A new fanfiction….finally.

Hello to those who actually read this blog (not many of you I guess). This is a fanfic that I have posted on Musume-Central and JPH!P. Thought I would share it with a wider audience – comments are welcome.

Arigatou Ai-chan….

Kami-sama…so tired……

A young woman gathered her bag from the corner of a deserted dance studio. She let her long brown hair fall from the clip she kept it in during practice before placing the clip in a side pocket of her bag and grabbing the Rakuten baseball cap she was given for promoting their team…

How long has it been?...four years already…

The girl sighed at the thought, her eyes glistening for a moment as she thought of how much everything had changed since then. She had gone from being the girl no one could understand to the leader of Morning Musume in that span of time. She checked her bag one last time and looked across the darkened dance studio to make sure no one forgot anything.

It’d be just like Eri to forget something…

She laughed to herself despite the room’s emptiness. Lifting the bag up to her shoulder and pulling the hat down over her eyes she shuffled along to the door, quietly, gracefully, as if her muscles remembered the years of ballet training she had. She pushed through the door and edged along the hallway making her way to the elevator.

SLAP!

Her bag fell to the cool ground and the sound rebounded in the empty hallway. She had zoned out and missed the elevators.

What the hell?....maybe being a leader does something …wait?

The leader noticed that she now stood next to one of the stairwells. Echoes whispered from behind the cold door.

Is someone crying?....No….just leave it alone Ai…it’s not any of your business.

Her body betrayed her brain as she pushed the heavy metal door open and came face-to-face with a pair of puffy, red, surprised eyes belonging to the younger of the two newest additions to Morning Musume. The girl was sitting at the top of the stairs with her back to the door. The noise of the door opening had scared her out of whatever private misery she was in.

“Taka…Takahashi-…san?” she stumbled over her words as she rushed to wipe her eyes dry.

Ai sat down beside the leaking girl.

“Takaha…” Linlin began.

“Call me Ai-chan,” Ai smiled at the younger girl.

Ai decided not to pry into the reason for her Kouhai’s puffy eyes, instead deciding to sit with her on the cold stairs. She silently thanked kami-sama that she had decided to keep her long pants on after practice. The two girls sat in silence for a while, time creeping by as both girls thought about what to say to the other.

“Taka…Ai-chan…you don’t have to sit here with me. I’ll be fine…” Linlin finally broke the silence, sounding a bit more like her normal self.

“Lin, I want you to know that you can come to me at any time – if you’re worried, sad, happy – it doesn’t matter. When you joined Morning Musume, you became part of a family…”

Ai didn’t know what came over her as she said the words, but she knew she meant them. At the mention of the word family Linlin sniffled a bit. Ai-chan, normally the dense one, noticed the effect her words had on the younger girl and decided to pull her into a sideways embrace. Her shoulder soon became wet, so Ai hugged Linlin tighter.

The two sat in the stairwell, the older embracing the younger, the waning sun’s rays passing into the lone window of the stairwell, until Linlin’s cries subsided to mild sniffles.

“…Ai-chan?” the girl mumbled into Ai’s shoulder.

“Yes Lin-chan?” Ai replied, easily adopting the familiar nickname.

“Thank you…”

“There is no need to thank me Lin-chan, we are family.” Ai smiled as the younger girl pulled slowly out of her embrace.

Linlin returned the smile.

She’s smiling again…

“Come on Lin-chan.” Ai stood up abruptly and extended her had towards Linlin.

“Ai-chan?” Linlin looked confused.

“Have you eaten yet?”

“……no…”

“My treat…then I’ll make sure you get home ok.”

Ai’s smile grew as the younger girl took her hand and allowed Ai to help her up……

Just a thought

I was reading something tonight that sparked a few emotions/thoughts in me. The only thing I can say is that love is love - It does not matter who you fall in love with. I feel anger when people say love is wrong - I want to hate the people who think that way, but I cannot allow myself to sink to their level. If this post makes anyone upset - so be it. No this has nothing to do with my own life....it's just a thought. I think Keith Olbermann says everything I want to say best in this special comment. I know this isn't my usual fare - then again I don't post often enough to have a usual fare..... Goodnight.

Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy

New updates to come.

I know this place has been dead for a while. I plan to start posting more about J-pop and K-pop. (Probably use this as a place to drool about DAI's new album). Maybe up reviews of Momusu singles and whatnot.

So for those of you who actually read this blog (are there any?) stay tuned.

Not “one Nation”

America is not one nation. Since the days of our Founding Fathers there have always been multiple conceptions of what this nation should be.

                    

Thomas Jefferson believed that the nation should be primarily agrarian, with most of the power residing with the states, and a smaller federal government

His political rival was Alexander Hamilton, who believed that the nation should have a centralized federal government which had the power to impose laws that could not be superseded

One can see the remnants of these two political philosophies in today’s current political parties. The Republicans being similar to Jefferson, believing that the federal government should be small; and the Democrats being similar to Hamilton and believing in a larger federal government with a large number of programs to promote the social welfare of the nation’s citizens.

The nation’s foreign policy has divided the definition of what America is to people both foreign and domestic. The images that follow represent two of the most controversial foreign engagements the United States has been involved in. The pictures, for the most part, represent domestic opinion in this nation, as well as the images the world had access to.

 

 

 

Beyond these images, and the conflicts they represent are the truths about our nation. While our nation can be a place of great opportunity those opportunities have had to be fought for…

Despite the example of our worst nature, the angels of our better nature move us forward, from legalized racial segregation to a more perfect union. While we are not perfect yet, nor probably ever will be, there is a responsibility we hold as citizens of this planet we call Earth – to make the world a better place for our fellow men and women, before we are to consider ourselves.

Here is an example of a result of our better angels working in this nation. Can we make a more perfect union? I’ll let these pictures speak for me.

Beware the next post

My next post will be part of a project for school. Just a little heads up to those who follow this blog. Comment if you wish… it will be highly political in nature.

Newspaper

Looks like I may be getting my story....posted a couple of posts back....published in my college newspaper - under the title of "Melodies." I may also write an op/ed piece about something....not sure yet....lol. Just thought I'd update this blog....I'm trying to keep at it.

I sort of became obsessed with political news before the election here in the US....watching podcasted episodes of "Countdown w/ Keith Olbermann" and "The Rachel Maddow Show" as well as reading online news and blogs from various sites. As a result I sort of neglected my image posting duties at M-C. Now I'm back, tired from all the election emotions, and ready to continue posting there.

Aside from that I've also been working on two big projects, one due at the end of this semester, one next (but much larger). Tomorrow will probably be spent working on the first paper/project with a bit of M-C procrastination thrown in for flavor...lol. Wish me luck.

Vignette....

This is a sketch of a story idea that became the previous story I posted. This one is a little more existential - probably less sad as well.... dozou. Comments are welcome.



Melodies whispered through the night air. Fingers and strings ran together in a veritable symphony of motion. A figure sat cross-legged on a backless park bench caressing the guitar with the years of experience she had worn into the tips of her fingers. The song faded into the wind as the final note was struck and Miiya raised her delicate face away from her guitar to see reds and blues playing harmoniously in the sky. It was times like these she wished she were somewhere else. The screams she had run from still rang loudly in her head. Her parents were fighting again.

She fidgeted on the seat, sliding forward to grab a notebook and pen stashed in the worn guitar case that sat at her feet. She laid the guitar as one would a newborn baby to rest in the case and began to write. Words flowed from her pen in a torrent, her eyebrows furrowed in recollection. Music was her rest. She reveled in the ability to put to paper all the anger and sadness she felt because of the seeming hatred her parents felt for one another. After the flood stopped, the notebook was set aside and Miiya picked up her guitar again. The head gleamed in the dying sun, the name of the company splashed across the top. The guitar looked well used yet well managed. She remembered handing over the money to the shop attendant. It was used, he had said. She didn’t care then. That had been 5 years ago.

She strummed the guitar and upon noting a discordant note adjusted it so the symphony could begin again. This symphony was her lifeline, her raft as she floated upon an ocean of misery. The music began again- softly at first, but then with gathered courage she played. Stars twinkled into existence above her but she didn’t notice them, only the reverberations that struck the soul. She hugged the instrument close as she played. This was her peace, her nirvana.