Darling I'm Lost (In Between 3 and 4, PG)

[Luxe de Luxe]

this is wonderful. your writing is full of the complexity of relationships, the hopes, the hidden regrets. Mick's tone is so melancholy, i really feel as if you got to the heart of his underlying motivations. loved it.

[jen]

Complexity is a great word! It says it all.

Elaine and Mick are both mired in the complexity of their situations, as they struggle to find hope and love.

Wonderful reread!

Thanks, Shadow

Jenna

[Shadow]

I've always wondered what Mick was thinking as he walked away from Beth that day. Telling her of his turning must have been cathartic, but he must have been worried about what would she think....with her taking so long before she reconnected with him, he might think his confession might have cost him her friendship.

Interesting how Mick finally begins to believe he's not the monster he was in the past. Until Beth came along, no human that he cared for had provided a mirror for him to see himself in their eyes. In hers, he found no condemnation, only acceptance, even though she didn't yet know the whole story.

Love how you took the incineration of Dr. Pollard as a trigger for Mick having nightmares about Coraline's demise. Burning to death is, as Morgan would later attest, a hideous way to die, human or vampire. Mick still feels something for Coraline, if nothing more than remorse for having to end her life. No wonder Pollard's incineration resurrected bad memories.

This story of Elaine is most intriguing....little by little you tell us a bit about her, weaving her story in with the episodes. How sad her story so far, with her husband not being able to accept what she was...and Mick's wondering what he would have done had Coraline treated him in the same way. How is it that she came to be turned at so young an age and who is Chloe, whom she misses so much?

Wonderfully engaging story, Shadow

You can see I was wondering the same things about Mick's thoughts ... And this did seem like something of a breakthrough for Mick, as he actually came to Beth to tell her a deep secret about himself that he'd never told anyone before. Everything else she'd found out had been more of an accident, not something that he planned for her to know. And especially considering Mick and Josef's discussion of Coraline at the end of ep 3, it seemed awfully likely that those nightmares would come up.
So glad you are interested in Elaine ... there will be a lot more for her coming up, along with the answers to those questions!
Thank you for these wonderful comments ....

[Shadow]

this is wonderful. your writing is full of the complexity of relationships, the hopes, the hidden regrets. Mick's tone is so melancholy, i really feel as if you got to the heart of his underlying motivations. loved it.

Thanks for coming by and reading, and for the wonderful comment ... that is something I really wanted to create for Elaine and Mick's relationship, the kind of complexity that could make it feel real. I'm really glad you saw that here!

[Shadow]

Complexity is a great word! It says it all.

Elaine and Mick are both mired in the complexity of their situations, as they struggle to find hope and love.

Wonderful reread!

Thanks, Shadow

Jenna

Wow, thanks for re-reading again, Jenna!
That's so great that you wanted to come back to this ... that means a lot. Thanks so much!

[susieb]

Like your opening so much:

Everything was so different, so new. Morning sunlight streaming through the window at the end of the hall, Beth’s hair turned to warm gold, the look in her eyes when he touched her hand. Beth, her voice gentle and kind, saying you’re not a monster and meaning it with every part of her being. What did she see when she looked at him? As Mick left her in the hall, as he went down the steps of her building and crossed to his car, he knew that she was watching. From the cool dark shade of the car he looked up at her window and saw her standing there, looking out between the blinds. He remembered his despair when she’d discovered what he was, his conviction that from then on she would always see the monster within him, that she would never look at him again the way she had before. But that had not happened, and instead. . . Mick was not quite sure what was happening instead.

The end of Ep 3 is one of my favorite Mick/Beth moments. This has the same feel to it and you then carry it throughout this chapter/ part of your story. Lovely, bittersweet feel to it. Bittersweet, spiced with hope.

Definitely makes sense to me that Mick would have nightmares of killing Coraline. His whole relationship with her, and, of course, his murder of her, haunts him and so much shapes how he feels about himself and relates to the world.

I confess, I'm not usually a big fan of AU characters, but you make me curious to know more about Elaine and Mick's relationship to her. Suspect she will be a wonderful tool to explain a lot of things. (I'm definitely in favor of explanations! )

Great story!

[Shadow]

The end of Ep 3 is one of my favorite Mick/Beth moments.

Mine too -- as you can probably tell! It's such a breakthrough for Mick and there's so much hope there. There's even something special about the way the scene is lit, something that I wanted to get into the beginning of this story.

I confess, I'm not usually a big fan of AU characters, but you make me curious to know more about Elaine and Mick's relationship to her.

Then I'm especially glad that you're curious about Elaine! I did always feel like the episodes were just a part of the whole picture, that there would be a lot more going on in the characters' lives than what we happened to see. I thought Mick especially must have other people in his life who were important to him. And, Elaine does indeed help with some of those much-needed explanations.

Thanks so much, Susie!!

[susieb]

There's even something special about the way the scene is lit, something that I wanted to get into the beginning of this story.

Just had to come back and comment: YES! There's something quite magical about this scene. Not only do I see it as a big turning point for Mick in terms of the story, but the lighting and pace of this scene is simply gorgeous and, well, magical. You captured that so well with your words. What I loved most is that you carried that lovely feeling throughout this chapter.

A lot of things bug me about the final 4 ML episodes. One of them is that this (pause while I search my brain files for a better word... no good... probably need more coffee ) magic sort of fell by the wayside.

[Shadow]

There's even something special about the way the scene is lit, something that I wanted to get into the beginning of this story.

Just had to come back and comment: YES! There's something quite magical about this scene. Not only do I see it as a big turning point for Mick in terms of the story, but the lighting and pace of this scene is simply gorgeous and, well, magical. You captured that so well with your words. What I loved most is that you carried that lovely feeling throughout this chapter.

A lot of things bug me about the final 4 ML episodes. One of them is that this (pause while I search my brain files for a better word... no good... probably need more coffee ) magic sort of fell by the wayside.

Hm! Susie, I think magic's a pretty good word for it. Unlike most, I love the last four episodes just as much as the first twelve, but I know what you mean. There's a much more "everyday" appearance about those four. It never before occurred to me to think of this, since there are so many other reasons why the last four are different -- but now I can't help but wonder if some of that difference might have been due to turnover in the film crew and the lighting technicians!

[susieb]

There's a much more "everyday" appearance about those four. It never before occurred to me to think of this, since there are so many other reasons why the last four are different -- but now I can't help but wonder if some of that difference might have been due to turnover in the film crew and the lighting technicians!

Definitely think so. The writers strike and subsequent changes did ML no favors, IMHO. Actually, I did like the final 4 episodes. A lot. However, they did not have that magical quality that I found in the earlier eps.

A side note: After reading your In Between 4 and 5, I made it a point to watch Fever again. (What a hardship It's my favorite ep) So, I'll be back to comment on that story later today.

[Shadow]

After reading your In Between 4 and 5, I made it a point to watch Fever again. (What a hardship It's my favorite ep)

Know what you mean . . . it was a great hardship for me, too, having to watch all these early episodes over again in preparation for writing these stories!

[maggatha3]

How come I have skipped that? Well, here is something to do in the week... buys me- and you - some time. I ll be back,

[Shadow]

How come I have skipped that? Well, here is something to do in the week... buys me- and you - some time. I ll be back,

Oh excellent, you are not completely out of in betweens after all! Whew, it's good that that buys me a little time . . . the next one's not quite ready yet . . .

[redwinter101]

Such a beautiful chapter - moving the story along and taking us from one episode to the next, but also, bit by bit, telling us more and more about Elaine. Her conversation with Mick here is SO brilliantly done - we learn so much from it - we see how well she and Mick know each other and we can feel the tension, the history of their very difficult past, even though we don't know all the details yet. They have the speech patterns of people who really know each well (and have done so for a long time) - and they say things to each other they'd never say to anyone else, good and bad.

I love that so much - it's such a powerful component of this whole series. Through Elaine we see Mick's reflections on his relationship with Coraline as well as his fears for Beth and as the stories progress she really becomes a window to his soul.



Red

[Shadow]

So wonderful to get your reactions to Elaine's entrance, Red. I had worked out her history by the time I posted this chapter, but still had no idea how important she was going to become in the story.

It's so good to know that the history between them could actually be heard in their voices here!