Under Pressure! The Peer Pressure Tag!

Guys it’s so unfair, Yomu and Alsmangablog have pressured me into doing this extra blog post! I’m joking of course, this does seem like a pretty fun tag and it’s not one I’ve come across before so let’s do it! First, what’s the rules?

Rules

-Link back to the creator, which is Random Thoughts of My Fandoms.

-Provide a link to the person who tagged you.

-Answer all questions honestly

-Come up with 5 questions of your own. (4 have to be about peer pressure; 1 can be   random and about whatever)

-Tag at least 10 people and provide links to their blogs. Please no “you!”

-Recommend at least 5 books or songs you see everywhere/are very popular that   you’ve read or listened to.

-Use the hashtag #peer pressure tag for easier visibility

Yomu’s Questions

Has an animal ever pressured you into doing something (good or bad)?

The only thing I can think of is back when my family owned a cat (or rather she owned us as she was very much in charge). She had a deep love for chicken and the moment she smelt it cooking she’d be in the kitchen meowing her head off. Eventually either me or my mum would cave and throw her a piece, despite the fact that we’d already put down her own food for her. As I said, she was very much in charge.

Have you ever pressured someone into watching a certain anime?

All the time, what do you think this blog is for? When I fall in love with a series or film I fall hard and all I want to do is share that passion with someone else, if only to give me someone to talk to about it with. I’m always recommending stuff to my friends, despite the fact that they always react nonplussed. The last one I can remember is that I made my mum watch ‘A Silent Voice’ with me when I finally got a copy of it on DVD.

Have you ever been pressured into watching a certain anime?

I don’t know if I’d call it pressured per se, but generally if I hear or read someone enthusiastically talking about a series I’ll always mark it down as something to check out later. That’s probably the reason why the list of anime I want to watch is near-neverending by this point, but it’s lead me to a lot of shows that I’ve greatly enjoyed over the years so I can’t complain too much.

Have you ever pressured an animal into watching a certain anime?

No. I mean pressuring animals makes it sound like you can actually control what they do and, speaking as a former-cat owner, they very much just do what they want, don’t they?

(Random question) Do you like cats?

Yes I do. They’re self-sufficient, independent and generally as daft as a brush, the perfect pet! I’ll be honest I’m not much of a pet person, though my family owned a variety while I was growing up, from dogs to rabbits, hamsters and fish. The cat was always my favourite though, she’d generally look after herself and sometimes just do silly stuff that made me laugh. That’s what I want in a pet.

Alsmangablog’s Questions

What aspect of blogging do you feel the most pressure about?

My greatest fear is probably that someone will misinterpret what I’m trying to say or not even know what I’m going on about. The English language is vast and wonderful, but it’s also open to so much interpretation and I always feel like my greatest struggle is making my point clear, without losing the quality of my writing.

Has the amount of pressure you feel related to your blog changed since you first started out?

I’m not sure if the amount has changed, but the quality of the pressure certainly has. When I first started blogging I had no idea what I was doing, I was often unsure of myself, but that felt okay because no one hardly ever read what I was putting up. Nowadays I’m aware that more people know of my existence in the blogosphere, but I’m also more confident in what I’m writing and saying. I’m more able to weather those moments of uncertainty partly because of the wonderful community that we have here.

Have you ever wrote about something on your blog simply because everyone else seemed to be doing it? If so, what was the topic.

In a way, yes. I mean ever since I started watching anime seasonally it’s had the knock on effect that the series that I’m writing reviews about also happen to be series that everyone else has recently been watching and posting reviews of. I am slower to put up reviews as well so it can sometimes feel like I’m chasing a wave. Then again there are times when I’ve read a particularly enthusiastic review and it’s made me want to write a review about that same subject (case in point there is a Patlabor movie review somewhere in this blog’s future).

Have you ever regretted a post because of the negative response it received, either from other bloggers or from regular readers?

Honestly I haven’t had that many negative responses to this blog, I can only think of one or two comments over the years, but that’s all. My only real regrets are with regards to my earlier writing and just how much better I could do it now, but even then that’s just a testament to how much my writing has improved over the years, so I won’t complain too much.

Who, in your opinion, is the best Star Trek captain and why? (If you haven’t watched any Star Trek, feel free to make up a joke answer).

I’m not much a Star Trek fan, sad to say. Star Wars and Stargate are more my bag. I’ve watched bits and pieces of the various series, though TOS is probably the one I’ve seen the most of and Wrath of Khan is one of my favourite Sci-Fi movies. So you’d probably expect to say Kirk is my favourite, but actually I’m a big Sisko fan. Deep Space 9 is one of those series that I’ve been meaning to check out for a long time and one day I’ll watch the whole run. To me, Sisko just comes across as the most human and if I found myself in the Federation he’s the one I’d want in charge.

So Here’s my questions for all you lovely folks,

– What was the last thing someone tried to pressure you into watching/reading?

– Did you watch/read it? If so how’d it turn out? New favourite or are you questioning that person’s personal taste?

– What was the last thing you tried to pressure someone into watching/reading?

– Did they watch/read it? If so how’d it turn out? New favourite or are they now questioning your personal taste?

– When was the last time you listened to Queen’s ‘Under Pressure’? Marks out of 5?

And I’ll be tagging all these wonderful folks! (Apologies if people have already been tagged).

ospreyshire

Irina

terranceacrow

Karandi

Merlin

The Impossible Blog

animegoodreads

Mare

sushiiiwithsoysauce

Jiraiyan

Recommendations

– Witch Hat Atelier by Kamome Shirahama – If you haven’t already checked out this manga series then you’re doing yourself a disservice. It’s a sweet, heart-warming series about a girl learning to be a witch in a fascinating Studio Ghibli-esque world. I love the magic system, I love the characters, but most of all I love the parallels to what it’s like to learn to draw and create in a professional setting. I can’t recommend this enough.

– One Piece by Eiichiro Oda – I mean come on, I can’t do a recommendation list of popular stuff without mentioning one of the best selling manga of all time. I’ve been a fan of this series for a long time and don’t think I haven’t noticed all these new people jumping aboard now that we’re nearing in on the finish line. Not that I mind, you’re all welcome, this is a fantastic series, a master class in world building, character development and just sheer awesome. It’s a daunting series, I know, but give it a go until the Arlong Park arc and you might just find yourself a new favourite.

– Kaiju No. 8 by Naoya Matsumoto – I don’t know how popular this series is, it’s still relatively new, but it’s so much fun. Do you want a series where the lead protagonist isn’t a teenager or twenty-something? How about one filled with tonnes of gruesome kaiju laying waste to Japan while super-powered soldiers fight back against them? The action is fantastic, the comedy always makes me laugh and all the characters are loveable in their own way, it’s just so much fun and worth checking out.

– The Bone Ships by R.J. Barker – First non-manga recommendation! Maybe I’m seeing this all over the place because it’s sequel just recently came out, either way it’s a really great book. It’s another fascinating world with these huge ships made out of bones and the society that has sprung out of that. If you want more details I actually did a review over on my writer’s group blog which you can check out HERE. Mr. Barker has such a lyrical way of writing and I thoroughly recommend this.

– House of X/Powers of X by Jonathan Hickman – And we’ll end on a comic recommendation. This is the starting point for the current era of X-men that is still ongoing in the comics, it’s also the point where I started to get really excited about the X-Men again (after stepping away from the franchise for a few years). If you want to get on board then you really need to start at the beginning and, trust me, there’s some crazy stuff in here. Alternate time lines, dark futures, a look at our relationship with machines and where that could take us, oh, and pretty much every X-character you can think to mention (plus a fair few I bet you’ve forgotten) it’s all here and so much more. I’m still in the process of catching up, but it’s been a wild ride so far and I’m really enjoying it.

That’s it for this post, hope you’ve all had as much fun as I have writing it. Come back on Friday for one of my regular reviews. See you then!

Chris Joynson, aka the Infallible Fish, is a writer, blogger and lover of animation living in Sheffield. The blog updates every Friday or you can follow me on Twitter @ChrisGJoynson.