I first began my venture into the online world in 2004 with a fansite. Back in 2004, social media wasn't really yet a thing; if you wanted your own corner of the internet, you had to make it for yourself, and I filled mine with my interests and hobbies. At the backend of the year, I moved away from pagebuilders and took the plunge into teaching myself how to code in HTML and CSS for a blog. This choice was partly inspired by what my friends were making and how incredibly cool it was... but honestly, the deciding factor was because I really wanted to use certain images in layouts. Gotta hand it to stubbornness. Once I had that first layout down, webdesign was something I kept doing until the layouts for my fansite were self-made; it was several months after that when I entered the world of fanlistings, now equipped with the tools in order to create them. Spoilers: there's no exit, I'm still there.
My first domain, lost-legends.com, was for my defunct fansite. It was my second that became the centre of my online presence for the next decade - fractured-memories.net. Fractured was purchased on the 24th August 2005 and was online within a few days, with thanks to summer vacation. It had its own hosting package which meant I could use FTP, make databases, and all that good stuff. Over the years as I branched out with fandom domains (keyofdestiny.org, florete.org, taguel.org, to name a few!), Fractured became my network hub. nevarra.org was next in line, opening almost ten years later on 17th August 2015. As interests are wont to do, they shifted, and I truly thought I would never move domains again. And then I played Shadowbringers.
As you might have guessed if you've played the (ahem) critically acclaimed MMORPG Final Fantasy XIV, Norvrandt is named for the fictional continent in which its third expansion, Shadowbringers, takes place. Novrandt is literally worlds away from the residing Eorzea, and the moment I set foot there with my miqo'te I was in awe. All the zones are beautiful, the music - yes, even the infamous lahee - makes my soul soar, and there is something about Shadowbringers that has left a mark on me that, even several years on, has not faded. It's quite possibly one of my favourite pieces of media ever, like. Honouring it as a place for my primary domain to migrate to from another fictional place just makes sense. A friend (hi Larissa) recommended FFXIV and specifically Shadowbringers to me back in 2020 like hey, you'll love this. She was not wrong. It also still fits my unintended naming theme with my other domains (death and the undead), so it works!
At the moment, I currently own four domains (norvrandt.org, cieth.org, deadlockrebel.org, and farron.net) (technically five as of writing this since nevarra has yet to expire), because I have a problem. Norvrandt was opened on 10th October 2023. Stand tall, my friend. May our journey never end.
So, what about the current layout? The first version of Norvrandt is lazily lifted from the last that was on Nevarra (and the one before that...) because it's still extremely serviceable and as you may have noticed, I have done actively very little in terms of upkeep and new things on my domain for several years, but I absolutely refuse to let this hobby go entirely, especially in the current climate of the internet and socmed. Either way, this layout incorporates a screenshot of one of my Warriors of Light in Lakeland, the first area you travel to in Norvrdant itself
I don't know if Lakeland is my favourite area, but it probably is. Come on. Purple landscape? Purple trees? My catgirl matches the scenery, of course I am going to love it. You may have noticed this Wol is a hyur, not a miqo'te, and you would be right, because this is actually one of my many, many alts, who also happens to be based on and an AU of Ashe from Overwatch because I love her to pieces and it makes me happy to get to see her for prolonged periods and play dress up with glamour with her every day. It's a slippery slope to have a Wol of one of your favourite characters, but I'd definitely recommend it. And also XIV, whilst I'm at it.
There's not much else to say. Maybe I'll eventually make something new I like for Jane Doe more than the ever present Lucina layout (this quote was from three years ago on Nevarra, woops). It is not this day.
