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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2018 11:49:51 GMT -5
You're absolutely right about that - except they would still being selfish, just thinking of themselves, but it would be nice for them to find out in S5 before the rest of the show. Reminds me of a series we were working on at a different site where we found it better to mix up the seasons: Season Five: The Avatars (both S6 and S7) Season Six: Billie Season Seven: Chris Season Eight: Zankou. Oh, very interesting, Es. I always felt that Billie and Christy were inadequate 'Final Bosses' and would've much preferred Zankou to have this spot.That's part of the reason I made Zankou the Head Avatar in "my" final season. I also think it would be cool if the sisters' Utopia spell had direct and also far-reaching consequences, making them truly learn the error of their ways. I would even say one could order the seasons like so: Season Five: Firstly, Cole stayed dead, just to clarify. After a season of stress and speculation about the coming of the Twice-Blessed Brat - whoops, I mean... Child, Leo becomes an Avatar instead of an Elder, determined to protect his family. However, it inevitably backfires when he realises the terrible cost of Utopia and betrays the Avatars to try and reverse it. When the Avatars are defeated by the Charmed Ones, they punish Piper by refusing to return Leo to her. She is powerless to stop them and they retreat. Season Six: Piper is in a deep depression and laser-focussed on finding Leo, neglecting Wyatt and her sisters. Meanwhile, Paige begins to rely on her new charge and friend, Billie, to help her pick up the demon-fighting slack, as Phoebe is also distracted with her career. Billie becomes friends with the sisters and finds a lead to her sister, which also helps Piper find Leo. It turns out Christy was kidnapped by the Avatars as a child as a "backup", on account of her immense Projection power. The Halliwells/Jenkins finally battle it out with the Avatars and Leo is saved. However, the Avatars have done a good job on Christy and she has been fully brain-washed into believing that the Halliwells are standing in the way of a better future for everyone - all for the sake of one of their husbands. The Avatars play the role that the Triad did in this version. Halliwell/Jenkins battle ensures, ending on a cliffhanger as the Manor explodes. Season Seven: As Piper emerges from the rubble of her house, her family all dead, Chris appears claiming he has come from the future to right a terrible wrong. They journey back to stop Leo from joining the Avatars in the first place. Back in the present, everyone is alive again. Chris kills Christy but lies to the Halliwells that she was “removed” by the Avatars for failing her “assignment”. Billie is distraught and has a very up-and-down relationship with the Halliwells throughout the season. She becomes obsessed with finding out who Chris is, as he is now the Halliwells’ new WL. Leo is also suspicious of Chris too and their mutual dislike for him helps mend fences between her and Halliwells. They eventually learn that Chris killed Christy, and that he is Piper and Leo’s second son who has returned to the past to stop the Avatars from kidnapping Wyatt and raising him in the same way they did Christy. In his reality, Christy was the one who kidnapped Wyatt after the sisters thwarted the first Utopia attempt. He grew up to become even more powerful than Christy and killed his entire family on the Avatars behalf. Chris had just come from a Wyatt-controlled “Utopia” when the Halliwells and Jenkins fought at the Manor. Zankou would be introduced towards the end of the season as the Avatars new recruit and he would kill Chris whilst trying to kidnap Wyatt (a la Gideon). Season Eight: The Wyatt-saving season. The sisters battle the new leader of the Avatars: Zankou. The season ends in the same way the real S7 ended, with the sisters killing Zankou and severely wounding the Avatars’ collective power (because I don’t consider the Avatars as a force that can be vanquished entirely). The Avatars retreat and the sisters don’t need to fake their deaths as they have decimated all significant magical threats for a generation. Ok, I know I've heavily altered the real seasons, but I couldn't help myself  |
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Post by Assassin Witch on Mar 16, 2018 14:37:33 GMT -5
Holy crap. All that sounds amazing and a proper use of the Avatars. And good use of Billie and Christy. And much better reason to be concerned about Chris and explains the future more.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Mar 16, 2018 16:08:45 GMT -5
Cheers, Assassin  I'm glad you liked it. You know, I think I WILL add some of this into my updated Dream Series. The Avatars had amazing potential. In my head canon, I regard them as the force that swarmed into the vacuum left when the Source and Cole died and took the entire demonic hierarchy with them. The Avatars represented a moral ambiguity in the characters that we had not seen before. They were decidedly "Grey", whereas before we had only really seen Good/Light (the sisters) vs. Evil/Dark (demons/warlocks). |
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Esmeralda
Charmed
S2 "What If...?"
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Twenty Years Gone....But Never Forgotten.
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Post by Esmeralda on Mar 16, 2018 18:06:31 GMT -5
Which is probably why I don't like them - as you know by now I've never liked the idea of grey morality in fantasy shows (with the emphasis on fantasy that includes such thing as magic and powers) unless it leads the protagonists into becoming better people so that I can keep cheering for them. And that's what I like best about your version, much more than morally-grey Avatars, who like Gideon seem more misguided than morally grey. That said, I ADORE this and truly hope that you let THIS be how your Dream Series ends (if indeed it's your Dream Series). I LOVE that the emphasis isn't on gaining new powers or more children and what powers they have. If indeed I wanted a Dream Series that was close to the original, this one would win hands down. The only reason I prefer mine is that like the original, this one is all about Piper and her family - no mention at all of either Phoebe or Paige - they might have died at the same time your Cole did, while yours is also distinctly male-centric, while I tried to keep mine both sister-centric and female-centric. But since S5-8 wasn't female-centric, it makes sense that neiher is yours. This is ditto for the series I told you about that inspired you to post yours, since the others at that site also wanted it to be that way, so again it's not my Dream Charmed, although I love it, just like I love yours and wish that S5-8 had been more like it. I'm going to go ahead and post our series. If there's anything in it that you want to add to yours, feel free. As I said before, this is based on a contest that was held at a different mostly-dead site – “Let’s Rewrite Charmed”. It was based on this questions – would fans have liked Billie more if she *wasn’t* part of the final season? Astral Echo came up with a great answer to that and then in the contest, we took the ideas and ran with it, coming up with our own plotline for Charmed. If anyone recognizes any of this as part of my own Dream Charmeds and other such rewrites, this is where I got those ideas. See what you think: Let's Rewrite Charmed
SEASON FIVE – THE AVATARS
This season combines the ideas of Season Five with the ideas of Season Seven, starting with Season Five and ending with Season Seven.
Keeping Cole in, as they did, the first half of the season plays our pretty much the same, building up the Avatars a bit more, having them stalk Cole like they did Leo in Canon Season Seven.
Unlike Canon Season Five, Cole is not crazy nor does he stalk Phoebe, nor does Phoebe hate him…she’s just afraid to love him after what happened in Season Four, afraid he’ll turn her evil again. Cole turns to the Avatars to help change the world into one where Phoebe won’t be afraid. Unfortunately this means he ends up in a world where Phoebe and her sisters aren’t witches and Cole is just a human lawyer. Since he doesn’t like being a powerless human, just like he didn’t in Season Four, he tricks the Avatars into turning the world back to what it was.
With Cole now turning his back on the Avatars, they instead turn to Leo – who for pretty much the first time shows he also has a weakness. He sees a world where his wife and his newborn son can be safe, since unlike Canon Wyatt, this Wyatt doesn’t have a protective shield and is not the Twice-Blessed Child – no one is ever more powerful than the combined power of the Power of Three. Instead, as a witchlighter, he has the same powers Paige does.
Leo follows a similar path to Canon Season Seven, persuading first Phoebe, who then shows Piper and Paige the same world that both she and Leo saw. Eventually the sisters and Leo see the error of their ways and team up with the Elders, with Cole playing Brody’s role, including sacrificing himself in order to save Phoebe and her sisters. We see Grams and Patty welcoming him into the Light – Heaven for Cole, not Hell, as he always thought would be his future.
But just like Canon Season Seven, the Elders punish Leo for his part in what happened by turning him mortal.
SEASON SIX: BILLIE
This plays pretty much like Canon Season Eight with the sisters seeing Billie as a way to leave magic behind. Unlike Billie in Canon Season Eight, her only power is TK, just like Prue’s. She and her sister are *not* the Ultimate Power – that remains the Power of Three.
Piper has become more engrossed in the club and her family, even considering expanding her business and opening up the restaurant she’s always dreamed of. She wants nothing to do with magic and is very happy to have Leo human, who has become her own little errand boy to his own disgust, but because he still feels guilty for saving Piper instead of Prue, he does whatever Piper tells him to do.
Phoebe is still in deep mourning for Cole and doesn’t even look at another man. Instead she concentrates on her job and her new nephew. She wants nothing to do with Billie, since magic reminds her of Cole.
Paige is left to train Billie (who is *not* her charge – Paige never has any charges since she’s not a whitelighter since she’s not dead), which she wants to do as quickly as possible so she can get back to her own life, since she has become the social butterfly who flits from guy to guy (which would’ve allowed the hunky male guest stars The WB insisted on including), although she’s no Freebie…she doesn’t go to bed with any of them. Unlike Phoebe, she’s always known that sex does not equal love.
We and Billie can tell how selfish and self-centered the sisters have become – they truly believe that between vanquishing the Source (twice) and saving the world from the Avatars, their work as the Charmed Ones is done and the whole world should be in their debt.
Billie goes in search for her own missing sister and finds her, with little help from the selfish sisters. Christy follows the same path as Canon Season Eight and shows Billie how selfish the sisters are and turns her against them.
The Elders have also realized how off-track the Charmed Ones have become and sensing a new threat, kidnap Leo, telling Piper that if and when they stop that threat, Leo will be returned to her.
The sisters quickly realize that this new threat is Christy, who was kidnapped as a child and brainwashed by the Source. Billie also realizes that her sister is the true enemy, not the Charmed Ones, but can she stop all hell from breaking loose yet again?
Paige is the first to blame herself and her sisters, saying if they hadn’t been so busy with their lives they might have noticed that Christy was evil. Piper says they deserve a normal life. Phoebe disagrees and sides with Paige.
Billie shows up and tells them that she tried, but she can’t stop Christy – she can’t kill her own sister. She points the Charmed Ones back on the right path and it’s the Charmed Ones who figure out how to save, not vanquish, Christy, which is when Leo is returned to Piper.
Billie gets ready to leave, telling them that her work is done, that in, fact, she knew all along about Christy. She tells them that she was sent by Prue to guide them back on the straight and narrow. Only by nearly losing Leo and their lives could they learn their lesson. They all promise to go back to their true destiny – helping and protecting those innocent of magic without the Charmed Ones revealing themselves as witches.
In the final scene of the season, we see Billie standing on the steps of the Manor, facing the open door. She waves her hand and as the door starts to close, her blonde hair becomes a very familiar black bob just before she is orbed back to Heaven, her mission completed, as the door finishes closing.
SEASON SEVEN: CHRIS
In the future, the Elders send Chris back into the past in order to either save the world by stopping Wyatt from truly becoming evil by Barbas who is influencing Gideon. Since Leo is still human, Chris is simply a witch with no whitelighter powers.
Also since Leo is still human, he never became (or ever becomes) an Elder, so Chris has no reason to hate him – he actually confides in his father, not only about Piper’s premature death, but also about his phoenix fiancée back home. Leo becomes more like the figure Victor was in Canon Season Six, although of course, Leo is a regular and not a recurring guest star.
This also means that Chris is never the sisters’ whitelighter – he’s pretending to just be someone from the future who needs their help – only Leo knows who he truly is and helps protect his secret – the sisters never find out.
Chris freezes molecules like his mother, which he hides from his family in order to hide his identity, but that he uses when necessary to save the sisters, since his mother has long since forgotten about that power.
There is no “Oh, My Goddess” or “Valhalley of the Dolls” or “Hyde School Reunion” – neither Chris nor any of the sisters are ever murderers or soul thieves. Darryl never has any reason to hate them or to leave.
Instead we see episodes that show what would’ve happened to the sisters had Chris not shown up – and ones that show what has changed now that he has.
With Leo as a human and Chris only as a witch, Wyatt (goaded on by Barbas) has become power-hungry in the future and is now a darklighter, killing everyone with whitelighter powers. Only by Leo dying and once more becoming a whitelighter so that he can properly teach his oldest son the proper way to use his powers can Wyatt hope to be saved, also allowing Chris to become a witchlighter, too.
Chris convinces Piper that only by letting her husband die protecting an innocent who was once his charge but turned to evil after he didn't save Prue - so he can go back to following his own true destiny of being a whitelighter - meaning she will never have a normal life - will her older son not turn evil.
Once Leo becomes a whitelighter again, Chris – his mission accomplished – fades away, even as Piper finds out that she is pregnant again, and Leo tells her that if it’s another boy, they should name him Chris.
SEASON EIGHT: ZANKOU
In this season we see the sisters going back to saving those innocent of magic, while at the same time having more of a normal life than Piper ever dreamed.
She happily prepares for her new baby even as she is having P3 extended into a restaurant, with Leo as her project manager - something the Elders have allowed him to take up professionally, so he also has a semi-normal life, even as he continues to guide the Charmed Ones and the other charges who have been given him.
Phoebe meets Drake. Unlike Canon Season Seven, he’s not dying. She’s strongly attracted to him, but fights it until Cole appears to her and tells her that he sent his friend Drake to her because he wants her to love again. So she and Drake fall in love even as she continues her Charmed duties, finding innocents through her job as Ask Phoebe. He asks her to marry him near the end of the season and she accepts.
Paige has gone back to social services and through that meets Henry. She finds him interesting, but never tells him her family secret. We’re left to wonder if that will happen in the future.
Then Zankou shows up…
Rather than the Nexus, he is after an immortality amulet which is hidden in P3. He realizes that the only thing that can stop him is the Power of Three, so he kidnaps the only one who doesn’t have active powers – Phoebe – although the other two manage to free her.
After checking the Book, the sisters risk their lives in a big fiery vanquish, fully expecting to die, but Paige manages to panic-orb way. She goes back in time to save her sisters, never going forward so we never see any of the Charmed Ones or Leo as old. Instead, she gathers Grams and Patty to help save the day. Paige phases back into her own body as soon as the group arrives.
Patty freezes Zankou as Grams TKs the amulet away from Zankou, and then Piper blows him across the room. Now unprotected by the amulet, the family cast the Source vanquish spell and then the sisters cast the Power of Three spell to protect them all from the explosion (which, of course, is what killed Phoebe and Piper the first time around – the first time any Charmed One has died since Prue’s death).
In our happy ending, Piper, Phoebe and Paige walk down the stairs together, admiring the photographs on the wall as we get flashbacks of the significant of each image, ending with the picture of the original Power of Three. Then there’s a bit of magic and Paige becomes part of it, too, just before we see the door close for the last time.
So, Deano?? What do you think? How 'bout anyone else? Do you like this? And if you don't, how would you change it? I think this is something that could be fun to do for a board project for the anniversary. |
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Ruth Marie
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Post by Ruth Marie on Mar 17, 2018 20:36:47 GMT -5
S7 is great. If only the series ended here. Actually the most ideal is pushing S7's arc to S5 and calling it a day with the series. Agreed. In fact, that’s one of my favourite ideas for my own Dream Series. The girls’ motivation for enacting Utopia would’ve felt more believable, and less selfish, in Season 5 as a direct result of the pain and trauma felt from Prue’s and Cole’s deaths and battling the Source. Also, Piper would be hyper-anxious whilst pregnant and eager to bring her child into the best world possible Exactly. Agreed. In fact, that’s one of my favourite ideas for my own Dream Series. The girls’ motivation for enacting Utopia would’ve felt more believable, and less selfish, in Season 5 as a direct result of the pain and trauma felt from Prue’s and Cole’s deaths and battling the Source. Also, Piper would be hyper-anxious whilst pregnant and eager to bring her child into the best world possible You're absolutely right about that - except they would still being selfish, just thinking of themselves, but it would be nice for them to find out in S5 before the rest of the show. Reminds me of a series we were working on at a different site where we found it better to mix up the seasons: Season Five: The Avatars (both S6 and S7) Season Six: Billie Season Seven: Chris Season Eight: Zankou. That's different. But I love that you left Zankou for S8. Which is probably why I don't like them - as you know by now I've never liked the idea of grey morality in fantasy shows (with the emphasis on fantasy that includes such thing as magic and powers) unless it leads the protagonists into becoming better people so that I can keep cheering for them. And that's what I like best about your version, much more than morally-grey Avatars, who like Gideon seem more misguided than morally grey. That said, I ADORE this and truly hope that you let THIS be how your Dream Series ends (if indeed it's your Dream Series). I LOVE that the emphasis isn't on gaining new powers or more children and what powers they have. If indeed I wanted a Dream Series that was close to the original, this one would win hands down. The only reason I prefer mine is that like the original, this one is all about Piper and her family - no mention at all of either Phoebe or Paige - they might have died at the same time your Cole did, while yours is also distinctly male-centric, while I tried to keep mine both sister-centric and female-centric. But since S5-8 wasn't female-centric, it makes sense that neiher is yours. This is ditto for the series I told you about that inspired you to post yours, since the others at that site also wanted it to be that way, so again it's not my Dream Charmed, although I love it, just like I love yours and wish that S5-8 had been more like it. I'm going to go ahead and post our series. If there's anything in it that you want to add to yours, feel free. As I said before, this is based on a contest that was held at a different mostly-dead site – “Let’s Rewrite Charmed”. It was based on this questions – would fans have liked Billie more if she *wasn’t* part of the final season? Astral Echo came up with a great answer to that and then in the contest, we took the ideas and ran with it, coming up with our own plotline for Charmed. If anyone recognizes any of this as part of my own Dream Charmeds and other such rewrites, this is where I got those ideas. See what you think: Let's Rewrite Charmed
SEASON FIVE – THE AVATARS
This season combines the ideas of Season Five with the ideas of Season Seven, starting with Season Five and ending with Season Seven.
Keeping Cole in, as they did, the first half of the season plays our pretty much the same, building up the Avatars a bit more, having them stalk Cole like they did Leo in Canon Season Seven.
Unlike Canon Season Five, Cole is not crazy nor does he stalk Phoebe, nor does Phoebe hate him…she’s just afraid to love him after what happened in Season Four, afraid he’ll turn her evil again. Cole turns to the Avatars to help change the world into one where Phoebe won’t be afraid. Unfortunately this means he ends up in a world where Phoebe and her sisters aren’t witches and Cole is just a human lawyer. Since he doesn’t like being a powerless human, just like he didn’t in Season Four, he tricks the Avatars into turning the world back to what it was.
With Cole now turning his back on the Avatars, they instead turn to Leo – who for pretty much the first time shows he also has a weakness. He sees a world where his wife and his newborn son can be safe, since unlike Canon Wyatt, this Wyatt doesn’t have a protective shield and is not the Twice-Blessed Child – no one is ever more powerful than the combined power of the Power of Three. Instead, as a witchlighter, he has the same powers Paige does.
Leo follows a similar path to Canon Season Seven, persuading first Phoebe, who then shows Piper and Paige the same world that both she and Leo saw. Eventually the sisters and Leo see the error of their ways and team up with the Elders, with Cole playing Brody’s role, including sacrificing himself in order to save Phoebe and her sisters. We see Grams and Patty welcoming him into the Light – Heaven for Cole, not Hell, as he always thought would be his future.
But just like Canon Season Seven, the Elders punish Leo for his part in what happened by turning him mortal.
SEASON SIX: BILLIE
This plays pretty much like Canon Season Eight with the sisters seeing Billie as a way to leave magic behind. Unlike Billie in Canon Season Eight, her only power is TK, just like Prue’s. She and her sister are *not* the Ultimate Power – that remains the Power of Three.
Piper has become more engrossed in the club and her family, even considering expanding her business and opening up the restaurant she’s always dreamed of. She wants nothing to do with magic and is very happy to have Leo human, who has become her own little errand boy to his own disgust, but because he still feels guilty for saving Piper instead of Prue, he does whatever Piper tells him to do.
Phoebe is still in deep mourning for Cole and doesn’t even look at another man. Instead she concentrates on her job and her new nephew. She wants nothing to do with Billie, since magic reminds her of Cole.
Paige is left to train Billie (who is *not* her charge – Paige never has any charges since she’s not a whitelighter since she’s not dead), which she wants to do as quickly as possible so she can get back to her own life, since she has become the social butterfly who flits from guy to guy (which would’ve allowed the hunky male guest stars The WB insisted on including), although she’s no Freebie…she doesn’t go to bed with any of them. Unlike Phoebe, she’s always known that sex does not equal love.
We and Billie can tell how selfish and self-centered the sisters have become – they truly believe that between vanquishing the Source (twice) and saving the world from the Avatars, their work as the Charmed Ones is done and the whole world should be in their debt.
Billie goes in search for her own missing sister and finds her, with little help from the selfish sisters. Christy follows the same path as Canon Season Eight and shows Billie how selfish the sisters are and turns her against them.
The Elders have also realized how off-track the Charmed Ones have become and sensing a new threat, kidnap Leo, telling Piper that if and when they stop that threat, Leo will be returned to her.
The sisters quickly realize that this new threat is Christy, who was kidnapped as a child and brainwashed by the Source. Billie also realizes that her sister is the true enemy, not the Charmed Ones, but can she stop all hell from breaking loose yet again?
Paige is the first to blame herself and her sisters, saying if they hadn’t been so busy with their lives they might have noticed that Christy was evil. Piper says they deserve a normal life. Phoebe disagrees and sides with Paige.
Billie shows up and tells them that she tried, but she can’t stop Christy – she can’t kill her own sister. She points the Charmed Ones back on the right path and it’s the Charmed Ones who figure out how to save, not vanquish, Christy, which is when Leo is returned to Piper.
Billie gets ready to leave, telling them that her work is done, that in, fact, she knew all along about Christy. She tells them that she was sent by Prue to guide them back on the straight and narrow. Only by nearly losing Leo and their lives could they learn their lesson. They all promise to go back to their true destiny – helping and protecting those innocent of magic without the Charmed Ones revealing themselves as witches.
In the final scene of the season, we see Billie standing on the steps of the Manor, facing the open door. She waves her hand and as the door starts to close, her blonde hair becomes a very familiar black bob just before she is orbed back to Heaven, her mission completed, as the door finishes closing.
SEASON SEVEN: CHRIS
In the future, the Elders send Chris back into the past in order to either save the world by stopping Wyatt from truly becoming evil by Barbas who is influencing Gideon. Since Leo is still human, Chris is simply a witch with no whitelighter powers.
Also since Leo is still human, he never became (or ever becomes) an Elder, so Chris has no reason to hate him – he actually confides in his father, not only about Piper’s premature death, but also about his phoenix fiancée back home. Leo becomes more like the figure Victor was in Canon Season Six, although of course, Leo is a regular and not a recurring guest star.
This also means that Chris is never the sisters’ whitelighter – he’s pretending to just be someone from the future who needs their help – only Leo knows who he truly is and helps protect his secret – the sisters never find out.
Chris freezes molecules like his mother, which he hides from his family in order to hide his identity, but that he uses when necessary to save the sisters, since his mother has long since forgotten about that power.
There is no “Oh, My Goddess” or “Valhalley of the Dolls” or “Hyde School Reunion” – neither Chris nor any of the sisters are ever murderers or soul thieves. Darryl never has any reason to hate them or to leave.
Instead we see episodes that show what would’ve happened to the sisters had Chris not shown up – and ones that show what has changed now that he has.
With Leo as a human and Chris only as a witch, Wyatt (goaded on by Barbas) has become power-hungry in the future and is now a darklighter, killing everyone with whitelighter powers. Only by Leo dying and once more becoming a whitelighter so that he can properly teach his oldest son the proper way to use his powers can Wyatt hope to be saved, also allowing Chris to become a witchlighter, too.
Chris convinces Piper that only by letting her husband die protecting an innocent who was once his charge but turned to evil after he didn't save Prue - so he can go back to following his own true destiny of being a whitelighter - meaning she will never have a normal life - will her older son not turn evil.
Once Leo becomes a whitelighter again, Chris – his mission accomplished – fades away, even as Piper finds out that she is pregnant again, and Leo tells her that if it’s another boy, they should name him Chris.
SEASON EIGHT: ZANKOU
In this season we see the sisters going back to saving those innocent of magic, while at the same time having more of a normal life than Piper ever dreamed.
She happily prepares for her new baby even as she is having P3 extended into a restaurant, with Leo as her project manager - something the Elders have allowed him to take up professionally, so he also has a semi-normal life, even as he continues to guide the Charmed Ones and the other charges who have been given him.
Phoebe meets Drake. Unlike Canon Season Seven, he’s not dying. She’s strongly attracted to him, but fights it until Cole appears to her and tells her that he sent his friend Drake to her because he wants her to love again. So she and Drake fall in love even as she continues her Charmed duties, finding innocents through her job as Ask Phoebe. He asks her to marry him near the end of the season and she accepts.
Paige has gone back to social services and through that meets Henry. She finds him interesting, but never tells him her family secret. We’re left to wonder if that will happen in the future.
Then Zankou shows up…
Rather than the Nexus, he is after an immortality amulet which is hidden in P3. He realizes that the only thing that can stop him is the Power of Three, so he kidnaps the only one who doesn’t have active powers – Phoebe – although the other two manage to free her.
After checking the Book, the sisters risk their lives in a big fiery vanquish, fully expecting to die, but Paige manages to panic-orb way. She goes back in time to save her sisters, never going forward so we never see any of the Charmed Ones or Leo as old. Instead, she gathers Grams and Patty to help save the day. Paige phases back into her own body as soon as the group arrives.
Patty freezes Zankou as Grams TKs the amulet away from Zankou, and then Piper blows him across the room. Now unprotected by the amulet, the family cast the Source vanquish spell and then the sisters cast the Power of Three spell to protect them all from the explosion (which, of course, is what killed Phoebe and Piper the first time around – the first time any Charmed One has died since Prue’s death).
In our happy ending, Piper, Phoebe and Paige walk down the stairs together, admiring the photographs on the wall as we get flashbacks of the significant of each image, ending with the picture of the original Power of Three. Then there’s a bit of magic and Paige becomes part of it, too, just before we see the door close for the last time.
So, Deano?? What do you think? How 'bout anyone else? Do you like this? And if you don't, how would you change it? I think this is something that could be fun to do for a board project for the anniversary. Well, I do like how you arranged things, much better than you saved Zankou for S8. Love that you left Chris for S7, and that that was the only season he appeared in and was used better. Didn't particularly liked how he reappeared after his arc, but I guess fans of him and Wyatt loved it. Didn't like him or Wyatt nogging screentime in the finale. |
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Esmeralda
Charmed
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Twenty Years Gone....But Never Forgotten.
Posts: 21,920
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Post by Esmeralda on Mar 17, 2018 21:22:59 GMT -5
Agreed. In fact, that’s one of my favourite ideas for my own Dream Series. The girls’ motivation for enacting Utopia would’ve felt more believable, and less selfish, in Season 5 as a direct result of the pain and trauma felt from Prue’s and Cole’s deaths and battling the Source. Also, Piper would be hyper-anxious whilst pregnant and eager to bring her child into the best world possible Exactly. You're absolutely right about that - except they would still being selfish, just thinking of themselves, but it would be nice for them to find out in S5 before the rest of the show. Reminds me of a series we were working on at a different site where we found it better to mix up the seasons: Season Five: The Avatars (both S6 and S7) Season Six: Billie Season Seven: Chris Season Eight: Zankou. That's different. But I love that you left Zankou for S8. Which is probably why I don't like them - as you know by now I've never liked the idea of grey morality in fantasy shows (with the emphasis on fantasy that includes such thing as magic and powers) unless it leads the protagonists into becoming better people so that I can keep cheering for them. And that's what I like best about your version, much more than morally-grey Avatars, who like Gideon seem more misguided than morally grey. That said, I ADORE this and truly hope that you let THIS be how your Dream Series ends (if indeed it's your Dream Series). I LOVE that the emphasis isn't on gaining new powers or more children and what powers they have. If indeed I wanted a Dream Series that was close to the original, this one would win hands down. The only reason I prefer mine is that like the original, this one is all about Piper and her family - no mention at all of either Phoebe or Paige - they might have died at the same time your Cole did, while yours is also distinctly male-centric, while I tried to keep mine both sister-centric and female-centric. But since S5-8 wasn't female-centric, it makes sense that neiher is yours. This is ditto for the series I told you about that inspired you to post yours, since the others at that site also wanted it to be that way, so again it's not my Dream Charmed, although I love it, just like I love yours and wish that S5-8 had been more like it. I'm going to go ahead and post our series. If there's anything in it that you want to add to yours, feel free. As I said before, this is based on a contest that was held at a different mostly-dead site – “Let’s Rewrite Charmed”. It was based on this questions – would fans have liked Billie more if she *wasn’t* part of the final season? Astral Echo came up with a great answer to that and then in the contest, we took the ideas and ran with it, coming up with our own plotline for Charmed. If anyone recognizes any of this as part of my own Dream Charmeds and other such rewrites, this is where I got those ideas. See what you think: Let's Rewrite Charmed
SEASON FIVE – THE AVATARS
This season combines the ideas of Season Five with the ideas of Season Seven, starting with Season Five and ending with Season Seven.
Keeping Cole in, as they did, the first half of the season plays our pretty much the same, building up the Avatars a bit more, having them stalk Cole like they did Leo in Canon Season Seven.
Unlike Canon Season Five, Cole is not crazy nor does he stalk Phoebe, nor does Phoebe hate him…she’s just afraid to love him after what happened in Season Four, afraid he’ll turn her evil again. Cole turns to the Avatars to help change the world into one where Phoebe won’t be afraid. Unfortunately this means he ends up in a world where Phoebe and her sisters aren’t witches and Cole is just a human lawyer. Since he doesn’t like being a powerless human, just like he didn’t in Season Four, he tricks the Avatars into turning the world back to what it was.
With Cole now turning his back on the Avatars, they instead turn to Leo – who for pretty much the first time shows he also has a weakness. He sees a world where his wife and his newborn son can be safe, since unlike Canon Wyatt, this Wyatt doesn’t have a protective shield and is not the Twice-Blessed Child – no one is ever more powerful than the combined power of the Power of Three. Instead, as a witchlighter, he has the same powers Paige does.
Leo follows a similar path to Canon Season Seven, persuading first Phoebe, who then shows Piper and Paige the same world that both she and Leo saw. Eventually the sisters and Leo see the error of their ways and team up with the Elders, with Cole playing Brody’s role, including sacrificing himself in order to save Phoebe and her sisters. We see Grams and Patty welcoming him into the Light – Heaven for Cole, not Hell, as he always thought would be his future.
But just like Canon Season Seven, the Elders punish Leo for his part in what happened by turning him mortal.
SEASON SIX: BILLIE
This plays pretty much like Canon Season Eight with the sisters seeing Billie as a way to leave magic behind. Unlike Billie in Canon Season Eight, her only power is TK, just like Prue’s. She and her sister are *not* the Ultimate Power – that remains the Power of Three.
Piper has become more engrossed in the club and her family, even considering expanding her business and opening up the restaurant she’s always dreamed of. She wants nothing to do with magic and is very happy to have Leo human, who has become her own little errand boy to his own disgust, but because he still feels guilty for saving Piper instead of Prue, he does whatever Piper tells him to do.
Phoebe is still in deep mourning for Cole and doesn’t even look at another man. Instead she concentrates on her job and her new nephew. She wants nothing to do with Billie, since magic reminds her of Cole.
Paige is left to train Billie (who is *not* her charge – Paige never has any charges since she’s not a whitelighter since she’s not dead), which she wants to do as quickly as possible so she can get back to her own life, since she has become the social butterfly who flits from guy to guy (which would’ve allowed the hunky male guest stars The WB insisted on including), although she’s no Freebie…she doesn’t go to bed with any of them. Unlike Phoebe, she’s always known that sex does not equal love.
We and Billie can tell how selfish and self-centered the sisters have become – they truly believe that between vanquishing the Source (twice) and saving the world from the Avatars, their work as the Charmed Ones is done and the whole world should be in their debt.
Billie goes in search for her own missing sister and finds her, with little help from the selfish sisters. Christy follows the same path as Canon Season Eight and shows Billie how selfish the sisters are and turns her against them.
The Elders have also realized how off-track the Charmed Ones have become and sensing a new threat, kidnap Leo, telling Piper that if and when they stop that threat, Leo will be returned to her.
The sisters quickly realize that this new threat is Christy, who was kidnapped as a child and brainwashed by the Source. Billie also realizes that her sister is the true enemy, not the Charmed Ones, but can she stop all hell from breaking loose yet again?
Paige is the first to blame herself and her sisters, saying if they hadn’t been so busy with their lives they might have noticed that Christy was evil. Piper says they deserve a normal life. Phoebe disagrees and sides with Paige.
Billie shows up and tells them that she tried, but she can’t stop Christy – she can’t kill her own sister. She points the Charmed Ones back on the right path and it’s the Charmed Ones who figure out how to save, not vanquish, Christy, which is when Leo is returned to Piper.
Billie gets ready to leave, telling them that her work is done, that in, fact, she knew all along about Christy. She tells them that she was sent by Prue to guide them back on the straight and narrow. Only by nearly losing Leo and their lives could they learn their lesson. They all promise to go back to their true destiny – helping and protecting those innocent of magic without the Charmed Ones revealing themselves as witches.
In the final scene of the season, we see Billie standing on the steps of the Manor, facing the open door. She waves her hand and as the door starts to close, her blonde hair becomes a very familiar black bob just before she is orbed back to Heaven, her mission completed, as the door finishes closing.
SEASON SEVEN: CHRIS
In the future, the Elders send Chris back into the past in order to either save the world by stopping Wyatt from truly becoming evil by Barbas who is influencing Gideon. Since Leo is still human, Chris is simply a witch with no whitelighter powers.
Also since Leo is still human, he never became (or ever becomes) an Elder, so Chris has no reason to hate him – he actually confides in his father, not only about Piper’s premature death, but also about his phoenix fiancée back home. Leo becomes more like the figure Victor was in Canon Season Six, although of course, Leo is a regular and not a recurring guest star.
This also means that Chris is never the sisters’ whitelighter – he’s pretending to just be someone from the future who needs their help – only Leo knows who he truly is and helps protect his secret – the sisters never find out.
Chris freezes molecules like his mother, which he hides from his family in order to hide his identity, but that he uses when necessary to save the sisters, since his mother has long since forgotten about that power.
There is no “Oh, My Goddess” or “Valhalley of the Dolls” or “Hyde School Reunion” – neither Chris nor any of the sisters are ever murderers or soul thieves. Darryl never has any reason to hate them or to leave.
Instead we see episodes that show what would’ve happened to the sisters had Chris not shown up – and ones that show what has changed now that he has.
With Leo as a human and Chris only as a witch, Wyatt (goaded on by Barbas) has become power-hungry in the future and is now a darklighter, killing everyone with whitelighter powers. Only by Leo dying and once more becoming a whitelighter so that he can properly teach his oldest son the proper way to use his powers can Wyatt hope to be saved, also allowing Chris to become a witchlighter, too.
Chris convinces Piper that only by letting her husband die protecting an innocent who was once his charge but turned to evil after he didn't save Prue - so he can go back to following his own true destiny of being a whitelighter - meaning she will never have a normal life - will her older son not turn evil.
Once Leo becomes a whitelighter again, Chris – his mission accomplished – fades away, even as Piper finds out that she is pregnant again, and Leo tells her that if it’s another boy, they should name him Chris.
SEASON EIGHT: ZANKOU
In this season we see the sisters going back to saving those innocent of magic, while at the same time having more of a normal life than Piper ever dreamed.
She happily prepares for her new baby even as she is having P3 extended into a restaurant, with Leo as her project manager - something the Elders have allowed him to take up professionally, so he also has a semi-normal life, even as he continues to guide the Charmed Ones and the other charges who have been given him.
Phoebe meets Drake. Unlike Canon Season Seven, he’s not dying. She’s strongly attracted to him, but fights it until Cole appears to her and tells her that he sent his friend Drake to her because he wants her to love again. So she and Drake fall in love even as she continues her Charmed duties, finding innocents through her job as Ask Phoebe. He asks her to marry him near the end of the season and she accepts.
Paige has gone back to social services and through that meets Henry. She finds him interesting, but never tells him her family secret. We’re left to wonder if that will happen in the future.
Then Zankou shows up…
Rather than the Nexus, he is after an immortality amulet which is hidden in P3. He realizes that the only thing that can stop him is the Power of Three, so he kidnaps the only one who doesn’t have active powers – Phoebe – although the other two manage to free her.
After checking the Book, the sisters risk their lives in a big fiery vanquish, fully expecting to die, but Paige manages to panic-orb way. She goes back in time to save her sisters, never going forward so we never see any of the Charmed Ones or Leo as old. Instead, she gathers Grams and Patty to help save the day. Paige phases back into her own body as soon as the group arrives.
Patty freezes Zankou as Grams TKs the amulet away from Zankou, and then Piper blows him across the room. Now unprotected by the amulet, the family cast the Source vanquish spell and then the sisters cast the Power of Three spell to protect them all from the explosion (which, of course, is what killed Phoebe and Piper the first time around – the first time any Charmed One has died since Prue’s death).
In our happy ending, Piper, Phoebe and Paige walk down the stairs together, admiring the photographs on the wall as we get flashbacks of the significant of each image, ending with the picture of the original Power of Three. Then there’s a bit of magic and Paige becomes part of it, too, just before we see the door close for the last time.
So, Deano?? What do you think? How 'bout anyone else? Do you like this? And if you don't, how would you change it? I think this is something that could be fun to do for a board project for the anniversary. Well, I do like how you arranged things, much better than you saved Zankou for S8. Love that you left Chris for S7, and that that was the only season he appeared in and was used better. Didn't particularly liked how he reappeared after his arc, but I guess fans of him and Wyatt loved it. Didn't like him or Wyatt nogging screentime in the finale. VERY glad that you like this, especially since I agree totally with you regarding Wyatt and Chris. |
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Aaeiyn
Elder
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 5,555
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Post by Aaeiyn on Sept 1, 2021 0:00:56 GMT -5
I'm on the fence on how I feel about it. On the one hand, how can anyone call themselves a "fan of the show", when they block out 80% of the show? On the other hand, I got a taste of my own medicine, when somebody (not here) called me "unpleasant" for expressing my similar concerns, for a different TV show. They didn't believe I was a Gotham fan for blocking out 2/5 seasons that played out. It's not all that different from those that enjoy 2/8 seasons of Charmed.
I think, if you like anything about Charmed, whether it's a handful of episodes, seasons, certain characters, etc., you're a fan. As long as you're knowledgable in what you're talking about instead of regurgitating something you heard, you're a fan.
I think as long as we don't alienate the folks who like something differently than what you do, is all that matters, in the end. And, even though I enjoy most of what's in all of the seasons, I can at least have a cordial (not to mention knowledgable) conversation about the S1-S2 era because I watch those, too!
As long as this remains a space for ALL Charmed fans (whether it's the OG Show, the Comics, Reboot, etc.), there really shouldn't be an issue. I enjoy reading what other people have to say and for the most part agree with them. I respect this board for actually explaining their thoughts instead of resorting to the ad hominems, which I run into (a lot) on the likes of Reddit and stuff. Nobody knows how to disagree, civilly, anymore, but I digress.
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Post by Elle Em on Sept 1, 2021 7:16:06 GMT -5
There's a lot I'd change about this show, but of the parts that I would keep, I absolutely love them. And even if I have my own ideas of what I'd do differently, I couldn't have come up with those ideas unless I built off established parts of the show that I enjoy. To me, it's less about the show overall and more of how the show inspires me to use my imagination.
I think the fans who are critical of it, at least a little bit, are bigger fans than those who can't find any faults. If I just liked everything about it, there's not really any passion for it there.
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Aaeiyn
Elder
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 5,555
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Post by Aaeiyn on Sept 1, 2021 8:04:29 GMT -5
There's a lot I'd change about this show, but of the parts that I would keep, I absolutely love them. And even if I have my own ideas of what I'd do differently, I couldn't have come up with those ideas unless I built off established parts of the show that I enjoy. To me, it's less about the show overall and more of how the show inspires me to use my imagination. I think the fans who are critical of it, at least a little bit, are bigger fans than those who can't find any faults. If I just liked everything about it, there's not really any passion for it there. I don't believe anybody is "more of a fan" than another. I'm not "less of a fan" just because I'm not as critical of the later seasons as some (not all) others are. I'm just as passionate about the show, as everyone else, here. I'm passionate about what I like that some (not all) others don't like via Billie. I'm very passionate about her character despite pretty much most of the fandom not liking her nor caring for her, at all. In video games, my characters are inspired by the characters, in the show. I've got people calling me "Piper" in the video game world because I based a Character Class off of her character! Everybody who comes into contact with me KNOWS I'm a fan of the show, even if they don't know what Charmed is. My pictures, flairs, profile themes is always Charmed-related. I've been a consitent fan of the series, for a long time, now. Sorry, I just take issue with the false premise that "accepting" the show as is without critical thought makes somebody a "lesser fan". I think that's very divisive/alienating. EDIT: Here's some screenshots, that I took, of my characters that I made in World of Warcraft (ALL based off of Charmed Characters): imgur.com/a/WySzSWY . It's a video game, and that community knows me as "Piper" because I play that character/class, a lot. EDIT 2: And, IK, you made a general statement and didn't "single me out", specifically. I was just using myself, as an example, since my opinions seem to differ extremely than most, but I digress. EDIT 3: And, OFC, a thread asking us about Music that reminds you of Charmed (well, Charmed Characters, specifically), I definitely have my own contribution to that - thecharmedcafe.proboards.com/post/495600 It's all a matter of perspective. |
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rebooted
Witch
Started watching at 12
Posts: 1,803 
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Post by rebooted on Nov 4, 2021 20:06:02 GMT -5
I'm pretty certain I wouldn't have joined the Cafe or even bothered with reading Charmed posts or fanfics had the later seasons of Charmed been to my liking. There also wouldn't be this strong burning passion which was born out of frustration. And of course, no passion also means no Charmed fanfic writing from me. But most of all, never knowing other Charmed fans and their feelings and ideas about the show. So crazily, Brad Kern ruining Charmed actually turned out to be a good thing too? O.o Bringing us all together and stuff. Its possible I shouldn't have made this thread. But at the same time Ive seen many instances of thinly veiled cattiness between members here over storylines ect. The tension gets thick in here sometimes and I almost left because of it. I totally hear you Josh. I feel like sometimes there is a sense of being invalidated. I understand everyone is different and I like hearing other peoples opinions but sometimes I feel people take over and crush others and I do think people have left, have lashed out because of it or just don't want to be part of the board. So sadly, more recently, I decided to block 1 or 2 members so I can't see their posts so stop feeling disheartened. I hated doing this because I have never blocked anyone on any social media platform. I guess its ok because you can still see them when others have quoted. But stay positive because your positive energy will spread here too! |
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Aaeiyn
Elder
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 5,555
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Post by Aaeiyn on Nov 5, 2021 0:11:57 GMT -5
I totally hear you Josh. I feel like sometimes there is a sense of being invalidated. I understand everyone is different and I like hearing other peoples opinions but sometimes I feel people take over and crush others and I do think people have left, have lashed out because of it or just don't want to be part of the board. So sadly, more recently, I decided to block 1 or 2 members so I can't see their posts so stop feeling disheartened. I hated doing this because I have never blocked anyone on any social media platform. I guess its ok because you can still see them when others have quoted. But stay positive because your positive energy will spread here too! It can be extremely defeating (or exhausting) to hear (or beaten over the head with) the same talking points, regurgitated over and over again by what seems to be the general populace, to the point it's just not fun, anymore and quite alienating to those that don't think nor feel that way. But, I do agree with your advice and have been practicing it |
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Esmeralda
Charmed
S2 "What If...?"
Fan Fic Winner
Twenty Years Gone....But Never Forgotten.
Posts: 21,920
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Post by Esmeralda on Nov 6, 2021 7:45:17 GMT -5
Since someone decided to reply to a thread three years old and whose creator hasn't been active since November, 2018, I decided to bring forward one of my posts. I still feel the same way as I did then and I'm sure Assassin Witch does, too. I'm of the belief that if you are completely satisfied, then there is no reason or need to utilize message boards. You just watch and enjoy. The purpose, in my opinion, of forums is to discuss. To learn. To debate. To analyze. To learn. To listen to different opinions. To learn. To let your frustrations out. If you love everything, it doesn't seem like a proper use of time. Or you want your opinions validated. That doesn't happen here, always. As previously mentioned, the range of opinions have changed throughout the years by new members and same members. My thoughts appear to be in the current minority at the moment. It's frustrating, sure, but it's fascinating to see how things change. I love Piper to death. I love Chris and Wyatt. I love Piper/Leo. As you know, these are the favorites around here. And it is OK. To me, it's what makes The Cafe amazing and so long lasting. And, remember, we are talking about a show that premiered 20 years ago this year and has had no new episodes for more than a decade. Analysis is the only cure to keeping this show going for most of us. Except for the part of loving Piper to death (wish she'd died in 'Awakened' and stayed dead...that that's when they should've met Paige), loving Chris and Wyatt (wish Chris had been the evil son and Wyatt the good son) and loving Piper/Leo (think them as a couple is wonderful, but them as a married couple with children was one of the biggest mistakes made since Piper only loved the handyman, not the angel, just like PhoeME only loved the lawyer and not the demon), *nods*. Exactly so. And because we've both felt that way from almost the start but both have remained good friends who have allowed the other their opposing opinion while both still remaining true, passionate fans who have remained active members after almost 20 years should prove our points. |
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Aaeiyn
Elder
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 5,555
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Post by Aaeiyn on Nov 6, 2021 14:31:53 GMT -5
Since someone decided to reply to a thread three years old Sometimes, old threads become relevant, again. whose creator hasn't been active since November, 2018 It's not really about the thread creator, themself, but anyone else who might feel this way, too. And, in response to you quoting, yourself. both have remained good friends who have allowed the other their opposing opinion To me, it reads as though there's a hierarchy system, in place and depending on your position, within that structure, is how much weight your opinion holds value and is worthy of discussion. It's quite an alienating/divisive system, and it's understandable why some (not all), like the OP, are no longer around, anymore, due to feeling alienated. both still remaining true, passionate fans who have remained active members after almost 20 years should prove our points. This isn't a knack at you being friends (I think it's great), I'm just pointing out the friendship may have something to do with why you're both comfortable, in each other's presence vs people you aren't friends/comfortable with. |
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Post by Elle Em on Nov 6, 2021 17:06:42 GMT -5
I heard a quote recently that relates to this topic: "The critics are the actual optimists. They always think there's a better way."
I don't think you have to be critical of the show to love it, but I personally love it so much that I spend time thinking about how it could have been even better. I wouldn't do that for something that didn't touch my heart.
And even though it's just a show and there's so much more intellectual content out there, analyzing and imagining what could be has really developed my ability to think critically in other areas as well.
And lastly, I love the first half of the show so much. After Connie left and Brad Kern was in charge fully, and after Alyssa and Holly became producers, and after it seemed like the showrunners lost the original vision and were more focused on bringing in one-time viewers for ratings rather than keeping existing fans, it just doesn't feel like the same show. When I post about how I like the first half better and how I wish the second half were different, it feels like I'm protecting the seasons that I love, in a way, or like I'm defending them. It may sound silly, but I care about them and about the overall show's potential that much.
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Aaeiyn
Elder
✨The Amazing Phoebe✨
Posts: 5,555
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Post by Aaeiyn on Nov 6, 2021 18:04:20 GMT -5
I don't think you have to be critical of the show to love it, but I personally love it so much that I spend time thinking about how it could have been even better. I wouldn't do that for something that didn't touch my heart. I do have my own opinion on how the show could've gone better, as well. I have so many "fixes" (well, what I classify as "fixes", anyway LOL), floating around in my head, that I get so excited and just want to share with somebody who understands. I already get "made fun of" for liking (more like obsessing, but I digress) the show, to begin with and to get the same treatment (in a different way) within a Charmed community I think hurts worse. Especially, since these communities are supposed to be a place to show your appreciation, of the series, with people that understand you. That's how I feel about it. |
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I'm glad you liked it. You know, I think I WILL add some of this into my updated Dream Series. The Avatars had amazing potential. In my head canon, I regard them as the force that swarmed into the vacuum left when the Source and Cole died and took the entire demonic hierarchy with them. The Avatars represented a moral ambiguity in the characters that we had not seen before. They were decidedly "Grey", whereas before we had only really seen Good/Light (the sisters) vs. Evil/Dark (demons/warlocks). 
