Hey there!
My name is Lian or Lianna, and I am the webmaster (webmistress? webmattress?) of this site, Libre Town. In real life, I am a 23 years old non-binary bunny who is working on their degrees in linguistics and computational linguistics at a popular university in Germany. However, I am more than that. If you clicked on this page, you probably want to know more about who I am, so stay tuned and keep your arms and legs inside the vehicle at all times.
Commission drawn by the wonderful KardiaIsLazy, here in a resized version.
Table of Contents
Because this page used to be quite long, I decided to make use of some newfangled technology: a table of contents. Even though I moved some of this page elsewhere now, I still keep this magnificient relic around.
Click the yellow headlines in this list to get transported to their corresponding position on the page, and if you want to, use the yellow 'back' links throughout the site to return to this here table of contents.
Me
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There used to be a really long biography here, but it is no longer up-to-date. The negative view I used to have on myself reflected quite heavily in it, which is the reason I decided to move it into a dedicated blog post rather than rewrite it for this page.
So, instead have some fun facts about me.
- I was born in early 2001 in Germany. My native language is, unsurprisingly, German. I started learning English when I was just a wee toddler, and nowadays I probably read and write English more often than German. I also started learning some other languages, but managed to stick only with Russian, which I am still in the process of studying.
- I study linguistics and computational linguistics for a dual Bachelor's degree. After finishing the degree, I would like to work in the localisation industry.
- I likely do have ADHD, which I just barely did not formally get diagnosed since I procrastinated on submitting a piece of paperwork needed for the diagnosis.
- I have a lot of labels to my name, even though I don't particularly put a lot of value on them. Technically, I am non-binary, bisexual, and a furry since early teenagehood.
- I have a wonderful girlfriend and live in a polyamorous relationship.
Hobbies
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Did you come here all the way from the top? Good God, have a glass of water to recharge!
I have been taking on and abandoning many hobbies throughout my life, but some ended up braving the test of time. I put them in a nice little list:
- Computers and free software: I enjoy tinkering and hacking around on computers, especially with free software - that is, software that is licensed in such a way that enforces the four software freedoms. I collect old and odd hardware (at least as much as my wallet and my storage space allow me to) and strive to customize all my systems, including for example throwaway laptops from yard sales or thrift stores, as funkily as possible. I run, explore, hack and customize old or odd software and write my own occasionally, and always want my computers to have some kind of cool aesthetic. Remember how cool video game interfaces were designed in the early to mid 2000s? That's what I want my entire operating system to look like. I have the Cyberware shrine in Libre Town to showcase some of the hardware and software I use.
- Music: I grew up in a music head household with my dad being a lifelong music collector who is basically into almost all kinds of music and can name favourites in most genres, and my mom sporting a unique and very broad taste too. From very early on I grew up around music of all flavours, and I expanded my taste in music further as I went on making experiences out there mingling with people of different subcultures. I like listening to my music on physical media like vinyl, cassettes or CDs rather than streaming it, both due to aesthetic and ethical reasons. I also have a Music shrine all about it.
- Linguistics: Like many teenagers who grew up around the internet and nerd culture, I developed an interest in writing fantasy and science fiction stories as a kid. Imagining fictional worlds for those little projects to take place in, I stumbled upon the conlanging hobby: people who enjoy constructing their own languages, defining vocabulary, grammar, sounds and so on until you arrive at a usable language you could theoretically learn and speak yourself. I indulged in that a lot in my teens and developed a strong interest in linguistics that eventually culminated in me going to university and pursuing my degrees. As holdovers from my conlanging times, I still really enjoy learning about typology, etymology and grammar. The degree caused an appreciation for wholly different fields too that I previously had not even known existed, like sociolinguistics and psycholinguistics. One thing I particularly enjoy is conversation analysis, which ended up as my academic specialization. I speak Toki Pona fluently (I have a shrine about that too) and still create my own languages, some of which I could showcase on Libre Town soon.
- Translation and localisation: I am particularly fascinated by the intricate attention to detail that goes into localising media. Not only do you have to translate the words as written, you also have got to make sure that you take the intended audience's culture and sensibilities into account. Translating puns and wordplay is only the tip of the iceberg here. The oftentimes lacking and unnatural localisations of international media into German somewhat made me look into what that whole nonsense is about, and it turned out way more interesting than I imagined. Since recently, I started working as a freelance translator and localisation worker for indie video games. Localisation is the professional field I ideally would like to work in, too!
- Writing and reading: As mentioned before, like many other teenagers I got into writing my own fantasy and science fiction stories. I have been sporadically writing ever since, although I have no high hopes of ever becoming an actual published author. It's just a fun diversion for me and I am happy for any reader who enjoys these stories as much as I do. Since adulthood, I have been writing non-YA and non-fantasy/non-science fiction as well. You can find a selection of my public stories on the writing page. As for reading, I have decided to kickstart my reading list with the classics. While there are both real gems and less great works in things you can currently find in a bookstore's new releases section, classics tend to be works of art that have in some way stood the test of time staying relevant and interesting. They therefore are way more likely to be worth my limited time if I have to triage.
- Games: Of course, like many others who grew up like me, I was raised around video games. I was a Minecraft kid for most of my childhood, but I played a lot of things from many different genres throughout my life. Nowadays, I play much less than I used to, mainly because I grow anxious being in front of the computer for too long and most things don't grab my attention or interest anymore. Despite that, I am still playing every once in a while. I tend to not stick with a game for long, though. If you would like to know what I am currently playing, feel free to write me using the contact information below!
Me and the Web Revival
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Recently, I have come to call my own subculture the "cyber revival", which I feel is a broader category than "just" the web revival. More specifically, I feel a special interest in most technologies old and/or obscure, in skeuomorphism, early 2000s and late 1990s design, and the web revival itself. I love customising usable workstations with obscure software, in zines, in e-mail, alternative social media and vintage design (to just name a few) a part of the same overall hobby.
The web revival is one component of that larger cyber revival to me. I appreciate the way the world wide web and the internet at large used to look, feel and work. There are plenty of unique aesthetics in website design from both personal and even corporate settings, a more anarchic attitude towards what goes and what doesn't, and a much more diverse assortment of innovative features.
Despite all that, I would not like to romanticise or glorify the past. The internet of the days of yore was mostly a boys' club with only few exceptions, where bigotry and hatred was normalised to a degree that rivals even the vile outgrowths of today's web. I consider the "web revival" of the current day (at least the one I am a part of) a healthy postmodern remix of a retro aesthetic with modern sensibilities and a healthy inclusive culture.
Overall (at the risk of sounding like a hipster), I feel like the online culture of the 2020s is distinctly different from what I remember of my childhood as a relatively old member of Gen-Z. The modern internet often alienates me. I cannot socialise healthily on modern social media, I dislike flat and minimalist design, I cannot stand spyware, subscription services, aggressively proprietary software, the fleeting relationship to art (2025 update: this grew worse with AI, of course), the centralisation and overall uniformity of software and its design. I feel more at home with the culture I grew up in. Music was a central part of one's identity, and there used to be more varied and lively subcultures (goth, emo, punk, skinhead, popper, ...) compared to today. All of these things combine to make me who I am; in the cyber revival, on the web, and in real life.
In short, I have this website because it is the best way I found to express myself (more than a blog, social media or anything else), I use e-mail and IRC because I like them more than most messengers, I use old and obscure software because I consider it more cozy and interesting than what the modern world usually has to offer.
... I really do sound like a hipster.
Points of Contact
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I like keeping my real life vaguely separate from my more colourful online identity.
Hence, I use many different names on the web. You can find me as Lianna on the gamedev.place Mastodon instance, as Lianna on my own Facebook-like cozy social network MyWebFriends and as Dazego on PeerTube (although I am no longer actively creating videos).
Much more importantly, I use e-mail as my main communication method. You can reach me using the address lianna@tutamail.com and I will respond as fast as I can. I love receiving e-mail and making penpals, even if it's just a short note, comment or feedback on the website!
The same is true for my XMPP address: levalian@disroot.org.
Feel free to contact me through any of these avenues! :]
How to contact me
