"Because I love you": Six years after Sonata

[allegrita]

Wow... it's been six years since Sonata aired. I've been rereading the threads commemorating this anniversary, and they made me nostalgic, and happy, and yeah, a little bit sad, too. Time's passing. There aren't as many of us as there used to be. I miss the glory days of Moonlight fandom, I really do. But I sure don't miss the hysteria and the drama. I don't miss the arguments or the disappointments, either. Those of us who still hang out here are here because we want to be. Because we still feel the love for our "little show."

Moonlight was the "little show that could," surviving for 16 wonderful episodes despite terrible struggles and upheavals behind the scenes. And, appropriately, Moonlight fandom is "the little fandom that could." We've survived cancellation, scandal, catastrophe, the meltdowns of major fan forums, fractured friendships, arguments, and more kinds of draaaaama than we can count. Those of us who are still here (and the people who visit but don't post much are just as much a part of this fandom as those of us who are, um, chattier )are here because we choose to be. We are a family, a real community. We may not be able to produce quite the same volume of creative output as we did in those first few amazing years. But the stories, videos, and artwork we do create are pretty damn amazing. And, six years after Sonata aired, we are still celebrating the magic of our Moonlight.

So... "because I love you," I want to express my appreciation to each and every one of you for making this board a special place. Whether you post every day or pop in occasionally. Whether you're one of the amazing mods who keep this place running (and my dear friends, I would truly be lost without your loyal commitment!) or a lurker who comes here to read and will never feel the urge to write a post, I'm very grateful to you.

To quote Mick in another episode... "You make me want to." You make me want to keep this board going. You make me want to write stories. You make me want to post Mick pics, hang out, chat about TV shows and ratings, play Moonlight games, and discuss the projects our Moonlight actors and writers are doing these days. You make me want to think up new ways to celebrate the show we all love.

Thank you. And may the Moonlight shine on all of us for many more years.

[Lilly]

Alle, what a beautiful post. I couldn't have put it better.

Sometimes, when I try to express what this show and this fandom has meant to me, I find myself at a loss for words. I certainly know that no one outside of this special community would understand.

I remember saying six years ago, immediately after Sonata aired, that if that episode was the last bit of Moonlight that we ever got -- then I was OK with it ending like that. At the time, though, I didn't truly believe it was the end. I had hopes of a reprieve. And I'm sure I've gone through all the stages of denial and grief since then. My feelings about the episode itself have changed and evolved over time, but my feeling about Moonlight have never faded.

Thanks for the reminder.

[cassysj]

Alle we all appreciate the work you and the mods do to keep our little light alive. It is hard to believe it was six years ago. I remember feeling punch drunk when the official announcement came just two days before.

It is a shame that Moonlight was just about one year too soon but if it had not come on when it did would Alex have been Mick St. John? Would Jason Dohring have been Josef? Would Sophia Myles have even been here or would she just be successful in England? I would say that Shannyn is probably the one who would have had a similar career path with or without Moonlight. She did unusual work before and has since. I think she's a good actress but what's interesting is while I think she's beautiful. I think she was more beautiful in the role of Coraline than any other I've seen her in.

I love Moonlight and it changed me in so many ways that's it hard to believe. While involved in fandom for over 30 years I was a professional lurker. Moonlight brought me out of shell and gave me a creative outlet I didn't know existed inside me.

I love the people I've met in Moonlight fandom both virtually and physically. It is sad that so many are gone from the fandom that is the way of these things but I think that our board has stayed alive because we've made so many other connections beyond and related to Moonlight. I mean it's exciting for any of us that don't live in LA to stand in or even see pictures of a Moonlight location. I got a tingle on the Queen Mary that I don't think I'd get in the elevator of the Marriott Hotel in Atlanta where Hunger Games CF filmed. Once upon a time when I was seventeen, I went to Barbados with my sister. My soap opera Guiding Light had filmed there she took me to all the places they shot. It was magic because I was seventeen but Moonlight made me feel that way again. It was/is a very special show.


We learned about the clothes from the show, artwork. We've followed the careers of minor characters. We've followed the creator of the show. We got very involved and I mean in a good way. Some of us have met some of the actors and I've never heard of a "bad" meet. Trust me in other fandoms I've had "bad" meets, heard about bad meets. I don't always blame the actor but some of them....just shouldn't be out in public. Moonlight was a little piece of magic that came and went too soon but some stars in the universe shine too brightly that they burn out quickly.

[HotMicks]

I'll have to come back to post more coherent thoughts.

[PNWgal]

I remember weeping buckets of tears after Sonata ended. Mick had totally stolen my heart and that heart broke at the thought of losing him.

But I gained so much more than I lost. I have fabulous friends who have been there through my ups and downs, and whom I've been there for with THEIR ups and downs. I have this wonderful community of people that love me and who I love. And...I didn't really lose Mick. He'll always have a piece of my heart, and I will always love Alex for giving me that gift.

Most of all...Moonlight gave me back my writer's soul, something I thought I'd lost forever. I found that outlet that had been closed for so many years, and I'm so much better for it.

[darkstarrising]

Sonata always makes me sad, leaving us to wonder what happened after the door closed. We never got to see what the show's writers were planning, but we've had so many talented people here provide so many possible answers. No matter what each of us thinks happened, Moonlight will always have a special place in our hearts and you, dear Alle, will as well for giving us a place to share those ideas.

[coco]

I saw a couple of posts on Facebook today that reminded me that it was the Sonata anniversary. Life often sweeps you up in drama and you get distracted from the things that you enjoy and that gave you time for yourself. Moonlight and this wonderful place was and is that for me.

I still rave to friends about Moonlight and the joy it brought me and the friends I made from that one little show. I love the fun I had
getting immersed in creating fanvids to share my love of the show. I may not be making them any longer but I can always watch them and be transported back to some of my very favourite times.

I will love that show for the rest of my days for what it gave me and while I may only get to pop in for a visit these days, I love that this little home away from home is always here to reconnect with old friends.

[choccyterri]

Awww, Alle, that was just beautiful. And you truly have expressed all the myriad things that keep us together. As what I'd think of as a semi-lurker, with occasional flashes of inspiration... I'd just like to thank the wonderful Moonlight family I've made here, and in other places... my life would be a much less inspiring place without all that I've come to know because of 'our little show'. I'll always be grateful for all that you've brought to me.

Happy Sonata Birthday dear Moonlightaholic friends....

[helloeeze]

I was just thinking of ML the other day. When I think of it, it stirs so much emotion and joy. Amazing a show can do that.
Thanks for keeping this board alive.

[Lupine]

Thank you for keeping Moonlight alive, and for including me, a member just a step above the lurker stage, as part of this community. I come, I read some, I do ALL the puzzles, and sometimes I comment. But you should know that this site is on my "Most Visited" list (near the top, in fact) and I appreciate being able to come here and be free to participate as much, or as little, as I feel comfortable doing.

From my thank you to the individuals who do all the heavy lifting required to keep this site alive, active, friendly and welcoming. Moonlight was many things to many people, it is gone, but this site is an example of the best that it left behind.

[librarian_7]

I was just thinking back the other day to those first heady weeks of Moonlight, and the fandom. It was like being in love...it WAS being in love. I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep....I was watching and re-watching every precious second of the show that I could. And then I started writing. I hadn't written fiction in years, but stories began pouring out. I reveled in the fandom, and all the friends I was making, the sheer joy of having something to be so passionate about.

Then, just as quickly, the cancellation. That was a very dark day, indeed, but I was hopeful it wasn't the end. Our dreams were dashed, but the fandom went on.

Six years? Some days it seems like a hundred. And sometimes, I still get struck by that sharp pang, as though the news was still fresh, and I just can't believe we'll never see new episodes.

But we have our stories. We have those golden sixteen episodes, and thousands of our attempts to recapture and extend the magic that was Moonlight.

No, there aren't as many of us these days, and the stories aren't pouring in the way they once did. But you know what? We've had significant new work posted lately, and continuations of long-running projects. We're still going, still creating.

The door closed. The actors, the creators, the crew went on to other projects, other lives. But you know what? As long as we're here, reading, writing, discussing...Mick is still alive. Beth, Josef, Coraline and all the others are still out there in the warm Los Angeles night, undead and among us. Moonlight has not died.

[jmc]

As long as we're here, reading, writing, discussing...Mick is still alive. Beth, Josef, Coraline and all the others are still out there in the warm Los Angeles night, undead and among us. Moonlight has not died.

Amen to that!

[diane31]

librarian_7 wrote:
As long as we're here, reading, writing, discussing...Mick is still alive. Beth, Josef, Coraline and all the others are still out there in the warm Los Angeles night, undead and among us. Moonlight has not died.

Amen to that!

Exactly!

Six years ago... I still see myself walking away from my computer and out in the street to try and calm down, thinking "What now? How is life going to feel like without it?". Gosh I felt so hurt and scared, so lost. It took me a few months to realize that it was up to me/us, that the episodes were only a part of Moonlight; that Mick, Beth, Josef and the others, we had always felt they are real to us because they are real through us, through our sharing their feelings, hopes, fears, desires, worries, love..., through our living these as we (re)watch the episodes, and read fanfic. At some point, I decided that I wanted to keep Moonlight for the rest of my life, and that fanfic was going to be a great way to ensure that. I had never read any before, I barely knew what it meant, and I had no idea for how long people would keep writing it, so I decided to read it very slowly so it would last lol - I'm still on my first reading of Blood of the Lily !

The way I see it now, we lost a lot six years ago. We lost having Mick, Beth, Josef,... be channeled first by the actors we loved, we lost being able to watch them on a screen, and we lost canon. But we did not lose Moonlight. Instead, all of a sudden, and quite against our most ardent hopes and desires, Moonlight became all ours. (well except legally ).

But of course this could never be without this community, with our amazing writers, and our awesome mods and admin.

So thank you SOOOOOOOO much for keeping our Mick, Beth, Josef, (ok, ok, even Coraline!), and all the others alive!

[Moonlightsonata]

I can't say it any better than the ones before me have said, but thank you Alle, all the Mods and writers, and everyone who helps keep the magic of Moonlight alive!