Two Powers Each

[Deleted]

Dec 5, 2014 10:20:25 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

I had to think long and hard about this, because I do like the powers that were shown on the series, however if we were choosing powers that would fit the series, then this sort of incorporates what I believe should've happened:

Prue: Telekinesis and Levitation

Prue having telekinesis made a lot of sense to me, so I wouldn't change that at all. However, I would have had Prue develop levitation instead of Astral Projection. I think it makes more sense in that it isn't a sudden lurch in a different direction for Prue's powers, levitation would merely prove that Prue is getting stronger - as if she can move other people, then why not herself? Also, I think that it wouldn't make Prue too powerful as I was never a fan of Prue being the out and out strongest of the three of them.

Piper: Freezing, Exploding and Invisibility

Freezing has always been my favourite Charmed power, so there is no way that Piper would start with anything different. Also, I know on these boards Piper's exploding power is seen as controversial but, I wouldn't have had Piper develop it in the manner she does. Following Prue's death, it would've been interesting to see the girls struggle without an out and out offensive power - and in order to disregard the "molecular" explanation, Piper would inherit the power from a power broker in "The Fifth Halliwheel" in order to save an innocent. Following on from this, I always thought that later on (perhaps post-S8) Piper could've developed invisibility. In a fictional Season Nine I once planned, Piper's personality mellowed from the bitch we saw in Season Eight to the girl we first saw at the beginning, and the power was triggered from a desire to hide away. However, this power again relies on the molecular explanation of her powers.

Phoebe: Premonitions, Astral Projection and Telepathy

I would have had Phoebe inherit the power to Astral Project, instead of Prue, as I think it makes more sense and would've worked well with her self-defense. Instead of Empathy as well, I would've had her develop Telepathy, which as somebody said - is less cheesy and also if used correctly could've been the most powerful power the sisters possessed. Also, giving Phoebe new powers wouldn't have been the huge emphasis - but I would've made more of a deal of her premonitions until the very end, as I think the lack of her power during Seasons 6-8 was terrible.

Paige: Telekinetic Orbing, Orbing, Sensing

Paige is always an interesting one. I loved how her power manifested itself with her Whitelighter side, and there isn't anything I would really change about the powers. I think giving her telekinesis as the youngest sister would've given her an unfair power balance, but over the course of the series I would like to see her be more in touch with her witch side and have her power become non-verbal and take on a weaker form of Prue's telekinesis.

Some great ideas here, Alex. I especially like your idea of Piper getting her explosion power from a Power Broker. I mean, if warlocks and demons can steal and trade powers, why not the Charmed Ones, so long as they don't hurt anyone. I like that idea a lot because I hated how Piper's combustion power was shore-horned in at the end of S3 simply to make her 'the strongest' of the new Charmed Ones in S4. It would've been even better if Paige had come into it with the most 'offensive' power, because she was never meant to be 'the baby' really. So, it would've been more interesting if they'd gone for a completely new dynamic with the new COs. I also don't like how the oldest one has to be the strongest.

I'd be interested to know if you'd give Piper exploding or invisibility if she could only have two powers? And would you give Phoebe her premonitions and telepathy? or AP?

[~B@MeLiSsA30@B~]

Haha.............I just got thinking about their powers the other day. All the sisters, when something new occurs with their powers, they said it's advancing, which was fine of course. But yet, when Piper started blowing things up instead of just freezing. She freaked out, and was wondering what was wrong with her powers. It didn't occur her powers was advancing? I thought that was........ I am not sure, but kinda strange. I've noticed things about this show a lot more now than I did when I first started watching this. Certain things that don't really make sense. But that was just something I was noticing.

[Astral Chaos]

Personally, I'm not a huge fan of the Charmed One's -- or most witches, for that matter -- developing additional powers. I can get on board if it's a Melinda Warren situation, but for the most part it's just not my thing. I find it fun for all of five minutes, but then I find that it starts to detract from the story being told and seems to cheapen the character(s).

However, if power development was up to me and the sisters absolutely had to have more than one power, this is the route I'd go:

I probably would not change the three "original" powers -- TK, Foresight/Premonitions & freezing time -- and they would be distributed the same way. For Prue and Piper, I would give them powers that are more extensions of their base powers than a totally new one. So, Prue would have Telekinesis and Psychokinesis and Piper would be able to freeze and slow down time/molecules/whatever . . . I was never bothered by the whole time vs. molecules thing. Either is/was fine with me, though I'd prefer it be time.

Phoebe is a tough one, but I'd want to do something a little different as I'm bored of how people usually develop her powers, Kern included. Today, I think I'd give her force fields as her secondary power. I do like the idea of keeping her powers completely passive though and if I were to do that I would give her "eye" based powers such as auric sight.

With Paige I think I'd give her healing . . . it's the only power that's ever truly fit her, IMO. I'm not sure what power #2 would be. Empathy, maybe?

[Darkhorse Christian]

Dec 8, 2014 9:12:47 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Piper would be able to freeze and slow down time/molecules/whatever . . . I was never bothered by the whole time vs. molecules thing. Either is/was fine with me, though I'd prefer it be time.

I think creative probably decided to go with molecules so as to avoid confusion with actual wide-scale time control powers such as Tempus' time sorcery.

[Esmeralda]

I wouldn't have minded time-related compared to molecule-related if it didn't turn Piper into the Power of One and made Phoebe and Paige as much co-stars as Grams, Patty, Victor and Darryl!

[Deleted]

Id just keep it simple

Prue - Telekinesis and Levitation (Like Billie)
Piper - Freezing and Exploding
Phoebe - Premonition, Astral Projection
Paige - TK Orbing, Orbing

If they could have a 3rd power each

Prue - Morphing
Piper - 5 second reverse time
Phoebe - Empathy
Paige - Healing

[Astral Chaos]

Dec 8, 2014 20:31:38 GMT -5 Darkhorse Christian said:

Dec 8, 2014 9:12:47 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Piper would be able to freeze and slow down time/molecules/whatever . . . I was never bothered by the whole time vs. molecules thing. Either is/was fine with me, though I'd prefer it be time.

I think creative probably decided to go with molecules so as to avoid confusion with actual wide-scale time control powers such as Tempus' time sorcery.

I think it was more of the writers/creative team wanting to surprise everyone and be unexpected than anything Tempus related TBH -- bared in mind continuity wasn't Charmed's strong point.

Dec 8, 2014 21:56:08 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I wouldn't have minded time-related compared to molecule-related if it didn't turn Piper into the Power of One and made Phoebe and Paige as much co-stars as Grams, Patty, Victor and Darryl!

I agree. I have no problem with a character having the explosive power -- I just don't want any of the sisters to have it! The power in itself is fine, but not appropriate for any of the CO's. It would make whoever has that power too magically individualistic and, for me, one of the draws to the show in the early seasons is that they work their powers as a unit. Plus, I wouldn't want any of the sisters to have a power that destructive.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 9, 2014 8:13:26 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Dec 8, 2014 20:31:38 GMT -5 Darkhorse Christian said:

I think creative probably decided to go with molecules so as to avoid confusion with actual wide-scale time control powers such as Tempus' time sorcery.

I think it was more of the writers/creative team wanting to surprise everyone and be unexpected than anything Tempus related TBH -- bared in mind continuity wasn't Charmed's strong point.

Dec 8, 2014 21:56:08 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

I wouldn't have minded time-related compared to molecule-related if it didn't turn Piper into the Power of One and made Phoebe and Paige as much co-stars as Grams, Patty, Victor and Darryl!

I agree. I have no problem with a character having the explosive power -- I just don't want any of the sisters to have it! The power in itself is fine, but not appropriate for any of the CO's. It would make whoever has that power too magically individualistic and, for me, one of the draws to the show in the early seasons is that they work their powers as a unit. Plus, I wouldn't want any of the sisters to have a power that destructive.

Yes! Exactly so.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Dec 9, 2014 8:13:26 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Dec 8, 2014 20:31:38 GMT -5 Darkhorse Christian said:

I agree. I have no problem with a character having the explosive power -- I just don't want any of the sisters to have it! The power in itself is fine, but not appropriate for any of the CO's. It would make whoever has that power too magically individualistic and, for me, one of the draws to the show in the early seasons is that they work their powers as a unit. Plus, I wouldn't want any of the sisters to have a power that destructive.

The thing is the demons weren't very formidable characters in the latter years and so could be easily vanquished with the flick of a wrist which annoyed me.

I would've loved it if Piper's power only worked on demons who couldn't be vanquished via a spell or potion or more of them were immune to it via reconstructing their molecules, being thrown against a wall or absorbing the power etc so it needed the PO3 to get them or as the sisters grew in theirs powers then so did the demons making them harder to been blow up which would've been more appreciated and a whole lot better I think.

[Deleted]

Dec 9, 2014 14:54:57 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Dec 9, 2014 8:13:26 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

I agree. I have no problem with a character having the explosive power -- I just don't want any of the sisters to have it! The power in itself is fine, but not appropriate for any of the CO's. It would make whoever has that power too magically individualistic and, for me, one of the draws to the show in the early seasons is that they work their powers as a unit. Plus, I wouldn't want any of the sisters to have a power that destructive.

The thing is the demons weren't very formidable characters in the latter years and so could be easily vanquished with the flick of a wrist which annoyed me.

I would've loved it if Piper's power only worked on demons who couldn't be vanquished via a spell or potion or more of them were immune to it via reconstructing their molecules, being thrown against a wall or absorbing the power etc so it needed the PO3 to get them or as the sisters grew in theirs powers then so did the demons making them harder to been blow up which would've been more appreciated and a whole lot better I think.

Exactly what I think melinda. Like a lot of things on Charmed, Piper's exploding power had no set boundaries. From the first two episodes of having it she could destroy Tarkin and a Banshee, both upper level demons, but then couldn't even kill a warlock at other times. Had it always been established that she could only blow up warlocks and lower level demons, it would've been much better.

[Esmeralda]

But why should she be able to blow up warlocks when they were the original bad guys of Charmed? I really can't think of anything I'd want her to be able to blow up on her own. Since so many fans think she got that power because they thought that without Prue there would be no offensive powers, how 'bout if all her power could do was push them back, like what Prue's TK did? If that's all she could do with it, that would be one thing. But not destroy all on her own. That's what made her the Power of One and totally took away the importance of the Power of Three. That should be needed even for the most annoying, unimportant bad guy, since needing that is what made them Charmed. Part of what made Prue, Piper and Phoebe so close is that they truly needed each other, not just for the Big Bad, but any bad guy/bad gal who came after them. It was a main reason the second three never had to become that close.

[Astral Chaos]

They certainly became more magically independent as the show progressed, which is fine. It had to happen eventually and is actually a good thing. The problem, for me, is that they became magically separate and started doing the magic thing as individuals not as a unit.
Strangely, they seemed to become co-dependent in ways that they weren't in the earlier seasons.

[Melinda Halliwell]

Dec 9, 2014 20:30:03 GMT -5 @deano said:

[ Had it always been established that she could only blow up warlocks and lower level demons, it would've been much better.

Most warlocks and lower level demons could be killed by whatever spell or potion was in the book of shadows so Piper shouldn't have been able to blow those ones up in my opinion as there was already a way to.

Dec 9, 2014 20:30:03 GMT -5 @deano said:

From the first two episodes of having it she could destroy Tarkin and a Banshee, both upper level demons, but then couldn't even kill a warlock at other times.

I agree Piper shouldn't have blown those 2 up as she'd only just got the power and so shouldn't have had that control yet plus the fact Tarkin was a member of the brotherhood also and so should've been killed by via the brotherhood potion since he was one anyway.

Dec 10, 2014 0:27:32 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Since so many fans think she got that power because they thought that without Prue there would be no offensive powers, how 'bout if all her power could do was push them back, like what Prue's TK did. If that's all she could do with it, that would be one thing. But not destroy all on her own.

That would've been better then and still an offensive part of the power especially when Paige couldn't do that herself or more evil beings had immunity to it like I said previously before.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 10, 2014 1:21:19 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

They certainly became more magically independent as the show progressed, which is fine. It had to happen eventually and is actually a good thing. The problem, for me, is that they became magically separate and started doing the magic thing as individuals not as a unit.
Strangely, they seemed to become co-dependent in ways that they weren't in the earlier seasons.

*scratching head* All of this seems to contradict one another - either that or I'm reading it wrong (highly likely.... ) Could you say this again but with different words?

I mean why shouldn't they become magically separate if you want them to become magically independent?

I'm the other way. I'd want them to be unmagically independent like not all of them always living in the Manor - although I would think it should go to someone besides Piper, despite her being the oldest - why would she still want to live on the house that was built on the nexus of the spiritual and wiccan pentagrams and which would make that the constant battleground between Good and Evil [and, no, they didn't destroy it in TWSWG - they only destroyed the Shadow (what Phoebe called the Woogeyman) that lived beneath the Manor and got its power from living on that nexus. (No such things as The Nexus), so that place would still be a magical magnet for bad guys, ultimate battle or no ultimate battle!]?

She wanted to move out when she first got married, and I agree; she should've, especially since Paige and Phoebe could and did later on.

When both Paige and Phoebe wanted their own places, one of them (probably Paige, despite her being the youngest and not even a Halliwell, since with her charges, she was the only one still interested in magic) should've kept the Manor while Piper should've been THRILLED about the idea of FINALLY getting to move out of that place and give her half-a-chance to FINALLY live a normal life with her no-longer-dead husband - especially if she did what all three should've done - like their grandmother before them, bind their children's powers until they're old enough to properly handle them!

But even if they're non-magically independent, I would still want them magically dependent, still dependent on the Power of Three, something that went away as Piper got her new powers and Paige got all of hers. It's why rather than extra powers, I'd rather them get extra abilities as they grew closer, something the second set would've if they only had the three original powers, or each had a single active and a single passive power - the ability to talk with each other telepathically and finally, when they grew very close (first set only - I can never see the second set becoming this close since they have their own lives), being able to use the Power of Three to vanquish demons telepathically.

Now *that's* the reward they should've gotten, not new powers that just made the Power of Three useless.

[Deleted]

Dec 10, 2014 4:15:55 GMT -5 Melinda Halliwell said:

Most warlocks and lower level demons could be killed by whatever spell or potion was in the book of shadows so Piper shouldn't have been able to blow those ones up in my opinion as there was already a way to.

Except flinging potions became equally as monotonous as Piper's explosion power, so it didn't really matter to me which way the crowds of lower-level demons were killed. But as for upper-level demons, Piper should never have been able to blow them up.

I agree Piper shouldn't have blown those 2 up as she'd only just got the power and so shouldn't have had that control yet plus the fact Tarkin was a member of the brotherhood also and so should've been killed by via the brotherhood potion since he was one anyway.

True. The face that they were mixing the flesh potion for the other members of the Brotherhood, and then Piper can suddenly blow Tarkin up was ludicrous. 

Since so many fans think she got that power because they thought that without Prue there would be no offensive powers, how 'bout if all her power could do was push them back, like what Prue's TK did. If that's all she could do with it, that would be one thing. But not destroy all on her own.

I'd liked it to just grow very gradually: from blowing up energy balls and inanimate objects in S3/4, to warlocks in S4, to lower-level demons in S5-6 and in S7-8 she could send upper-level demons flying back like you say, not never fully blow them up. 

You have a point about just keeping it similar to Prue's TK, and have to be like an energy wave/blast, but then I suppose they might as well have given her a forcefield, or at least something that looked more 'wave'-like, 

That would've been better then and still an offensive part of the power especially when Paige couldn't do that herself or more evil beings had immunity to it like I said previously before.

I'm starting to think she should've gotten that ice freezing power from Bride and Groom, because it has the potential to be offensive but isn't an immediate death sentence. 

[Astral Chaos]

Dec 10, 2014 14:04:05 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Dec 10, 2014 1:21:19 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

They certainly became more magically independent as the show progressed, which is fine. It had to happen eventually and is actually a good thing. The problem, for me, is that they became magically separate and started doing the magic thing as individuals not as a unit.
Strangely, they seemed to become co-dependent in ways that they weren't in the earlier seasons.

*scratching head* All of this seems to contradict one another - either that or I'm reading it wrong (highly likely.... ) Could you say this again but with different words?

I mean why shouldn't they become magically separate if you want them to become magically independent?

I'm the other way. I'd want them to be unmagically independent like not all of them always living in the Manor - although I would think it should go to someone besides Piper, despite her being the oldest - why would she still want to live on the house that was built on the nexus of the spiritual and wiccan pentagrams and which would make that the constant battleground between Good and Evil [and, no, they didn't destroy it in TWSWG - they only destroyed the Shadow (what Phoebe called the Woogeyman) that lived beneath the Manor and got its power from living on that nexus. (No such things as The Nexus), so that place would still be a magical magnet for bad guys, ultimate battle or no ultimate battle!]?

She wanted to move out when she first got married, and I agree; she should've, especially since Paige and Phoebe could and did later on.

When both Paige and Phoebe wanted their own places, one of them (probably Paige, despite her being the youngest and not even a Halliwell, since with her charges, she was the only one still interested in magic) should've kept the Manor while Piper should've been THRILLED about the idea of FINALLY getting to move out of that place and give her half-a-chance to FINALLY live a normal life with her no-longer-dead husband - especially if she did what all three should've done - like their grandmother before them, bind their children's powers until they're old enough to properly handle them!

But even if they're non-magically independent, I would still want them magically dependent, still dependent on the Power of Three, something that went away as Piper got her new powers and Paige got all of hers. It's why rather than extra powers, I'd rather them get extra abilities as they grew closer, something the second set would've if they only had the three original powers, or each had a single active and a single passive power - the ability to talk with each other telepathically and finally, when they grew very close (first set only - I can never see the second set becoming this close since they have their own lives), being able to use the Power of Three to vanquish demons telepathically.

Now *that's* the reward they should've gotten, not new powers that just made the Power of Three useless.

Yes, I think you got the wrong end of the stick here.
Developing some independence (magically) is a good thing. The three of them constantly going off doing their own supernatural thing is not. They needed to develop some independence in that sense -- being completely reliant on each other isn't a good thing.
I never said that them becoming co-dependent was a good thing, either. It's just something I felt happened. Personally, I preferred the earlier seasons when they were close but weren't so "into" each others lives.

I'm not too bothered with HOW the powers progress -- no new powers, new powers or some kind of collective abilities -- just that it happens in a way that is organic and doesn't feel forced. I liked seeing the development on screen, though. Like when Prue's TK advanced and she was able to channel it through her hands as well as her eyes (I actually would rather have seen her TK develop further than astral projection popping up, but that's just me). 'Twas fun.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 16, 2014 1:42:53 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Dec 10, 2014 14:04:05 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

*scratching head* All of this seems to contradict one another - either that or I'm reading it wrong (highly likely.... ) Could you say this again but with different words?

I mean why shouldn't they become magically separate if you want them to become magically independent?

I'm the other way. I'd want them to be unmagically independent like not all of them always living in the Manor - although I would think it should go to someone besides Piper, despite her being the oldest - why would she still want to live on the house that was built on the nexus of the spiritual and wiccan pentagrams and which would make that the constant battleground between Good and Evil [and, no, they didn't destroy it in TWSWG - they only destroyed the Shadow (what Phoebe called the Woogeyman) that lived beneath the Manor and got its power from living on that nexus. (No such things as The Nexus), so that place would still be a magical magnet for bad guys, ultimate battle or no ultimate battle!]?

She wanted to move out when she first got married, and I agree; she should've, especially since Paige and Phoebe could and did later on.

When both Paige and Phoebe wanted their own places, one of them (probably Paige, despite her being the youngest and not even a Halliwell, since with her charges, she was the only one still interested in magic) should've kept the Manor while Piper should've been THRILLED about the idea of FINALLY getting to move out of that place and give her half-a-chance to FINALLY live a normal life with her no-longer-dead husband - especially if she did what all three should've done - like their grandmother before them, bind their children's powers until they're old enough to properly handle them!

But even if they're non-magically independent, I would still want them magically dependent, still dependent on the Power of Three, something that went away as Piper got her new powers and Paige got all of hers. It's why rather than extra powers, I'd rather them get extra abilities as they grew closer, something the second set would've if they only had the three original powers, or each had a single active and a single passive power - the ability to talk with each other telepathically and finally, when they grew very close (first set only - I can never see the second set becoming this close since they have their own lives), being able to use the Power of Three to vanquish demons telepathically.

Now *that's* the reward they should've gotten, not new powers that just made the Power of Three useless.

Yes, I think you got the wrong end of the stick here.
Developing some independence (magically) is a good thing. The three of them constantly going off doing their own supernatural thing is not. They needed to develop some independence in that sense -- being completely reliant on each other isn't a good thing.

In magic, I still think they should be - they were at their best in S1-3 when they were. But hopefully we can agree to disagree on that one.

I never said that them becoming co-dependent was a good thing, either. It's just something I felt happened. Personally, I preferred the earlier seasons when they were close but weren't so "into" each others lives.

Amen. The earlier seasons was when they had their best mix of both their magic and non-magic lives. And the reason was simple - none of them could take care of magical bad guys all on their own - and they were more interested in protecting innocents than battling demons. First to admit that probably would've gotten boring after a while, which is still why I would've preferred if it only went three or four seasons with Piper finding out she's pregnant during the finale, but us never actually seeing any of the kids.

I'm not too bothered with HOW the powers progress -- no new powers, new powers or some kind of collective abilities -- just that it happens in a way that is organic and doesn't feel forced. I liked seeing the development on screen, though. Like when Prue's TK advanced and she was able to channel it through her hands as well as her eyes (I actually would rather have seen her TK develop further than astral projection popping up, but that's just me). 'Twas fun.

Agreed totally - if their powers developped more organically I would've accepted the extra powers better rather than them just popping up whenever those in charge felt like they needed something new.

It's why I still prefer Reality Bites' set of powers the most - I truly believe the show would've been much better with that simple change. Since it's on the previous page, I'm going to repeat it here:

Jun 23, 2009 23:59:27 GMT -5 Reality Bites said:

Hmm... interesting topic. I would choose a set of powers that would be the easiest on the production budget, still relatively interesting, and also ensure that the sisters are capable of using their powers productively without evolving to the point where they can play super-witch and vanquish every demonic threat with just a wave of their hand (ahem, Piper post-season three). This is to make sure that throughout the entire series they'd have to rely on their wits and each other to vanquish their biggest adversaries throughout the entire series run.

Start of the series

---

Prue - Premonitions

As the oldest and wisest sister, I would give Prue the power to see the future and eventually the past. Knowledge is power and I think Prue would value the information gained from her visions, interpret them wisely and ultimately use them to save the day. I also think having a passive power will encourage the protective Prue to take up self-defense classes much sooner than in the actual series. I'm not sure, but I think Prue was an Art History major in college. Art History would tie into her interest in photography and kinda explain her vast knowledge in antiquities and dead languages like Latin. I think a history buff having the power to see into our world's future and past would really reflect her personality.

Piper - Invisibility

The middle child, clichéd or not, usually feels "invisible" when it comes to their older and younger siblings. I think just like "freezing" mirrors Piper's early panicky characterization, I think this power would reflect Piper's sense of not being a "super witch" like her sisters. The power could manifest during moments of insecurity and genuine fright, making for some sticky situations. It would also give her the chance to shine as her power would come in handy in a plethora of different scenarios.

Phoebe - Empathy

As the wild child and the youngest, Phoebe would still need a power to keep her grounded. Being forced to experience the emotions of those around her would be the thing to do it. Like her premonitions in the actual series, empathy would give Phoebe a chance to connect to their innocents and make her their most vocal champion, seeing as she'll really be able to understand what it is their going through. I think she'd also be able to help them heal.

Later in the series

---

If this sister's powers had to expand, it would be as follows.

Prue - Premonitions expands into Telepathy

During the second season Prue's powers would expand to give her the power of telepathy. I think her intellectual curiosity and her natural perception, her sixth sense about people and things, would "naturally" expand into this new power.

Piper - Invisibility expands into Forcefields

Yeah, it's comic bookish and reminiscent of The Invisible Woman, but this power compliments invisibility so well. As Piper becomes more confident in her craft and herself, her powers would expand into a more aggressive ability, but not as offensive as her exploding power in the actual series. Thus, she'll still need her sisters to vanquish upper-level baddies instead of being able to do it on her own. Also, being invisible and having forcefields would also explain why, unlike her sisters, Piper doesn't feel the need to rely on hand-to-hand combat skills to protect herself from baddies.

Phoebe - Empathy expands into Cloning

At the beginning of season three, Phoebe would have gained the ability to split into an empathic clone of herself. Basically, she would be able to displace extreme emotions into a temporary clone of herself (sort of like "Which Prue Is It Anyway?"). When very angry, she could split into an aggressive version of herself or when very excited, an overly perky version of herself. When she gains control of the power it would come in handy, especially when needing to use a decoy or when outnumbered by demons and other baddies.

Introduction of Paige

---

When Paige is introduced to replace Prue, she would have received these powers...

Paige - Prophetic dreams and Orbing

Like Prue, Paige would be able to see the future in order to fulfill the prophecy of the Charmed Ones. However, she would only be able to do so through vivid dreams that prophesies forthcoming events. It would be a twist on the original third sister's power, much like telekinetic orbing was a twist on telekinesis in the actual series. Somewhere down the line, Paige's power would be used to find a "lost prophecy" that details the defeat and rebirth of the Charmed Ones, showing how both incarnations of the Charmed Ones play an important part in the death of the Source. Also, I would think that Paige would retain the power to orb, because like in the actual series, it would be a power that is independent of her Warren roots and comes strictly from her whitelighter side.

As Paige's powers evolve, she'd gain Mind Projection

Keeping with the dream aspect of her powers, initially Paige would gain the ability to project her consciousness into other people's dreams (much like Isabel Evans of the TV series ROSWELL or Leo in "Brain Drain" from season four of CHARMED) in the season five finale. Eventually in season six this power would come to reflect Prue's telepathy, by allowing Paige to interact with other people's subconsciousness whether they are awake or not. Basically, she'd be able to pull their ID into a dream like world, and interact with them. Of course, while using this power Paige would be unconscious, which would make her vulnerable but what's the fun of magic without risk? By season seven, this power would allow Paige to cast dreamlike illusions on others, plus she gets to stay awake while doing so, allowing her mind projection to serve as more of an active power for her.

Whatcha think?

[Astral Chaos]

Dec 16, 2014 10:37:57 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Dec 16, 2014 1:42:53 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Yes, I think you got the wrong end of the stick here.
Developing some independence (magically) is a good thing. The three of them constantly going off doing their own supernatural thing is not. They needed to develop some independence in that sense -- being completely reliant on each other isn't a good thing.

In magic, I still think they should be - they were at their best in S1-3 when they were. But hopefully we can agree to disagree on that one.

LMAO. You ARE agreeing with me, you just don't realize it. By late S1 they were able to handle themselves if one of the three was missing; it wasn't optimal but it was doable. There's a difference between being able to look after themselves if the need arises -- which it inevitably would -- vs. being demon hunters who don't need each other.

I never said that them becoming co-dependent was a good thing, either. It's just something I felt happened. Personally, I preferred the earlier seasons when they were close but weren't so "into" each others lives.

Amen. The earlier seasons was when they had their best mix of both their magic and non-magic lives. And the reason was simple - none of them could take care of magical bad guys all on their own - and they were more interested in protecting innocents than battling demons. First to admit that probably would've gotten boring after a while, which is still why I would've preferred if it only went three or four seasons with Piper finding out she's pregnant during the finale, but us never actually seeing any of the kids.

Well, I'm down for the introduction of children as early as S2. To be honest, I'd rather children were introduced early on or not at all. Kids introduced later on in a shows run almost always feels like an attempt to "freshen up" a show that's gone stale. I have very specific ideas about WHAT I'd want to see from children (i.e. no annoying Time Travelers), though.

I'm not too bothered with HOW the powers progress -- no new powers, new powers or some kind of collective abilities -- just that it happens in a way that is organic and doesn't feel forced. I liked seeing the development on screen, though. Like when Prue's TK advanced and she was able to channel it through her hands as well as her eyes (I actually would rather have seen her TK develop further than astral projection popping up, but that's just me). 'Twas fun.

Agreed totally - if their powers developped more organically I would've accepted the extra powers better rather than them just popping up whenever those in charge felt like they needed something new.

I'm sure very little planning went into pre-existing power development + additional powers. Shame.

It's why I still prefer Reality Bites' set of powers the most - I truly believe the show would've been much better with that simple change. Since it's on the previous page, I'm going to repeat it here:

Jun 23, 2009 23:59:27 GMT -5 Reality Bites said:

Hmm... interesting topic. I would choose a set of powers that would be the easiest on the production budget, still relatively interesting, and also ensure that the sisters are capable of using their powers productively without evolving to the point where they can play super-witch and vanquish every demonic threat with just a wave of their hand (ahem, Piper post-season three). This is to make sure that throughout the entire series they'd have to rely on their wits and each other to vanquish their biggest adversaries throughout the entire series run.

Start of the series

---

Prue - Premonitions

As the oldest and wisest sister, I would give Prue the power to see the future and eventually the past. Knowledge is power and I think Prue would value the information gained from her visions, interpret them wisely and ultimately use them to save the day. I also think having a passive power will encourage the protective Prue to take up self-defense classes much sooner than in the actual series. I'm not sure, but I think Prue was an Art History major in college. Art History would tie into her interest in photography and kinda explain her vast knowledge in antiquities and dead languages like Latin. I think a history buff having the power to see into our world's future and past would really reflect her personality.

Piper - Invisibility

The middle child, clichéd or not, usually feels "invisible" when it comes to their older and younger siblings. I think just like "freezing" mirrors Piper's early panicky characterization, I think this power would reflect Piper's sense of not being a "super witch" like her sisters. The power could manifest during moments of insecurity and genuine fright, making for some sticky situations. It would also give her the chance to shine as her power would come in handy in a plethora of different scenarios.

Phoebe - Empathy

As the wild child and the youngest, Phoebe would still need a power to keep her grounded. Being forced to experience the emotions of those around her would be the thing to do it. Like her premonitions in the actual series, empathy would give Phoebe a chance to connect to their innocents and make her their most vocal champion, seeing as she'll really be able to understand what it is their going through. I think she'd also be able to help them heal.

Later in the series

---

If this sister's powers had to expand, it would be as follows.

Prue - Premonitions expands into Telepathy

During the second season Prue's powers would expand to give her the power of telepathy. I think her intellectual curiosity and her natural perception, her sixth sense about people and things, would "naturally" expand into this new power.

Piper - Invisibility expands into Forcefields

Yeah, it's comic bookish and reminiscent of The Invisible Woman, but this power compliments invisibility so well. As Piper becomes more confident in her craft and herself, her powers would expand into a more aggressive ability, but not as offensive as her exploding power in the actual series. Thus, she'll still need her sisters to vanquish upper-level baddies instead of being able to do it on her own. Also, being invisible and having forcefields would also explain why, unlike her sisters, Piper doesn't feel the need to rely on hand-to-hand combat skills to protect herself from baddies.

Phoebe - Empathy expands into Cloning

At the beginning of season three, Phoebe would have gained the ability to split into an empathic clone of herself. Basically, she would be able to displace extreme emotions into a temporary clone of herself (sort of like "Which Prue Is It Anyway?"). When very angry, she could split into an aggressive version of herself or when very excited, an overly perky version of herself. When she gains control of the power it would come in handy, especially when needing to use a decoy or when outnumbered by demons and other baddies.

Introduction of Paige

---

When Paige is introduced to replace Prue, she would have received these powers...

Paige - Prophetic dreams and Orbing

Like Prue, Paige would be able to see the future in order to fulfill the prophecy of the Charmed Ones. However, she would only be able to do so through vivid dreams that prophesies forthcoming events. It would be a twist on the original third sister's power, much like telekinetic orbing was a twist on telekinesis in the actual series. Somewhere down the line, Paige's power would be used to find a "lost prophecy" that details the defeat and rebirth of the Charmed Ones, showing how both incarnations of the Charmed Ones play an important part in the death of the Source. Also, I would think that Paige would retain the power to orb, because like in the actual series, it would be a power that is independent of her Warren roots and comes strictly from her whitelighter side.

As Paige's powers evolve, she'd gain Mind Projection

Keeping with the dream aspect of her powers, initially Paige would gain the ability to project her consciousness into other people's dreams (much like Isabel Evans of the TV series ROSWELL or Leo in "Brain Drain" from season four of CHARMED) in the season five finale. Eventually in season six this power would come to reflect Prue's telepathy, by allowing Paige to interact with other people's subconsciousness whether they are awake or not. Basically, she'd be able to pull their ID into a dream like world, and interact with them. Of course, while using this power Paige would be unconscious, which would make her vulnerable but what's the fun of magic without risk? By season seven, this power would allow Paige to cast dreamlike illusions on others, plus she gets to stay awake while doing so, allowing her mind projection to serve as more of an active power for her.

Whatcha think?

It's a nice grouping of powers, not sure it's quite the direction I would go, but nice nonetheless -- especially the primary powers. I'm a tad iffy on the secondary ones for the original three sisters. I really like the Paige powers; they're a very good fit for her. I like how the powers are all primarily passive and/or defensive in nature. I'm not sure that it would have stopped the sisters ultimately becoming demon hunters if that's what the creative team and/or network wanted, but it certainly would have made it harder for them to do that, therefore they would have had to be smarter the way they went about it . . . so that's a positive.

[Esmeralda]

Dec 16, 2014 13:09:12 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

Dec 16, 2014 10:37:57 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

In magic, I still think they should be - they were at their best in S1-3 when they were. But hopefully we can agree to disagree on that one.

LMAO. You ARE agreeing with me, you just don't realize it. By late S1 they were able to handle themselves if one of the three was missing; it wasn't optimal but it was doable. There's a difference between being able to look after themselves if the need arises -- which it inevitably would -- vs. being demon hunters who don't need each other.

ROFL! So *very* typical for me. I was born with something wrong with the right side of my brain, so I'm extremely left-brained - one thing follows another which follows another which follows another - it's hard and sometimes impossible for me to "see the forest for the trees". So I'm going to guess that that's what's happening here.

Amen. The earlier seasons was when they had their best mix of both their magic and non-magic lives. And the reason was simple - none of them could take care of magical bad guys all on their own - and they were more interested in protecting innocents than battling demons. First to admit that probably would've gotten boring after a while, which is still why I would've preferred if it only went three or four seasons with Piper finding out she's pregnant during the finale, but us never actually seeing any of the kids.

Well, I'm down for the introduction of children as early as S2. To be honest, I'd rather children were introduced early on or not at all. Kids introduced later on in a shows run almost always feels like an attempt to "freshen up" a show that's gone stale. I have very specific ideas about WHAT I'd want to see from children (i.e. no annoying Time Travelers), though

That's an interesting way of looking at it, and I think you're right. Like did you see how Astral Alex was going to handle it in the "If I was Executive Producer" thread? He starts it out this way:

Dec 4, 2014 19:54:56 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

Season One
If it isn't broken, then why fix it. Season One is a brilliant opener to the show, and I would change very little. The only real change I would have, is that Prue and Andy begin a fully fledged relationship following the events of "Which Prue is it anyway?" and he discovers her secret after seeing her murdered clone. He is initially shaky, but they work through it. However, their happiness is short-lived as Andy is still killed in the finale.

Season Two

Although I appreciate the 'demon-of-the-week' structure of the early seasons, Season Two is easily my least favourite behind Season Eight. It has gems of episodes (Awakened, Reckless Abandon, Astral Monkey) but episodes such as (Heartbreak City) are truly awful. However, I wouldn't move onto an overarching story arc just yet. The main changes of the series would be that in Morality Bites, which is still set in 2009, the child that appears is not Melinda; Piper's daughter, but Trish; Prue's daughter, whom is primarily looked after by Piper due to Prue's workaholic nature. Upon returning the present, the girls still learn the error of using their magic for personal gain - and Prue realises that the dates match and she is in fact pregnant with Andy's child. I debated whether including a pregnancy so early-on in the series, would work, but adding Trish to the series adds a new dimension following Prue's death..

Although I don't like what he does with more kids later on, IF you had to have kids, this would be the way I'd want it done, especially because like the sisters, she'd have a non-magical father and still be a full witch.

Agreed totally - if their powers developped more organically I would've accepted the extra powers better rather than them just popping up whenever those in charge felt like they needed something new.

I'm sure very little planning went into pre-existing power development + additional powers. Shame.

Amen.

It's why I still prefer Reality Bites' set of powers the most - I truly believe the show would've been much better with that simple change. Whatcha think?

It's a nice grouping of powers, not sure it's quite the direction I would go, but nice nonetheless -- especially the primary powers. I'm a tad iffy on the secondary ones for the original three sisters.

That's funny because if there were going to be secondary powers, that's the way I'd want them to be - truly organic from their original ones.

I really like the Paige powers; they're a very good fit for her.

Particularly if those are what she'd gotten on the show, with orbing her only whitelighter power as a child of a whitelighter and not a whitelighter herself, while Piper suddenly found herself able to move things with her mind and Phoebe finding herself able to freeze molecules, I would've been much happier with how the powers were distributed after Prue's death.

I like how the powers are all primarily passive and/or defensive in nature. I'm not sure that it would have stopped the sisters ultimately becoming demon hunters if that's what the creative team and/or network wanted, but it certainly would have made it harder for them to do that, therefore they would have had to be smarter the way they went about it . . . so that's a positive.

Exactly so, which is why they remain my favorite set of powers, although being Es, I'd prefer if they never got the secondary powers, just the first sets - just have never seen any particular need for extra powers.

[Astral Chaos]

Dec 16, 2014 15:13:37 GMT -5 Esmeralda said:

Dec 16, 2014 13:09:12 GMT -5 Astral Chaos said:

LMAO. You ARE agreeing with me, you just don't realize it. By late S1 they were able to handle themselves if one of the three was missing; it wasn't optimal but it was doable. There's a difference between being able to look after themselves if the need arises -- which it inevitably would -- vs. being demon hunters who don't need each other.

ROFL! So *very* typical for me. I was born with something wrong with the right side of my brain, so I'm extremely left-brained - one thing follows another which follows another which follows another - it's hard and sometimes impossible for me to "see the forest for the trees". So I'm going to guess that that's what's happening here.

It's all good. Everyone has different view points -- that's what makes discussing things fun! It would be boring if we all felt the same way.

Well, I'm down for the introduction of children as early as S2. To be honest, I'd rather children were introduced early on or not at all. Kids introduced later on in a shows run almost always feels like an attempt to "freshen up" a show that's gone stale. I have very specific ideas about WHAT I'd want to see from children (i.e. no annoying Time Travelers), though

That's an interesting way of looking at it, and I think you're right. Like did you see how Astral Alex was going to handle it in the "If I was Executive Producer" thread? He starts it out this way:

Dec 4, 2014 19:54:56 GMT -5 Astral Alex said:

Season One
If it isn't broken, then why fix it. Season One is a brilliant opener to the show, and I would change very little. The only real change I would have, is that Prue and Andy begin a fully fledged relationship following the events of "Which Prue is it anyway?" and he discovers her secret after seeing her murdered clone. He is initially shaky, but they work through it. However, their happiness is short-lived as Andy is still killed in the finale.

Season Two

Although I appreciate the 'demon-of-the-week' structure of the early seasons, Season Two is easily my least favourite behind Season Eight. It has gems of episodes (Awakened, Reckless Abandon, Astral Monkey) but episodes such as (Heartbreak City) are truly awful. However, I wouldn't move onto an overarching story arc just yet. The main changes of the series would be that in Morality Bites, which is still set in 2009, the child that appears is not Melinda; Piper's daughter, but Trish; Prue's daughter, whom is primarily looked after by Piper due to Prue's workaholic nature. Upon returning the present, the girls still learn the error of using their magic for personal gain - and Prue realises that the dates match and she is in fact pregnant with Andy's child. I debated whether including a pregnancy so early-on in the series, would work, but adding Trish to the series adds a new dimension following Prue's death..

Although I don't like what he does with more kids later on, IF you had to have kids, this would be the way I'd want it done, especially because like the sisters, she'd have a non-magical father and still be a full witch.

No, I didn't see it -- I haven't had a chance to read through all the threads I missed over the last year yet.
I don't like it, for many different reasons. I'll break down everything I disagree with:

• Yes, Season One was very good. I'm not sure I'd go as far as calling it "brilliant", though there were some amazing episodes -- some of which are among the strongest in the whole series. There was some stuff that just needed tweaking, but there were other things that needed a complete overhaul. The first season of any show needs to be the very best it can be as it not only sets the tone for the show and future season, BUT it also sets the level of quality expected and accepted.
• No way would Andy just accept Prue as a witch, as nice a thought as it is, nor would the be able to "work through" it in a such a short space of time. Logically, the only way I can see them working is if -- after the whole witch revelation -- they were friends-with-benefits until the end of the second season at which point Andy leaves San Fran because of a job offer. He is absent for the entirety of Season 3 and half of Season 4, at which point he comes back mid-season; the time away allowed him to work through his issues with Prue being magical and what not. At that point Prue is dating a witch (an retelling of the Dan/Piper/Leo triangle . . . in my head-verse that storyline never happened), who she probably leaves for Andy. They get married a few seasons later, buy a big fluffy white dog and, eventually (and hopefully off-camera after the show ends) have twins. Something like that anyways.
• Demon of the week is a fun format, but it grows old (and a tad too campy for my taste) quickly. There needs to be a story arc entwined from the beginning i.e. in the first season we had Rex and Hannah, the introduction of The Source + the Leo and Andy storylines. 
• I loved Season Two. Some of my personal favourite episodes come from that season.
• Prue would not use the name Patricia/Trish; too emotionally confronting for her. If she was going to name a child after someone, it would be herself -- "If men can do it why can't I!!?" -- or maaaaaybe Piper. Realistically I can see her using a name that showcases her intelligence; probably Latin or French -- maybe Greek --, possibly literary or mythological, almost definitely obscure, the meaning might relate to whatever power was shown in the womb (if one was shown). 50/50 odds that it begins with a 'P'.
• Piper would likely do a disproportionately large percentage of the child rearing, therefore growing to resent Prue, or Prue would resent the baby for putting her career on hold and not being able to achieve what she wanted professionally -- remember at this point Prue was still very tied to her career. It's likely that we would never see Prue as a photographer either.

My personal preference would be Piper be the one who gets pregnant, especially if it were to be single parenthood. It would produce the most organic development between the three, I think. One example of this would be Prue and Phoebe finally working out their issues TOGETHER because Piper's priority is no longer acting as their mediator, but rather ensuring that her baby is safe and well cared for. I think we'd also see Prue soften a little and Phoebe would mature, which would be nice and also a natural progression.

One idea I've had for some time would be if Paige were introduced with a young daughter. I would only want this to happen if all for sisters were still living and there were no other children around at that time. If Paige was introduced at the same time (S4) but this time had a 5 or 6 year old daughter in tow. Generally, I'm not overly keen on the idea of Paige having (biological) children but I think this could work and be beneficial to her character -- it would certainly stop Paige from quitting her job, moving in with the sisters so quickly, if at all, and I think she would stay a Matthews instead of becoming a tag-along Halliwell. Plus, it would fit nicely into Paige's self-destructive teen backstory and with this in place I think we would know/find out more about Paige's other REAL family -- her mother and father, her Uncle Dave and Aunt Julie, etc . . .

It's a nice grouping of powers, not sure it's quite the direction I would go, but nice nonetheless -- especially the primary powers. I'm a tad iffy on the secondary ones for the original three sisters.

That's funny because if there were going to be secondary powers, that's the way I'd want them to be - truly organic from their original ones.

Eh, it just feels more superhero than witch to me, is all. Nothing wrong with them, just not for me.

I really like the Paige powers; they're a very good fit for her.

Particularly if those are what she'd gotten on the show, with orbing her only whitelighter power as a child of a whitelighter and not a whitelighter herself, while Piper suddenly found herself able to move things with her mind and Phoebe finding herself able to freeze molecules, I would've been much happier with how the powers were distributed after Prue's death.

Not sure. The switcheroo would have been fun for a short time, but I think I would have grown bored of it fairly quickly.

I like how the powers are all primarily passive and/or defensive in nature. I'm not sure that it would have stopped the sisters ultimately becoming demon hunters if that's what the creative team and/or network wanted, but it certainly would have made it harder for them to do that, therefore they would have had to be smarter the way they went about it . . . so that's a positive.

Exactly so, which is why they remain my favorite set of powers, although being Es, I'd prefer if they never got the secondary powers, just the first sets - just have never seen any particular need for extra powers.

I'm not against additional powers, I just think they have to be introduced flawlessly . . . so if it were me I would introduce secondary powers very, very slowly. The timing has to be perfect. If I were introducing additional powers I doubt all three (or four sisters) would have them by the time the show finished it's eight season run.