Lurker in action

[Lethe]

Hello, everyone!

At first I thought I'd just lurk forever, as I've been doing with the Amassment LJ for the longest time, but the thought of being visible in the online list without ever posting does seem fairly creepy, so I decided to at least introduce myself.

I'm 21 years old, live in Switzerland and have been studying law for a year. My interests are J-RPGs, manga, language and, every now and then, mythology. I think I've had access to the internet for nearly a decade, and have always been interested in character shrines. I enjoy browsing them a lot (and the same goes for exploring domains) and am happy that directories for them exist, all the more so because they've been somewhat on the decline. My first language is German and - as cheesy as it may sound - my main motivation to give my best at studying English was to gain better understanding when browsing shrines and to be able to create my own shrines one day since I love writing and analyzing. :) It seems that I was able to improve rather quickly with that goal in mind considering that I was mediocre at it before due to lack of interest. >_<

With the help of Elysa, I managed to register my first domain, disconsolation.net, one year ago, and that's one big dream fulfilled for me! x) I thought it was more complicated of a process. Sadly, I still haven't been able to finish any shrine; my biggest obstacles are my perfectionism and self-criticism. I've resumed work on my Reira Serizawa (from the manga NANA) shrine a few days ago though, and hope that I won't give up this time around...

I don't know yet how active I'll be on the forums, but I love reading discussions. And these smilies are incredily adorable!

[Puppeteer]

Woot, LURKERS UNITE. *high five*

First, may I say, your English is pretty darn perfect for it not to be your first language--impressive indeed! And your design skills don't leave much to be desired either, so I'm excited to see the fruits of your labor. :) I know it can be daunting--I'm slow at shrining too--but since joining this community my motivation has gone up ever since, and I hope yours will too.

Welcome, Lethe!

[Eden]

Hi Lethe! I browsed your site and read your personal pages. I have to say I share your perfectionism and being self-critical. Those two handicaps are my weakest areas and getting over them is incredibly hard. I'm the black sheep out of everyone here and fail to understand analyzing characters. Languages and writing are my weakest points, whereas non-creative things like coding are my strengths. I love that you are a logical person and so am I. I'm a realist and think more with my head than my heart. Some people may find me rather cold and blunt, but that's the way I am. I love the domain name you picked out. :) Nice to meet you!

[Aku]

No lurking allowed! XD

Hi Lethe! It's nice to meet you--welcome to Amassment! I'm really happy to not only see new faces here atthe forums, but lots of people who are just getting into shrining. <3 I think Reira is an awesome character to shrine (Ai Yazawa characters in general don't get too much love in the shrining world!) so I'd be really happy to see it once you've completed it.

[Saya]

welcome to the boards ^O^/

[Lethe]

Thanks a lot for the warm welcome; you're all so lovely! ;_;

@Puppeteer: Thank you! I always have a lot of difficulty with graphics and often copy-pasty my codes from old layouts, so it's reassuring to hear that it doesn't look like a complete disaster. XD <3

@Eden: I think it's great that you're here even if writing isn't your forte, seeing how character shrines are usually text-heavy! As much as I enjoy reading and writing long essays, other kinds of tributes are just as amazing and certainly do show one's dedication. I've spent hours browsing fanlistings or fan galleries (not necessarily limited to fanart, but, for example, a compilation of official art) in the past. And some of the character shrines that have stuck with me consisted primarily of short paragraphs with the owner's own opinions rather than a distanced approach to the topic. :)

@Aku: I'm glad that Amassment exists - it seems like a source of motivation and inspiration to me, and whenever I browse the discussions, it makes me want to drop everything and start writing again. x) I could spend dayyyyys rambling about Ai Yazawa characters; it's amazing how human and complex they are. Glad to hear there's someone who doesn't despise Reira haha.

@Saya: Thank youu, I looooove your avatar!! <3 (It's a fact that Yuuko makes any kind of graphic look great.)

[dubiousdisc]

Hello! You take your name from one of my favorite concepts ever. :> I hadn't visited your domain before, but I really like what you did with your site layout. I can't wait to see developments.

And...don't worry about your English at all - you are not the only one who has it as a second language here. X)

[Lethe]

(Greek) mythology is amazing and I love the multidimensionality that comes with Greek names that have connections to mythology. <3 The internet is such a great place to improve language skills. 8D Thanks a lot!

[Crystal]

Welcome Lethe! It's always wonderful to see new people around here. :D

[Lethe]

Thanks. <3 At first I reacted with ;_; when I saw that the forum content couldn't be read by guests, but I guess forcing lurkers to at least out themselves via registering has its merits, too. XP