I'm a Christian... and I write about dark things

  I’m aware that a lot of people aren’t going to agree with my post- I’ve already met people who disagree.  But please bear with me.

  Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Hunger Games, and the Door Within trilogy- I read and have watched all of these at some point in my life, and *gasp* I enjoyed them!  I found valuable lessons in all of them!  Surprising right!?  

  I draw inspiration for my stories from what I read- so yes, you could call what I write “dark.”  It has magic, and gruesome creatures, death, and broken characters (actually, I haven’t quite reached that emotional trauma of broken characters yet, but I’m learning).  

  I can imagine people reading this and being confused on why I would find such things good or enjoyable.  

  Before I explain anything, here is the definition of “dark.”  With little or no light.  There.  Are you satisfied?  Well, I’m not.  I’m a word freak, bear with me as I display the definition of the polar opposite: light.  Having a considerable or sufficient amount of natural light.  Since we’re talking of dark in a spiritual sense, it’s only fair to speak of light in the same terms.  Natural light, therefore, can only have one true definition and symbol, which would be Jesus Christ.  Darkness is obviously our hearts- the hearts of man.  It drags all the way back to the Garden of Eden, where Adam and Eve sinned, and were separated from God.  Their hearts turned black, and dark- no light could be let in, and there could be no darkness in light.  

  So, there is the establishment of “dark” for the moment.  “Dark” is not the common belief of heavy subjects such as murder, magic, and battles.  “Darkness,” by definition, is the complete lack of light- no good in it, whatsoever.  

  Now, another common belief among Christians (at least from what I have witnessed), is that every secular book is completely dark, they have no light in them at all.  Which brings me back the two series I mentioned earlier- The Hunger Games, and Harry Potter.  These two popular series are always up for debate, whether they have dark themes, light themes, or if maybe they are just hollow with no deeper meaning to them.  From the definitions we set up earlier, neither of these books are dark.  That being said, they are not Christian books, and therefore have no natural light to them.  That doesn’t mean however that they are completely lost in beautiful biblical themes though.  That’s right.  I just said Harry Potter and The Hunger Games has biblical themes.  I can imagine some of you being completely revolted by now.

  In order to explain this belief though, I need to explain another concept- be back in a moment (sorry for jumping around so much).  

  Step back from the cute little bible stories you know, and the hopeful story layering beneath it, and look at the bible as simply a book and a story.  The bible is probably the “darkest (by common definition)” book in the universe- if you look at it as just a story, not something to believe in.  The reason it is such a light filled book, is obviously because of Christ.  Jesus Christ, God, the crucifixion, and the rising is what makes it a book that makes us find peace and hope in it- and the fact that it’s true makes it so much sweeter.  But my point is, we are all dark, but Jesus’ redemption, and hope- His light- floods out the darkness once we’ve accepted it.  

  The darkness and the light is always in battle inside of us, therefore we relate to characters who are always in the darkness, who are being seeked by redemption, but runs from it instead.  I don’t think many people are going to like me at this moment, but I am saying that a lot (not all) of books in the Christian market display perfect people who never battle with evil, they always know exactly what to do, and do it with ease.  The only problem is now to get past the horrible bad guys who don’t believe in God- preaching to them along the way also.  Yeah, that’s a good book, I guess.  People look at it longingly, and think, I wish I didn’t have problems, like them.  No, this isn’t relatable.  

  Characters who battle with the darkness, who have suicidal thoughts, going through depression, angry at God since they were little children.  This is what we can relate to, not the other stuff.

  We want stories of characters battling the darkness in them, then coming out in faith of hope and redemption.  

Whatever I tell you in the dark, speak in the light; and what you hear in the ear, preach on the housetops.  Matthew 10:27

  This is where I mention The Hunger Games and Harry Potter once again.  The Hunger Games series is about a girl dealing and battling with her beliefs of self sacrifice, death, life, and murder.  And coming out in the end, still battling with these things- and the traumatic experiences she has witnessed- but now seeking out love, hope, and peace.  

  Harry Potter is a story of an abused boy, hopeless, and sure he’s worthless.  Then he is told he’s so much more than that.  But he still deals with his past insecurities, piled on with new ones.  He deals with hopelessness, self sacrifice, doubts of importance, death, love, friendship, overwhelming burdens, and bravery.  And in the end, he still faces those things, but with hope, and bravery- with loads of other qualities learned and still battled- he can make the right decision.  

  Those battles and endings, we can all relate too, we can’t relate to the typical Christian characters and stories- I’m sorry.  

  "I write entirely to find out what I'm thinking, what I'm looking at, what I see and what it means. What I want and what I fear." -Joan Didion

 When you pick up a book, you pick up part of an author’s soul.  They spent hours preparing this book for your enjoyment, and cried tears over the hard work.  But they never just write it for the reader.  They write to discover.  As I write, I discover bits and pieces of my soul and my beliefs.  My battles are battled in my story.  I don’t know anything until I write it down.  My hands reveal words of my mind, and battles of my heart I didn’t know about before.  

  So, yes.  I am a Christian, and I am a writer who writes about “dark” things, but in order to examine my mind, and help others to examine their’s.

“For real love brings pain. Real love means sacrifices and hurts and all the thousand shocks of life. But it also means beauty, true beauty.” -Moonblood

Baker Street

  Addy and Thacia have entered a new realm! Eliana and I are very excited about this world, and have several ideas for it. We would also like to apologize for how badly written the stories on the Percy Jackson world were. We promise we're going to do better with this new realm, and the ones to come. So, this next story, I have written, and it is set in the fantastic world of BBC's Sherlock. Enjoy!

Thacia and Addy stared down Baker street, watching as a man strolled quietly into an apartment.  Being the adventurers and stalkers they were, they followed closely behind, into the apartment building.  They creaked up the stairs behind him.  Something nagged at the back of Thacia’s mind, something just sudden, that made her stop in her tracks, but she ignored it, and walked on.  As she and Addy reached the top of the stairs, they heard the conversation between the man they had followed, and another man, who they both quickly recognized.  Sherlock.  A broad demented smile stretched across Thacia’s face.  She wanted to laugh for joy and victory, but then, of course, that would give the two of them away.  So she kept her mouth shut.  

  Thacia listened closely, reminding herself she was listening to a possibly historic conversation.  A conversation between the genius mind of Sherlock Holmes, and the infamous, demented Moriarty.  Who both Thacia and Addy stalked.  “Every fairytale needs a good old fashioned villain,” Moriarty said.

  Thacia’s smile broadened, and her eyes got wide at the genius words.  Addy turned around to Thacia, and was also smiling at the genius and truth in those words.  Moriarty was still talking, “You’re on the side of the angels,” he said disappointedly, then pausing.

  Now Sherlock, completely ignored Moriarty, said instead, “Got the jury, of course.”

  “I got into the Tower of London, you don’t think I can’t worm my way into twelve hotel rooms?”  Moriarty replied.

  “Cable network,” Sherlock replied, obviously just coming to this conclusion.

  Bloody brilliant!  Thacia thought.  Not that she’d ever do it- well, maybe- but just bloody brilliant!  “Every person has their pressure point,” Moriarty continued, "Someone they want to keep from harm.  Easy peasy.”

  “So how are you going to do it?”  Sherlock asked, changing the subject again, “Burn me.”  You could hear the mockery in his voice.

  “Oh, that’s the problem.  The final problem.  Have you worked out what it is yet?  What’s the final problem?  I did tell you, but did you listen?”  he sang the last part, and then there was a pause.  “How hard do you find it?  Having to say I don’t know.”

  Addy, in front of Thacia, turned around to Thacia, and whispered, “They change subjects a lot.”

  “I know!”  Thacia mouthed, completely insane as always.

  Thacia watched as Addy crossed her eyes, then turned back to the conversation, where Moriarty was laughing and calling Sherlock clever.  “Have you told your little friends yet?”  he then asked.

  “Told them what?”  Sherlock asked.

  “Why I broke into all those places and never took anything.”

  “No,” Sherlock answered- the least amount of words Thacia had ever heard come out of him.  She gaped dramatically, but quietly, and to herself.  

  “But you understand?”  

  “Obviously." This time, Addy turned to Thacia, and gaped at her, and Thacia almost laughed.

  Moriarty had said something in that moment, then Sherlock replied, “You want me to tell you what you already know?”

  “No, I want you to prove you know it,” Moriarty answered.

  “You didn’t take anything . . . because you don’t need to.”

  “Good.”

  “You’ll never need to take anything ever again.”

  “Very good . . . Because?”  Moriarty prodded Sherlock for answers.

  “Because nothing- nothing- in the bank of England or the tower of London, or the Pentonville prison, could possibly match the value of the key that could get you into all three.”

  “I could open any door, anywhere, with a few tiny lines of computer code.  There’s no such thing as a private bank account now.  They’re all mine.  There’s no such thing as secrecy, I own secrecy.  Nuclear codes, I could blow up nations in alphabetical order.  In a world of locked rooms, the man with the key is king- and honey, you should see me in a crown,” Moriarty sang the last sentence as a drawn out line.

  Thacia whispered into Addy’s ear, “What is with him and singing?”  

  Addy turned and faced Thacia, and mouthed, “I know!”

  Then they both turned back to the conversation, where Sherlock was talking again, “You could break into any bank, but you care about the highest bidder?”

  “I don’t.  I just like to watch them all competing.  Daddy, loves me the best.  Aren’t ordinary people adorable?  Well you know, you’ve got John.  I should get myself a live in one.”

  “Why are you doing all this?”  Sherlock suddenly asked, clearly at a lost.  Gosh, Sherlock.  Don’t you know anything?

  “Must be so funny,” Moriarty spoke over Sherlock.  From the way he obliviously said it, he seemed to still be on the subject of ordinary people.  

  “You don’t want money, or power, not really.  What is it all for?”  Sherlock asked, again, still contemplating.

  Thacia wanted to laugh in Sherlock’s face.  Moriarty answered, “I want to solve the problem.  Our problem.  The final problem.  It’s gonna start very soon, Sherlock.  The fall… But don’t be scared.  Falling’s just like flying, except there’s a more permanent destination.”

  Thacia heard one of them stand, and the other followed.  “I never liked riddles,” Sherlock said.

  “Learn to,” Moriarty responded.  “Because I owe you a fall, Sherlock.  I...O...U…”

  Then Thacia and Addy heard Moriarty begin to leave the room, and they quickly hid.  Moriarty strolled passed them, as both Thacia and Addy tried to keep from laughing along with their insanity.  After the door shut downstairs, Sherlock spoke from inside his flat, while playing the violin, “You two can come out now.”

  Dying of laughter, they barreled into the room.  “Stop your bumbling, and tell me what you’re doing here,” Sherlock stated, clearly annoyed.

  He practically threw down his violin, tossing it off his shoulder.  After Thacia and Addy got a grip on their laughter, they calmed… and then laughed again.  Thacia could see Sherlock standing in front of them, completely perturbed, and waiting for an explanation.  Addy was first to recover, so she answered through her breaths, as Thacia continued to laugh her head off.  “Oh, gosh.  You two are mad,” Sherlock complained, as Addy began talking.

  “Well, we saw Moriarty strolling along the street, and Thacia said, ‘Hey, isn’t he supposed to be in jail?’  And then I said, ‘Well actually, the jury said he wasn’t guilty, and let him go, and blah, blah, blah.’  And so, we continued discussing this, and finally we realized we were following him, so we just said, ‘Hey-”

  “Oh, stop rambling,” Sherlock interrupted as he turned away, staring out the window.

  Thacia had finally caught her breath, and she objected to his statement, “We’ll ramble if we want to ramble!”

  “Anyways, why are you here?”  Sherlock asked.

  “Because-” Thacia to answer, but something stopped her in her mind.

She stayed silent, trying to figure it out.  But Addy jumped in for her, answering.  Although, Thacia thought her voice sounded unsure of itself too.  “We came for an adventure, because we got bored, and were sick and tired.”

  Sherlock barely glanced behind him, hardly catching a glimpse of Thacia and Addy.  “You’re not sick,” he sniffed the air, “And you smell of the sea.”

  “Well, you smell of the sea!”  Thacia argued.

  “Oh, don’t speak, Thacia.  You lower the IQ on the entire street,” Sherlock said, still staring out the window.

  “Hey!”  Addy shouted, suddenly perturbed, “You got that from me!  I said that to you!”  Addy turned to Thacia, and started talking, “Thacia, he stole that from me.  Can you believe he stole that from me?”

  Sherlock grabbed them by their coats, “Alright, come on.  You can ramble outside.”

  Sherlock pulled Thacia and Addy downstairs, as they yelled at him for taking Addy’s line.  “You’re just jealous, because you haven’t come up with any genius lines,” Addy said, “Only my brother and I can come up with them.”

  Sherlock walked them down the stairs outside, let go, and walked back in, shutting the door.  “I can’t believe he stole your line!” Thacia said, stomping her foot.

  “I know,” Addy responded.

  “It makes me so…” she paused, then smiled, “Perturbed.”

  Addy stared at her weirdly, “Since when do you use the word, perturbed?”

  Thacia shrugged, “It’s my new favorite word.”

  Then they both started laughing.  “He doesn’t even know!”  Thacia shouted, laughing.

  “And never will,” Addy replied.

  Then they walked down Baker Street, laughing like maniacs.

Left Behind... Again

   Happy leap day, readers!  Today is another day of Realm Walkers, on leap day, no less (have I ever mentioned Addy and Thacia love leap day?).  This one is written by Eliana Maddox, and I'm sure you will find the surprise at the end quite fascinating.  Anyways, enjoy the next adventure.

      

Addy was waiting impatiently for Thalia to finish her recap of the adventure they had after leaving the dam.  Because of her impatience, she missed most of what Thalia said.  Addy looked at Thacia after Thalia finished.  “What did she say happened?”  Addy whispered.

  “I have no idea,” Thacia replied.

  “Oh.  All I got was that we need to get to the top of that mountain to rescue Artemis, but we already knew that part.”  Addy sighed.  

  She turned her attention back to the group in front of them.  Grover was using his satyr powers to communicate to the Ophiotaurus.  Addy looked toward the ginormous mountain to her right.  They were going to have to climb that?  All the way to the top?  She was always ready for another adventure, but her legs kind of ached at the thought of climbing something so tall you couldn’t see the top because it was hidden in the tallest clouds.   Addy turned to Thacia who had followed her gaze to the mountain.  “Well this’ll be fun!”  Thacia said.

  “I know!  But my legs are gonna be so sore afterwards,” Addy replied.  

  “Maybe we don’t have to climb… Maybe!  they’ll do some magic-god- thingy to get us to the top!”

  “Oooh!”  Addy liked the sound of that.  She turned to get an answer from Zoe, when she saw they were gone again.  “What?  Again!?  What is this!?”  she shouted, devastated.

  “Fine!  We can tell when we’re not wanted!”  Thacia shouted too.

  They didn’t shout in any particular direction, seeing as they had no idea which way their companions had gone.  Addy walked over next to some beach bum’s chair and sat down.  Thacia followed.  “Man,” Addy said, “They always leave us behind.”

  “I know,” replied Thacia.

 “It’s gotta be hard work saving the world, I mean.”

  “Yeah…  but we coulda helped,” Thacia said somewhat quietly.

  They both sat in silence for a moment, watching the waves roll.  There was definitely a storm coming, but it was no natural disaster, it was the cause of those stupid titans.  Addy started to mess with the hair tie on her wrist out of boredom, when suddenly she remembered the Portalian nailpolish in her pocket.  She pulled it out and stared at the label.  “We never did find out what this was,” Addy stated, jerking Thacia’s attention.  “It was just in my pocket when we talked about those weird dreams we had.”

  “Yeah, that was weird.  You’re not a daughter of Aphrodite!”  Thacia shouted, repeating what she had said the first time they discovered it.

  “You already said that!”  Addy shouted back.

  “I know!  I just needed to make it clear.”

  Addy opened the nail polish and started writing, ‘Addy was here,’ on the wall behind them.  “What are you doing!?”  Thacia asked.

  “What does it look like I’m doing?”  was the indignant response.  When Addy had finished, Thacia sntached the bottle yelled, “My turn!”  and started writing underneath.  Thacia got through the words, ‘Thacia was-’ before the bottle ran out of polish.

  “You used to much!”  Thacia shouted.

  “No, I didn’t!  See!  I didn’t even do it that big!”

  “Stupid nail polish!”  Thacia said as she threw the bottle down.

  It landed no more than five feet away.  There was a sudden flash of bright light.  Where the bottle had landed and was now a circle about three feet in diameter, with a whole new scene then the scene that was there a moment ago.  Addy stepped closer.  It was a street.  “This is weird,” Thacia said.

  “Yeah, I know!  It’s kinda like the end of that crazy dream we had.  You know, except with nail polish and not a rock, and it was sand and not a wall.  But the point stands,” Addy rambled.

  “What’re you two up to now?”  asked a familiar voice.  It came from the man occupying the seat next to them.  Once again, Addy recognized him as her father, Apollo, in disguise.

  “Oh, nothing!  Just a bit of trouble, that’s all.”  Addy answered.

  “Oh, I see.  Well, you two girls enjoy yourselves.  Where you headed?”  he questioned.

  “Uhm… Baker Street!”  Thacia answered this time, reading the street sign from below.  

  “Ah, have fun,” he said again before disappearing.

  Addy and Thaca glanced at each other one more time, both sets of eyes sparkling with curiousity.  And with that, they jumped to greet their new adventure.

Weekend Goals

   Hey guys!  Sorry about missing the last few weeks of the weekend goals, I've been gone most weekends, and been busy.  But don't worry, I've been making progress on my writing, so that's good.  Anyways, lets get to the goals for this weekend.
   I want to write my little mermaid re-telling this weekend, and get some posts done for the coming weeks.

Top Ten Tuesdays- Songs that Should be Books

   Hey!  Today is Top Ten Tuesday over at Broke and Bookish!  Today, the subject is, the top ten songs you think should be books.  So, here's my list, and under each song is a little brainstorming session between myself and my mind, thinking of stories to match up with each of the songs.  Hope you enjoy!

1. Kings and Queens- Audio Adrenaline

   I think this song is dystopian, or maybe fantasy.  The world is going through terrible times, mainly peasants probably, maybe it's repeat of the French Revolution?  The main character has a past similar to this song, but then was taken in by someone, who nurtured them.  Maybe the main character took this care for granted, and when they leave, they... go on an inner journey (of course with some adventure) to finally be grateful for the help, and they begin to care for those they see around them?  How does that sound?

2. It's Not Over Yet- for King and Country

   Dystopian, sci-fi, or fantasy.  And the main character would be strong and bold, despite the trials thrown at them.  Or maybe, they only look that way, on their own they're not so strong.  This would be an action filled book, and the climax would have to be amazing, and just blow away the standards of a regular climax.  

   

3. Speak Life- Tobymac

   I'm thinking this has a feel of dystopian.  And the main character is maybe an straight forward person, who doesn't think before they speak.  Then the main character meets up with a mentor who has the same problem- or had- as they- or maybe it's not with the mentor, maybe it's with someone else- go on an adventure, and they learn the power of their words.  Or something of the sort.

4. I Am Yours- Lauren Daigle

   When I first listened to the lyrics of the chorus, one of my first thoughts, was the concept would make an awesome fantasy world.  It's all just coming together in my mind, the main character would be a softer-speaking, but strong person.  And you know what?... Now that I'm thinking about it, this song works pretty well for the little mermaid re-telling I'm in the middle of writing. *thoughtful expression*

5. All This Time- Britt Nicole

    Creating a character who has this backstory, would be amazing.  First of all, you'd get to create this backstory, and because of this (I'm picturing this song as a scene in the characters life), I would imagine have a family/school relationships dynamic.  But then, if this happened when the character was at a young age, you'd get to create the growth arc of the character for the years between then, and the point of the story.  Also, this one point of their life would have to be a large dynamic to the story, or whatever happened would have to be the theme.  If the latter were the case, then, the main character could actually have the mentor/sidekick role, maybe?  Then of course, the theme would be expanded on further through this mentor character's eyes.  Hmm... I'll have to store this idea away for later.  

6. City on Our Knees- Tobymac

   I'm thinking a dystopian world for this song.  The planet is one city, or it takes place in the capital of the world... and this world is falling apart.  One character high up in the government, or maybe a very lowly person, somehow, someway, changes the world.  I think I'm picturing a dystopian christian version of the Princess Academy series.

7. Give me your Eyes- Brandon Heath

   Once again, this would make for beautiful message, and a great mentor/main character relationship.  I think this story would be a good one, just set up here on this world, and this time.  Or maybe I'm wrong, and it would make a good historical.  The possibilities!

8. No Longer Slaves- Bethel Music

   This would make an exquisite song for the inner journey a character could go through.  Maybe a historical?  A character who has been afraid a lot- maybe there's a war going on, or a plague- and they go through a journey to find peace and courage in God.  Actually, that sounds like Crispin: A Cross of Lead, sort of.  

9. Waterfall- Moriah Peters

   The feel of the song definitely makes me think of dystopian.  The government...... or maybe, the government is the church?  But it's not a Christ following church.  They teach that you can't be saved... and change the bibles.  Okay, as I'm thinking of this, an old story idea I had once, comes to my mind.  It was a story where the government was a church, and it was a little like Divergent (I hadn't watched it then, I just knew about it), in the way that at a certain age, they got to choose a specific church to attend.  And they were taught one way of thinking, and the bible had actually been changed in this time, but the citizens didn't know about it.  But then, the main character found a whole bunch of old bibles, the version that the church was not telling anyone about.  ...I might have to pick that idea back up someday.

10. Say Something- A Great Big World

   I know this isn't a Christian song, but I love this song so much!  It's just so beautiful!  And if you think of the words referring to Jesus, then it mostly fits.  But if I'm thinking about it as a story, there's a main character who's been slowly drifting away from God, and the story's theme is entirely her/him coming back to him.  I don't really know what the genre is, but I think it would fit with any of genre.  Anyways, this would be a cool story to write. 

   You know what, this is fun, and I'm just going to put this out there.  Why don't you guys comment some songs you would like to see as a story, and I'll write a short story about one of them soon.  Hope you enjoyed all of that!

Prayer Warriors

Hey!  I have a new blog you might be interested in.  It's a blog for those who want simple daily prayer prompts.  And there's the gist of it.  Hope you all enjoy it, and I'll see you next week!

http://supplicamentum.blogspot.com/

Top Ten Fictional BFFs

  I don’t know about you guys, but I personally love reading and watching fictional best friends.  They’re amazing, and a whole lot of fun to watch interact.  I especially love writing about pairs of friends.  I think it sprouts from the joy I’ve always had of having friends- but then, who doesn’t love having friends?

  Anyways, this week I’m giving you guys a list of my top ten favorite fictional best friends.  And just a side note, I did not realize until after I compiled the list that all of them were from tv shows or movies.    Have fun reading them, and hopefully you’ll recognize a few of them.  

1. Merry and Pippin 
   
2. Sherlock and John
   
3. Fred and George
   
4. The Doctor and Amy
   
5. The Doctor and Donna
   
   
   
6. Merlin and Arthur
   
7. Harry and Ron
   
8. Harry and Hermione
   
9. The Doctor and the Tardis
   
10. Frodo and Sam