The Progression of a "Lad's Night Out"

The day has arrived, i left the comfort of my home and ventured out on a Saturday night. Granted it's a rare occasion but in celebration of two friends Birthdays and the joy of having quit my job  it felt like the social norm to join my small group of friends in some shameless binge drinking... Or what should have been shameless that is but instead turned out to be a rather entertaining display of "One Upping" for lack of a better word. These are my observations of "The Lads On Tour"

As someone who hangs around with a predominantly male crowd there is a noticeable "Who has the biggest dick competition" and from what i can gather the winner gets to be Johnny Big Bollox for the night, this competition seems to be most prominent when there is alcohol involved and can start small and relatively harmless. 

It starts with a penny in a glass and a chant and you had best drink your way down to that penny before the chant ends otherwise you are met with the most cock shrivelling sound a man can hear.. The disapproving boo-ing of your mates around you. 

This will then progress to shots, how many can you down? and as the alcohol contents increases the bar lowers and the more offensive the jokes become which then will lead to gross out stories. 

So perhaps Dave will tell you about that time he was fucking a girl and she called him Daddy to which Tom will respond with a story of how his girlfriend farted during sex and finally Harry will chime in with that time a German hooker took a steamy dump on his chest and contracted Cholera. Stories to pass on for generations to come. One day they will sing songs of your triumphs. 

So far this is pretty tame for a night out, right? but then part of the group may slunk off to see who will partake in the taking of drugs leaving the few who refuse labelled as pussies and whipped but the beauty of a good group of friend is that despite the name calling, you stick together. Finally perhaps after a few hiccups with minor fallings out that are resolved quickly then mocked the rest of the evening someone does something that is maybe a little too far. 

This tends to range from whipping your dick out, exchanging bodily fluids with a friend, taking home that 60 year old who's name consists of two adjectives, my personal favourite is accepting a car park BJ from the the lovely local alcoholic and vomiting midway through but still desperately begging her to continue like a petulant child despite the fact her husband in a few feet away looking for her.

And thus the tone is at its lowest point and it's time to down the remainder of your pint and venture off into your local kebab shop. No need to order, these guys know you and your hot wings are cooking because if you haven't destroyed your liver tonight you can best bet you're ruining your ass-hole because in the morning  nothing says good night out like a thumping head-ache and a liquid poo.

In observing this as an alien to much social interaction it's easy to see how things can get out of hand and even dangerous when a group is in a constant attempt to one up each-other and there have been many situations where it has gotten dangerous and has sent people to hospital or even caused death but the reality is 90% of the time it doesn't lead to much but a bit of shame the next day and that is because my friends seem to share a strong bond through their stupid acts. They know each-others psychical limits and will intervene if they feel one will get hurt. There's this insane comfort level and trust that comes with this sort of distasteful behaviour and knowing that verbally there is no limit and you are free to speak your mind openly and honestly and that in turn causes a strong bond.

This post has absolutely no point or moral. Its just a very interesting phenomenon of fuckery to watch play out.

REVIEW! The Promised Neverland (Anime)

Spoiler Free Synopsis

The Promised Neverland follows three orphans Emma; The family orientated cutest ginger, Norman; The sweet, placid middle man and Ray; The anti-social, bookworm, smarty pants. When our three  young protagonists discover something amiss with their orphanage the three of them must outsmart the adults in a battle of wits and mind games to solve the mysteries of Grace Field House.

Easily the best new anime i've watched in a while TPN had so many twists and turns it will keep you on your feet and even the audience will be trying to figure out the mysteries and the mindgames played by the characters.

Before i get into the spoiler section of this post which you may not want to read if you have not watched the anime or read the manger i would like to highly recommend this as both an anime and a manga. The anime is very accurate to the manga but the manga provides small tidbits of life before such disequilibrium takes places which is honestly rather cute and a nice little addition to allow yourself to become even more invested in the characters.

                                               (Ray)                    (Emma)             (Norman)

SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Although this contains spoilers and the first plot twist i am going to make an attempt to keep most of this series mysteries out of this post because if you have already watched it you know and if you haven't i want to pique your interest enough to watch it without giving it all away. I would also like to note that i have actually already read all the manga (That's how sucked in to this i was) but i will only be reviewing the anime. The anime is honestly so true to the manga  that you can even pick out exact panels from the manga and see it in the anime which is something i actually really appreciate.

                                                               (Emma and Mum)
                         
So we start in Grace Field House, an orphanage run by a "Mum". The kids live a happy and healthy life and are given a test each day and are ranked on their scores. From the glance of an innocent child the ranks are meaningless, a simple daily exercise to track their progress and encourage abut of health competition to reach the top ranks. All children in the house are adopted by their 12th birthday.

Our three main protagonists are the highest scoring kids and oldest in the orphanage. One night is is time for one of the younger kids to be sent off for adoption after a day of fun playing in the sun, although the occasion is sad all the kids are genuinely happy for the little girl. When mum takes the child to the gate leaving the rest of the kids in the house Emma discovers the young girl's favourite toy has been left behind. With Ray's encouragement she enlists the help of Norman as the fastest runner to help her to the gate in the hopes of returning the toy bunny. It is then they discover their little friend is there at the gate but not how they remember them. The little girl is dead in a jar surrounded by demons. Disturbed enough Mum enters the scene to confirm the fact that this girl is dead and she is happy to serve the demons. understandably distraught Emma and Norman run back to the house disturbed but in their fear left the toy bunny. and so ensues the story and premise of the anime. They must find a way to escape but with mum hot on their heels  not everything is what it seems.

That is as much as i am going to tell you of the story and i've left out crucial details so as not to give too much away. This all takes place in the first episode so there is so much more to come and honestly this has been the most nail-biting and intense anime i have watched in a long time. My love for Death Note comes from the mind games between L and Light but i could honestly say with confidence that this actually tops Death Note for me (And that is really saying something as Death Note is what got me into anime and nothing has quite come close to it in the same way as this anime has)

And can i just mention the animation of this series? The style is honestly so great. The kids are so cutesy which contrasts with obviously the more serious storyline and some of it (On the adults) can be kinda creepy. For Example Sister Krone has some interesting scenes where she can go from sweet sister Krone to down right demonic! and the switch between Mum around the kids and other scenes where she seems more calculated. The style is just beautiful and really creative in its approach.

                                             (Sister Krone Looking Like A Titan)

My final point i want to make is character development. the ways both kids and adults change and react in different situations. the more you find out about each character the more you can sympathise and even with the adults, the series antagonists you may even end up changing your minds about them when you find they are merely a product of environment. i don't want to give too much away but i find myself obsessed with "Mum" and Emma.

I think it's pretty clear that i rate this show a lot and the manga even more and i honestly give this a 5 star rating. 10/10. 100%. i can't recommend this enough and although i know what happens in the mange i cannot wait to see it play out on my screen in season two.