I should warn you, this post is pure self-indulgence. You see, it's my 10,000th post on this board and that's got me all reflective (
) so there are a few things I wanted to say.I came relatively late to the ML fandom and via a circuitous route - the LivingTV forums in the UK to Hey!Neilsen and then eventually to MLL, where I lurked for ages before finally joining in some time during the writers' strike. I had no experience of fandom or any online community and I was amazed at what I found at MLL. It became more than my online home - it became a place of joy and delight. Views were exchanged, jokes were told, friendships were formed and a generally good time was had by all. For a time it was an amazing place and I loved being part of it.
It was because of the community I found there, with all its wondrous variety and artistry, that I found myself encouraged and inspired to write fiction again for the first time in nearly a decade. The writing community there encouraged me to keep going and I was hooked. I wrote (and kept on writing) and discovered other writers who thrilled and inspired me. It was there I went to rail against the fates when ML was cancelled and I threw myself wholeheartedly into campaigning to bring ML back to our screens.
I know it's a familiar story to most, but what then happened at MLL is also precious to me. As realisation finally dawned that Leeser was not the person I had believed her to be, Busgate broke, the bannination began and battles lines were drawn, this amazing community banded together. People on all sides showed their true colours and for the most part they were a display of peacock-like beauty. Members spoke eloquently of right and wrong, supported those who had been treated so shamefully and sought to ensure that one woman's wrongs would not be allowed to continue without one hell of a fuss. It was terrifying and exhilarating and awful and wonderful all at the same time. But it also signalled the end of a wonderful, wonderful time.
Like most other members, post-MLL I set up camp at VLF and was very happy there, for a time, until January this year when I had a parting of the ways with Gina and upped sticks. For a terrifying few days, I had no online home, no ML meeting place, and nowhere to post my stories. I seriously thought at that time that was the end of my fandom experience until, out of the blue, I got a message from Phoenix about a new site she was thinking of starting. We'd known each other a little at MLL and VLF but her message was still a delightful surprise (and I thought she was a little bonkers for wanting me to be a mod!). She held out the prospect of a new site that could be everything I'd loved about MLL and VLF - and more. Moonlight only. Focused on writing. A place where members can relax, take a breath, a place where there would be no need to fight or argue any more. Needless to say it didn't take me long to sign up - especially since Phoenix was gracious enough to listen to my views on the site and took the time to understand why I couldn't bear a repeat of my MLL or VLF experiences.
So here I am, 10,000 posts later. Because this site has become everything I could possibly have hoped for - and a whole lot more. Yes, we are a small band. It's inevitable given the cancellation and then the fracturing in the fandom. Some people have moved away from ML altogether, on to other passions and I wish them well, even though I miss them terribly. For others, the same urgent need to talk about ML every day has faded with time - I understand that and cherish the time that they choose to spend here. And then there's the rest of us. The Moonlightaholics. The happy little crew who don't care that others don't get our continuing, undiminished love for this show and these characters. You wonderful people are the real reason I spend so much time here and have so much fun.
Phoenix, you have built something beautiful and I am grateful to you every single day.
allegrita, Librarian_7, Lilly, PNWgal, my fellow mods, you put up with my rants and raves, my strange vagaries and horrible moods and you do it with grace and style. Ladies, it's a privilege.
All the other members here, you are random, erudite, funny as hell, passionate, kind, creative, talented, tolerant and seventeen different shades of awesome. As long as this site is here, I will be too (so, er, sorry if you thought you'd get rid of me) and I look forward to another 10,000 posts in your wonderful company.
My sincere thanks, best wishes and love to you all.
Red
for Lilly.
)
to you and to your next 10,000 posts. 
to you too. I'm looking forward to the day I can toast you in person.
