The history behind it all

When I was 10 I got my first computer that I didn’t have to share with my sister, and that can be seen in the screencap! In my free time I would play online games, watch flash movies, and watch anime. Then I got into a show which started it all called Code Lyoko. When I discovered the internet, I took a look at its official site. I found the forums, learned some good ole BBcode, and ventured off to create Dreams of Twilight, my only successful forum. Subsequent to my forum phase, I dived into freewebs. Initially, I would use pre-made layouts; I’d sit at my desk and carefully study the coding presented to me, and after hours of experimentation, I was able to learn how to code and create my own framework. When I was 13, I asked my mom to buy a domain that’s happily bought from Dreamhost. After hosting Ashikiyoko through countless, horrible free hosts in its earlier versions, I found my home at Host Gator. The name Ashikiyoko immediately popped into my head because I loved the idea of anime, but it’s entirely made up. I dubbed it Lovely Dreams, but after some time, it seemed generic. Then, I remembered looking up each word in an online dictionary. Somehow, the results stated that shiki could mean “colorful” and yoko could mean “injustice”. Had I known online translations were not the most reliable, I probably wouldn’t have thought “Ashikyoko” magically meant a colorful injustice. I didn’t know any better, so my 13-year-old self ran with it!

Why did you bring this into existence?

The short answer? Coding and designing CSS/HTML became my passion. The too long; didn’t read answer? I’d often visit sites that were well-established and fawn all over them, wishing I could someday reach their level of proficiency in web design. As it turns out, I’m still growing strong! Though, that didn’t limit me from being the best I could be, so I’d make sure to try new techniques and add my own flair with every design I’d create. Thus, I became increasingly skilled as I never let my interest in design die, and now I’m here. I used to shape my style around what the majority of people wanted to see, but I grew tired of that and showed the world how I truly express myself through art; this site is used for my own benefit and amusement, eye-candy for you. Everyone wins. Never give up and all of that jazz!

She wants a new name! Call the police

At fifteen, I longed for an English name to be the title of my site. Ashikiyoko is held near and dear to me, don’t get me wrong, but I grew tired of the Japanese name I created in my childhood. I still love anime of course, but after some changes in my prospective of design I really wanted a smooth, less anime-themed name. Two years earlier, I attempted to change my site name, but my Mother suggested that I stick with Ashikiyoko since it had been thumb-tacked on the internet for over a year. Besides that, at the time, many other anime designers tore their sites down and re-built them, changing site names to something different frivolously. That influenced me, but it also discouraged me from changing my name as I would be a number in the crowd; At that age, I was keen on “standing out” and things of that nature. One day, August 13, 2009 to be exact, I was inspired to brainstorm a new design. It became a natural progression to reinvent my name. The genius of my affiliate Shi.R Designs, new name of the former Ruolin of Kyohaku, also spirited me to take action. Thus, now we have the (inky);paper. I always loved the word inky, and I had to include it in my site name. After brainstorming, the name Inky Paper emerged. Adding flair resulted in my penning (inky);paper. The whole feel was exactly what I was aiming for. On a more practical note, I named my site (inky);paper because I tend to bear down more than what’s necessary with my writing utensil – usually an ink pen – when I write. If my pen bleeds through the paper because of the applied pressure, then my text looks a bit messy, and my paper will have small blotches of ink on it. In conclusion, I would have to turn in inky paper to the teacher. Heh, you see what I did there? The catalyst of the fantastic (inky);paper. I can be witty, too!