Someone You Know (In Between 8 and 9, PG)

[rijane]

Great new part (well, new to me )! I'm a Beth girl and 12:04 is one of my favorite episodes (as much as I can ever really pick one), so I enjoyed this POV.

Love love how you've interwoven all these details - particularly the detail about Coraline getting Beth's mother to hire Mick - such a fantastic decision - it makes everything fit together so much better!

Thanks for the new part and hope to read more soon (now that I'm down to one final )

[Shadow]

Great new part (well, new to me )! I'm a Beth girl and 12:04 is one of my favorite episodes (as much as I can ever really pick one), so I enjoyed this POV.

Love love how you've interwoven all these details - particularly the detail about Coraline getting Beth's mother to hire Mick - such a fantastic decision - it makes everything fit together so much better!

Thanks for the new part and hope to read more soon (now that I'm down to one final )

Finals this late in June? Oh, that's just wrong.
Thanks so much, rijane, for coming to read this in the midst of them!

I was really glad you liked the different POV; it was a new thing for me as I've not tried doing Beth's before.
The next interval's not quite finished yet but it seems to be getting close ..... I hope I'll have it up reasonably soon!

[diane31]

Oh this is really wonderful Shadow!

It really does help make sense of what always felt like the strangest, most left-unsaids gap between the episodes. For some reason, the effect of having finally faced the most traumatic event of her life, i.e. that she was not longer able to block it out anymore, didn't seem as deep as it should have. I really love the way you show that effect on her, that now she remembers, it takes on an entirely different reality. Before in a way she could treat it almost like just a bad dream, because that was all that seemed to remain of it, but that she cannot anymore, it has become as real as anything else in her life. It is memories now haunting her, not just nightmares.

And of course the effect on her relationship with Mick. I remember watching the first scene in FDL the first time totally shocked, wondering what on Earth Beth was doing asking Mick to hang out with Morgan after seeing the effect she had had on him. It just seemed like suicide on her part, like she was trying to tempt him or something. It all seemed like some form of strange over-reaction to his rejection, like she wanted to shake him up, make him react, like facing Morgan and his own past somehow might get them out of this deadlock. I really find the way you explain it fascinating, how you show that she has lost trust in him, and how she becomes more and more aware of that as she comes to face that he loved Coraline and realizes that Coraline took her "because of" him in the first place. I especially love how she's not really aware of that at first, the way it feels like his betrayal in her nightmare is inspired by his walking away from her, and how later on you show that it is not just that.

Oh, Mick. My guardian angel. You loved her, you loved my worst nightmare. You know what she did to me, and yet still you love her.

That is such a beautiful, and heart-wrenching way to sum up what Beth is going through!

I also really love the way you describe little Beth's feelings, seeing her savior cry and not understanding why...

Thank you so much for this story Shadow!!! (now I have to read the previous ones )

[jen]

Shadow

Priceless, just priceless. The depth and dimension it adds to the episodes we love--thank you for writing this.

Beth is a functioning member of the community here. She is aiding Audrey and Julia in the necessary adjustments to their memories.

Classic!

Thank you,

Jenna

[Shadow]

Oh this is really wonderful Shadow!

It really does help make sense of what always felt like the strangest, most left-unsaids gap between the episodes. For some reason, the effect of having finally faced the most traumatic event of her life, i.e. that she was not longer able to block it out anymore, didn't seem as deep as it should have. I really love the way you show that effect on her, that now she remembers, it takes on an entirely different reality. Before in a way she could treat it almost like just a bad dream, because that was all that seemed to remain of it, but that she cannot anymore, it has become as real as anything else in her life. It is memories now haunting her, not just nightmares.

And of course the effect on her relationship with Mick. I remember watching the first scene in FDL the first time totally shocked, wondering what on Earth Beth was doing asking Mick to hang out with Morgan after seeing the effect she had had on him. It just seemed like suicide on her part, like she was trying to tempt him or something. It all seemed like some form of strange over-reaction to his rejection, like she wanted to shake him up, make him react, like facing Morgan and his own past somehow might get them out of this deadlock. I really find the way you explain it fascinating, how you show that she has lost trust in him, and how she becomes more and more aware of that as she comes to face that he loved Coraline and realizes that Coraline took her "because of" him in the first place. I especially love how she's not really aware of that at first, the way it feels like his betrayal in her nightmare is inspired by his walking away from her, and how later on you show that it is not just that.

Oh, Mick. My guardian angel. You loved her, you loved my worst nightmare. You know what she did to me, and yet still you love her.

That is such a beautiful, and heart-wrenching way to sum up what Beth is going through!

I also really love the way you describe little Beth's feelings, seeing her savior cry and not understanding why...

Thank you so much for this story Shadow!!! (now I have to read the previous ones )

What an amazing comment, Diane! For me this was the strangest interval between episodes too, and such a shock to see Beth's behavior at the beginning of FDL. There was a moment in 1204, when Beth first found the pictures, when she seemed upset, but that didn't get explored in the rest of the episode. There just had to have been a lot more going on in Beth's mind.
I love how you've seen in my story the parts that seemed most important to me ... the different reality Beth lives in now, and what her dreams really meant. Plus you've picked out my favorite line in the story, too!
Thanks so very much for the awesome comment! I hope you'll enjoy the other In Betweens, too.

[Shadow]

Shadow

Priceless, just priceless. The depth and dimension it adds to the episodes we love--thank you for writing this.

Beth is a functioning member of the community here. She is aiding Audrey and Julia in the necessary adjustments to their memories.

Classic!

Thank you,

Jenna

Thank you for the lovely comment, Jenna!
I always wondered how Beth could be so sure that Audrey wouldn't need explanations .... it seemed it would be rather more interesting, and realistic, if she happened to be wrong about that. And it sure does make her a member of the community ... doing her part to protect the secret.

[diane31]

Plus you've picked out my favorite line in the story, too!
Thanks so very much for the awesome comment! I hope you'll enjoy the other In Betweens, too.

It's such a great line shadow! I can't tell you how many times in came back to my mind as I was watching FDL yesterday! I think I watched the entire episode with that line in mind! Not to mention when she asks him "How could you?!"!

[Shadow]

It's such a great line shadow! I can't tell you how many times in came back to my mind as I was watching FDL yesterday! I think I watched the entire episode with that line in mind! Not to mention when she asks him "How could you?!"!

It is so great that you thought of it while watching FDL!
(I'm sure I was thinking of that "how could you" line while writing it ...)
Thanks Diane!!

[maggatha3]

Surprise, surprise, it is me , again. This was an episode that left me with my mouth opened. Why did he leave her like that , alone and confused on the balcony?

"..my worst nightmare.. and yet you still love her..." I so agreed and sympathised with Beth on that! How could he? But there is always a bit of love left between those who have once loved each other, I guess, not the same kind of love, nor as powerful, but there is an intimacy to last. Too much pain for both of them on that..

I wondered why Mick seemed so distant after Beth's findings, I mean ,he knew it was about to happen, being around her , she would somehow put two and two together, even without finding the photos..And she was happy with the revelation, relieved and sooo calm, the way an angel makes you feel, I 'd guess. Why did he leave her like that?

I came to think it was because he feared that they could never be together, protecting her and all that.. You say, he could even blame himself for her kidnapping, Coraline had got her mum to hire Mick, only to bring him back to her..Typical Mick, once again, he can carry everything on his shoulders..easier to take the blame on him. He is driving himself insane, hating what he has become with all his might, maybe this is the reason he puts himself in danger so willingly, as if he is asking for it, as if anybody's life is worth more than his own..Yes, and since it was all Beth's thoughts, it is all about Mick. She thinks of nothing else obviously..

''The bad ones attack you physically, the good ones hurt your soul, even when they don't mean to''. Elaine, Beth, women of the world united! So many of us and so few Micks to share..

Her discussion with her mum and Elaine (!!!!!!!!) was both relieving and revealing. That is how she got to decide to fight back, that is why we find her outside of Morgan's house, and engaging Mick to help her.

I never thought ther would be so much action and development between episodes. Love every minute of it...plus, get to watch the episodes again

And , I so love Elaine. what a mature teenager

( I am running to work, late again, my Sire )

[Shadow]

Oh my, Maggatha, have I mentioned lately how much I love your comments?

This one sure did give me food for thought . . .

I wondered why Mick seemed so distant after Beth's findings, I mean ,he knew it was about to happen, being around her , she would somehow put two and two together, even without finding the photos..And she was happy with the revelation, relieved and sooo calm, the way an angel makes you feel, I 'd guess. Why did he leave her like that?

Now I wonder if the way she reacted was part of the reason. I think he expected her to be hurt and angry when she found out, and maybe her gentle acceptance made things harder for him. With Mick being the way he is, that could have made him feel even more guilty. Especially if there was indeed more going on, which he blamed himself for.

I never thought ther would be so much action and development between episodes. Love every minute of it...plus, get to watch the episodes again

That's so great! And I'm so relieved that re-watching the episodes has not been too great a hardship on you.

And , I so love Elaine. what a mature teenager

Isn't she just! I loved what Grace pointed out earlier. . . that Beth, knowing so much about vampires now, REALLY ought to have wondered why this teenage girl had such a mature outlook on life.

[redwinter101]

This was such a tough transition - not only do you do an amazing job of understanding and explaining that final, heart-wrenching scene on the balcony, but you bring us to the start of FdL in a way that makes perfect sense. Beth's pain and anger and fear all make sense in a way they never really did in the show.

That's amazing.

And all the while, unseen, lost, we feel Mick's pain, too.

Red

[Shadow]

This was such a tough transition - not only do you do an amazing job of understanding and explaining that final, heart-wrenching scene on the balcony, but you bring us to the start of FdL in a way that makes perfect sense. Beth's pain and anger and fear all make sense in a way they never really did in the show.

This weird transition just drove me crazy when the show first aired. I had to start working out an explanation on the day FDL came out.
(So I suppose this transition is really to blame for the whole series. . . . )

[Marigold]

Shadow - This was another amazing chapter!

She was transfixed in that moment: a child in the night, holding her angel; a woman in the sun, giving a benediction to her love. Under her hand she felt a night-chilled leather jacket, a sun-warmed cotton shirt.

I LOVE this! Nicely done!

Trying to reassure him, she’d told Mick that Audrey wouldn’t need explanations.

I've always thought this a bit naive of Beth, but, like you say, she was in shock. It's understandable that she wasn't thinking clearly. I'm glad you had Audrey question what had happened.

It was nice that you included Julia in this chapter. It always bothered me that there was never any follow-up with her. I don't like the reason why she called Beth, though. Bad luck with men, indeed. Is this Dominic character the basketball player from Sonata? Or is the name just a coincidence?

The meeting between Beth and Elaine was perfect! Beth had no idea who she was talking to, but Elaine knew exactly who Beth was. I'd love the see the resulting conversation between Mick and Elaine.

I love how you included Beth's mom in this chapter. The episodes never gave us any indication that she was even still in the picture. I completely understand why Mick didn't want Beth's mom to tell anyone his name. That Coraline... "recommending" Mick to Beth's mom.

It's wonderful that you wrote this chapter from Beth's point of view. It leads perfectly into FdL and Beth's voiceovers.

Thank you! I look forward to reading the next chapter!

[Shadow]

She was transfixed in that moment: a child in the night, holding her angel; a woman in the sun, giving a benediction to her love. Under her hand she felt a night-chilled leather jacket, a sun-warmed cotton shirt.

I LOVE this! Nicely done!

I'm so happy you liked that line in particular, Marigold! When Beth kissed Mick on the roof I could just see an image of Little Beth with Mick back then, overlaying it . .

I couldn't believe that Audrey wouldn't need any explanations either . . . she saw a lot of weirdness that night! And I'm glad you liked having Julia reappear. It always bothered me too that these important characters would just vanish without any further mention! The name Dominic is just a coincidence; I hadn't remembered about the Sonata character's name being Dominic while writing this. (There will be two minor characters named Daphne in the storyline too, quite by accident . . . )

So great that you liked Beth and Elaine's meeting! I couldn't resist bringing them together here, in this uneven way. And I'm glad you liked having Beth's POV for this one! I don't think Mick's POV would have worked well here, because Mick didn't seem to know what was going on with Beth at this point . . . and it did fit so well into Beth's FDL voice-overs.

Thanks so much, Marigold, and I'm so glad you're enjoying these!!