I'm an American student majoring in Japanese and Linguistics, but I'm also taking Korean (however, don't be mistaken- I have no Asian blood in me whatsoever ^^;;) I've been to Japan twice, but never to Korea.  But believe me, I'm trying to!

I've been studying Japanese for over 6 years now, so I feel comfortable speaking it and like to translate.  All of my translation entries are public, mostly because they're cross-posted to a few communities and I believe in sharing the love.

However, the rest of my journal is essentially friends-only, so if you'd like to read those entries please don't hesitate to add me- I'm always open to meeting new friends, especially if we share interests, which, at the moment consist of:

( list under the cut )

I'd like to think that I don't do a whole lot of fangirling on my LJ, but I probably do.  I do, however, love to poke fun at my favorites, but it's all out of some serious love for them.  I am pretty honest about the celebrities I don't particularly care for- I'll let you know who they are up front:
( sorry guys )

I don't really have a problem with most of these people, I just don't care for them (for pretty arbitrary reasons, too).  I try not to badmouth them or anything, but occasionally stuff slips out.

I love dramas, variety shows, magazines, books, movies... basically all forms of media, as long as they feature one or more of my favorites ^^;;

I just wanna make a note that I'm actually living in Tokyo now (and will be until next August), so hit me up if you're in town! haha~ Also, please please please PLEASE leave a comment here if you want to be friended back! There's nothing more frustrating to me than being randomly friended by someone who won't introduce themselves, so I don't tend to friend that type back.  I just wanna get to know you guys! ;^;

Sorry this became a bit long (>~<)

Yoroshiku-wish!

Uggghh finally. Here's the 3rd part. only 2 chapters though.

Title: 4LDK

Genre: A dash of romance and a pinch of crack

Pairing: Some Ohno/Nino, friendship/OT5 ♥

Rating: PG

Summary: When Nino inherits a luxury penthouse apartment, he has to rely on his friend Aiba to find some roommates to fill it up.

Turns out this is still too big... 3 parts? I think LJ is just being dumb.

Title: 4LDK

Genre: A dash of romance and a pinch of crack

Pairing: Some Ohno/Nino, friendship/OT5 ♥

Rating: PG

Summary: When Nino inherits a luxury penthouse apartment, he has to rely on his friend Aiba to find some roommates to fill it up.

( part 2 )
On to part 3!

Sorry for the unannounced hiatus... but it's hard to feel motivated to come outside and go down 2 flights of stairs in the cold rain (>~<)

I do, however, have a gift! I'll post it officially sometime soon. I'll have to break it into 2 parts though, thanks to the stupid word limit...

Title: 4LDK

Genre: A dash of romance and a pinch of crack

Pairing: Some Ohno/Nino, friendship/OT5 ♥

Rating: PG

Summary: When Nino inherits a luxury penthouse apartment, he has to rely on his friend Aiba to find some roommates to fill it up.

a/n: This was a long time coming, but it was all inspired by eggchan’s post where she put the boys’ names into a random room generator. The floor plans were just too good to go to waste, so with a few adjustments (a lot of the doors opened outside randomly) and additional details I took the opportunity to write this ♥ I’m not that great at writing humor, but I hope you enjoy it!

On to Part 2!

Personally, this whole celebrity drug crusade is making me nauseous.

I can see them going after Sakai Noriko and that other sketch dude.  I mean, Nori-P has kids that have to deal with this whole "druggie parent" mess, and that other dude... well, there was a dead body in his apartment.

But this recent stuff about racking up as much information on all celebrities with possible drug ties?  It scares me...

A friend of mine works as a receptionist for some place in Roppongi Hills, so she sees a lot of clients who are higher-ups at major companies.  Major newspaper companies.  And they keep talking about how the police are sniffing around Johnny's, which can only mean one thing- they're looking at Ohno again.  And quite possibly Nino too. 

I very honestly don't care if they did something.  They were thrown into the entertainment business at a young age- you can't blame them if they make a few mistakes here and there.  There's no way any of them would be crazy enough to do anything over the past couple of years- I mean, even if Leader can be a bit of a rebel sometimes, I feel like he wouldn't purposely jeopardize their climb to the top.  

And I realize that "everyone looks up to celebrities" and "celebrities need to be role models for society" and "they shouldn't think they can get away with anything" and blah blah blah, but that doesn't keep them from being human.  I don't think that means they should be held to a higher standard, especially if it means being punished for past acts.  Especially if it's something so innocuous as smoking a joint every once in a while. 

And I understand that it's difficult for the police to draw a line at who they go after and who they don't... but that shouldn't mean that they just go after everybody.  That's just not logical.  Or practical, for that matter.  I mean, what good does it to do lock up an overly-tanned, wide-eyed 28-year-old idol who just wants to go fishing and may have smoked weed in the past when there are plenty of other people who have done (or are doing) much worse?  Just because he's easy to catch? 

Sorry if I come off as some ohmygodimustprotectmybelovedidoltheresnowayhecouldeverdoanythingwrong fangirl, but seriously... the thought of something happening to one of them... any of them... just wrenches at my heart.  They've given me so much emotionally- I haven't encountered a better anti-depressant yet- that if they were to disappear, I don't know what I'd do. 

Even if they've made a few mistakes here and there, that doesn't mean that they didn't work extremely hard to get where they are now.  And just because some money-hungry people come out of the woodwork with alleged photographic evidence at oh-such-perfect-timing shouldn't mean the end of all of that.  I feel like all of the wonderful things they've done for me- for someone they don't even know exists- greatly outweigh any private drugged-up escapades they might have had.

But I guess it's not my call, huh?  And even if it was, I know that my logic (or whatever you want to call this... defense? argument? I don't even know) is completely flawed when looked at from an objective standpoint.  But how can I possibly be objective about Arashi? 

I know it's kind of selfish and a little much to ask, but I really really really hope that they get by unmarred.  I'm far too much in love with this world of theirs.  I've been brought in here hand-in-hand with all of the other fans, and I don't think any of us can go back.  You know, I don't think we want to go back to a world without Arashi. 

It's weird- I can't even fathom that anymore.  A world without Arashi.  I don't like how it rolls off my tongue, and I feel nauseous just thinking about it.

Call me obsessed, call me idol-sick, call me whatever.  I still think that putting on a pair of headphones or turning on a TV is way better than popping pills or feeling miserable all the time.

Don't you?

Same deal, part II.  Enjoy! (hopefully)

Title: 楽園 (Paradise) - Part II
Pairing: Ohmiya ♥
Rating: PG
Genre: AU, fluff
Disclaimer: If I owned them, Ohmiya would've been flown off to Massachusetts for a wedding already D:
Summary: One day when Ohno's waiting for the rain to stop, he encounters a boy he's never seen before in the music room...
Word count: 5,569
Notes: The title (and inspiration) is taken from the demo version of Arashi's Fight Song.  It's actually a song that Nino wrote, composed, and recorded all on his own, and I must say that personally I find it to be much more powerful than Fight Song.  It's called 楽園 Rakuen (Paradise), and I translated the lyrics myself at the end (I don't mind if you use them or whatever... as long as you don't claim them as your own)  I also put the file up for download here, if you're interested (sorry, MU only) ALSO! Thank you so much floweranza  for giving me suggestions! It helped so much!

(Part I)

 

( Ohno liked these days the best, and he started to hope for rainy days. )

AN: How was it? :D I hope you enjoyed it~

So... I actually wrote this a while ago after being super-inspired by heartfelt Nino solos... in fact, it had basically been finished before I came to Japan.  I just never got around to posting it... floweranza  was extremely kind to read it over and give me advice/suggestions, and I think all of her points really really helped (thanks~! :D )

I've definitely been stuck in an Ohmiya rut lately, although I admit that it's much more fun down here XD  So... if you dare, take a trip into my oh-so-fluffy AU Ohmiya world.  And don't be surprised if this becomes a more frequent occurrence- I absolutely love writing. 

Ok, I've definitely spent too much time in Japan.  No more beating around the bush! On to the story! D: (sorry if you see this x-posted places)


Title: 楽園 (Paradise) - Part I
Pairing: Ohmiya ♥
Rating: PG
Genre: AU, fluff
Disclaimer: If I owned them, Ohmiya would've been flown off to Massachusetts for a wedding already D:
Summary: One day when Ohno's waiting for the rain to stop, he encounters a boy he's never seen before in the music room...
Word count: 5,569
Notes: The title (and inspiration) is taken from the demo version of Arashi's Fight Song.  It's actually a song that Nino wrote, composed, and recorded all on his own, and I must say that personally I find it to be much more powerful than Fight Song.  It's called 楽園 Rakuen (Paradise), and I translated the lyrics myself at the end (I don't mind if you use them or whatever... as long as you don't claim them as your own)  I also put the file up for download here, if you're interested (sorry, MU only) ALSO! Thank you so much floweranza  for giving me suggestions! It helped so much!

 

( It was raining the first day they met. )

AN: the only reason I split this into 2 is because LJ has stupid word limits on entries... not friendly for people who write too much like me D:

(On to Part II!)

I just downloaded these scans earlier today and decided to translate two of the fun articles included.  I'm still waiting to hear about the scans, but I did get them from karamaru_kagi , who was kind enough to upload them to arashi_on  this morning.

Anyway, I haven't gotten to the members' articles (don't know if I will, actually, seeing as I'm about to leave the country for a while) but I did Leader's extra page and the page with a breakdown of MatsuJun's body measurements (sorry, didn't translate that part... it kinda weirded me out, to be honest)  Whenever you see a number in parentheses like this (1) that means there's a footnote at the bottom of the article.

( Arashi Dictionary )

</fck:meta> ( A word from Arashi )

( Arashi Cell Phone SA-SHI-SU-SE-SO )

Again, I want to thank karamaru_kagi  for the high-quality scans.  I enjoyed taking on this little project ^^

</style>

I couldn't resist, as soon as I watched these 2 episodes of AnS I just HAD to make some gifs.  Again, pretty shitty quality, but good enough to lol at, no? :D

( bouncybouncybouncy )

Yay, that's it for today.  Not as funny as the previous batch, but eh.  It was fun making them :D Sorry they're so small...

I couldn't resist gifing that recent Utaban appearance (5/31)... Aibatti was just too amazing to ignore.  So here they are, 26 in all! XD

( omg the lulz... )


Ok, that's all for now.  Don't be surprised if I keep putting these up throughout the day... I'm just totally addicted XD

I dunno why... but today I started playing around learning how to make gifs (finally).  I haven't looked into too much, but there was this free site that lets you upload short video clips and it turns them into little gifs, so I figured what the hell, I'll take a stab at this.  Not the best quality, but SOOOOOO ADDICTING.  Before I knew it I had gif'ed several random videos I had sitting around... and so, I'll share them with you guys! Because I don't think they're half bad, really.  Feel free to disagree, though ^^

Right now I have gifs from Sho's solo performance of Anti-Anti from the Iza!Now tour, that infamous Ninocam video that's been floating around YT for quite a while now, and a backstage clip of the group in Sendai (I think from 2008- they were wearing 24hr TV shirts, if I'm not mistaken)  They're not labeled properly on my computer, so sorry for the ambiguity.  But I'm sure you'll recognize some of these clips.

( oh, the crack! )

That's all I have for today.  Maybe I'll have more tomorrow, hehe ^^  Making gifs is fun, just like I thought it would be.  Yaaaay! :DDDD

Just wanted to say that my new favorite Utaban moment is this line:

オレめっちゃめっちゃ関係者ぁ〜〜〜！

Poor Aiba-chan's story of rejection by concert staff was able to be turned into a HILARIOUS moment of Arashi (and Utaban) history.



Oh Aiba-chan.  I will love you and your silliness always and forever :D

I can't stop... but at least I have something to show for it :D

Made some more FO Banners. Just cause I was changing my layout and made myself a new one.  So yeah. Made a bunch of Ninoai + 2 Group ones :D Woohoo~!
( this is what a year of high school cg class gets me )

Hooray for Ninoai~! Although this post's icon is Shotoshi, lol.  Oh well, it's all good :D

I ended up making another wallpaper (2 versions) and some FO banners (the Sakuraibano [?] ones weren't that great, so I don't think I'll post them...) from that same photoshoot uploaded by crystalove .  Same stuff applies to this post as the last one ^^

I really like this wallpaper, I'd use it for June if I didn't already have a great Nino one lined up.  Enjoy!

( ovary overload D: )

Ahhhhhhhhh SHO-KUN HAVE MY BABIES PLZ!! XDDD Sorry, that was just my overexcited ovaries talking. Time to calm down ^^

So I saw these amazing WinkUp scans put up by crystalove  this morning, and I felt inspired to make some graphics.  Weirrrrd.  I'll probably make some more later, but we're going shopping soon, so I don't have time right now.  But for the time being, I'll put these up.  The Sho scans are all credit to crystalove , but I'm sorry to say I don't remember where I got the Aiba scans.  If you know who uploaded them (or are the uploader themselves!) please please please let me know, I'd hate to not give credit where credit is due. 

For the wallpapers, I only have 1280x800 at the moment, because that's my own screen size, but if you really want another size just leave a comment and I'll see what I can do ^^

I'm not a huge stickler for credit, but I do ask that you don't take the credit yourself.  But I don't think anyone would do that... right? ^^ I don't mind if you use the textless ones for bases, just try to give me a shoutout if you'd like.  Just no hotlinking (it's not too hard to save it yourself and re-upload) and comments are appreciated, though not necessary.  

I'll probably post these to some communities when I get more stuff up/more time.  Until then, enjoy f-list + small group of other people who look at my journal! :D

( because we all know Sho + babies make my ovaries explode D: )

I hope you like them, I didn't do much with these because of lack of time, but maybe I'll try playing around with effects and stuff more later on. I just have a basic education for using photoshop, which I've been using trying to figure out gimp on my mac, so please bear with me if the quality isn't that great.

And if there are any problems/questions/requests of text changes please don't hesitate to ask.  I don't bite ^^

I DON'T WANNA GO TO THE DENTIST!! DX

I made 2 J-drama memes just now, trying not to think about having to go to the dentist TWICE tomorrow and cart my family around like a chauffeur (-_-;;)

Aaaaanyway, the first one is pretty self-explanatory (and made me realize that I haven't seen all that many dramas...) and the second one is just answering questions.  Just a little bit of fun to end the day ^^;;

( Ultimate J-drama meme #1 )

( J-drama Meme #2 )

Here's Kamiji's last entry as a member of SCS.  I felt the need to translate it, and I'm glad I did- it's extremely beautiful and reflective, and I like how he tells exactly what he's feeling about the whole situation.  Let's keep supporting Tsuruno Takeshi, Nokubo Naoki, and Kamiji Yuusuke as individuals, even if they're no longer known as Shuuchishin.

( 羞恥心 FOREVER )

So I feel bad about neglecting Kamiji's blog for so long... to (kind of) make up for it, I decided to at least translate the past few days since the entries focus on the soon-to-disband SCS. 

According to sources, SCS's upcoming schedule is as follows:

Dec. 31: Participate on the White Team with Pabo on Kohaku Uta Gassen
Jan. 2: On [Hexagon II New Year's Special] will officially resign as singers
Mar. 11: Kamiji Yusuke's solo single [Himawari] is scheduled to go on sale
Date undecided: Plan to put Tsuruno Takeshi's solo album on sale

Let's keep supporting these guys in solo activities! I'll try my best to update translations of Kamiji's blog, at least occasionally.  The quality of the translations probably won't be that great, but I'll work hard on getting them right.

( December 27th )

( December 28th )

( December 29th )

( December 30th )

Ah~ I'm gonna miss SCS ;___; I hope they all keep getting together and hang in there as individuals.  Good luck guys!