Two Years Later - May 16th, 2010

[allegrita]

This post is inspired by one posted by kays over on moonlightforever... thank you for the beautiful thread, my friend. So here's my own little homage to today...

Two Years

It's been two years since Mick said, "Because I love you." Two years since that door closed for the last time. I'm sitting here listening to "Love Remains the Same," with tears threatening to spill out of my eyes. Two years later, I'm still wistful...

Like Beth, I'm a person who looks forward, not back...but for a moment, I want to look back on what Moonlight has meant to me. Not the show, because we've done that a lot (and will keep on doing it, possibly forever...bless all of you for sharing my obsession love for this show...)

So, looking back...

Moonlight captured our hearts and souls. For whatever reason(s), this show inspired a whirlwind of creativity, often in people who had never before found a way to express it. It 's still inspiring us to write, create art, make movies, be detectives and find information about the locations, speculate about the Moonlight universe, roleplay... it created a huge bubble of imagination and creativity. And best of all, Moonlight created a community of friends all over the world.

What a wonderful legacy that is. So despite my wistfulness, I'm mostly filled with a real sense of how incredibly lucky we are to have had those sixteen amazing episodes. And when I think of what the show may have become in a second season, I am glad that it went out as it did. I'm glad we keep it alive in fanfic and location tours and episode discussions and all the other ways we keep renewing our love for this amazing show.

And most of all, I'm grateful for this community of kindred souls--fellow Moonlightaholics, if you will--here, and on other boards, who understand me and share that love. Thank you, all of you.

[darkstarrising]

O, Alle, that is just so beautiful and so true

I'll never understand fully why Moonlight affected me as it has, but I'll always treasure it's story of love, loyalty, friendship and most importantly, never giving up on your dreams. I'll always treasure my time spent with my friends here enjoying their gifts of fanfic, graphic arts or just fun conversation.

May the Moonlight in our hearts shine forever on.

[GuardianAngel]

Same here. No show has ever affected me as Moonlight has. As Mick, Beth and Josef have. I'm still amazed.

Has it been 2 whole years already? Where did the time go? I never would have believed it but I think at the 5 yr. anniversary I will still be here, looking at photos and dreaming up fanfic for our favorite show and cast. Today I love it no less than I did when it began. Maybe even more so when you add the wistful memories. I can't imagine my life without it. And without the friends I've shared this addiction with.

[jen]

Totally agree.

Discounting the magic and romance of Moonlight, and how we are all still enthralled by the charm of this wonderful show, think of the phrases and lines that originated in Moonlight that have become catch-phrases in the culture. I don't have to name them, you have probably caught them in passing and thought, that's from Moonlight. Yeah. Me, too.

There is a lot of great fanfic to reread, and a lot to still be written. There are so many ideas that have yet to be explored.

I used to say, Moonlight should have been huge. Moonlight is huge.

[ash]

Two years ago. I quite honestly needed to believe in something, that i had some control over something i loved and that could fight for it and win...well i didn't, we didn't BUT out of that fight come dozens of friendships all over the world. My discovering that i could write a halfway decent story and enjoyment of dozens of other talented writers.

My little obsession...because that is what it is has honestly had some negative results over certain things in my life, i'll admit that but overall it is an experience that i will carry with me forever. I love it and all of you. i have said it before, and as much as it pains me sometimes to say. If the show had continued, i never would have joined a forum and many very good friends would never have come into my life and i would be poorer for.

Moonlight will live on. I will never be able to look at any of the actors, writers or directors names without thinking about it.

[cassysj]

It's really interesting because I have had passions for many shows before Moonlight. Read a lot of fanfiction been involved in Save the Show campaigns (one that was even successful) been on email lists been going to conventions for over twenty-five years but Moonlight really is something special.

It sparked a creativity in me I had no idea existed. I've always had ideas for stories on my favorite shows and even plotted out many of them in my head but never tried to put them down in actual words.

If you had told me even when Moonlight was on the air I would be making banners, writing stories and creating a freshie doll universe I would have said you were crazy.

I can't say what it is about Moonlight but I have always previously been a lurker in fandoms and this one turned on my chatty button.

I will cherish the friendships I have made because of Moonlight.

[librarian_7]

I think as usual, Alle really said it best. But (being me!) I have to add a few thoughts.

I’ve said many times, Moonlight changed my life. In most ways, for the better. Moonlight unlocked a creativity in me that I hope will never be buried again. Moonlight is responsible for me deciding to re-direct my academic research toward my passion for vampire literature, and that has opened some other doors in my life. And I owe that directly to Moonlight.

Moonlight…was a revelation about many things. I don’t think I would ever have really discovered what it was to be a fan (and boy, howdy did my definition of that word change!) without that little vampire show.

And that’s not even touching on the friendships, the joy of sharing a passion with people around the world. I count some of my Moonlight friends as the closest, dearest friends in my life.

Maybe the fire is not as white-hot, as once it burned. Maybe we have a steadier, more lasting flame burning now.

For me, I cannot look at the moon sailing across the night sky, without thinking of our vampires, our Beth, our Moonlight. And if it lasts the rest of my life, I’ll be happy with that.

Lucky

[AussieJo]

Oh Alle, what you have said echoes my sentiments exactly.
The 16 episodes have a special place in my heart, that for sure.
Imagination is a wonderful thing, and we have benefited so much from the amazing fanfic that has been written.
I would love to think that further down the track, everyone that was involved in bringing this show to us will have an opportunity to read some of the senarios that have been thought up for the characters.
Maybe some of them already have, I hope so.
Because the fanfic, the banners, etc are paying homage to our beloved Moonlight.

As for me, being part of this worldwide community is such a joy.

[redwinter101]

I still can't watch Sonata without a sniffle - it's not the only ML episode that brings a tear to the eye but for very different reasons. In retrospect, I'm so very glad that we did, at least, get some kind of conclusion to our story (a cliffhanger would have been just awful - the Legion doesn't really count) as for me it makes it easier to look back with joy rather than anger.

Like many others, it's no overstatement to say that Moonlight changed my life and two years on, my love and admiration for the show continues unabated. Fandom has its own joys and frustrations but the ability to connect with others who hold these characters as dear as I do is something to be cherished.

Red

[wpgrace]

For me, I cannot look at the moon sailing across the night sky, without thinking of our vampires, our Beth, our Moonlight. And if it lasts the rest of my life, I’ll be happy with that.

Yes!!!!! This will stay with me, forever. I smile at the moon... and imagine what Mick must be doing right now...

I am verrrry peaceful at this point. The awful awful awful heartache of 2 years ago is a memory to me now. And not a totally unpleasant one, as I shared it with others, and we fought together to make that hurt go away. We lost. But we gained other things too.

I follow Alex like Mick's favorite GPS tracking device.
I have read amazing stories of the gang's adventures that took place before, during, and after the time that we SAW them living their adventures... and these stories are as good as canon to me now. I can recite dialogue from THEM just as easily as dialogue from the episodes.
And I have fallen utterly in love with some of my Sisters here. Whom I would now choose even over Mick himself.

All in all, quite an accomplishment for a 16 eps mini-series.

[jen]

Occasionally, there has been a TV show that I have enjoyed, and I've even written a letter supporting a couple, but Moonlight is a totally unique experience. I have tried to analyze why--what were the elements that engendered such devotion, such joyful inability to let it go but to keep it alive in fanfic (if you write) or other creative medium. I haven't been able to--not really. So I guess all that leaves is just to say that it does. Still.

If networks could analyze what made a show 'click' with the viewers, every one of them would.