So how did all of this get started?!
Here's the simple version: I first saw anime and became obsessed; saw the numerous anime graphics websites out there and became UNSTOPPABLE!!!

Okay, so you didn't believe me. Here's the longer version:

Truly, the driving force was the influence of anime. I couldn't get away from how pretty the pictures were! I never was a great fan of the old superhero comics like Superman and Batman because I found them to be more crude and overused - both artistically and story-wise. Anime, on the other hand, is gorgeous! Of course, there's always the occasional exception here and there, but generally the emphasis on a more refined artistic style combined with the deeper values of cultural background really hit the spot.

When I started looking for anime on the web, the idea of webdesigning and graphic designing came as the second whammy in the one-two punch combination. If you haven't already noticed, there are tons and tons of amateur anime-related and graphics-related websites out there. I know I definitely noticed - and it brought on a whole new set of inspiration. I came up with two goals for myself: to learn how to make graphics, and to learn how to code a website.

The graphics part was easier for me. I grew up in an artistic family, so drawing wasn't so alien. The weird part was the idea of drawing on the computer - just saying that still feels weird to me even now. I got myself to open the mysterous Photoshop program that had been installed on my computer some ages ago, and just started fiddling with it. Now it's my number-one favorite artsy software <3.

The coding part was a little more difficult. I didn't have any human resources so readily available, no books, no clue where to start. So I started asking around, and found three awesome people to help me out - BoBo, Keith, and Steve. I met BoBo my junior year of high school. He had a blog (which I think he's finally abandoned completely ;.;) and ran the school's news website. Keith was from my TaeKwonDo class (yep, don't mess with us! *_*) and taught me most of the stuff I know about hosting and domain names. Steve is the coding genius freak. Take a bunch of gibberish computer language, a chunk of mechanical monstrosity, and a part-German smile with a beer can on the side. Steve.
It's really thanks to these three that I managed to get into webdesigning at all. Thanks guys <3.

So there you have it. Dragonrain first began as a trio of websites - the main page with some miscellaneous information, a subdomain dedicated to anime graphics, and another subdomain as personal blogging space.
After a while I decided to unify my site and take more advantage of the simpler main domain name - hence the crazy jumble of stuff that Dragonrain is today.

Woo! You're finished! Give yourself a generous helping of mochi ice cream.

I can't believe you really read all that =.=.

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