Zho lost her eye to a Black Moa while saving some pansy named Nehdukah, and had since developed a fear of the bird and all birds in general. Plagued by nightmares for years, she decided to tame the very beast in an attempt to overcome the fear, and ended up bringing up her own Black Moa chick and gradually recovered from the memories of the horrid accident.
I don’t recall any particular incident with any particular insect that caused my rather severe phobia of all and any insects. Now, maybe if I get a beetle for a pet, and maybe a caterpillar, and a grasshopper, and a moth, and a butterfly, and a scorpion, and a spider, and a cockroach, and a bee, and…
You know what? Never mind.
Yes, I like to speak of game NPCs like some real-life friends. </loser>
Vickie Diablos is a postgraduate student in Health Informatics, a hardcore gamer geek and a socially awkward logic and science nerd. She thought keeping a "cool blog" would make her a cool person. Alas. 
Jonna
13 Sep 2007
4:36 am
“Yes, I like to speak of game NPCs like some real-life friends.”
Who *doesn’t*? I think most people think Cybil and Harry are relatives of mine or that I’m dating a guy called Vladimir Lem.
*shrug*
Natalija
13 Sep 2007
6:32 am
Ha. I wish it were that easy. If only certain things were as easy as games. Or as interesting. I’d love to be a sky pirate, for example. Especially since the captain of my pirate ship would be a strangely Balthier-like Englishman (or at least in my dreams ~_^).
I think most girls have a fear of bugs of some sort, though. It’s kind of something that’s bred into us. Hating bugs. I don’t know many girls who can say that they’re comfortable around bugs. Some of them like tarantulas, but that’s for the danger in the first place. And I don’t think that breeding bugs can help one overcome a fear of bugs. They’re just… gross.
Shivon
13 Sep 2007
6:25 pm
For a second there I was like O_o
Jools
13 Sep 2007
10:35 pm
Dude, I want a moth for a pet!
Meli
14 Sep 2007
3:14 pm
LOL. I don’t know specifically what you’re talking about, but when I was really active playing the Sims 2, I would often start random conversations with my sister about what this character or that NPC did.
Geekery in one of it’s highest forms. Love it.
Billy
14 Sep 2007
8:19 pm
Yeah, I was all like, WHAT?! O_O I’m not a gamer.
Aleida
15 Sep 2007
12:17 am
W woahhh the Black Moa picked her eye out *gasp* Heheh and then she raised a Black Moa chick? Pretty cool stuff
but yeahh I don’t see myself raising any snails or bugs or brrrrrrrr ~
Cris
15 Sep 2007
7:44 pm
HAHAHAHAH! I thought Zho was some fellow blogger.
Until I read the ending of the entry, and clicked the link.
That made me smile.
Plus, I just got Guild Wars [Factions] so Imunna start playing in a while.
CHYEAH
janelle
17 Sep 2007
8:08 pm
i don’t know that game but it seems fun and interesting too. but your first paragraph is really weird. o.O
Vickie
17 Sep 2007
8:58 pm
I blame Zho’s Journal.
Cari
18 Sep 2007
7:59 am
So I’m definitely not a gamer..
I just reread that first paragraph and I guess it’s making sense now!
But I totally have a phobia of insects. Like some are harmless right, like who could fear a butterfly? But then the second it swoops by me, I pretty much flee.
I wanted to thank you for being my first commenter ^-^
Much Love!
Caitlin
18 Sep 2007
8:43 am
Hey, insects aren’t too bad, I use to collect them
For some odd reason I get this feeling of you being a WoW player.
?
Nanda
19 Sep 2007
11:25 pm
Guild Wars is a pretty cool game – too bad I’ve never really gotten into the story. I like the fact that NPCs often have their own unique story, I like reading them, and finding out more about them. NPCs are cool.
Lil
23 Sep 2007
1:47 am
Well the comparison was appropriate, so why not?
And besides, facing your fears doesn’t always work. I have a phobia of needles. One day I had to suck up my fears and get my blood taken. I walked in bravely and when the needle went in I ended up fainting and having a mild seizure. Go figure.
I dislike insects because I find them revolting, but a butterfly? Phobias hardly tend to be rational
What about raising a Venus fly trap? They eat insects, and as such indirectly make you cope with your fears.
Seventeen
23 Sep 2007
7:23 pm
It’s okay, when I played Final Fantasy Tactics Advanced I used to pair up characters and imagine they were partners. It’s Final Fantasy, there has to be some love somewhere.
Marsha
24 Sep 2007
10:04 pm
Haha, I don’t play those games but it’s interesting.
I’ve never been in that position either.
But I don’t like any sort of creepy crawlie, that’s for sure. >
tina
26 Sep 2007
7:57 pm
I am not into games, so at first I was like “huh what?” after reading the first paragraph, but then I got it.
Maybe the “pet insects” trick would really work,but then…it isn’t really worth the try, I guess
Laura
2 Oct 2007
9:51 pm
I didn’t really understand at first – but now I do haha. And hmm I don’t think keeping them as pets would really work. Maybe stop you from sleeping at night and traumatise you forever but ehh – I’m not sure. Hehe.
(Olivia)
2 Oct 2007
10:18 pm
“Ooo”, that’s what I said when I saw your top graphic,
I have no idea who those characters(?) are, or what NPC is, but I got the point.
I’m afraid of spiders, and I’m okay with that,
There’s NO WAY I’d get one as a pet or to “tame”, I’d be paranoid with it in, or around the house.
Angela
3 Oct 2007
1:18 am
it’s spiders that do it for me *shudder* but i do remember what started it.. i think
sami
4 Oct 2007
1:13 am
(not a gamer)
but bugs are just super scary in general. When I was younger I thought they were the greatest things on the earth. But now, they’re all just eww…
Jess
4 Oct 2007
11:05 am
I used to have these crazy scary dreams about spiders, but in real life, I don’t mind them at all (as long as they don’t touch me). It was so weird.
Good luck with the insect-phobia.
Connie
4 Oct 2007
2:59 pm
Haha, I remember touching the lid of an old trashcan, and a gigantic yellow beetle crawling out. O_O; Which caused my extreme phobia for … giant yellow beetles …
Melinda
5 Oct 2007
4:36 pm
o___o. I’m obviously not a gamer, because I really don’t get that first paragraph.
As for bugs, I’m actually pretty okay with them! I just don’t like really slimy bugs, like worms and slugs. Ick
!
Emz
8 Oct 2007
8:07 am
Bugs/insects/crawlies = big no no.
Sure, I was fine as a kid, but through the ‘ages’ my fear has become irrational with each passing encounter with a crawlie. Stomp ‘em, crush ‘em, squash ‘em – any way, so that they sure ain’t near me! *shudder*
Sorry, not a ‘gamer’ in the real sense of the word. Or any sense of the word actually.
But all characters become real people in my head; it makes day dreaming a real hoot when in a boring Biology lession.
Raymond
8 Oct 2007
11:45 pm
Not very familiar with games cos I didn’t play games a lot heh… But sometimes if we relate the games in real life, it’s kinda fun too.
Arwen
9 Oct 2007
5:56 am
I ALWAYS relate games to real life. And then get weird looks from people who don’t know
I’m talking about 
Katerina
10 Oct 2007
1:16 am
I actually didn’t get anything you wrote at first
.I don’t really play games apart from the Sims 2 occasionally.
I don’t really mind bugs as long as there not close to me.Cause if they’re not close I can easily run away
Yvonne
15 Oct 2007
12:53 pm
You voiced my thoughts exactly… where the heck did my phobia’s come from? You know what? Probably from seeing other people so freaked out about them…
Jenny
20 Oct 2007
1:55 pm
heh try having roaches the size of small white labmice.
It’s not exactly a cool thing.
Anesthesia
25 Oct 2007
2:31 am
I used to play Everquest and every now and then I’ll still catch myself typing /laugh instead of *lol*.. Things are funny that way.
Lisa
26 Oct 2007
6:56 am
“Yes, I like to speak of game NPCs like some real-life friends.”
I have a terrible fear of spiders, I would never even think of getting one as a pet to get over that fear, I’m with you on that one,
Rad
28 Oct 2007
8:18 am
LMAO. I wasn’t sure what was being talked about…not much of a gamer except for those $20 flash web games you can download from the internet.
I hate cockroaches, bugs are ok…but roaches can make me cry,
Emma
5 Nov 2007
1:39 am
Thanks for the comment
A butterfly would make a nice pet, they only live for a week
Sean
6 Nov 2007
4:08 am
I talk about people I know in games like I know them in real life too. Sometimes you play so much with them it is like you hang out and that even though they live 200 miles away you can still get together.
Sarah
14 Nov 2007
1:54 am
I don’t play Guild Wars but that’s a lovely story, having read Zho’s Journal. I’m not afraid of any animals, but when people throw up, that scares me. I have no intention of confronting that, either.
Risa
14 Nov 2007
2:46 am
what game do you play?it seems like fun
-I dot refer to npcs as real life friends..although i do meet people like them o.O
Morbid Romantic
16 Nov 2007
3:07 pm
I’m not a gamer at all, but I do refer to anime/manga and book characters like real people sometimes.
I can’t help myself. When they have real personalities, it’s easy to see them as real people.
Amy
16 Nov 2007
6:13 pm
Ooooh nice to meet a fellow gamer. Hey NPCs are great! Without NPCs we’d have no one to make fun of. Those NPCs are just great.
Matt
25 Nov 2007
3:48 am
Don’t worry we all like to talk about them like real life friends. It’s perfectly natural.
I do it all the time.
Lamb
14 Feb 2008
5:44 pm
I randomly stumbled upon your website, I’ve been looking around, reading blog entries, and I’ve come to a conclusion… I’m pretty sure I absolutely love you. (this entry totally solidified it)