5 party member archetypes.

By no means am I an expert in gaming. I could barely call myself a gamer, if at all. However, I have noticed several overused game character archetypes, especially in RPGs, so I created this post to present my findings and to serve as a reference if I ever decide, for whatever obscure reason, to somehow create my own RPG. Do keep in mind that these traits are also common in anime and manga too. 

As always, this list of character archetypes is not the be-all-and-end-all, but the types listed here are so common it's not even funny. Or maybe it is funny. I dunno.

1. The Hero (a.k.a "You")

5 shows that shaped my childhood.

Do you ever wonder how you turned out the way you did? I do. Very often. And I've come to the conclusion that the shows I watched as a kid have greatly influenced my taste in various things later on in life, even my teenage and adult years. Here are five of my fondest, most nostalgic shows, all of which were watched before I turned six:

1. Power Rangers

To be specific, I am referring to Power Rangers of the Mighty Morphin' variety. Having been brought up in Kiwiland, especially having had little interaction with other Asians up till that point, I remember being extremely chuffed when I knew that Yellow Ranger was an Asian girl. Later on I realised with amusement that Black Ranger was an African American guy, Pink Ranger was a pretty, goody-two-shoes cheerleader, and Red Ranger was the footballer. Still, while I was an innocent child, naive to the ways of the world, I was always highly entertained by the eternal struggle of good and evil, terrible special effects, and superfluous explosions.

this is my fangirl face.

Since I became a full-time fangirl at age seven, there have been many occasions where, whilst fangirling over something, I momentarily snap out of my delirium and think to myself "I must look like a complete idiot". Thankfully, these stupid expressions of mine are often made when I'm by myself in front of my laptop, and nobody is present to judge me. In public I try to act cool, calm and collected (doesn't always work but hey).

In a moment of inspiration, I have chronicled a few of these weird faces for your viewing pleasure. Or displeasure, if you will.

(I should also mention that I am, in fact, responsible for these horrid doodles. I am a total failure when it comes to digital drawing. >:P)

1. Content fangirl

This is what I look like by default. Sort of. I've perhaps managed to get my hands on some merchandise, caught up on news concerning whatever fandom, or just hoarded a whole bunch of pretty pictures. You know, that triumphant kind of feeling. Endorphins all round.

5 music videos.

In all honesty, I don't watch many music videos. I never really have. The bulk of the videos for songs I listen to mostly involve the group in question dancing/singing/playing instruments, and not much else. It's such a shame because a lot of the time it's just wasted potential. There are so many possibilities but nobody seems to seize these obvious opportunities.

However, here we have music videos/MVs/PVs or whatever you want to call them, that have some sort of story to them, or at least a development of the ideas and motifs used. For this simple trait, they are all flippin' epic.

(By the way, the picture above is the best part of the Monster MV :D)

5 childhoods worse than yours.

I think all kids go through a phase during which they think their lives are so difficult. I certainly did. But whenever I was about to complain about it (and I am being totally serious) I'd think about how much worse it could've been. There's always someone worse off. Knowing that makes me a little more grateful for the mundane struggles I face every day.

Here we have five fictional characters who have had it pretty bad when they were kids. This time I'm counting down, because it gives more impact that way. :P

5 uke attributes.

No, this isn't a summary of the anatomy of a ukelele. We're talking uke characters from BL games, or certain (most) series with BL potential, or just any old anime/manga that happens to have any percentage of yaoi fangirls.

Note: I could've called this 'How to Spot an Uke', 'You Know You're an Uke When...', 'Become an Uke in Five Easy Steps', or something to that effect, but I like keeping in theme. x3

Another note: Though I'll say 'you must', this list is by no means exhaustive and there are no hard or fast rules to being an uke ('hard' and 'fast' are more a seme's specialties after all xD /shot), so take it all with a grain of salt and (hopefully) have a giggle.

5 sweet tunes.

While I'm still in a lovey-dovey kinda mood, let's list some wonderful lovey-dovey songs!

Funnily enough, no English ones. :O

5 sweet treats.

Ah, Valentine's day. The commercial holiday. No doubt gift stores and florists and chocolatiers love this day (well, the bosses love it, the staff probably hate it...). Shop windows are filled with red and pink hearts, and the price of red roses shoots up to stupid prices.

But enough about that. The reason I'm posting this list today is because sweets are a common gift given on Valentine's day, and I have an insatiable sweet tooth. I've been known to do more baking than cooking, simply so I can subsequently wolf down my creation almost singlehandedly. I will eat pretty almost anything if it's sweet, but here are some towards which I am particularly partial.

5 BL favourites.

Okay, so this is a guilty pleasure of mine - BL/yaoi/shounen-ai/whateveryouwannacallit. I suppose this stems from the fact that I've never really liked female characters (with only a few exceptions) - they always seem so unnecessary. So when I started getting into the Gundam Wing fandom around the age of 14/15, it dawned upon me, what with all the slashfics out there, that the female characters could simply be taken out of the equation...or at least, be removed from the spotlight. 

After having discovered fanwork with BL themes, I began to branch out into series in which BL was canon. Actually, this only really started a couple of years ago when I found a pic of Kau (Togainu) in a thread on /y/. By the way boys and girls, never go to that place, it's full of unsavoury characters. xD So I guess you could say I'm something of a newb when it comes to BL?

Anyway, here are the few BL-related works I've seen/read/played for myself. No doubt this list will grow in time.

1. Togainu no Chi (Visual novel/manga/anime)

Ah, TnC. I think the reason why I didn't read/watch/play BL stuff for a while was because I thought it was all sappy love stories where the artist could've used a girl instead of the uke, but decided to use the uke because it's that much cooler. Then I played this. It was good - the plot was interesting but not so complex that I couldn't understand anything at all (since I don't understand much Japanese to begin with p:), although I laughed at the predictable 'everything invariably leads to sex' thing. But you know how you can tell if a BL plot is good or not? Take out the buttsex and see how it goes - they've turned it into a manga and anime, and even an alternate game, all without the BL in it, and it's still a good story. :3

Still, no matter what version I play/watch/read, Keisuke always scares the hell out of me.

4 unachievable cosplays.

I frequently see pictures of certain characters and feel the urge to cosplay them. Or I see pics of cosplayers and wish I could be as awesome as them. Sadly, for various reasons, there are certain cosplays I don't think I'd ever be able to pull off, regardless of how much I want to. I suppose it's always healthy for one to realise one's limits. Although there's only four on this list today - everything in moderation. xD

5 fanfic turn-offs.

Fanfiction has been a part of my life even before I knew what fanfiction was. It started when I was seven - Pokemon started airing here, and I wasn't satisfied just with what our mediocre TV stations offered. I wrote 'extra' stories to complement the series at school when we did creative writing exercises. Since then, I've written a number of fanfics and I've read a lot too, both good and bad. I've always had pet hates when it comes to fanfiction; the moment I see one of these turn-offs in a fanfic, I immediately stop reading. Immediately.

5 boys in dresses.

It was one of my favourite things to do; show some unsuspecting person a photo of a Visual Kei boy, wait for the person say "oh I like her dress/makeup/hair", and then reply "yes, he's pretty isn't he?". Ah, when did I get sucked in to such a fandom as Visual Kei? The music can sometimes be so painful to listen to if you chance upon the wrong band...but seeing these beautifully made-up boys is what satisfies me. Sadly, the number of boys in big dresses and big hair and big makeup is declining, so most of these pictures are from 'the good old days'.

Here be five boys that people often mistake for girls, until they hear them speak.

5 reverse-harem archetypes.

Confession: I love me some reverse harem. There's nothing like the ability to choose from a buffet of different boys. I've probably said it before, but I often have a hard time deciding on one I like best, since I have such broad preferences (a.k.a low standards).

With every reverse harem (as with a regular harem), you get a selection of various personality archetypes to appeal to a variety of preferences. Here, I'll write about five of these common archetypes. You won't find them just in reverse harems, but in normal (lol) series as well. Sometimes the traits may overlap. But lists are cool, so don't say a word!

5 accessories.

If you read my first post, you will see that lists are cool. I also like to show off, so here is a list of my current favourite accessories. This was all done on a whim...so no wigs, no makeup, no photoshop, plenty of bad lighting... Enjoy!! xD

the obligatory awkward first post.

Rhapsody here. Since I joined the Lost Aria crew (like, a whole 2 days ago), I figured I should take this new identity of mine and run with it. And so here I am, starting this blog.

As is the case when I start all blogs, I am having trouble conjuring up something creative for my first post. So here's a quick and easy solution - I'll tell you 10 facts about myself, different to the facts on our official site. Because lists are cool.

01.

Lists are cool.

02.

If you're fine with it, then I'm fine with it too.

03.

At 16 I wanted to be Yoshiki's psychiatrist.

04.

When not being a ditzy fangirl, I'm your friendly neighbourhood pharmacist.

05.

Offer me sweets and I'm yours forever.

06.

I'm a sucker for bishounen - fictional and real.

07.

...Which is perhaps why I like Visual Kei.

08.

Balance is key - I like a bit of everything except sports, really.

09.

I will laugh at anything, and cry at anything.

10.

Daydreaming isn't a habit, but a lifestyle.

And there you go. Let's hope my next post is more interesting!