Lingers {This is your life are you who you want to be}

White Plums

WhitePlums.com was purchased in June 2004. At the time I wanted a Rurouni Kenshin related domain, one that especially related to Yukishiro Tomoe. After some thought, I decided on White Plums (very fitting for a Tomoe named domain) and was lucky to find it was available!

In August 2005 I adopted the Yukishiro Tomoe fanlisting which now resides at WhitePlums.com's main directory. I originally hosted the fanlisting at Rubyjuls.com (my personal domain).

In January 2006, I was approved for Kenshin & Tomoe's fanlisting, which as you can see resides at WhitePlums.com/otp (the most fitting subdirectory I could think of!). When thinking of a name for the fanlisting, I found that most directly related Kenshin quotes/lines have already been used for Kenshin websites (either still live or now dead sites). I wanted to name it something that had not been used before. I named the fanlisting Lingers after much thought. It comes from a line in the Evanescence song, My Immortal; a song I have always felt is perfect for Kenshin & Tomoe's relationship.

Site Layout Skins

Alot of time and thought went into each of the layout skins for this fanlisting, so I wanted to have a special section to talk about them and provide full lyrics for the songs used in them (it's like a Kenshin x Tomoe EP in the making!).

Skin 1

The first skin features a manga image of Kenshin and Tomoe. It's the first time they meet (which I thought was fitting for the first skin). Tomoe has just stumbled onto Kenshin killing several people and she tells him that he makes it rain blood (probably one of the most famous, or at least most often often quoted lines from this Jinchuu Arc/Tsuioku Hen OAV). The lyrics are picked for this skin are from This is Your Life by Switchfoot. Given the events that happen immediately before the image, I thought lyrics such as 'This is your life, are you who you want to be' were very fitting, not only given the immediate scene but taking into account what happens later in the series.

This is Your Life - Switchfoot

Yesterday is a wrinkle on your forehead
Yesterday is a promise that you've broken
Don't close your eyes, don't close your eyes
This is your life and today is all you've got now
Yeah, and today is all you'll ever have
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, are you who you want to be
This is your life, is it everything you dreamed that it would be
When the world was younger and you had everything to lose

Yesterday is a kid in the corner
Yesterday is dead and over

Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes
Don't close your eyes

this is your life are you who you want to be this is your life are you who you want to be this is your life, are you who you want to be this is your life, are you who you want to be this is your life, is it everything you dreamed it would be when the world was younger and you had everything to lose and you had everything to lose

Skin 2

The second skin's image comes from the Tsuioku Hen OAV. A happy moment for the couple, when they make love after developing feelings for each other and learning more about each other's pasts. I choose lyrics from Bonnie Tyler's Total Eclipse of the Heart, a favorite song of mine and one that I think fits the scene and mood of the skin with lyrics such as 'And I need you tonight...and if you'll only hold me tight.'

Total Eclipse of the Heart - Bonnie Tyler

Turnaround, every now and then I get a
little bit lonely and you're never coming around
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit tired of listening to the sound of my tears
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit nervous that the best of all the years have gone by
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified and then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit restless and I dream of something wild
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit helpless and I'm lying like a child in your arms
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit angry and I know I've got to get out and cry
Turnaround, Every now and then I get a
little bit terrified but then I see the look in your eyes
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

And I need you now tonight
And I need you more than ever
And if you'll only hold me tight
We'll be holding on forever
And we'll only be making it right
Cause we'll never be wrong together
We can take it to the end of the line
Your love is like a shadow on me all of the time
I don't know what to do and I'm always in the dark
We're living in a powder keg and giving off sparks
I really need you tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight
Forever's gonna start tonight

Once upon a time I was falling in love
But now I'm only falling apart
There's nothing I can do
A total eclipse of the heart
Once upon a time there was light in my life
But now there's only love in the dark
Nothing I can say
A total eclipse of the heart

Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround bright eyes
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll never be the boy you always you wanted to be
Turnaround, every now and then I know
you'll always be the only boy who wanted me the way that I am
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's no one in the universe as magical and wonderous as you
Turnaround, every now and then I know
there's nothing any better and there's nothing I just wouldn't do
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart
Turnaround bright eyes, Every now and
then I fall apart

Skin 3

This is probably my all time favorite Kenshin x Tomoe image. It's just gorgeous despite the extremely depressing scene ^^; So yes, had to use it for a skin. It's from the OAV, Kenshin is holding Tomoe's body in his arms. There is much sadness (and er blood made even more pronounced by me purposely). I picked Cannonoball by Damien Rice this time because it is almost as fitting a Kenshin & Tomoe song as My Immortal is. 'Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth. Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt. Still a little bit of your ghost your witness.' He could have been channeling them the lyrics are so perfect!

Cannonball - Damien Rice

Still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
Still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
Still a little hard to say what's going on

Still a little bit of your ghost your witness
Still a little BIT of your face I haven't kissed
You step a little closer EACH DAY
Still I can't SAY what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannonball

Still a little bit of your song in my ear
Still a little bit of your words I long to hear
You step a little closer TO ME
So close that I can't see what's going on

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to lie
Life taught me to die
So it's not hard to fall
When you float like a cannon

Stones taught me to fly
Love taught me to cry
So come on courage!
Teach me to be shy
'Cause it's not hard to fall
And I don't WANNA scare her
It's not hard to fall
And I don't wanna lose
It's not hard to grow
When you know that you just don't know

Skin 4

The fourth skin is the most depressing one. It's one of the final scenes between Kenshin x Tomoe in the manga. By this image, Tomoe is already dead, having died in Kenshin's arms after saving him from being killed. He's overcome by grief and the wrongess of what has just happened. I had to use this image for the fanlisting. I wanted to mix it with the image of his sword, having him and Tomoe fade out slightly while the blood on his sword is prominent. I used the song I think is most fitting for Kenshin and Tomoe's relationship, My Immortal by Evanescence. The first time I heard the song I immediately thought of Kenshin and Tomoe, which isn't surprising with lyrics like, 'Now I'm bound by the life you left behind...These wounds won't seem to heal.'

My Immortal - Evanescence

I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[chorus]
When you cried i'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream i'd fight away all of your fears
I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me

You used to captivate me
By your resonating life
Now i'm bound by the life you left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me

These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase

[chorus]

I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along

[chorus]