into when it came to the Chapin Theater, but the experience was still great. A great move by Fan Expo as it gave a lot of people a chance to get into the bigger panels.

My biggest gripe though with this was that not all of the celebrities got a nicely sized panel room. While some celebrities like Billie Piper, Michelle Gomez, Jason Isaacs, Carlos Valdes (Cisco from The Flash), and John Barrowman got nicely sized rooms, others didn’t. Actors like Vivica A. Fox, Elden Hansen, and David Hayter got much smaller rooms.

The panels I did get into where fun and a real treat. I sadly didn’t go to the Barrowman panel (which I’ve heard is always a good time), but I did have a great time going to the ones I did. Conroy panel was great, Valdes panel was better than I expected, the Cosplay Contest was awesome as well (this year had more individual awards given out, along with honorary mentions from the judges).

I had a few problems with the panels that I did go to though. For one thing, most of the moderators for the Q&A panels talked for TOO LONG. Some of them wasted about half of the panel with their own questions. I heard from other people in line that it was worse though when it came to any of the Q&A panels held in the Chapin Theater. Then there were some of the lines.

While the most of the panels I went to you could easily tell where the end of the line was, the others you couldn’t. Anybody going into the second biggest panel room of the show had a tough time figuring out where the end of the line was since they would wrap a majority of the line around a small section next to the panel room. I know I’ve only seen this once, but there could’ve easily been somebody holding an “END OF LINE” sign to make things easier.

The most minor gripe I had was with the goddamn TMNT2 trailer they showed before some of the bigger panels. While they were a great indicator that the panel was about to start, it was the first trailer of the movie from last December that they showed. This bugged me because there was a trailer that they released earlier in May for this movie that they could’ve used! What made it worse was the tacked on Stephen Amell promotion before the trailer started because you can tell it was one of those half-assed, “insert convention here” promos.

Quick Minor Gripes:
-The booklet’s this year were in full-color, but limited as the first day I went, I actually had to ask a random volunteer booth for one.

-Returning general admission convention goers showing up in the first hall of the convention had to take a long, winding path just to get to the vendor hall area again. You weren’t allowed to cut through doors that led directly to that section. That was only meant for VIP, Premium, Celebrities, and Vendors. Easy fix though because you could easily go to the third floor and take the doors through there to get into the main con area.

-Sadly didn’t get to go to the Jay and Silent Bob panel as that was part of the 2% of panels that required an additional exclusive pass.

-I was unable to find one of my favorite sections of any convention, the video gaming area, though one of my friends said there was one.
-Be wary of the Box of Mystery booth’s if they’re at a convention you go to (the ones that have SMB coin boxes) because they are less 50/50 and more 75/25 when it comes to what they offer on the inside. The box that I got only had a couple of items that I generally liked. The rest was seriously meh. The only time you’re going to get something worthwhile from those boxes is if you purchase the $100 one.
-A schedule for the voice actor’s time for autographs would’ve been nice. Same goes for some of the celebrities.

Overall:
While there is stuff that this convention still needs to work on (their ticket system and their Photo Op area for instance) I still had one of the most amazing times at MegaCon in quite a while. The variety of vendor booths, all the panels I got to visit, the celebrities I got to see and even the cosplays were great. I didn’t bring this up in my section on the panels, but the official MegaCon app was even really useful this year for getting around to the panels and it kept me notified on any changes or cancellations throughout my time at the convention.

There is confirmation that there MegaCon will now be a bi-annual event as the next Mega will be held this October in Tampa. It’ll be interesting to see how that one plays out. In the end though, if they can fix some of the problems that they have (especially in time for MegaCon Tampa), then this convention has the potential to be truly Mega.

If you guys want to see more of my work, then be sure to check me out at the link’s below!

Zelda Informer:
http://www.zeldainformer.com/member/20055
Super Reaction Bros:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOEvKiZ9cgn_pN-QXPZQ8YQ

*Note from Mari: Thank you to Nerdy Shirts, aka Fox Warrior, for giving this review.

Another thing I want to add which he allow me to add to this: I think the press form would be greatly improved the most because it felt pretty vague in what MegaCon was looking for which could help out anyone who has been running a blog or a YouTube Channel like we have been running, which I seen some conventions mention “Are you a media outlet?” also put “Check all that applies” to the section to show what outlet they’re posting on because not all blogs, Instagrams, and everything is the same.

Another thing to improve the form is adding “Do you want to interview our many guests?” section because I had to send a separate email to show a list but this would be a lot easier because we wanted to interview a lot of people and that included the Star Trek crew and Companions from Dector Who as examples. It would give a nice variety of who would sign up for this convention since not every online media outlet does this and if you seen our videos, we do it and have fun!

Now, we are aiming for press for Tampa MegaCon which can help us branch out more and get us back to Tampa, so seeing how that will go! You can follow that brance on Facebook in case if you’re interested!

My Final Thoughts: It looks like Mega does need to improve with the new group running it from what Nerdy SHirts said and hoping it becomes better since people do have to get used to the craziness that goes on during these events. Let’s see what happens next year! Again, thank you Nerdy Shirts for this review!

Also, in case you’re wondering: He gives it a CONVENTION ACCOMPLISHED!

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by moonleopard85 on June 1, 2016  •  Permalink
Posted in anime, comics, conventions, cosplay, Movies, Reviews, Television

Posted by moonleopard85 on June 1, 2016

https://nerdyshiqueuniverse.com/2016/06/01/convention-impossible-megacon-2016/

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