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melisa-may-taylor72 · 3 years

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QUEEN BEFORE QUEEN

THE 1960s RECORDINGS

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PART 4:

THE OPPOSITION

JOHN DEACON WAS THE QUIETEST MEMBER OF A MIDLAND-BASED FIVE-PIECE WHOSE GREATEST AMBITION WAS TO PLAY ANOTHER GIG.

Initial research John S. Stuart. Additional research and text: Andy Davis.

John Deacon was the fourth and final member to join Queen. He became part of that regal household 25 years ago this month, enrolling as the band’s permanent bassist in February 1971. His acceptance marked the culmination of a six-year ‘career’ in music, much of which he spent in an amateur, Leicestershire covers band called the Opposition.

From 1965 until 1969, Deacon and his schoolmates ploughed a humble, local furrow in and around their Midlands hometown, reflecting the decade’s mercurial moodswing with a series of names, images and styles of music. The most remarkable fact about the Opposition was just how unremarkable the group actually was.

Collectively, they were an unambitious crew: undertaking precisely no trips down to London to woo A&R men; winning only one notable support slot for the army of chart bands who visited Leicester in the ‘60s (opening for Reperata & the Delrons in Melton Mowbray in 1968); and managing even to miss out on the option of sending a demo tape to any of the nation’s record labels. The band’s saving grace is its solé recorded legacy: a three-track acetate — although even this was done for purely private consumption, and has rarely been aired outside the confines of their inner circle.

It is perhaps indicative of the Opposition’s modest outlook that their most promising bid for stardom, a beat contest, was called off before they had the chance to play in the finals. For John Deacon and friends, it seems, merely being in a band was reward enough.

Considering of all of this, it’s easy to imagine the response to the following story, related in the ‘60s to one of the Opposition’s guitarists, Ronald Chester:...[ ]

...[ ] “There was a teacher who worked at Beauchamp School, which John attended, who told fortunes. They went to see her one Saturday and were told, ‘John Deacon is going to be world famous and very, very rich. Of course, they all fell about laughing. She was determined that this was going to happen. But they all thought it was a joke."

What particularly amused Deacon’s colleagues was the unlikeliness of this scenario, given the plain facts of his demeanour. John was born in Leicester in 1951, the product of affluent, middle-class, middle England. As a youngster, he was known to his friends as ‘Deaks’ and grew up to be quiet and reserved, what Mark Hodkinson referred to in ‘Queen — ‘The Early Years’ as “a ghost of a boy".

“He is basically shy,” confirms Richard Young, the Opposition’s first guitarist/vocalist, and later keyboardist. “I suppose he was quieter than the rest of us — but he was fairly static with Queen if you look at him on stage.”

Ron Chester agrees: “John was quiet by nature. His sister, Julie, was the same. Once he got going, though, he wasn’t any different from anybody else. But on first approach, you really had to coax him out of his shell. We’d have to pick him up. He couldn’t walk down the road to meet us."

CONFIDENT

Despite any lack of personal dynamics, Deacon was a capable teenager: “He was very confident," recalls another of the band’s guitarists, David Williams. “But in a laidback sort of way. He didn’t have a problem with anything. ‘Yeah, I can do that’, he’d say. We used to call him ‘Easy Deacon’, not because of any sexual preferences, but because he’d say something was easy without it sounding big-headed. I remember saying to him once, I’m going to have to knock off the gigs a bit to revise for my ‘A’ levels. What about you?’ ‘No’, he said, ‘I don’t need to. I’ve never failed an exam yet, and I’ve never revised for one’. Ultimately, he was just confident, with a phenomenally logical mind. If he couldn’t remember something, he could work it out. And, of course, he got stunning results.”

John’s earliest interest was electronics, which he studied into adulthood. He also went fishing, trainspotting even, with his father. Then music took over. After dispensing with a ‘Tommy Steele’ toy guitar, John used the proceeds from his paper round to buy his first proper instrument, an acoustic, when he was about twelve. An early musical collaborator was a school mate called Roger Ogden, who like Roger Taylor down in Cornwall, was nicknamed ‘Splodge’. But his best friend was the Opposition’s future drummer, Nigel Bullen.

“I’d first got to know John at Langmore Junior School in Oadby, just outside Leicester, in either 1957 or 1958,’' recalls Nigel. “We were both the quiet ones. We started playing music together at Gartree High School, when we were about thirteen. We were inspired by the Beatles — they made everybody want to be in a group. John was originally going to be the band’s electrician, as he called it. He used to build his own radios, before we had any amps, and he fathomed a way of plugging his guitar into his reel-to-reel tape recorder. He was always the electrical boffin."

The prime mover in the formation of the group was another Oadby boy they met on nearby Uplands Park, Richard Young. “Richard was at boarding school," recalls Nigel Bullen. “He was always the kid with the expensive bike. He played guitar, and what’s more had a proper electric, with an amplifier. He instigated getting the band together. Initially, we rehearsed in my garage, and then anywhere we could. John played rhythm to begin with. He was a chord man, the John Lennon of the group, if you like."

SWITCH

Despite his later switch to the bass, Deacon’s technique on the guitar also developed, as Dave Williams reveals: “Later on, I remember he could play ‘Classical Gas’ on an acoustic, which was a finger-picking execise and no mean feat. It’s a bit like ‘McArthur Park’, a fantastic piece of music, and when I heard it, I thought, ‘Bloody hell. You dark horse!’ Because he never showed off."

The Opposition’s first bassist was another school friend of John’s called Clive Castledine. In fact, the group made its debut at a party at Castledine’s ouse on 25th September, 1965 (their first public performance took place the...[ ]

...[ ] following month at Gartree’s school hall). Clive looked good and appreciated the kudos of being in a group, but he wasn’t up to even the Opposition’s schoolboy standards. “I was the least proficient, to put it mildly,” he admitted to Mark Hodkinson.“His enthusiasm was 100%,” adds Richard Young, “but his actual playing ability was null, so we had a meeting and got rid of him.” Deacon took over, initially playing on his regular guitar, using the bottom strings. “John was good,” Young continues. “It was no problem for him to switch to bass. He hit the right notes at the beginning of the bar, and we were a better band for it. Whereas Clive made us sound woolly, as anyone who just plonked away on any old note would, John was solid.”

DIARY

Young turned out to be the Opposition’s archivist, keeping a diary of each gig played, the equipment used, and the amounts of money earned (as indeed did John Deacon). Richard’s diary documented the day Deacon — now, of course, bassist in one of the world’s most famous groups — first picked up his chosen instrument. “In an entry for 2nd April, 1966,” says Young, “it reads, ‘We threw Clive out on the Saturday afternoon. Had a practice in Deaks’ kitchen, and Deaks went on bass. Played much better.’ John didn’t have a bass, so we went down to Cox’s music shop in King Street in Leicester, and bought him an EKO bass for £60. I paid for it, but I think he paid me back eventually.”

“John’s bass style with the Opposition was the same as with Queen,” reckons Nigel Bullen. “He never used to play with a plectrum, which was unusual, but with his fingers, which meant that his right hand is drooped over the top of the guitar. Also, he plays in an upward fashion, which I’d never seen before, certainly when we were in Leicester. Over the years, I’ve watched many bass players adopt that style. I’d say he has been copied a lot. I’ve mentioned this to him, but he doesn’t agree.”

Clive Castledine wasn’t the last member of the band to be dismissed. “The vocal and lead guitar side of the Opposition was changing all the while,” recalls Nigel. “Myself, John, and Richard Young were always there — as were Dave Williams and Ron Chester later on — but we had a succession of other musicians who I can hardly remember now. There was a guy called Richard Frew in the very early days, and a young lad called Carl, but he didn’t fit in. After we began playing proper gigs, Richard decided he wasn’t happy with his singing and wanted to move onto keyboards, so we brought in Pete Bart (formerly with another local band, the Rapids Rave) as a guitarist and vocalist. He was good, but again, didn’t last long.”

“Bart was a bit of a rocker, while we were all mods,” remarks Dave Williams. “We were impressed by mod bands like the Small Faces and the original Who. Bart seemed to come from a different era altogether.”

“Deaks had the Parka with the fur collar,” remembers Ron Chester. “And short hair, a crew cut. Mirrors on his scooter.” Richard Young agrees: “John was more of a mod than us. But you couldn’t really pigeonhole the band, because our music went right across the board”.

”Buying Deacon his bass was no one-off, and Richard Young is remembered as the group’s benefactor. Being older than the others, he had a steady job working for his father’s electronics company in Leicester, which brought him a regular, and by all accounts, generous wage. He rarely thought twice before splashing out on equipment for the other members.

RECEIPTS

“Richard bought me a P.A.,” recalls David Williams. “But he didn’t ask, he used to think that the group needed it. He’d buy it and then say, ‘You owe me this’. My mum used to get really annoyed. She’d was at that going- through-my-pockets stage, probably looking for contraceptives. She once found a receipt from Moore and Stanworth’s, a local music shop. It was for a Beyer microphone, which cost about £30. I was still at school, getting pocket money, and my mum said, ‘What on earth is this?!’ Receipts on the Sunday dinner table, that sort of thing. It was good, though. The group needed it.”

“I was dead serious about the band,” claims Young, who switched to organ with the arrival of Williams in July 1966. “Perhaps more so than anybody else. I could see it going nowhere if money wasn’t pumped into it.”

“Dick Young was an accomplished organ player,” adds Dave, “and he improved the group quite a lot. He always had plenty of dosh, and a car. But he was totally mad, a crazy bloke. He’d come round with an organ one week, then next week, he’d have a better one. He ended up with a Farfisa, with one keyboard on it, then one with two keyboards — one above the other. Then he had a Hammond, an L 100. which was really heavy. Then he had a ‘B’ series one. The ‘L’ was top-of-the-range and he sawed it in half to make it easier to carry!”

Dave Williams helped to improve the group as well. “He was at school with us,” says Nigel Bullen, “but in another band, who we always looked up to.” That band was the Leeds-based Outer Limits (who went on to issue several singles — without Dave — in the late ‘60s). “I joined the Opposition after they asked me to watch them and tell them what I thought,” recounts Dave. “The Outer Limits were older lads, all mods, but I was after something a bit more easy going, and the Opposition were my own age. They were okay, but I first saw them at John’s house, when they were still practising in bedrooms, and they were absolutely awful. I said, ‘Have you thought of tuning up?’ They said they had. But it sounded like they were playing in different keys — totally horrendous. It was so funny. They were so conscientious, they’d all learned their bits, but hadn't tuned up to each other. That was my first tip.”

“Our first proper gig was supporting a local band, the Rapids Rave, at Enderby Coop Hall,” recalls Nigel Bullen. “They used to play at this village hall every week. and then we ended up doing it every week for quite some time.” Richard’s diary records the Opposition’s debut taking place on 4th December 1965, and that the band’s fee was £2. Thereafter, they began to offer their Services in the local ‘Oadby & Wigston Advertiser’, which led to bookings in youth clubs and village halls in local hot-spots like Kibworth, Houghton-on- the-Hill, Thurlaston and Great Glen.

SCHOOL WORK

By spring 1966, the Opposition were playing every weekend, school work permitting. The peaks and troughs of their career are illustrated by the following memorable gigs: one at St. George’s Ballroom, Hinckley, on 23rd June 1967, when just two people turned up and the band went home after a couple of numbers; and a September appearance in a series of shows at U.S. Airforce Bases in the Midlands, at which they were required to play for four-and-half hours with just two twenty-minute breaks. It was nothing if not diverse.

“It didn’t seem to matter what you played,” says Dave. “People would clap simply because you were making music. They never said, ‘Do you do Motown, or soul stuff?’ ” The band’s repertoire initially consisted of chart sounds and the poppier end of the R&B spectrum. “Although we were inspired by the Beatles, we never did any of their songs,” claims Nigel. “But we covered the Kinks, the Yardbirds, and things like Them’s ‘Gloria’, and the Zombies’ ‘She’s Not There’.

They also altered their name slightly to the New Opposition, which they unveiled at the Enderby Coop Hall. “The name-change was decided overnight, when John moved from rhythm to bass guitar,” recounts Richard, whose diary records the date of the transition as 29th April 1966. Interestingly, though, it makes no mention of another local group also called the Opposition, long thought to have been the reason for Deacon’s crew adopting the ‘New’. The change did act as an impetus for further development, however, instigated by Dave Williams, who soon took over as the group’s lead vocalist.

“When I joined they were doing all Beach Boys stuff,” he recalls, “and I think I may have brought in a little credibility. In the Outer Limits, I’d been playing John Mayall, the Yardbirds, that sort of thing, plus that group was into really good soul like the Impressions, and fantastic vocal bands from the States. So I had a broad musical knowledge by then, whereas the Opposition had been a bit poppy.” Appropriately, the words “Tamla” and “Soul” were now added to the Opposition’s ads and calling cards.

Towards the end of 1966, the New Opposition were enhanced further by the arrival of Ron Chester, who’d previously played with Dave Williams in the Outer Limits, as well as in an earlier band, the Deerstalkers. “Ron Chester was a bit eccentric,” claims Richard Young. “He never used to go anywhere without his deerstalker. He was a really good guitarist (“stunning”, adds Dave Williams). We were probably at our best when Ron was in the band.”

On 23rd October 1966, the New Opposition entered the local Midland Beat Contest. They won their heat, landing themselves a place in the semifinals on 29th January 1967. They won this, too, and steeled themselves for the finals, which were due to be held on 3rd March 1967, when they were to be pitched against...[ ]

...[ ] an act called Keny. The stars of the show would have been the nearest the Opposition came to having a rival: an outfit called Legay. (A year later, incidentally, this band issued a now collectable single, “No One” (Fontana TF 904,£80J.) Unfortunately, for all concerned, however, the contest never took place. “That was a fiasco,'' laughs Ron. “Somehow we won those heats, but in fact, I don’t remember seeing anybody else playing. I don’t know whether we won by default or not. After that, they pulled the plug on the competition — probably because they knew we’d be playing again!”.

CASINO

“The heats took place in a club in Leicester called the Casino, which was the place to play,” adds Nigel. “The guy who ran the competition was an agent for the club. His company was called Penguin (or P.S) Promotions and he walked like a penguin too, with his feet sticking out. The final was going to be held in the De Montford Hall, which is still the main venue in Leicester. We thought, ‘Crumbs, this is it, perhaps we might make the big time.’ But the guy did a runner with all the money — people had to pay to come to the heats. So the final was called off.”

David Williams wasn’t too fussed, as he scored another prize that night: “I remember taking a girl back to Dick’s car on the strength of us winning our heat. I said, ‘Can I borrow your keys, Dick? He said, ‘What for? You can’t drive!’ “

Were the New Opposition — or the Opposition, as they dropped the ‘New’ again in early 1967 — left in limbo by the cancellation of the Beat Contest? Having achieved the most public recognition of their talents so far, were they disappointed with the loss of the chance to prove themselves further?

“No. It was almost insignificant,” reckons Ron. “We didn’t really look upon it as a stairway to stardom.” And what would John Deacon have thought? “Nothing really,” suggests Chester. “ ‘It’s cancelled. What are we doing next, then?’ That would have been about the depth of it. We were a village band, all gathering at the church hall to try and improve our abilities. The financial aspect of it wasn’t in the forefront of our minds. We were more concerned with our music, and if we could get a booking doing it as well, to pay off some of the equipment, then that was a real bonus. Three bookings a week was enough for us while we were working or still at school.” Despite any dodgy dealings, history does have the Penguin promoter to thank for the only professionally-taken photograph of the Opposition. (“We didn’t go much on photos in the band,” remembers Dave Williams.) On Tuesday, 31st January 1967, two days after winning the semi-finals, the ‘Leicester Mercury’ dispatched a staff photographer over to Richard Young’s parents’ house in Oadby. Here, the group lined-up in the front room, looking more like refugees from 1964, rather than 1967. The only indications of the actual date are perhaps Ron Chester’s deerstalker hat and the ridiculous length of David Williams’ shirt collars — seven inches, no less, from neck to nipple.

“Dave was very extrovert,” recalls Nigel. “But we all had those silk shirts with the great long collars made by our mums and grandmas for our stage gear.” Dave admits: “Our clothes were all a bit mixed up. We had silk shirts with tweed jackets — which were fashionable for a while — and bell-bottoms. Musically, we were pretty good, better than...[ ]

...[ ] most of the local bands around that time, but we had this squeaky-clean, schoolboy image which let us down. I used to get frustrated when we were billed with other bands, and they’d all play with so many wrong chords but had a better image and still the punters applauded. Were they stupid? We were still at school — we didn’t leave until we were eighteen — and weren’t allowed to grow our hair long”.

“After the mod thing,” he continues, “long hair became really important. Bands were growing their hair right down their backs. I remember getting to one gig with John and Nigel a year or so later, and the other group were already on. And when they saw us they turned round and said, ‘Look! They’ve got no hair!’. We were quite upset about that”.

“We also went through the flower-power look,” Dave adds. “And then we got into those little jumpers without any sleeves that Paul McCartney used to wear, the ones so small that half your stomach showed. And then it was grandad shirts without the collars and flares.” Ron Chester: “The flowery shirts and flared trousers were everywhere. We looked like a right shower of poofters. But so did everybody else. You stood out if you didn’t wear them.”

1967 also heralded the arrival of an additional attraction to the Opposition’s stage show: two go-go dancers. At least, it did if the existing literature on the subject is to be believed. “I vaguely remember it,” admits Richard, “but speaking to Nig, neither of us can recal who those dancers were”.

Dave Williams throws some light on the subject: “They were the jet-set girls of the sixth form, they came from the big houses. They came to a couple of gigs and just started dancing. Somebody who booked us for the following week actually advertised us ‘with go-go girls’. But they were never really part of the show.”

ART

On 16th March, 1968 for a gig at Gartree School, the Opposition changed their name once again. “We called ourselves Art,” reveals Nigel, “because Dave was arty, that is, he was training as an artist. It was as simple as that.” Dave agrees: “It was my idea, because I’d been doing art at school.” Nigel Bullen was aware of another band using that name around the same time (the pre-Spooky Tooth outfit), but assuming them to be American, reckoned they’d be no confusion. As the Leicester-based Art never made it to London, there wasn’t.

Despite wording like “A time to touch and feel, to taste and experience, to hear and understand” appearing on the group’s tickets, Richard maintains that Art was “just the same band” as before. “Nothing changed."

“It was mutton dressed up as lamb, really,” admits Ron Chester. “We thought if we were called something different, people might come because they were curious. But it didn’t make a lot of difference. The audiences were captive at the places we played anyway. There was nowhere else to go on a Friday or Saturday night. Everyone used to roll up to see whoever was on, whether they’d heard of them or not.”

1968 was the year psychedelia caught up with many provincial British bands. The Art were no different, but their acknowledgement of what had been last year’s scene in London was via sight rather than sound. Their light shows seem to have been particularly memorable, as Dave Williams explains: “They were brilliant. We used the projectors from school, filled medicine bottles with water and oil, and projected through them to get this lovely golden, amber backdrop. As the image came out upside down, when we poured in some Fairy Liquid, it dropped straight through in a blob, but came out on the wall like a giant green mushroom cloud. It was amazing, and we had about four of them at the back, projecting over the band.”

John Deacon was party to another of Dave’s exploits. “One day,” recalls Williams, “John and I bought a 100-watt P.A. — which was pretty big for those days — and took it into the lecture theatre full of kids at Beauchamp School (which Deacon had attended since September 1966) for our version of Arthur Brown’s ‘Fire’. We cranked it up as loud as we could, put the light show on, and let off these smoke bombs, which were DDT pellets we’d got from the chemist. All the kids started choking, and then the headmaster walked in...[ ]

...[ ] with a load of governors. You could see the fury in his face. One of the governors asked what we were doing. ‘It’s a demonstration in sound and light, sir,’ I said. ‘We’re using these ink bottles turned upside down, but we’re a bit worried about these DDT pellets so we might knock the smoke on the head, but we’re still experimenting.’ And he fell for it!”.

INFLUENTIAL

Towards the end of 1968, a crop of new groups began to have a profound effect on the maturing schoolboys: Jethro Tull, the Nice, Taste, and in particular Deep Purple. Ron: “We used to buy Purple records and learn to play them. We’d seen John Mayall’s Bluesbreakers and the Downliners’ Sect in Leicester, the Nice, King Crimson. These sort of groups. We learned a lot from just watching them. They were influential. There was always a big discussion in the band as to whether we should do a particular song. Once we’d decided that, there’d be another big discussion as to how we should do it. Everybody had their say.”

Hair, too, had finally began to grow: “John grew his quite long,” recalls Ron. “We all had longish hair, but not shoulder length. We couldn’t look too unkempt for the normal side of life, but we didn’t want to be too prissy for the other end of the spectrum. That was when we started playing universities, and we went a bit heavier. The audiences were far more serious minded about music and more enthusiastic. In some of the youth clubs we’d been playing, the audience would be moving around on roller skates, or peeling bananas all over the place, things like that”.

“We felt we were making an impression towards the last year or two of the band,” he continues. But it went no further: “We were at school, some of us had jobs, and there was an element of common sense overriding what we would have liked to have done. None of us wanted to chuck in our apprenticeships or courses. If we’d had a flair for writing our own material, we might have taken off. But we just played what was popular, nothing different from most other groups. That wasn’t a basis on which to launch ourselves. So it never happened."

“We didn’t think that far ahead,” admits Richard Young. “I just thought of playing and getting repeat bookings. John was probably the least ambitious of all of us, to be honest. I think he felt that there was no mileage in what we were doing, although it was good fun. I think he had the impression that this was a hobby, a phase he was going through.”

Sometime in the Sixties, possibly 1969, but maybe earlier, Art recorded an acetate. Whatever the date, the crucial point is that John Deacon was present at the session. “We weren't asked to do it,” recalls Nigel. “We just wanted to make a disc. I think it cost us about five shillings.”

The venue was Beck’s studio, thirty miles south east of Oadby in Wellingborough, Northamptonshire. “I’d never been in a studio before and it seemed awesome, really,” recalls Dave Williams. “It was a fairly decent-sized room for acoustics. It was all nicely low-lit, with lots of screens. The guy knew what he was doing.” Richard Young was less impressed, though: I’ve been in studios all my life,” he says. “That was just another session. Nothing about it stood out.”

The “guy” Dave remembered was engineer Derek Tomkins, who informed the group that they could record three tracks in the time allotted. “We’d only gone in there with two, ‘Sunny’ and ‘Vehicle’,” says Nigel, “and we didn’t want to waste the opportunity, so Richard knocked up a little instrumental called Transit 3’ — named after our new van, the third one — right there in the studio. Although we were purely a covers band, everybody had a bash at writing, but we never did anything of our own on stage. The exception was Transit 3’, which was incorporated into the set after this session.”

“ Transit 3’ was about about the only track we ever wrote," reckons Richard Young (“Heart Full Of Soul”, as reported in ‘As It Began’, is in fact a Graham Gouldman nurnber). “I initially had the idea, but I can’t really remember anything about it. It’s very basic. It wouldn’t take a great deal of effort to write something like that.” To the objective observer, “Transit 3”, taped in mono but well recorded, is a fairly uncomplicated, organ-led scale- hopper, reminiscent of Booker T & the MGs.

“Everybody was listening to ‘Green Onions’,” confirms Nigel, “so Booker T would have been an influence there.” But for all that, it’s well- played, with memorable lead and twangy, wah-wah guitar passages courtesy of Dave Williams. And, crucially, John Deacon’s thumping bass is plainly audible throughout. On this evidence, the Opposition were clearly a tight, confident outfit. “Transit 3” could have been incorporated into any swinging ‘60s film soundtrack, and no one would have jumped up shouting, “Amateurs”!.

UNFAMILIAR

The other two tracks, covers of Bobby Hebb’s ‘Sunny' and the more obscure, soul- tinged ‘Vehicle’ (later a hit for the Ides of March), featured a vocalist, but an unfamiliar one: another of the Opposition’s fleeting frontmen. “We had a singer for a while called Alan Brown,” recalls Nigel. “He came and went fairly quickly. He was good, really good. Too good for us, I think. That wasn’t him saying that. We just knew it.”

On both songs, Brown is in deep, soulful voice, sounding not unlike a cross between Tom Jones and the early Van Morrison — if such an amalgam can be imagined. The Art’s reading of “Vehicle” is edgy and robust, dominated by Richard Young’s distinctive keyboards and Nigel Bullen’s bustling drum work. Dave Williams is again in fine form, delivering more sparkling wah-wah guitar, while on the cassette copy taped from Nigel Bullen’s acetate, at least, John’s bass is very prominent, over-recorded in fact, booming in the mix.

“Sunny” goes one better, breaking into jazzy 3/4 time halfway through, before slotting back into the more traditional 4/4. It’s an imaginative arrangement, with alternate soloing from both Dave and Richard, while the whole track is underpinned by swirls of Hammond organ and John Deacon’s pounding bass.

“We did ‘Sunny’ as part of our stage set,” says Nigel, “but I don’t recall us ever going into the jazzy bit. That’s quite interesting. We might have talked about that before we went into the studio, but I think it was just for this session. Dave had two guitars, a six-string and a twelve-string, or it could even have been twin-necked. I still quite like the wah-wah he played on that track. By this time Richard would have been onto his second or third organ — he was heavily into Hammonds and Leslies."

Operating as they did in a fairly ambition- free zone, and having prepared the listener for a mundane set of recordings with their trademark laid-back approach, Art’s acetate comes as something of a revelation. Let any bunch of today’s schoolboys loose in a studio for an afternoon and defy them to come up with something half as good!

Just two copies of the Art disc are known to have survived. John Deacon’s mother is believed to own one and Nigel Bullen has the other. “I’d forgotten all about this record,” admits Nigel. “We know that one copy was converted to an ashtray!. We stubbed out cigarettes on Richards at rehearsal one night.” Although treated with anything but respect at the time, the importance of the disc is now apparent to Nigel Bullen: “This is probably John Deacon’s first recording, apart from tracks he did in his bedroom on his reel-to-...[ ]

...[ ] reel, which are probably long gone. Although, knowing John, they’re probably not!”

The beginning of the end for Art came in June 1969, when John Deacon left Beauchamp. With a college course lined up in London, his days with the band were obviously numbered. He played his final gig with the group on 29th August at a familiar venue, Great Glen Youth and Sports Centre Club. By October, he’d moved to London to study electronics at Chelsea College of Technology, part of the University of London.

Another blow was dealt in November, when the band's lynchpin, Richard Young, left to join popular local musician Steve Fearn in Fearn’s Brass Foundry.

“They were a Blood, Sweat and Tears-type of group,” recalls Richard, “and paid better money than I’d been used to. I was out five nights a week, on about £3 per night, against an average of about £10 between us.” The previous year, Richard had played session keyboards on the Foundry’s two Decca singles: “Don’t Change It” (F 12721, January 1968, £10) and “Now I Taste The Tears” (F 12835. September 1968, £8).

SAVAGE

Ron Chester departed shortly afterwards, and gave up music: “I left in the early 70s, after John Deacon moved to London. John was replaced by a bass player was called John Savage, who unsettled me. He had different tastes and drove us a bit hard. His approach was totally different from Deaks's, and he was much more interested in the financial side of things. We’d all been mates before, we didn't just knock about for the band. It just wasn’t the same.”

Nigel, Richard and Dave pushed on into 1970 with the new bassist, changing the band’s name again, this time to Silky Way. They returned to Beck’s studio to record a cover of Free’s “Loosen Up” with another vocalist, Bill Gardener, but that was the band’s last effort. Dave left after falling into Nigel’s drumkit, drunk on stage at a private party one Christmas. “I waited for them to pick me up the next day,” he recalls sheepishly, “but they never carne.”

Richard and Nigel moved into a dinner- dance type outfit called the Lady Jane Trio — “Corny, or what!”, laughs Bullen — but Nigel left music altogether soon afterwards to concentrate on his college work. Richard turned professional, moving into cabaret with the Steve Fearn-less Brass Foundry, before forming a trio called Rio, finding regular work on the holiday camp and overseas cruise circuit. In the late ‘70s, he joined a touring version of the Love Affair.

Down in London, John Deacon caught a glimpse of his future world-beating musical partners as early as October 1970, when he saw the newly-formed Queen perform at College of Estate Management in Kensington. “They were all dressed in black, and the lights were very dim too,” he told Jim Jenkins and Jacky Gunn in ‘As It Began’, “All I could really see were four shadowy figures. They didn’t make a lasting impression on me at the time.”

While renting rooms in Queensgate, John formed a loose R&B quartet with a flatmate, guitarist Peter Stoddart, one Don Cater on drums and another guitarist remembered only as Albert. The new band was hardlv a great leap forward from Art: they wrote no originals, and when asked to perform their only gig at Chelsea College on 21st November 1970, supporting Hardin & York and the Idle Race, they hastily billed themselves — in a rare fit of self-publicity for the quiet Oadby boy — as Deacon.

A few months later in early 1971, John was introduced to Brian May and Roger Taylor by a mutual friend, Christine Farnell, at a disco at Maria Assumpta Teacher Training College. They were looking for a bassist. John auditioned at Imperial College shortly afterwards. Roger Taylor recalled Queen’s initial reaction to Deacon in ‘As It Began’: “We thought he was great. We were so used to each other, and so over the top, we thought that because he was quiet he would fit in with us without too much upheaval. He was a great bass player, too — and the fact that he was a wizard with electronics was definitely a deciding factor!”

How did the members of the Art/Opposition back in Leicester, view John’s success with Queen? “It wasn’t sudden”, says Ron Chester. “First we heard he’d got into another group. We couldn’t believe that — were they deaf? There were all these sort of jokes going along. Then we heard he’d got a recording contract and the next thing he had a record out. It was a gradual progression. No one dreamed he would end up the way he did.”

“I don’t think we expected success for any of us" admits Nigel Bullen. “Richard maybe. He was the first one to go professional. But when John left for London to go to college, he left all his kit here. I thought that was the end of it for him. He had absolutely no intention of continuing. His college course was No.1. It was only after he kept seeing adverts for bass players in the ‘Melody Maker’ that he became interested again.”

He also seemed to lose some of that ‘Easy Deacon’ touch which so impressed Dave Williams in the ‘60s. “He’d ring up these bands,” continues Nigel, “but when he found they were a name act, he bottle out. When he went to auditions for anonymous bands, where he would queue up with about thirty other bass players, he had a bit of confidence. He just wanted to play in a decent band. Once I heard what Queen had recorded at De Lane Lea, and John played me the demo of their first album, I thought they were well set.”

CABARET

By early 1973, Dave Williams had forsaken a career in animation to join Highly Likely, a cabaret outfit put together by Mike Hugg and producer Dave Hadfield on the back of their minor hit, “Whatever Happened To You (The Likely Lads Theme)”. While Dave was in the band, they recorded a follow-up single which wasn’t released, before evolving into a glam rock outfit, Razzle, which later become the Ritz, who issued a few singles. “During Queen’s early days, before they’d had any real success, John came to see us once,” recalls Dave, “and said, ‘I wish I was in a band like this which could actually play some gigs’.” Dave concludes: “I remember John coming round once around that time, saying I’ve got a demo’. ‘So have I!’, I said. So we put his on first, and the first track was ‘Keep Yourself Alive’. My mouth dropped wide open and I thought. ‘Bloody hell! What a great track’. I remember saying that the guitarist was as good as Ritchie Blackmore — who was still our hero then — and thinking ‘They’re serious about this. This is the real thing’.”

RECORD COLLECTOR Nº 198 FEBRUARY 1996

⬅PREVIOUS: SMILE

https://melisa-may-taylor72.tumblr.com/post/639672109315014656/queen-before-queen-the-1960s-recordings

➡NEXT: IBEX, WRECKAGE & SOUR MILK SEA

@natromanxoff, @mephisto92, @moviestorian, @x5vale, @39-brian, @onegoldenglance, @crosmopolitan, @an-abyss-called-life, @his-majesty-king-mercury, @i-live-for-queen, @brian-39-may, @toomuchlove-willkillyou, @brimaymay, @sail-away-sweet-sister, @drummerqueenrmt, @old-fashioned-roger-boy, @briianmaay, @inui-mycroft, @deacytits, @iminlovewithrogscar, @drowseoftaylor, @brianmayislongaway, @balticlover, @astrophysicist-guitar-god, @miez-lakatz, @brianmayoucease, @jesus-in-a-life-boat, @aslongasthereismusic, @roger-taylors-car, @silapril, @sherrifanciesfriskyfreddie, @tenderbri, @brianmydear, @thosequeenboys, @millionairewaltz-carpediem, @painandpleasure86, @bribrifrenchfry, @xlucylennonx, @a-night-at-the-abbey-road, @inthedayswhenlandswerefew, @madformeddowstaylor, @queenrogertaylorfan, @let-roger-get-a-lunch, @queen-for-life, @rethought, @drivenbybrianmay @mymakeupmaybeflaking, @old-but-still-a-child, @let-roger-get-a-lunch, @warriorteam1924, @funnydressesweirdhairanddance, @painkiller80, @thefanhuman13, @yourtieddownmother, @hgmercury39, @brimi-stardust, @thefairyfellermercury, @retroromantics, @sailawaysweetbrimi, @sophiaintheskywithdiamonds, @holybrianmaywritingbear, @lydiannode, @39-yellow-daffodils , @ure-gonna-loveme-when-u-seeme, @kaykaybeachgirl, @foxmonkey, @deakysgurl, @redspecialandclogsandcurls, @briansrainbowsocks-deactivated2, @delilahmay39, @ohmybribri, @bless-the-queen, @everythingaboutfreddie, @doitforthevine67, @recordsoftheseventies, @rhysjoejoshtomfarisblog, @tenementfunsterwithpurpleshoes, @drummah-in-a-rocknroll-band, @beatlegirl1968, @maylorsqueen, @autumnscenemcyt, @gralto, @alittlepeoplemagic, @rainbowsockbrian, @frejudy, @drivenbybri, @yourlocalmusicalprostitute, @saik-ava, @omb-xx, @sassymaylor, @somekindofroger, @starlightmay, @freddiemercuryismylife, @sunshine112, @chrysochromulina, @glitteryloveravenue, @deakyislife51, @0-primejive-0, @just-a-skinny-lad, @bluewillowmom, @sassiesillie, @stesichoreanpalinode, @farrokhbulsaramercury, @tayloredofqueen, @rushingheadlong, @izzy-is-slightly-mad, @scandalacious, @0-my-fairy-queen-0 @39-volunteers-to-space@zodiacaldust, @deakytaylor, @queenband70s, @deakyeveryday, @drivenbybrimay @70smay

#Queen Before Queen #Pre-Queen Series #John Deacon #The Opposition #🎤🎵🎸👑⭐

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theratsareinspace · 3 years

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Cigar Smoke and Metal-Karl Heisenberg x Reader

Check out the Masterlist for the complete fic!

Chapter 14 ½

//Welcome to the meme chapter of Cigar Smoke and Metal!

//This is a total spoof chapter, means nothing for the lore of the series, etc.

//This isn’t a direct continuation of the next chapter… it kinda fits in more towards the beginning, but it’s my fic, so I’m writing it now. Inspired by the bros on the discord server.

//And yes, Chapter 15 is coming… eventually.

After returning from your weekly grocery run, you were restocking the pantry when static came over the PA system, followed by a melody you thought you wouldn’t ever hear again.

Doo doo, doo dooooo dooooooo, dodododoo, do, do do…

We’re no strangers to looooove…

You know the rules, and so do IIIII…

“What…” You put down the loaf of bread you were holding and went to investigate.

In the den, Heisenberg was sprawled out on the couch, a handle of whiskey in one hand and the P.A. microphone in the other. He smiled as you entered the room.

“Hahahahaaaaa! Igotchu!!!” He said, giggling uncontrollably.

“...what… Karl, how drunk are you?”

“I rickrolled youuuuu!!! Ahahahahahahahaah!!!” He took another swig from his bottle.

“You know that meme has been dead for nearly a decade, right?” You asked, putting a hand on your hip.

“Me-mes never die. They live forever!” He took a piece of scrap metal that was lying on the floor and launched it at the ceiling. “How many hits would it take to break a hole through the ceiling? A skylight in here would be nice.”

“Karl, you have a room with a skylight.” “You n’ Donna took that for your stupid tea-and-crumpets crap. I don’t think I could step foot in there.”

You sat down on the other end of the couch. “Can I have some whiskey? If you get to be drunk, I wanna be drunk, too.” “Sure, take it. I gotta warn you-- a little thing like you prolly can’t handle this stuff.” You took the bottle and chugged a quarter of the liquid. “Wooooo! That stuff’s good!”

Karl was taken aback. “You-- wow. Impressive.” “I know, darling.” You blew him a kiss. “You know, where I’m from, people go to nightclubs to drink till they’re sick and dance until the sun rises.” “That sounds fun. You’ll have to show me those when we get out of here.”

“I can show you now.” You stood, pulling him up with you. “Okay. You got any vodka?” “‘Course I do. Why?”

“We gotta do shots. That’s always the first thing you do in a nightclub.” He opened a panel in the wall, revealing a sprawling liquor collection. He got out a fancy bottle of vodka and two shot glasses. “How many do we take?” “As many as we can handle. First round!”

He poured the liquor into the shot glasses.

“Down the hatch!” You proclaimed as you slammed your glasses together and then took the shot.

“That stuff burns! Gimme more!” You spoke with a giggle.

Heisenberg obliged. Then again. And again. Both of you were now thoroughly wasted.

“That was funnnnnn…” He said as he slung an arm around your shoulder. “What happens next?”

“We daaaance!” You said excitedly.

“Wait, that ballroom crap? Count me out.”

“Do you have any fun in this hellhole? No. I mean fun dancing.”

“How do I--”

“You just feel it. Feel the beat and the rhythm and just… go.”

“That makes no sense. There isn’t a formula, or…”

“Not everything has a formula, mechanic head. Put a song on. One fun to sing and has a nice beat or summin’.”

He thought for a moment and pressed a button on the microphone.

You recognized the song he picked and began to shake your hips along to the beat.

Look out, I think Moto Moto likes you!!!

Once he saw you dancing, Heisenberg let loose. He was a total dad-dancer, but it only added to the nightclub vibe.

“I LIKE ‘EM BIG! I LIKE ‘EM CHUNKY!” You chorused.

“CHUNKY!” He echoed.

He somehow added bass, shaking the whole room and adding to your drunken dancing.

After the song ended, you expected Karl to be too tired to continue, but immediately another song came on.

Wooooahooooo, ooooo, oooo, caught in a bad romance…

You never expected him of all people to be into Lady Gaga, but it was a good song nonetheless. During the middle of the song, you turned to look at him, and the only words you could think of to describe him were ‘straight vibing’. He had shed his usual coat, hat, and glasses, and he tied his hair back. If you didn’t look too closely, you could mistake him for a nightclub goer.

Bad Romance wasn’t the only bop he picked, though. Karl proved to be a masterful DJ, selecting wonderful jams such as Caramelldansen, numerous titles by Fall Out Boy, a heavy metal cover of Bring Me To Life, and Cooking by the Book from LazyTown. He finished his selection with All Star by Smash Mouth.

His dancing was even better than his song choices. He danced like a stereotypical drunk dad at a wedding. Air guitar, the sprinkler, the robot, the dougie.. If it was a dad dance, he did it. He even did a few tiktok dances, making you double over laughing, which confused him. Eventually, you both collapsed on the couch, out of breath from your impromptu nightclub dancing.

“Now that we’re done with the dancin’, what happens?” He asked.

“Usually I’d go home with my friends and eat junk food.” You said, pushing your sweaty hair out of your face.

“Alriiiiight! Bring on the junk food, buttercup!”

You stood and stumbled to the kitchen, bringing back cookies you had baked earlier that day, a bag of puffy cheetos, and two cold beers from the fridge.

He turned on a movie and you proceeded to pig out for the next hour. He smoked cigars while occasionally stealing a cheeto out from under your nose.

You didn’t bother to clean up, opting instead to snuggle with Karl; you allowed him to be the big spoon for once.

“Tonight was fun, bumblebee…” He mumbled as he kissed the back of your neck.

“Mmph, I know… I’ll bring you to a real nightclub when we get out of this place. We can dress up in actual nightclub clothes, and eat bar snacks, and you’ll love it all.”

“As long as you’re there, I will.” You rolled your eyes and curled up in his arms, imagining nightclub shenanigans as you drifted off.

Taglist: @xyinparadise @baphometwolf666 @lost-mother@arlotg

Please send me a message or drop a comment if you would like to be tagged!

#Karl heisenberg #karl heisenberg x female reader #karl heisenberg x you #karl heisenberg #karl heisenberg x reader #karl heisenberg x y/n #karl heisenburg #karlheisenberg #karl heisenburg x reader #reader insert #resident evil #resident evil viii #resident evil 8 village #resident evil 8 #resident evil village #re8 village

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sweetestfa · 3 years

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Shirobako: An Anime Lover's Anime

Shirobako is a 24-episode anime series produced by P.A. Works and directed by Mizushima Tsutomu. It follows the lives of 5 young professionals and close friends as they get started in the anime industry in their various positions- production, voice acting, writing, animating, and 3D artistry. Production assistant Miyamori Aoi is the show's principle protagonist and the series is structured around her company's anime projects.

It's status as a classic is well earned. Shirobako approaches it's questions of artistry and self discovery with a sensitivity and pathos that consistently hits the mark. The rare anime about working adults, it addresses the working adult's problems- being overwhelmed with new responsibilities, figuring out what you want from your career, feeling left behind by friends advancing faster- novel subjects that keep the show feeling new and interesting.

Anchored by a monstrously large supporting cast, all aspects of anime production get at least glancing attention, from concept meetings to character design to storyboarding to key frame animation to in-between animation to sound design to voice casting, et cetera et cetera. As the audience is privy to every part of the process, the driving tension of the show is if our cast will be able to put out the fires that come up along a given link in the chain well enough to leave with a good product at the end.

To an anime fan the glut of industry knowledge is thrilling. The wonder of creation is on full display throughout the show, shining through all the stress and drudgery of TV anime production. References to real life anime shows, industry figures, and studios litter the episodes and are rewarding to catch. At its base Shirobako is a love letter to anime.

Shirobako's biggest shortcoming is the quintet at its center. Miyamori and her friends are likeable enough, they're nice and easy to root for, but they lack personality. Their problems and feelings are real and relatable but they themselves are hollow at the core, falling back on generic moe anime-girlness. Their friendship doesn't feel authentic either, it's polite and simple in a way that's cute, but ultimately surface and uninteresting. In a show that largely balances cartoonish excess with simple wisdom well it's disappointing that its leads and their relationships are so stock.

This isn't as big a problem as one might imagine though. Miyamori and co. and their dreams of making anime just give shape to the real focus of the show- the daily operations of an anime studio. They do a serviceable, if not excellent, job at that and don't have an outsized presence in between the bustle of their professions anyway. They achieve what they're meant to fine.

Shirobako is a delight from start to finish. Funny, stressful, gripping, and heartwarming- I would recommend it to anyone, but it has the most to offer people who love anime as much as it does.

#shirobako #anime #review

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mummybear · 5 years

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Kinktober Masterlist

Day 1: Restless Night Alone

Summary: When Sam and Dean go on a hunt leaving you alone in the bunker, how will you keep yourself busy. Alone in the bed you share with your boyfriend (Dean), you receive a text from him and decide to give him a call.

Day 3: Mirror Mirror On The Wall

Summary: Sophia and the Winchesters are on a hunt, that involves them dressing their very best, Dean finds himself completely enthralled by Sophia. The motel room is full of mirrors, distracting the pair before and after the hunt. Sam leaves them alone in the motel to sort out their tension.

Day 5: Caught In The Act

Summary: You’re convinced that Dean is pissed at you for some reason, yet you can’t put your finger on a reason why. When Sam convinces you to go find him and speak to him, you find him in compromising position that almost turns you into a puddle before you even enter the room.

Day 7: In My Head

Summary: When Dean finds himself cursed by a witch, yet again, he has more of a problem than he originally thought. Hearing Rachel’s thoughts begins to drive him insane, will he be forced to act on it before Sam can find the cure.

Day 9: You Wanna Play Little Girl

Summary: Forced to stay at a motel after a hunt Natalie has to work there, in order to get money for her car, so that she can finally leave town. A surprise encounter leads Dean to find Natalie, they discover that they have a lot in common. Not just their profession. So when Nat offers to help Dean with a case he and Sam are on, they’re alone in his motel room do their hands wonder or can they contain themselves.

Day 11: Ride ‘Em Cowboy

Summary: Dean Winchester has been the neighbour you’d lusted after for sometime, he’s older and oh so gorgeous, but you know you can never go there. So how will things go when he asks you to a dance in town, can you bring yourself to say yes or will the nerves get the better of you.

Day 13: The Mystery Of The Panties

Summary: You and Dean are hiding your relationship from your friends, everyone except Sam. When your bachelorette and bachelor parties coincide, with the drinking and the dancing how long will you and Dean be able to keep your hands to yourself.

Day 15:---------

Day 17: Dean Fucking Winchester

Summary: Dean has been more active than usually lately, you can hear him moaning in bed for weeks straight. It drives you insane, so much so that you make a plan to fix the problem once and for all, while putting him through as much torture as he has put you through.

Day 19: Green Eyed Monster

Summary: After you help Dean fall asleep, you and Sam head out to finish a hunt. Dean isn’t best pleased, later that night the three of you head to the bar nearest to the hotel. You and Dean end up chatting to two different people, both of you secretly jealous. Until he texts you from across the bar, telling you to meet him outside, will you agree to go out and meet him or continuing talking to the other guy?

Day 21: You And Your Big Hands

Summary: You’re having a lot of problems with your back, after a lay down seems to fix it you head out to wash your car. Only to find that it’s even worse by the time you finish, Dean offers to help you out will his remedy help you?

Day 23: Murder Of The Virgins

Summary: When The Winchester’s and you are called to go to a hunt by Bobby, you are surprised at what you find. The monster turns out to be very rare, unfortunately not rare enough that you haven’t seen one before. The death of your family had introduced you to these creatures, long ago when they had come for you, but your family had protected you. At least long enough for Bobby Singer to save you, you were no older than ten at the time. He had raised you ever since, little did you know that your sexual status was about to have such a profound effect on the case until now. You’re faced with a big decision, go home, or change the current issue.

Day 25: Mile High Club

Summary: What will happen when you Sam and Dean are forced to get on a plane, in order to finish a hunt, the reader has to find a way for Dean to calm down?

Day 27: You Like It Like That?

Summary: Dean confesses his attraction to you while on a hunt, but feels let down that you seem to just brush it off. Will you make up when you’re forced to share a bed, Sam on the sofa encouraging you to talk to Dean, what will happen?

Day 31: Yes Sir Part 1 (Collab, will be an on going series with @lettersofwrittencollective) (Nat)

A/N: Hey guys, so this is an ongoing collab. If you would like to be added to the tag list and aren’t already, please send myself or Nat a message or an ask, so we know to add you. At the moment we don’t have a scheduled for when we will post, but we’ll let you know if that changes! Please let us know what you think!!

Day 2: Surprising Text

Summary: A surprising text from Stiles, makes Emily’s entire night more interesting and changes their relationship possibly forever.

Day 4: Bring That Ass Out Here

Summary: You and your boyfriend decided tonight is time to try something different, Stiles catches you off guard twice in one night sending you into orgasm over orgasm, and it isn’t always private and for his eyes only.

Day 6: Blue Birthday Bow

Summary: With Stiles’ birthday usually being full of monsters, this year his girlfriend decides she wants to give him a birthday to remember. Jessica wants to worship him and show him just how much she loves him.

Day 8: Her First Time

Summary: Stiles and Val have been best friends for years, one day their feelings finally spill out. Will Stiles show her just how much he cares, or is he two scared of loosing his best friend. He wants to show her how much he loves her, can he be her first.

Day 10: Yes Sir

Summary: Ellie and Stiles meet officially when she becomes his P.A, her first day has her bumping into him. They get along really well, Stiles finds himself feeling things for her he knows he shouldn’t, alone one night in the office will boss and P.A become something more?

Day 12: Roleplay

Summary: You and your boyfriend Stiles decide to try something different, so will the stranger in the bar turn your head. Stuart seems to think that he can.

Day 14: -----------

Day 16: Corsets And Stockings

Summary: A night out with Stiles and the pack, turns into something you had never even imagined. Safe to say that Stiles approves of your outfit, a trick from Scott and a hotel room swap, what’s the worst that could happen?

Day 18: Let Me Hear Those Noises

Summary: You and Stiles haven’t been together long, but he was always someone you trusted to tell you the truth. With Halloween coming up you really need some help choosing your costume, so naturally you ask your boyfriend for help.

Day 20: I’m Sorry What Was That?

Summary: Stiles and Brooklyn have been together for the longest time, he’s in the FBI, has his dream job and his dream girl. Does he want more though?

Day 22: I Want You To Take Advantage Of Me

Summary: You’re sitting alone at a bar after a fight with your boyfriend, when he shows up to drag you home you meet Stiles and Scott. The two FBI partners you don’t remember meeting. You work with Scott’s mother, so at least that part isn’t strange, when you tell Stiles you can’t go home he offers you his and Scott’s place to stay for the night, how will your night go?

Day 24: Just Can’t Get Enough

Summary: You and Stiles are in a committed relationship, one like you had always wished for. One day after a crappy day at work, he sends you a naughty video and asks you to pick him up. Stiles is clearly in his Sub mode, and that words just fine with you, will you make it home before you show him who’s in charge?

Day 26: Strawberries And Cream On Me

Summary: Stiles and you have your first anniversary coming up. You decide to surprise him when he comes home from work, with an incredible meal and a rather unique dessert.

#kinktober #kinktober masterlist #dean winchester #stiles stilinski #stiles stilinski one shot #dean winchester one shot #teen wolf stiles stilinski #dean winchester supernatural #stiles stilinksi smut #dean winchester smut #stiles stilinksi x reader #dean winchester x reader

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donttellpeterparker · 4 years

Text

HSMTMTS

Summary: Coming into Junior Year things were going to be different. With my handsome and sweet Senior boyfriend on my arm, I could do and be anything I wanted, nothing was going to stop me... except... of course... maybe him.

Requested: Yes, I'm absolutely loving this request! Thank you! x

Word Count: 1.7k

Warning(s)?: A little angst??? (Italics is a flashback), Written in third and first person which is something different, Yes this is following the script from the show so please no comments about how it's exactly like it because... that's kinda the point :)

Taglist: Open

masterlist

——————————————————

HSMTMTS

''Today's the day, Ned, it's happening'' Peter smiles towards his best friend. They both held their books in their arms, walking up towards the entrance of the school.

''Hell yeah, Junior Year baby, might grow a mustache, might do a lot of things'' Ned responds, winking at a few girls as they pass by. The girls frown in disgust before turning back to their friends.

''Dude, I'm talking about Y/N, today's the day we... start over'' Peter sighs to himself, a smile still dancing across his lips. Ned turns to him and frowns slightly, wondering if everything was going to go as Peter had hoped.

~*~*~*~*

''I'll show you more pictures'' I beamed, holding my phone out in front of me and my best friend. I was so excited to show her everything that happened over the summer, especially the play I stared in at camp.

''Okay, show me giirrrrl'' She enthused, snapping her fingers in sass which caused us both to laugh. My fingers swiped across the screen, showing her pictures.

''This was from Act 2'' She glanced down and smiled. I always went to her for anything to do with costumes, hair and makeup... you name it. She had an eye for everything.

''Love it'' She replied, pursing her lips. I smiled again, showing her more and more pictures as we both reached your lockers.

~*~*~*~*

''She texted, she sounded neutral'' Peter smiled as both him and Ned walked down the stairs towards their lockers.

''You're so... in no-man's land right now and... it's kinda hard to say'' Ned spoke up, uncertainty in his voice. Peter frowned, hoping his friend wasn't right.

''I think it's good'' Peter tries to psych himself up. He wasn't going to let the summer before ruin his relationship with you.

~*~*~*~*

''Check out this...'' I smiled happily to her, handing my phone over. I popped my bag off my back and began unloading my books into my locker.

''Ohhhh... we all know who that is Y/N'' Y/B/F/N looked down, her fingers tapping the screen to enlarge the photo. I blushed to myself, placing my final book in my locker before glancing back to her.

''Okay, not gonna lie, I am .2 seconds away from making that my lock screen'' I admitted with a sheepish smile.

''I can't tell if you're glowing, or if you're sun burnt'' I laughed at her antics.

''Definitely glowing, Yeah, I had the best summer, ever'' I convince, grabbing the books I needed for English class.

''Right... what does 'you-know-who' have to say about this?'' I froze and began frowning to myself, the familiar sting rising again in my chest. I bit my lip and shrugged off the feeling.

''I'm waiting for the right time to tell him'' I sigh sadly, not really wanting to face him anytime soon.

''Hey Y/N, how are you?'' I froze again, hearing his voice. Even after almost two months he was still able to trigger butterflies... and my urge to throw up all at the same time.

''How you feel about right now?'' She gave him a glare, eyeing him down. I spun around slowly, closing my locker, throwing a fake smile onto my face.

''Hey...'' Peter trailed off, looking me straight in the eyes.

''Hey...'' I responded, letting myself trail off. The awkwardness soon enveloped all four of us, our two friends looking everywhere but here.

''Um... can we talk? I met somebody else at camp and...'' I ask, throwing my hands out to the side.

''Wait, wait are you joking?''

''Still talking here'' I snapped.

''I met someone at camp. I didn't plan for it to happen, but it happened. He was the Music Man, I was Marian, the librarian'' I finished, my gaze now finding my shoes. It still hurt to be near him, as much as I hated to admit it.

''Wait, you went to Librarian camp, that's a thing?'' Ned spoke up first, confused.

''Please... tell me you're joking'' Peter tried, taking a step closer towards me. I made the huge mistake by glancing back up, his saddened eyes meeting my own once again. This wasn't fair, he was the one that hurt me not the other way round.

''I'm not'' Both Ned and I said at the same time. Peter glanced to him and frowned, sending Ned a warning glance.

''Come on, Peter. You know what you did! Or... what you didn't do'' My voice wavered, the memories from that night resurfacing again.

I laid my head down in Peter's lap, his fingers softly trailing through my hair. I cuddle in closer, enjoying the warmth radiating from him. He glanced down and smiled as well, leaning in for a sweet kiss. I jolted up right, almost colliding my head with his when I finally remembered why I invited him over in the first place. Our one year anniversary was coming up and I was beyond excited to show him his gift.

''Check your instagram'' I rush out, now sitting upright. Peter gives me a funny look but pulls out his phone anyway, logging into his instagram.

It took him a few moments so I lent into his side, his arm wrapping around me as he played the video on his feed.

''Um... hi, here's to our one year anniversary...'' My voice spoke from his phone. He glanced to me and smiled once he saw me pull out my favorite musical instrument.

''What's this?'' He asked curiously, his gaze dropping to my lips before meeting my eyes again.

''Just watch'' I blushed, hiding my face in his shoulder as he chuckles, playing the rest of the clip. It was embarrassing for me to say the least, I have no idea why I would even post it but I did. I wanted to show Peter off to everyone, show off our love... well my love for him.

I lent away halfway through, trying to gauge a reaction from him. He was good at hiding his emotions when he wanted too. The song was so cheesy in my eyes but it was meaningful. The smile couldn't be wiped off my face the entire time. I even bit my lip excitedly, dying to say the three little words I have been wanting to tell him for a while now.

''I think I kinda, you know.. you know'' The lyrics ended with the video. Peter turned to face me, the looks of a frown seeming to grow.

''I love you, Peter'' My heart wanted to burst from my chest, I couldn't believe I actually worked up the courage to finally tell him. I bit my lip again, my head tilting to the side as I started to see his eyes sadden a little, along with his small smile. I began frowning myself, wondering what was wrong.

''Peter... are you okay?'' I asked, not liking the silence that was beginning to form. This was not how I was imaging this to go.

''Yeah... uh... I have to go'' My heart dropped, my smile instantly fading.

''Wha- why?'' I asked, trying not to let the hurt or sadness convey through my tone. He glanced at me again and sighs to himself, struggling to find the right words. He looks like he's about to lean in but quickly pulls back, jumping off the bed. The sound of sirens were going off in the distance but that was normal in Queens. He stared out my bedroom window, seeming to gnaw his lip angrily.

''I just... I have to go.. I am so sorry but-'' He stopped once he saw my face. He hated what he was about to do but he knew deep down he needed too. I looked at him pleadingly, wondering why everything suddenly went wrong.

''Was it the song? I know it was kinda cheesy I'm sorry...'' Peter rushed back down and grabs my hands in his own, pulling me closer.

''No, it's not that I just... can't do this right now'' He responds sadly.

''This being us?'' I asked, beginning to grow angry myself. He really had to wait till right now to do this?

''Yes... I am so sorry-''

''Get out'' My voice lowered, tears beginning to pool in my eyes. Peter sighed, recoiling a little.

''Ba-''

''I said get out!'' I yelled. He let go of my hands and hoped off the bed, glancing out the window before back at me. I was so sick of this, Every time something was finally going right something else was in the way. I was growing tired of him. I hated how he was always late to every date, I hated how he always had to leave early with little to no explanation as to why, I hated that he's waited till I was in love with him to break up with me.

But he left, he did as I asked for once and left, closing my door behind him. I grabbed the nearest cushion and cuddled it towards my chest, the tears instantly pouring out, along with the crushed up pieces of my love for him. Why was everything always so complicated with him? I envied the other couples at school, how they could openly show their affection towards each other, how they had amazing dates which they BOTH attended.

I was so sick and tired of being his second choice to everything. Well, not anymore, this summer I am finally going to do what I want to do. The hell with Peter Parker, by the end of the summer I wasn't going to even remember his name.

''Good morning students, please make your way towards the gym for the annual back-to-school kickoff!'' The school's principle spoke over the P.A system, stopping everyone's movement and conversations in the hallway.

''Bye Peter...'' I trailed off, grabbing my best friends hand and leading her towards the school gym. I gnawed at my lip, forcing my eyes not to tear up.

''I'm proud of you girl'' I smiled at her words, leaning into her. She squeezed my hand a little tighter and started to make a few jokes about anything and everything, instantly making me laugh.

Here's hoping Junior year was going to be a better year.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: Here's part one to this imagine! Thanks for requesting! I'm actually writing this as I'm watching the new High School Musical series! Thanks for requesting again hun! Keep tuned for more parts and please comment and vote lovelies xx

#peter parker #peter parker imagines #tom holland #spider-man #spider-man imagines #peter parker x reader #HSMTMTS #donttellpeterparker

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cali-holland · 5 years

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Shawn Mendes Masterlist

Last Updated: 7/26/20 ~ character is currently retired

Requests: Closed - please read the rules briefly here

Tag List: Currently closed for this character

Lyric Prompt List for blurbs can be found here

Main Masterlist here

♥ 200+ notes

~~~

Please note: All gifs & pics used on my blog for masterlists & imagines are not mine, credit goes to their rightful creator/owner.

Copyright notice: ALL of my imagines are posted here on my blog and they are ALL by me. While I do not own the fictional characters (both based on fictional people and real people) presented in my stories and I do not own any of the songs/scenes that inspire my works, I still legally claim the copyright to all of my fics. Do not repost these anywhere, whether it be on this site or another. If you see them on any other platform (or tumblr user) please inform me!

~~~

Oldest to Newest

FLUFF

The Girl in the Cafe

~ When Shawn first sees you in a cafe, he falls in love… and then he meets you later that night via your friend Tom Holland {2100 words, 7/13/19}

~ Based On: Nervous by Shawn Mendes

Spill Your Guts ♥

~ You and Shawn go on the Late Late Show’s Spill Your Guts or Fill Your Guts {1300 words, 7/17/19}

A Dip in the Pool

~ Playing Never Have I Ever with your old high school friends, including your ex-boyfriend, makes Shawn jealous {1100 words, 7/23/19}

Ten Years

~ Ten years ago, Shawn told you he liked you, but you weren’t ready. After meeting again, those feelings haven’t changed {2100 words, 7/28/19}

~ Based On: When You’re Ready by Shawn Mendes

Favors ♥

~ Your cousin’s wedding means you’ll have to see your ex again. After hearing he’s got himself a new girl, you’re desperate to get revenge {3000 words, 7/31/19}

Rooftops

~ It’s Shawn’s 21st birthday and the first one you spend together as a couple {1000 words, 8/8/19}

~ Based On: End of the Day by One Direction

Fakin’ It ♥

~ You absolutely hate Shawn Mendes, so being a fake relationship with him is the worst thing for you… kind of… {4500 words, 8/17/19}

~ Based On: Perfect Situation by Weezer

Piano Lessons

~ Shawn teaches you piano {500 words, 8/29/19, blurb}

ANGST

Miles Away ♥

~ Being away from each other on your anniversary is hard on you and Shawn {1100 words, 7/14/19}

~ Based On: Never Be Alone by Shawn Mendes

The Friend Zone

~ Despite being actual best friends, you can’t help but feel jealous when Shawn accidentally friend zones you {2900 words, 7/16/19}

Perfectly Wrong ♥

~ You’re in for a lot of trouble when you enter a secret friends with benefits relationship with your sister’s best friend {2800 words, 7/18/19}

~ Based on Perfectly Wrong by Shawn Mendes

Half a Heart

~ {Soulmate AU} On your 21st birthday, you get half of a matching symbol, and your soulmate shares the other half {1300 words, 8/7/19}

Your Heartbeat ♥

~ Jealous of Shawn spending time with Camila, you find yourself upset with your boyfriend, until your severe heart condition gets in the way {4000 words, 8/13/19}

One Night

~ You and Shawn have been friends for years, and, after one night together, your future together is uncertain. When you disappear suddenly, Shawn wants answers {2600 words, 8/25/19}

Simple Tasks

~ After a heated argument, Shawn finds himself needing your help for a very basic task {1000 words, 8/26/19, requested}

~ Based On: Afterglow by Taylor Swift

HARRY POTTER AU

Only a Mark

~ When you’re forced to become a Death Eater, your relationship with Shawn is at stake {Harry Potter AU, 1900 words, 3/8/20}

SERIES

Teenage Love Story

~ Teaser Part One Part Two Part Three Part Four Part Five

~ You and Shawn meet at the 1989 World Tour where he is the opening act and you are visiting your sister, Taylor Swift. Your whirlwind romance is one that you hope never ends {Completed on 3/7/20}

~ Based On: Death by a Thousand Cuts by Taylor Swift and If I Can’t Have You by Shawn Mendes

BLURBS

For my birthday celebration, see full masterlist here

You and Shawn catch the lovebug, inspired by Lovebug by the Jonas Brothers

For my summer sleepover, see full masterlist here

You’re his P.A.

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes x you #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes series #shawn mendes fic

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scoutception · 4 years

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Ranking the next 5 animes I’ve recently watched

After many distractions on my part, including playing through Steins;Gate, something that has quickly become something I adore like few others, I’ve continued my descent into the world of anime with 5 more series. The stuff I watched was a lot shorter on average than last time, and my attempts to be “objective” and my personal biases align much more closely compared to last time. With that, I’ll begin. 5. Soni-Ani: Super Sonico the Animation

Number of episodes: 12. Language options: subs only. Streaming availability: Crunchyroll. When it comes to visual novels, nitro+ is one of the biggest developers out there, alongside Key. Whereas Key is mainly out to make you really, really sad, nitro+ prefers a different approach. To my understanding, at best, their works are really, really dark, and at worst, they’re going straight for your nightmares, with stuff like Song of Saya and Sweet Pool. So clearly, the best mascot for them is the pink haired, constantly headphoned, and downright adorable Super Sonico. Even if it’s not outright official, it’s pretty jarring. Anyway, with that little rant out of the way, here’s the only thing on this list I actually wouldn’t recommend. Produced by White Fox back in 2014, this anime apparently got slammed pretty hard, and honestly, I have no idea why I even ended up watching this one. Perhaps this’ll be a reminder to be less impulsive in my choices in the future. Soni-Ani focuses on, who else, Super Sonico herself, an energetic and kind, yet clumsy college student who should reasonably be dead from stress and exhaustion. Along with college, she’s an idol, gravure model, helper at her grandmother’s restaurant and guitarist and main singer in the band First Astronomical Velocity with her friends Suzu Fujimi, the witty and manipulative bassist and official leader of the band, and Fuuri Watanuki, the mysterious drummer single mindedly obsessed with food. The series just explores some of the odd, extremely fanservice filled days of her life. It’s ok idea on paper, but in practice it’s just not really anything special or even entertaining for the most part. While I can usually ignore fanservice, it’s downright distractingly prevalent in the earlier episodes, to the point of several episode premises pretty much only catering themselves to it. Even without that, there’s just not much to be found; aside from Suzu and Sonico’s manager, the honestly hilarious Kitamura, who constantly wears a hannya mask and is willing to attack people for attempting to take advantage of Sonico, the characters aren’t anything memorable or entertaining on their own, leaving a lot of episodes feeling dry. They do improve in the second half, featuring episodes like a fairly charming murder mystery spoof, and an episode focusing on Sonico’s cats, of all things, but they’re still not something going out of your way to watch. The voice acting and animation, while at least ok, don’t stick out much either. Overall, again, this is the one thing I’d say to just avoid. There’s tons of other slice of life animes out there that are way better. If nothing else, though, I’m kinda glad I stuck to it just for the surprise cameo by Kurisu Makise’s outfit, considering I was already playing Steins;Gate.

4. Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun

Number of episodes: 12. Language options: dub (video release only, apparently) and subs available. Streaming availability: Crunchyroll, Hulu, Netflix. Moving onto stuff I’d actually recommend, here’s a nice little anime adaptation of a gag manga by Izumi Tsubaki, produced by Dogakobo. Chiyo Sakura, a high school student who stands at an impressive 4′9″, confesses her love to the tall and mysterious Umetaro Nozaki, and gets his autograph, of all things, for her troubles. Trying again, Nozaki instead takes her to his apartment... to assist him with his manga. As it turns out, Nozaki is a popular romance manga author, whose interests in life start an end at manga, rendering him utterly oblivious to Chiyo’s feelings. Thusly, Chiyo officially becomes his assistant in order to grow closer to her crush, meeting his other associates along the way. The main thing that must be said is that this is not a serious anime in the slightest, and it’s all just big parody of romance manga more than anything, especially with the characters, like Mikoshiba, who acts like a playboy, but in reality is cripplingly shy, and Kashima, the “prince” of the school who is both actually a girl and an airhead who’s frequently on the nerves of the drama club’s president, Hori. A lot of the humor thrives on miscommunication, and it’s exaggerated enough that it works well. Every character is an idiot, in their own ways, but endearingly so, and each of them stands out, from Chiyo, who mostly plays the straight man but has her moments of over imagination, or the hilariously abrasive Seo. The plots are the right kind of dumb too, like Nozaki and Mikoshiba becoming obsessed over a helper NPC in a dating sim, or Hori gaining an intense hatred for people standing on boxes due to Nozaki’s attempts to fix perspective problems. The jokes can get a bit predictable after a while, especially with Nozaki, but overall it’s a pretty funny time. The voice acting is good, and the animation is charming. Overall, this is definitely a fun watch. If you want a good laugh, or just something that doesn’t take itself too seriously, this is definitely something to check out. 3. Angel Beats!

Number of episodes: 13 (+ some OVAs not on streaming services). Language options: dub and subs available. Streaming availability: Netflix, Crunchyroll, Funimation. As it turned out, visual novels, or at least visual novel developers, became a theme in the things I watched this time around. As mentioned before, Key is one of the biggest VN developers out there, who specialize in making you really sad. From Kanon, to Clannad, to Planetarian, to Little Busters, Key’s made a lot of great stuff, and had some great anime adaptations made, particularly for Kanon and Clannad. Thus, Jun Maeda, co-founder of Key, conceived Angel Beats to originate as an anime, produced by P.A. Works in 2010. Angel Beats focuses on Otonashi, a teenager who wakes up in a strange high school with amnesia, only able to remember his last name. He soon meets a girl named Yuri Nakamura, who informs him that they’re dead, and stuck in a sort of afterlife, seemingly ruled over by a mysterious girl they only know as Angel. In this purgatory, they’re unable to die, as Otonashi finds out first hand at Angel’s hands, and the school is populated by fabricated teachers and students, but the real people stuck there are at risk of being “obliterated” if they act like normal students, ceasing to exist. Unwilling to accept this, Yuri leads class SSS in opposition of Angel and the assumed God that created this world for the cruel fates that everyone stuck in the afterlife met, Otonashi seemingly included. With seemingly no other path to take, Otonashi joins forces with the SSS. The main strength of Angel Beats is its cast of characters. From the pretty mean yet charming Yuri, to the reliable, yet often abused Hinata, to the crazy and energetic Yui, to even some of the side characters, like Shiina, the ninja girl with a crippling weakness for wind up dog toys, or TK, who speaks in gloriously mangled English and dances constantly. The premise as well is honestly fascinating to me, and makes for some very interesting episodes. It’s got some pretty entertaining action scenes, along with some really funny moments, mostly by playing the “nobody can actually die” tidbit for all its worth, with the second episode devoting a good amount of time to slowly killing off the main group in horrible, yet blase fashions. It delivers emotionally too, with the second half in particular having a good deal of touching episodes, especially episode 10. Unfortunately, there’s one giant problem with this anime that brings it down quite a bit: it’s only 13 episodes long. While I’m not a fan of 12 or 13 episode seasons, I can’t say that’s a problem by itself. What is a problem is that they were planning to have double that amount of episodes, causing the storyline to feel very rushed, and leaving nearly every character in the cast that isn’t part of the main group very underdeveloped. While there’s an entire expanded universe of stuff, good luck tracking it all down, and while Key themselves were making a 6 part visual novel of Angel Beats to expand upon it all, something that’s very promising, only the first volume has been released so far, back in 2015, with no word since, very likely because of Jun Maeda’s health issues. Overall, Angel Beats genuinely is a good watch, but it’s kinda depressing, just because of how much potential was cut short thanks to whatever genius decided to cut the episode amount in half. Unless the VN project really gets going again, it’ll probably just remain a bunch of what could have beens. 2. Puella Magi Madoka Magica

Number of episodes: 12. Language options: dub and subs available. Streaming availability: Netflix, Hulu, Crunchyroll, Funimation. Continuing the theme I unintentionally set up, here’s this famous little thing, from the mind of Gen Urobuchi, who, among other things, has worked on several nitro+ visual novels, mostly notably Song of Saya, wrote the apparently horribly depressing Fate/Zero, and was a scriptwriter for Kamen Rider Gaim, which, to my understanding, is one of the darkest Kamen Rider shows out there. Will all this in mind, there’s no real hiding that this isn’t going to be anywhere near as innocent as it tries to appear. Even if you didn’t know that, its reputation probably far exceeds it by now. Madoka Kaname is an average middle school student whose life is thrown into chaos when a mysterious girl named Homura Akemi transfers into her class, whom Madoka later finds attacking a strange creature called Kyubey. After rescuing it, Madoka and her best friend Sayaka are attacked by a strange creature known as a witch, only to be rescued by Mami Tomoe, a “magical girl” given power by Kyubey. Kyubey sees much potential in Madoka, and offers to grant her any wish of her choosing, in exchange for her becoming a magical girl as well and helping fight the witches. Homura, however, is completely determined to keep that from happening. Thus starts a chain of event in the lives of Madoka and Sayaka that, suffice it to say, don’t go very well. Without getting too specific, what starts as a mostly typical, if slightly odd, magical girl show quickly goes to very dark and twisted places, comparative to Neon Genesis Evangelion, though not quite as in depthly depressing with it. Everyone takes a beating in some way, and even with just 12 episodes, it can get a bit much for some people, even when it doesn’t end quite as awfully as you might expect. Still, it’s actually very well done. The characters are complex and flawed, but ultimately sympathetic, the overall plot is fascinating, and it ends in a very fitting way. It’s emotional, and has surprisingly good action. The dub voice work is solid, and the animation by Studio Shaft is as well, especially helped by the abstract designs of the witches themselves. While I’m not quite as passionate about it all as some are, it’s definitely earned its reputation. It’s a great watch, and definitely a big recommendation. 1. Steins;Gate

Number of episodes: 24 (+ 1 OVA). Language options: dub and subs available. Streaming availability: Funimation, Hulu, Crunchyroll. Finishing off my unintentional theme with an actual adaptation of a visual novel, there was no way I wasn’t checking this one out with how utterly passionate the VN made me. This is at least partially a bias placement, but this anime is a very, very good adaptation, and a great way to experience the story without the VN, and a great watch even having gone through it. Rintaro Okabe is a college student on break living in his “laboratory” in Akihabara. A self proclaimed mad scientist, he whittles his days away hanging out with his friends Mayuri Shiina and Itaru Hashida, inventing useless gadgets in a supposed fight against an evil organization. One day, Rintaro and Mayuri go to attend a press conference by Doctor Nakabachi in Radi-Kan, who claims to have invented a time machine, only for it to end horribly for all involved when Rintaro discovers Kurisu Makise, a young neuroscientist who had recently had her thesis published in a major science magazine, murdered by an unknown assailant. Sending an email to Itaru about the incident, Rintaro suddenly finds the world to have changed. According to everyone else, the press conference had been canceled due to a mysterious satellite that crashed into Radi-Kan, and Rintaro later runs into Kurisu, alive and well. Investigating, Rintaro finds that, by complete accident, his modified microwave has become a device capable of sending emails to the past- and that SERN, a French research organization, has been conducting time travel experiments of their own. In his attempts to understand the capabilities of what he’s invented, and his curiosity as to why his memories appear to be out of sync with everyone else’s, Rintaro rushes into a series of experiments that change his life, and those of friends old and new. This is something I could rant about all day, but putting it as succinctly as I can, I’ve never been as fascinated by time travel as Steins;Gate has made me. As fantastic as it, it’s also shown to be unpredictable, limited, and downright unsettling, especially when nobody knows just how time even works. It’s a story about the concept of time travel as much as a story about using it. The story definitely starts a bit slowly, but it’s well worth pushing past. As an adaptation, it doesn’t even need to sacrifice much, with the most that’s lost being some details in a few later arcs that aren’t worth much in the long run anyway. Beyond that, the main strength of the story is the cast of characters. Rintaro, with his rather severe case of chuunibyou, is a unique protagonist to begin with, but the events of the story turn him into an honestly fascinating and downright tragic character, and easily one of my favorite protagonists in a long time. The rest of the cast is just as good, with Kurisu being a great mix of intelligence, ravenous curiosity, and flusterability, with her and Rintaro’s interactions always being entertaining. As well, there’s the always kind, yet ditzy Mayuri, the outgoing, but odd Suzuha Amane, the endearingly gentle Luka Urushibara, and the energetic and wily Faris, just for some examples. The cast is downright loveable and very easy to get attached to. While I prefer the Japanese voice cast overall, the dub isn’t to be overlooked, with Trina Nishimura as Kurisu, Tyson Rinehart as Itaru, Cherami Leigh as Suzuha, Lindsay Seidel as Luka, and especially J. Michael Tatum as Rintaro giving great performances. Visually, White Fox did a great job giving it a distinct look. While the VN had a gorgeous and unique artstyle, it’s not really something that can be translated into animation. Instead, they used a whole lot of washed out colors and saturated lights that, combined with the sparse use of flashy effects and even music, gives a very subtle atmosphere to it all. Even beyond the style, it looks very good on its own, and it’s especially nice not having Rintaro look like a ghoul half the time, like he does in the VN.

Overall, this is very much something worth checking out. I’m beating a dead horse here since Steins;Gate is already wildly popular, but it’s that way for a very good reason. There’s also an extra OVA episode, along with a sequel movie, though both are only available via Funimation. They aren’t quite the best, but they make for entertaining watches worth checking out. And with that, that’s the end to my rambling. With the exception of, again, Super Sonico, everything here is very much worth a watch. I’m sure, once I emerge from the hell of Steins;Gate spinoffs, I’ll get to watching even more stuff. Till then, though. -Scout

#anime #steins;gate #monthly girls' nozaki kun #angel beats #puella magi madoka magica

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angels17324 · 5 years

Text

The Violet Paladin (Keith x Reader) Ch 1

Summary: (Y/n) was just a normal girl with a normal life. She’s always been a dreamer looking to the stars and the future. When one fateful night changes her whole life what secrets lie beyond in the unknown?

[masterlist]

Word Count: 2447

It was just a normal day of classes at the garrison. I was standing in the back watching my best friend Katie and her teammates fly, unsuccessfully I might add... the simulator, which had resulted in a failure. I watched as Commander Iverson slammed open the pod door and yelled at the trio to get out. He used them as an example of a bad team.

Comparing them to my own team I think they're better than us. I'm on the team of Ina and Jacob, I hardly knew either of them before getting teamed up and even still I don't know much other than the basics like their flying and comm skills. I'm the team's engineer, I hope after I graduate I'll be able to help build new ships with my idea's.

I had been so zoned out in my thought's that I hadn't realized it was finally my teams turn in the simulator. Unlike with Katie's team, we hadn't crashed or anything so the rest of the class was as uneventful as usual. Thinking about it, it wasn't always like this. It used to be kind of fun, though I never really got to see it being in the engineer's class I had always heard of these two boys, I only learned the name of one, which was Keith because we were in a class together but he got kicked out not long ago.

He used to be one of the perfect models for when I was drawing, having this look about him that made it seem like he was never really here. I probably have more drawings of him than I'm willing to admit but I could help it. I grabbed my backpack with my drawing pad, pencils, and some snacks to go meet Katie on the roof. It had become a nightly routine for us, ever since she sneaked in after her father and brother went missing. I would spend the time sitting next to her either sketching the sky or when I listened to her machine I'd try to sketch what I imagined the voices to look like.

Tonight wasn't going to be any different, I walked onto the roof seeing I was alone I plopped down dangling my feet over the edge and grabbed my sketch pad and a pencil. I began drawing as I heard footsteps behind me and a heavy backpack sat next to me.

I looked over to see Katie. She quickly set up her machine and plugged in the headphone to listen.

"I hope we find out what Voltron is." She said with her eyes closed. "Me too, If it's as dangerous as I think it is, I hope those people we hear never find it," I told her. I went back to sketching the stars again but was soon after interrupted.

"You know it's not polite to ignore your girlfriend." I heard the familiar voice speak from behind. I turned to see none other than Lance and Hunk. "Oh, Lance, Hunk..." It seemed like it took her a moment to register what he had said, "For the last time we're not dating!"

"We're just looking at the stars," I told the Cuban teen. He'd looked pasted Pidge and me to see her tech.

"Man where'd you get that stuff it doesn't look like garrison tech at all," Lance remarked.

"I built it," Pidge smirked.

"You built all this?" Hunk slowly approached her gear to touch it but was slapped away.

"With this puppy, I can scan all the way to the edge of our solar system," She proudly started.

"All the way to Kerberos?" Lance retorted, Pidge immediately shrunk at the mention of that. "You go ballistic anytime a teacher mentions it!" I turned to Lance, "There are just things you don't understand," I took the liberty to slap Hunk's hand away for the second time.

"Well Pidge, if we're gonna bond as a real team we can't have any secrets and it seems like you're most comfortable with (Y/n) so we can bring her along too," Lance gave me one of his looks like he was trying to flirt with me, I had only known the looks cause I've seen him use them on other girls in the garrison. "Fine..." Pidge sighed. "The world as you know it is about to change," She had a sad look in her eye.

"The Kerberos mission wasn't lost because of pilot error or otherwise-"

"STOP TOUCHING MY EQUIPMENT!" Pidge shouted angrily at Hunk. You took note of this to keep an extra close eye on your sketch pad. "Anyways," She said after calming down, "I've been scanning the system and picking up alien radio chatter," She turned to look at Lance.

"Woah! Wait, Alien?!" Hunk panicked.

"Okay, so you're both insane," Lance crossed his arms and glared at us. "We're serious," I matched his glare.

"They've just been repeating one thing, and that's Voltron, and from what I've heard tonight it's been going crazier than ever," Pidge informed them.

"How crazy?" Lance questioned. We were interrupted by Iverson over the P.A. system

"What's going on?" Hunk looked around. "Is that a meteorite?" He pointed out something in the sky.

"Can't be," I mumbled.

"It's a ship!" Pidge announced.

"Holy cow! I can't believe what I am seeing! It's not one of ours,"

"That's because it's one of theirs," I almost wanted to smirk.

"So wait there really are aliens out there?" Hunk began to freak out yet again. Pidge and I immediately packed up and started to leave.

"I've gotta see that ship!" She cheered.

"Hunk come on!" Lance called following us.

The four of you sat on rocks near the base they set up but far enough away that we wouldn't be caught. I watched as Pidge hacked their systems to get a look inside. We watched Shiro on the feed surrounded by men in hazard suits. We had all perked up at the mention of Voltron from Shiro.

"We need to get down there and save him," I said.

"Hate to be the bearer of bad news but weren't we watching on this because there's no way to get down there past those guards?" Hunk pleaded.

"That was before we were properly motivated. Now we just gotta think. Could we tunnel in?" Lance was talking to himself. We all bounced ideas of how to get in (Or to go back to the dorms in Hunk's case), before agreeing on needing a distraction. That's when you heard explosions in the distance.

"Like that!" Lance shouted. Hunk began to freak out thinking it was aliens.

"No, that was a distraction," You commented.

"Yeah, for him," Pidge pointed out someone approaching from opposite of where the garrison had left.

"Oh no way, that guy is always trying to one-up me!" Lance shouted looking through the binoculars.

"Who?" Hunk asked as Lance jumped down.

"Keith!" Lance shouted as Hunk followed him down.

"Who's Keith?" Pidge asked, then turned to me since I was the only one with her still.

"He got kicked out," I told her as we followed the boys. When we made it down everyone but Lance (who ran in) stayed by the entrance and watched the exchange between him and Keith.

Pidge, Hunk and I all kept watching for a minute while Lance and Keith carried Shiro back to Keith's hoverbike.

"Is this thing going to be big enough for all of us?" Pidge asked.

"No," Keith replied. Lance handed Shiro over to Pidge and I as he sat on the wing. Keith quickly took off with the Garrison not far behind us. I helped Pidge keep Shiro on the bike as Keith was telling Hunk what to do to get the officers off our trail. So far it was successful except for one very persistent pursuer.

"Guys it that a cliff up ahead?" Hunk asked.

"Yup." Keith almost playfully said as he speeds up with us all screaming no.

"You're gonna get us all killed!" Lance shouted.

"Just trust me!" Keith said. How we survived that I may never know but we did.

Keith drove to a small shack in the middle of nowhere and parked, by this time it was almost morning and Shiro had woken up.

Everyone except Keith and Shiro was inside just kind of talking. "You realize how much trouble we will be in when we go back right?" I asked. We all remained silent for a moment that's when Keith and Shiro walked in.

Keith walked over to a board covered by a white sheet and ripped it off to reveal a bunch of pictures and diagrams.

"What is this?" Shiro asked.

"I don't really know, I've been working on it basically since I was booted from the Garrison, like some energy out here was telling me to search,"

"For what exactly?" I slightly zoned out from the conversation as I looked at the picture of the lion carvings. I only started paying attention again when I saw Shiro had turned to us.

"I guess I should thank you all, Lance right?" He shook Lance's hand. Then turned to Pidge, Hunk and I.

"(Y/n)," I shook his hand as well.

"The nervous guy is Hunk I'm Pidge," She introduced herself. "So did anyone else from your crew make it out?"

"I'm not sure. The last things I remember are the mission and when we got captured, other than that it's just bits and pieces,"

"Yeah sorry to interrupt but back to the aliens. Where exactly are they now?" Hunk began to panic yet again.

"I can't really put it together, I just remember "Voltron", Its some weapon they're searching for, but I think we need to find it before they do,"

"Well, last night I was rummaging through Pidge's stuff," As soon as I heard that come from Hunk's mouth I clutched mine tighter. "I found this picture, look it's his girlfriend," He chuckled a bit.

"Hey, give me that! Why were you in my stuff?" She asked him.

"I was looking for snacks."

"Did you go through mine?" I asked.

"No," He replied "Anyway's I found these series of number that looks like a Fraunhofer Line,"

"A what?" Keith asked.

"It's a number that describes the emission spectrum of an element, that is not found on earth, So it might be this Voltron and I can probably build a machine to look for it," Hunk quickly explained. "The wavelength looks like this," He pulled out a paper which Keith took and held to his board and it matched up with a series of rock formations.

After Hunk built his machine the six of us traveled out there and followed Hunk and Pidge to a cave with more drawings of the lions. I looked at each one, they were all fascinating. When they started to glow, I backed up a bit when the floor crumbled. We all screamed as we were on almost like a water slide and landed in a little pool of water at the bottom.

"Ow," I mumbled and looked up to see a lion.

"Is this it?" Pidge asked.

"It must be," Shiro said.

"This has got to be what's been causing all this crazy energy out here," Keith walked towards it.

"There's a force field around it." I said, "And probably for a good reason." I mumbled the last part, everyone had already started walking towards it I sighed and followed. Keith put his hands on the force field.

"I wonder how we get through?" He asked no one.

"Maybe we just have to knock?" Lance knocked and the Lion roared to life it seemed like we all had the same vision of six lions forming one giant mecha.

"Whoa," We all said.

"This is only one part of Voltron," Shiro said.

"I wonder where the rest are?" Pidge questioned. The lion lowered down and opened its mouth.

"Hey we probably shouldn't," I started but Lance already ran inside. "Touch anything..." as everyone else walked up.

"Come on (y/n)," Pidge said, I walked up behind her and into the head. The controls all powered on and were in a language we couldn't understand. I stood in the back between Keith and Shiro.

"Okay, guys, I feel like I need to point out just so we're all aware, we're in some kind of futuristic alien cat head right now," Hunk said.

"Whoa did you guys just hear that?"

"What?" Keith asked.

"I think it's talking to me," Lance turned to look at the controls.

"Wait Lance don't touch anything," I said but too late he already started to push buttons.

"Don't worry I've got this," He said and blasted out of the cave and started flying crazily. I grabbed the nearest thing, which happened to be Keith who was also holding onto something for dear life.

"You are the worst pilot ever!" Keith yelled.

"This is awesome!" Lance cheered.

"Make it stop!" Hunk pleaded.

"I'm not making it do anything,"

"Where are you going?" Keith asked as we took off towards space.

"I just said I'm not doing anything, it says there is an alien ship approaching Earth I think we're supposed to stop it," Lance said.

"What did it say exactly?" Pidge asked.

"It's not saying words just idea's... Kinda,"

"If that's them and this is what they're coming for maybe we should just give it to them," Hunk said.

"You don't understand, these monsters spread like a plague through the galaxy, giving them this won't stop them," We all glared at Hunk who shrunk back. As we turned back, we were face to face with a large Alien cruiser which began firing at us.

Lance avoided the blasts. "Okay, I think I know what to do,"

"Be careful man this isn't the simulator!" Pidge warned.

"Oh, good, cause I always crash those," Lance said. That didn't make any of us feel any better but Lance shot a beam from the lion and attacked it before flying us away from the planet and towards deep space. We passed Kerberos and we were all in shock, and a wormhole had opened in the distance. "Where does it go?" Pidge asked.

"I don't know, Shiro, you're the senior officer, what should we do?" We all turned to Shiro.

"I don't know what's happening but the lion seems to know more than we do, so, for now, we should trust it. However we're a team now, so we decide together," We were all silent but it seemed like we agreed to go through the wormhole was the best option.

[Next] Tag list~

@somebodytouchedmysaeran @ittie-bittie-tittie

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animeonegai · 5 years

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Charlotte

❣ type: tv series ❣ eps: 13 ❣ season: summer 2015 ❣ studio: p.a. works ❣ synopsis: While on the surface Yuu Otosaka appears to be just another charming and intelligent teenager, he has a secret—he has the ability to slip into people's minds and fully control their body for five seconds at a time. Yuu has been using this skill for years to gain the highest grades, which allowed him to enter a prestigious high school. When the enigmatic Nao Tomori catches Yuu using his power, she coerces him and his sister Ayumi into transferring to Hoshinoumi Academy, a school for students with supernatural abilities. The student council of the school, led by Nao, is tasked with secretly tracking down adolescents who abuse their powers. Yuu is forced to join the student council and together, they face formidable challenges that bring him closer to the shocking truth that his own, seemingly incomplete ability, might be more powerful than he could have ever imagined. An original story from Jun Maeda, creator of Angel Beats and Clannad, Charlotte explores the supernatural lives of these teenagers and the price they must pay for being special. ❣ comments: Damnit, I liked this anime. And I felt guilty to admit it, because so many people are quick to judge P. A. Works secondary to their meteoric previous titles. I think its strength doesn’t lie in its pacing, but rather the moral values it brings across and the way the characters have to grapple with these values. Something I’ll also never forget is the way that the show gets so real at one point. No spoilers but...I will say that this anime deals with a character’s darkest moment in a way that no other anime typically will. And I applaud it for doing this 👏. ❣ quote: “I’ve said this before in a different world, I threw myself into despair and kept falling into an abyss. You were there next to me, watching over me the whole time. But that still saved me.” – Yuu Otosaka

#anime #anime recs #anime recommendation #charlotte #nao tomori #otaku #pa works #angel beats #clannad #kawaii #anime gif #anime gifs #anime quote

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animehouse-moe · 1 year

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Skip and Loafer Episode 3: Dreamy and Sparky

P.A Works and Skip and Loafer have really been getting off on the right foot with the start of this season as they continue to build and expand upon a wonderful story and work to further hook viewers and convince them that this is a good anime, great even. Though, much like how Skip and Loafer likes to try and keep things close to grounded, this episode serves as a bit of a reminder that P.A Works isn't going to deliver perfect episodes for the whole season.

So, what do I mean by perfect? Well, the direction of this episode is a bit more "bland", on average. The majority of the episode is rather standard direction, and is peppered with really outstanding work. It's one of those things where you say "Oh man it's a really good episode" because it averages out to that. Really, the direction is the only thing that appears disparate in this episode though, so not anything to worry about, but it's one of those things you notice and you think "huh, a lot of panning and plain shots today".

In spite of that, we get a lot of really great shots from the episode, some that lean into character isolation, and others that focus on a scene in its entirety, and all of which derive their value and quality from the point in the story, so I'll save the images for later

How I about I start with comedy? The actual comedy (not the stuff the characters find funny per se) rests very much with the delivery from characters like Mitsumi. There's reactions and somewhat standard effects for it, but it really does come from how the characters can get the comedy across. That said, having some cute and fun visuals certainly doesn't hurt, right?

The series has been really mindful of how Mitsumi views things, and the comedy and substance of the show plays into it quite well. Take this aged up version of Mitsumi talking about her "time" on the student council (even though she's not a part of it yet). It's just an extrapolation of Mitsumi's imagination, much like the spacemen and alien are, and gives a great idea of how she thinks and acts.

Now, just to nerd out a little, I really liked the effort they put in to it here. The camera's moving somewhat slightly and the framing and everything really sells that "on the move interview" feel that they're going for.

Alright, random little bits out of the way, now to get to the heart of the episode, and I'd say there's a good bit.

Starting it off, we get a new character added to the group (that's in the OP), Kurume. She's shy and rather socially awkward and a "geek", so she's got a hard time with how abrasive Mitsumi is, and struggles in the presence of popular people like Shima and Murashige. She definitely adds to the comedy a decent bit at the start since she sells Mitsumi as the "school boss" almost as well as Mitsumi does herself, but I really like how she's shown when she goes to Starmax with Mitsumi and Shima.

The piece that gets me from this interaction is the cups. Mitusmi and Kurume get the same drink, but throughout the interaction we can see the differences in how much each has drank of it. And no, they don't just leave it for the big reveal, throughout the conversation we get to see little pieces and glimpses of it as well which is a very nice detail. Though of course, the actual shot of the drinks is far prettier than randomly spotting it in conversation.

The conversation is a really nice piece to express Kurume's social anxiety, and how much she wants to leave it behind, and works really well next to Mitsumi since she has a similar piece of social ineptitude. Personally speaking, I feel like it goes to show how similar yet disparate the two girls are. At heart, they both want the same things but they end up expressing themselves differently over it due to upbringing and differences in life.

Switching gears back to direction, since it'll be a repeated point throughout, I really like how wide and panning shots are not an excuse from P.A Works to limit animation or motion in a scene. Most of the time they're used to stimulate those effects, but here it's more of a stylistic choice than anything. (Please forgive the quality, this is the best I could manage)

Moving on, to the latter half/aspect of the episode, we get a friendly outing for lunch and a movie, which Kurume originally intended for to only have a +1, rather than a whole friend group. I think it's a fun little interpretation of how an introvert gets captured by a group of friends, and explores the social anxiety of larger outings where the content of it isn't as controlled as it would have been with a smaller group.

One of my favorite bits about them going out for lunch and being in a larger group was the overlap in conversation. I don't know if it was in the manga, but having layers to the chattering going on at the table was a really nice addition. It both helps the overall setting seem more normal, while also establishing some of the dominant/favorites within the group for certain people.

At the same time it shows the isolation and concerns of characters as well. Take Kurume and Murashige, for instance. Murashige is trying to make small talk with Kurume and bring her into the friend group (bless her soul she's such a nice girl), but Kurume is still afraid of it and weary of Murashige, so we get scenes like this.

It's really nice detail in terms of body language. Murashige is trying to bridge the gap between the two of them by leaning closer to make things more personal, but Kurume is taken aback by it and moves to re-establish that distance. It happens a few times and is a nice little detail to insert into something that deals with social conventions and interactions so heavily.

In the same restaurant scene we get more of Egashira which is nice. The story does very well with their character here and heightens their insecurities and negative personality traits very well. It forces Egashira into isolation because she herself does it, but paints it as if it were some exterior force. I mean, she's doing all she can to get the attention of Shima, but he's not batting an eye? It expresses that type of girl that's focused on boys really well, and highlights the tradeoff that occurs with that sort of tunnel vision. Alongside that, I just appreciate how they don't move to vilify Egashira. It's a very easy thing to do and something that ends up very common as a trope in this sort of series, so moving away from it to focus on the more substantial aspects is really nice.

That sort of understanding is what leads to shots like this. Egashira is talking with Shima like she wants to, but conversation at the table shifts away from her as a general topic takes over, isolating her from Shima as she can't seem to find a way to get into the overall discussion.

It's just really great at selling social interaction through a visual medium, it really gets it. Like this piece. Yeah, it's Egashira isolating herself, but it only occurs after she compares herself to Murashige. It's really lovely how well they grasp the difficulties of high school and relationships, and how much they continue to comment on beauty standards and requirements for women, and this case, younger teenagers.

Anyways, movie time! There's not really a lot going on here, but I love the interaction between Murashige and Kurume here. They get a little bit rough on their way over in Kurume attempting to drive a stake between them so she can isolate herself, but Mitsumi manages to repair things (although inadvertently). Thanks to that, we get a really cute scene where Kurume apologizes to Murashige over text (both because they're in a movie theater and because she's nervous about it). It also gives us this really nice shot.

This episode didn't have as stellar work on average when compared to the prior two, but there's really great pieces like what's above that give it a leg to stand on. Sure, there's not a huge amount of great direction that's consistent through the episode, but there's also just as many standout pieces that it deserves credit for.

Speaking of consistent direction, the layering of this episode is really nice. The group is shown to be separated and compartmentalized really well through stuff like dialogue, interaction, and even seating. It does a lot of work to establish the formation of cliques and subgroups within, while (like I said earlier) helping show where the strongest friendships lie. Just simple things like how the group walks from A to B sell it.

Now, what I really like here is how things are presented and flow into the next piece. We see Mitsumi hovering in the middle since Egashira took Shima, but even if Egashira is clinging to him he always flocks to Mitsumi. It's a really good piece to show how strong Mitsumi and Shima's friendship is, but also further Egashira's isolation as she continues to attempt to attach herself to Shima rather than befriend him. It's a really subtle thing, but I quite enjoy how they present it.

Plus, even though they're in a big group they go through the trouble of actually animating them, which is really nice to see. Though it's not anything "incredible", being bothered to make a cut like this is much appreciated. Also, even in smaller cuts you can see stuff like the movement of the shoulders of characters, or even the slight changes in their clothing as they move.

And just to finish things off, this really pretty cut of Shima.

Skip and Loafer just gets it. Even if the direction is a touch weaker than what it's been, it still has zero issues in selling the core aspects of the story and characters, of the essential experience of high schoolers. Struggles and interests and enjoyment all melding into something indistinguishable and being distilled into that high school experience. Right on the border of reality and "grounded", it finds the perfect ways to stretch the truth and norms to give something incredibly passionate and nostalgic (to those out of high school now) while making sure to not overstep and place too much of a rose colored tint over it all.

#skip and loafer #skip to loafer #スキップとローファー #mitsumi iwakura #iwakura mitsumi #shima sousuke #sousuke shima #yuzuki murashige #makoto kurume #mika egashira #anime review #anime recommendation #anime and manga #anime #romcom anime

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recentanimenews · 6 years

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10 Western Media That Would Make Great Anime

When we anime fans tire of lamenting for the adaptation of manga after manga, or light novel after light novel, we tend to turn our imaginations away from Japan. After all, anime is no stranger to adapting western media. Many books, shows and movies have been adapted from western media into anime form, including Deltora Quest, Spider Riders, Witchblade, Howl’s Moving Castle, Highlander, and Supernatural just to name a few.

This got me thinking of my own wishlist of western media that would make great anime. Here are 10 shows, books, and movies that would make awesome anime adaptations.

Mortal Engines by Philip Reeve Book Series - Dream Studio: Production I.G. - Dream Format: TV Anime

If you’ve never heard of Mortal Engines, no sweat. It’ll be your new favorite thing in no time. This YA quartet from British author Philip Reeve follows Tom, an apprentice historian atop the city of London. When he’s thrown out of the city, he sides with Hester Shaw, an assassin with the resistance after the life of his master, Thaddeus Valentine, who she blames for the death of her mother.

Sounds pretty run of the mill YA right? My bad. I forgot to mention all of the cities run on tractor wheels. Oh, and the cities eat other cities for resources. Oh, and there’s this huge conspiracy surrounding the city-eating cities, and this huge plot to destroy them. It’s cool that Peter Jackson’s directing a film adaptation of the series, which is due out this December, but just imagine this as an anime...

Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling Book Series - Dream Studio: A-1 Pictures - Dream Format: TV Anime

Does Harry Potter really need an introduction? I feel like we all know about the boy who lived and his battle with he-who-shall-not-be-named. The cliffnotes version of Harry Potter is that an abused orphan turns out to have an incredible magical gift required to stop some of the wizarding world’s most malevolent forces. In addition to his studies, he must juggle fighting the dark forces, and maintaining the friendships he makes at Hogwarts.

Harry Potter is essentially fantasy shonen in book format. It has the magical boarding school. It has the perfect shonen protagonist and sidekicks. The duels would be incredible to see animated. Hagrid would be moe AF. The mythical creatures would be a sight for sore eyes. But most importantly? QUIDDITCH EPISODES!

Railsea by China Miéville Novel - Dream Studio: Madhouse - Dream Format: Movie

China Mieville’s Railsea is an interesting reimagining of Moby Dick. Except instead of a sea, it’s a giant desert covered in endless, winding train tracks – the titular railsea. And there’s no whales. Only giant moles. The story follows Sham Yes ap Soorap, a young assistant doctor on a train that hunts giant moles for meat (think whaling but with moles). Her journey among the pirates, monsters, and salvagers alike kicks off when she comes across a series of photographs aboard a trainwreck that hint at the impossible existing.

The history behind the now-derelict world of Railsea, coupled with the mixture of gripping drama and havoc reminiscent of kaiju films, would make for a solid animated feature, the visuals of which I’d only trust to Madhouse.

A Song of Ice and Fire by George R.R. Martin Book Series - Dream Studio: MAPPA - Dream Format: Movies

Okay, so it’s Game of Thrones, but all the characters are moe idols. That’s it. That’s the show.

More seriously though, A Song of Ice and Fire would make a downright wicked fantasy anime. This large-scale fantasy epic has such an incredible assortment of characters, rich history, and gratuitous violence that would be a treat to see in anime form. It’s tough to really pinpoint the plot, since so much is going on, but A Song of Ice and Fire centers on a number of noble families – such as the Starks or Lannisters – vying to claim the throne of Westeros.

If there’s one studio out there that could handle A Song of Ice and Fire, it would be MAPPA. MAPPA’s history with dark fantasy anime series such as Rage of Bahamut or Garo only strengthens my confidence in their ability to breathe some animated life into the franchise.

A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. Dick Novel - Dream Studio: SHAFT - Dream Format: TV Anime

You may know A Scanner Darkly from that weird rotoscoped movie where Keanu Reeves, Robert Downey Jr., and Woody Harrelson play a rag-tag group of friendly drug addicts. The movie itself was based on the Philip K. Dick book of the same name. It follows Bob Arctor, who lives parallel lives as both a drug addict and undercover police agent. Undercover agents report to their superiors in scramble suits, which scramble their identities. The kicker here is that Bob Arctor’s undercover gig? Spy on Bob Arctor.

The drug-addled, paranoia-fueled philosophy behind the day-to-day of drug addicts living in a world where the war on drugs was lost makes for an interesting dynamic, especially with the sci-fi enhanced police work behind it. The only studio I’d trust visually with this would be Shaft, if only to see drug-addict head tilts.

Peep Show British Comedy Series - Dream Studio: Kyoto Animation - Dream Format: TV Anime

I know this sounds like a weird one, but stick with me. Peep Show is a British sitcom that follows mismatched flatmates Mark and Jeremy – Mark being the uptight 9-5er and Jeremy being the easy-going partier. They don’t always see eye to eye, but sometimes friendships need that. Sometimes Mark needs to loosen up a little. Sometimes Jeremy needs to grow up a bit. As long as they have each other, nothing bad can really go wrong, right? Well, as human nature would have it, things tend to go wrong – quite often, rather quickly.

KyoAni’s bread and butter tends to be slow-paced slice-of-life shows, so if any anime studio would revel in adapting a sitcom, it’d be them. The gimmick of Peep Show is that the camera angles don’t tend to be traditional, and often are shot from the direct view of Mark or Jeremy. It would be interesting to see how that worked in anime form.

Kitchen Nightmares Reality TV Series - Dream Studio: David Production - Dream Format: TV Anime

If Kitchen Nightmares were adapted into an anime, I think it’d probably be a lot like Food Wars!, but Gordon Ramsay yells at Soma every 5 minutes. More realistically, it would follow a rather manly Gordon Ramsay on his trek across Japan in search of crestfallen restaurants in desperate need of an upgrade. Now throw in some Jojo-styled manliness – the likes of which only David Production could replicate – and we have ourselves a recipe for the perfect anime.

The translation of Ramsay’s infamous potty mouth would be a peculiar one, but seeing a muscle-clad Gordon Ramsay faffing about a kitchen screaming oi, teme at the sous chefs would be a treat we could all sink our teeth into.

The Day of the Triffids by John Wyndham Novel - Dream Studio: Wit Studio - Dream Format: Movie

There’s always room for more horror and suspense anime, ones about sentient walking plants doubly so. The book follows Bill Masen, a scientist who specializes in the care, study, and cultivation of triffids – towering venomous carnivores cultivated for their oils. After waking up from temporary blindness following a triffid strike, he finds everyone is now blind from green flashes brought on by comets the night prior. Now Bill must make his way through the streets of London in search of safety.

While horticulture itself usually isn’t scary, there’s something eerily unsettling about the fact that poisonous man-eating plants walk the streets. Wit Studio would probably be the only studio which could replicate that suspense and terror, having done it perfectly in Attack on Titan and Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress.

Star Wars Sci-Fi Media Franchise - Dream Studio: Ufotable - Dream Format: TV Anime

With Ufotable’s success at adapting large scale media franchises such as Fate, this sci-fi space opera could be in no better hands. Anime is no stranger to the world’s 2nd largest media franchise either. There are loads of references to the movies in various anime and manga, including Daicon IV, Berserk, Gintama, Doraemon, and Princess Jellyfish, just to name a few. Some fans have gone as far as to draw parallels between the Jedi of Star Wars and Newtypes of Gundam (whether that’s intentional or a coincidence being how close the two were to releasing).

The coming-of-age rebellion story, coupled with the gratuitous tie-fighter dogfights and lightsaber battles, would make for one show you’d be on the edge of your seat for week after week. I think each trilogy could probably be adapted in one cour, but at this point, I’d even take seeing Clone Wars reanimated in its entirety as long as Ufotable got their hands on it.

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams Book Series - Dream Studio: Bones - Dream Format: Movies

From spaceship-stealing presidents to poetry-loving aliens, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy has a special charm that boys, girls, and little green people across the universe can love. It follows the incredibly British Arthur Dent, who in attempting to stop the demolition of his house, learns from his best friend Ford Prefect that the Earth is about to be demolished. After a few pints at the pub, the two hitch a ride on a ship and proceed on a journey through the stars in search of answers to life, the universe, and everything.

Anime has the unique marketability to sell just about anything. Look at Dr. Pepper sales after the first series of Steins;Gate aired back in 2011 after all. If the Japanese towel industry ever finds itself in a slump, anime studios know just what British science fiction series to adapt.

BONUS: King of the Hill Animated TV Series - Dream Studio: P.A. Works - Dream Format: TV Anime

You got that right: we’re doing a meme entry! King of the Hill has already claimed some notoriety in anime fandom as being one of the greatest anime of all time (if only second to Cory in the House).

King of the Hill follows the Hank Hill, his family, and their dysfunctional band of friends and neighbors as they navigate the challenges of daily life, propane, diminished glutes, lawnmowers, and more. Sometimes Hank’s modest sensibilities are challenged, but as a man of his word and a man of character, he never stands down.

While the closest we’ll probably ever get to a King of the Hill anime was the 1-hour episode where they went to Japan, we can only hope that one day, you’ll get a Crunchyroll notification that says “Release: King of the Hill - Episode 1”.

What about you folks? Got a favorite book, comic, TV series, or movie you want to see in anime form? Sound off in the comments below!

---

Zach Godin writes about the manga he reads and collects over at his website, Rusted Culture. Feel free to say hi on Twitter: @zachjgodin

By: [email protected]

#Anime #News #Latest in Anime News by Crunchyroll!

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tenthdoctor-allonsy · 6 years

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I just wanted to be like you, dad

Summary: Tony comes home to find his 14 years-old daughter messing with his armor system. He's definitely not happy about it, and a lot of things are said in the heat of the moment. But deep down, he cares for her on his own way of parenting.

Word count: 1851

Notes: This text is part of a series about a character called Jessica Stark who is the daughter of Tony Stark with a deceased journalist. You can check another text about her here.

“Jessica Stafford-Hale Stark, what the fuck are you doing?”

I froze.

“What?”

“Don’t make me ask again.”

Oh, fuck.

At the moment I went downstairs to my father’s workshop and tried to access the system he used to control the Iron Man suit, I didn’t imagine I was going to get caught. Well, there was a possibility, of course, but it was most probable Pepper would find me than Tony himself. I was used getting inside him system without being caught, done that several times before. The last thing I did was to mess with a few of Dummy’s lines of code and program him to go up to my room and bring me food or things I left downstairs and didn’t want to get out of my room to catch them.

But it was time to prove that the genes inherited from the ‘genius’ Tony Stark were somewhere inside my brain. He had graduated from MIT with only seventeen years old, after all. I had already fourteen and done only a few advances in programming and mechanics, I could roughly build a motor and change a few pieces from one of my father’s suits.

I wanted more. People around me demanded more. I wanted to know how the deploy system of the armor worked. I wanted to go out in the quiet of the night and fly throughout the bright sky of New York City. D’you know when teens say that they stole their parent’s car key? Well, I just wanted the keys to the most expensive and powerful flying suit of armor in the world.

“I was trying to… hack the school’s grading system.”

“Yeah.” He raised a brow, skeptical. My dad was standing still in the doorway, car keys in one hand, his black jacket suit in the other. The tie was loose and the shirt collar had several lipstick marks. I was used seeing him like this. “Pepper!” He shouted.

Seconds later, his P.A. and secretary - but let’s be honest, there ought to be something else than just a professional relationship between those two, for God’s sake - went quickly downstairs, wearing a white silk robe and trying to wipe out the somnolence of her face.

“Did something happen, Tony?”

“Not yet, but it’s about to. Someone here going to regret her actions tonight. But remind me, Pep - how are Jessica’s grades in school?” It was clear in his voice that he was a bit alcoholic altered.

“Hm, she’s been… exceptional, last time I checked. A+ in every subject, she’s just as great as you were.” She replied, confused, and crossed her arms, taking the whole scene in and staring at me with an interrogative face.

“So the only logical conclusion here was that you were trying to change your grades to, what, C? Or maybe you’re helping a dumb friend? A boyfriend? You can’t plead the fifth on this, kid, spit it out now.”

“Alright! Okay, I get it, I screwed up.” I raised my hands on surrender gesture, irritated. “And I don’t have any boyfriend. I don’t need to hook up with someone 24/7 like you do.” Despite that, the main reason boys talked to me in the past year was because I was Iron Man’s daughter. They just wanted to see my dad’s armor - which in that case the situation was almost close to the women dad usually brings home, except that is not that armor they’re actually interested in.

“Go. Upstairs. You’re grounded ‘til college. And if I catch you messing with the armor’s system without my authorization I’ll put you at boarding school.” Tony said as he finally moved from where he stood, throwing his coat and keys on the nearest table and pointing his finger at me while he spoke.

“Do it, then. You always complain that grandpa was a horrible father but you’re almost there too.” I didn’t even think before spitting out the words.

Instantly, my father’s posture straightened up. “You have no idea of what you’re talking about, Jessica. You don’t know what was like to be the son of Howard Stark - and believe, I am not even a quarter as bad as he was.”

“Yeah, you’re not. Cause you’re never home anyway. You’re always busy doing whoever knows what in some place no one ever knows where. You were never here when I needed you, not that I can recall anyway.” I was fighting the tears, there was no use for them at the moment and I certainly didn’t wanna cry in front of him. “And when you’re home it’s all about Iron Man.”

“Okay, that’s enough. JARVIS, call The Thacher School.”

“You NEVER cared about me!” I was shouting at him now. “You NEVER liked me!” Pepper quickly made her way towards me, wrapping me in her arms as I stared at Tony in rage, crying, my fists clenched at the side of my body. I didn’t move a muscle when she hugged me.

“You’re ungrateful, you know that? You know that everything I do as Iron Man is for your protection. I put my ass on the fire to protect you and now say that I never cared about you? I’m gonna send you to a place that’ll make you actually miss this house. JARVIS, call a military school.”

“Howard Stark. That’s your name now. Howard, Mr. Howard.” A dismissive smile was on my face as the tears went rolling down my cheeks.

“Jessie, stop it, please.” Pepper tightened her arms around me.

“Coward Stark. Howard, coward, Howard, Howard, Howard, How---”

“JESSICA SHUT THE FUCK UP RIGHT NOW!” Tony screamed and grabbed the nearest piece of metal next to him, throwing it against a monitor and crashing the glass into pieces that were spread in the floor. I jumped at the loud noise, holding my breath and grabbing Pepper’s arms. He had one hand on the back of his neck and he turned his back on us, leaning against the table.

“Tony.” The redhead’s voice was serious. “Enough. Both of you, cut the bullshit.”

“Sir, I have Mr. Fletcher waiting in the line.” JARVIS interrupted.

“JARVIS, hang up the call.” Pepper demanded and my dad turned back to us.

“Pep, don’t stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

“Tony, shut up. You are listening to me right now. Stop. Scaring. Your daughter. She’s fourteen-- a teenager, for God’s sake! And Jessica, you too. Stop the tease, it’s enough. You were wrong since the beginning of this.” The woman spoke exasperatedly, walking until she stood between me and him.

“So now you’re on his--” I started.

“I am not on his side! You’re both to blame, just shut up!”

“Pepper, you’re proof that she needs discipline. Reed told me more than once that discipline is essential--” He gesticulated as he walked around the room.

“Essential, but not the only thing. There are two other things he says that must walk alongside the discipline. And I know you remember what those things were, don’t you?”

He stared at her in silence and sighed, upset.

“Don’t pretend you weren’t like this when you were fourteen.” Her voice slowly softened, like she was trying to calm him down.

“I was applying for MIT, actually.” He tilted his head to her.

“I’m not talking academically.”

“Hm.” My father glanced at me. I had my arms around me and I was leaned against a table close to where I stood, staring at the floor.

“She’s just a teenager. She just wants your car keys. Goddammit, she just wants to be like… you, Tony.”

I lifted my eyes to him as if to confirm her words. She was right and I didn’t even know how. My feet had been tapping the floor from the moment Pepper let go of the hug, and now she had her back turned on me, talking exclusively to my father. He didn’t say a word, but I could see that a lot of things were going through his head. He stared at Pepper for a long time before fixing his eyes on me. Said eyes that were cold and filled with anger were now different. He was still angry, yes, but he wasn’t that furious or scary anymore. It was like he was studying me. I sustained his look in silence until he sighed.

“Okay. You wanna be like me?”

After hesitating for a couple of seconds, my head nodded in confirmation.

“So that’s the way it’s gonna work from now on:” He clapped his hands together and pointed at me with both index fingers. “The young lady is grounded ‘til she can solve all equations from my first month at MIT.”

“It was- That was not what I was talking about, Tony.” Pepper muttered;

“You’ve saved her ass already, Pep. Let me be a father now.”

He walked toward me and put his hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry if I’ve been a lousy dad. But never ever repeat that I’m like your grandfather again. You really have no idea what was like living with him.” He raised his eyebrow at me, waiting for an answer. “Deal?”

“Deal.” I nodded as I stared at the lipstick stains on his white shirt, avoiding his look.

“Great. Now go back to your room.” Tony walked away from me and Pepper got closer, placing her hand on my back.

“Let’s go?”

“Yeah,” I murmured. And well, I wasn’t angry or sad at my father. I was... I dunno, a bit ashamed of the things I said to him? Also, a little irritated because I wanted to work on his systems. But it felt like I disappointed him, but all I wanted was his approval. I wanted him to see that I was just as smart as his daughter should be.

Tony sat down close to one of his dismantled cars that stood in the middle of his workshop and pulled out the connecting rod from one of the motors. Before we left, I stopped at the doorstep and turned back to him.

“Dad, I... hm, I lo-” I cleared my throat. “I’m sorry. You’re not that lousy as a father.”

He turned his chair to face the direction I was standing and winked. “Good night, pumpkin.”

And so I went upstairs with Pepper, who wished me a good night and left me alone on my room. For a couple of minutes, I stood there, lying on my bed and staring at the roof. Then I looked out the windows to the sea. Each second that went by seemed like a minute. I had too much energy to fall asleep.

My feet jumped from the bed and took me to the crystal screens in the opposite wall from the windows, that lightened up the room with an artificial blue light after one touch. A notification popped out. There was a new message for me from my father. I frowned.

“We’ll start tomorrow night with Mechanics and Materials I.

8 o’clock sharp, don’t be late.

P.S.: I.. hm, I lo...ve you too, kiddo.”

I couldn’t help but smile.

#tony stark x daughter #tony stark x daughter!reader #tony stark one shot #iron man #iron man x daughter #tony stark #marvel one shot #marvel fanfiction #iron dad #iron man one shot #jessie stark #tony stark x jessie stark #jessie stark series #avengers one shot #pepper potts

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insanemindinsaneworld · 3 years

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Insurance or more?

So this is an extension to my last blog. I intend to explain my view about life insurance products in India and their suitability in our Investment portfolio.

First of all let me make final concluding points here (haha, I know its little soon) - Insurance is absolutely essential and everyone should have one. However, in my view nothing more than pure insurance product is needed. Everything else is somewhat a gimmick!

If you haven’t understood the last part, don’t worry. That’s what whole blog is for. However, before I start I need one change in mindset here. While all throughout investment we will talk about return on investment or internal of return, BUT when taking insurance, you should not worry about it at all. In fact in a pure insurance product, you will get its maximum value when you die sooner or get hospitalised in case of health policy. So be sure when you wish for maximum return on investment in pure insurance products!

What are my options?

We are covering only life insurance products here. Basis products available in market, I have divided them into two categories:

1. Pure Insurance Products (Term Insurance Plan and Whole Life Plan)

Term Insurance Plan – You pay series of premium for a specified term; in return you get an assurance that the company shall pay sum assured in case of your death within the policy term. You will get nothing if you survive the policy term. Yes, nothing! Zero! Anda! I am sure that doesn’t feel good. But, in my opinion, these are best insurance products available.

Whole Life Product – There are whole life insurance products also available in the market. In which, you pay premium for certain number of years and in return the company assures to pay claim to your nominee in case of your death, whenever that may happen. These are more expensive than Term Plans because the company shall surely pay claim some day or other.

2. Saving Products: Other than above two, everything else will fall under this category. That majorly includes:

Guaranteed Return Product (called Non Participating Products) – Death and Maturity Benefits are guaranteed. In other words, you will exactly know what your nominee will get in case of your death or you will get in case you make it till end of the policy term. In case you surrender, amount may or may not be guaranteed; however, it changes quite infrequently.

Sum Assured plus Bonus Product (called Participating Products) – In case you die or you survive till the end of the policy term, the benefit will be guaranteed amount (called sum assured) plus non guaranteed amount (called bonuses). Bonuses are declared each year and get added to your benefit amount. Surrender Benefit shall also include bonuses till date; however, calculation may vary from product to product.

Mutual Fund type Product (called Unit Linked Products) – All Benefits are linked to the fund you choose for investment. There are mostly low guarantees on death and low/ no guarantees on maturity.

The most important element for an insurance product is sum assured. While most people might not be aware but they are under insured. Hence, I have to cover the following section when covering insurance.

How much is sufficient sum assured for you?

So, what is under insured? I am sorry I jumped before explaining that one before. Now, imagine you die today. Yes, that is possible because you are human and no need to shy away from that situation. Additionally imagine you are earning 5 lacs a year and have sum assured of INR 7.5 lacs. Looks reasonable, Isn’t it? Well, it is not. In this situation, you may be under insured. That means, the goals that you and your family would have planned basis your future income would be very difficult to meet now. And possibly, your nominee will not be able to repay your loan, if any. That’s not a good scenario to leave behind, isn’t it?

Now that you have died once, imagine you die again – this time your sum assured is linked to your current income and is equal 12 times of your current earning, i.e. INR 60 lacs. With this amount, your family can stabilize and hopefully, shall have financial strength to continue with the same goals. Aren’t you more peaceful in ‘swarg’ now?

I did rough calculations and basis that your total sum assured should be roughly 11-13 times your current annual salary (assuming your salary will increase by 10% each year and your claim amount shall at least earn somewhere between 5% to 7% p.a.).

Is Unit Linked better than Mutual Fund?

Ohh that’s how it was sold to you? Well, I understand. It’s ok.

Amongst two, I will be inclined towards Mutual Funds. My reason for the same is not just because of difference in their performance but also because of the five year lock-in and lack of fund choices in unit linked products. I will not be able to say that fund performance of mutual fund is always better than like-to-like unit linked fund because there are always outliers to that but looking at flexibility and variety, I always find mutual fund as better investment option.

Traditional Plans

Just try to recall why you bought that traditional policy you have? Most likely because some known Uncle, may be your Dad’s friend suggested that LIC plan to you.

While Participating Products might have better returns than Non Participating Plans, I would not suggest investing in any of them. Both are most likely to fetch you lower returns than other investment options.

Tax Implications

We all know that the premiums charged for life insurance plans are eligible for section 80C tax exemption. But you should also know that in case of death, benefit is not taxable. And in case of maturity one additional rule applies for full exemption. If the policy is bought before 1st April 2012, the premiums paid each year should not exceed 20% of the sum assured and for policies bought after 1st April 2012, it should not exceed 10% of the sum assured.

Final Points

Term Insurance Products are significantly cheaper than any other life insurance product. So, you can buy online term insurance for sum assured of INR 1 crore for annual premium in the range of 12-16K.

However, there are no free lunches in the world. So, remember anything over and above basic insurance feature is indirectly charged from your premium. That’s why term insurance premium are so much lower than participating or non participating plan.

My suggestion would be to go a simple way of buying term plan for insurance needs and look for other investment products for investment needs. I will soon come up covering few of the investment options too.

#insurance #life insurance #life insurance industry #life insurance in india #financial planning

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natsspammityspamspamham · 4 years

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Dino Watches Anime (Dec 31)

I haven’t done one of these in over a month, and I wanted to try to get this out before the year ends! It’s still 2019 here. Here are some anime I’ve been watching recently and what I thought of them.

Recently Completed

Dr Stone

This anime turned out so well!

I was hesitant at first. The character cast lacked a bit of diversity. I thought they were relying on the main character too much, but then I realized that that wasn’t necessarily a problem. Nobody will ever be as smart as this main character, and that’s okay. Everyone in this anime still plays a purpose, and even though that really showed more in the last episodes of the show, I think we’re in for a treat next season (that and I keep hearing that from my brother, thanks Kuya). The OPs and EDs were a lot of fun to listen to, the art was really good, the OST wasn’t the most memorable but I appreciated its service, and the casting was great! I don’t think I would stand for anyone else playing Senkuu at this point. Yuusuke Kobayashi has really proven how good of a seiyuu he is in recent years. He joined a little later in life and was more apparent in other types of work. Dr. Stone was a great anime, and even though it’s not even my favourite Shonen Jump series of this year (*cough* Kimetsu no Yaiba had a way stronger impact) it’s still worth the watch.

I rated this a 9/10 on MAL

Gamers!

You know how practically every romance anime has miscommunications which “add” to the plot? Now imagine that was an anime and that’s the only thing going on. That’s what “Gamers!” is, and it’s hilarious. I think I saw a YouTube comment that perfectly summed this up.

“This anime is great but it makes me want to bang my head against a wall”

It’s pretty much that! It’s hilarious in its writing, and even though it isn’t really about gaming, it showcases different types of gamers. We have a former gamer, a guy who’s terrible but plays to have fun, a hardcore gamer, an indie developer, and one person who doesn’t even like games! They make the cast really funny and inconvenient, and the seiyuu performances add to the hilarity. Seriously, this quickly became one of my favourite Toshiyuki Toyonaga roles. I think his best works come in the form of romances? Yuri on Ice, Zetsuen on Tempest, to a lesser extent Durarara, Gamers? It’s like he has experience with romance (he has a daughter and is married). Seriously, I almost want to make a post just dedicated to this anime. It has such a low rating on MAL because it is so cheesy, cliche, and it does sometimes drive you up the wall, but isn’t that all romance anime? I was okay watching socially inept people because I am socially inept.

Episode 2 came out of nowhere with it’s cliche yet fitting dialogue.

I rated this a 9/10 because I enjoyed it so much and it was the anime I needed at the time. I can definitely see why people wouldn’t watch it though.

Irozuku Sekai no Ashita kara

I went to the other side of the romance spectrum and went with a rom-drama instead of a rom-com like Gamers! And... I feel like I enjoyed Gamers! far more. Irozuku was a bit mean to colour-blind people if I’m completely honest. The characters were flat and uninteresting, but they began to get personality in... episode 8 or something? Also, being colour-blind isn’t as big of a deal as this anime makes it seem. They were so fast to say a girl was from the future but wanted to keep it a secret that she’s colour-blind? She also has no personality because she’s colour-blind? In fact, her personality is that she’s colour-blind? Did I mention she’s colour-blind? Anyway, the ending was conclusive but still left some unfinished ends. P.A. Works made this anime beautiful, I really like the OP and ED, but I ironically didn’t like the casting for this. I give praise to almost every anime for casting, but this anime couldn’t sell me on Kaori Ishihara (who is actually part of Magi which I keep commending for having one of my favourite casts) and Shoya Chiba (who was good in Dororo). The chemistry between the characters and cast didn’t work for me on this one which was sad because the ending would’ve made more of an impact if they’d gotten me more attached. The OST was also amazing so I thought I would add that. Besides that, it was a good premise (with pretty good execution), great art, an amazing OST, beautiful OPs and EDs, but subpar characters.

Asobi Asobase

At the time, Konomi Kohara, Hina Kino, and Rika Nagae didn’t really have that many roles outside of a few (well, Kohara had Tsuki ga Kirei but this really cemented her talent). This anime’s art style threw me in for a loop, and even though the humour didn’t always hit, this anime made me laugh at some points. It was vulgar, full of humour, and I’m really surprised Kino is still alive after screeching a lot. Seriously, that’s a lot. The ED is just them screeching too! Random appearances from big seiyuu are also present, and the animation by Lerche is all over the place. It sheds every essence of the innocence you thought it was going to have in ep 1 and keeps the pace going throughout.

I rated this anime a 7/10 because when humour doesn’t hit for me, it bores me.

Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon

I actually didn’t enjoy Dragon Maid as much as I thought I would. That’s partially because of Quetzalcoatl. I’m sorry, but everything else besides her and a few questionable things (especially the OVA) was alright. The animation was beautiful (KyoAni is soooo good, please do the second season!!!)

The OP and ED were really catchy. I don’t think those songs will be leaving my head anytime soon. At its core, this anime was still heartwarming. The romance between the main two is one-sided but sweet. Kanna is such a cute kid, and Fafnir and Takiya are also funny. I gave this anime a 7/10 because it was still solid, just overhyped.

Africa no Salaryman

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed Salaryman so if you read my past one, just skip this.

The story for this anime is mediocre, the animation is really bad, the music is poor, and it was still a fun anime. It’s one of those terrible anime that you end up kind of liking. Have you ever wanted to see a mix of bad CG and limited 2D animation by a studio that has no other notable anime (besides a flop from 2018)? Have you ever wanted to hear the villains of BNHA (All For One, Overhaul, and Dabi) voicing weird safari animals with quirky side characters? Seriously, they took the money that they should’ve put into animation and hired a bunch of famous seiyuu who seem to be having fun. We have Eri Kitamura, Yui Ogura, Akio Otsuka, Kenjiro Tsuda, Hiro Shimono, Toshiyuki Toyonaga, Kengo Kawanishi, Akira Ishida, Hiroshi Kamiya, Tatsuhisa Suzuki, etc. It’s a lot of fun guessing them. Overall, this anime was pretty average. I wouldn’t recommend it unless they intended to watch the seiyuu (which is the only thing really going here)

And the ending itself wasn’t eventful either so I gave this anime a 5/10.

Ani ni Tsukeru Kusuri wa Nai! 3

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

Another (slightly better animated) bad anime. It’s a collab between Japanese and Chinese studios (but is originally Chinese), but since Japanese dubbing is far more accessible, I went with that dub. Sora Amamiya, Yuuichi Nakamura, Kensho Ono, and Natsuki Hanae are part of the main cast here. Nothing is really notable besides the story. The sibling thing is kind of relatable. This anime ended recently, and it ended on a good note. The quality didn’t go down, and it kept more of the sibling and stupid antics from the first season. I liked that. I rated this a 7/10 because the art isn’t as clean as most anime, and some of the humour missed.

Bokutachi wa Benkyou ga Dekinai!

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

I will eventually stop wasting my time with these bad romance series, but *cough* I need to fill my depressive void with something, and somehow other’s awkward situations distract me from my own. I mean, this feels like an anime that was supposed to fill the void that Nisekoi left after finishing in Shonen Jump. Hopefully, this time he’ll end up with the right girl. As usual in a lot of harems, the main character has several bad choices. But the overall message and whatever’s left of the plot is really nice and entertaining. The characters are actually intriguing when the fanservice isn’t glaring in your face. I hated how they ended this season. I get they didn’t want to make another season, but stretching an anime-only ending? That just sucks. They were going so well until the last few minutes too. The school festival arc was really nice and sweet. Overall, I still liked the second season. Minus the ending, it was just as strong, if not stronger, than the first. Together with the school festival and Furuhashi’s development, I really enjoyed this. I rated this an 8/10 (but it’s a higher 8 and was only hurt by the ending)

Ore wo Suki nano wa Omae dake ka yo

This is mostly the same from the last time I reviewed this so if you read my past one, just skip this.

However, I added some stuff regarding the ending of this season.

Everyone in this anime is a scumbag in one way or another. Everyone has their bad sides, and unlike a lot of series, this anime isn’t afraid to put them front in centre. This contrasts nicely with Bokuben which is mentioned above. Both are centred around harems, but this one is everything turned on its head with vengeance. Protag? May have a Deku voice, but he’s a pervert that’s described for being “Jekyll and Mr Hyde” which I find interesting because he’s truly nice to his best friend and doesn’t want to betray him, but he also really, really, really likes girls and would want nothing more than to have several of them all to himself. Best friend? Jealous as heck and would probably stab him if things truly went south, but he’s also his wingman. Class president? Talks like a samurai sometimes when nervous and uses MC. Childhood best friend? Terrible liar and uses MC. Then there’s a whole bunch of other people who use everyone. The score is not that great. It’s better than silence, but it hasn’t really been anything above that. The OP is catchy, but I’m not sure if I like it? The ED is nice. The voice acting for this anime is PERFECT for the MC anyway. Daiki Yamashita is really good at acting like this animal of an MC.

I didn’t really feel satisfied with the ending of this season. It wasn’t as funny, and they relied too much on the 4th wall to make the last episode funny. It lacked the hijinks and chaos of the first episodes, and even though it kept character development and stuff throughout, this is the one time I wanted them to end on a less obvious note. I rated it an 8/10

Enen no Shouboutai

Okay, so they began picking up their act within the last few episodes and it shows, but that doesn’t mean everything in-between was saved because it wasn’t. After episode 2, this show plummets and doesn’t pick up in quality until episode 19 or something. To me, that makes this show not worth it. I almost want to make a post about the rise, fall, and slight rise of this anime.

The animation production is amazing, the first OP and the EDs are awesome (couldn’t say that the second OP lived up but it wasn’t bad), the voice acting was alright at most points (can’t say I’m a fan of hearing Asta), but the story went off the rails and was executed poorly during the majority of the series.

I gave this a 6/10. Maaya Sakamoto’s character tried to save the day, but Maki also saved it the best she could.

Kono Oto Tomare! 2nd Season

This went so slow and the manga’s art is so beautiful that the anime looks like a sad outline, but I really liked this overall. Just for hearing their performance, it was all worth it. Trust me, the sound makes it worth it, but if you like visuals, read the manga. The voice acting is good for establishing what you can imagine the character voices add, but the art in the manga is too pretty to pass up.

Sankarea

I just finished this today! I originally dropped it because of its uncomfortable content but picked it back up because Maaya Uchida’s birthday just passed and I wanted a bit more horror before we roll on into 2020. Was this the way to do it? I mean, the horror is very light so that’s good. I can sleep at night. Quality-wise? Hmm... Along with the special episodes 13, 14, and 0! Honestly, these last two anime are ecchi. I don’t know how I got here.

The story is a pretty cool concept. Imagine the idea of a story surrounding a guy (zombie-obsessed or not) helping this girl fulfill her lifelong dreams of being normal even though she’s an undead zombie. Slowly as time passes, her flesh begins to rot so he realizes he has to work faster to complete her wishes to make her life seem “normal”. Taking her to the park, shopping, walking her to school, this seems like a good set-up! If only it went that way.

The story was okay, but I found this anime was going a bit on the ridiculous side. It got cartoony at times, and the characters were a bit cringy at times. Characters in this series ship this character with the MC who certainly isn’t keeping a zombie girl around for no reason. Well, anyway, this girl that the characters keep shipping him with... is his cousin. And Sanka Rea’s dad... is a very uncomfortable character as well. Overall, these two elements are actually what made this anime extremely uncomfortable at times.

I liked the art for this despite all the ecchi. I liked the quirky character designs of our main two characters. Some of the head tilts from Studio Deen almost felt Shaft-esque. It was not that bad!

Umm... I never actually paid attention to the OP, ED, or OST because I was too busy skipping the ecchi. Maaya Uchida was a really cute zombie that made me really like Rea more than I would towards regular zombies (except for maybe the ones from Zombieland Saga). Ryohei Kimura was a pretty good zombie otaku. That’s about it for this one. I gave it a 5/10.

Junketsu no Maria

Another ecchi anime! They didn’t even categorize it as such, but the site I watched it on did. Seriously, I don’t know how MAL didn’t process this as one. Anime that criticize wars and the Catholic church (even fictionally) make me feel a little uncomfortable, but I pushed through this one because... actually, I have no idea why. I was depressed that day and needed some picking up through cheesy predictable anime.

Umm... the art was alright, the music was alright, the story was a little cringy at times, and the characters were pretty flat. They gave too much time explaining how some of these characters were virgins to the point where it just got annoying. Kensho Ono and Hisako Kanemoto were good in this anime (despite playing flat characters), Sakurai plays another insane villain, Yoko Hikasa plays another seductive character, and Mikako Komatsu plays another “male” character. I gave this anime a 5/10.

Dropped/On-Hold

Aku no Hana

WHERE DO I START WITH THIS ONE?! THIS ANIME WAS SCARY. THERE WERE NO DEMONS, NO SUPERNATURAL, ONLY HUMAN BEINGS.

Fun fact: I did not read the synopsis before heading in. I saw the poster and thought, “wow cool! let’s try this! middle-schoolers! what’s the worst that can happen?”

Okay, so I had to remind myself every two minutes that these kids are MIDDLE-SCHOOLERS?! Middle-schoolers? Ugh, I don’t know why?! What’s going on here? I know this is supposed to be a psychological anime, and it does its job seriously well. I was scared. I was genuinely scared. Everything in this anime added to the scariness. Read the synopsis, come back, and realize that I’ve made a mistake. I watched 3 episodes. As a person on the asexual spectrum, I don’t know what this anime is trying to get at. The art adds to the psychological effect. The characters are really messed up. The OP and ED add to this insanity. Aku no Hana lives up to the name (Flowers of Evil). I felt so disgusted. This anime showed an ugly part of humanity that made me want to take a shower, and that’s very out of character.

Just watch a trailer, the OP, and the ED. It gives me the creeps.

Senjou no Valkyria

I didn’t find this interesting. Maybe I’ll pick it back up. The art seems pale and soulless. The voice acting wasn’t enough to draw me in, and the characters weren’t that great. Honestly, this is probably going to be better than Junketsu no Maria, but timing is important.

Seikai no Monshou

1999 art probably hurts this too, but the same reasoning as above. This anime seems genuinely interesting, but I think I started it at the wrong time.

Watching

Hanasaku Iroha

Hmm... this anime annoys me, but I really want to finish it!!!

This anime is about a girl who learned that she can rely on no one from a young age. She starts doing household chores and cooking at age 4. At her last year of middle school, her mom runs with her fiance and leaves her behind to go live with her grandma, and her grandma doesn’t like her. Keep in mind, this grandma is her maternal one. That woman who just dropped her daughter to run away... is her daughter. Ms. Grandma believes her daughter is a failure and projects these views on her daughter because “she raised you”. She forces her own granddaughter to work for her inn with no special treatment. At every single turn, you get introduced to characters you’d rather not. Every character is an absolute ass to the main character, and she keeps chasing, but I would rather see her refuse? Characters are straight-up telling her to die, telling her that she’s not doing everything she can, and kidnapping her. Seriously, someone in this series kidnaps her, ties her up, and sexualizes her and her coworkers. How does the grandma react? She says that they must respect the customer’s orders. ARE YOU F-- this anime has a really high review on MAL so I want to believe there’s good coming but it’s really rough so far.

Darker than Black: Kuro no Keiyakusha

This anime is looking up! It has an interesting concept, and the execution has been mediocre so far! The OST is cool, and the characters have interesting designs and powers. I don’t want to say too much on this because I want to wait till the end!

Boku no Hero Academia 4th Season

No words for this one. I’m just going to wait until the season is over. It’s been slow so far, but I have hope.

#dino watches anime

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