I'm judging you.

First off, I want to point out just how much pink and plaid a certain someone is wearing today. Aww, missing home already? ♥

( Biking adventures! )

( Movies I've watched this weekend )

( TeniPuri Perfect = GOT! )

WHAT. THE FLAMING. FUCK. SHINTENIPURI.

JUST.

what were you thinking?!

Do you not fear the wrath of a slash fandom scorned? Breaking up pretty much every. single. pairing. in fandom. IN ONE FELL SWOOP?!

Ooohhhh this better turn out well. Because my heart just wants to break reading Eiji's, "omg YAY! OISHI! IT'S DOUBLES TIME!!!" (rough translation 8D) and then him finding out lulz j/k one of you's gotta lose.

It better be Oishi's turn to play singles and make it make him realize how zomg speshul his bond with Eiji is. IT BETTER.

...because he always seems like TeniPuri affected HIM more, psychologically, than anyone else...

TeniPuri's finally ended (*_*)
I'm so happy I got to meet the character of Kikumaru Eiji. There are a lot of people who got to know me thanks to him.
I know it's just a custom, but please send him your thanks and congratulations.
I'm going to remain confident that they're out there somewhere still playing tennis.
Thank you so very much m(__)m

;_______;

Ganked this survey from chibi_kaida over on dinosaur_zone. It gives you a bit to think about with your pairings, really; I encourage others to try it XD. Here's the original post.

( And here are my results! )

So, I realized something earlier.

Prince of Tennis changed my life.

Have I reached some new level of patheticness, or what? Really, I'm curious. People who don't know me would certainly think I'm a little far gone at this point, but it hit me this morning as I put off more studying to watch one of the TeniMyu backstages JUST CAUSE I HAD THE URGE.

Prince of Tennis changed my life, and it's kind of scary o_O

I've completely changed my post-college plans, in large part because of Prince of Tennis. If I hadn't started watching the anime a year and a half ago, I wouldn't have gotten into it. I wouldn't have immersed myself in fandom. I wouldn't have been strangely intrigued by the musicals. I wouldn't have fallen absolutely in love with the Old Cast. I wouldn't now be making plans to go MEET these actors (or some of them, at least), to be divying up my time translating and photoshopping and fangirling over them.

If I'd never seen this show, or at least not been so captivated by it, there's a good chance I wouldn't have really seriously considered JET. Sure, it would've been fun, because I'd been honing my Japanese for a good while before any TeniPuri ever graced my desktop. But it would've been too much time taken away from school, time that could be spent getting me started on my graduate career, where I'd be making my money. There just wasn't TIME for JET.

If I'd never seen this show, I wouldn't have the awesome, giving friends I have right now. Ladies, you know who you are- -I'm so grateful to know each and every one of you, to be able to fangirl with you, cheer with you, weep with sorrow with you, all of the above. Talking with you in chat, in email, on livejournal, on the phone, in snailmail even--every day is a joy to be around you all, and I know that without this show, I would likely never have met you all, or at least would not come to know you in the capacity I do today.

If I'd never seen this show...I'd probably be doing better in school, to tell the truth. Not that I'm doing bad, but I'd be less stressed, enjoy my classes more (or be more resigned to them, as the case may be). I'd have more time to devote to work, to friends offline, to furthering my education. I'd be able to devote myself to other online activities like translating instead of being the slow whore I am today ♥

If I'd never heard of Echizen Ryoma, if I'd never seen Oishi or Eiji, if I'd never known the phrase, "Yudan sezu ni ikou," where would I be today? Not writing this entry, of course, but really--where? What would I be doing? What would my walls look like? What music would be burned on my CDs? What wallpaper would adorn my desktop? What manga would be shoved in my bookcase? It's only by writing this that I can truly appreciate the depth that Prince of Tennis has come to hold in my life, and it's a little scary and strange.

This is a television show. A comic book. A musical. It's all fiction, none of it matters, really, to anyone outside of Japan. And yet I almost broke down in tears this morning seeing the Golden Pair lose their match. Granted, I was really stressed for my Genetics test that was looming, but still. It's a fricking cartoon. And I was almost in tears for being so frustrated that these fictional characters lost a fictional tennis match where they played like characters from Dragonball Z anyways and WHY do I like this show so much?! WHY?! WHY is it such a big deal to me? They're not real! They're just...just...

*sigh*

Half of me--the logical, cynical half--says this is a phase. It's a long phase, but it's a phase. It will pass when the manga is through being serialized, when the musicals stop, when all the new material is exhausted and the fandom slows to a halt. I'll look back, know it had a good run and I enjoyed it, and I'll be on my way to some newer, better fandom.

Right? If I'm in Japan a year and a half from now, will I be thinking, "Wow, some stupid cartoon brought me this far..."? Will I still drop into a dead faint at the thought of heading to the GAIN store or Panic Studio or the Dai Hall? Will I even remember Tuti or Nagayan? Or will I have, by then, long lost contact with those I consider my closest friends today, long since moved on to bigger and better fandoms and be there thnking of them?

It's a fandom, it's kind of intimidating that this has become such a huge part of my life. I'm almost frightened to think of what state I'll be in in a couple of years. I can't imagine, now, going a day without doing/watching/listening to/translating/writing SOMETHING related to this series, and yet I know that day will come. Life will take over, I'll move on.

I don't want that to happen.

But it will, so I suppose all I can do is keep my friends close, and know that we're friends because we're FRIENDS, and yeah, our interests cross, and that's great, but we've got so much more to talk about besides gay tennis players or the downfall of the dinosaurs thanks to the Tezuka Zone or any of the rest of the awesome CRACK that this show brings us.

I know there'll come a time when I really don't care about this anymore, but that's not now. Right now, I'll watch these musicals and backstages over and over and over and STILL fangirl about how Kimeru and Abe are so dating and how the Ichinens are the best thing since sliced bread and yes, Tuti, you are the man.

I love this fandom, and I don't regret for a moment how far I've been sucked into it. I say let the inevitable come, I'll be ready and waiting.

Mada mada da ne, y'all.

This is just too much. Why am I not studying for my Monday O-chem final?

( t3h memes... )