#and so instead they both create this fear about wyatt's power and what he can do which just fuels that fear and aghhhh

[paigemathews]

Do you ever think about what Wyatt and Billie’s relationship would look like? I mean, do you ever think that maybe he sees Billie as an omen? A prophesied witch with not only extraordinary power, but projection specifically, that evil has hunted and desired for years, to the point of creating intricate plots to turn them from a young age? (While my Wyatt doesn’t realize yet, the fact that Billie and Wyatt both fell into evil’s clutch in the past? That their redemption came at their sibling’s life? That their deaths can be traced directly to them?)

Imagine Billie post-series, who has lost. honestly, everything in under a year. She went from a confident, headstrong newly-discovered witch determined to save the day to a powerful witch who lost her entire family and was manipulated and used by evil to attack good as a whole. After all of that, I don’t really think that you walk out of that without it becoming a deeply impactful and integral part of your experience.

So a Billie who is more subdued and removed from magical affairs. A Billie who knows the price and risks with magic, especially her own. A Billie who learns how to master her magic, because she’s already seen the consequences of her failures, but there is no real need for it anymore with the lack of demonic attacks. And she is asked, by the sisters who she betrayed and had to earn their trust again, to help teach a witch just like her to control his powers.

Beyond her own experiences, do you think Billie ever told the sisters about Dumain showing her what Wyatt was supposed to “become”? Or did she just chalk it up to his lies and manipulation? And even if she did tell them, do you think that the sisters would be able to tell her? When they themselves never actually knew how bad it was in the unchanged future? When they’re still unsure if they can trust her again and handing her that information includes telling them how, despite all of their power, they could still do nothing as a son/nephew died in front of them?

So she tries to impart how important it is that Wyatt uses his powers for good, not to harm. She trains him to control his power, tries to teach him to respect it as something incredibly dangerous. She conveys over and over again that projection is powerful, but dangerous and if you’re not careful, it can create a lot of harm. She isn’t his only teacher, but she, with her own history and the same power and the knowledge that he will outclass them all and that vision that is bad enough without considering what else he is able to do, is the one who is able to understand best. Piper and Phoebe and Paige are extremely powerful, obviously, but their power is rooted in their bond and that itself helps keep them in check because there is a balance. Billie, her sister (the key) dead and her as the real Ultimate Power, is the closest to knowing what that’s like.

Except Wyatt is Wyatt, his mother and father’s son in everyway but especially his heart. He’s the child who tried to prevent conflict before he was even born. He’s the child who took everyone’s burdens on himself as his to solve before he could even speak. He needed to protect his loved ones, no matter how powerful they individually were. When he failed, he blamed himself. When people struggled, and he couldn’t help them, he blamed himself. Not only does he blame himself for not being able to save or help people, he pins his entire worth as a person on his ability to help. This is the child who thought that he deserved to die because of his father’s grief and inner turmoil, something he wasn’t even to blame for. And he sees so much of himself in Billie, sees her story as a warning if he is to slip to the wrong side, if he is to be blinded to evil and used as a weapon. He takes every message that Billie tries to teach and internalizes it just a little bit too much, takes it just a bit too personally.

And imagine what happens. Billie, who can relate to Wyatt’s potential future just a bit too much, trying to teach him caution and instead teaches him fear. Wyatt, who sees a bit too many similarities in Billie’s past, transforms her lessons of control and innocents into repression and his value. Because they see those similarities, but they don’t quite see the differences and those differences change everything.

[multiverseforger]

Jennifer Walters, the cousin of Bruce Banner (the Hulk), is the small and somewhat shy daughter of Los Angeles County Sheriff William Morris Walters and Elaine (née Banner) Walters (who died in a car crash when Jennifer was 17).[20] Operatives of Nicholas Trask, a crime boss who had crossed paths with her father, shot and seriously wounded her on the day that Banner visited her to tell her about his transformation into the Hulk. Since no other donors with her blood type were available, Banner provided his own blood for a transfusion; as they already shared the same blood type and DNA, his gamma-irradiated blood, combined with her anger, transformed Jennifer into the green-skinned She-Hulk when the mobsters tried to finish her off at the hospital.[21] She then used her new powers to take down Trask, who was killed when the earth-boring device he rode malfunctioned, taking him to the center of the Earth.[22]

As She-Hulk, Jennifer possessed powers similar to those of her cousin, though at a reduced level. She also possessed a less monstrous, more Amazonian appearance. Initially, the transformation to her She-Hulk form was triggered (as with Bruce Banner's) by anger. Like her cousin Bruce, his counterpart, the Leader, Doc Samson and most other persons mutated by exposure to gamma radiation over the years, her mutated form was originally explained as being molded by her subconscious desire to look like the ideal woman. She eventually gains control of her transformations when Michael Morbius cures her of a lethal blood disease. As a criminal defense lawyer, she defended Morbius in his trial for his vampiric killings.[23]

Eventually, Jennifer decides that she is going to retain her She-Hulk form permanently—preferring the freedom, confidence, and assertiveness that it gave her compared to her more timorous and fragile "normal" form. After her brief solo career, she joined the Avengers.[24] This led to her being transported to Battleworld by the Beyonder and her participation in the Secret Wars,[25] most notable for sparking her long-standing rivalry with the newly empowered Titania.[26] After the heroes returned to Earth, she temporarily replaced the Thing (who, having been repeatedly de-powered during the event, opted to stay in Battleworld for some time as a form of soul-searching) as a member of the Fantastic Four.[27]

During her tenure with the Fantastic Four, She-Hulk met and started a romance with Wyatt Wingfoot.[28] One day, she had to prevent a radiation leak in a downed S.H.I.E.L.D. Helicarrier. This radiation exposure had a drastic effect on Jennifer: she could no longer transform back into her original human form.[29] However, this was an agreeable turn of events for her, since she preferred being She-Hulk, and it was revealed much later that the block was purely psychological.

Shortly after that, she appeared before the Supreme Court, where she battled Titania again.[30]

Sensational She-HulkEdit

After her Fantastic Four years, She-Hulk rejoined the Avengers for a while. She became hypnotized by the Ringmaster into becoming a performer in the Circus of Crime, and battled the Headmen.[31] With Spider-Man, she defeated the Headmen[32] and became an assistant District Attorney and began working for New York City district attorney Blake Tower. Here she met Louise "Weezie" Grant Mason, formerly the Golden Age superheroine the Blonde Phantom.[33] She had a long series of unusual encounters, including when she battled Doctor Bong,[34] first contended against Xemnu the Living Titan,[35] encountered "Nick St. Christopher",[36] and encountered "Spragg the Living Hill/Comet".[37]

Sensational She-Hulk #15 introduced a grey version of She-Hulk that appeared at night only and shared a lot in common with the Hulk, such as having a childlike mind, speaking in the third person and divorcing from her Jennifer Walters identity, referring to Jennifer as "puny Jennifer", She-Hulk returned to normal in the following issue, with her green coloration returning in Sensational She-Hulk #17.[38] She-Hulk later discovered that Louise Mason had manipulated Tower into hiring her, so that Mason might again star in a comic book (and thus avoid dying of old age). Later, while doing legal work for Heroes for Hire, She-Hulk spent some time dating Luke Cage.

After a time, She-Hulk returns to the Avengers. Repeated exposure to the presence of her teammate Jack of Hearts, who has the innate ability to absorb radiation that is around him, leads to She-Hulk being unable to control her changes, which resulted in her tearing the Vision in half. It is then revealed that all of the events were caused by the Scarlet Witch. Now, when she is afraid, she not only turns into She-Hulk but her mind becomes maddened by paranoia and rage. Jennifer flees, fearing that she will endanger her friends and others, leading to the "Search for She-Hulk" storyline.

The other Avengers track her to the town of Bone, Idaho, where Jennifer is lying low but the anxiety of being found prompts her to change, causing her to damage much of the town. Her cousin shows up but fails to reason with her; he "Hulks out" and the two fight—the devastation to the town subsequently being blamed on the Hulk.

Psychological limitations inhibit her transformation between her two forms. For a time, as detailed in "She-Hulk" #4 (March 2006), Jennifer works as a relief volunteer helping to repair Bone. She gains confidence after solving a murder mystery, reveals her green alter-ego to the entire town, and then uses her strength to make many more repairs. This, combined with Leonard Samson's new 'gamma-charger', gives her full control over her transformations for, as she said, 'the time being'.

JLA/AvengersEdit

In the DC/Marvel crossover JLA/Avengers, She-Hulk first appears being brainwashed by Starro when the Avengers battle her, grabbing a startled Ms. Marvel (Carol Danvers) by her leg, before the latter blasts her away with her powers.[39] She later assists the Avengers in the subsequent hunt for the 12 artifacts needed to trap the DC villain Krona, first battling Aquaman in Asgard, and later in the Savage Land with the rest of the heroes.[40] During the final battle against Krona and his forces, she assists Wonder Woman in her battle against Surtur, and eventually appears at the end as one of the heroes that started out the entire event.[41]

Single Green FemaleEdit

The events of The Search for She-Hulk, combined with her own lack of personal responsibility and the potential legal ramifications of her saving the world swaying juries leads Jennifer back to the legal profession in a more full-time capacity, when she was asked to practice law in the Superhuman Law division of the New York firm of Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway (GLK&H).[volume & issue needed] This offer is dependent upon Jennifer remaining human while she worked for the firm.

While practicing at GLK&H, Jennifer gradually becomes comfortable as both She-Hulk and Jennifer Walters, realizing that she has much to offer the world in both forms.[volume & issue needed] During one of these adventures, she realizes her strength as She-Hulk is dependent on her strength as Walters and works out in her human form. Thus, she exponentially increases her powers as She-Hulk.[42]

Civil WarEdit

She-Hulk registered under the Superhuman Registration Act, and is a supporter of Tony Stark (Iron Man). However, as an attorney, she advised individuals on both sides of the Civil War. She agreed to file suit against Peter Parker for fraud on behalf of her father-in-law, Daily Bugle publisher J. Jonah Jameson. Her intention is to keep the suit tied up in the courts indefinitely. She is also the lawyer for Speedball in Civil War: Front Line.

In She-Hulk #14 (2006), Clay Quartermain of S.H.I.E.L.D. informs Jennifer that she has been drafted into the organization as a result of her registration. Her mission is to fight various foes of the Hulk while training heroes under the Initiative. She serves with the Hulkbusters: Clay Quartermain, Agent Crimson, Agent Cheesecake and Agent Beefcake.[43]

World War HulkEdit

Due to her involvement in S.H.I.E.L.D., She-Hulk derives a bit of information suggesting that the organization knows of her cousin's whereabouts. Anticipating a problem, Tony Stark has She-Hulk secretly injected with S.P.I.N. Tech that transforms her to human form. Enraged, she tells Stark that, although he may have taken She-Hulk out of the equation, he still has to face Jennifer Walters, one of the best lawyers in the country. Jennifer informs Stark that he's miscalculated: She-Hulk would have just pummeled him, but Jennifer Walters has the ability to destroy him.

On her way home, Jennifer runs into Amadeus Cho, a young genius out looking for friends of the Hulk. Cho, whom the Hulk once saved, discovered what the Illuminati had done to the Hulk, and he wants help in finding him. Cho temporarily restores Jennifer's powers so that she can take out Doc Samson, who came to apprehend Cho for Reed Richards and Tony Stark. Cho says he can permanently restore Jennifer's powers if she will join him, but she politely refuses, instead directing him to Hercules and Angel.

During the "World War Hulk" storyline, a re-powered She-Hulk assists in the evacuation of Manhattan.[44] She tries to reason with her cousin, who has just destroyed Stark Tower during his battle with Iron Man. The Hulk warns her to leave, but she stands her ground. After she lands a punch squarely to his face, the Hulk smashes her into the ground, creating a crater around her body. As he moves on to his next confrontation, all Jennifer can say is: "God help us all."[45]

Jennifer is held captive with the other defeated heroes at Madison Square Garden, which the Hulk has converted into a gladiatorial arena. The heroes have been implanted with the same obedience discs that compelled the Hulk and his allies to fight one another during their time on the planet Sakaar.

Jennifer returns to the law firm to work on suing Tony Stark for stealing her powers. She is subpoenaed to give a testimony in a case in which Mallory Book is trying to prove that the Leader's criminal acts are the result of a shift of personality induced by his mutation, and an addiction to his gamma irradiated powers, and that he thus cannot be held accountable for his actions. During her testimony, Jennifer realizes that she herself is "addicted" to being She-Hulk; Mallory forces her to admit that she has had a long list of sexual partners as She-Hulk. After the testimony, Pug appears and the two spend an evening together as friends, which cheers her up. She confronts Mallory the next day and tells her that she will put a stop to her Leader case.[46] However, it is revealed that the Leader has been acquitted of his crimes.[47]

There is an apparent inconsistency between the She-Hulk and World War Hulk comics: in She-Hulk #19, the Leader is on trial in New York City, which is being cleaned up after the Hulk's recent attack. The action in the issue takes place during or after the events of World War Hulk. However, Jennifer appears as She-Hulk in the first and second issues of World War Hulk, during which the Hulk is destroying New York City. The discrepancy is resolved in She-Hulk #20: Jennifer explains that Tony Stark temporarily disabled the nanobots to allow her to assist in the battle against her cousin, only to reactivate them when the battle was over. She amends her suit against Stark to demand the permanent deactivation of the nanobots.

Post-World War HulkEdit

At some point after World War Hulk, Jennifer was brought before the Living Tribunal[48] and asked to weigh her universe against a newer, better "cosmic trophy wife" version, described by Walters as "an ultimate universe." Her universe wins, and she resigns from the Magistrati.

After the Leader's trial, Artie Zix reveals himself as RT-Z9 and holds the main staff of GLK&H hostage while asking them questions at the behest of a group of aliens from a corner of the galaxy recently discovered by the Watcher Qyre. The aliens, called the Recluses, wish to keep their existence a secret. She-Hulk earlier decreed that Qyre not reveal knowledge of the Recluses' existence at the meetings of the Watchers.[49] This had serious repercussions: it is revealed at the close of She-Hulk #20 that an evil being has conquered that portion of the galaxy, and is preparing an assault on all of creation. Qyre, who holds knowledge of the plan, is unable to speak of it to anyone else. At She-Hulk's time trial, it was revealed that her actions made a destructive event called the Reckoning War possible. However, comments made by the future Southpaw, divulge that the war, though a terrible and dark time, will be favorably resolved.

A permanently de-powered Jennifer Walters finds that tourists from an alternate universe – designated the Alpha universe – are crossing into her universe – which they call Beta – to gain access to superpowers and comes face to face with her own powered-up doppelganger. Jennifer confirms that her Alpha counterpart slept with the Juggernaut but her anger quickly turns to sorrow as she realizes that without her abilities, the Alpha Jennifer Walters – while unfamiliar with superhuman law – is far better suited to life in the Beta universe. Realizing this, she decides that she will go to the Alpha universe and let the other Jennifer Walters take over for her.

As she steps through the portal, Reed Richards realizes he can use the previously stored configuration of the Alpha She-Hulk to restore Jennifer's powers by purging the nanites from her body and setting the teleporter to loop her back to this reality. Having regained her abilities, Jennifer remains in her home reality, while the Alpha Jen Walters returns to her own universe and reconciles with her boyfriend, the Alpha Augustus "Pug" Pugliese.

At an unspecified time after World War Hulk, She-Hulk assists Tony Stark with Emil Blonsky's murder investigation.[50] While in Stark's Helicarrier, she is attacked and beaten by the Red Hulk who states to her that he's not Bruce. She-Hulk vows to get even for the deliberate humiliation.[51] She later helps to prevent casualties in San Francisco after the Red Hulk caused an earthquake in the area,[52] and assembles Thundra and the Valkyrie together to capture him.[53]

Some months after regaining her abilities, Jennifer was tasked to defend an accused killer named Arthur Moore. While she was successful in defending him, immediately after his freedom was secured he claimed to be guilty and showed her images of the crimes he had been accused of. Jennifer's horror at what she was being shown, combined with Moore's gloating, was enough to push her rage so far that she became the savage She-Hulk once again. She attacked him and threatened to kill him if he was not given the death penalty. She also told everybody within earshot that he was guilty and backed up her accusation by revealing privileged information. This resulted in her being disbarred. Jennifer later found out that Moore really was innocent; the images he had shown her had been false. It was also revealed, albeit not to Jennifer, that Moore had hoped to get her to react exactly the way she did since his employers wanted She-Hulk disbarred for purposes as yet unknown. Unable to practice law any more, Jennifer began working for Freeman Bonds Inc. – a subsidiary of GLK&B – as a bounty hunter with her Skrull partner Jazinda.

She was later recruited by Stark as a member of an Initiative-sponsored incarnation of the Defenders for a short while until Tony Stark disbanded the team.[54][volume & issue needed] Afterwards, she continued to aid team leader Nighthawk for a brief time[volume & issue needed]until she was fully able to join the team on Nighthawk's request and that it would be away from the Initiative.[volume & issue needed]

Together they have several adventures, even encountering Hercules, but they soon ended up involved in the midst of the Secret Invasion.[55]

Secret InvasionEdit

During the Skrull takeover of Earth during Secret Invasion, She-Hulk and Jazinda hunt down a member of the Skrulls who functions as their religious leader. X-Factor initially impedes her progress, but they part ways on uncertain terms. She-Hulk and Jazinda capture the Skrull and the two heroines take the Skrull to New York, where they encounter the Super-Skrull, Kl'rt.[56] Kl'rt came to kill his daughter, Jazinda, going so far as to shoot her in the head. Due to her regenerative properties, Jazinda was still not fully dead. The Skrull religious leader wants to completely remove her regenerative ability, but Kl'rt stops him after She-Hulk pleads to his fatherly nature, tapping into his guilt for not being able to save his son who had died in a previous war.[volume & issue needed]

Lady LiberatorsEdit

Some time after the Skrull invasion is defeated, the country of Marinmer suffers a devastating earthquake. Because the victims of the earthquake are members of a minority religious group, the Marinmer government has confiscated all humanitarian aid packages, and because of Marinmer's strong ties to powerful countries such as Russia and China, other nations refuse to intervene for fear of sparking a war. She-Hulk and several members of the Lady Liberators secretly enter Marinmer, intending to steal the confiscated aid packages and distribute them to the earthquake victims.[57] The Winter Guard attempts to stop them, but gives up after seeing the plight of the earthquake victims.[58] Afterwards, the US government attempts to arrest She-Hulk for her actions in Marinmer, but drops the charges to avoid political embarrassment. With public opinion overwhelmingly in her favor, She-Hulk seems poised to get her legal license back when Jazinda is captured by the Behemoth after he mistakenly attacks her, thinking she is the real She-Hulk.[59] Jazinda is then taken to a government lab and brutally experimented on when her ability to resurrect herself from the dead is discovered. Jazinda contacts She-Hulk telepathically through a secretly implanted mind reading device and warns her that the government will be coming to question her about their relationship. Jazinda tells She-Hulk to say she did not know Jazinda was a Skrull and just before going dead/unconscious tells She-Hulk "I've always l...". She-Hulk tries to keep up the denial, but when she sees Jazinda about to be vivisected, she loses control and breaks Jazinda out. The Behemoth tries to stop her, but She-Hulk defeats him with the help of the Lady Liberators. Later it is revealed that Mallory Book, her former boss, was behind all the bad things happening to She-Hulk along with a group called the "Fourth Wall". Yet when she saw She-Hulk risk herself to save her Skrull friend, Book "cancelled" the plan.[60]

Dark ReignEdit

In the four-issue miniseries All-New Savage She-Hulk, Jennifer fights Lyra, the alternate reality daughter of Hulk and Thundra after she comes to the Earth-616 reality for the DNA of the strongest man.[61] While Jennifer and Lyra were fighting, Sentry tosses her away believing the man Lyra is referring to is him.[62] She-Hulk later returns, enraged, and pummels the Sentry into the ground. She then helps Lyra escape from Avengers Tower.[63]

M.I.A.Edit

In Incredible Hulk #600, Jennifer tasks Ben Urich to discover the identity of Red Hulk. She informs him that she is unable to as she has asked too many questions to the wrong people. She has Urich bring a photographer (Peter Parker), and meets him along with her insider, Doc Samson, and they venture into a S.H.I.E.L.D. base that is actually a front for A.I.M. and General Ross's Gamma Power Super Soldier Program. Leonard Samson then appears to have a breakdown, but in reality he is changing into Samson. Samson claims to be stronger and faster (and is larger in size, has longer hair and a lightning bolt scar) than Jennifer. The clashing duo are subdued by MODOK and the facility explodes in the aftermath of a fight between Red Hulk and Hulk; Jennifer, Samson (who has reverted to Leonard) and Red Hulk are caught in the explosion. Jennifer's status is unknown and Red Hulk does not reveal anything to Urich when the two meet a second time.[64]

While She-Hulk is M.I.A., the Red She-Hulk makes her first appearance where she claims Jennifer Walters to be dead.[65]

It was later shown in a flashback that Red She-Hulk prevented Jennifer Walters from escaping from A.I.M. custody. During this battle, Red She-Hulk brutally beat Jennifer and snapped her neck with a cable. In the last panel, Jennifer Walters appeared to be dead with the Red She-Hulk standing over her body,[66] though the Red She-Hulk claims she did not know her own strength. She then questions Doc Samson whether it was the real She-Hulk or a Life-Model Decoy, to which Samson answers "You're here to follow orders, not to ask questions".[67] Lyra later infiltrates the Intelligencia, where she finds Jennifer in stasis.[68] Following a brief fight with the Red She-Hulk, the three decide to team up to take down Intelligencia's forces.[69]

Incredible HulksEdit

Following the defeat of the Intelligencia, Jennifer begins traveling with her cousin Bruce, Skaar, Korg, Rick Jones and Betty Ross.[70] Shortly after the events of World War Hulks, Skaar becomes aware that his brother Hiro-Kala is approaching and that he intends to crash the planet K'ai into the Earth. She-Hulk is on the team as they manage to successfully avert disaster. Upon returning to Earth, they find the world in flames as it is in the grasp of the Chaos War. They journey to Hell, where they fight and defeat the Chaos King. Returning to a restored Earth, they are greeted as monsters.[volume & issue needed]

At some point before or after these events, Jennifer and Lyra settle in New York, where Lyra begins to attend high school in an attempt to gain an understanding of humanity as it occurs in this timeline. As well as helping to integrate Lyra into society, they are also involved in trying to round up the remaining members of the Intelligencia.[volume & issue needed]

They manage to round up the Intelligencia, but the Wizard is able to escape imprisonment and goes after Lyra at her high school prom, almost killing her before She-Hulk intervenes, knocking out Wizard but not before Lyra's secret identity has been compromised. The rest of the pupils turn on Lyra as a result of her prom date being injured and the endangerment of everyone at the dance. She-Hulk explains to her afterwards that they have to leave and that despite being heroes, the life of a Hulk is often lonely.[volume & issue needed]

Fearsome FourEdit

During the Fear Itself storyline, She-Hulk joins with Howard the Duck, Nighthawk and the Frankenstein Monster to form a four-person team called the Fearsome Four to stop the Man-Thing from its destructive path. They later discover a plot by Psycho-Man to use the Man-Thing's volatile empathy to create a weapon.[71]

Future FoundationEdit

Prior to a time- and multiverse-spanning trip by the Fantastic Four and family, the Thing asks She-Hulk to be a member of the Future Foundation.[72]

Doc GreenEdit

When the Hulk is elevated into "Doc Green" – a version of the Hulk possessing Bruce Banner's intellect – after he is treated for a shot to the head as Bruce Banner by use of the Extremis virus, he sets out to attack and cure other gamma-based mutations. Steve Rogers attempts to order the Hulk to stop before he goes after She-Hulk,[73] but when Doc Green finally confronts her, he instead admits that he has come to recognize that he is coming dangerously close to the Maestro, as part of him enjoyed eliminating his 'rivals', having decided instead to accept the eventual loss of his intellect as Extremis wore off rather than risk that persona emerging. Informing She-Hulk that she is the only gamma mutation whose life he felt had been legitimately enhanced by her condition, Doc Green provides her with the last injection of his cure, asking her to use it on him if he goes too far in his efforts to stop an A.I. version of himself that he created and unleashed.[74]

GwenpoolEdit

In Gwenpool's first Christmas special, Howard the Duck invited her to She-Hulk's Christmas party on the provision that she has not killed any good guys recently. She shows up and karaokes with Ms. Marvel. Also there was a one-shot image of her holding mistletoe over her head and inviting She-hulk to kiss her while Ms. Marvel looked on in girlish glee. There were dozens of superhumans in attendance, proving that whether she is acting as a hero or not, She-hulk keeps strong ties to the super-community.[volume & issue needed]

Civil War IIEdit

During the 2016 Civil War II storyline, after the Inhuman Ulysses predicts Thanos' arrival on Earth, She-Hulk was mortally wounded by a direct attack from the villain in question.[75][76] When Iron Man learns that they used Ulysses' precognitive power to ambush Thanos, he vows to make sure that no one uses it again. Before She-Hulk goes into cardiac arrest, she tells Captain Marvel to fight for the future.[77] After Hawkeye was acquitted for shooting Bruce Banner, Captain Marvel visited She-Hulk, who came out of her coma. When She-Hulk angrily demanded to know the verdict of Hawkeye's trial, Captain Marvel remained silent.[78]

Post-Civil War IIEdit

Following Bruce Banner's funeral, Jennifer Walters left the superhero business and continued to work as a lawyer, where she gained her first client: Maise Brewn, who was an Inhuman descendant. Due to the stress following the fight with Thanos, Jennifer started turning uncontrollably into her version of the Grey Hulk at different intervals. Jennifer helped Maise when she was recovering from the trauma and being evicted by her landlord Mr. Tick. When Maise got impatient with Jennifer and summoned a Fear Golem that killed Mr. Tick and some police officers, Jennifer is nearly killed by it and transforms into the Hulk. She defeated the Fear Golem and prevented Maise from committing suicide when Maise was arrested for reckless endangerment afterwards.[79]

Afterwards, Jennifer transformed into the Hulk and met the Hellcat. After changing back, Jennifer told the Hellcat that she was worried over the fact that her grey color could mean that she is like Bruce (since Bruce also had a grey incarnation). Later, Jennifer was watching a live video on the internet when a baker named Oliver turned into a Hulk-like creature on-camera.[80] Jennifer spent several days trying to track him down, eventually confronting him as the Hulk at the Brooklyn Bridge. During the following battle, she lost control of her Hulk persona, almost killing him, though the Hellcat managed to calm her down. However, the incident left Jennifer worried about losing control again.[81]

Some time later, the Leader kidnapped Jennifer and forced her to transform into the Hulk in order to force her to kill his new assistant, Robyn, who willingly went through a blood transfusion in order to become a Hulk-like monster herself. The Hulk nearly killed Robyn, but Jennifer managed to regain control, before defeating the Leader by electrocuting him. Jen then went with self-help writer Florida Mayer, who used a special pill to transport Jennifer to her subconscious, leading her to confront her Hulk persona and illusions of Thanos and Banner, finally overcoming her trauma in the process. Upon waking, Jennifer reverted to her She-Hulk persona.[82]

During the war against the Cotati, She-Hulk is revealed to have been killed and replaced by a Cotati, attacking the Avengers when they tried to negotiate a truce with their new enemy, the heroes only surviving the attack thanks to the Invisible Woman's forcefield, although the Cotati/She-Hulk then beats down the Thing and retreats.[83] Invisible Woman, Mantis, and Thing are locked in combat with the Cotati-possessed She-Hulk. Back in New York, Jo-Venn and N'kalla release their positive memories which revives She-Hulk enough to break the Cotati off of her and to stop the fighting between the Kree and the Skrull. When the Cotati are defeated, She-Hulk and Thor take Sequoia away.[84] It turns out that She-Hulk was able to return to life thanks to Leader who has mastered the way to control the Green Door.[85

[omnipedia]

A Re-Review of Ben Tennyson vs Green Lantern:

It’s been 10 months since this came out, so I decided to rewatch it and put out my final thoughts on it. It was a cause of much anger and upset in both the DB and Ben 10 communities, but I’m going to try and be as fair as I possibly can.

The Good:

Including Ben in Death Battle at all was pretty nice. Current Western Animation doesn’t appear too often on the show, so it’s nice that it’s getting as much spotlight as other mediums.

The sprite animation was excellent. It was very fluid and it was even hand-drawn at times. The up-close shots were great, with Waybig and Alien X in particular looking fantastic.

The battle itself was action-packed and really fun to watch. Bits of humour were put into it too, like Hal using a Lantern fire hydrant to fight Heatblast.

Ben was very fitting to his usual personality. The voice acting for Ben was excellent, especially with the aliens. Way Big in particular sounded very much like he did in the show. However, the voice would fit a lot better for Teenage Ben than Kid Ben. Doesn’t make the voice work any less good though.

The Bad:

Ben lost the fight. That’s not the direct issue. Characters I prefer have lost their respective Death Battles before. Him losing at all isn’t even the problem, I’m fully aware that there are characters out there capable of beating him. The problem was that he was misrepresented. Ben wasn’t researched fully, and that the reasons they did have for him losing were flawed.

There were some major errors in the pre-fight bios. They used a clip of Way Big fighting Malware when talking about him fighting Diagon (Which are two completely different characters. It’s like if Darkseid was called Doomsday or Freiza being called Cell), and said that “Overuse of the Omnitrix can horribly disfigure a users DNA” (This has never been stated before, not even as a joke or a rumour). They also credited Derrick J Wyatt as one of the shows creators, despite him just being an art director for Omniverse.

The alien selection was weak. Yes, Alien X was the only one who could hold a candle to Hal, with the slightly possible exceptions of Feedback, Clockwork Nanomech or Waybig. But that doesn’t mean the “weaker” forms couldn’t be included. Some could have been rather fitting, like having Toepick (a yellow alien who’s main power is creating intense fear), or just having fan favourites like Rath and Atomix being there at all. Instead, they stuck to only the original series with the sole exception of Alien X.

A tiny nitpick, but why did they animate 10 year old Ben? It makes no sense. The voice matches better to that of the sequel Bens and causes him to have access to aliens and abilities that he would not have at that point. It’s like giving the kid version of Goku Super Saiyan God or whatever. Also, I know it’s Death Battle, but why would you make Green Lantern murder a 10 year old child when the slighty less heartless option of a young adult is readily available instead?

Research Issues:

The Omnitrix could react to the speed of the Big Bang, yet Hal has no problem outspeeding its transformation time. I may be wrong on this, but I don’t know if Hal has traveled that fast before.

They said that Alien X had no counter to time manipulation, despite the fact he could do it himself and even did so in the battle. You know, with a wave of his hand.

One of the biggest issues was them directly ignoring the failsafes of the Omnitrix. Even the Omnitrix will turn Ben into whatever alien he needs to survive, they have Ben defeated by Lantern scissors. Multiple of Bens aliens could overcome that, namely Swampfire, Goop, Bloxx, or a Lenopan. Even if it was cut off, it can still transform Ben anyways.

Hal won the fight by travelling back in time and attacking Ben before the fight started. Not only would this not work anyway for reasons due to Alien X already being able to control time, Ben would be aware of this due to the Sotobro Effect. This is “a ripple created in the timestream, that can be detectable by those whose abilities are powerful enough to perceive changes in the timestream”. As soon as Hal travelled back in time, Alien X would be able to sense it and stop him.

Alien X was extremely nerfed. A reality warper, with control over time and space, spends the majority of his appearance punching and kicking. They got his cloning abilities correct, but ignored the fact that 1. They’re not like Naruto clones, they should be just as powerful as regular Alien X and 2. a group of Celestialsapiens can make themselves strong enough to survive Multiversal and Omniversal level attacks. That latter one is forgivable for not knowing, it’s a little bit obscure to find. Ben doesn’t even Alien X to clone himself though, all he needs to do is turn into Echo Echo.

They have Alien X almost kill Hal by slowly causing him to disintegrate, despite the fact that he can cause people to cease to exist in the time it takes to blink. They said that the only reason Alien X recreated the Universe was because he couldn’t stop it from being destroyed in the first place, but this is false. Ben only didn’t do so due to having to consult with Bellicus and Serena, which he no longer has to do.

They ignored Hal’s biggest weakness, that he needs to recharge his Ring. Ben with Master Control does not have this limitation. Alien X could have just trapped him in an infinite loop of time reversal until his power ran out. From what I’ve seen, Hal’s Ring can also be taken off his body relatively easily. Batman, essentially a regular human, can take it off. The Omnitrix has only been taken off by technological geniuses with prior knowledge of the device.

That’s everything I have to say about the episode. All of my thoughts, compiled into one post. I agree that it’s one of the lacking episodes of the series and definitely deserved better, but I don’t think those involved in it should have been attacked like they were. I do not know everything about Green Lantern or DC, so if anyone is aware of things that may contradict what I’ve said, please let me know. We can have a friendly and civil discussion about it, please don’t try and start any arguments. I’ve dealt with that enough in the comment section of the video.

[phantom-le6]

Episode Reviews - Star Trek The Next Generation Season 1 (3 of 6)

As we draw close to crossing the first month of 2021 off the calendar to make room for February, which in my view is only of use for Pancake Day and nothing more, I’m back with yet more reviews from the first season of Star Trek: TNG.  Will these episodes prove any better than those of the first two rounds, or are we looking at more lemons with warp engines?  Let’s find out…

Episode 10: Hide and Q

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise is en route to Quadra Sigma to aid colonists caught in a methane explosion when Q re-appears and demands that they abandon their mission to compete in a game. He teleports Commander Riker and the bridge crew, with the exception of Captain Picard, to a barren landscape and appears in front of them wearing a uniform of a Napoleonic era French marshal. He explains the rule of the game is to stay alive, and after Lt. Yar refuses to compete, he transports her back to the bridge of the Enterprise in a "penalty box".

 Q returns to the bridge too, to talk Picard into setting a wager. He explains that the Q Continuum is testing Commander Riker to see if he is worthy of being granted their powers. Picard, having the utmost faith in his First Officer, takes the bet, as winning it would mean Q would get off their backs. Meanwhile, Riker and his team are attacked by what Lt. Worf reports as "vicious animal things" wearing French soldier uniforms from the Napoleonic era and armed with muskets that fire energy bolts instead of the classic projectiles. Q returns to Riker and tells him that he has granted him the powers of the Continuum, and Riker promptly returns his crew mates to the ship but remains behind with Q to ultimately reject the powers. Q brings the crew back to the landscape, this time without their phasers and with Picard. The crew are attacked once more by the aliens, and both Worf and Wesley Crusher are killed. Riker uses the powers of the Q to return the crew again and bring both Worf and Wesley back to life.

 Riker makes a promise to Picard never to use the powers again and the ship arrives at Quadra Sigma. A rescue team beams down and discovers a young girl who has died. Riker is tempted to save her, but in the end, he refuses to do so out of respect for his promise. However, he quickly shows signs of regret at this decision, which he expresses to the captain. Tension between Picard and his first officer grows as Riker now seems to be embracing his powers, and his behaviour toward the crew begins to change. At Q's suggestion, and with Picard's blessing, Riker uses his powers to give his friends what he believes they want, turning Wesley into an adult, giving La Forge normal sight in place of his visor, and creating a Klingon female companion for Worf. All the recipients reject their gifts, however, with Data even anticipating and declining Riker's attempt to make him human. Picard declares that Q has failed, and when Q attempts to go back on his word, he is forcibly recalled to the Continuum. Picard is pleased to see Q gone, and praises Riker for confirming his trust in his "Number One". 

Review:

There are two main reasons to enjoy this episode; Q and Picard.  This is the first time since the pilot that we’ve seen Q and Picard interact, and it’s much better this time because both the actors are a bit more at grips with their characters.  The scene in the Captain’s ready room between the pair where they both quote Shakespeare is one of the real highlights of the first season, a veritable miniature diamond in a season-long run of rough.  In some respects, it’s almost a pity Picard-Q meet-ups aren’t more frequent, but ultimately, I think that they have to be done as little as possible to retain some impact in the later seasons.

 Unfortunately, the episode lacks sufficient subtlety in trying to convey a story about power corrupting.  The key reason why the Dark Phoenix story in the X-Men comics is a classic that no adaptation has ever effectively captured is because it involves Jean Grey being corrupted by power slowly, inch by inch, until circumstances push her over the edge.  When the Primarch Horus is turned to Chaos in the Horus Heresy novels that form part of Warhammer 40,000 lore, it’s not an overnight transformation from the noble being he was to the power-mad tyrant laying waste to Terra years later.  It’s a slow, gradual seduction by power, and a single episode of any TV show doesn’t give that.

 As a result, the idea of Riker’s shift in character and attitude seems too rapid and falls flat.  The only thing that doesn’t fall flat is how the rest of the cast reacts when Riker tries to act with benevolence.  It’s a testament to each of them how they resist being granted their supposedly fondest wishes.  I especially applaud Geordi and the autistic-like Data for their choices.  I never like stories that try to push the idea that characters who are somehow differently abled, either blatantly or through the metaphor of a genre-specific concept, should always want to eliminate that difference.  Maybe Geordi can’t see like everyone else, but considering all the different things he can see with his visor, it’s not like the vision he has is any better or worse. It’s just a pity his reason for saying no was more about not liking a Q-style Riker than about accepting himself and all the goodness inherent in that. 

Add in Troi not being around at a time when her character could be very annoying without much effort, and you’ve got an episode that has many saving graces propping up a poor execution of a decent core concept.  End score for this one, probably 7 out of 10.

 Episode 11: Haven

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Haven, where the ship's half-Betazoid Counsellor Deanna Troi has been summoned by her mother Lwaxana. Deanna had previously been set into an arranged marriage to the young human doctor, Wyatt Miller, and his parents have since tracked down Lwaxana to enforce the marriage. After Lwaxana and the Millers are welcomed aboard the Enterprise, the parents argue over whose cultural traditions will be honoured at the ceremony. Deanna and Wyatt attempt to get to know each other but find it difficult, as Deanna is still in love with Commander William Riker. Wyatt has had numerous dreams of another woman with whom he has fallen in love, and had initially believed her to be Deanna communicating telepathically with him.

 The Enterprise then learns of an unmarked vessel approaching Haven. Captain Picard recognizes it as Tarellian, a race they thought to have been wiped out by a highly lethal and contagious virus. When they contact the ship, they find a handful of Tarellian refugees who have been travelling at sub-light speeds to Haven in hopes of finding an isolated location to live out the rest of their lives in peace. Picard insists that they cannot go to the planet for fear of spreading the virus, and has the Tarellian vessel placed in a tractor beam. Wyatt discovers that one of the Tarellians, Ariana, is the woman from his dreams, and she too recognizes Wyatt. Wyatt tells Dr Crusher that he will transport some medical supplies to them, but transports himself along with the supplies. When the crew discovers this, Wyatt's parents demand that Picard bring Wyatt back to the Enterprise, but Denna insists that he cannot return, as Wyatt would now carry the Tarellian virus. Wyatt promises his parents, Deanna, and the rest of the crew that he knew that this would be his destiny, and is happy to try to help cure the Tarellian virus. Wyatt convinces the Tarellians to leave Haven and search for help elsewhere. Picard orders the tractor beam to be dropped and allows the vessel to depart the system. 

Review:

When it comes to Majel Barrett in the era of the TNG-DS9-Voyager shows, her best work as a guest star is her voice work as the voice of any given Starfleet computer.  Her worst work is when she’s guest-starring as Deanna Troi’s mother. Her whole character is the very definition of nails on a chalk board, and it’s very rare if ever that an episode featuring her can be anything good.  That said, her presence does help to improve Deanna’s character just because it means Deanna’s suddenly no longer the most likely to irk you with her characterisation.  Basically, anytime Deanna’s on the screen at this early stage in the show, all I can think is “please don’t have her go all over-sensitive like she did in the pilot.”

 Leaving the Troi family aside, the episode isn’t much to get excited about.  Just a run-of-the-mill b-plot about a plague ship that interconnects with the main plot nicely to save us from the Trek equivalent of a shotgun wedding. Frankly, I’d have preferred it if they’d done a plot exploring the arranged marriage idea and casting it down as the terrible idea it is, but then I suppose it wouldn’t be politic to do that with a culture that is part-and-parcel of the Federation instead of being the guest-race-of-the-week.  I’d give this one about 3 out of 10.

 Episode 12: The Big Goodbye

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise heads to Torona IV to open negotiations with the Jarada, an insect-like race that are unusually strict in matters of protocol. After practicing the complex greeting the Jarada require to open negotiations, Captain Jean-Luc Picard decides to relax with a Dixon Hill story in the holodeck. Playing Detective Hill in the holo-program, Picard takes up the case of Jessica Bradley, who believes that Cyrus Redblock is trying to kill her. Picard decides to continue the program later and leaves the holodeck to affirm their estimated arrival at Torona IV. He invites Dr Beverly Crusher and historian crewmember Whalen to join him in the holodeck. While Crusher is still preparing, Picard and Whalen are ready to enter the holodeck when Lt. Commander Data arrives, having overheard Picard's invitation. Entering the holodeck, the three discover that Jessica has been murdered in Picard's absence. As Picard explains that he saw Jessica at his office the day before, Lt. Bell brings Picard into the police station for questioning as a suspect in her murder. Meanwhile, the Enterprise is scanned from a distance by the Jarada, causing a power surge in the holodeck external controls. Dr Crusher later enters the holodeck, first experiencing a momentary glitch with the holodeck doors, and joins her friends at the police station.

 The Jarada demand their greeting earlier than the agreed time and are insulted at having to talk to anyone other than the Captain. The crew tries to communicate with Picard in the holodeck but finds it impossible; the Jarada signal has affected the holodeck's functions, preventing the doors from opening or allowing communication with the crew inside. Lt. Geordi La Forge and Wesley Crusher attempt to repair the holodeck systems. While inside the holodeck, the group returns to Dixon's office. Mr. Leech appears, having waited for Picard, demanding he turn over an object he believes Jessica gave him. When Picard fails to understand, Leech shoots Dr. Whalen with a gun, and the crew discovers that the safety protocols have been disabled, as Whalen is severely wounded. As Dr Crusher cares for his wound, Picard and Data discover that the holodeck is malfunctioning, and they are unable to exit the program. Mr. Leech is joined by Redblock, who continues to demand the object. Lt. McNary arrives and becomes involved in the standoff. Picard tries to explain the nature of the holodeck, but Redblock refuses to believe him. 

Outside, Wesley finds the glitch; however, he cannot simply turn off the system for fear of losing everyone inside. Instead, Wesley resets the simulation, briefly placing Picard and the others in the middle of a snowstorm before finding themselves back in Dixon's office. With the reset successfully clearing the malfunction, the exit doors finally appear. Despite Picard's warnings, Redblock and Leech exit the holodeck, but dissipate as they move beyond the range of its holo-emitters. As they leave the holodeck, Picard thanks McNary, who now suspects that his world is artificial and asks whether Picard's departure is "the big goodbye", to which Picard replies that he simply doesn't know. Picard reaches the bridge in time to give the proper greeting to the Jarada. The Jarada accept the greeting, heralding the start of successful negotiations.

 Review:

The Big Goodbye has a special place in the era of holodeck era of Trek as the first example of a “holodeck-gone-wrong” episode.  Later episodes of this series and the spin-off shows Deep Space Nine and Voyager would return to the premise of holodeck malfunctions time and again as either minor or major plot points.  Unfortunately, the holodeck is already going wrong as a plot device in the show just from a technical realisation standpoint.

 The basic idea of the holodeck is that it creates 3D images that resemble whatever is programmed into the computer, with some kind of force-fields giving the images substance while other aspects of the technology fill in the proverbial blanks (e.g. special programming to create interactive characters, localised environmental controls, etc.)  However, everything that exists within the holodeck can only exist within the range of the room’s tech; if anything created by the holodeck moves beyond its walls, it should instantly cease to be.  However, in the Farpoint pilot, Wesley Crusher fell into water on the holodeck, and when he walked out into the corridor, he remained wet and dripping when all the holographic water should have disappeared the instance he walked through the exit. 

Likewise, in this episode Picard picks up a lipstick mark when he first tries the holodeck’s new upgrades, and that should have disappeared when he later briefs the crew in the observation lounge. Instead, Dr Crusher has to wipe the lipstick off for the captain, despite the fact it should have disappeared from Picard’s face long ago.  It’s an annoying issue, and one that could have been easily fixed even back in the 1980’s when this show was made; evidently, this was just another example of how bad the show was at this stage.  If TNG ever gets the kind of reboot the original series did, I sincerely hope any use of the holodecks pays attention to and rectifies this error in the application of the holodeck concept. 

Otherwise, this episode doesn’t do much more than give Brent Spiner a bit more to do with Data by having him impersonate a 40’s-style gangers and give Patrick Stewart someone else to be besides the captain of the latest version of the Enterprise.  It’s a fairly well-made episode for season 1 of this show, and it really sells the illusion of the holodeck program for the most part.  The people who made the show just needed to learn that anything that gets made in the holodeck stays in the holodeck.  I’d give it about 5 out of 10. 

Episode 13: Datalore

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

While on the way to Starbase Armus IX for computer maintenance, the Enterprise arrives at the planet Omicron Theta, the site of a vanished colony where the starship Tripoli originally found the android Data. An away team travels to the surface and finds that what had been farmland is now barren with no trace of life in the soil. The team also finds a lab which they discover is where Dr. Noonien Soong, a formerly prominent but now discredited robotics designer, built Data. The team also find a disassembled android nearly identical to Data and return with it to the ship. As the course to the Starbase is resumed, the crew reassemble and reactivate Data's "brother" in sickbay. He refers to himself as Lore, and explains that Data was built first and he himself is the more perfect model. He feigns naiveté to the crew, but shows signs of being more intelligent than he is letting on. Later, in private, he tells Data that they were actually created in the opposite order, as the colonists became envious of his own perfection. He also explains that a crystalline space entity capable of stripping away all life force from a world was responsible for the colony's demise.

 Lore then incapacitates Data, revealing that he plans to offer the ship's crew to the entity. When a signal transmission is detected from Data's quarters, Wesley Crusher arrives to investigate. He finds Lore, now impersonating Data, who explains that he had to incapacitate his brother after being attacked. Wesley is doubtful, but pretends to accept the explanation. Soon after, the same crystalline entity that had attacked the colony approaches the ship. Lore, still pretending to be Data, enters the bridge as the object hovers before the Enterprise and explains that he incapacitated his brother by turning him off, causing Doctor Beverly Crusher to be suspicious, since Data had previously treated the existence of such a feature as a closely guarded secret. Lore then explains that he can communicate with the crystalline entity and suggests to Captain Jean-Luc Picard that he should show a demonstration of force by beaming an object toward the entity and then destroying it with the ship's phasers.

 Lore's attempts to imitate Data are imperfect, though initially only Wesley is suspicious, and his efforts to voice these concerns only draw rude rebukes from Picard and his mother. However, Picard does ultimately become suspicious, especially when Lore does not recognize Picard's usual command to "make it so". Although Picard sends a security detachment to tail him, Lore overpowers Lt. Worf and evades pursuit. Meanwhile, the suspicious Dr Crusher and Wesley reactivate the unconscious Data, and the three of them race to the cargo hold to find Lore plotting with the entity to defeat the Enterprise. When Lore discovers them, he threatens Wesley with a phaser and orders Dr Crusher to leave. Data quickly rushes Lore and a brawl ensues. Data manages to knock Lore onto the transporter platform, and Wesley activates it, beaming Lore into space. With its conspirator no longer aboard, the crystalline entity departs, and the Enterprise resumes its journey to the starbase.

 Review:

This episode very heavily relies on answering the mystery of Data’s origin and giving him a villainous brother in a manner similar to the Thor-Loki dynamic of Marvel superhero lore (pardon the inadvertent pun) to make it worth watching, because goodness knows it falls down everywhere else.  Spiner is remarkable playing the treacherous Lore alongside his regular character of Data, and it’s fun to see him make the best of what ultimately becomes a poor episode on other fronts. 

I know some reviewers have stated they don’t understand Lore’s motives for allying with the Crystalline Entity, but as a Marvel fan, it’s actually fairly easy to deduce.  Much like Loki in Marvel’s Thor franchise, Lore is a bit of a trickster, an android Q but without the pseudo-godhood or ultimately benign motives of Q.  Also like Loki, Lore is the unfavoured son, one who was basically cast aside in favour of something supposedly better, so he’s turned against the humanity his brother admires and emulates out of jealousy and the pain of rejection.  It’s not a hard motive to grasp, but with Lore not explicitly saying it, you need that knowledge of another fictional reference to make the deduction.  Given that Marvel lore was largely overlooked by the adult world until superheroes were made into a legitimate cinematic genre at the turn of the century, it’s unlikely many original reviewers would have made the link. 

However, as I’ve noted, the episode falls apart in other respects.  The crew’s haste to reassemble Data’s brother mid-flight is very risky behaviour more akin to the cowboy antics of Kirk’s crew from the original series than Picard’s more measured approach, and they are remarkably stupid in failing to catch onto Lore’s threat.  Only Wesley shows the requisite insight and intelligence, but expresses it poorly because at this time no one on the show could write Wesley with any kind of competence. As a result, Picard ends up looking like a total git for his outburst at Wesley, Wesley’s mother comes off almost as bad, and when it turns out that, as ever, Wesley was right, there’s no apology from Picard at all.  On balance, this episode rates about 5 out of 10, which can be taken as the anti-Wesley acting having a severely detrimental impact on a great Spiner performance, or a great Spiner performance saving the episode by some horrid Wesley-bashing. 

Episode 14: Angel One

Plot (as adapted from Wikipedia):

The Enterprise arrives at the planet Angel One, which is ruled by an oligarchy of women. The ship is looking for survivors from the shipwrecked freighter Odin, over seven years after having been evacuated. The freighter was missing three escape pods and the only planet in range was Angel One. An away team consisting of Commander William Riker, Lt. Commander Data, Lt. Tasha Yar, and Counsellor Deanna Troi beam down to the surface. They attempt to negotiate with Mistress Beata, the "Elected One" of the native inhabitants, to let them search for the survivors. Time is of the essence however, as the Enterprise must travel to a Federation outpost near the Romulan Neutral Zone (where a group of Romulan Battlecruisers has been detected) as soon as they resolve their investigation into the Odin survivors.

 Beata reveals that they are aware of four male survivors of the Odin who have caused disruption in their society, and are considered fugitives. Beata requests Riker stay with her (and later requests that he order Troi, Data, and Yar to track down the survivors' camp and their leader Ramsey, while staying and dining with her). After some back and forth, Data concludes Ramsey and the survivors of the Odin would have platinum with them, and Angel One is naturally devoid of platinum, allowing the Enterprise to easily detect them. Meanwhile, Riker dresses in the garb given to him for his dinner with Beata, Troi and Yar tease him for dressing in clothes that sexualize him and, in some ways, demean him. He responds by saying he is honouring the local customs, and acknowledges Beata's beauty, and that the garb is rather comfortable.

 The Enterprise searches while in orbit around Angel One. Doctor Beverly Crusher relieves Captain Jean-Luc Picard of duty after he and most of the crew have fallen ill to a random virus on board. The Captain leaves Lieutenant Geordi La Forge in command (Geordi's first time in acting command of a starship). Shortly after, they find Ramsey and transmit his location to the Away Team, who beam directly to there. 

When confronted by Data, Yar, and Troi, Ramsey and his men, having taken wives and started families during the seven years, refuse to leave. Data points out that as the Odin was not a star fleet vessel, its crew is not bound by the Prime Directive and the Enterprise cannot remove them against their will. Geordi informs Yar of the medical situation on board, and that more Romulan ships have been detected near the Neutral Zone. Riker gets close to Beata as they compare how gender roles differ between Angel One and the Federation. On the Enterprise, systems are becoming harder to maintain with more crew succumbing to the virus. Geordi (after a friendly reminder from a sniffling Worf) remembers that in command, he must delegate tasks so he can stay on the bridge. Dr Crusher finds that the virus is an airborne organism that produces a sweet smell, to encourage inhalation, after which it becomes viral inside the body. 

Riker gets up to date with the situation, and decides that while Ramsey and his group are at large and refusing to leave the planet, there is little they can do. Before leaving they find that one of Beata's fellow mitstresses, Ariel, has married Ramsey, and was followed by Beata's guards to their camp, where they arrested the survivors and their families. The Away Team attempt to explain to Beata the reason for Ramsey's refusal to leave. Beata and her council reject his reasoning, and threatens to execute them the following day. After failing to convince Ramsey and his group to leave with them, Riker contacts the Enterprise in hopes of transporting Ramsey and his group without their consent (despite it being a violation of the Prime Directive, and almost certainly an end to his career).  However, Dr Crusher (while treating an incapacitated Geordi in the Captain's chair) refuses to allow anyone to beam aboard for fear of them being infected, but allows Data, an android, to return. Riker orders Data to take command and get the Enterprise to the Neutral Zone before it's too late.

 The following morning the Away Team is invited to witness the execution of Ramsey and his followers. Moments after Riker rejects their invitation Data makes contact and informs them that there is a 48-minute window in which Dr Crusher has to find a cure, and Riker must defuse the situation on the planet before the ship must leave for the Neutral Zone. On the planet, Ramsey and his men are prepared to be executed by disintegration despite Ariel's pleas, while Dr Crusher discovers a cure for the virus. Riker is prepared to have the away team and the Odin survivors beamed to the Enterprise, but makes a plea that execution will do Angel One’s society little good. He contends that Ramsey and his men have simply become a symbol for pre-existing dissatisfaction with the current society on Angel One, an evolutionary change that execution may only accelerate by turning Ramsey’s group into martyrs.

After deliberating with her fellow mistresses, Beata announces that she will stay the execution and banish Ramsey, his men, their families, and any others that support them to the far side of the planet. She explains that their banishment will not stop the fall of the oligarchy, but will slow it down enough that Beata will not be around to see its end. The away team return to the ship and Picard, already recovering from the virus but hardly having a voice, orders the ship to the Neutral Zone at high warp. 

Review:

Apparently, the idea of this episode was look at South Africa’s apartheid system, but using a gender-based schism in a female-dominated society to explore the concept along gender lines rather than being more direct and using anything akin to a racial divide.  As a result, the intention is lost behind some very horrendously sexist rubbish that makes the show seem more like a bad parody of feminism.  The episode also has a lousy b-plot of a virus story that adds nothing to the episode, and again showcases how badly the holodeck concept was being handled at this time.  A snowball from a holodeck skiing program should not be able to go through the holodeck doors to hit Picard and Worf in the corridor.  2 out of 10 is all this episode deserves.

[ljones41]

“What Went Wrong With ‘CHARMED’?”

"WHAT WENT WRONG WITH 'CHARMED'?" What happened with the original "CHARMED" (1998-2006) series? How did a show that for a brief period, used to be one of my top ten favorites ended up as something for me to be derisive about? Well, below are what I believe are the three major traits that contributed to the show’s decline (at least for me) - morality, portrayal of men and magical powers.

Morality: For me, this was a major problem with the series. The audience was led to believe that the Halliwell sisters aka the Charmed Ones were the epitome of goodness, yet the writers have allowed them to get away with some very despicable acts. I am not one of those who demand that protagonists of a fictional story - whether in print, movies, plays or television - be flawless or ideal. I realize this is impossible, due to human nature. But I believe that when a work of fiction allows its protagonist to make a mistake or crime, I believe the writers should allow that character to face the consequences of his or her actions. Unfortunately, this rarely happened on "CHARMED" - especially in regard to the Charmed Ones and their whitelighter, Leo Wyatt. On the other hand, the Charmed Ones, Leo and the series' show runners and writers made certain that others - like Cole Turner - pay the price for their actions. Whether they deserved it or not. Piper Halliwell's Purchase of Illegal Fruit - In the Season Two episode, (2.12) "Awakened", a greedy Piper had purchased illegal fruit from South America that had not been inspected by U.S. Customs for a cheap price. She had plans to serve the fruit to her customers at her P3 bar. After sampling the fruit, Piper became afflicted with a deadly disease called "Oroyo Fever". First, her sisters Prue and Phoebe used a spell to save her life by directing the disease from her body to an ninja action figure toy owned by another patient. This act led to other patients in the hospital being afflicted by the disease. Eventually, Prue and Phoebe reversed the spell and Piper became afflicted again. In the end, Leo used his whitelighter ability to cure Piper. Since Leo had used magic for personal gain, he lost his whitelighter wings . . . temporarily. The Charmed Ones, on the other hand, did not pay any price whatsoever for their actions in this episode. Piper managed to survive and did not face any illegal prosecution for breaking Federal law. Also, Prue and Phoebe did not pay any price for using magic for personal gain and threatening the lives of innocents in the process. On the other hand, Piper's miraculous recovery attracted the attention of physician, Dr. Curtis Williamson. His determination to learn how she had recovered so quickly led to him temporarily possessing the Charmed Ones powers and his death in a later episode, (2.20) "Astral Monkey". While Piper had lamented over not answering one of his earlier requests for a medical examination, neither she or her sisters felt any guilt over how their actions in "Awakened" led to Dr. Williamson's death in "Astral Monkey". The 48-Hour Window of Opportunity Rule - According to the Season Four premiere, (4.01-4.02) "Charmed Again", the Whitelighters ("good") and the demons ("evil") had made a compromise regarding the moral compass of witches. This compromise created a period of forty-eight hours for a witch to decide his or her alliance or moral path. Frankly, I thought this was a dumb idea ever created by Brad Kern or one of his writers. The idea that the Elders' Council and the Source's Council had the authority to give a new witch a specific time period of free will to choose between good and evil is ludicrous. That witch or any other individual should constantly have some semblance of free will to choose any particular path . . . should have been regarded as a natural right. What made this rule even more ludicrous is once a witch makes up his or her mind, he/she will remain either good or evil until death. What on earth? This whole "Window of Opportunity" rule smacks of a fairy tale for children and not for a series about adult women. What Kern had failed to remember that life is uncertain, which means there are no real absolutes upon which one can depend. In other words, if Paige had chosen evil, her decision could never be regarded as absolute. In the real world . . . or in a well-written story, there would be no real absolute. Not only was this rule a prime example of how the series' black-and-white morality stagnated the series' writing development, it also appeared in the "CHARMED" reboot series. Pity. Darryl Morris' Soul - In Season Six's (6.01-6.02) "Valhalley of the Dolls", two of the Charmed Ones, Phoebe and half-sister Paige Matthews had committed a despicable act with the psychic rape of their close friend, Inspector Detective Darryl Morris. The pair used a spell to strip Darryl of his soul without his consent. They had committed this despicable act in order to free Leo from Valhalla (Norse/Viking version of heaven) and have him remove a spell he had cast on Piper. Phoebe and Paige’s act should have had major consequences for them. Instead, the writers treated this act of psychic rape as a joke and dismissed the whole matter with Darryl lamely and quickly forgiving them. I was disgusted by this episode. Rick Gittridge's Murder - Phoebe and Paige had committed another despicable act in the Season Six episode, (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion". Nervous over facing former classmates at a high school reunion, Phoebe had cast a spell on herself, regressing her personality to her seventeen year-old self. While under this spell, she used magic to help a former high school classmate named Rick Gittridge escape from prison. Eventually, Phoebe recovered from her spell and realized she had a convict who knew she was a witch on her hands. When Rick held her and Paige at gunpoint and demanded that they change his face so that he could avoid the police, Paige obliged, at Phoebe's urging, by giving him the face of their nephew and Piper and Leo's younger son, Chris Halliwell. What Rick did not know and the sisters did was Chris was on the run from a group of Scabber demons that he had angered. So . . . instead of teleporting the gun from Rick's hand and sending him back to prison with his memories wiped, Paige transformed his face to resemble Chris'. The Scabber demons saw Rick with Chris' face and promptly killed him before disappearing. And both Phoebe and Paige - to my utter disgust - declared their action had been necessary. In other words, Phoebe and Paige got away with cold-blooded murder thanks to Brad Kern's misplaced sense of justice. Alliance with the Avatars - Another major crime that the Halliwells had committed was helping the Avatars (an ancient group of extremely powerful magical beings) change the world by removing any dark thoughts from the human race and committing genocide against demons … all so that they can selfishly lead happy lives and not hunt demons. This little act, which had occurred in (7.12) "Extreme Makeover: World Edition", resulted in the psychic rape of the world’s population and the deaths of those few who were not affected by the spell. And what happened after the following episode, (7.13) "Charmeggedon"? Leo paid the price for his part in the spell with the loss of his whitelighter wings and position as an Elder. Yet the sisters - especially Piper - avoided any consequences for their actions. Again. Instead, they blamed the Avatars for not telling them everything and the Elders for driving Leo into becoming an Avatar. This was so cowardly on so many levels. At this point, my opinion of the Charmed Ones had sunk to a new low. Their unwillingness to learn any lesson from their own mistake and blame others disgusted me to my core. Cole Turner aka Belthazor's First Death and the Source - Sometime in early Season Four, Phoebe's lover and former assassin - the demon/hybrid Cole Turner aka Belthazor - lost his magical powers due to an old potion made by the Charmed Ones back in Season Three, because a woman wanted revenge for his past killing of her fiance. When the sisters were threatened with death at the hands of the demonic leader known as the Source, Cole used a magical object to strip the villain of his magical powers and use them to save Phoebe and her sisters. Unfortunately for Cole, he ended up being possessed against his will by the Source's spirit. Episodes like (4.14) "The Three Faces of Phoebe" and (4.16) "The Fifth Halliwell" had made it very clear that the Source had taken possession of Cole's body. Instead of having the Charmed Ones discover this, Brad Kern and his writers had allowed them to succumb to their worst fears and prejudices regarding Cole's past and kill him. To make matters worst, the sisters never found out in the following season that he had been an innocent victim of the Source. Instead, Kern and the writers dump some "Cole turns insane" story line in early Season Five on viewers in order to set in motion the character's departure from the series in the shitty episode (5.12) "Centennial Charmed". In doing this, show runner Brad Kern and staff writers had failed to allow the sisters a chance to discover their own potential for bigotry and evil and thus, kill any chance of them developing as characters. Only Prue had been given this chance in Season Three episodes like (3.15) "Just Harried" and (3.16) "Death Takes a Halliwell". Other Magical Beings - The series' "black-vs-white" morality had became a prime example of how people judge others on a purely superficial basis. Which the Halliwells had been guilty of. Look at Cole for example. The only reason Phoebe and her sisters had originally believed he possessed the potential for good was due to his human ancestry on his father's side. For Phoebe and her sisters, Cole’s human half equated to good, and his demon half equated to evil. When Cole had lost his powers for the second time in Season Five (5.07) "Sympathy For the Demon", the sisters' whitelighter Leo Wyatt automatically judged him good, because he no longer had his "demonic" powers. This all stemmed from the the series' never ending habit of labeling certain powers as good ("witches, fairies, whitelighters, etc.") or evil ("demons, darklighters, warlocks"), based on what kind of beings possessed them. I never understood why the series had continued to portray magical abilities in this infantile manner - especially for a show that was about adult women. "CHARMED" also made a big deal about witches not using their powers for personal gain. Yet, from what I have read about the Wiccan Rede (please correct me if I am wrong), personal gain is not even considered forbidden. Wiccans seemed to be more concerned with intent - using one’s powers to deliberately hurt another, forcing someone to do something against his or her will, or using magic on others without their consent, which the Halliwells were extremely guilty of in "Vahalley of the Dolls", (6.17) "Hyde School Reunion" and "Extreme Makeover: World Edition". And by the way, the Charmed Ones never paid any consequences for their transgressions. Phoebe, her sisters and Leo seemed incapable of accepting the possibility that ALL BEINGS, no matter who or what they are - have the potential for both good and evil within them. The show has refused to accept the possibility that demons have the potential for good and humans have the potential for great evil (with the exception of a few). To the series' writers (and characters), a sentient being's morality is mainly based upon WHAT he or she is, and not on the individual's emotional state . . . OR CHOICES. The reason I brought these issues is that Kern and the series' writers had allowed the sisters to get away with major crimes. The sisters had paid the price for using their powers for minor acts - like Prue using her telekinesis to force an annoying neighbor, who had been allowing his dog to poop against their front steps, to step in said dog poop; and Phoebe using her premonition power to find the future father of her future child - but never for major acts that I had listed above. Also, I really wish that "CHARMED" had been more ambiguous and complex in its portrayal of morality. Everything was so simple-minded and childish. Demons/warlocks are all evil; humans are all good (unless there are no demons around). What exactly was wrong in portraying demons and other supernatural beings as morally ambiguous? What was wrong in the sisters learning that morality was not as simple and easy to label, as they have assumed for so many years? Portrayal of Men: Another problem I had with "CHARMED" was its portrayal of many male characters. I understand that the series had wanted to portray women in a positive light - strong and intelligent. There was nothing wrong with that. By why did the series' portrayal of men had to be basically negative? "CHARMED" was supposed to be about feminism. However, my idea of feminism was not male bashing or emasculation. Unfortunately, the series was guilty of both. During most of Seasons One and Two, the sisters had a tendency to make many unnecessary quips at the expense of the male gender. And there was the (2.05) "She’s a Man, Baby! She’s a Man!" episode that I would dearly love to forget. And what happened to male witches? I can only recall seeing one so-called male witch on the show - Max Franklin from (1.14) "Secrets and Guys" - and at age thirteen, he was too young to be practicing witchcraft. Regular Male Characters - Another problem is that most of the strong male characters on the show are either stripped of their power or dies. this happened to characters like Cole Turner, Andy Trudeau, Leo Wyatt, Chris Halliwell and Kyle Brody. The powerful half-demon Belthazor aka Cole ended up having his powers stripped in (4.08) "Black As Cole" and was "deemed safe" to marry Phoebe. And when he became more powerful than ever in Season Five, he was judged "evil and insane" and targeted for death by Kern and his writers in "Centennial Charmed". Andy Trudeau, a strong-willed San Francisco cop who also happened to be Prue's true love, ended up dead not long after he discovered that the sisters were witches at the end of Season One. Although Piper and Leo's older son Wyatt became a very powerful witch, he was too young for the writers to do anything about it. Leo became a whitelighter Elder at the end of Season Five and later, an Avatar in early Season Seven. Thus the writers felt that they had to break him away from Piper. And they did not reunite the couple until Leo permanently became a mortal (aka "safe"). Both Chris (Piper and Leo’s younger son) and FBI Special Agent Kyle Brody (Paige's love interest in Season Seven) were strong personalities who ended up dead - along with ex-demon named Drake who had decided to become a human. And how did the series end? With a powerless Leo, a non-magical husband for Paige, and a "Cupid" (magical being associated with love) for Phoebe to marry. Darryl Morris - One would notice that I did not mention Darryl Morris, the detective inspector from the San Francisco Police Department, who had known the Halliwells since the beginning. Darryl had began the series as Andy Trudeau's partner. Following Andy’s death, Darryl became the sisters’ main non-magical contact between Seasons Two and Seven. The writers' treatment of Darryl really annoyed me over the years. After Season Two, I got tired of him freaking out whenever faced with the sisters' magic. Also, the sisters had badly mistreated him during Season Six . His soul was stripped from his body against his will in "Valhalley of the Dolls" by Phoebe and Paige. And he was was framed for murder by magical beings known as the Cleaners, who used him to cover up the Halliwells' careless use of magic. When he had decided that he wanted nothing to do with the Charmed Ones (and I did not blame him) in late Season Six, the writers had treated as the bad guy for failing to forgive them for what happened to him. And when Darryl finally reconciled with them in Season Seven, he returned to being one of the sisters’ lap dogs. Leo became the other one.After years of watching the show, I found myself wondering if both Constance Burge and Brad Kern had become leery of the idea of the Halliwells being associated on a permanent basis with strong male characters. And I found that sad. Magical Powers: How can I put this? One of the more confusing aspects of "CHARMED" has always been its portrayal of magic. The series' portrayal of magical beings and various abilities have struck me as contradicting. Another problem with the series was that the show runners and the writers had allowed its black-and-white mentally to label what kind of abilities that its characters can practice. Fire Ability - For example, according to the series, any ability to do with fire can only be possessed by evil magic practitioners like demons and warlocks. Why? Fire is an element, not something evil. The series had featured a witch in its premiere episode, (1.01) "Something Wicca Comes This Way" as a pyrokinetic. Later, a young foster child named Tyler Michaels in Season Four's (4.12) "Lost and Bound" also had the ability to create fire. These were two rare cases in which "CHARMED" featured pyrokinetics who were not evil. However, the series eventually ret-conned Tyler as a Archai, an elemental being who could not only create fire, but use fire to create portals. Was Brad Kern uneasy over the idea of a minor protagonist being a mere fire starter? It certainly felt like it. Was the series’ portrayal of fire as something evil stemmed from religion? Again . . . it felt like it, but I cannot say for certain. The Nexus - Another aspect of magic that I found ridiculous on "CHARMED" was the whole "Nexus Theory" from the episode (1.15) "Is There a Woogy in the House?". An earthquake had revealed a magical entity called "the Woogeyman" that resided in the Charmed Ones’ basement. The sisters had learned that their home was located on top of a spiritual nexus - a location that was equidistant from the five spiritual elements. And because Phoebe had been born inside their home, her moral compass could easily swing from good to evil, in compare to her sisters. This was all bullshit, of course, since anyone can swing from good to evil or back, considering the circumstances. But what made this "Nexus Theory" even more laughable was that the five elements that played a role in it - earth, fire, water, wood and metal - are associated with Chinese philosophy, not Wiccan beliefs. The elements associated with Wicca are - earth, fire, water, air and spirit. Prue had claimed that the first list of elements were Wiccan, when they were actually associated with Chinese philosophy. Sigh! Paige Matthews’ Ability - Season Four had introduced a new member of the Halliwell family - half-sister, Paige Matthews. Paige was the creation of an affair between the sisters’ mother, Patricia "Patty" Halliwell and her whitelighter, Sam Wilder. With Prue no longer a member of the Charmed Ones, Paige had replaced her. Naturally, Brad Kern and his writers believed they had to create an ability for Paige that was similar to Prue’s telekinesis. And what was it? Well, the sisters dubbed it telekinetic orbing. Sigh! In a nutshell, when Paige wanted to move something or someone, her object would disappear in one spot and reappear in another. Does this sound familiar? Well it should. This ability is usually regarded as teleporting. But the objective is the same as telekinesis - moving someone or something from one spot to another. Because Paige’s father was a whitelighter and her ability manifested in white or blue orbs, her ability was labeled as telekinetic orbing. It would have been a lot easier for the writers to use the correct phrase for Paige’s ability - teleporting - and easier on the mouth for the actors. But alas . . . The above are simply examples of the series’ rather odd and occasional erroneous portrayal of magic. If I truly wanted to delve into this subject, it would have required me to write another essay - a long one at that. So, I will end it right here. I have written other articles about "CHARMED" in which I had discussed issues I found problematic. But when it came to morality, male characters and magic abilities, I feel that the series had made its most obvious mistakes.

[leavyes-a]

meta on media consumption as beholding, and the creation of the conservator role, based on conversations with @hdtvtits​. content warning, as always, for addiction, compulsive / obsessive behavior, aggressive hoarding, and implied terminal illness, all of the eldritch variety. also allusions to real-life hollywood dramas, though nothing remotely specific is discussed in this post.

foreword: this is just the first part of a bunch of meta i’ll likely end up posting on why levi is what they are and why their beholding manifests the way it does, because like... for secrets and the underbelly of film production i have a lot to say but a lot to source as well. but there are a few things i want to address in this post, namely: what the eye feeds off of, whether or not levi is feeding the eye in their media consumption ( and how ), and how it ultimately serves the eye’s purposes to have this be levi’s method of feeding. this probably won’t even be my last post on the subject as i keep sort of logicking out the way that beholding works and how it can manifest. it’s important to me though that it exist and function outside of just what happens in the institute ( which is proven in the statements ), mostly because fear entities are global and primal and jonny said that the story really is britain-centric. now, media consumption isn’t particularly groundbreaking; it addresses a more american culture, but that’s still western-centric and sort of ‘typical’ of europe and america, though i will say that european filmmaking as an institution is... different. it has its own history and quirks. hollywood is its own beast. someday i’ll make a post on levi’s judaism and how that interacts with beholding and manifests as more than their aesthetic, because they haven’t even used their ayin hara on this blog yet though it’s a ( minor ) power they possess, but that deserves its own post. ANYWAYS. with that said.

what does the eye feed off of? the eye doesn’t just function based off a primal fear, it has a drive that it imbues its servants with: “it is the manifestation of the fear of being watched, exposed, followed, of having secrets known, but also the drive to know and understand, even if your discoveries might destroy you.” i think that most of the entities function in a similar way, with the things they inspire and feed off of on the one hand, and avatars with a desire to evoke that fear in the other; i.e., avatars create food to feed their entity, and if they don’t, the entity devours them instead. that’s pretty basic knowledge. ( i also have stuff to say about entities consuming themselves because every time claire says autocannibalism i go absolutely hog wild about it but that’s for another day. ) there are, then, multiple ways that an avatar can go about gathering fear for its entity, but what sets the eye apart from others, i believe, is that it doesn’t need to directly cause the fear it consumes -- though i think that it finds the fear of being watched more filling than just watching other people be afraid, it can still ‘survive’ off of that. this is where eye shit starts to get confusing and it’s why these posts are so longwinded and involve me talking myself in circles, because the eye both has a specific fear that it’s linked to and can devour other people’s experiences of fear that it did not cause, yes even before the apocalypse. that’s just how jon feeds for the majority of the series. for a good long while, he’s not going out and getting statements himself; and even when he does, he’s double dipping on both the fear they convey to him about their experiences ( knowledge gained ) and the fear that this man is pulling information out of them ( secrets exposed ). 

but that’s jon and we’re not talking about jon, we’re talking about levi, and my ever-evolving thesis on voyeurism in / and media. 

so what does an eye avatar need to do, exactly, to eat? it needs to accumulate knowledge, that’s the baseline that it can survive off of -- knowledge of the other entities is best, but i don’t know that it’s a requirement... and i don’t know if it’s not! i am going to make the call that eye avatars can survive off of just hoarding information because the eye isn’t super picky and wants to know everything anyways, but not feeding off of fear for a long time is going to leave the avatar really weak. and for an eye avatar to develop its powers and grow, it needs to take statements directly, or else give other people the distinct feeling of being observed against their will. the more people it feeds off of as a result of its own actions, the more powerful it becomes. that said, i don’t think this is common, which is why watchers ( heads of institutes ) have set up these systems where they’re generating food for themselves on two axes simultaneously: fear of people who give statements, and fear of people who have to work at their institutes ( either taking statements or working directly under the eye ). that just sort of accumulates power upwards within eye bureaucracies, though the archivists who take and sort the statements are also going to become remarkably powerful if they lean into their role.

( also side note: these systems work for the english, american, and chinese institutes, but there are ways for beholding avatars to thrive outside of them, and again someday i’m going to post about oral traditions and the ability to craft stories in different regions of beholding that feed the eye. but i need to do research first and we’re talking about levi! )

here’s the thing... levi is not an archivist. levi is not powerful. levi does not have a strong connection to beholding. they worship it, but fanaticism does not equal feeding, sadly, and the role they’ve been given is not one that pushes them to go and gather statements for themselves. they have taken read and statements at afi, because wyatt was raising them into an avatar, but, though conservators and archivists can overlap in the real world, they ( in my word of god for this blog’s canon and the monster i made up ) are two very different things under the eye. essentially, conservators serve archivists ( and watchers ) by witnessing, recording, and playing back statements that archivists can then maneuver through. the more experienced the conservator, the more they can shift the camera, allowing the archivist to comb through statements in detail and pull the knowledge that they want from them. remember that the beholding grants knowledge, not understanding, and while that may be fine for the eye, sometimes its ‘human’ servants need to put the pieces together in order to advance its plans.

the conservator is a relatively new position within beholding, because it does function like a film camera. i think that, in other times, places, and cultures, there were similar avatars who filled a similar role, but it wasn’t the same. the conservator really is a miskatonic / american experiment to help the institute delve into the information it already possessed. for one example of how conservators are useful, consider what happened with sasha: the archivist had his voice recordings of her, because it can’t effect magnetic tape, but jon the person still had her wiped completely from his memory. that wouldn’t happen to a conservator, because all of their memories are converted into (meta)physical tape stock. they are a lockbox that cannot be opened or altered unless you’re a more powerful beholding avatar. ( the limitation here is that they only have so much storage space, they will need to expunge some memories to store more; though those memories can be kept in physical containers, film stock obviously degrades and is a very unstable and extremely flammable medium; their body will also internally decompose to make room for more data and that is a painful process that eventually renders the conservator just a storage without any ability to function beyond sitting still and replaying witnessed / read events. )

we’ve established that levi feeds normally. they take statements, they are present in an archive, they’re hearing the scary stories. finally, finally on to why levi consumes media and how levi consumes media, because the one is intrinsically linked to the other. let me start by saying that just watching television or films does not a beholding avatar make. yes you are watching, but the distinction is in whether you are passively or actively viewing. and the power that is drawn from someone zoning out and being addicted to passively consuming media does not go to the eye. that is neither a fear of being observed ( for the one watching or for the actors / writers, because nobody is going to care about an audience that doesn’t form an opinion at all beyond basic emotional reactions; uncritical consumers are milk and honey to them ) nor a pursuit of knowledge ( passively accepting knowledge is, according to elias, far less effective in raising up eye avatars than letting them learn to ‘see’ on their own ). all that power goes to mx media ( @hdtvtits​ ) or, if you don’t like crossovers, Just Definitely Not the Eye. it’s when you start performing analysis that the eye takes interest -- which is why the eye continues to thrive in academia ( au where i write meta on just how bad that gets, historically, but again there are things we don’t get into until we research thoroughly ). the more you lose yourself in compiling information, to the exclusion of everything else, the more you appeal to beholding. and when you start unveiling secrets, which there are plenty of in film and film production, things kept private from the audience, ‘movie magic’, then feeding can begin.

this may come as a surprise, but levi does not have a response to whether or not they ‘like’ movies. if you ask them, ‘did you enjoy that movie?’ they will not say ‘yes’ or ‘no’, they will just start launching into ripping it apart. levi probably started out enjoying movies recreationally, but at some point, they became not just unwilling to but incapable of watching films without analyzing -- and what separates this from normal people who are conscientious and engaged viewers is that this is a mania that spans hours. their ‘digestion’ of a film is obsessive and has a physical component because it is eldritch in nature. i can’t stress enough that levi isn’t just a pretentious film buff who says ‘oh i can’t consume media for pleasure or uncritically’, though they may have been at some point in their college career! they have a physical and metaphysical makeup that drives them to frenzy over what they watch. the instant they finish a film, they’ll begin a rapid accumulation of knowledge of anything they can dig up: the who, what, when, where, why, how. if they do have an emotional response, it’s incredibly removed, and their way of processing it is to drill into how and why the film made them feel that way. 

if they try to avoid this step in the process -- if they just watch a movie, turn it off, and attempt to go to bed -- they will start to weaken immediately. watching the movie isn’t enough for feeding. if it was, the eye wouldn’t take any interest at all. it’s the genuinely out-of-control driving impulse to keep researching and researching until there is nothing left about a piece of media that isn’t known, shredding through academic papers and script drafts and director’s notes and interviews and everything they can get their hands on, that stems from and feeds beholding. they do not settle for what is put on the screen. they will even cold call creators in a fit and try to get them to talk about the production ( which is, yes, invasive -- beholding is an eldritch entity, it is not healthy or good and does not inspire healthy or good habits! ). 

they may not even be capable of enjoying a piece on its own merits; it’s all about the world it opens up to them, it’s about stuffing themselves with information until they can’t breathe and overstimulate and pass out. then recovery from that can take days as they process what they learned and sort it all out in their mind. they don’t really do much with this information; just knowing it is enough. if an archivist or watcher wants to take action about it, they can ask levi to spit it back up for them. but ultimately, despite the impact that this has on their health, this is still low-level feeding for a low-level avatar. unless it’s a truly gruesome movie or has an exceptionally shady production background, it’s not really the fear that the eye is looking for. levi is feeding one half of beholding, the half that wants them to consume knowledge and secrets. if levi didn’t take / read statements as well, or go out and witness live horrific events, they would probably starve -- their body would eat itself processing knowledge.

and i will talk about the component of parasocial relationships, anxiety that stems from being an actor / director / content creator in general and having your work and your image spiral out of control as it’s ripped apart and dissected by consumers, because that is beholding territory as well. it’s just not actually what levi does, but because it relates to the media-beholding relationship, i’ll have it on this blog.

[darling-stay-with-me]

Favourite Episodes of Season 6 of Charmed

Okay, so I will fully admit that I have been very biased when it comes to this season. My love for Chris/Drew has clouded my judgement and I have always said that this season was my favourite. However, on my rewatched I can confirm that this season isn’t the best. I think it truly struggles to find it’s footing and I don’t think it really finds it till the second half once we find out Chris is Piper and Leo’s son. 

The first half is very messy and seems like they don’t know what the fuck they are doing either. I think once they work out what Chris is actually doing and why he came back it starts to pick up finally. 

1. Forget Me Not

I like that we got to see a small glimpse of Wyatt’s powers. It always makes me laugh that after he conjures the dragon and the dragon leaves. Piper picks him up and then Wyatt orbs Piper to see the dragon. Like look, mom, look what did isn’t it cool. Piper is so not impressed! 

I do wonder where the Cleaners were when they got exposed in season 3. Maybe they were created after that moment. To make sure nothing like that ever happened again. 

Seeing Piper being this strong kickass mother is everything! 

2. My Three Witches

I thought this one was cool for the fact that it tapped into the girl's desires. Piper wanting a normal life and Paige wanting to use her powers out in the open. Completely different ends of the scale. 

3. Chris Crossed

My Chris centred episode!!!! I loved this one! The whole reveal of Chris actually being a witch and that he was coming back to save Wyatt from turning evil was great. 

Chris’s storyline and backstory is really tragic when you think about it. His mother died when he was young, his father is non existent, his brother is the power of all evil. He has no one. No wonder he goes back to the past to try and save at least Wyatt. The rest of his family was just a bonus.  

4. Witchstock

Jennifer Rhodes in all her glory!! I love her! I love the scene where she is yelling at Piper and Phoebe about how they are living apart from one another for love. Both Piper and Phoebe are giggling it is just great. 

Also, the fucking shade Grams throws at Chris is hilarious I love it! But when Grams gave him a compliment at the end of the episode you could tell that meant everything to him. 

There is a small moment in the end when Paige gives Leo crap for his Hippie days and you see Chris in the background looking grossed out and confused at what he is hearing. He doesn’t want to hear about his father like that hahaha

5. The Legend of the Sleepy Halliwell

This one honestly just has some really great sarcastic Piper after she gets her head chopped off! Also, feel like this was a crafty way of hiding Holly’s baby bump hahaha. 

The reveal of Chris being Wyatt’s brother was really subtle which I love. I loved that Phoebe was the one that figured it out as well. 

6. I Dream of Phoebe

This episode is great for the fact that it is just Chris freaking the fuck out over the fact he needs to get his parents back together so he can actually happen. The backfire of the wish of getting Piper and Leo to sleep together was great! 

The fourth wall break when Phoebe says why do i always get stuck with the wigs. I thought was funny! 

My favourite moment though was when the Genie wished the Charmed ones dead and Chris running over to his aunt's bodies and saying no this isn’t your time yet, I know it isn’t. Then their spirits floating away and Chris crying and saying how sorry he is. My heart just broke! Like he loves his family so much! 

7. The Courtship of Wyatt’s Father

A great Piper and Leo episode! Brian and Holly work so well together, I love them! 

The moment Chris comes back though is so fucking funny! The grand reveal to Piper of Chris being her son was also great! 

8. Hyde School Reunion

I will be honest I just love this episode for the Chris and Victor scenes and the Piper and Chris scenes. Chris opening up to Victor about how Piper dies when he is 14 and how he doesn’t want to get close to her because it will hurt more to go back to the future where she isn't there - BREAKS MY FUCKING HEART! 

But the best moment of all time is Chris calling Piper Mom by accident. It is by far the cutest moment of the whole serious. The surprise from Piper at being called that and Chris surprised that he slipped up is amazing. I love their relationship and this episode really highlighted that. 

9. Spin City 

“FROM THE WOMB? HE HAD POWERS FROM THE WOMB” might be one of the best quotes of the show. But honestly, why did all this power go to Wyatt and Chris just got the basic powers?! It does seem a little unfair

The angst between Chris and Leo is everything. I am pleased that they explored it. The whole scene on the Golden Gate Bridge where Chris reveals that Leo is there for everyone but him, was so sad. I could totally imagine a timeline where Leo does this. Especially if Piper dies young then it makes even more sense. It would have just ignored everything and gone up to the Elders and that be that. 

10. Crimes and Witch-Demeanors

Finally, they addressed how they have been using their powers for personal gain for like the whole season! It had been bothering me. Particularly Phoebe with her forcing premonitions etc. So I thought it was good that Phoebe got her powers taken away from her in the end. However, I will say I am annoyed she never earned back her Empathy and Levitation power coz those two were cool 

I honestly didn’t know that California still has the death penalty in place so that was a shocking thing to learn. 

I feel so bad for Darryl though. He has done EVERYTHING he could to protect those girls and he gets that as his payback. I don’t blame him for wanting to take a step back from them. 

11. It’s a Bad Bad Bad World

This episode is a good season finale. Them going to the world where it is the complete opposite of their world was cool. I especially enjoyed seeing Barbas as the Demon of Hope instead of the Demon of Fear. It was funny to see that reverse. 

Then everyone being overly happy was funny as well! I loved that moment when Piper casts the spell on Phoebe and Paige. Paige being like “We, very well can't ignore Chris's birth now can we?” Chris: “I'm the baby. I give you permission to.”

I did like the fact that the reason why Wyatt turned evil was due to him having to fight for his life at such a young age (literally a baby) and that’s why he turns evil. I thought that was kind of a clever idea instead of it being a demon influence. 

I am still a little bitter that they didn’t have Chris go back to the future to see what good he had done but him making the ultimate sacrifice for his brother was heartwarming. Brian and Drew were so good in that final scene - Rose as well. I love that we got such a touching moment between a father and son. It was very well done. 

Brian also in that scene where he loses it and uses his elder lightening powers and is destroying the attic because of his grief. He was so angry at himself because he had promised Chris that he would get him back to his time safely. 

I loved the quote at the end from Paige “We didn’t lose him after all”. 

[whitewolfofwinterfell]

My favourite Charmed episodes - season 5

This is the fifth part of my Favourite Charmed Episodes meta series all posts in the series will be tagged as #favecharmedeps.

Season 5 is honestly one of my favourite seasons and has two of my all time favourite episodes from across the series. There’s something about the whole vibe of season 5 that I just love. It feels very different from seasons 1-4 and generally I’d expect to dislike that, but it really works for me. I love the more mystical and fairy tale-esque theme running through it which taps into the lighter side of magic. The sisters have fantastic arcs in this season (and I’d argue it’s the last season that they receive truly good characterisation); Piper struggles with adjusting to becoming a mother; Phoebe tries to move on from an unhealthy relationship and creates a new life for herself with her job and Paige’s arc is my absolute favourite. I just love seeing Paige embrace being a witch and work through her identity issues in regards to where she fits in with the sisters and the world at large. I’ll discuss this more, but I honestly just adore Paige in this season and I think her characterisation is beautifully built upon from season 4. I’ve chosen 5 episodes from season 5 - A Witch’s Tail, Happily Ever After, Sympathy for the Demon, Y Tu Mummy Tambien and Centennial Charmed. 

A Witch’s Tail (5x01+2)

Initially I wasn’t going to include this episode because although I like it I don’t love it, but I had to because of what this episode means for the sisters. Generally, I like mermaids, but I’m not particularly invested or taken with Mylie or her story, it’s what it means for Phoebe that’s significant. Overall, this episode perfectly launches the three main character arcs that the sisters have this season, which I’ve outlined above, so let’s explore that in more detail. 

After seeing Phoebe go through literal hell in season 4 in her relationship with Cole, this episode is the perfect follow-up from that. She’s trying to divorce Cole so that she can move on and when he comes back her reaction is completely understandable. All she wants to do is runaway and never come back. Who can blame her? I’m a huge fan of the show using magical transformations as a metaphor for the sisters emotional or mental struggles and in this instance, a mermaid is the perfect creature for Phoebe to become. Mylie explains that their hearts are as cold as the ocean, that they don’t love and that they simply swim in the ocean completely free from all ties and responsibilities. Phoebe truly deserves to have this arc in this episode, it’s only sad that she doesn’t get even more focus. I’d argue that she suffers the biggest trauma of any of the sisters in season 4 and yet after Long Live the Queen and Wombraider, she’s never really given adequate time to deal with those traumas and the writing doesn’t give her space to do it either. The second Wombraider has finished it’s all just swept under the rug and I have a lot of problems with that. What this episode demonstrates to me is that through all of that heartbreak, Piper and Paige don’t know how to be there for Phoebe, in fact, nobody does. Phoebe carries the hurt caused by Cole completely alone because she feels that no one else can understand or that she’ll be judged. This is where I can criticise Piper and her sister relationship with Phoebe, because I feel like Piper doesn’t support Phoebe at all. Paige is more open-minded about Cole (despite being the one that hated him in season 4) and works her ass off to vanquish Cole for Phoebe’s benefit. But back to the point, Phoebe turning into a mermaid and running (or perhaps swimming is the more appropriate term) away at sea is because she doesn’t have that support and understanding that she needs. Notice that the sisters and Leo aren’t enough to bring her back home, it’s Cole that is responsible for her turning back into herself. And I love that final scene between them on the beach because it’s such a peaceful moment between them where they get to acknowledge all the hurt and damage they’ve caused each other, but that they still love each other. Cole describing Phoebe’s desire to wash away the pain with the waves of the sea explains perfectly why Phoebe chose to stay as a mermaid. This scene is overall one of my favourite Phoebe and Cole scenes because of how simple it is but how strongly it conveys the love and loss that’s between them. In some ways it’s sad that this wasn’t the end of their relationship, because I think it would’ve been a very courteous and sweet ending. 

Moving onto Piper, this episode is the beginning of Piper’s journey to becoming a mother. We see her struggle to conceive in season 4 and the heartbreak she feels at finding out she may not be able to conceive naturally, but this season is all about the process of her becoming a mother. I admire what the writers do with Piper in this episode (and season 5 generally), because I assume that a lot of Charmed’s viewers back in the day were young women and girls that perhaps didn’t have children so a large chunk of the audience probably couldn’t relate to what Piper was going through. However, becoming a mother is one of the most significant and life-changing things any woman can go through and it deserves to be explored properly. I know from close friends and family that have children how emotionally and mentally difficult it is. The assumption is that having a child should be a happy time - particularly the pregnancy when you’re celebrating and enjoying getting everything ready for the baby - but it’s actually very overwhelming. Piper’s feelings of fear and panic are particularly fitting when you consider the context of her pregnancy and life. She’s been trying a long time to get pregnant, so immediately she’s putting pressure on herself for everything to be perfect; she’s a first-time mother with no other women close to her that are mothers to seek advice and comfort from and she has very specific fears due to Patty dying when she was very young. I like how the episode starts out portraying Piper’s fear as coming from wanting to protect the baby, but that in the end it actually runs deeper than that and it’s her fear of leaving her baby without a mother. It echoes many of the fears that Prue had of repeating Patty’s history, and now as Piper is becoming a mother it’s natural that she would start to feel that way too. The fact that Piper casts a spell to remove her fear is not unlike Phoebe becoming a mermaid to avoid her emotional issues - they’re both trying to erase and suppress their feelings as a way to deal with them. But Piper removing her fear only endangers her and her baby (I still don’t know how the baby survived after the physical trauma Piper endured in this episode, I’m assuming Wyatt was constantly healing her from the womb) and Patty coming to her towards the end of the episode is the beautiful ending to that. Patty reassures her that Piper isn’t her, she’s her own person and things are and will be different for her child. It ends with Piper realising that whilst Patty only had Penny for support, she has Leo and Paige and Phoebe. She has a fantastic support system and she needs to start leaning on them instead of trying to handle it all on her own. 

As for Paige, she doesn’t have as much of a clear defined arc in this episode, but what is made clear is how much responsibility she’s taken on within the family. In addition to working a full-time job as a social worker (she gets promoted in this episode, yay!) she works her butt off to save Mylie, to get Phoebe back and to help Piper. She has to juggle all of these aspects of her life and all these responsibilities, and the chaos she has to endure perfectly sets up her fantastic arc which spans across the series with Paige quitting her job and devoting herself entirely to witchcraft. 

Happily Ever After (5x03)

God, I love this episode so much. Like I said, I’m a sucker for fairy tales and this entire episode is all about fairy tales, so what’s not to love? I enjoy the magic in this episode, the folklore but like nearly all of my other favourite episodes, it’s a great episode for character development. There’s a continued exploration of the arcs that were established in A Witch’s Tail and each sister’s arc is handled well. 

Piper is still trying to find a way to handle the responsibility of being a mother-to-be and whilst she’s overcome her initial fear of leaving her child motherless, she’s now concerned about what it means to have a magical child. This predicament leads to Piper summoning Grams and I always love to see Piper and Grams interact. Whilst I appreciate seeing the sisters stand on their own two feet and find their own way, these moments are really necessary. Everybody needs guidance and support from our parental/guardian figures and Grams visiting at this time feels very fitting. Piper needs her and Grams has a lot of valuable advice to share. However, Grams being back taps into a vital part of Piper’s personality that rears it’s head whenever Grams is around - her passivity. I’ve mentioned it before, but naturally Piper isn’t a leader, she’s very passive and allows others to take charge. Since Grams is an authoritarian anyway and has a very strong influence over Piper, we see Piper getting overshadowed by Grams. Grams starts dictating what Piper and the sisters should do, and instead of making her own decisions Piper falls into the habit of agreeing with Grams’ decisions because she doesn’t have faith in her own ability to make decisions. This also taps into another insecurity Piper has - her capability as the matriarch as the family. As I discussed when analysing Long Live the Queen, Piper feels that she fails to live up to Prue’s standards as the eldest sister, but she also feels that she fails to live up to Grams’ standards as the matriarch. For Piper, this episode is all about reassuring her that she is a powerful woman and witch that is a capable wife, sister, mother and matriarch. As Grams says at the end of the episode, she was there to remind Piper that she doesn’t need her. It’s such an important experience for Piper to have because up until this point she doubts her ability to assume that role of responsibility. Although it certainly doesn’t completely resolve Piper’s insecurities about this (as you’ll see as I talk about the other episodes), it’s a very nice episode for this evolving arc that she has. 

As for Phoebe, this episode is still about her trying to move on from Cole and the aftermath of their relationship. Throughout the episode she assumes Cole is the one responsible for bringing the fairy tales to life and trying to sabotage them, but of course, it’s not him. It’s easy for Phoebe to demonise Cole because that way she can project everything she’s feeling onto him and place blame, but all she’s doing is avoiding the fundamental issue which is that her experience with Cole has deeply affected her. She no longer has faith in herself, she doesn’t trust her own judgement and as a result she’s closed her off to those around her. The episode ends with Cole taking her to Adam and encouraging her to trust her initial instincts that he was a good guy. He says that she needs to learn to trust herself again before she can trust him. I appreciate the message that Phoebe needs to find a way to move on from Cole and that part of that is realising that not all men are evil and that she needs to trust her judgement of character, but personally, I wouldn’t have written it this way. It feels like there’s so much emphasis on Phoebe opening herself back up to love but it’s way too early for that. It makes more sense as part of an arc whereby Phoebe and Cole find their way back to each other, but that doesn’t happen so I do struggle to see the significance of this. Personally, I do have quite a lot of issues with the way Phoebe’s character is written post season 4 and the Source plot generally. I don’t think that Cole ruined Phoebe, I think that the writers lost sight of Phoebe’s character after season 4 and didn’t know how to write the aftermath of such a dark plot. They pursued the path with Phoebe becoming Queen of the Underworld and being pregnant, but didn’t consider how hard it would be to deal with the traumatic aftermath of that and their choices were pretty poor. I thought this was worth mentioning now, because from this point onwards, whenever I discuss Phoebe (and Cole or Phoebe/Cole) you’ll notice that I’m very critical because I don’t like the way it was handled or how the writers ruined both characters post season 4. 

Moving onto Paige, I really like her arc in this episode. Since quitting her job, she’s dedicating herself to the craft and is working on a protection potion that Grams did. This creates the perfect moment for Paige to meet Grams. The two bond over making the potion, Grams notes that Paige has a natural flair for the craft and it boosts Paige and allows her to see her own potential. Meeting Grams also provides conflict for Paige, who having been adopted and never having met Grams, has difficulty accepting Grams as her grandmother. I personally love that they bring up this issue and that Paige doesn’t immediately bond with Grams. Paige’s adoptive family are not mentioned nearly enough throughout the series, so it’s good to actually hear Paige talk about how important her adoptive grandparents were to her and how she loved them. It’s also good to see Grams accept this and to express her hopes that one day Paige can come to love her as a grandparent too but that she would never expect nor want to replace her grandparents. It’s nice to see that the two bond over their similar traits, in this case their stubbornness and the episode ends with a lovely payoff, with Paige calling Grams ‘Grams’ for the first time and it’s a lovely ending. It further establishes Paige in the Halliwell fold since she has now met Grams and had the opportunity to get to know her. I also like the responsibility Paige takes in this episode. I think the intricacies of Paige’s character tend to fade into the background, but honestly, throughout season 4 and 5 she is always right there working to help or save the sisters. In this episode, she’s with Piper to comfort her about having a magical baby, she follows Phoebe when she transforms into Cinderella to make sure she’s safe and she works to make the vanquishing potion. Paige is always actively there taking care of the family and I think those little details are often overlooked when it comes to Paige. 

Putting aside characterisation, I love this episode because I just think it’s fun. The big bad wolf, Paige in a coffin as Snow White with the dwarfs around her and Phoebe getting stuck in a pumpkin is kind of ridiculous but I still love it. I appreciate the way the lighter themes of fairy-tales are intertwined with genuine character development. 

Sympathy for the Demon (5x07)

This episode is by far one of the best in the entire series. I honestly just think this episode is brilliant. It’s a fantastic Paige-centric episode, a great Cole-centric episode, it provides great insight into all of the sister’s with the manifestation of their greatest fears and it’s generally an interesting plot that’s dark, scary and emotional.  Generally speaking, I see this episode as being a metaphor for mental health. Barbas consistently invades the minds of the characters, twisting their perceptions and fuelling their greatest fears and making them increasingly paranoid and frenzied. It’s comparable to mental illnesses like schizophrenia and other types of psychosis. I think that’s why I find it so dark and emotional.

I know that Cole is like marmite - you either love him or hate him - but this episode reminds me why I love him. The nature of Cole’s character opens him up to so many possibilities and this episode demonstrates that fantastically. Because of the evil powers he has he’s susceptible to corruption from Barbas and is also a target because of the amount of power he has. But in spite of the evil magic he carries, this episode shows that Cole is clearly not evil. His second greatest fear is that he is evil, and that in itself is proof that he’s clearly not evil because someone who is truly evil wouldn’t care about being evil. His greatest fear of all is hurting Phoebe, which is not only proof that he’s still completely in love with her but that he feels remorse and guilt for the hurt he’s caused her in the past and is terrified of doing it again. When Cole becomes aware that someone is playing with his mind he immediately orbs to the manor and asks for help from the only people he knows who have the capacity to be able to help him. He’s afraid he may hurt someone and he asks the sisters and Leo to stop that from happening. When Paige offers him the power stripping potion, he takes it despite knowing he won’t be able to protect himself, because his fear of hurting Phoebe is more powerful. Love him or hate him, in this episode Cole is a victim, just like he was in season 4 with the Source and it’s actually very sad to see how his mental state deteriorates as a result of Barbas’ influence in this episode. The clue is in the title “Sympathy for the Demon”, we’re supposed to feel sorry for Cole in this episode and I definitely do. When Paige strips his powers, Cole is once again free of that burden that’s plagued him for so long - evil magic - but then he’s forced to take his powers back. That final scene where he takes his powers back and shimmers out is pretty heartbreaking. He doesn’t want his powers back, but knows he has to so that Barbas doesn’t have them and you see that disappointment all over his face that he has to take that burden back. You can see how much it hurts him that once again he’s evil in Phoebe’s eyes and you can feel how much he just wants to be good and to not have to deal with having those powers anymore. Once again, I have to say that I have a lot of issues with the way Cole is written this season, particularly after this episode. If you want to know more about my thoughts you can read about them here. For now, all I really need to say is that this is probably the last episode whereby I can actually get on-board with the way Cole is written. After this I think the writers did him a complete injustice and unnecessarily and unfairly destroyed his character. 

Moving on from Cole, this episode is fantastic for Paige’s ongoing character arc. At the beginning we see her trying to perfect the Animal Conjuring spell created by Prue and her frustration at being able to do it. It’s the perfect way of showing Paige’s insecurity about living in Prue’s shadow and generally being on the outside of the Halliwell family. When Cole drops by the manor, Paige’s instincts are that he needs help but Piper and Phoebe dismiss this with Piper literally telling her, “It’s two against one”. This kind of treatment of Paige is common throughout the seasons, with Piper and Phoebe voting against her when making important decisions or dismissing her instincts, and it only further reinforces Paige’s insecurities and feelings of not belonging. Despite giving up her job to commit to being a witch full-time, she doesn’t feel she’s being taken seriously by her sisters and she’s still unable to do spells that Prue was able to. Paige’s inferiority complex with Prue is central to this episode, and a very valid and important aspect of Paige’s character to explore. Barbas articulates all of the emotions and thoughts Paige is experiencing in this episode: “So the fear that you're not good enough, that you're not worthy of the power of three. Oh, go on, prove yourself. Save Cole the same way Phoebe did before. Your sisters will be so proud.” As a result of this, Paige charges off on her own to help Cole which, as we all know, has disastrous consequences. Once again, it’s not the first time we see Paige behave this way. In Size Matters and A Knights Tale, Paige acted in a similar way and wanted to and/or chose to act alone on her instincts without her sisters. In this episode, the consequences of her actions cause the sisters to scald her which only exacerbates Paige’s feelings of inadequacy. When Barbas brings the sisters greatest fears to life, it’s interesting that Paige’s is claustrophobia demonstrated by the walls closing in on her. This feels very metaphorical for Paige’s emotions throughout the episode. She feels that she’s desperately trying to get ahead, to be better and do better, but it’s only causing the pressure to grow. She feels pressure from herself and her sisters closing in on her and it’s overwhelming. Paige overcoming this fear is only the start of her finding a resolution to her struggles in this episode. Next, she has to overcome her inferiority complex with Prue. To do this, she’s put in a position whereby she’s the only one that can defeat Barbas and strip his powers. It’s an interesting scene, because Prue is central to it: 

Phoebe: Paige, orb the potion. Paige: It's in a puddle. Piper: You can do it. Prue did. Barbas: Ay, there's the rub. You're no Prue are you?

In the end, it’s these comparisons to Prue that give Paige the strength and determination to orb the potion and strip Barbas’ powers. It’s the second part of Paige overcoming her fears. By this point, she’s overcome her claustrophobia (a metaphor for the pressure she’s putting on herself to be the perfect witch and sister) and in this scene she proves that she’s capable of defeating Barbas, something that only Prue has been able to do in the past, which Piper makes a point of earlier in the episode. The final step is Paige perfecting the Animal Conjuring spell, which we see Paige finally accomplish at the end of the episode, affirming that she’s every bit as capable as Prue was. Overall, this episode is a beautiful and emotional one for Paige that taps into the core of her character perfectly. The circumstances under which she came to find the family mean that her insecurities are completely understandable. And her feeling inferior to Prue is particularly understandable since Piper and Phoebe idolised Prue and Paige feels that to a certain extent she should fill Prue’s shoes. It’s interesting that Paige feels this way, because Piper as the eldest sister feels the exact same way and we see her struggle with that. It would’ve been nice to see a conversation between the two sisters about these feelings, because I think it’s something that they both could’ve bonded over and related to. 

This episode is undoubtedly fantastic for Cole and Paige in regards to their development, but it provides all of the sisters with good character arcs that build upon the ones we’ve seen from them in the previous season and the start of season 5. Piper’s magnified fears as a result of being pregnant are built upon in this episode. We see that Piper fears tragedy following her wherever she goes and that whenever she experiences a glimpse of happiness, it’ll be destroyed. This builds upon a core fear that exists within the Halliwell family generally of dying young and the high risk of death generally because of the danger that being witches puts them in. Piper’s fear of this is magnified at this point because she’s going to be a mother, and she fears leaving her child motherless but also of not being able to protect her child from harm and unhappiness. It’s sad that we don’t get to actually see Piper overcome this fear, but the point is that she does and in doing so she is able to save her sisters. I feel like this is a subtle call-back to Piper’s fears of not being an adequate big sister and of failing to protect her sisters, because in this instance she not only overcomes her own fears but actually helps Phoebe overcome hers and in turn saves Paige’s life. At the end of the episode we see Piper laughing and express that she’s realised that she’s experienced heartbreak before, but that she always survives so she should enjoy the happy moments whilst she can. 

Phoebe’s arc in this episode is the perfect follow-up from her experience in season 4. Her greatest fears are that her current boyfriend (Miles) is evil and that she is evil too. Once again, this is a fear that has a long history with Phoebe going all the way back to season 1 with Is There a Woogy in the House? whereby Phoebe worried that she was more evil than her sisters and that’s why she was targeted by the Woogyman. This is probably one of the best episodes for properly exploring the aftermath of the Source plot-line in how it affected both Phoebe and Cole. Interestingly, their fears almost mirror one another with both of them fearing that they’re evil. Phoebe’s fears are understandable and seeing her come face to face with them in such a brutal way which results in her nearly beating Paige to death is heartbreaking. I also feel like in a subtle way this happening to Paige was to remind Phoebe (and Piper) how much they love Paige and how lost they’d be without her. It’s clear that they love her, but I think they have a tendency to forget that they need to show that. At this point, Paige is still new to the family and it’s naive to think that Piper and Phoebe would have developed the same bond with Paige as they have with each other and had with Prue. So I like that there’s a moment like this where Piper and Phoebe experience what it feels like to lose Paige, because it affirms how important she is to them. Returning back to Phoebe, this episode is pivotal in getting her to trust herself again, just like Cole said in Happily Ever After. Phoebe’s relationship with Miles is very important to her recovery after her relationship with Cole, and it’s this episode that allows her to let her walls drop and let Miles in without being terrified that he’s evil or that her own judgement is unreliable. 

Overall, I think this episode is brilliant. It builds upon the sisters core character arcs that have their roots in previous seasons and brings resolution to them in a fitting way. It provides a great exploration of Cole’s character and I’d argue this is probably one of the best Cole episodes across the series because it captures the essence of his character. It’s a highly emotive episode that taps into the sisters worst fears and brings them to life in a very harrowing way. It’s memorable because it brings back one of the series most loved Big Bad’s. I honestly just love everything about this episode. It proves that when Charmed is at its best it’s a bloody fantastic show that has everything going for it.

As an addendum to what I’ve already said, I know that originally Brad Kern planned for Paige and Cole to have an affair in this season and I feel like this episode could’ve potentially been the starting point for this. I’m so glad Rose and Julian spoke against it, because I think it would’ve ruined Paige’s character and her relationships with the sisters beyond repair, but you can see the foundations for that potential in this episode. Paige sympathises with Cole in this episode, she helps him and she defends him throughout saying that he’s an innocent and needs protecting and that they shouldn’t return his powers back to him. Likewise, when the sisters are being hard on Paige for stripping Cole’s powers without consulting them first, Cole defends Paige. The fact that Paige shows Cole understanding and compassion alone could’ve been a potential building block for a romance since Cole essentially spends the entire season in isolation and desperately seeks human connection and affection from others, particularly Phoebe. 

Y Tu Mummy Tambien (5x10)

This is one of the episodes in this series that I think is very underrated. The concept of it is a little dumb, Jeric is boring and underwhelming, but I love this episode because it’s so significant for the relationship between the sisters. It also has some cute and funny moments which are always fun to watch. 

Lets start with the lighthearted scenes shall we? We have Piper trying on maternity clothes with Paige, which is one of my favourite casual sister moments. Later on, we have follow up scenes of this with Darryl trying to touch Piper’s stomach and her threatening to blow off his hand (typical Piper!) and Leo telling her that she looks beautiful when he catches her self-consciously looking at herself in the mirror. It was nice that this little bit that is supposed to be funny turns out to express and deeper issue for Piper that she feels that she’s being treated differently because she’s pregnant. It’s a very valid issue that lots of pregnant women experience and I’m so glad they gave Piper the chance to express that just because she’s a pregnant, she’s still the same person and she doesn’t want to be coddled or protected. 

It’s the latter half of this episode that makes it so special to me. The fight between Piper and Cole is one of the most badass moments of the series, but seeing Piper have to choose between saving Phoebe and Paige is heartbreaking. Considering the struggles Piper has had with being the eldest sister and forging a bond with Paige, this awful situation she finds herself in is quite fitting. It allows Piper to grow further into her role as big sister. She’s faced with an impossible situation and by using her smarts and trusting implicitly in her sisters, she manages to save both of them. This is Piper in full big sister mode and it’s so beautiful to see. What’s most important about this process is just seeing that Piper loves Paige every bit as much as she loves Phoebe and then when faced with a choice between them she literally cannot and will not choose. Not only does this solidify Piper’s love for both her sisters, and give some resolution to Paige’s worry that she’s not fully included within the family, but it shows how well the sisters work together. When Piper reads the spell to dispossess Paige, Paige intuitively knows exactly what Piper’s plan is and goes along with it without Piper even having to communicate it. Paige’s line at the end of that scene, “You really can’t mess with sisters” is great because it emphasises how united the sisters were in this and how unbreakable. It’s a great homage to how far Piper and Paige have come since season 4, since Piper found it difficult to accept Paige and bond with her and Paige felt pushed out by her. But here we see Piper loving and cherishing Paige as much as Phoebe and the two of them intuitively communicating and working together to save the day. This right here is really why the episode is one of my favourites, because you can’t beat those key sister moments and this is one of them. 

And the final scene of the episode has a perfect light-hearted ending which perfectly captures the dynamic of the sisters. We get Phoebe and Paige pampering themselves and Piper walking in with maternity clothes on, and we get this sweet moment between the three of them where they’re being goofy and just being sisters. It’s such a touching scene and a very underrated sister moment. 

Centennial Charmed (5x12)

Once again, this episode is one of favourites and definitely makes it into my top 10 favourite episodes of the series. In many ways it feels like a direct follow-up to Sympathy for the Demon, with the focus being on Paige and Cole and their conflict with one another. Whilst in Sympathy for the Demon Paige’s mission is to help Cole, in this episode it’s to vanquish him. It’s kind of sad that Paige and Cole wind back up in this place of resentment, when they were able to find compassion and understanding for each other earlier in the season, but nonetheless, their rivalry makes for a fantastic episode. 

Despite the fact that Cole has a lot of focus in this episode, I’ll mostly be skipping over his characterisation (just as I did in Y Tu Mummy Tambien), because I find it to be too problematic to analyse. I personally feel like the Cole we see in this episode is a black-washed version of him. Cole may be angry and frustrated and tired of Phoebe’s rejection and obsessed with winning her back, but he’s also smart. He’s smart enough to realise that Paige is not the reason their relationship broke down. He and Phoebe were at their happiest at the start of season 4 when Paige came into their life, and although Paige was uncertain of him in the early episodes of the season, she only really went hard for him after he became the Source, which she had every right to. So Cole resorting to creating an alternate timeline without Paige so he can be with Phoebe is illogical and not something Cole would do. 

As for the episode itself, excluding Cole’s characterisation it’s brilliant. Once again we get a Paige-centric episode that explores her position within the family and her desire to be the best witch she can be so as to make her sisters proud. Just as she has in the past, Paige decides to go off on her own without consulting Piper and Phoebe first and tries to vanquish Cole. You’d think by now Paige would’ve learned to confide in her sisters first, but I think this ongoing trait of Paige’s is very reflective of how anyone in her position would behave. She’s used to being independent and acting alone, she’s not used to having to run every decision she makes by other people and having to vote on it. Furthermore, she has a history of feeling ignored and suppressed by her sisters, which deters her even more from confiding in them about her concerns and instincts as a witch. As a result of this, Paige tells Piper and Phoebe that she wants to move out. And then Cole casts his little spell and Paige’s world is turned upside down, quite literally. 

The alternate reality Paige finds herself in is so important in showing the impact Paige’s character had on the show. Even after having been on the show for over a season and a half, there’s still a lot of ambiguity surrounding Paige. She still doesn’t always feel secure in her position in the Halliwell family, she’s lacks confidence in her ability as a witch, she feels overshadowed by Prue and in some way clings to her life before she met her sisters where she was an independent only child. Building upon what Y Tu Mummy Tambien showed us, this episode proves how important Paige is to the sisters and what they could’ve become without her. Without Paige, Piper is a vigilante demon hunter, who is divorced from her husband, estranged from her sister, is twisted up with vengeance grief about Prue’s death and on a relentless mission to kill Shax to get her revenge. Without Paige, Phoebe is unhappy and unfulfilled and trapped in a volatile situation with Cole in the manor which has been overrun by demons. Both Piper and Phoebe are visibly miserable and lack any of the happiness, fulfilment or purpose they have in the real timeline. This episode shows that Piper’s line from Sam, I Am “Paige is the reason I’m still standing here, she brought this family back together”, is 100% true. Paige isn’t just a replacement for Prue, she’s a special, unique and much needed and valued member of the Halliwell family who quite literally keeps the family together in the aftermath of Prue’s death. Everything Paige does for Piper and Phoebe is realised in this episode. Those subtle scenes or moments where Paige supports and encourages her sisters are more significant than anyone could realise. It’s a beautiful tribute to Paige and everything she’s done for the family, and that’s a large part of the reason I love the episode. 

In addition to that, I just love the sister relationships in this episode. Paige gets to bond with Piper all over again, and it’s wonderful to see that even in an alternate dimension, Piper is able to overcome her initial uncertainty to welcome Paige into her heart and trust her. Piper seeing Paige’s skills in witchcraft is a nice call out to all of the hard work Piper has put into teaching Paige and provides common ground for them to bond. Not only did Paige save Piper and Phoebe in the real timeline, she saves them in this timeline. She brings Piper and Phoebe back together, reconstitutes the Power of Three, helps ease Piper’s grief over Prue’s death and sets Phoebe free of her miserable relationship with Cole and reaffirms once again why she is so vital to the well-being of the Halliwell family. 

Just like Y Tu Mummy Tambien, this episode ends with a perfect final scene that is light-hearted and taps into the bond between the sisters. Experiencing life without Piper and Phoebe makes Paige realise how much she loves them and how grateful she is to have found them, which in turn makes her go back on her decision to move out. It’s one of my favourite Paige episodes, because it’s such an effective way of showing Paige how important she is and her family needs her and how much she needs them. It’s all part of the ongoing character arc of Paige trying to find her place within the family and I’m all for it. It might seem repetitive to some, but finding a sense of belonging with the sisters is no easy task. Prue, Piper and Phoebe had a very close relationship that was so intense that even Leo expressed in season 2 that he felt excluded sometimes. For Paige to walk into the family in the immediate aftermath of Prue’s death was very hard on her, because she knew how close that sister relationship was and felt she’d never have the same. Not to mention how difficult it was for Paige to adjust to having sisters after spending her entire life as an only child. From Paige’s perspective it can seem like a positive and happy thing that she found the sisters, which of course it was, but it was also incredibly hard and I love that even this late into season 5, the writers were still giving Paige’s transition onto the show and into the family adequate focus. 

Moving on from Paige’s arc and journey in this episode, the plot itself is generally great. I’m a sucker for time travelling episodes, as I’m sure I’ve mentioned already at some point when writing this series. It’s an intense episode that takes you on a wild ride. And despite how predictable many of Charmed’s episodes are, this one doesn’t feel quite so predicable. The alternate timeline makes it feel that anything’s possible and although we’ve seen Cole get vanquished before, you don’t really see it coming in this episode. Even until the last second when Phoebe is holding the potion, you doubt whether she’ll actually throw it. After all, alternate reality Phoebe may not be psychologically and emotionally in the same place as our Phoebe, and may still be in love with him and believe they can come back from everything. We’ve seen her kill him before, but to me, this doesn’t feel like one of those moments. It feels almost too good to be true, but narratively speaking, it makes perfect sense. Cole creates this hideous alternate timeline to win Phoebe’s heart and ironically it ends with his death. It’s karma; Cole’s punishment for going against the Avatars advice and manipulating reality for his own selfish desires without giving consideration to the consequences. It’s also a conclusive end to his hold over Phoebe, which at this point has been a long time coming. 

Overall, this episode is just brilliant. I can’t express how much I love it. It has a great plot, great character development and a great resolution. Once again, this episode is proof that when Charmed is at its best it’s damn good. 

There you have it, my favourite season 5 episodes. Originally, when selecting the episodes I was surprised I didn’t have more favourites since I consider season 5 to be one of my favourite seasons. But on reflection I realised that it’s really the quality of the episodes in this season that makes me like it so much. As I’ve already said, for me, Sympathy for the Demon and Centennial Charmed are two of the best episodes of the series and that makes a massive difference to how I feel about season 5. I know that many fans dislike the more “cartoonish” and “campy” vibe that season 5 creates, but I personally really like it. It’s a nice change in pace from seasons 1-4 and provides some amusing moments, but the show still manages to keep the serious and emotional undertones of the show. Plus, the characterisation is strong this season, particularly Paige’s. This is by far my favourite Paige season, I think she’s brilliant. Her sisterhood with Piper is also fantastically written and it’s lovely to see that develop after how much they struggled in season 4. I have an issue with Phoebe’s characterisation and the way her relationship with Cole played out, but regardless of that, we still got some amazing episodes out of it. The second half of this season lets it down a little for me. Whilst I like a lot of the episodes from the first half, after The Day the Magic Died my enjoyment for the show just seems to plummet. And ever since I was a little girl, whenever I’ve re-watched the show I notice the same pattern that I drop off around this point in the series and lose my motivation to keep watching. Nonetheless, this season will always be one of my favourites, because of the fantastic episodes it has and also because the first ever episode I saw of the show was from season 5 (I don’t remember which one because I was so young, but I just know that Paige had short red hair). 

Thank you so much for reading. I hope you enjoyed reading my thoughts and as always feel free to share yours with me. The next post in this series will be season 6. A little heads up, the posts from now on are likely to be significantly shorter since I’m not a huge fan of seasons 6-8 and have a lot less favourite episodes from those seasons (in fact, I’ll probably have to scrape the barrel just to choose episodes I genuinely consider my favourites). 

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Character bios for The Undesirables

Just as the title says this will be basically all the characters I have for my series so far.

1.Cole Sanders- 25 year old male with red hair that is normally spiked and hazel eyes that turn amber color when transforming into his supernatural form. About 5 feet and 10 inches in height and around 150 pounds. Caucasian with a body build meant for speed over strength. Main protagonist of the story and best friends with Cayden Graham(Avian).Both homeless on the streets of Santa Monica with both not having memory of certain parts of there past for whatever reason. With Cole it is mainly how he was born and came to be, not remembering any parents and being alone his whole life before meeting Cayden and Wyatt on his travels and jumping from foster home to foster home and shelters. Due to Wyatt's unbelievable hacking and techno skills or so Cole thinks, they all often live in luxury in the present rather then on the streets, often taking shelter in homes of others who are away on vocation or business for a long period of time. Cole is in fact something known as a infiniti, the only one of his kind as well. He can be every type of supernatural being in existence at will, giving him infinite possibilities, hence the name for what he is given by the people of Haven after finding out what he is capable of. The mark of Evervee that appears on all supernatural beings only suddenly appears on him near when the story starts and he is out with his friend Cayden who sees it and is astonished. A tattoo forms on his left arm that is the infinity symbol except it appears as such with tree roots. It is way later known that God himself created Cole as a way to take on the Everbeing, the only being to be at the same level of power as God himself. However, during a epic battle with God and the Everbeing they could not finish one another off for whatever reason but only diminish one anothers power drastically. But during the fight, God loses memory of what he did or the battle or who he even is and falls from Heaven down to Earth.

2. Cayden Graham(, Dracula)- A vampire from the mid 1400's who is actually Dracula and one of the first vampires. Every century or so his personality and physical appearance and persona changes and he goes by a different name with his current name being Cayden. Later in the book it is explained that vampires have a ability where they can push back unwanted memories from there minds or even recreate them into something false. Vampires often do this if they feel guilt of something they did in there past. Apparently in every generation that Cayden lives he erases his memories of his past lives. He does this because in all of his past lives he was under the influence of the mark which made him into a uncontrollable killing machine. But at some point in the story he meets a witch who is aware of what he is and what he is capable of and knows that he has tampered with his mind and lets Cayden know who is unaware of his own actions.He then becomes aware that the mark of Evervee is actually a reoccurring thing that has happened multiple times in previous generations pretty much going back to the beginning. A back and forth tug of war match between God and the Everbeing that resorts in using that mark each time to make his army and wreak havoc. He himself has had the mark before in one of his past lives and been controlled and slaughtered many creating a name for himself feared by most known as Night-Reaper. But with this knowledge he comes to understand that there must be a way to end the mark as its happened before and been dealt with somehow if only temporary but try to find a permanent solution this time.Even though hundreds of years old, his current persona and physical form resembles that of a young man with a mix of goth and punk style clothing. His mind set is also that of a young man even though he carries knowledge from hundreds of years. Cayden meets Cole one day while protecting him and Wyatt against a mug attack, forced to use hiss full on vamp abilities to fight them all off. But with his ability of mind compulsion he makes Cole forget what he saw and to remember him as just a badass martial arts fighter who kicked all the muggers butts without breaking a sweat. After this, Cayden became good friends with Cole and Wyatt and became there protector. 

3. Wyatt Ellnacks- A 20 year old male often seen as a techno geek and major nerd in most things such as Marvel and DC stuff. He is actually a supernatural being known as a Zelick. Spectral beings of energy and light that cackle and sizzle dangerously like electricity but they can also maintain human form. Friends with Cole and Cayden who all met in the past in a shelter. His ability to hack is usually him actually using his supernatural abilities to control anything electronic, making bypassing most security a piece of cake. When in his spectral form his voice often has a echoing sound. Wyatt has spent most his life hiding his true self from the world and was pretty much born without parents or at least from what he can remember much like Cole making them become fast friends when meeting in a shelter. However Wyatt hides is true nature from Cole but not Cayden as he is afraid of how Cole would take it and possibly jeopardizing there friendship. Wyatt does not know exactly what he is until showing up in Haven but he does know of his abilities and that he can transform into something. Both Cayden and Wyatt already have there marks although for both the mark appeared at different times. 

4. Paige Lopinski- A young witch of around 23 in training of her magical abilities to hopefully one day join the Shroud Coven aka The Whisperers. For whatever reason she has a strong dislike for vampires making her and Cayden often clash with one another when they meet in Haven. She has a familiar that helps channel her magic that takes the form of a wolf that becomes a fur cloak that provides protection that can stop bullets and is heat and cold resistant.

5.Piper Hughes- 14 year old young girl known as a miracle in the supernatural world. Granted good luck and fortune since birth due to a priests holy prayer that a angel granted and answered. It is rare, but on occasion angels are allowed to leave Heaven almost like being granted vocation time and able to visit Earth to do as they wish as long as concealed from humans of there true form which is actually harmful to human eyes. Sometimes angels take this time to grant certain newborn babes a special blessing that will protect the child for there whole lifetime and give them good fortune. It is to be believed angels do this only for those they believe will impact the world in some huge epic way so it rarely happens.However there is a catch to a miracle having this blessing, if any were to give into dark temptations of any kind even once in there lifetime or lose there innocence(virginity), there blessing would vanish and instead turn into a curse where they receive misfortune instead. A miracle's blessing effects others around her as well for a limited time. Same is said if a miracle becomes a misfit and is cursed.

6.Riley Mackenzie- The sexy devil every Haven resident drools over and she has wrapped around her fingers. Despite her having a pale ghost like appearance she is still considered beyond gorgeous and captivates most with just a single glance. Age 24 and a demon particularly a Succubus. Often because of her being known as a demon by most, she is always judged as being evil or a agent of chaos. They are all only half right. When around other Supernatural beings she has a tail with a sharp point that could gut a stomach easily and she of course has horns. Cool thing about her wings is they are only noticeable as shadows on the wall behind her, otherwise they never cannot be seen and her wings look like black tentacles sprouting from her back. When disguising as a full on human her horns retract and her tail wraps around her and becomes a belt for her current pants attire. She often likes to pick on newbies at Haven.

7.Abigail Saline(Trinity)- A young 14 year old girl close to being 15 who when just a little girl was abused severely by her father and never new her mother. One day she ran away from home without telling anyone and never looked back. Just as a girl she was terrified of how she would survive on her own but shortly after running away she was ambushed by thugs who threatened her life and she took shelter in a old abandoned building that looked to be on the brink of collapsing where the unspeakable happened to her. A spirit possessed her body and gave her immense strength for her age and physique. The spirit protected her through her own body and took down the thugs and then asked her if she would be willing to be a vessel for a number of spirits trapped to that place in return for protection to her from any threats such as the thugs. The spirit explains they just long to leave the sad place they are trapped to but with a vessel they could all leave and see the world once more, seeing as they are unable to ascend to Heaven or descend to Hell. The girl agreed almost instantly, wanting friends and a family of her own and therefore being a walking home for fourty four different spirits all with there own unique abilities with the exception of a few, however not all residents are what you would call "friendly" spirits but they all are still tied to the pact made with Abigail to protect her. Normally Abigail maintains control of her body but sometimes at certain times of the day she must allow the spirits to control her body, having to fight among themselves as to who exactly gets to have her body at the current time. Apart from that the spirits only appear when she is in need of aid. She is often seen as having severe multi personality disorder.

8.Elijah Parrish- 35 years old with snowy white hair and eyes as black as onyx. His skin color is close to a milky white color and when he moves the area around him tends to shimmer slightly along with him, making it hard to clearly focus on him and his appearance. Unable to control his shimmers he must wear a ring when around humans to keep them at bay as to not attract unwanted attention. Elijah is a Droga, a being who can enter pocket dimensions at will to reappear pretty much anywhere else he wants. Not only that but he can also send objects or other people through these pocket dimensions. His eyes also see things in slow motion constantly making it easy for him to defend himself among attackers when it comes to mainly hand to hand combat. His eyes normally see attacks coming before they even actually do making blocking or countering them simple. Elijah runs Haven and is seen as the leader of the place and even a father like figure to some of the residents such as Trinity. Even though he has a rather scary appearance to most, this is overlooked by almost everyone when they realize he has a heart of gold and does all he can for those he cares about.

9-10. Ari and Arias Gwenzel

Twin sirens who are caretakers and also teachers of Haven. A siren is often seen as vicious creatures to lure there victims with majestic and mesmerizing and soothing music so that they can pray on them. Most sirens are however the total opposite of this and in fact use there amazing voices to rather heal people of any pain they feel physical or mental and emotional. If a siren is really powerful they can sometimes briefly control a person putting them in some kind of trance. Sirens have unbelievable flexible and agile bodies and are unusually quick, matching the speed of vampires. Ari and Arias teach the young supernatural beings of Haven who were unable to teach themselves things such as math or science. Both being beautiful and such gentle beings when it comes to the young ones, they are most favorite teachers.

11.Oran Berathian- Looking in his mid twenties but actually around 150 years old or so, he is a mixture of vampire, werewolf and a witch. Being considered one of the most powerful of The Whisperers he is a member of the counsel of Nine and also one of the founders of Vermillion and a number of other supernatural homes. Known as a Tribrid in the supernatural world and very rare. Originally just a witch in his youth, he was turned by the love of his life who was a vampire who unfortunately was killed by a werewolf. The very same werewolf ends up turning him, forcing him to at least partially become what he hates which is werewolfs due to the one turning him killing his beloved. In anger he kills the one who turned him and shortly after his eyes glow a flame red color before he enters transformation. Despite his hatred of werewolfs and Lycans he still feels a bond among them now that he is one of them to a extent. Once creating Vermillion with the help of others he only usually allows werewolfs and lycans in his underground city with the exception of a few other supernatural beings. Some werewolfs and lycans resent him due to his vampire blood in him as well but due to fear of him and his power none challenge him.

12. Paxton Arcata- Warlock and leader of the Shroud Coven. Age being unknown but has the appearance of someone around there mid 40's. Uses a rare and old type of magic not known by many to keep his appearance young and maintain fit as well as stop him from aging. Due to this, it makes him pretty much immortal and a insanely powerful user of magic. His familiar is a dragon but that can have a human physical form as well. His familiar is a very rare type of familiar's and able to leave his masters side and be his own individual and think for himself. However if Paxton was in ever need of his familiar all he would have to do is call is familiar's name and no matter how far he was he would appear in a instant due to his familiar's flight ability which is more like him using teleportation. Due to his long time spent in the world he is very knowledgeable and respected by most in the Shroud Coven and is one of the counsel of Nine.

13.  Ka'el- Paxton's familiar, who can take the form of a almighty dragon or maintain a human form and has ability of freewill and allowed to be his own individual. When in human form his wings become tattoos on his back and his horns retract to barely anything, barely visible in his hair. He often wears beanies as a means to conceal them although normally its not necessary as his hair is long and lengthy blonde colored giving him a appearance of a surfer dude most at Haven often joking of his appearance.

14.  Esla Woods- In her mid 20's and a member of the Shroud Coven for 3 years and becomes fast friends with Paige when she later attempts to be accepted into Cloud Nine and the Shroud Coven. Although only being at Cloud Nine for a few years, she is already granted the title of a teacher there and teaches the younger witches and warlocks as she feels sorry for most who were abandoned by there parents or other such horrible stories. Her familiar is a white cobra snake that usually stays wrapped around her left arm and becomes a bracelet and gauntlet like accessory.

15.  God(Avis)- Creator of all life or so it is told and takes form of multiple faces and bodies. Literally being able to appear as anything or anyone at anytime. His power has been greatly diminished however due to a epic battle in the past with the Everbeing, someone so powerful and ancient that he is as old as God himself and how he came to be is unknown to anyone including God himself. Even Satan fears this being. During a past fight against the Everbeing Satan and God were forced to team up to attempt to stop him from destroying all creation even Heaven and Hell and Purgatory and Limbo. But among the chaos of the fight Satan was cast aside to a dimension known nothing but as Oblivion. A place where there is nothing, no life, no sound, no scenery, just nothing. God was greatly weakened and his memory of who he is erased and fallen from Heaven onto earth as what humans saw as a comet or meteor. Wandering the world as a lost individual looking much like Liiam Niesson in appearance, he is trying to remember who he is. When he first falls and nearly takes out a home in Miami Florida, he chooses the name Avis after seeing it on a sign nearby for Avis Industries.

16.  Mr.Evervee(The Everbeing)- All of creation's biggest threat. This being is of many mysteries. Nobody knows how he came to be or where he came from or how he is as old as God himself and without even God knowing where he came to be. With God being the creator of all things, how then did the Everbeing come to be of existence? This unknown creature or entity is so powerful that even God can't handle him and Satan himself fears the being even when Satan himself is the embodiment of evil and chaos. Currently conceals himself as a human male wearing attire that makes him look like a corporate businessman and is always having a attitude and personality that seems too perfect to where its eerie. He is one of the antagonists of the series.He is the result for the mark that appears on all supernatural life later on to be known because he is trying to build a army. Apparently the mark has appeared in past generations but is not remembered as its Evervee's usual tactic to fight against God.

17. Gavin Braxton- mid twenties male who is part of a large group of hunters known as The Harbingers who goal is similar to that of The Whisperers in the Shroud Coven however both groups often collide with one another. The Harbingers with Gavin being one of the first members, go after supernatural threats when they believe that the supernatural entity is beyond saving and to far gone often due to the mark. Gavin is a unusual type of hunter as he does not use any actual weapons but instead his partner Nora Harper who is a special and rare type of supernatural beings known as Therianthropes or just Therians for short. She is capable of morphing into any kind of object she can see with her eyes so therefore using his phone or magazines he keeps on him or books he will have her look at whatever picture and turn into that particular weapon or anything else he may need even if its car, making him literally be driving her. 

18. Nora Harper- Similar age to Gavin and having a close partnership with him making her the only supernatural entity that is part of The Harbingers. Always being by Gavin’s side for most missions they go on, she is whatever Gavin needs her to be quite literally as she is a Therian capable of morphing into any object or tool by simply seeing it with her eyes and then undergoing the transformation. Nora has romantic feelings for Gavin while Gavin mainly thinks of only work and the current job at hand although deep down he to truly values having Nora by his side for nearly everything. 

19. Helena Prowl- The woman who is unknowingly the caretaker of God. Residing in Miami Florida, she slowly attempts to heal and make God recover from his injuries. Finding him in a home nearby that is totally wrecked as if smashed by a meteor, she quickly rushes him away from the scene and attempts to heal him, and hopes to get answers on what in the world he is. Meanwhile, police in the area and other government officials attempt to figure out what happened with the home and how it exploded with the residents of the place luckily not home at the time. 

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Repetition (3/?)

Fandom: Timeless Pairing: Lyatt (Lucy Preston/Wyatt Logan) Rating: Very M A/N: “Ain’t nobody got no time for your shit, Lucy. Pull it together.” - says the author as she writes Lucy as a complete and total train wreck. Whatever. I am what I am.

[ part one ] [ part two ]

She knows she shouldn’t have expected hot and heavy sex against a tree in 1882 to bring her sister back, to erase her journal, but still she feels a hundred years older when she finally gets home and nothing has changed.

She is still Lucy Preston.

Amy still does not exist.

And Garcia Flynn still is so much more than an annoying splinter that refuses to be removed. He is a violent, festering time bomb waiting to blow them all to bits. That isn’t the worst of it though.

The worst of it is that she is willing to let him.

….

When Wyatt shows up at her door she is mostly surprised because she did not know that he knew where her door was. She had, wrongly, assumed that since she had not known where he lived that he would not know where she did but here he is and she isn’t wearing a bra which is not a big deal since he has seen it all but still she clutches her wrapper a bit tighter than normal. Maybe it is less about protecting what he has seen, and more about shielding herself from the words he is saying.

Of course he is going after Jessica.

He should. It is the right thing to do. Or at least as right as anything can be when you are altering the space-time continuum.

Her head hurts.

She slumps onto the stairs.

This is not what she wants, doesn’t know what she wants, but she is certain she does not want to care about what he is saying to her, to care about what it means in relation to them because there is no them. There is Lucy. There is Wyatt. There is no Lucy and Wyatt, which is exactly why she should not have go after him when he leaves..

She should not have grab the sleeve of his leather jacket (so fucking cliche that he would have one of those and that he would look so damn good in it) before he is even off the stoop. She should not pull him back inside and shut the door with the momentum of her body slamming into his for a desperate kiss. She should not grab him by the hand and lead him up the stairs. She should not take him into her room, the same room she’d had as a child, and lead him to her twin bed. She should not let him tear off her clothes, should not rip off his, but she does.

She does, and she would do it again and again because this is goodbye.

No matter the outcome of this mission, this is the end of them - whatever messed up, nameless thing they are.

She cries, but not in an obvious way. Tears streak down her cheeks like hidden rivers in the dark as she licks the column of his throat just to taste a different kind of salt. The attempts to reconcile the delusion that this ever meant anything and the knowledge that once he walks out that door that their entire whatever will have to be forgotten history is a Sisyphean task at best. So instead she focused on the slide of his skin against hers, the shape his shoulders take beneath her palms, and the tightening and release of muscles as he thrusts into her.

This is real.

When he comes back, it may not be.

Will she remember it? Will she remember the slide of him in her hollow places, the way the tips of her fingers fit so perfectly in the grooves of his back, the wholeness in the way he kisses her? Or will that fade to nothing like her sister? Will it disappear - will she? Will he forget her? It is too much to fathom.

She hooks her legs around his hips as if she can pull him into her so he can never leave, as if she can force him to implant his memory inside of her womb where it can grow and undeniably flourish. Or can it? She has no idea. She used to know everything. Now she knows nothing but how much she cannot want this, how much she does.

A faint rap of knuckles ghosts across her door.

She freezes, but he doesn’t. He keeps his pace, deep and steady within her as if the rest of the world had melted away. Their eyes catch.

“Lucy?” It is her mother. Lucy hears the jangles of the doorknob as her mother rests her hand upon it.

She doesn’t respond at first, fear and disbelief choking her. Lucy knows the rules of time travel. She knows you cannot go back to a time where you already exist as you may not come back whole, but she does not know what to do when your mother may find you fucking your teammate in your childhood bed. Wyatt, however, does not seem so conflicted. He just shortens his thrusts so that they are swift and silent, his eyes stay on hers.

She thinks to respond.

She bites her lip to stay silent because there is no way she can talk right now.

She doesn’t know which is worse: her mother knowing the truth between her and Wyatt, or her mother staying gloriously oblivious. Both would be a relief in their own right.

In the end, she hears her mother’s hand fall of the door and she can breathe again. Well. That is until he slips a hand between them to the apex of her thighs and she falls apart. He follows suit.

….

She walks him downstairs, careful to be silent as tombs down the stairs so as to not wake her mother, and pause at the bottom.

They don’t say anything.

There is nothing left to say.

They are always saying goodbye.

History repeats itself.

She is used to it, will never be used to it, which is probably why she does not put up a fight when he grabs the back of her neck and swallows her kiss. It is like he is charting the terrain of her tongue, the caverns of her cheeks, like he is the master cartographer of her mouth and she does not complain despite the fresh tears the prick her eyes. He is kissing her like he doesn’t want to forget her, but they both know that is beyond them both.

No memory is safe when the fabric of time is up for alteration.

He pulls back enough to look her in the eyes. She left her wrapper upstairs and she wishes she had grabbed it. She crosses her arms over her chest as a defense instead.

His lips part as if he to speak. She holds her breath, but his brow furrows and she knows whatever moment had come was now beyond them.

She lifts onto her tiptoes and presses a kiss to his rough cheek.

I love you. She thinks, but does not allow her thoughts to go beyond that. She loves a lot of people, but she can think of a precious few that make her heart ache the way that Wyatt does as he walks out that door.

This time she does not go after him.

….

She should have called Agent Christopher immediately. She should have called her before he was even out the door because this is insanity, but as things stand she can hardly breathe much less pick up the phone. It feels like everything she knows is collapsing around her ears.

She has always relied on facts, cold and quantifiable. It is easy to point to dates and events that happened on said dates and just know that they won’t change. But what if they do? What if you change them?

What would you do to preserve history?

She does not know any more.

She pulls a history volume off the shelf of her mother’s library and thumbs to the Hindenburg. She knows beyond a shadow of a doubt what happened at that event, but as she reads she is reminded of a different truth. She is reminded of a world she shaped, she created, that erased her sister, and she should not have this much power.  

No one should.

So she waits to call because if this power exists it should exist to help those who deserve it.

He deserves it.

Wyatt deserves it.

She wonders just what she deserves.

….

She gives him four extra minutes before she calls, but she still hopes to whatever being out there might be listening that they catch him before he goes somewhere she cannot follow.

She is a little disgusted at how sad she is to hear The Lifeboat is already gone, and she swallows down the lump in her throat. Her sadness is unearned. She has no title to it. Yet it is there.

She wonders, just briefly, what forgetting him would feel like.

….

Going into Mason Industries was never her idea of a good time, but this is a fiasco.

I'd do it myself if I thought it would bring Amy back.

She’d said and it left her shaking from the truth of it.

There was a time in her life, not that long ago, where if someone asked her if she would change history to save someone she loved she would have laughed. She would have said that it was a silly question because history is immutable. It is irrelevant to even consider such things since they can never be, but that was then.

This is now.

Now time is fluid and she is barely able to ride its currents.

Agent Christopher’s eyes are hard, unrepentant. She is doing her job, Lucy knows, but Lucy is done doing hers. Not until she sees some definite return on investment.

She looks to The Lifeboat’s empty bay.

She is done accepting heartache as payment.

….

If you care about someone, if you trust someone, if you might even love someone… you’d tell them something like this.

Lucy raises her chin to hold back the tears burning behind her eyes.

If you might even love someone.

She cannot consider it, cannot even entertain the idea that Wyatt could feel so deeply for her. It complicates things, and for the first time in her life she hopes that the boys do something stupid. She hopes they mess something up and somehow these feelings in her chest will be ripped out by the new order of things. She hopes they will step off that lifeboat whole and full and she will not feel a thing beyond coworker-ly companionship because something is different.

Might even love someone.

Words she is dying to hear, but not now. Not like this.

Lucy looks away from Jiya’s knowing glance.

….

No matter how many times it happens, it is never any less terrifying or any more expected when she is at the end of a barrel of a gun. Desperate times call for desperate measures and she should have had Jiya stick that tracking device on her butt or somewhere not so easily found.  Anthony isn’t the type to pull a trigger, but then again she isn’t the type either and she had. A braid of fear tightens her spine and she finds herself longing for Wyatt.

If he were here - but he isn’t. He is trying to resurrect his wife and she cannot entertain these thoughts any longer so she listens to what the older scientist has to say.

Anthony paints a picture for her in shades of gray, each stroke as strange and ephemeral as the last, and she misses the days where black and white existed. When he is done, when she is free, she is nauseous.

What would you do to preserve history?

She would lie. She would steal.

What would you do to preserve history?

She would fight. She would kill.

What would you do to preserve history?

She would bend the very laws of the universe.

With each thought she grows more and more certain that Anthony is right. These machines cannot exist. They are too dangerous, and if she can lie and steal and fight and kill in the past - who is the say she cannot do it now in the present?

What would you do to preserve history?

Anything. Everything.

Amy…!

She throws up in an alley before hopping into the back of a van and heading back to Mason Industries.  

….

The Lifeboat returns in a flash of heat and light, but she doesn’t feel different. The deep ache in her chest is only compounded when she realizes his mission had failed. Jessica is still dead. She is still dead and she is the one who has to tell him.

Her words taste like betrayal.

His face shows it.

Time is not their servant. History bows to no man.

“I’m sorry.” She hears herself saying again and again. “I’m sorry,” but she knows she is only partially apologizing for keeping Jessica in her grave.  

She is sorry that she loves him.

She does not have time for many more words before they take him away but she can see his horror - his panic. He had failed her again. Her: Jessica. Her: Lucy. The women of his life stack up like collateral damage

Time hasn’t broken her yet, but love will.

Love will.

[ previous ] [ next ]

[marjaystuff]

Elise Cooper interviews Nicole Helm

A Badlands Cops Series by Nicole Helm is a must read for anyone who wants a great suspense story intertwined with a romance and very likeable protagonists.  These novels explore if children can escape the sins of their father, who is the ruthless head of a murderous gang.  

The first book in the series, South Dakota Showdown has the oldest of the six Wyatt brothers, Jamison, helping his former beau, Liza rescue her four-year-old-kid step-sister Gigi.  He resents her for going back into the gang, Sons of the Badlands, after he had rescued her from the claws of these dastardly men.  Now, fifteen years later, he learns she went back for her sisters, and to try to do the same thing he did for his brothers, to save them, and help them escape. She can’t do it alone and enlists the help of her old flame, Jamison, a police officer. Together they try to outwit his father, Ace, and rescue Gigi as they learn the gang is involved in sex trafficking. As they face intense danger they realize that their love for each other has not died and will do anything in their power to save each other and Gigi.

The next book in the series, Covert Complication, highlights the youngest of the brothers, Cody, and someone he was in love with, Nina. She had left him seven years ago to protect Cody and their child, having been warned off by Ace.  Now back because she can no longer battle the gang on her own, Nina informs Cody they have a child, Brianna.  Cody and Nina must team together to protect their child by deciding to go on the run.  Using his skills as an agent in a mysterious agency, Cody knows that he and Nina can draw Ace away from Brianna.  While hiding they realize that the flame of love was not snuffed out and understand that if they escape the gang’s clutches they will become a family again.

The third book in the series, Backcountry Escape, features a middle brother, Gage, and the heroine, Felicity.  He has a law enforcement background and she is a Park Ranger, her dream job.  Because she helped Cody and Nina, Ace is out for revenge and vengeance, wanting nothing more than to kill Felicity. He and his gang attempt to frame her for murder, hoping she will run and they can achieve their goal.  Knowing she needs help, Felicity calls upon Brady Wyatt, someone she has had a crush on for ages.  But he cannot come to her rescue and instead sends his brother Gage.  As the two of them play a cat and mouse game with Ace they realize that they can accept each other for who they are.  From acquaintances to friends to lovers they recognize that they can count on each other and have formed an inseparable bond.

These first three books will be covered in the following Q A, with the last three covered sometime in the summer.  If people have not read Nicole Helm they might want to because her novels always have a riveting mystery with great relationship stories that include brother to brother, sister to sister, and hero to heroine.  All the novels are fast-paced and have realistic action.

Elise Cooper:  Why the Badland series?

Nicole Helm:  I wanted to write a crime and mystery series that has some romance, basically romantic suspense.  I decided to have six brothers and six sisters, where one brother and one sister will be featured in each book.  Although the brothers are all birth related the sisters are either blood relatives, foster children, or adopted, but the girls still look upon each other as family.  I figured out each personality as I wrote each book.

EC:  How would you describe Ace, the over-arching bad guy of the series?

NH:  He is a sociopath and has the qualities of a cult leader: charismatic, egocentric, manipulative, and controlling.  He is cold, calculating, ruthless, and someone who is willing to play with people’s emotions.

EC:  Why the South Dakota setting?

NH:  I was just on vacation there.  My grandmother lived in South Dakota when she was a girl in a tiny little town.  As I was traveling through I saw a sign that explained how land spectators caused a bunch of trouble.  The story took off from there.

EC:  Did the last name Wyatt come from the famous figure Wyatt Earp?

NH:  I could have sub-consciously come up with that last name from the historical figure.  When I write western cowboy books I do try to think of western names.

EC: The motherly figure of each book is Grandma Pauline who raised the brothers after their mother, her daughter, was killed?

NH:  Yes.  She is tough, a fighter, a straight-talker, and became the brothers’ defacto mother. She creates a safe-haven for the brothers and they realize, even as adults she is not someone to argue with.

EC:  There is Duke, the father of all six girls?

NH:  He and his wife, who has since died, adopted some of the girls and were foster parents to some of the others, besides raising their own daughter and their niece.  Duke became the same role for the girls that Grandma Pauline is for the boys.  He is very protective of his daughters.  

EC:  In the series all twelve characters along with Grandma Pauline and Duke are involved in each story?

NH:  Yes, because the story comes about because of the strong family ties.  Throughout, they help each other.  I tried to emphasize that family is everything whether a nuclear family or a foster family.  It does not matter if someone is related biologically, through adoption, or by being a foster child.  A family is what people make of it.  In this series they all connect and support each other. I wanted to show how each sibling could be viewed differently depending on their relationship and age difference.  They all interacted in different ways.

EC:  In the first book, how would you describe the hero Jamison?

NH:  He is responsible, uptight, and always wants to do the right thing. He is also humble, serious, trustworthy, and a father figure to the brothers.

EC:  How about Liza?

NH:  Bold, confidant, loyal, protective, and stubborn with good instincts.  

EC:  How about their relationship?

NH:  They butt-heads at first.  In their younger years they had a relationship but she left and Jamison was very hurt.  He now holds a grudge and is a bit hateful.  They have to work through this tortured tension where Jamison sees everything as black and white and Liza sees all the grey areas.  In the end of the day, love is about forgiving and acceptance.  

EC:  Book 2 did not highlight the next brother in age but the youngest, Cody?

NH:  Originally, he was not going to be second.  But since he had such a big role in book one it made sense to me to make him the hero in book two. He beats to his own drum and did not go into law enforcement like all of his brothers.  He is more independent, brave, an introvert, likes to be in control, and has trouble admitting when wrong.

EC:  How would you describe the heroine, Nina?

NH:  Protective, courageous, has a soft heart, and the core of her being is motherhood.  She is a survivor and tough. I wanted to show that for a parent the biggest danger is fearing that their children could be hurt.

EC:  What about their relationship?

NH:  This was another reunion.  She had disappeared for seven years.  There was a lot of baggage after she came back that the two had to overcome.  Since they truly loved each other it won out.  

EC:  In book 3 the hero was Gage?

NH:  I originally had his twin brother Brady as the hero. But, there was not a lot of tension because of their personalities so I shifted it around and had Gage as the hero.  He is light-hearted, calm, and even-keeled with a sense of humor.  Unlike Felicity he is an extrovert, brash, and confident.  

EC:  How would you describe Felicity?

NH: An introvert, dreamy, and lost some of her shyness/anxiousness because of her job.  She likes routines.  I had her stuttering and struggling to get words out as a physical manifestation of childhood abuse at the hands of her father.  

EC:  The relationship?

NH:  They both realized they understood each other.  She had to overcome her crush on Brady, while Gage realized how much he admired her for overcoming some personality traits.  

EC:  Next Books?

NH:  The next book in this series will highlight Brady and Cecilia.  After this series is done I plan on writing a spinoff series. It will feature the North Star Group that Cody was a part of and highlight his co-worker Shay.  In book five of the Badlands series the North Star Group will play a prevalent role where readers can get a better understanding of this group.

THANK YOU!!

[junker-town]

No Mercy 2017: The full rundown and why you should care

We’re getting two WrestleMania-level matchups even though it’s only September.

It’s only September, and fall has just begun, but WWE is acting like it’s springtime and WrestleMania is here. Now, that doesn’t apply to the entire card for Sunday’s No Mercy show, the latest RAW-exclusive pay-per-view, but the main events are huge matches we’re used to seeing at the likes of SummerSlam or the Royal Rumble or WrestleMania.

Don’t take this as some weird complaint about timing: it’s good to see WWE remember that they can attempt to entertain even when it’s “just” a B-level show, slash, even when football is on television. Let’s dive in.

Jason Jordan vs. The Miz (c) for the Intercontinental Championship

What am I looking at here? Jason Jordan is (kayfabe) Kurt Angle’s son from a long-gone relationship, and the former member of tag team champs American Alpha is getting his first real crack at a singles title. He’ll be taking on Miz, who could very well retire someday as the most successful Intercontinental champ in WWE history, and who also has not been shy about pointing out that Jordan is getting this opportunity in large part because of who his dad is. Jordan is a damn good wrestler, so that’s not true, but it feels true enough for the heel Miz to use it as ammunition.

Why you should care: Well, Miz is the GOAT, so there’s one reason. Jordan was the greatest hot tag in WWE when he was still in a tag team, and he’s recently been let loose on the singles scene, with excellent matches against some of the best in the business like John Cena and Roman Reigns. He lost both of those, but hey, Cena lost to Jordan’s dad in his (re)introduction to WWE but made an impression, and that’s what we’ve got going on here once again. Will this push result in a win for Jordan? I don’t know! But the match should be pretty great.

Enzo Amore vs. Neville (c) for the Cruiserweight Championship

What am I looking at here? Enzo Amore is the worst wrestler around unless you need someone to flop around absorbing damage looking like they’re one of those dummies sketch comedy shows used to use in place of a person when falling out a window or whatever. He joined the cruiserweights because he’s not a big guy and then, because the cruiserweight division doesn’t have enough weird bullshit to wade through, he started winning matches despite being the literal worst.

Enzo also has this championship opportunity despite being on the receiving end of a Miz promo that, in short, was “Everyone hates you and not for pretend, like we all actually hate you and think you suck and hope you die alone.” The crowd was on Miz’s side.

Enzo will take on Neville, who is perfection, not just in his abilities or demeanor but also in his likelihood of grinding Amore into literal dust.

Why you should care: One of two things is going to happen here: Neville is going to dismantle Enzo and mail the pieces to different locations all over the world as a ghastly reminder of his power and the fear it should inspire in all of us. Or, Enzo is going to win with a lucky rollup after some awful distraction despite doing absolutely nothing to deserve a victory.

Remember, too, that Enzo is supposed to be the face here, so if he does win and everyone hates it, it’s not Good Heeling or whatever. It’s just awful writing.

Finn Balor vs. Bray Wyatt in a Man vs. Man match

What am I looking at here? i honestly do not know

Why you should care: ^

Finn vs. Bray at SummerSlam was cool and all but part of the attraction there was Bray “I’m literally Satan” Wyatt getting wrecked by a guy with a demonic persona who spent 15 minutes or whatever showing Bray that the demon paint job wasn’t just a paint job, it also unlocked something deep within him that gave him an extra gear. Bray’s response to losing was, “Uh don’t you think it’s kind of unfair that you have a demon persona maybe you should wrestle me man to man oh also please forget all that stuff I’ve said for years about being possessed by the devil I’m def just a regular person.”

Finn said yes, because he is a babyface, and babyfaces don’t run from challenges even when they’re dumb. That can refer to either the challenge or the babyface, for what it’s worth.

Cesaro and Sheamus vs. Dean Ambrose and Seth Rollins (c) for the RAW Tag Team Championships

What am I looking at here? Two of the top tag teams in WWE, facing off in a rematch of their SummerSlam bout that would have stolen the show if not for the main event Braunpocalypse.

Why you should care: Man y’all are demanding, did not you just see the part where I said two of the top tag teams are facing off in a rematch wherein the original match was dope as heck? Fine, fine. Rollins and Ambrose joining forces once again has been a boon to the shipping industry — no, no, the other shipping industry — and taking down Sheamus and Cesaro — who are wonderful in their own right — will cement Rollins and Ambrose as the (friendship-based) team to beat on RAW.

tl;dr: four dudes are going to beat on each other hard for our amusement and regardless of who wins, friendship will triumph

Sasha Banks vs. Bayley vs. Nia Jax vs. Emma vs. Alexa Bliss (c) in a Fatal 5-Way RAW Women’s Championship match

What am I looking at here? We were supposed to get Bayley vs. Alexa Bliss at SummerSlam, but then Bayley was hurt, and Sasha Banks won her way into a match with Bliss instead — a match she won. Then, Bliss won back the RAW Women’s Championship because Banks is as incapable of defending a title as she is capable of winning one, and Nia Jax responded to her friend Alexa’s win by dumping her on her head as a violent way of saying “I’ve got next.”

Then Emma complained and said she wanted in on the title, too, so her and Nia teamed together and won themselves insertion into this match before Nia then beat on Emma some as a reminder that their alliance was one of convenience. Bayley then showed up in her hometown San Jose aka the one place that is still cheering for Bayley, attacked Bliss without provocation, and then was placed into the Fatal 4-Way to make it a Fatal 5-Way as a reward for this act.

You know, when you write it all out like that, the most face competitor in the bunch at the moment is the heel champion, Alexa.

Why you should care: It’s going to be something to see everyone unite to try to take Nia Jax out of the equation, since this isn’t an elimination match and therefore the only successfully tested ways of stopping her won’t work here. Sasha Banks and Bayley both know she can be submitted, but no one is going to be able to submit Jax since doing so would end the match with the submitter as victor. They also can’t just pile on top of her for the 1-2-3 like Charlotte, Sasha, and Bayley did at WrestleMania 33, since again, it’s not an elimination match, and a pin means we have resolution.

Another angle to watch for is what goes on with Emma, who WWE has done their best to destroy at every turn despite her talent and connection with the crowd. Will this be her moment to remind everyone that she does in fact belong with all of the women WWE brought up after her for their “revolution,” or is she just here to eat a pin so that the ones who [extremely condescending and sarcastic voice] “matter” continue to look strong even in defeat?

John Cena vs. Roman Reigns in a who is the biggest dog in the yard match

What am I looking at here? It’s the old hotness vs. the new hotness, the crew cut vs. the long flowing hair of a prince whose arms you would feel so very safe in. Cena vs. Reigns should be a WrestleMania main event, and yet, here it is, at No Mercy, which kind of makes you wonder how much longer Cena is going to be wrestling on the reg for WWE.

Also, just so we’re clear, that’s not a real match stipulation, but it is definitely what this pissing contest is about.

Cena has won the verbal battle thus far in what has been a bunch of worked-shoot promos, but also, obviously he has: Roman’s charisma is all about the dangerous silence and mood his presence creates, whereas Cena’s is almost entirely verbal. What matters in the end is which of these dudes has their arm raised in victory.

Why you should care: John Cena is maybe the greatest WWE has ever had, and even if he’s not leaving the company soon, he is going to someday. Reigns might not be the guy who gets all the cheers in Cena’s absence, but he definitely gets reactions, and people care about him and his matches and where he is in the company. Reigns is at his best in a big match, and so is Cena, and now we’ve got Big Match John vs. The Big Dog going one-on-one. Is this the first of a series? A one-and-done, winner-take-all? No one knows for sure, but we do know that this has potential for true greatness, and that’s reason enough to watch even if you don’t particularly have a, well, a dog in this race.

Braun Strowman vs. Brock Lesnar (c) for the WWE Universal Championship

What am I looking at here? There is no one like Brock Lesnar. The closest anyone has ever come is Braun Strowman. Those statements work just as well and as accurately if you reverse the order of the names, too. And now they’re facing off against each other, where Strowman hopes to finish the job he started at SummerSlam, whereas Lesnar is hoping that he can handle Strowman one-on-one now that he doesn’t have two others to worry about as well.

Why you should care: Strowman vs. Lesnar somehow has more changing of the guard-ness to it than Cena vs. Reigns, as, like with Cena, Lesnar isn’t going to be around forever, but his opponent is crucial to the future success of the company. Strowman is the one who can be the true superstar going forward, even more than Reigns, as he’s an absolute force of nature that fans are dying to cheer for despite his status as a monster.

Plus, Strowman took a German Suplex from Lesnar and was completely unfazed. We need to see how that plays out over the course of a full match. I cannot wait.