About

Northstar.nu is my primary domain collective that houses all my online projects. I'm Ainna, and designing fan tributes and personal sites has been my favorite form of escape since 1999. This is my third domain, replacing the ones I've owned in 2008 and 2017.

Launched: January 2019 | Host: Leprd Space

I chose a name that is based on my love of the night sky and its romantic associations. The north star, perhaps better known as "polaris," has come to mean the star to which the earth always faces. I have heard it used idiomatically to refer to that one person to whom your heart is anchored. I feel that this metaphor is a very apt image for the kind of love that appeals to me the most—one with whom no one else will do.

I love couples and find ships in pretty much anything I get into, so I wanted a domain that would reflect my affinity for romance; thankfully, Northstar.nu was available. I like the alliterative look of the URL, and I also like the paradoxical feel afforded by the ".nu" extension—because it can be read like "new", the constancy of the north star is combined with novelty, as if to mirror my tendency to fall in love with things, old and new, while not losing sight of the core things that matter. ♥

Network

I am mainly a fandom content consumer, but I need a more personal and creative alternative to the fan spaces social media sites provide. These are what the sites below are for. :)

Dog-Eared
A curated list of the best fanfiction I've read
Subterranean Sandbox
My doujinshi collection site
Hakanai.net
My fanlisting collective, housing my tiny, joinable tributes to my favorite subjects
Project Clique
A clique directory (adopted from Heather)
Ainna.me
My identity portal and real-life shoutlog
Bituin.org
A showcase of Filipino personal websites

SITEWIDE: /log ☆ /fineprint ☆ /contact

Design

Webdesign as a hobby provides me a much-needed creative ~~escape~~ outlet. I typically design new layouts when my current fandom interest shifts—it's usually when I feel like the site has been wearing the same "clothes" for a while and therefore need to change.

You're looking at the fifth version of this site, released October 19, 2019. I've been rewatching InuYasha on Hulu lately, and was struck by so much nostalgia because it was the last fandom I participated in as a teenager. (I stayed away from anime for a decade or so, until I came back to it in 2016.) I know it's not exactly spring anymore, but the colors are so lovely I couldn't resist using (with permission) this minimalist fanart by Mayumi Matsumoto. ♥

Full credits & disclaimers » Fine Print

Below are ~~sucky~~ screencaps of the other layouts I made for this site. I only use fanart of celebrities or characters that I deeply care about, and for which I obtained permission. I claim no ownership of any of the characters featured here, who belong to their respective creators. I am just a fan showing appreciation.