hey, sexy lady.

Now, I don't like to boast, but in case you haven't noticed, the ladies of The Lost Aria are really, really goddamn beautiful.... So much so that I didn't feel like my joining the group would do them (or my self esteem) any good. 

I remember hanging out with Nocturne one evening during my pre-cosplay days; she showed me a bunch of pictures TLA had taken in the past, and I distinctly recall myself going home that night and brooding over how I would probably never look that good.

But enough of that. The point of this post is that I am now surrounded by a harem group of gorgeous ladies, and recently I've had a chance to (maybe?) join the ranks with my cosplay of Deathnote's Amane Misa!

Herein lies a photodump of some of my favourite TLA cosplays that ooze femininity and all sorts of loveliness:

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.

retail therapy.

I have many bad habits, one of them being my penchant for buying things for the hell of it, especially when I know I have the money for it.

I suppose I don't really have the money for it, but I spend anyway. What's worse is that although I would like to buy things when they're discounted, if I want it enough, I'll pay the full overly marked-up price. Don't take spending tips from me, boys and girls.

As of late, I've been doing next to nothing aside from going to work, going home, and being a mad fangirl, so I haven't had many chances to show off my new acquisitions. So here we go, I'm going to show the citizens of the internet instead.

First and foremost - I have a blue streak in my hair now. :O

This is one of the only two pics I've taken of it though, and unfortunately there's more face than hair here... But I was rather pleased with how it's turned out. I've never done anything to my hair prior to this, and I was a bit nervous that it may not look very professional, but my boss saw my hair and asked (sincerely) why I didn't dye the rest of my hair blue as well. XD

This was also my first time in a hair salon. I didn't realise how expensive it was going to be. This little streak of blue cost me over $100. D:

Next - since I bought those 5 pairs of Big Bang socks in Odaiba, I have rarely worn any of the other socks I own, and as a result those 5 pairs are getting seriously worn out. To counter this problem, I ordered 5 more pairs of Big Bang socks - this time it's the Alive edition! Can't resist Daesung's blonde and TOP's mint green. 

cosplay marathon.

Last weekend, Lullaby and Requiem came to town. We stayed at Symphony and Fantasia's place, where there was much wig brushing, fangirling, eyebrowing, and general mayhem.

While I can't show any official photos, I have plenty of photos from my phone, taken with little or no artistic sense. So here they are in all their noisy, unedited glory...

teaware.

I'll just put it out there so there's no confusion:

I really, really like tea.

I like to try different types of tea, I like high teas/tea parties/afternoon teas, I like tea sets.

Recently, a family friend inherited a whole lot of tea cups and saucers from her grandmother, who had sadly passed on a few years ago. Our friend didn't have much need for all those cups and things, so she kindly gifted them to me. Thus began my collection of teaware.

At the moment, it's a humble collection. I haven't really got the time or money to acquire such items. Still, I love every piece to bits. Here are a few...

Tea-for-one with pink polka-dots, a birthday gift from a family friend a couple of years ago. It's by far the one I use most often for its size and convenience. Because I'm lazy like that. It was also my first tea-for-one set.

Royal Albert cup and saucer, a birthday gift from a friend last year. The poor guy has never seen me in person without a wig on, yet he was nice enough to get me this for my birthday.

Tea-for-one with blue polka dots. A gift from my waifu. I don't think he realised how expensive it was going to be before he bought it. *_* The saucer is also gigantic and quite heavy, in case you couldn't tell. So more often than not, I will just leave it in the cupboard and use just the pot and cup...

Salisbury Crown China 3 piece set from the grandmother's collection. This photo really doesn't do it much justice - the design is so lovely.

Colclough 3 piece set. Bought this one from the Tea Room stand at the craft market that's on in Wellington every Saturday. I'm in love with the combination of gold and pastel pink.

makeup.

I tried a different way of applying eye makeup. :D

Now, I don't consider myself at all good with applying makeup - I haven't even found a foundation that suits my skin colour - but I do like to play around with it. I thought perhaps I'd go for a 'cute' kind of look, because I don't think I've been thought of as 'cute' for a long time. xD 

Of course, the level of cuteness is subjective, but for someone whose makeup skill is 0/10, I think I did okay.

Really I just wanted an excuse to pretty myself up and try on the dress I bought from Bodyline whilst on my travels. Alas my lack of camera/photographer/adequate lighting makes for really crappy shots, but hey, selca can hardly be considered art anyway, right?

That pic up there. ^ I gave it my best shot, I really did.

Sadly cuteness is not something that comes naturally to me. However, looking dorky, creepy or spaced out...do.

Maybe one day when I perfect my technique I can start doing tutorials and things, but until then you can have lots of pics of my ugly mug. :3

Oh, and I did these glasses myself. Got a pair of old 3D glasses I know I'll never use again (call me old-fashioned, but I can't stand 3D movies) and popped the lenses out. Cover with glue and sprinkle a bag of seed beads over it, and voila! A funky new pair of glasses to (maybe) wear (someday).

Maybe I'll try adding other things next time, like bigger beads or other ornaments.

singapore.

I really do wonder if the Singapore leg of my journey is worth writing about. Really, I did nothing much in particular except eat and shop (like a real Singaporean, minus the working/studying-your-ass-off thing). So here's a bunch of photos I took so you can see just what I ate.

akihabara.

That's Akihabara station. I know it's not obvious, but that's what it is.

This one deserves a whole post to itself. We probably spent more time here than any other place in Tokyo. The bulk of the stuff I brought back home was also stuff I either bought from a store in Akiba or won from a UFO catcher or Gashapon machine. 

Disneyland.

Does every child dream of going to Disneyland? I certainly did. Of the children I knew, perhaps I was one of the lucky ones. This was my third time visiting Disneyland, and my second time visiting the one in Tokyo in particular.

Potato was a compulsory travel companion, obviously.

asakusa, ginza, odaiba.

Night view of Tokyo from Odaiba

These were three locations I had not visited on my previous trips to Japan. Waifu and I went to Ginza mostly to see how many things were out of our reach. I wasn't remorseful about it though - I don't think I have much use for a Hermes scarf that costs even more than my laptop does.

shibuya, meiji-jingu, harajuku.

Although my waifu is somewhat averse to shopping for girly things, he indulged me and took me shopping in Harajuku and Shibuya. Of course, we also took a quiet walk around Yoyogi park (albeit a very small part of it) and Meiji-jingu.

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.

HIROTO.

Alice Nine is the sort of band that really grows on you. Even their members really grow on you. The one who has grown on me the most is probably Hiroto. He's small, cute, is a bandboy, and he looks hot with blonde hair.

What is it with me and effeminate boys? xD I simply love his eyes and they way they do his eye makeup. He also has nicer eyebrows than I do, which is somewhat upsetting seeing as I'm female and he's...well...not. But I think he's shorter than me, and he even has narrower shoulders... I feel masculine just thinking about it. T_T

Really though, I could probably go on and on about not only Hiroppon, but the other A9 boys too... But let's save that for another post. I'll finish with this pic of his most recent look:

If I was that good-looking, I wouldn't be able to keep my hands off myself either.