20 Years of Moiraine Stan-ing

First of all, I should give a spoiler warning; I don’t know exactly what I’ll be talking about (well, obviously I know the subject matter), but I don’t need any more angry emails from self-spoilers.

So…I should have written this in May of 2021 because I am 73% sure that was the month I started the first version of Moiraine’s World in 2001. Speaking of which, I absolutely hate the name of this website. I was a teen and making my first GeoCities website and based the title on the stock artwork I was using. It was a fantasy/sci-fi looking landscape. Thus, Moiraine’s World. Very creative, and I’ve hated it for at least 18 years.

Geocities memories
One of the GeoCities layouts; we do not need to speak of it

Although I do not wish to dwell on my early forays into web design (Paint Shop Pro 7 was legit), I was obviously an early believer in the Moiraine/Thom ship. I didn’t think it’d set sail upon immediate rescue, even before Mo got some clothes, but that scene was probably the climax of my Moiraine fangirling.

Old website
Not on GeoCities anymore ?

The relationship was also a source of contrition on the forums that I reluctantly started around 2004-ish. You had the Moiraine/Siuan shippers, the possibly joking/possibly not Moiraine/Elaida shippers. And the Moiraine/Elaida/Siuan which were usually the same peeps. I think we even had a lone Moiraine/Lan fan. I personally enjoyed tweaking the Siuan fans by reminding them of Moiraine’s at that time still unconfirmed love of old man gleeman.

But more importantly than me being a semi-troll, the forums were where some long lasting friendships were formed. Even a couple of romantic relationships. Because Thom is an aphrodisiac. ♥

Thom and Moiraine on a log
Thom and Moiraine on a log

Because I’ll always be grateful for Thom Moiraine bringing some dear friends/memories into my life, as well as my possessiveness and inability to let go, I’ve kept this site up even after the books ended and the world seemed to move on. I managed to keep it around long enough for an Amazon television series to be made. Which means I’ll probably have to actually update this place, which admittedly I did not consider in the years between A Memory of Light and Rosamund Pike’s casting.

At this point it should be obvious I’m just old lady rambling about the olden internet days. But I’d be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge that this fanpage has lasted so long in spite of my ineptitude. The forums might be leaning more towards “archive” than “active” but it holds memories nonetheless.

It’s been twenty years, and while I can’t guarantee twenty more, I have no intentions of letting the lights off any time soon.

Okay, one more fanart:

Moiraine and Thom and babby
Don’t judge my headcannon

~Marie
30 June 2001

%d bloggers like this: