[06.06.08] So I realize it's been a really, really, really long time since I updated this site in any way, shape or form. For all intents and purposes, I'd basically fallen off the face of the planet. However, I am, in fact, still alive. My mind just hasn't been on web design. First, IB happened, and then college, and before I knew it, pyreflies.NU is almost 5 years old and hadn't been touched in over 3. Time sure flies...
This summer, however, I made it my goal to do something about all my domains and websites. For pyreflies.NU, that meant that I closed a lot of sites, especially since the vast majority of my own sites hosted here were fanlistings that had long since been taken away from me due to inactivity. The domain itself, as you can see here, also received a completely new look. While the previous layout was certainly not one of my worst creations, it represented a phase of my life that has long since passed. Now that I am in college and majoring in Design, I have learned the values of minimalism and clean, simple typography.
I am not completely in love with this new layout either, but I don't intend for it to stick around for too long anyway. I didn't feel particularly inspired, but in two weeks, I'll be going to Tokyo for the rest of the summer for a study abroad program, and I plan to take lots of pictures and pick up a lot of artistic inspiration while I'm there. I'm almost positive that, time permitting, pyreflies.NU will receive another makeover when I return.
As explained above, the vast majority of my sites that used to reside here have been shut down. The only ones remaining that will not be receiving complete overhauls in the next couple of weeks because they are in functional enough shape to leave alone are:
/chaos -- Total Chaos, a
shrine to the character chaos from the Xenosaga RPG game series
/nigredo -- Voice of Reason, a fanlisting
for Gaignun Kukai from Xenosaga
A few of my other sites *might* resurface as they receive massive updates within the next two weeks, in which case they'll be added to the list above.
As far as hostees go, I am still in the process of who is actually still around, so I will add a list of those sites as soon as I find out. While on the topic, hosting is open, in case anyone has an anime or video game-related site or blog that they need hosting for (or that they would just like to host somewhere else). Even if you have your own webspace, I'd love to have you, because I am clearly not really making use of my webspace anymore, and it's kind of a waste. If interested, please visit the hosting site for more information.
pyreflies.NU was purchased on December 14th, 2003 at nunames.NU. The name "pyreflies" comes from the video game Final Fantasy X. Pyreflies are spirit particles that seem to be attracted to magic and dead beings. They can also react with people's memories and desires to create very lifelike illusions in the game.
At the time, pyreflies.NU was my second domain. My first domain, moonshadow-garden.NET, was designed to be mainly a collective of art, literature, and fantasy-related sites. However, since I was also very much into anime and video games at the time, I decided to purchase pyreflies.NU a few months later to host all my sites related to animanga and any other aspects of Asian culture.
In its lifetime, pyreflies.NU has only ever had one other layout. The original look included a pastel color palette and screenshots from Final Fantasy X that featured the pyreflies the domain is named after. There was also an alternate version offered as a skin, which was composed of the same images but without the pastel color overlay.
pyreflies.NU's current layout is much simpler and less photoshopped. While it unfortunately does not feature its namesake, nor the pastel color palette that the domain has in some sense become associated with, it attempts to pay homage to Japanese culture by highlighting the quiet beauty of manga art. The perhaps slightly cliché film strip features scans from the original Japanese version of d.gray-man, from volumes 7 and 10. This layout is only intended to be temporary, and the pastel colors (and perhaps even the pyreflies) are likely to make a return by the fall.
I realize that this is probably the most boring section of the page, and the one you're least likely to care about, but I do feel obligated to say at least a little something about myself, so here's a little fact sheet:
| Name: | Nara Xiehan K. | Nicknames: | |
| Age: | 20 years old | Date of Birth: | July 13th, 1988 |
| Height: | 179 cm. (5'11") | Place of Birth: | Gouda, the Netherlands |
| Weight: | 53 kg. | Ethnicity: | Half-white, half-Asian |
| Blood Type: | A- | Occupation: | College student |
Personality-wise, I'd say I'm quiet but passionate, thoughtful, emotional, and artsy. I have hobbies, but they're not worth mentioning. With an intense major (Design) and two minors (Japanese and Computer Science), I'm basically married to my schoolwork.
Also, despite owning this domain, I'm probably less of a fangirl than I might seem. I don't really care too much for anime anymore (aside from Miyazaki films), and have turned my passion instead to manga, but even then, I'm too busy to stay current on the series I really enjoy. Of the three, I probably enjoy video games the best, but I rarely have time for them except during vacations and on the occasional Saturday afternoon.
Here's a few lists of some of my "top 5" favorites of all time (roughly in order). Note that not all of these are things I am still into (e.g. Bleach), but I enjoyed them a lot while I was, so they were memorable fandoms (or artists).
| Manga (Shounen) | Anime (Series) | Video Games (Series) | Asian Singers |
| Air Gear | Rurouni Kenshin | Gensou Suikoden | KOTOKO |
| d.gray-man | Bleach | Xenosaga | Angela Zhang ??? |
| X/1999 | Kyou Kara Maou! | Final Fantasy | Jolin Tsai ??? |
| Gintama | Tenkuu no Escaflowne | .hack//G.U. | Ayumi Hamasaki ??? |
| Ookiku Furikabutte | Samurai Champloo | Disgaea | Maaya Sakamoto ???? |
As of 2006, I'm a yaoi convert—yes, I admit it!—but I'm picky in my pairings. I read a lot of shounen-ai and yaoi mangas, not for the gay porn but because I find that they depict the process of falling in love a lot more realistically than shoujo mangas do. I occasionally write fic, but not often nor regularly enough to call myself a writer.
If you need to get in touch with me or would just like to chat, you can use the information below.
| E-mail: | ming @ pyreflies . nu |
| AIM: | Pyrefly tears |
| MSN: | lilpenguinhugs @ hotmail . com |
Note that I tend to be extremely busy and often don't respond right away. I also have a tendency to ignore IMs from people I don't know, so if you'd just like to chat, you might be better off sending me a quick e-mail first explaining who you are.
Last but not least, here are links to sites belonging to a few people I love more than life itself:
I'm not self-important enough to think my site is very interesting, but if for some reason you feel the need:
