Moonlightaholics

Just something I've been wondering lately. I know RL gets in the way, and there have been some major life events recently that have taken people more away from the forums, and so on, but I also can't help noticing what feels like a gradual decline in the Fandom, a natural 'aging' or 'slowing' process if you will.

So I'm just wondering, for anyone who wishes to answer, 'How much of a passion is Moonlight to you still?' Have you found your interest waning/increasing/a bit of both, as time has passed? Is Moonlight still something that is important to you, or is it more of a 'take it or leave it' 'check the boards when I have time' type prospect?

Where are you currently at in your 'Moonlight Journey'?

For me Moonlight is still very much of a passion. Maybe not quite as much as when Moonlight Line was in its peak and I was busy writing letters, and might check the boards every 1/2 hour but still a lot. I still miss it and think about it often but realize that any hope of anything more in the way of a movie, etc. is practically a pipe dream. I do wish the DVD had some extras and still don't understand why someone isn't interested in making money from that? I have three DVDs, all the episodes recorded on my DVR (most are from the CW run), and if there were another Moonlight Convention in a location not too difficult to, would probably try and attend. So yes, it is definitely still a passion.

And to answer that question myself. My interest in/passion for Moonlight is still very strong. I don't think it's waned with the passing of time, if anything I think it's strengthened. Sometimes my health precludes me from participating at the level I'd like to, but Moonlight is still a huge part of my life, I'd even go so far as to say it IS my life. I'd say at least 70% of my day is devoted to Moonlight, whether that's on the boards, in the different discussion threads, making banners, doing fanvids, writing fic, or even just thinking about the show, thinking about the characters, planning stuff I want to do in relation to honouring the characters through fanworks. If I spend more than a day or two away from the boards, or discussing Moonlight, or I haven't been able to write in a while, or it's been a bit of time inbetween me being able to do any banners, or fanvids, I feel lost, like there's a part of me that's missing.

I do understand that the above probably qualifies me as having crossed the line into 'obsessive fan', but at the same time I do know Moonlight is fictional, I know the characters aren't real. I am able to separate fantasy from reality. I know there are times that I have other obligations, and need to look after my own health, and family, aside from just being all 'Moonlight, Moonlight, Moonlight' 24/7. I am aware of trying to strike that balance between Moonlight being something that is a true passion for me, that helps me get through the dark times, that has acted as a support network for me, and a retreat when I've just needed a safe, happy space to be in, and becoming so completely obsessed that I actually do start losing touch with reality, and live in my own little fantasy Moonlight world without regards to the outside world/reality around me.

To tell you the truth, I don't know what I'd class myself as?

Definitely not a 'True Fan', I hate that term, it implies that other people are doing something 'wrong', and I think everyone is entitled to be a 'Fan' in their own way, at the level they're happiest with. It doesn't make them right, and me wrong, or vice versa - or me a 'True Fan', and then some sort of 'Wannabe Poser Fans', or some such nonsense.

An obsessive fan? Quite possibly, I certainly wouldn't deny the possibility. Although not an 'unstable' obsessive fan.

A passionate fan? Most definitely. An Ultra passionate fan? Absolutely.

At the end of the day though, I really am just a 'Fan'. I love Moonlight. The show, and it's characters mean the world to me. I can't see myself drifting away from the Fandom, or losing any of my interest or passion for Moonlight for a LONG time to come yet.

I have all the episodes on my DVR and watch themfrom time to time,I still love Moonlight and love all the stories you guys write,I am and will continue to be a FAN

I still very much enjoy watching, writing, and thinking about the show, though I don't write, watch or participate on the boards as often as I once did. I just got out of the internet obsessed stage I was in, and have more to do in RL at this point. I also still participate in ML RP, which I love, though we too have not been playing as much as we once did because we're all getting very busy. Definitely still a fan, and one forever, though the ardor isn't quite as strong as it once was.

I am still enchanted by Moonlight. I hang out here a lot (bet y'all have noticed). Moonlight does not, and never has, controlled my life but it is still head and shoulders above any other TV show, in my opinion out there.

I am on a slightly different schedule as the rest of you. I never watched Moonlight when it was on network TV. I was out there in my own little world, oblivious to the drama playing out around the writers strike. I first saw Moonlight on January 23, 2009, and I can't describe how I felt when I learned that this superb show had appeared and been cancelled without ever being able to write lots of letters to defend it.

Don't think I would call myself an unstable, obsessed fan. I don't think I have a problem distinguishing fantasy from reality, but I still really, really love Moonlight and I'm not planning on disappearing any time soon. The characters, situations and overall tone of the show were simply mesmerizing. Still are.

There was a book put out about Moonlight mentioning that when it aired on the sci fi channel (when I first saw it), the audience was 1 million per episode. When it reran this last summer on the CW, the numbers were higher even though more time had gone by. Interesting

Quality...lasts.

Jen- you can say that again! Quality DEFINITELY lasts.

I'm still passionate about ML but life is crazed for me. I still read every chance I get and write when I can. I still hear the songs, hear their voices, and chuckle at the coincidences between rl and ML.

I've been thinking of Em's question... and I guess I would approach it from a different angle, perhaps, than the way she meant it.

I love our show. I always will. And I've seen all the eps more times than I will EVER see for any other show.
For me, it was and is all about Mick. ML was wonderful AND it had its faults. Mick had none. Not for me. Not the way he was written and not the way Alex played him. When the show crashed and burned, it was Mick I missed... and was desperate to know WHAT HAD HAPPENED in his past present and future.
The fanfic is what kept me from truly freakin' out. The way the writers not only kept Mick alive but moved his story forward and filled in his backstory.
I treasure that and I treasure all of you who have done this amazing job with this amazing character. As has been said more than once, our fanfic writers have ended up loving and nurturing and presenting this character, in the end, better than the show did. My only regret here is that some of y'all's scenes will never make it to film. Cos there's some that deserve to. And Alex would ROCK em.

But I am now at peace with the show and where it is, or isn't. I rejoice whenever it gets noticed or lauded. But I am at peace that Alex has moved on, and I've moved on with him.

I still come here all the time tho. Y'all are the reason, as much as the show now. I come to see y'all. And of course the occasional extraordinary (and really is there any other kind?) MickPic.

Not a day goes by that I don't check the boards. I have 2 sets of the DVDs, one of which I will loan out. I've also got all of the show on my computer so I can watch it when I want, like on the train trip that I recently took to Texas. Over 2 days on the train - I seriously needed something good to watch to help keep me sane! LOL

I still love Moonlight. It's not the overwhelming flare that it used to be; it's settled into a nice steady flame...

LadyAilith wrote:I still love Moonlight. It's not the overwhelming flare that it used to be; it's settled into a nice steady flame...

What a lovely way to put it.

I often think back to those first all-consuming days, when I couldn't eat, couldn't sleep...it was like being in love. Totally in love. And I think that's much what it was...the first throes of love. Now, it's more like a marriage...the love is still there, it's just not so much, as Mick said, like an infection.

And...I'm still here, every day, still writing. Still communing with Josef in quiet moments (honest, I am NOT crazy, it just sounds like it).

Lucky

My passion for Moonlight has changed over time, but I don't think it's lessened. What is that passion? Well, originally, for me, Moonlight engendered a very personal passion for writing that I'd never before experienced. But it wasn't enough to just write stories. I needed to share them... and I found this wonderful community of fellow fans who understood my passion, who didn't frown on me or think I was nuts for feeling the way I did. People who appreciated the things I created out of my passion, and reinforced that love and gave it back to me... a wonderful cycle of giving and receiving that I've truly never known anywhere else.

There are so many parts to the Moonlight passion--just as there's so much more to the Moonlight fan experience than just the 16 amazing episodes. There are the actors, writers, musicians, designers, and crew who brought the show to such vivid life, and who have gone on to do more wonderful things. There are the great imaginations of the fanfic writers who've helped carry the characters and their world on so far past the original 16 episodes. There's the way Moonlight inspired us to learn new things. Made us more open to listen to unfamiliar music. Made us want to create art in many forms. There's the amazing way that people all over the world came together to love and discuss and enhance and reexamine the show from different angles.

And it's that bringing-together that I have come to appreciate the most. I'm so grateful for this community that has grown as a result of our mutual love for Moonlight. I enjoy helping to maintain a happy place for all of you (and me!) to play in, and right now, that's where my passion lies. (Although I still have stories in me that want to be told.)

Yes, it's a smaller community now. That's natural. But every single one of the original Moonlight fans is still a member of this community in a way. It's changed us, belonging to this wonderful world. We'll never be the same as we were before we fell in love with the show. Whether those far-flung Moonlight community members still participate or not, they know it's there. It's more than fan sites or fic or banners or episode discussion. It's that willingness to be a little more open, to learn something new. It's a new interest in an actor or a designer or the mysterious workings of Hollywood. It's a spark that burns in all of us, one way or another. And I don't think it'll ever go out.

I loved Moonlight, and still do, but like grace I miss Mick SO much. He was Moonlight for me. I have often said that I will love Mick St. John for the rest of my life.
It is the fanfic that keeps Moonlight alive for me as well as opening the other characters up for me, a big example being Josef.
All our wonderful writers who give Josef the depth that often was missing in the episodes, the exeption being Sleeping Beauty, of course.
Let me pose another question. How would you feel if there was no Moonlight Fandoms at all, of any sort?
I would be devastated!
I would miss you all so much. I want us all to grow older together!

Oh AussieJo, the growing older part is inevitable anyway, so don't fear.

For me, the obsession has quieted down to a passion. There were times when I was hanging around at the boards 24/7 and it wasn't healthy, really. I'm more balanced now, and have learned to let some websites go that I don't need to visit, concentrate of the best three or so, and not fret when I'm off the boards for a day or two.
I still miss Mick, but I tell myself that with fanfic we really have much better stories than we could have ever had if the show would have seen another season or more. I think I have somewhat out-analyzed everything, but then when I watch an episode again there are still new things to discover.
I followed Alex to H5O and like it a lot, but it's not the all-consuming love and the need to analyze every tidbit of show, like I had with Moonlight. I guess it's a once-in-a-lifetime thing for me. I've never had a crush on an actor like I have on Alex, but if it wasn't for his Mick-portrayal I wouldn't really have noticed him.
The fandom here is what keeps me here now. I really love that I made friends over the world through this little show.