A Little Shout Out to Isaiah Mustafa

Some actors deserve a shout out every now and then.

Isaiah Mustafa is one of them.

You may not recognize the name Isaiah Mustafa, but you might recognize him. He starred in a number of Old Spice commercials. Let me jog your memory.

Isaiah’s character, Luke Garroway, isn’t the sexiest guy. That isn’t to say he’s not good looking.

PLEASE, let’s just be clear. He’s good looking.

But we don’t have many reasons to see Luke in intimate situations like with do with many of the other characters. 

Especially since they killed off the love of his life, Jocelyn.
Talk about awkward, especially because she’s still alive in the books.
Someone was hating on Luke THAT day.

Luke is the dad figure in the show.
Not only does he serve as Clary’s father, he was also a father to Simon during his formative years.
Simon uses that connection to help stop Luke from losing himself after Jocelyn dies.

Luke also helps Simon deal with being a vampire. Something Simon never wanted, especially because it has put such a strain on his relationship with his mom. Luke is all Simon has left of his “real life”.

But wait – there’s MORE!
Luke is “dad-like” to several of the pack members, most especially Maia. He helped her through a rough time in her life.

But actually, I didn’t write this to talk about Isaiah’s character.

I really wanted to talk about Isaiah.

Isaiah is the king of memes!

While he normally posts some during the Live Tweets, during the break he kicked it up a notch.
Every Monday evening, starting around 8 pm, Isaiah has been posting memes on his Twitter wall.
It’s called Meme Monday and he tags #ShadowhuntersChat.

It helps keep us all engaged while we wait (impatiently) for June 5^th.
They’re always images from the show and they tell a story.
And yeah, they’re pretty silly, but they’re also pretty cute.

The latest story, from May 15^th, uses images from the cast’s Bello magazine feature and ties them to a story. 

This week, we’re on the case of who glued Magnus’ hands to a table.

Spoiler. It was Luke.

I also had the pleasure of watching most of a live stream with Isaiah during his Takeover Day.

It was one of the BEST live videos I’ve seen yet. I full 46 minutes of Isaiah.

I can’t say I caught the WHOLE thing – I was working. I think it had been a long day and someone had a puppy. I got distracted.

But seriously. THIS VIDEO.
He even offered a little challenge with a prize. 

I was SO CLOSE.
SO CLOSE ISAIAH.
I think I was like.. the SECOND person to answer.. but, honestly, it’s hard to keep track of the chat.
But close. I was super close.

I love that Isaiah plays to his fans. That he tries to keep us engaged. 

He acknowledges fan art that gets sent to him.
He gives us challenges.
Long story short, Isaiah loves his fans and we love him!

My thoughts on #MalecDeservesBetter

Okay, let's talk #MalecDeservesBetter.

It starts with the episode "How Art Thou Fallen" (s2e7) - the same one where Malec's first time happens.

This episode of Shadowhunters has received a lot of heat for the Malec scene. Fans were disappointed in the lack of “skin time” Magnus and Alec had, especially when compared to Jace’s bare skin when fooling around with a Seelie “friend”.

Jace and Kaelie

In fact, fans took to Twitter to share just how upset they were. They felt like Malec was not given as much "skin" time because they were a same sex couple. Especially because within the same episode there was a much more intimate scene between Jace and a Seelie woman. 

 I'm not actually sure what the Seelie woman's name was.

Oooh.. no, I found it. Her name was Kaelie. 

Fans were so dismayed that they started a hashtag - #MalecDeservesBetter to make their voices heard. Posts spoke of equal representation for same-sex couples as heterosexual couples. They spoke of the awkwardness of the scene with Malec - we aren't even sure if they had sex in the end because it was so vague. That we are still in a world that still marginalizes LGBTQ+ people. 

#MalecDeservesBetter

I'm not going to argue with any of that.  

In fact, I love that the fandom can use Twitter to share their thoughts and views of the show. That the producers, directors and cast have the ability to see feedback from us, the viewers, as to what we think - good and bad. 

While fans have a right to feel jilted, I wonder if we are looking at that episode too insularly? 

What if Magnus and Alec’s “skin scene” is yet to come? 

While I admit that anytime we get to see Matt or Harry shirtless is a bonus, was this the moment we needed to see from Magnus and Alec? 

Harry/Magnus shirtless

Matt/Alec shirtless

Magnus might have the experience of 17,000 other partners, but he also admits his own vulnerability with taking the next step with Alec. And Alec - not only is it his first time with a man, it’s his first time EVER. Talk about pressure. 

I feel, personally, that these two deserve their first time to themselves. We’re building our relationship with Magnus and Alec by receiving these glimpses into their private life. It doesn’t need to happen all at once and we don’t need to see every intimate moment they have.

I don’t feel the Malec scene is equal to Jace’s moment with his Seelie friend earlier in the episode. Yes, overall we got more Jace skin than Malec skin, but how many more times is Jace going to make out with this particular Seelie? How many scenes does Jace get skinless overall? Was this really an intimate scene with Jace? 

I would argue that there was nothing romantic or loving about that scene – it was casual sex. If we look at it in this lens, then we realize that we haven’t seen anything special. The scene does help us understand where Jace’s mind is at and how’s he is dealing with the news of not only being Valentine’s son, which crushes his chances with Clary, but also learning that he was injected with demon blood. For a man who has spent his whole life trying to fight demons, this is a crushing blow.

                I’m not saying let’s not have some Malec skin time. 

                I’m all for Malec skin time.

                I’m just saying, if we only get one “intimate” Malec scene this season, I’d rather it be a bit further down the line.

                After they’ve figured things out a bit.

We’re getting to see this relationship blossom. It’s not a wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am kinda deal. That isn’t what Malec is about. They are about building love and trust. It's about the slow burn. 

So yeah, if by the end of the season, we have seen Magnus and Alec in bed some form of undress, I'll be upset. But I want to give Matt Hasting, Todd Slavkin and the Shadowhunters Writers the time to develop this relationship before I decide if this was truly about slighting a same-sex couple. 

There's still time friends.

We have 10 more episodes to go before this season is done! 

Here's to hoping the best is yet to come!

Shadowhunters Mid-Season Blues

I knew it was going to happen.

I was REALLY excited about Shadowhunters. I tweeted and posted about them on social media sites.
I joined Tumblr.|
I even started this blog.
Then the show went on hiatus until June 5^th and I started to fizzle.

A very slow fizzle.

A first I was still excited so I participated in some Appreciation Weeks.
I re-posted photos of specific actors and their appropriate character on specific days of the week. It was very technical – post your favorite Simon photo from Season 1 on X day.
But then I got behind and sidetracked and I kinda.. stopped.

Fellow Tweeter, Aneesa @slayfray, was really good at posting these! 

 I participated in RewatchShadowhunters2A on Saturdays at 5pm. 

For maybe 3 weeks.
Then spring happened and guess who didn’t want to be inside at 5pm watching Shadowhunters?
This girl.
And then once I got behind.. yeah, it went downhill from there.

I believe it was Malec Source‏ @MalecShSource who came up with this/

Don’t forget the fan fiction. I read that off and on but I think I got immersed in the books and I couldn’t focus on both.
It’s also really fun to check out fan art – but again, I feel like I was more into it when the show was active.

To make excuses for myself, life has been really busy. 

It’s the end of the semester at the College University that I work at, which makes it hard to focus on Shadowhunters.
Apparently people need/want more things as the semester closes.
I might even be grateful that Shadowhunters took the break when they did.

From City of Heavenly Fire

It's okay though.
There has been upsides.
I did read the books.
I’ve now finished all of The Mortal Instruments and I’ve just started The Infernal Devices.
And honestly, it was nice because I feel like it’s been awhile since I’ve had a good book series to chomp into.
Maybe I tweeted specific quotes or pages from the book.
No, it’s not as weird as you think.
Are you judging me?

I’ve also found some new Twitter friends.
Some of my friends are book friends – specifically the books Shadowhunters is based on.
There was this one moment, at the end of Book 5, when I hit a big shocker and I HAD to DM my book friend.
It was that big!
There are also Twitter friends that I just talk to about life, but we because friends because of Shadowhunters.
That’s actually been nice.

I watched some new shows and caught up on some.
I’m still really into Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., although the framework needs to go down!
Single By 30 and Me and My Grandma were good finds on YouTube Red.
I’m gonna be honest and say that I’m struggling through 13 Reasons Why, but I was really jazzed about Iron Fist, both on Netflix.

In fact, I think I am MORE excited for the Defenders to come out in August than I am for the return of Shadowhunters.

But if you tell anyone, I’m going to lie and claim this blog was hacked.

I did also keep up with this blog, although I’m not as with it as I have been.
Usually I pre-write my blog entries so I’m always ahead.
I’m writing this week’s two days before it goes live.
Nothing like cutting it close.

Overall, I think it’s okay that I’ve lost a little of the original enthusiasm I had for Shadowhunters.
It gave me the chance to love other things and give them some energy.
When Shadowhunters comes back on in June, I’ll be in a better place to give them love.
So yeah, I have other interests. I think that’s healthy.
And I still have things I want to say about Shadowhunters, but I also want to go outside and plant some flowers.

It’s all about balance friends.

My Thought's on Malec's First Time

            Malec’s scene at the end of How Art Thou Fallen (season 2, episode 7) left me feeling awkwardly uncomfortable. Let me just include the clip, so you can watch it for yourself.

There were so many moments of unreciprocated affection going in. Magnus’ reaction to Alec’s impetuous kiss wasn’t to engage with the kiss, but a step back. He isn’t quite sure why Alec is suddenly so amorous, especially considering his history of being reserved and closeted.

Alec presses that he would like to take the next step – the “sex step” – I think I was as taken aback as Magnus.

What the… they only just started dating and he already wants to take it to the next level?

What happened to second base? Or third base?

He just wants to slam out the home run?

I felt like someone needs to sit down with Alec and explain the bases theory to him.

Simplified version of the Base System of Dating

Magus explains why he is hesitant to take the next step. He talks about being vulnerable and being afraid of losing Alec. Very legitimate reasons to wait. Alec presses and Magus, well, he never says yes but he also didn’t say No. It was really very awkward.

I work at a University, so CONSENT is a really important word in my world. So, that being said, this was not my favorite Malec moment. 

To make things worse, a day or so after this episode, a news story mentioned that more teens are feeling coerced into sex. I keep trying to find that article, but I can’t.
Which annoys me.

Thankfully, I wasn’t the only one who felt that this scene wasn’t played out in the best way possible.  

Fans took to Twitter to voice their concerns about how this scene played out. They called out the scene because Magnus doesn’t explicitly give his consent to have sex with Alec, which makes the interaction less than romantic. For LGBTQ fans, this is a slap in the face as it equates same sex relationships as lacking intimacy or legitimacy.

I think that this is the biggest part of the story because fans were able to directly tweet to showrunners Darren Swimmer and Todd Slavkin regarding their feelings about this scene. Not only that, but Darren and Todd replied to tweets acknowledging the fans and their feelings. I think everyone agrees that Malec is a power couple that needs to be treated with care.

Not necessarily without drama.

Drama is what makes a show.

I know that this is another element to this story - #MalecDeservesBetter. I’d like to save that for another entry. Don’t think I’m skipping over it.

As a final piece, I’d like to share my thoughts on this one brief clip.

It took me a long time to come to terms with this clip because of the lack of consent. Why was the narrative written this way? Everything on screen is driven for a particular reason – what was the driving factor to write Alec so forceful?

I decided that this was a moment for Alec. He has finally developed from that guy who only followed rules and did what was asked of him, to someone who was able to go after what he wanted. Alec also felt less than comfortable with Magnus’ past relationships because he lacks experience in the sexual department. Perhaps he felt that if they don’t take this step that Magnus would tire of him. .

This is especially exacerbated by Jace’s romp earlier in the episode.

Everyone is doing it but Alec.

 Magnus, on the other hand, is letting Alec take the lead. He’s letting Alec explore the side of him that wants things and goes after them. I think that’s part of why Magnus is attracted to Alec. Magnus is also vulnerable, and I think that’s fair. Having that much history with other people might make him unattractive to Alec.

It’s SO DEEP.

There was a lot of power in this segment – relationship power. I was afraid that Magnus was simply giving Alec all the power because he was so enamored. You never want that in a relationship. Magnus needs to be able to tell Alec NO when he really means it and we as viewers need to see that. We need to see that this is a healthy, balanced partnership.

Thankfully, a few episodes later, we do.

All in all, Malec is one of the main reasons I watch the show. Is it the only reason? No. In fact, the Simon and Jace scene earlier in the episode was way more amusing.

I do think that Matthew Daddario and Harry Shum Jr. put a lot of life into their characters and I enjoy watching how the show takes the basic elements of Malec from the books and re-weaves it. 

Okay, actually, I take that all back.

I mean, yes, I love the Malec relationship, but I like pretty much everything else about the show too.

There. 

Are you happy now? 

Reasons why I love Harry Shum Jr - His Wife Shelby

So, I'm going to take a few posts, at random, and explain why Harry Shum Jr. is my favorite actor from the Shadowhunters cast.

I mean, yeah, he’s already popular. I already established that a few posts ago. For me, it isn't about the fact that he's already one of the cool kids. This is more about my experiences. So what about Harry made him rise above the others on the show - who are all really awesome. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE them ALL! 

Think of it like a check mark system. Everyone gets checks for something cool, but the winner has the most checks. Tips the coolness scales and all.

It started out really innocently. I watched an interview with Harry where they mentioned he was recently married to someone named Shelby. At the time I didn’t have much more context than she was Harry’s wife. She doesn't come up until the end of the interview - it's like 5 minutes, you can take 5 minutes to listen to Harry! 

Then someone posted a bunch of Shadowhunter pics and an image of Peridot from Steven Universe. I was baffled – why is there a Peridot pic mixed in with Shadowhunters? And why is Harry saying something about Shelby loving it?

Okay, let me drop that Truth Bomb for you.

Harry Shum Jr’s wife Shelby Rabara is the VOICE OF PERIDOT ON STEVEN UNIVERSE.

Jennifer Paz and Shelby Rabara

I got louder there at the end because I wanted you to pay attention.

Can we just take a moment here and talk about Steven Universe?

We can. I checked. It’s my blog and I can do what I want.

I love Steven Universe. My nephew made me watch it. As in, he kept insisting that I watch it until I actually did and I was like.. “Yes Nick, this is the best show ever!” It's a show that doesn't get too hung up on gender and introduces viewers to concepts like 'Love is Love' in an approachable way. For the LGBTQIA community, this show works represents all types of relationships, helping to broaden our own understanding of what a couple is or should be. For younger viewers it is especially important to see what we might consider 'non-traditional' images of couples, as it helps plant the seed of acceptance. This article from the web-site Autostraddle, helps sum it up quite nicely. Written by Mey, it's titled: "Steven Universe" and the Importance of All-Ages Queer Representation. 

This leads me into Peridot! 

Peridot from Steven Universe

Peridot is such a great character because she goes through such a transformation. At first, you don’t like Peridot – she’s a big supporter of Home World, and our Crystal Gems are more of the rebel variety. After spending some time in the bathroom to contemplate her behavior (SU fans get this comment), Peridot comes to realize that the Crystal Gems aren’t that bad and maybe Home World isn’t as cool as she thought it was. Oh, and her favorite phrase is “You Klod!”

Shelby is so much fun! I found a YouTube video, which of course is included for your pleasure, of Shelby live streaming and talking about the Mr. Greg episode of Steven Universe. That episode of SU ended up playing upside down and I STILL watched the whole thing. I don’t watch upside down TV for just anyone! I didn’t realize that she did the foley sounds for the tap dancing scene. AND—AND that she and Harry choreographed the dance scene with Greg and Pearl. I was smitten.

You can also find Shelby in the YouTube Red series Me and My Grandma. She plays the ever eccentric but always entertaining Heidi. Just like Lazlo Hollyfield in Real Genuis, Heidi appears in Janey and Grandma’s apartment as if she were living in the basement and not a next door neighbor. Shelby gives Heidi so much life that even with her sardonic personality, you still want to hang out with her.

Here's the promo for Me and My Grandma! It's worth checking out YouTube Red to watch all the episodes. It's too bad I don't get paid for this blog for advertising, because YouTube Red OWES ME.
They could pay me back with Season Two of Single By 30.

Can I also add that Shelby even commented on one of my Twitter posts?
If we were playing Six Degrees of Twitter Separation to Harry Shum Jr (which trust me, I AM), then I’m at a one.

I think I might love Shelby more than Harry. Shhh! Don’t tell.

Seriously. How could you not? Imagine living like this....

Whoever came up with Live Video is an Evil Genius!

One of the tools used to engage fans of Shadowhunters is live videos. In my head I call them “pop-up videos” because you never know when they are going to happen. They kinda just happen with no or limited warning. You have to be diligent and watch for notifications, which can happen on any of a number of social media sites.

Some apps allow you to set notifications before an individual begins a live video, but that’s in the moment. What if you’re in the middle of class, and your app says – Hey! Dominic Sherwood just started a live video? I mean, if there was advanced warning, you might have thought about skipping class to watching this video. Not that I’m advocating skipping class.

Go to school!

Many fan accounts will re-post notifications for live videos – so if it happened on Instagram, you can still find out about it on Twitter. It’s helpful because keeping track of Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat is a full time job.

Not a paying full time job.

Momma needs money for her fancy house, expensive cars and extravagant vacations.

None of which I have.

I LOVE the concept of the random live-video because it requires you to be engaged all the time.

Live video applications also give fans the opportunity to interact with the actors by allowing them to post questions or comments. I admit, many of them are silly. Lots of “I love you” and “say hi to me in <insert geographic location here>!” But sometimes fans have some great questions and the actors answer them. They might be about the actors or about the show – if the actor likes the question and can read them (they tend to fly by), then they may answer them. It can be rewarding, especially if your question gets noticed.

The videos themselves can be short or long - a few minutes or up to 40 minutes, depending on the actor’s schedule and how interactive the fans are. You never know what you’re going to get, which makes it all the more important to watch when it happens.

But let’s be honest.

ShumDario News is a great fan resource!

We can’t sit online all hours of the day waiting for someone to host a live video.

There are things to do.

I mean, right now I should be doing laundry, but I’m SACRIFICING my laundry time to be with you.

It’s big of me, I know.

Anyway, it’s inevitable that you’re going to miss a few live videos. But don’t despair. Many sites allow users to post their video after the fact. That way, those fans who missed out can watch it later. For those instances when the site doesn’t keep the video, there is STILL HOPE!

There are a number of fan accounts that go out of their way to record live videos as they happen. That way, if you miss the video or are in that awkward predicament of being in class when the video happens, you can still check it out on YouTube. Shadowhunters has the best fans!

I also love live videos because they give you that sense of common experience.

The first one that I watched was one of Dominic Sherwood, it seemed like in an apartment. I learned that he had a girlfriend named Sarah. He also has a good friend named Daryl. I felt like I took part in a conversation with Dom even though it was rather one-sided.

I also caught part of a live video with Matthew Daddario on Valentine’s Day. Seriously. It seemed like he gave 10 minutes warning about his noon time live stream. Which happened around noon. Noon! I was at work! Kids were in the midst of school! Matt doesn’t tend to share as much about himself, but he does hold an engaging live video. Most recently, he hosted a live video where he talked a lot about plants. He suggested everyone should go on Twitter and @ all of the show’s actors, telling them which plant they were. So now we’re all participating in a group activity because of his video!

Live videos also allow me to differentiate between the character and person. I don’t think of Dominic Sherwood as Jace – those are two different entities. Likewise, Harry Shum Jr isn’t just Magnus to me. I think that’s important not just for me, as the viewer, but for the actor as well. He or she had the opportunity to share who with their fans. When the day comes that Shadowhunters is no longer a show (I mean, a day WAY in the future), then hopefully their fans will follow them to their next acting opportunity.

Because without fans there wouldn’t be a show.

We all need a favorite...

For those of you who haven’t been reading my blog since the beginning, I feel the need at this point to remind you how I got here. Here, as in on Twitter as a Shadowhunters junkie.

Let me recap briefly.

For season one of Shadowhunters, I didn’t watch it when it aired because a) I don’t have cable and b) I was busy working on my thesis. I, in fact, don’t watch much live tv unless it is the local news, which I stream from their website. I didn’t realize, until recently, that actors use tools like Instagram and Twitter to engage their audience. My fascination of this concept, for a myriad of reason, led me to follow the cast of Shadowhunters, and their fans on Twitter (and other social media sites).

There, you’ve been caught up.

Shadowhunters Cast

So, the thing is, I felt like a needed a favorite actor/actress on the show. It’s important because I feel like people on Twitter get associated for particular posts or feeds. It also just helps me, as a follower, focus on what I want my Twitter feed to represent. There are just so many cast members that I can’t post about all of them.
I do have a day job.

Although, truthfully, if I like something, I’ll click the heart or comment or retweet.
I’m not afraid to spread the love.
But I also want to have that experience of focusing an obsession. I think there’s something unique about that experience. 

But who do I choose?

It was really hard, because I love them all. I mean, Dominic Sherwood wins on accent alone.
Yes, I am a fool for an English accent.

He was also in a T. Swift video. Let me just leave that here for you.

This is a judgement free zone kids.

Matthew Daddario would be fun to follow. He puts on a great live video. He’s also super popular with the fans overall. Okay, and he has nice eyes. My cousin Fawn would say “he’s easy on the eyes.”
That he is Fawn, that he is.

Matthew Daddario

Katherine McNamara is incredibly smart and just amazing. She earned a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration when she was 17.  She’s also working on a Master’s degree in Applied Economics.
She’s a great female role model for fans.

Katherine McNamara

Emeraude… Alberto… Isaiah “Meme King” Mustafa.. Jade. The list goes on.

It doesn't hurt that they all get along so well. The behind the scenes videos are hilarious. 

I want to work with the Shadowhunters cast. 

I'm sure I'm not the only one and I would have to leave my day job.

Oddly enough, I think some people would be upset about that.

I mean, just watch them play Werewolf.

I didn't EVEN KNOW about this game until I watched this video.

My life is more complete now.

The all have their own amazing qualities that I love and enjoy.
I don’t want you thinking that I’ve dropped them like a sack of hot potatoes.

I also maybe want you to suffer a bit before I tell you who I decided on to focus on.

Partially because I want you to understand how this was a process and I didn’t just wake up one day and decide – hey, I’m going to like….. .
But maybe also because I’m twisted that way.

In the end, I decided that Harry Shum Jr. was my favorite.
I know, statistically, he’s the most popular anyway, but I CAN’T HELP IT.
In fact, I can’t even explain it in a sentence or two because there were a number of things that happened to elevate Harry to favorite status.

Harry Shum Jr.

No. I'm not going to tell you right now.

That would be cheating. You'll have to look for them in future posts.

Sorry, not sorry.