The Seeds of Mortal Hearts & Shadows | Writing | Faith

As some of you may or may not, I Faith am a writer and I am currently working on writing my first book. Recently, while going through my files on my USB stick I found the original draft of Mortal Hearts & Shadows. Although this is not what it was called originally, this is the very, very, very first draft where I came up with the original storyline. It's both sentimental and cringe worthy to see what my 12 year old brain came up with. However, it's interesting to see because there are scenes in my more recent first draft that came from the first draft I ever wrote. It's interesting to see what they were originally. It's also very interesting to see my characters in their original format I guess you could say. 

One day, I really just want to sit down and read it because I really just wanna see how my story originally was. It's very strange because during the time I wrote this, I thought I was such a great writer and had dreams of publishing before I turned sixteen. YUP. That's me. Now I'm Seventeen and sadly haven't accomplished that dream, however, hopefully one day I will publish one of my stories. However I will sat that I probably won't be as naive as I was before. 

This is a draft where Sabrina knew how to use a sword, had like 3--maybe 4 love interests, and oh my there was so much foreshadowing in this draft. If I could describe this draft as a TV show, I would describe it as season 1 of Shadowhunters.

Anyway, I thought it would be fun to share with you the first section of this draft. But first, I will share some very odd lines that I actually wrote at the age of twelve. You ready?

“Can I see your sword?” Charles asked. Sabrina pulled out her sword out of her sheath and handed it to him. “It’s very light and thin it matches your royal wand that is not cute at all.” Charles said                                                               

 “What’s that supposed to mean. It’s not cute at all.” Sabrina said mocking his voice.                                   

 “I’m saying it’s cute.” Charles said with a smile.      

The scene I'm about to show is your one of my favorite scenes I have ever come up between my characters Sabrina and Charles. It obviously doesn't read like this now, but nonetheless it was still fun to read the original version. Keep in my mind it's really short because it actually reveals a lot of stuff that I didn't know it did. Oops.

Everyone was asleep on their blankets. Everyone was around the bonfire because everyone had used there blankets to sleep on also every ones weapons were either clutched in their hands or beside the blankets. Sabrina’s hair was straight and no longer in a high ponytail. She was wearing a white button up shirt and her tight leather pants and boots and also had a small dagger inside her boots. Sabrina was sitting on the grass staring at the stars and she noticed how bright and beautiful they were.                                                   

  “Enjoying the view?” Charles said while slowly rising off his blanket.                                                       

 “I thought you were asleep.” Sabrina said raising her eyebrow                                      

 “It takes a while for me to go to sleep when I’m sleeping in a new place.” Charles said standing up to sit beside Sabrina.                                                                                

“Really? Me too, on the first night this is what I did. The stars remind me of my dad and my brother, Latameer. He isn’t really my brother but he basically is.”                                 

“Yeah Albert’s children are beautiful.” Charles said        

Anyway if you'd like to read more about my writing journey specifically with Mortal Hearts & Shadows I'll link you to my most recent post about writing which is, "My Experience with Vomitting". You can read that HERE   

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Shadowhunters | You Are Not Your Own | 2x12 | Review & Dicussion | Faith

This episode had a lot of great moments, however as always it had it's downfalls. While for the most part, I felt that the writer of this episode had a really good grip on the story---there was one moment in the show where it all shattered.

Let's start this review off with a positive note. Jace is no longer a Lightwood, Wayland, Morgernstern confused Shadowhunter. HE HAS A FAMILY and that family (if you've read the books you already know this) are the HERONDALES! I was so not expecting this revelation this early in the show, I certaintly was suprised that's for sure. I was squealing---actually squealing when his background was let out into the world. I wasn't really a fan of how it came out because I feel like using Valentine as a an information giver was good once. However despite that, there was this beautiful, beautiful moment between Imogen and Jace at the very end of the episode. She has this really heartfelt talk with him, and she gave him the Herondale ring and I was so close to tears in that moment. In that moment, I saw Jace---like book Jace. It was such a vulnerable scene and I believe it was done really well.

The acting in this episode was absolutley fantastic! I wasn't a fan of the freaky friday aspect of the episode, however I felt that it really brought out the strengths and abilities of Alan Van Sprang (Valentine) and Harry Shum Jr (Magnus). It was very interesting. I honestly did not know what to expect from this episode because these are real people---actors pretending to be their original character, pretending to be another character. It's areas of acting like this that can either make or break one's performance. When their minds were switched, I really did see Magnus in Valentine's body which was super disturbing in a way because it was Valentine. And I did see Valentine in Magnus's body which was more unsettling than anything else. Both of the actors did an amazing job portraying the different versions of pain the characters felt.

Now onto Clace. All I can say is wow, like their chemistry is on FIRE this season. That's all I'm going to say because now we are going to be moving on to the other point of the dumbest love triangle. 

Climon.

Listen, I love Climon but you know---as best friends. Not in love best friends---platonic no romantic chemistry what so ever Climon. And you know, the writers are really milking this whole love triangle and climon thing. I think it's supposed to be "building anticipation" within the audience but I honestly just think it's building annoyance because again, it's super obvious on who she is going to end up with. So Simon and Clary slept together. I'm mad. Not because of the whole virginity thing but because they're practically like siblings. BEFORE I CONTINUE, I'd like to point something out. Recently, I submitted a "confession" to a popular Shadowhunters account. It's a great place to see others opinions and what not so I decided to state my opinion on Climon. This is what it read.

"So supposedly according to the promo, Simon and Clary sleep together. I was not a fan, and so were many other people were upset because of one thing. VIRGINITY. I get why they're mad because of the books, I've read them I know what happens. But with how the show is, pretty sure Simons not a virgin, and I think they're playing it out that Clary isn't either. I still feel weird about them having sex but not for the sake of the books but because Simon and Clary are like siblings so it's weird to see them romantically linked like that."

Someone who seemed quite annoyed with my confession was just like (this is just an example) "THESE CLACE STANS ACTING LIKE THIS WHEN THEY SHIPPED CLACE IN THE BOOKS WHEN THEY THOUGHT THEY WERE SIBLINGS." I don't ship incest. Never have and I never will. I am a Clace shipper, and did ship it in City of Ashes but I knew they weren't siblings but also just because I wanted them as couple, it didn't mean I supported the incest aspect that was in City of Ashes.

Anyway, what makes me sad about this whole Climon thing is that as the audience and as a reader, I know that Climon isn't forever. They will eventually go back to being best friends, but how can you go back to being in a completely platonic friendship when you've been so intimate with someone physically and emotionally? I don't want to see the heartbreak of Climon because there shouldn't be any because there was an acceptance that it wasn't meant to be in the books. I also don't want to go through the awkwardness that comes from that. They're wasting so much time on this ship 98% of the Shadowhunters fans hate when we could be spending time on the development of the show, storyline and even other more liked and better ships.

Can we also just talk about how Clary has only been in the institute for like a couple of weeks and she can already face Jace in a fight without much struggle... #REALISM. I bet they're just gonna say it's due to her angel blood. 

Sebastian was absolutely brilliant in this episode. Will Tudor & Katherine McNamara have amazing chemistry. BEFORE SOME OF YOU FREAK OUT. Chemistry doesn't mean I ship people in the show, to be clear I do not ship Clary and Sebastian. Anyway, he's been in two episodes and he is already one of the most well rounded characters in the show. You can already tell he has so much depth and backstory and I am so looking forward to seeing where they take him on this show because I am loving it so far.

They're also planting the seeds for Sizzy. I am so ready for Sizzy.

You know what I wanna see more of in Shadowhunters, actual demon hunting. I feel like it's hyped up to be this demon hunting show but we only see them a) fight with eachother (shadowhunters) b) demons that look like people and c) downworlders. I wanna see like ACTUAL demons in their true form not masked ones. I'm only saying this because for a show thats about shadowhunters, there sure isn't a lot of demon hunting.

Those are all of my thoughts regarding this episode. 

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Reading for myself or for others? | Faith

Hello there, long time no post. Normally, I would try and come up with an excuse for this but I can't. School's been pretty chill and I'm nearing the end of my senior year so there's that. I've also been writing my book or right now I'm actually just revising it. Back to the topic of graduation, it hit me like a ton of bricks last week. I've been getting really, really excited for my grad--so excited that I'm actually quite giddy about it. I don't know, these past few months have been really awesome. Haven't had a bad day at school in such a long time--really amazing how cutting out the source of negativity in your life can impact it for the better within days. That's literally how I was and it's awesome. But I'm sure you don't care to hear about my personal things. Well--this is a little bit of a personal post, but it does relate to books, so if you're interested in hearing this please read on! 

I've kind of always been the kind of person who likes to say "It doesn't have to make you happy, it just has to make me happy," when it comes to my likes and interests. I know that people in my life judge me for certain things, I am a coin collector and the wizard of Oz merchandise who knows what else. I've been judged for popular series I love like the Hunger Games and those were areas I never let people get in the way of. Yet, there was one thing in my life that I did let others find their way into and that was my reading life. 

Reading has always, always been a huge part of my life and lately I haven't had the same passion and drive to read as I did as I did in Middle School. At first, I couldn't really put my finger on it, but one day I realized what it was. It's you. It's not me, it's you. What I mean by that is that it's YA readers like you. Everyone in the book community has an influence on what I read nowadays, and usually I'm only reading certain books because everyone else is reading them. When this happens, I tend to not really enjoy them because I'm just not that into overhyped books that everyone in the world is reading--I can be but recently I haven't. This honestly takes so much away from my reading my experience because I feel so much pressure to love the book because everyone else loved it.

Not only this, I would feel bad about not liking it---feel free to shame my 14 year old self because I wrote so many fake reviews.

It came to a point where I dreaded reading because I felt all this pressure to enjoy it--love it. All the books on my TBR were books everyone else was excited for. For the first time in months I found a book that I loved so much that I was so eager to find another book like that. I miss having that experience of that itch you need to scratch you know? It's such a happy and joyous feeling and I really miss that.

I've also had to come to some sort of acceptance. I had to accept that it's okay to really hate or not enjoy a certain book. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion and if someone doesn't like you because of you rating a book one star---they don't deserve to have you in their life haha.

This was just a short post to express my thoughts.

Tell me, are any of you like this as well?

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Shadowhunters | 2x11 | Review & Discussion | Faith

This was possibly the best episode of Shadowhunters. You know, I could totally just be reeling from the episode, so maybe I'll just say that it's one of the best episodes of Shadowhunters. There were various components of the episode, and it all fit together very well in my opinion.

One of the actors/characters that really stuck out to me this episode was Jace played by Dominic Sherwood. In the first season, it never really seemed like the show got who Jace really was as a character. In this season, both the writers and Dominic Sherwood are bringing Jace to life in an amazing way. He's cocky but you can still see his heart. These were elements of his character I felt were very lost in the first season. However, in this episode, his character really, really shined. We've come to a point with Jace where he's been suppressing all of these emotions for the sake of himself and other people for so long that he broke, and to see him break is super gripping and it made my heart drop.

You know what's a big but very dumb component of Shadowhunters. The love triangle. YES YES Love triangles still do exist in the world we live in, and it's oh so terrible. I will have you know that yes, I am a close fan, yes I might hate Climon but not because I'm #Clace. It's because Climon are best friends, and are practically like siblings. I think the reason why they hyped up Climon is because they really want it to be like WHO WILL CLARY CHOOSE? Honestly, it's so cringy to see them on screen together as a couple--it doesn't feel right. It honestly would've been so much more interesting to see Clary be with Simon for the sake of hiding her feelings for Jace. It honestly would've added so much more depth to the show and it would also make the whole relationship thing more interesting. Seeing Clary be with Simon and be torn between her feelings is SO, SO CLICHE. It's overused and it's been so played out on the show where it's annoying because it's so obvious who she's gonna choose. Like everyone knows. The showrunners have confirmed it without really saying it. Sissy is gonna happen guys--so that means class is gonna happen. I don't doubt that Clary is attracted to Simon but just because you're attracted to someone, it doesn't mean you are a good fit.

Sometimes, love triangles can be done well. In this case, not really because it's super teenagery. It gets old going back and forth when the audience clearly favours one side over the other. Having Clary with Simon for the entirety of the 2nd season would be so pointless, I want Climon but as best friends. It's come to a point where now that it's official that they're not siblings, the whole debacle with the love triangle is so dumb. There's no anticipation over whose she's gonna choose in the end. 

There are also fans out there who think she's gonna end up with Simon because they're straying so far from the books. While they do stray off, they stay true to the main plot points and relationships. Also, if Climon were to be endgame---do you actually realize how low the ratings would be? The Mortal Instruments fandom is crazy.

In the recent promos, it is shown that Clary sleeps with Simon. Now in promos, they can often show things that are not what they seem. I don't know if that's what they're doing with this promo but here are my opinions on the subject. So many fans are upset because of one thing, virginity. Losing one's virginity in TV shows and movies is very glamourized, it's always a very big deal--it was in the books. People are upset because they think that Clary loses it to Simon. Honestly, I don't think we should be upset because of the characters losing virginity because I'm pretty sure Simon and Clary aren't virgins in the show. For me, I am more upset because Climon is a beautiful friendship and having those two characters sleep together--when being so mentally in tune with one another--they're best friends, I don't think that they could come out of a relationship as easily as they did in the books which is very saddening to think about. Also, when they're together as a couple--it feels more incesty than it did with Clace.

On to the next topic. As I briefly mentioned in the beginning---this episode had a lot of great moments! This might sound strange but I really loved the scene where they were torturing Valentine with that Rune because it really just shows that he is literally just a Shadowhunter--a rogue one yes but he is still a Shadowhunter and is still vulnerable to things like torture runes.

Speaking of runes, Jace's angelic abilities were showcased in this episode and can I just say something--GOLD EYES.

A new character was introduced into the show and that was Sebastian Morgernstern! Oh my goodness I love him so, so much! I'm already starting to like his character but as the audience we can sort of tell that their is something off with his character. I can't wait to see what they do with his character, as well as see Will Tudors portrayal. 

Those were my main thoughts on the epiosde. There were more but they were just little side thoughts. I promise I'll go into more depth with the next episodes. Right now, I'm trying on focusing on creating as many posts as I can to post for all of you!

Thank you so much!

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