Night Moth (Coraline, PG)

[bluedahlia3]

Just back for a re-read on this one. I enjoyed it the first time and loved it the second. You write a good Cora with lots of angles and depth. Great job.

[Shadow]

Just back for a re-read on this one. I enjoyed it the first time and loved it the second. You write a good Cora with lots of angles and depth. Great job.

It is so great knowing you came back for a second read ... and that this vision of Coraline worked for you. Thanks ever so much!

[lila]

Dropping by to say that I watched the vid you linked and I thought it was really, really well done. It gave me that tingly breathlessness that's so particular to a well-made fanvid. Glee! I'll definitely be checking out the other vids you have .

[Shadow]

Dropping by to say that I watched the vid you linked and I thought it was really, really well done. It gave me that tingly breathlessness that's so particular to a well-made fanvid. Glee! I'll definitely be checking out the other vids you have .

Glad you liked the vid, lila! I've gotten rather fascinated with making them - and with trying to put stories in them.
(And I'm really glad it could make you want to watch the other ones!)

[allegrita]

Shadow, I finally read this story, something I've been meaning to do ever since you mentioned it in a response to one of my comments on "No Boundaries." It is an amazing look at Coraline, and it offers a wonderful explanation of how she fell in love with Mick... and why. I love the parallels you drew between Coraline and Mick and Mick and Beth, each relationship documented with photographs of different phases of their lives. And the scene in WWII, where Coraline posed as a nurse in order to watch over Mick, has such resonance for me now that I've read your other stories. I also like your view of Coraline's relationship with Thea/Cynthia. The two of them were obviously devoted friends, and I can see them switching roles through the years, just as Mick and Josef did in the show.

I really enjoyed the theme of Coraline having lost her interest in living, and then being drawn to Mick's humanity, at the same time he is somehow aware of the dark world of vampires. It's a wonderfully haunted view of their relationship, and that mutual connection runs through the years like a thread that always pulls them together. No wonder Vampire Mick yearns for humanity... he learned that through the blood, I suppose... And it's another eerie parallel with Mick's relationship to Beth. Coraline had so much effect, direct and indirect, on Mick's life.

The theme of fire, so prevalent in Moonlight, is perfect here as well. Coraline is haunted by fire for her whole life, including the horrific fire set by Mick when he saves Beth as a child. She loses so much through fire; first a human family, and later a vampire family. And the symbol of her holding the sparkler is even more amazing in light of that history. What an example of her strength of will and her ability to face her deepest fears.

Thank you for this story. You have given Coraline depth and pathos, something that was hinted at in the show but was never fully explored.

[BlueEyedMonster]

Shadow what an incredible story. So much depth to Coraline who I grown more & more fascinated with as I sink deeper into the Moonlight world.

The stunning theme of fire woven into the store makes the idea of Mick "killing" her with fire even more fascinating. Among the other things I ahd hoped for in Season 2 of ML was more background on Coraline. Thank you for giving me that story.

[librarian_7]

I finally got round to reading this. The tone is what sets it apart for me. Hard to put a finger on, but there's just an almost dream-like quality to it, especially the first part. The mingling of visions, memories, and dreams with reality is done so well, and so seamlessly.

Lovely story, just lovely.

[Shadow]

Shadow, I finally read this story, something I've been meaning to do ever since you mentioned it in a response to one of my comments on "No Boundaries."

And I love that you came over to this old Coraline story now, at the exact time you've gotten my head spinning over Coraline with your new one!

I also like your view of Coraline's relationship with Thea/Cynthia. The two of them were obviously devoted friends, and I can see them switching roles through the years, just as Mick and Josef did in the show.

I'm really happy you can see that! I had missed seeing Cynthia in the flashback scene in TMC till it was pointed out here, and might not have written their relationship this way if I had seen that. But considering the amount of time that had gone by since then, it seemed reasonable enough that the dynamics between them would have changed. Thanks for pointing out, too, the way Mick and Josef changed roles in the show! I'd never thought of that as a possible parallel to Coraline and Cynthia's relationship before, and I really like that idea.

No wonder Vampire Mick yearns for humanity... he learned that through the blood, I suppose...

And that is a very interesting idea.

Thank you, Alle . . . so very much.

[Shadow]

Shadow what an incredible story. So much depth to Coraline who I grown more & more fascinated with as I sink deeper into the Moonlight world.

The stunning theme of fire woven into the store makes the idea of Mick "killing" her with fire even more fascinating. Among the other things I ahd hoped for in Season 2 of ML was more background on Coraline. Thank you for giving me that story.

I am so glad you liked this look at Coraline! She grew more interesting to me every time she appeared in the show, and I can only imagine how fascinating her character would have become if we had gotten a few more glimpses of her. There was so much fire symbolism in the show itself, I had to wonder what fire might really mean to Coraline.

Thank you so much for the wonderful comment.

[Shadow]

I finally got round to reading this. The tone is what sets it apart for me. Hard to put a finger on, but there's just an almost dream-like quality to it, especially the first part. The mingling of visions, memories, and dreams with reality is done so well, and so seamlessly.

I love that you mentioned that, Lucky, because even all these years later I remember having the idea of writing the story in just that sort of tone . . . and I also remember how much of a struggle it was to actually do it.

Thanks so very much!

[maggatha3]

One more amazing Moonlight story written in the time when I didn't even know Moonlight existed!! Your writing will never cease to amaze me, Shadow, as this story brought so much light into Coraline's character, much more than the show did in the episodes she appeared!

I loved the parallel between Mick-Beth and Coraline-Mick! Following through the years since childhood, taking photos to keep in memory, trying to keep safe. Reading about the moments she was behind the shadows, full of anticipation, waiting for her time to come to pass her gift to him just made Mick's efforts to keep Beth safe even more valuable, as he was not anticipating anything more from her-Beth had already given him her gift!

Mostly I love how you point out the major difference between those two vampires,though. Mick was a guardian angel, Coraline was just a stalker. Mick intended to keep Beth safe from any evil-the little girl who saved his soul that night- never intending to show her his real face, the face of the monster he thought himself to be. Coraling intended to keep Mick safe from death- a little boy who for some reason she found interesting and chose to turn into a vampire not only without showing her real face ,but also without giving him the benefit of choise. I know...I am just stating the obvious,but seeing Coraling and Cynthia through the years in your one-shot ...I got angry at how a vampire, just out of pure boredom, would just disrespect that, the right of choise that she herself was offered! How little she got to value human life!

Most of all though I am amazed at how it all surfaces in your style of writing, it felt as if it was all a flash back into Coraline's long life, she unchangeable and always a secuctress and the human slowly growing up to serve a purpose, like...like a vessel! And also, how -though this story isn't about Mick- we also got to realise why he became the opposite of his sire , valuing human life extremely and feeling himself as a monster!

As always

[Shadow]

Oh my, little ancient one, what a wonderful comment, and I am delighted that you have read this story, especially. . . . knowing your opinion of Coraline! I am glad you found this to bring more light into her character. When she was first presented in episode one she did not seem so interesting to me, but each subsequent time she appeared in an episode she seemed to show another side of herself, becoming more complex and real, and I can only imagine how she might have developed if the show had continued.

And so very interesting to get your insight, because while deep into writing the character I had never really even noticed that she herself was given a choice on whether to become a vampire! Somehow it seems that she never thought of that either, or even had the thought pass her mind. She was so sure she knew Mick . . . and as it turns out, she didn't.

Most of all though I am amazed at how it all surfaces in your style of writing, it felt as if it was all a flash back into Coraline's long life, she unchangeable and always a secuctress and the human slowly growing up to serve a purpose, like...like a vessel! And also, how -though this story isn't about Mick- we also got to realise why he became the opposite of his sire , valuing human life extremely and feeling himself as a monster!

Ohh, I love the way you put that and that that is how you saw it . . . . thank you so much!

[r1015bill]

I hadn't seen this before but it's great. You nailed Coraline and what drives her. Given how she manipulated her re-entrance into Mick's world as Coraline, it wouldn't be that far fetched to believe she manipulated her entrance into his world the first time.

And how ironic that her pursuit of "feeling alive" would leave Mick dead.

Thank you!

[Shadow]

Thanks so much for coming by here, Rhonda! It's great to hear that you thought this story nailed Coraline. It always seemed to me that her manipulative nature was an essential part of her, and I always wondered if her meeting Mick that night at her party had really been just chance....