About

My website manifesto is pretty simple:

This archive is dedicated to everything I'm passionate about.

The name Zemu's Archive is inspired by the concept of a digital archive. I believe that archival work is vital to the preservations of history, especially when it comes to small, everyday ephemera. I also think digitization is very important for the long-term preservation of media and for providing the public with access through online catalogs. In a similar vein, my vision for this website is to become an extensive documentation of my interests, hobbies, things I made, places I've been, and everything else that makes me, well, me! And to make this website even more personal, the main color palette of blue and black is themed after my sona.

// How I came across the indie web

Around early 2021, I became interested in spaceflight. I was also pretty into making papercraft at the time, so naturally I went online searching for free papercraft models of rockets & spacecraft to download and make. Some of the websites I came across include Niel's Papermodels, U-DON'S FACTORY, and Ninfinger Productions.

This was one of my earliest interactions with the indie web!

Up until that point, I didn't have a personal laptop, so I was fairly new to this whole browsing the web thing. (While I did have a school-issued Chromebook, it came with restricted internet access.) In July of the same year, I went on a quest researching about a specific image of the Mars 1M probe, during which I came across even more personal sites. There's something fascinating about coming across old, niche websites that were seemingly lost to time. It's like digging up buried treasures.

To think that someone, somewhere, at some point, put so much effort and passion into creating a website, dedicated to the things they love... it's awe-inspiring, isn't it?

Having a corner of the internet where you can document the things you love sound wonderful, so eventually I decided to give it a try myself:]

// Why Neocities?

To be honest I don't exactly remember how I found out about Neocities. Probably googled "where can I host a website for free" if I were to hazard a guess. I chose Neocities over other free alternatives because it seems to be reliable, is a relatively popular choice, and the 1GB limit wouldn't be an issue since I plan to host some of my files on File Garden.

// A brief history of my experience with web dev

2021–2023

During my sophomore and junior year of high school, we were forced to make a portfolio using Google Site. It was essentially a showcase of some of the projects we did along with written reflections. I did put a considerate amount of effort into making my website look pretty, but I only have so much passion for school assignments lol.

Early 2024(?)–May 2024

I made a website with Weebly to host profiles of my original characters. It didn't last very long since I quickly realized that Toyhouse would be way easier. Zemu's Spacecraft Collection has been deleted, but it's backed up on the Internet Archive:]

June 2024

The first completed page on this Neocities site, then titled Zemu's World, is a tier list. When I make tier lists on TierMaker, I have a lot of thoughts about the things I'm ranking which I desperately need to convey. A YouTube video is too much work, so I coded it instead. (As if that's any easier, ha!) And of course it doesn't look very aesthetically pleasing. After all, it was my first time coding a website from scratch. I then promptly went on hiatus because coding is hard and motivation was low.

July 2024–June 2025

For about a year this website sat there collecting dust. However, I got really into coding custom OC profiles on Toyhouse. Thanks to the many talented coders on Toyhouse who made templates, I didn't have to start completely from scratch, and it made coding a lot less intimidating.

Also in the same time frame, I started college! During my first year, I took a multi-quarter course that required us to make yet another Google Site. The theme was digital archive — documenting our experience throughout the school year. This time around, I had a lot more freedom when it comes to what content to write, and I had a really fun time working on the website! I'm honestly super proud of how to came out <3 This website would become the namesake and foundation for Zemu's Archive, which uses the same color scheme as well as a similar theme/aesthetic.

July/August 2025

It's summer and I've got some free time on my hands. I have a vision for this website and I'm ready to make it real >:]