Ashwinder (fan)
| Fan | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Anne |
| Alias(es): | Ashwinder |
| Type: | fan writer, moderator |
| Fandoms: | Harry Potter, Tolkien |
| Communities: | Gryffindor Tower, Bitchnmoan.net |
| Other: | writes profic as Ashlyn Macnamara |
| URL: | tartanboxers (personal LJ) ash_fics (fic community) Ashwinder at FanFiction.net |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Anne, a.k.a. Ashwinder, was a fan writer and archive administrator in Harry Potter fandom, and also wrote fanfiction in The Lord of the Rings and Silmarillion fandoms.
She now writes professionally-published romance novels as Ashlyn Macnamara.[1] In March 2012, she posted "Confessions Of a Former Fanfic Author" on her professional blog, describing her time as a Harry Potter fan writer and her opinions about filing off serial numbers.
Fannish History
In a 2003 LiveJournal post, Ashwinder described some of her fannish history as well as her opinion on the Harry Potter ship wars. She writes in part:
The HP fandom is not the first online fandom I've participated in. I've participated in varying degrees in the Tolkien fandom, the figure skating fandom and the Laura Ingalls Wilder fandom. But HP is the fandom that I've participated in to the largest extent. Two and a half years ago when I first read the books and went in search of HP discussion, I never expected to become a fan fiction writer or part-owner of a website. I was only looking for people who liked the same things I did and wanted to discuss various aspects of the books. [...]I joined HP4GU in late December of 2000. There was a big ship debate going on at the time, and I didn't pay it much heed. [...]
By this time I was reading fan fic, lurking on SQ and when Paula and Imogen started the QoHG list, I jumped aboard, because both of them seemed like people I'd like to get to know. The rest is history. I choose to hang out where I do because I like the people there. If I don't hang out on certain other sites, it's because there are those there that I do not like and choose to avoid them. I know other sites are huge and I'm missing friends of other shipping persuasions, but I spend too much time online as it is. I'd rather spend it with people I know I enjoy being around. If that makes me elitist, then so be it.[2]
Gryffindor Tower
Ashwinder was an admin and founding member of the Harry/Ginny archive Gryffindor Tower, where she was one of so-called "Queens of H/G."
After the archive closed, she and Marian started Bitchnmoan.net. The site hosted Ashwinder's Harry Potter and LOTR fanfiction, as well as her knitting patterns, which included "House Elf Socks" and "Quidditch Sweater."
Fanworks
A masterlist of Ashwinder's fanfiction can be found at ash_fics. Some of her best-known stories include:
- Ginny's Gift and The Long Road Home (Harry Potter)
- From Across the Great Divide (Harry Potter)
- The Bridegift (Lord of the Rings)
Ashwinder's stories were also hosted at The Sugar Quill, where they were part of the "Professors' Bookshelf," until she removed them from the site circa June 2003. She later wrote that she pulled her stories because she never "really ever felt welcome" at the site.[3][4]
References
- ^ Linked in the LiveJournal profiles of both Ashwinder's personal journal and fic community. (Accessed 02 May 2013.)
- ^ tartanboxers at LiveJournal. Rambly, Incoherent Thoughts on the Fandom, Fandom Unity and Shipping. 08 June 2003. (Accessed 20 May 2013.)
- ^ Comment on runechilduk's "Warning - Snarky rant ahead." LiveJournal post. Dated 03 October 2003. (Archived 16 December 2003 by the Wayback Machine.)
- ^ The Sugar Quill. Flourish and Blotts. (Archived 10 April 2003 by the Wayback Machine.)