#to be completely honest. if the evil 4 theories are true. having to sit there and watch ollie of all agents get promoted is

[cinephalopods]

not sure if im either going to bend over backwards to slot my existing ocs into splatoon 3 (involving somehow justifying ollie of all people being promoted when someone both less traumatised and more responsible is RIGHT GODDAMN THERE) or ill just make a new set of agents. but i will decide all of this when the game actually comes out and i get to know wHATS GOING ON..

[dimonds456]

TOH Season 2, 4 Theories (SPOILERS!)

So we're only 4 episodes in, and there's a LOT going on. I have 3 theories (and one that's more speculation) that I want to share (that have probably already been discussed before, but I haven't seen them, so here I go), and they're all beneath the cut! I wanna talk about King, Belos, and a third one that might surprise you, but I can't say just yet because ~dramatic buildup.~

MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING!

THEORY 1: King is a Titan

This has been a theory since Season 1, but it's reeeeally getting expanded upon here. It's hinted at that King might have a deeper backstory than he's been given, if those carvings and his memory gaps are anything to go off of.

However, we can find proof in his design and the design in that of the Boiling Isles themselves. They were birthed from an actual Titan, right? We see the Titan's still-beating heart in Belos' throne room. The Isles are his organs and ribcage. His skull sits in the water, eye sockets looking out over all.

Lookit it all. Gross. :)

Now look at his skull specifically. He's got those two horns on top of his head, looking to be a similar-to-exactly-the-same shape as King's, which is even more apparent since his other horn is fixed now.

(Side theory, King's collar is a glyph, look at the design. What does it do? idk, but I think it's gonna be Epic, and perhaps only he or another Titan can activate it. But I have no proof and just wanted to throw that one out there for consideration.)

Different noses, sure, but this Titan is also more mature. And bigger. That could change as King gets older.

If this theory is true, then that means Emperor Belos- who is rumored to be able to communicate WITH THE BOILING ISLES TITAN- is going to want King at some point. If he is able to RAISE A TITAN, that would strengthen the theory that he has this ~special connection~ with the Titan and put him in so much more power. King is easy to please, too, meaning that he might go along with it.

Leading me to:

THEORY 2: Belos is a human

Look at this series of quotes from Gwen Clawthorne from S2E4:

(Starting with when she says "You're not the only human to have lived in Bones Burrow," but image limit, so.)

[Image ID: four screenshots from The Owl House. The first is a picture of Gwen with the quote "there's a rare substance called Titan's blood." The next is Gwen in a different pose, with the quote "it is extremely powerful, and oftentimes causes leaks between our realms." The third is a picture if Luz, with her eyes wide with shock. Gwen is still speaking though, with the quote "but humans... are rare." The fourth is back to Gwen, with her hands up and the quote "my great-grandmother told me about a human who once lived here, but one day, he just vanished." End ID.]

"a human who once lived here, but one day, he just vanished."

Notice the use of he/him pronouns here. I was originally thinking it was whoever wrote the Azura books- and that is not off the table, really- but... the circumstances of him just vanishing are suspicious at best and earth-shattering at worst.

What if he never left?

We have never seen Belo's face. He was breathing hard when we first saw him, implying he's sick somehow, but was better after he Murdered a Man and poured goop in his eyes. He's never actually used magic before that we've seen. The only hint of power is that he's able to "talk with the Titan" and therefore that makes him better.

If he truly is a human, then that would be why he wears the mask. His ears would look like Luz's, not like a resident of the Boiling Isles. He has no magic. Or, if he does, he's channeling it in a way similar to Luz herself. He's been here for a LONG TIME, meaning he's becoming old and frail- or he should be, if it weren't for the Miracle Eye Healing Goop.

This would explain the portal Eda found out in the woods, and why Belos knows what it is. It was his portal. But, because Eda had it by the time he realized he wanted it back for whatever nefarious purposes he wanted that portal back for, he never got it.

But he's living literally right next to the Titan's still-beating heart. If Titan's blood is what allows for dimensional rifts, like Gwen says it can do, that means his throne is located directly in front of Luz's way home. He just needs a way to open the rift, which is where the portal comes in. The portal is there to channel the blood and create a rift on purpose, just like Eda's old portal could.

In fact, Luz probably has the "key" to opening that rift already. She just needs the blood and a vessel to complete the ritual.

Really think about it. Luz comes from our world, pretty much just as it is, and enters the Boiling Isles, where there is no discrimination on the same level of humanity. You can love freely, be freely, and crimes are judged on the action, not the person. Belos would have come from that same world, and saw how free it is here. If he wanted to take control and power, the only way he could ever do so would be to have the witches living here willingly give up their magic. He could not force them. So, he came up with the lie he can speak to the Titan.

Or, if it's not a lie, he used that power for evil instead of good. This leaves the implication that,

THEORY 3: Luz can ALSO talk to the Titan

This one is just speculation, but if Belos can do it, why not she? And if this IS a real ability Belos has, and he's been lying to everyone, Luz could be able to actually speak to the Titan and find out what it really wants. I imagine that it's probably not happy with Belos, but it can't just move or the entire Isles get destroyed. Or, he's physically unable to. Or perhaps, she can find out why the Titan wants magic restrained and find a different way.

If Belos is a human, then he and Luz contrast each other in that their journeys are the same. They both stumbled into this world by accident, they came from a world that wanted to stifle them, they entered a free world, and they wanted to stay.

The difference here is the power. While Belos reached for it, I predict Luz will be presented with a similar opportunity and throw it away. She becomes powerful in that she has her friends behind her, and that's all she needs. Her power comes from her determination and selflessness, whereas Belos' comes from his lies and selfishness.

Though, that story sounds familiar doesn't it? Which leads me to my final theory...

THEORY 4: The Good Witch Azura

I have 2 theories for this one, but they can both be grouped under one, so here we go.

Theory A) The Good Witch Azura was a REAL WITCH.

If these rifts can open because of Titan's blood, then there's a good chance that people like Eda had found the human world, too. And decided to stay for whatever reason.

Azura may have been writing an autobiography, or wanted to share to the human world about the Boiling Isles without directly saying it exists. Maybe she/they wanted to just get away from it, but missed the way it used to be, and expressed that through writing that happened to get popular.

Another mini theory that falls under this one is the idea that maybe someone tried to stand up to Belos early on, a sort of mirror to modern Eda. She/they saw how corrupt the system would become, and decided to flee or find help.

Theory B) Belos WROTE the Azura books

Now hear me out.

Going back to the 'Belos is a human' theory, that means he came from the human world, and for a time, he had a way of going back and forth between realms before he either lost or rejected his portal. Well, I don't know what his plans are, but if the fact that he's trying to get back to the human world are any indication, then I'd say he wants humans to know.

What if he's trying to spread his power and control? He has all the most powerful witches working under him, right? So it'd be easy to declare war on humanity. Just drop in without warning, cause havoc, and leave before they can retaliate. Then, do the same to a different location and leave before they can do anything. Do this again and again at random, and eventually, they surrender.

So why the Azura books? Well, I'm not entirely sure, but he's marketing books that are shockingly similar to how magic works in the Boiling Isles to humans, with messages about cheesy love and acceptance and working together. Humans eat that stuff right up. He may be testing the waters somehow.

I gotta be honest, I don't know why he'd write about those things, and the only episode I have to go off of is the writing/crunchtime episode from Season 1.

Oh, and this.

[Image ID: The same scene with Gwen that was shown before, but a continuation of the quote. Two screenshots this time, the first with the quote "Rumor has it he left something in the library, and- if you can find it-" then continued, "and if you can find out more about him..." End ID]

Luz: "Maybe I could find out how he got here!"

What if that something is the Azura books? What if there's a secret hidden within their pages, asking the humans to seek the witches out? Asking them to be entranced with this wondrous world, just as he was? What if he's asking them to come here?

"Knock knock, human."

Seasons 2 and 3 are gonna be wild.

[where-theres-smoak-2]

Charles/ The Voyeur Theories

I’m bored and its still hours away until the next episode so you all know what that means more theories and analysis. Today my topic of choice is Charles Smith and also theories on who may or may not be behind the video tapes. Obviously there are spoilers for all of season 4 including the latest episode. 

The Curious Case of Charles Smith 

Ok so first I want to talk about Charles. Lets be honest there have been moments where he’s been shady af such as listening in on Betty’s phone calls and visiting Chic. But the thing is, call me a fool, but I’m really like his character and I’m hoping that he’s not the bad guy and that his shady behaviour can be explained by the fact that he is a FBI agent. I feel like we went down the whole evil long lost brother route when Chic was impersonating Charles and I think it would be kinda boring to see it all again with the real Charles. So I figured we could go through the history of Charles and analyse how likely it is that he is a bad guy of the show or whether there is some hope that he might be a decent person. This means going back to the very beginning.

Right from the start Charles is established as a very mysterious character, there are alot of inconsistencies in the information we are given about Charles. Obviously the first time we hear about Charles is in season 1 when Alice confesses to Betty that she had a teenage pregnancy and she gave her baby boy up for adoption. But it’s not until later, in 2x10, that the storyline really kicks off when Betty decides to go looking for Charles in an attempt to ease Alice’s pain of losing Polly who had just cut all ties with the family. Betty meets with the social worker who tells her that her brother’s record was unsealed when he turned 18. This is where the first inconsistencies start to appear. Alice says that the Sisters of Quiet Mercy arranged for a quiet adoption, so we know that Alice believes that her son was adopted. But when Betty talks to the social worker she says that Charles stayed in the foster system and was never adopted. As far as we can tell it seems like he was raised at the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. The social worker then gives her the address of the Last Resort Youth Hostel, which is the last address they have for him. It is when her and Alice visit this hostel that we first meet Chic, he leads them to believe that he is Charles and alot of the information we get about Charles we actually learn through Chic. Unfortunately this does make it more difficult for us to unravel the web of mystery around Charles as we know that Chic is a liar. That being said, often with characters like Chic they will weave elements of the truth into their stories to lend credit to their lies. Now we have to figure out which parts of his stories actually happened and which parts are a complete fabrication. The one thing that we can be certain of though is that Chic and Charles do know each other. 

Chic instantly recognises who Alice is when she introduces herself stating that the Sisters gave him her address when he turned 18 and that they kicked him out. However this is another inconsistency as we later learn in 2x19 when Betty and Jughead go to the Sisters for information, that according to them Charles ran away from them. The bulk of the information we learn about Charles we learn in 2x19. When Betty confronts Chic with the fact that she knows he’s not Charles and they interrogate him he gives us some more details about Charles’ past. We find out that Charles and Chic met when they were both living on the streets. They then moved into the hostel together, this is something that is repeated several times throughout the series so we can reasonably say its likely true. We also know that Charles knew about the Coopers and that he told Chic about them. According to Chic, Charles described the Coopers as a perfect family that lived in Riverdale who gave him up for adoption, who didn’t want him and who never bothered to look for him. The way Chic describes it does make it sound like Charles had some resentment towards the Coopers. He then goes on to tell them that one day Charles had come knocking at the Coopers door and that Alice turned him away, pretty much slammed the door in his face. Alice does confirm that the boy in the picture did come to the door and that she sent him away, so we know this part of Chic’s story is true. Chic then spins a fable about how Charles was so upset that he went out on a bender which resulted him in over dosing on jingle jangle. Although we later learn this is false and Charles didn’t die, I do think the part about Charles being upset and going on a bender could be true. To me it does sound like a realistic reaction to that situation and the real Charles does later tell Betty that he is an ex addict which we will cover some more later. 

Betty isn’t satisfied with Chic’s story about what happened to her brother so she and Jughead go back to the hostel where they talk to a neighbour. She describes Charles as being ‘the nice one’, that he always used to greet her and carry her groceries. The neighbour then tells them that Chic and Charles were always arguing, that they were nasty and scary fights and that then one day there was only one, ‘the bad one.’ Charles was gone. The neighbour also tells them that she found blood stained sheets and pillows when she took the trash out. Which brings me to the next section. 

The Mystery of the Bloody Sheets. 

Thanks to the neighbours testimony we know that something horrific happened in that room, most likely a murder. We are given three versions of what happened two from Chic and one from Charles. 

Version 1

Ok so version one we know isn’t true but there could be some clues in it that can help us figure out what did happen. This is the first version that we are given and its when Betty is about to turn Chic over to the Black Hood in 2x19 and she demands to know what really happened to Charles. Chic tells her that he and Charles got into a fight and that Chic snapped, that he didn’t mean to hurt Charles. Here he implies that he accidently killed Charles when he lost his temper. What’s interesting about this interaction was that Chic was facing possible death at this moment and yet despite this he still lied about Charles being dead. 

Version 2

The second version we are given is again from Chic in 4x06. After growing suspicious of Charles, Betty visits Chic in prison where she again asks what happened. This time he gives a different account saying that they had brought a friend home and they started doing jingle jangle. They did a bit too much of it and things got out of control, Charles snapped, like some darkness had taken over him and he stabbed the guy to death with a pair of scissors. When Betty asks how she could know whether he’s telling the truth he asks why he would lie at this point. But here’s the thing we know he will still lie even when he could be at death’s door so I don’t see why he wouldn’t still lie when facing time in prison. It is also at this moment that Chic reveals that he knows Betty knows Charles is alive by asking her what Charles had said had happened. This is subtle but actually is a clue to the reveal at the end of the episode as it tells us that Charles had already been in contact with Chic before we see them together at the end of the episode. 

Version 3

So the thrid version we are given is the only one we get directly from Charles himself. The other difference is that this time the person being questioned is hooked up to a polygraph. It is worth noting that during Betty’s questioning the polygraph only picks up signs of deception once when Betty asks if Charles is hiding anything. Through out his story about what happened in the room that needle stays steady. Charles says that he went out for groceries one day and when he came home it was to find a dead guy in their bed. His insticts take over. He dissolved the body with lye in the bath tub, threw away the sheets and cleaned the room with bleach. Chic watched. Charles said that was the end of them and that he then left Chic. As for the thing he was hiding he says it is that he is an ex addict. As a side note though I do think that this is a cover he knew he had to give some piece of information to cover the deception so he went with the ex addict thing, in reality I think the thing he is trying to hide is that he has been visiting Chic. 

Ok so which of these three versions is the right one? Well I actually think its a combination of the 2nd and 3rd. I do feel like out of all of them Charles’ version seems the most accurate. He gives a lot more details which suggests he was being truthful, ordinarily when a person lies they give as little detail as possible so there’s less chance of them being caught out. Also Charles mentions the sheets and that the victim was in the bed which would tie in the pillows the neighbour found with the sheets, it all lines up exactly with what the neighbour said. But the thing that really sold it for me was how much it seems to fit Chic’s MO. Charles’ description of the events are eerily similar to what happened to the Shady Guy. I do think the writers wanted us to compare these two events. In both instances its Chic who kills the person but its someone else who is clearing it up in an attempt to protect Chic. In both instances Chic just sits there watching. Both times the body is dissolved with lye, and both times some piece of evidence is left behind and discovered by a third party, the sheets which are discovered by the neighbour and the car which is found by a guy scavenging for parts which he reports to the police. 

So what about version 2? Well as I said before characters like Chic will often have some elements of the truth in their lies. In both of his versions Chic is consistent in saying that someone snapped. In the first version he says it was himself, in the second that it was Charles. But the fact that he repeated this makes me think this has some truth to it. He also has mentioned jingle jangle on several occasions, first he says Charles OD’d on it, then he said he and charles were doing it together with a friend. We also know that Shady guy was a dealer and he had come looking for Chic so its safe to say that Chic had brought from him in the past. Then there’s Charles mentioning his past addiction. As it is a topic that keeps getting repeated I again think it holds some merit of truth to it and we can assume that both Chic and Charles were addicted to or at the very least using, jingle jangle around the time of the murder. The other consistency between the two versions is that the victim was brought home. So taking all that into consideration here’s my best guess at what I think happened. Charles left their room and went grocery shopping. While he was out Chic brought a client home with him. The reason why I think it was a client is because Charles says the guy was ‘some trick he had brought home.’ Trick is slang for a client of a lady or gentleman of the night shall we say. Also it would explain why the guy was in the bed when he was killed. Chic and his client started doing some jingle jangle and things got out of control. Chic was overcome by the darkness and snapped, stabbing the guy to death with a pair of scissors. Charles then comes home essentially walking into a messy situation. There’s blood everywhere, a dead guy in the bed and Chic is covered in the victims blood. His instinct to protect Chic takes over and he cleans up, moving the body to the bath tub and dissolving it with lye, he throws the sheets and pillows in the dumpster and washes everything down with bleach. After its all over he knows things can’t carry on the way they have. He leaves Chic and starts going to Narcotics Anoymnous cleaning up his act before eventually joining the FBI. 

After 2x19 Charles is only briefly brought up again in season 3 when Betty believes that the Farm have tricked Alice into thinking she is talking to Charles. Obviously we eventually learn that Alice really was talking to Charles. Then we see the real Charles for the first time in 3x22 when he shows up at the Coopers door and reveals that he works with the FBI and that Alice had been working with them to investigate the farm. 

Suspicious Minds

Since his introduction in 3x22 Charles has done several things that cast him in a suspicious light. Some are more sublte than others but the first major suspicion comes in episode 4, the halloween episode. After seeming to help Betty out with the prank calls we find out that Charles has bugged Betty’s phone and is listening in on her phone call with Jughead. Now this begs the question of why is he doing this? The obvious one would be that its because he’s a bad guy and is trying to get some information about Betty for nefarious reasons. There is another explaination though. We know that Charles is an FBI agent. We also know that he is part of an active investigation in Riverdale (the tapes). Now if we look at Betty and Charles’ relationship so far we might be able to figure out why Charles might have done this. We know that most of their interaction with each other was during them investigating the farm trying to find and extract Alice. The first thing I’d like to point out here is that we know that Betty’s isn’t the only phone that Charles and the FBI has been tracking, they also bugged Kevin’s phone. Now if it were just Betty’s phone I would say that it was highly suspicious but the fact that we know of at least one other phone makes it seem a little less suspicious. However you could argue that Charles had a reason to track Kevin’s phone as they believed, rightly, that he was still in contact with The Farm. What reason could he have for tracking Betty’s phone other than him being a bad guy? Well I can actually think of a couple of reasons why Charles would have a legitimate reason to keep an eye on Betty. To understand it we need to look at it from Charles’ point of view. We know of two occasions at least where Betty has acted recklessly and without talking it through with Charles first. Betty told Kevin about the fake witness and that Alice is an informant. When Charles finds out he is rightfully upset with Betty and seems to be in genuine disbelief that she had just revealed the identity of an active FBI informant to a, as he puts it, messed up kid. This was incredibly reckless and impulsive of Betty if she had been wrong it would have destroyed their entire investigation and it potentially put Alice in danger. And this isn’t the only time Betty acts out impulsively. She also then goes to the motel where the farm are hiding out without telling Charles. As a result she nearly gets caught in the crosshairs of a fight between Mercenaries and The Farm. The only reason that was avoided was because she happened to ring Charles at just the right time and get him to stand them down. My point is that if we look at it from Charles’ POV then Betty is a bit of a loose cannon. Now I don’t know about you but if I was an FBI agent working on an active investigation I’m not about to let a loose cannon like Betty run around unchecked. It’s likely that Charles is simply listening into Betty’s phone calls to make sure that she isn’t about to catch him off guard again or do something to derail or put their investigation in jeopardy. The other thing to bear in mind is that while we might have only been shown Charles listening into Betty and Jughead’s call that doesn’t mean that’s the only phone/ call they are tracking. As I said the FBI have an active investigation going on into these video tapes its possible that they are tracking all the calls that happen in Riverdale. Also we know that Charles is aware of the reputation Jughead and Betty have for playing the detectives and meddling in things so it would make sense for him to keep an eye on that as if they figure out anything then the FBI will also have that information. So I think we can safely say that there are many other legimate reasons for Charles actions here and it doesn’t necessarily mean that he is automatically a bad guy. 

However there is another action of Charles’ that does paint him as someone who can’t be trusted, a much bigger one. At the end of episode 6 Charles is seen visiting Chic in prison. Episode 6 is the episode where Betty is investigating Charles because she found out in the previous episode that he too has the serial killer genes. She visits Chic which results in him telling the FBI that Alice Cooper killed a guy and that Chic knew where the body was buried. Charles helps FP move the body elsewhere and this is the turning point for Betty and she decides to trust Charles. This is when we get the big twist where we find out that Charles and Chic had some kind of plan together, it seems like Chic went to the FBI to create a situation where Charles could ‘save’ the Cooper-Jones family essentially making everyone trust him beyond a doubt. It is then revealed that not only are they working togther to seemingly manipulate the Cooper-Jones family for some reason but that they are still in a relationship. There is so much about this scene that doesn’t add up and makes you question things. Firstly is the fact that when Charles was hooked up to the polygraph he makes the statement that when Chic killed that client he brought home it was the end for them, basically insinuating their relationship was dead and buried from that moment. The needle doesn’t move telling us that this statement is true. Yet we are then shown that it is untrue because we see that they are still involved to the point where they are telling each other they love each other. Now I’m not that much of a fool that I don’t recognise that as a FBI agent it is possible that Charles knows how to cheat a polygraph test. This could be one explanation for the discrepancy. However there was something about the scene as a whole that was bugging me and I kept watching it over and over trying to fiugre it out. I think what was bugging me is firstly how vastly different Charles comes across in this scene. He literally seems like a different person, everything is different, the way he holds himself, his facial expressions even the way he talks. In fact he kinda reminds me of Chic in his behaviour. I think the thing that makes me curious about the way he is talking to Chic is the tone of voice he is using. It reminds me of when a person talks to a child, particularly when they are trying to convince a child of something. I could be projecting here but to me it seemed like Charles was actually being manipulative. Another thing worth noting is that we are reminded on two occasions that Charles isn’t just working on the voyeur case but on others. FP when Betty asks why Charles is still in town says ‘He’s helping me with the tapes and a couple other cases.” Later when Betty tells Kevin that she wants to invesitgate Charles she again asks why is he still in Riverdale and again Kevin replies ‘I thought he was helping out Jughead’s dad with some cases.’ To which Betty asks ‘What cases?’ We still haven’t got an answer to this but it did get me thinking what cases are still open and likely being investigated by FP. We know its not the Farm case as that one has now been solved, Evelyn is behind bars, Edgar is dead and the rest of the Farmies are getting treatment. Case closed. The only other case I can think of that has lose ends is the whole G&G storyline. Now I know you are probably thinking but that one did get solved we found out who was behind it. But while that is true we also know that although Hal was killed and Chic was arrested, Penelope escaped. We as an audience know where she is but the authorities don’t which means its still an open investigation. We know that there is a connection between Chic and Penelope, that they formed an alliance and he sort of became her apprentice. So my theory is that Charles isn’t actually really with Chic. I think Charles and the FBI are using his past connection with Chic as a way to get information about where Penelope might possibly be. Charles reached out to Chic and began to build back up the relationship between them, the trust between them. Basically Charles is pretending to be in love with Chic so that he can get information out of him which is why the polygraph didn’t pick up signs of deception, because Charles wasn’t technically lying.     

To assess how likely this theory might be we have to look at Charles’ current behaviour but also his past behaviour and the character profile we have been given for him. We have several accounts of Charles’ character/ personality. The earliest chronologically in respect of Charles’ life comes from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy. In 2x19 when Betty visits them we get a couple of quick glimpses at Charles’ file. One in particular I think is quite interesting. This one, which is a behavioural report.

 So there are a few things I want to point out in this report. We learn that Charles at this point has run away 3 times. Now I know its not the clearest of pictures but I was able to zoom in enough that I could read some of what was written. Firstly as you can see underlined in green the statement ‘Isolation of Charles Smith from other students seems to have curbed his desire to run away. Although he seems to want to be inclusive.’ This tells us that Charles is a socialable person, the Sister’s punished him for running away by isolating him and he hated it so much that it would stop his attempts to escape, for a while at least. They even note that he seems to enjoy being inclusive. Charles likes to be around other people and he likes to feel included. This is kinda backed up by Charles when he tells Betty that he’s always wanted to know what its like to be part of a real family. It seems to me that back then at the Sisters, Charles was trying to find that with the other students but he found there was still something missing which is why he has started to try and run away. The second detail I want to draw your attention to is the line underlined in yellow. Here it says ‘Charles is growing to be more and more difficult, yet Charles has never shown signs of violation before.’ Again this is painting a picture of a very obdient young boy, a nice young boy. Other than him now suddenly trying to run away he hasn’t caused any trouble. There is no mention of him being violent or angry or mean to other students or anything like that which I feel like there would be if that was something he was doing. It does seem like the only problematic thing he is doing is running away which lets be honest anyone who was stuck at the Sisters would try. The last thing worth noting is the part underlined in blue. ‘Charles is a good student on average and this behaviour is unusual.’ Again we are getting this image of a well behaved, responsible young boy where even the running away is unusual for him. The overall impression from this report is that Charles was a good kid who liked to socialise with others but felt like he was missing something and so he started running away in search of a real family. 

This brings us to our next character assesment. This time it comes from the neighbour. The thing is the neighbour’s description is very similar to the one given in that report. By the time the neighbour meets Charles we know that he has spent some time on the streets and that he met Chic. Charles describes the period of time in his life at which he meets Chic as at his lowest. So we can assume that when the neighbour met Charles he wasn’t in the best of places. It is also possible from what we’ve been told by Charles and Chic that he had already started doing drugs at this point. The place where they were living wasn’t exactly the nicest. Yet despite all this the neighbour still paints Charles in a good light. She talks about how he always greeted her and carried her groceries again this is consistent with the ideas from the report that he is a social person. Again its telling us that he is a polite young boy and well mannered. 

The last description of Charles character that we get from a third party comes from Alice in 3x17. This is when Betty thinks Alice is talking to her dead son but we know that she is actually talking to the real Charles as at this point she is already working undercover for the FBI. We don’t get much from Alice and lets be honest she’s very biased considering she’s his mother. But that doesn’t mean what she says is irrelevant. She tells Betty that she would love her brother. This tells us that Alice believes that Charles has certain qualties that she thinks Betty will like. She also goes on to say that Charles is the most beautiful boy she had ever seen. Now here she could be talking about his physical looks but she could also be talking about his personality. I have heard people describe someone as being beautiful on the inside. This could also be what Alice means that Charles is beautiful all round, both looks and personality wise.  

All in all the general picture we get of Charles is that he’s a nice guy, he chats with his neigbours, he seems to want to help is family out, he helps Alice and Polly at the Farm, he’s helping FP with cases, he helps Jug with his research for the Baxter Brothers assignment and Betty with finding out about Bret and why she’s rejected from Yale and the prank calls. There are countless other instances that I could mention of him helping out his family members. There’s no denying that he has had a troubled past and overcome alot of difficulties but all in all I’m not seeing anything that would suggest he is some phychopath or bad guy. On the flip side of it though we’ve got the other Charles we see in that scene with Chic. Here Charles comes across as someone who is deceitful and willing to manipulate his own family, a vastly different person from what everyone else describes him as. So the real question is which of these two versions is the real Charles? 

The other thing we should look at is his relationship with Chic. Again we get given two very different versions of what their relationship is like. If we go by the scene in the jail then it appears like they have a very loving relationship, in someways you could say it was sweet. They are calling each other babe and telling each other they love each other. The fact that they seem to have come up with the plan against the Cooper-Jones family together implies that they are united. However we are painted a very different picture by the neighbour. According to her they had a very violent and volatile relationship, they were always arguing and from the sounds of it they were very ugly fights. If you go with what the neighbour says then they had a very toxic relationship. There is another hint of unrest in their relationship. I get the feeling that Charles might not have been too happy with Chic’s choice of work. If we are to believe Charles about what happened the night the guy was killed then Chic waited until Charles left before having a client come over. From the way Charles was talking about it I just get the feeling that this could have been something they fought about alot. Also the way Charles talks about how it was the end of them and that he started over makes me think that Charles leaving Chic was something that was a long time coming. I feel like this relationship had a huge negative impact on Charles. But again we have the question of which version of their relationship is the true one? One thing I will say is that unlike Charles or Chic the neighbour has no reason to lie which in my opinion makes her testimony more reliable.

Could Charles be The Voyeur? 

The main question on everyones mind is who is behind the video tapes that show up. Given Charles’ shady behaviour its not outside the realm of reason to think it might be him. So what evidence is there that suggests it could be Charles? Well firstly in the episode where the first video tape arrives literally right before Jughead asks Betty if Charles can be trusted. Then the door goes and Jug finds the tape on the doorstep. It can’t be a coincidence that the very first people to get a tape are Jughead and Betty and the Cooper-Jones household. Later more people get tapes but it all starts with them. It also does seem suspicious that they literally question Charles’ authenticity right when that tape shows up it does seem to be like the writers are trying to suggest a link between Charles and the tapes. It is possible that if, as I mentioned before, Charles really does hold a grudge against his family for not keeping him and giving him away then he might have left the video tape as a threat to them.

 A similar thing happens later in 4x17 when Charles says to Jughead that he would hate to see what would happen if The Voyeur actually got inside one of the homes. Woe and behold come the episodes end we discover the Voyeur has gotten into someone’s home and has now bludgeoned them to death with a rock while wearing masks of Jughead and Betty who were the first to get a video tape. Again this makes it appear like the writers are trying to create a link between Charles and the tapes. 

The other thing worth noting is that we have been shown Charles taking part in other forms of surveillance. In particualr tracking phones so it wouldn’t be that much of a leap to assume that he was also surveilling people through video tapes too. But here is one catch, Charles is in the FBI which means he has access to high tech surveillance equipment so if he were the Voyeur why would he use an old fashioned tape recorder when he could stick a tiny little camera inside someones house which would be much scarier to receive than footage of the outside. 

In my honest opinion I don’t think that Charles is the Voyeur. I think the writers are using him as a red herring. I don’t think that Charles will turn out to be a bad guy. But I do think that they are going to try and make it seem like he is before there will be a twist and we’ll find out he was just being a FBI agent and that he is a decent fellow after all. The reasons why I think this is one because they had that reveal of Charles and Chic way to early in the show for it to be legit in my opinion, I just don’t think they would show him as the bad guy this early unless something isn’t what it seems. The other reason why is because I couldn’t help but see a parallel between Charles’ story an another characters. FP’s, his father. Think about it, we know they both had tough childhoods that weren’t filled with much love and sometimes faced abuse. FP was beat by his father and Charles was forced into isolation by the Sisters and god knows what else in that place. Both felt abandoned by their parental figures, Charles felt abandoned and unwanted by the family that put him up for adoption and FP felt abandoned and unwanted by his father who went out for cigarettes one day and never came back. Both struggled with an addiction, Charles with drugs and FP with alcohol. Both found themselves in a sticky situation where they had to get rid of a body, Charles was with Chic’s client and FP Jason’s. In both cases these traumatic events lead to them straightening out their lives with both joining help groups. Charles goes to regular Narcotics Anoynmous and FP regular AA meetings. Both ended up going into a law enforcement type role. Charles became a FBI agent and FP becomes Sheriff. So you see they’ve walked down the same path and I do think this is a delberate move on the writers part. I think they are continuing to keep this similarity between the two going by having the viewers believe that Charles is guilty and then revealing that its actually someone else like they did in Season 1 with FP. I wouldn’t be surprised in fact if someone tries to frame Charles as being The Voyeur and just when it looks certain it is him they do the flip and twist to reveal it wasn’t.   

Whose Behind the Mask?

Ok so what if say its not Charles who else could it be? Well I do have a suspect in mind. We can get a lot of clues from that video tape Jughead found at the end of 4x17. In it we see two people in the woods. A male that is tied up and wearing a Jughead mask and is dressed the same way Jug usually does, it is obvious that whoever the person is they are very frightened. Then we see a female creep out from behind the trees and approach the male. She is also wearing a mask, one that looks like Betty and is also dressed up like how Betty usually dresses. She then proceeds to bludgeon the guy to death with a rock before holding it up menacingly and staring into the camera. What this tells us is that either the Voyeur is a woman or its more than one person and one of them is a woman. We can also see from the video that when the woman bends down to beat the guy you can see that she has dark hair. Now who do we know in the show that likes to dress up in masks, has a grudge against Betty and Jughead and likes to record people without their knowledge with a old style camera that requires video tapes? Donna and the Stonies maybe?

Here’s my evidence for why I think that the Stonies or more specifically Donna is behind the tapes. Firstly we know that Riverdale has a habit of bringing back villians. In pretty much every season a villian will seem to be conquered only to reappear a few episodes later to stir up more trouble. Penny Peabody does this, the Ghoulies, Chic, The Black Hood, The Gargoyle King and now Penelope Blossom. So it would make sense for Donna to pop back up as we don’t really know where she went after Betty threatened her. 

Secondly the first video tape arrives on Jughead’s doorstep in the same episode that Jughead starts at Stonewall and causes some waves with Bret. It could be that The Stonies did it then to put Jughead on edge because they saw him as a threat. The second set of video tapes arrives right after the episode where Jughead and Betty confront Bret and Donna about Chippens suicide and the episode where its revealed that there is a camera in Jughead’s room at Stonewall. The third round appears in the episode after Jughead and Betty take down the Stonies and threaten Donna. There does appear to be a correlation between Jughead and Betty doing something to upset Donna and the Stonies and then video tapes showing up on the door steps. The last one really escalates as it also contains a video of a murder taking place. 

I really do think that its Donna behind the Betty mask. We already know that she’s not opposed to someone being killed by a rock to the head. Also as I mentioned above the woman who killed the guy had dark hair. If you look at the pictures below.

Although its a little difficult to tell due to the fact they are wearing a different style of clothing, looking at the build of the woman in the Betty mask I do think its very similiar to Donna. In particular the shoulders seem to be the same width and the waist. Their arms appear to be the same length as does the length of their torso. As far as I can tell they seem to be around the same height though that one is more difficult to determine. Also the masks seem very similar in style to the bunny masks. They both have that cartoonish style to them. Then obviously the dark hair is a match too. I’m like 90% sure that Donna is masked Betty. We also know she’s got a reason to have a vendetta against Betty and Jughead also unlike her fellow Stonies she would be free to be able to commit the murder. Jonathon went missing we can assume that the others killed him to cover their tracks. Joan turned out to really be the child of a diplomat and leaves the country, Charles points out that she can’t return. Bret we can assume is put in prison for attempted murder. Donna is the only one who gets away scot free leaving her available to commit murders in the forest. 

However I do have another theory or something to point out. We don’t actually know when this video was recorded. We assume it was recently but what if it wasn’t? What if this happened before Jughead’s attempted murder, like a practice run? Or it could have happened right after and the Stonies were planning to taunt Betty with it but backed out when they realised Jug was still alive? Or it could have happened recently, right now we’ve got no way of knowing. What is interesting is that someone has been murdered yet we have had no mention of a missing person. But there has to be someone missing out there. It does make me think of what Donna said to Betty I think it was in episode 15 when she’s talking about the perfect murder and she says ‘No body, No crime.’ I do wonder if maybe Donna was annoyed that she hadn’t commited the perfect murder. I mean everything on the attempt agaisnt Jughead went wrong and we know that Donna was the mastermind behind it. Maybe her ego was bruised and so she decided to try again. I do feel like Donna might be vain enough to think I’m going to record this because even though there’s video evidence I’ve commited the perfect murder so despite that they still won’t catch me. One thought that unfortunately crossed my mind was that if it is more recent then it could be moose who was killed. We know that the Stonies targeted Moose in the past and Jug wondered if it was because they couldn’t get to him directly so they went after Moose as a round about way of getting at Jug. What if this is a similar situation where Donna has realised she can’t get to Jug so she kills Moose instead to get back at Jughead. We know that Moose was left with nobody after his dad was arrested, he tells us as much in the beginning of season 4. If this is true then it might take a little while to report him missing which would explain why nothing has come up in the couple of days the videos have been out. Alternatively, just like we don’t know when this murder took place we also don’t know where it took place. The reason why there hasn’t been a report of a body or missing person could be because it didn’t happen in Riverdale. I’m really hoping I’m wrong about this one though because I love Moose so hopefully he’s still safe with the military. 

Over all I do think that its much more likely that its Donna then it is Charles. She and the Stonies just seem to fit the MO more. They also seem to have more of a reason to go after Jughead and Betty and whilst the tapes are being sent to others the perpetrator does seem to have some fascination with Jughead and Betty. Also going back to my theory about someone framing Charles for it, Donna does now have a reason to go after Charles. One because he helped Jughead take the Stonies down. He was the one that provided the medical care Jug needed and who told Betty what to do to cover up the ‘murder’. He helped find the grandad and he was the one interrogating them all. Secondly another reason Donna could have to go after Charles is that she hates both Jughead and Betty, now more than ever, and Charles is the brother of both of them. If he got framed for murder it would hurt both of them. So yeah thats my theory on who I think the Voyeur may be and what I think mysterious Mr Charles Smith is up to. I can’t wait to see the next episode, I’ll probably post a review for it and some more theories after I’ve watched it. So as always thanks so much for reading and until next time guys.  

[douxreviews]

The Flash - ‘We Are The Flash’ Review

“Now it ends.”

We’ve reached the culmination of the season-long march towards the iconic image of Barry sitting in The Thinker’s chair. You didn’t have to be a comic buff to see that coming.  You just needed to spend five minutes on the Internet once The Thinker was named this season’s Big Bad. Was it worth the wait? I think so.

I’ll be honest. My first response to the finale was disappointment. After last week’s cold open I was so hyped, I don’t know if anything could have lived up to my expectations.  The idea it took all of Team Flash to the defeat The Thinker was a given. I originally thought (and hoped) it would be a combination of the gifts and skills they brought to the table but I should have known better. If that was the case they could have defeated him at any point in the season. It made far more sense for it to be the strength of Team Flash’s emotional bonds.

As DeVoe’s intellectual abilities grew, his emotional awareness deteriorated to the point where emotions no longer figured into his calculations. This left him vulnerable and thanks to his increasing hubris, oblivious to those vulnerabilities. Thus we have the final confrontation. Barry traveling into DeVoe’s mind in search of the last shred of goodness based on Marlize’s belief that part of the man she married still lives in The Thinker. Wrong. He literally killed that part of himself in the mistaken belief that aspect had no value.

Yet her theory was sound. There was still goodness there. It was just in the form of Ralph Dibny. His willingness to sacrifice himself to save Barry completed his redemption arc and confirmed him as a hero. In addition to everything else this episode accomplished, it solidified Ralph’s position as a member of Team Flash. His actions, along with the others, led to The Thinker's ultimate defeat. And the name of the episode.

Cecile has become more than just Joe’s loving partner and the mother of the latest addition to his growing brood. Over the season she has become the mother that Iris and Barry never had, a friend and confidant to Caitlin, and a full-fledged member of Team Flash. Cecile's telepathic abilities from her bond with her unborn child are the literal representation of those connections. It granted her the power both to connect with the other members of Team Flash and enabled her to be the conduit Barry needed to link to DeVoe’s mind.

Joe’s love for his family gave Joe the ability to resist DeVoe’s mental control. While it wasn’t enough to stop DeVoe, it was proof of the power of love. Just as Barry’s love for Iris was what enabled him to hide his thoughts for his final mental showdown with The Thinker.

The sheer amount of narrative ground covered pushed Cisco’s story to the background but his relationship with Harry has been one of the highlights of the season and it was paid off here in both his vow not to lose anyone else and his heartbreak at learning that while his friend had been saved, Harry’s brilliant mind was lost forever.

Caitlin’s journey this season was more about coming to terms with the darker and lighter parts of herself and integrating this new version within Team Flash. Yes, I know that Killer Frost and Caitlin are separate identities. However, since they resided within the same body and Caitlin came to the conclusion that she is incomplete without Frost, I think my argument is valid. Besides, is there anyone who thinks Frost is gone for good?

Which leaves Harry. Harry thought of his intelligence as a force for good. The means of keeping Team Flash safe from any who would harm them.  However, he was not devoid of hubris and his arrogance could brook no intelligence greater than his own. This led to more and more reckless choices culminating in the loss of that intelligence. In a reverse image of DeVoe, as his intellect dwindled his emotional intelligence increased. And at several crucial moments, it was his emotional awareness that ultimately allowed him to succeed in protecting his team despite the exorbitant cost.

The idea Harry’s sacrifice would be the cost necessary to defeat The Thinker made narrative sense though logistically problematic. Given their love for Harry, he would always have a place with Team Flash whatever his intellectual shortcomings. Unfortunately, those shortcomings limited his narrative contributions which led The Powers That Be to have their cake and eat it too. Marlize’s cure restored Harry’s personality but not his intellect. This saves a beloved character and leaves open the possibility of him returning and/or regaining his intelligence at some later date while not entirely negating his sacrifice. Unfortunately, it also undercuts the power of that sacrifice.

The Powers That Be made multiple unexpected choices. Chief among them appearing to resolve the war with the Thinker in the first half hour and leaving the rest as a prologue to next season. However, this year’s focus on the bonds forged by family and friends also serves as the setup for the next. Both in terms of how Killer Frost intersects with Caitlin’s father and Barry and Iris’s daughter Nora.

No episode is perfect and finales have the additional burden of tying up all the threads of the past season. That said, I thought this was a fitting end for one of the Flash’s better Big Bads and it left me with enough questions to torture me over the long hiatus. Success.

4 out of 5 world-saving sonic punches

Parting Thoughts:

Barry might actually solve cases as Barry next season. It looks like the Mayor had a change of heart and he’s getting his job back.

They did a much better job of making me care what happened to Harry then last year’s finale. Or was it simply the product of knowing Harry longer than I knew HR?

After his misogynistic introduction I was surprised both that I missed Ralph, and that I’m looking forward to seeing him next year.

And while I know they aren't going in this direction, shouldn't Ralph have all the abilities The Thinker stole from the other metas?

I don’t know what pleased me more. Seeing Wally back in the bosom of his family. Or, the acknowledgment that there is no place for him with Team Flash. He’s a good fit over on Legends.

My suspicion that our mystery girl was Barry and Iris's daughter proved true, although I thought she'd be Dawn from the comics.

Quotes:

Iris: “What do you see?” Barry: “Nothing.” Cisco: “A little vague for the viewers at home. What do you mean, ‘nothing’?”

Cisco: “Everyone chill. It’s not like Cecile is going to lose her powers if she has this baby. Cecile’s going to lose her powers if she has this baby? Won’t that leave Barry stranded in DeVoe’s mind?” Marlize: I’m afraid so. Cisco: “Information you may have wanted to share, like, way before now!”

Cisco: “I won’t lose anyone else today.”

Barry: “Have you seen him?” Dibny: “A good DeVoe? No. Just the evil, floating chair variety.”

DeVoe: “They’ll be no defeating The Big Bad this year, Mr. Allen.”

DeVoe: “We are gathered here today to worship in song. I suggest ‘Kumbaya.’”

Dibny: “Allen, you said the only way to save the world is by finding the good that’s left in DeVoe. It’s right here. With a hole in its chest.”

Barry: “They can read our minds.” Dibny: “Then we do this Dibny-style.” Barry: “What?” Dibny: “We don’t think.”

DeVoe: “How did you beat me?” Barry: “I didn’t. We did.”

Marlize: “Goodbye, My Love.”

Harry: “Don’t worry. You have been and will always be my friend.”

Barry: “Who are you?” Nora: “I’m your daughter, Nora. From the future.”

--

Shari loves sci-fi, fantasy, supernatural, and anything with a cape

[charmedtheselfproclaimedking]

Charmed Again: Season 3 (Charmed Fanfic)

Episode 4 - The People Versus Raven Turner

Warnings: I don’t own the rights to any of the characters from the hit TV show “Charmed” or the storylines related to the show those rights belong to original creator Constance M Burge.

15+ Moderate/Graphic Displays of Violence, Sexual Innuendos, Witchcraft and Potentially Triggering Scenes.

Raven shimmered onto the witness booth in the magical community’s courtroom the entire room being completely black except for the large white floor and two large white desks for the accused.

It’s the same court room in which the original charmed ones were put on trial for reckless magic and fought to save their friend Daryl’s life many years ago with the exact same large heads floating above the room preparing to make their judgement on the proceedings.

Raven looked over at one desk for the accused somewhat comforted to see her brother Cole sat behind it along with Paul, Pan and Drake and their white lighter Lacey while the headmaster at magic school Dermot McQueen sat alone at the other table clearly ready to condemn the demon.

“My name is Raven Turner I’m part human part demon, but my demonic side is the reason why I’m standing here today.” Raven addressed the court. “I was born and raised by my mother after she killed my father but unlike my mother, I chose a different path for myself. By choosing this path of peace I had no choice but to leave the Underworld behind forever because I refused to believe that just because I’m a demon that automatically makes me evil.”

“Your receptionist, your neighbor and several of your employees at Halliwell and Turner were slaughtered not to mention a student at my own school.” Dermot told the half demon half human hybrid. “Tell me why a demon would go to such lengths to hurt you unless you are the demon who did the hurting?”

“You really don’t understand the Underworld, do you?” Raven snapped at the elder. “Hurting people is exactly what the evil love doing more than anything especially hurting a demon who rejected their rules and way of life.”

“Perhaps not but you do in fact know my employee Mr Drake Black and you are a friend of his are you not?” Dermot asked the accused. “Therefore, giving you the opportunity to get to know and possibly even kill my student.”

“Objection!” Drake shouted at the top of his lungs as he rose from his chair, eager to fight for his fellow hybrid.

“On what ground?” Asked one of the three heads.

“This elder is arguing the archaic theory that just because someone she may or may not have had some contact with the victims then she must clearly be the guilty party however as we all know people die around us all the time.” Drake addressed the court. “Raven is no different from a good witch who is just here trying to explain why people are dying around her but instead of being a witch she’s a demon and therefore there’s this assumption that she must be guilty which is biased and frankly idiotic.”

“Witches lose innocents all the time which the explanation there but Miss Raven Turner isn’t a witch she’s a demon and whether you like it or not you can’t argue that when people start dying around a demon it’s usually the demons fault.” Dermot argued with Drake.

“Raven has powers just like a good witch does she doesn’t kill innocents just like a good witch and the only person in this court room who sees Raven Turner as anything less than a valuable part of the magical community is you and people with prejudices like you.” Drake schooled his boss once again before looking up at the three judges. “Raven has never shown any signs of wanting to hurt anyone the whole time I’ve known her, she literally escaped the Underworld because she wasn’t able to hurt anyone and now you want to put her on trial when we should be protecting her.”

“There is no evidence to prove Drake’s theory that Raven needs any protection just like there is no evidence of any other demon around when these crimes were committed other than Raven Turner herself of course.” Dermot argued.

“None of you may have any reason to trust Raven Turner because none of you really even know her but you’ve all heard of me and accept me enough to not only be a charmed one but a guidance counselor at magic school.” Drake said taking a different approach in his defense of his friend. “I’m half demon just like she is but all this is pushed aside by you all because I’m a charmed one, but it shouldn’t be because the demon part of me makes up the charmed ones just as much as my witch side. The elders have overturned many archaic rulings over the years we no longer live in times where any demon should be judged just for being a demon. I know Miss Turner and I can honestly say without a shred of doubt in my mind she isn’t guilty of this crime.”

“Is it not true Mr Black that you also trusted her and her brother Cole Turner before they betrayed you by working alongside the ancient mistress of dark magics Morgana to unlock the dark grimoire?” Dermot questioned Drake. “I mean for a demon who doesn’t want to harm anyone the unlocking of the dark grimoire would’ve caused a lot of harm would it not?”

“Yes, but that was under a desperate act the siblings had to try and reunite with their father we have all done reckless things out of grief.” Drake replied to him.

“That is not an excuse for almost unleashing all kinds of torment into this world the only thing that this proves is that your judgement is clearly not reliable.” Dermot told Drake before returning his attention back to the judges. “Drake Black shouldn’t be trying to defend anyone because history has proven time and time again that his judgement can’t be trusted. Drake has been romanced by the dubious demon Ash Anderson as an attempt to make him the prince of the Underworld, has been lied to and fooled by his own family who sit beside him now time and time again, his mother and grandfather were both sources of all evil and let us not forget the time he himself became the source.”

“Oh god this isn’t looking so good!” Pan told an equally worried Paul, Lacey and Cole as she looked at clearly infuriated Drake.

Drake stormed over to Dermot and launched his fist at the elder punching him straight in the face and causing the magic school headmaster to fall to the ground.

“We don’t condone violence in this court room!” All three judges shouted in unison.

“Yeah well that kind of got away from me.” Drake told the judges before he quickly vanished from the courtroom by their doing.

“Please Paul you’re going to have to take the stand after all you are the lawyer around here.” Cole pleaded with Paul.

24 Hours Earlier

Raven walked into the front entrance of the building for her law firm Halliwell and Turner holding a plastic tray containing two takeaway coffees in her hand with a big smile on her face as she walked over to the reception to greet her receptionist Patty Craft by handing her one of the coffees.

“You know you really should be getting me to do coffee runs Miss Turner after all I am your receptionist not the other way around.” Patty told her as she willingly accepted her coffee while sat behind the reception desk.

“Well I always like a coffee before starting work anyway so it’s only fair I pick one up for my favorite employee at the same time I mean you are the first face anyone sees when they walk in so there’s no point that face being missing because she’s off running after other people making them coffee when everyone is perfectly capable of making their own coffees.” Raven told her.

“About that Miss Turner I normally wouldn’t ask but I was wondering if I could finish an hour earlier today?” Patty nervously asked her boss. “My daughters are coming in from New York today and they rarely ever get time off together.”

“You mean your workaholic daughter Penny has finally got some time off being a detective in the big apple at the same time Rose is taking time off from studying at Columbia? That is a pretty big deal.” Raven replied with genuine excitement in her voice. “Of course, you can finish an hour early in fact you can half a half day with full pay so you can spend some time with your girls I know how precious family can be.”

“Are you sure Miss Turner?” Patty asked her, thrilled to get the time off. “You’re the best boss ever!”

“Please just call me Raven I feel like the two of us should be on first name basis by now.” Raven told her. “I mean here at Halliwell and Turner your practically family.”

Drake walked sneakily down the main hallway of magic school trying to rush his way to his office door after running a little late that morning only to make it right to his front door as Dermot orbed himself in front of the Halliwell hybrid.

“You’re late again Mr Black.” Dermot told him.

“Only by five minutes and as far as you know it could’ve been a charmed emergency.” Drake replied to his boss.

“Was there a charmed emergency?” Dermot asked to which Drake nodded to signal a no. “Then your late for no reason…again.”

“I’m sorry,” Drake apologized. “I’ll try my best to make sure it won’t happen again.”

“Good because the elders and I have put a lot of faith in you by giving you this position at magic school I’d hate to see your potential go to waste because of your tardiness.” Dermot advised the guidance counselor.

“I’ll keep that in mind.” Drake replied with a forced smile.

“I really don’t know what to say!” Pan said to Lacey as the two of them stood within an empty apartment located somewhere within San Francisco. “It just seems a little meh to me to be honest it doesn’t feel like it could be home.”

“Clearly this isn’t the one for us but there’s so many more on the viewing list yet I’m sure we’ll find the perfect home.” Lacey replied to her fiancé.

“I know this should be an exciting time for us both and I’ve always wanted a place without siblings and ancestors popping in every two seconds but I’m really dreading having to tell Paul we’re moving.” Pan admitted to her. “He’s not going to take it well we’ve lived together all our lives and he loves that his whole family is final under one roof.”

“I understand that, but he’s got to let you go at some point the two of you can’t live together forever you both have to live your own life sooner rather than later.” Lacey told her. “Besides Drake and Lilah will keep him company it’s not like their going anywhere anytime soon.”

“You’re right you always are.” Pan replied before kissing Lacey. “But I’ll hold off on telling Paul until after we find the perfect place.”

“So, your named Raven because your mother used to turn you into one every time you did something to displease her?” Paul asked his business partner while she sat behind her desk in her office as he sat in the chair in front of her desk at Halliwell and Turner as the two of them ate salad during their lunch break. “As parenting goes that’s pretty bloody awful.”

“To be honest that was far from the worst parenting in the Underworld and I actually quite enjoyed being a raven sometimes I mean the flying made me feel free at a time when I felt imprisoned and getting to scare clueless teens was also a lot of fun.” Raven admitted before laughing to herself. “Thank god for horror culture always finding a way to amuse me.”

“Making people jump is probably the baddest thing you’ve ever done.” Paul joked with her.

“I’ve really missed this…I’ve missed you.” Raven said with sincerity.

“I’ve missed you too!” Paul replied before their lunch was interrupted by loud screams coming from people outside of their office.

Raven and Paul quickly rushed out of their office chasing the sound of the screams from various people as they passed reception and walked out into the parking lot outside of their law firm only to be left horrified to find a completely burned up corpse laying on the ground next to a car Raven instantly recognized as Patty Craft’s, the law firm’s number one receptionist.

Drake was sat behind his desk in his office at magic school typing away at his computer when he heard a knock at his door before his boss Dermot walked into his office.

“Okay you’ve literally just moaned at me about time keeping what’s next on your list to have a go at me for?” Drake asked him.

“Well actually I was hoping you could sit in with a meeting I’m having right now to make sure I’m not handling it with a biased view considering the incident happened within my class when I was teaching.” Dermot replied. “A student apparently thought it was okay to attack another.”

“Can’t say I can blame either one of them really having to listen to your lectures would turn anyone violent.” Drake mocked his boss before reluctantly standing up. “Of course, violence in school is never unacceptable but why can’t you handle this yourself? After all you are the boss around here.”

“Because it involves two demonic students and I have a feeling you’d throw a fit again if I handled it incorrectly so this way it saves us both a lot of time.” Dermot teased the guidance counselor with a wicked smile on his face.

“Does anyone actually like you here?” Drake wondered.

“Other than you people seem to love me.” Dermot responded with a laugh. “I’m very popular around here actually.”

“Yeah well Satan’s popular around certain circles too.” Drake taunted him.

After the police and coroners were called and took away what remained of Patty Craft, Raven, Paul and Lacey had found themselves sitting on a couch within the reception area of Halliwell and Turner which was now completely empty barring the three of them as Raven and Paul told everyone to go home following Patty’s untimely and horrific demise.

“My guess is some demon is trying to send one of you a message.” Lacey suggested to them both. “But considering we’re talking about a charmed one and a demon turned good the list could of possibilities could be endless.”

“Her daughters were coming in from New York today she never got to see them as often as she’d like, and she was so excited to have them both home for a few days.” Raven cried. “Penny is always busy with work and Rose is always busy studying that they’d never have enough time with Patty and now some monster has made it so these girls will never get another moment with their mother.”

“I know it’s awful Patty Craft was an amazing woman.” Paul told Raven as he reached out and held her hand. “The best receptionist we ever had I wish I got to know her better…I didn’t even know she had children.”

“I can’t remember the last time I’ve lost someone I knew I believe it was my father all those years ago if this is because of me if some demon has a vendetta against me then I’ll never forgive myself.” Raven told them both.

“You’re not to blame for any of this Raven even if it is some demon trying to get back at you that happens to us all the time.” Paul tried to reassure her while holding Raven’s hand tighter. “We will get justice for Patty and make whoever did this pay I promise you that.”

“I guess I’ll check in with the elders and find out what’s going on from them if they know anything.” Lacey said to Raven and Paul. “You guys try and sit tight until I’m back.”

Drake walked into Dermot’s office to find the two female students sitting on opposite ends of the headmaster’s couch. He quickly rushed over to his boss’ desk and sat down behind it on Dermot’s chair.

“How come he gets the comfier chair?” Drake mumbled to himself. “I’m so stealing this later.”

“Look Mr Black I didn’t mean to get violent but she kept saying the charmed ones thought they were so much more important than they actually were and so I argued with my first.” The redheaded student claimed.

“Hey, you’re the one who said charmed 2.0 has nothing on the original.” The brunette student snapped back at the redhead.

“What now?” Drake asked looking at them both, clearly unimpressed before going on to say. “There is absolutely no excuse for violence of any kind within magic school I would say or out of it, but sometimes folk need vanquished.”

“Fine,” The redhead sighed before turning to look at the brunette. “When I said the charmed ones were self-important, I meant Charmed 2.0 not the original charmed ones the originals rock.”

“Yeah, they do, don’t they?” The brunette agreed. “Prue’s my favorite.”

“I personally love Piper!” The redheaded student replied.

“Whether the two of you agree or disagree there’s no reason to answer an argument with your fists trust me when I say there are a lot of people in this life that are going to irritate you but punching them is never going to be the answer.” Drake educated them both.

“You mean like the way you stop yourself from knocking Mr McQueen’s lights out every time he reprehends you?” The redhead replied to him. “He seems to be a lot nicer to the other teachers around here.”

“I knew he was extra strict on me for something reason.” Drake agreed before returning himself back to the matter in hand. “The point I’m trying make is when someone says something you don’t like speak it out instead of going fist first and maybe just maybe you won’t wind up with detention again.”

“Well I think Mr McQueen’s got it hot for you!” The brunette suggested. “There’s nothing hotter in the library than demon/angel romance novels and you guys are like the real edition.”

“Okay I think I’m done here,” Drake changed the subject as he stood up from his chair. “You’re both getting detention every day after school for a week hopefully I won’t have to hand you anymore detentions in the future although if you suggest any romances with me and Mr McQueen again, I’ll give use detention for life!”

“I think I have theory on who might have done this Paul.” Raven told the Halliwell lawyer as the two remained sitting on a couch with the reception area of Halliwell and Turner. “I think she’s come back for me once again and it’s all my fault for believing she’d ever leave me alone.”

“Who do you think it is Raven?” Paul asked her.

“My mother Beth Turner she never did know how to let go of me or Cole and she specialized in burning her victims alive I mean sure she had another talents when it came to murder but when she wanted people to know who killed her victim she’d burn them like that.” Raven explained. “I haven’t seen her in so long I had hoped I was finally free…I guess I’m never going to be free from her.”

“We need to tell Cole straight away between the two of you, the elders and us we can figure out what to do to stop your mother and make sure she doesn’t hurt anyone else.” Pan told his fellow business partner.

“No this is my fault for not killing her all those years ago which means I must finish this one way or another.” Raven replied before kissing a shocked Paul. “If things don’t end well look after my brother.”

Before Paul had any chance to talk Raven out of whatever it was that she was planning she had already shimmered her way out of sight.

“Are you like everywhere now?” Drake asked Dermot as Dermot walked into his own office to see Drake sitting comfortably behind his desk and no students to be found.

“You do remember I sent you in here to deal with students not to take over my office, right?” Dermot asked him.

“Yes, I do…now.” Drake replied as he stood up from Dermot’s office chair. “I’ve delivered detentions to both students for a week and I think helped them bond over their love for the original charmed ones and their joined believes that neither me nor my father or aunt will ever live up to their legacy so you’re welcome.”

“I guess you’re continuing to prove yourself worthy of your job tittle…for now.” Dermot told him. “Long may it last.”

“Let me make myself perfectly clear Dermot,” Drake snapped as he stormed over to stand in front of the headmaster. “You can keep riding me as hard as you want but I’m not going to buckle under anyone’s pressure I’ve been through so much more than you could ever handle and I refuse to let some old man with a god complex make me quit now so if you want me out of here you’re going to have to fire me.”

Raven shimmered her way to different caves and locations within the Underworld relentlessly searching for her mother not stopping for long as she continue to search high and low for her twisted mother refusing to be scared of being caught by anyone as she vowed to seek revenge on Elizabeth Turner for all the crimes she had committed, finally coming face to face with her mother within one of the endless caves in the Underworld.

“Well if it isn’t one of my failures, you’re a very brave girl to come back here after all this time knowing everybody here wants you dead.” Beth told her daughter upon their family reunion.

“I can’t believe after all these years your still hurting people just to get to me!” Raven screamed at her mother. “You murdered that innocent woman just to spite me what kind of monster are you?”

“I’m a mother who simply wants her children to live up to their potential instead of continuing to disappoint me repeatedly.” Beth snapped back. “We are demons darling not pathetic humans and the sooner you learn this the better.”

“You need to leave me and my brother alone forever or I promise you I’ll break my no kill mission just to end you!” Raven warned her.

“Please you’re nothing but a disappointment you couldn’t kill anyone.” Beth cruelly mocked her daughter. “How about we test this little threat of yours?”

After a long day at work Drake found himself facing an even longer night at magic school following a list of reports that had been handed to him from his boss on students he needed to check up on leading to Drake calling on Cole to pick up Lilah to babysit while he continued working, refusing to let Dermot win in a battle he was convinced the elder had started to make Drake quit a job that despite his terrible boss he had found himself loving.

“Me allowing you an unsupervised visit with Lilah doesn’t mean we’re back to being besties again or anything it just means I’m willing to give you a second chance so try not to blow it again.” Drake told Cole while the two walked down the main hall of magic school with Drake pushing Lilah’s pram while Lilah was fast asleep in her seat.

“I promise no more family drama is going to get me betraying you again.” Cole promised him.

“Yeah, I’m done talking this to death so take my daughter for an hour and I mean an hour tops and then bring her back and god help me if you so much as…” Drake began to say before Cole interrupted him by kissing him on the lips much to Drake’s surprise.

Before Drake could even respond to Cole’s surprise act, he had grabbed a hold of the pram and shimmered away with Lacey just before a clearly panicked Raven shimmered herself in front of Drake.

“Drake I really need your help.” Raven told him.

“I’m beginning to think there’s some huge conspiracy going on right now to keep me here forever.” Drake said as he walked Raven into his office at magic school. “Sorry…please go ahead and tell me what you need.”

“My mother has returned and she’s killing people right left and center in some attempt to torture me and I would’ve went to Cole but he���s on recently back on side and I don’t know how he’ll react to our mother being back.” Raven explained to him. “I need to stop her somehow, but I’ve never killed before not even something as wicked as her.”

“Wow as revelations go that’s quite a big one to get my head around.” Drake admitted. “Don’t worry I’ve got your back no matter what you want to do with her.”

“Thanks, I just want her to be stopped once and for all so no more blood is on my hands because of her.” Raven told him.

“Raven we’re not to blame for our parents it’s something I had to learn myself you know with my mother being the source of all evil and everything. You’re not responsible for whatever your mother is doing but I can sure as hell help you stop her once and for all.” Drake reassured Raven.

“First you’re late to showing up and now you’re late to finishing I’m beginning to think you’re one confusing witch Mr Black.” Dermot said as he walked into Drake’s office before recognizing Raven straight away.

“Trust me I’m going to leave once I’m done the reports which I’ll do after helping my friend here so you can turn back around and mind your own business thank you very much Mr McQueen.” Drake snapped at his boss.

“Yeah that’s not happening Drake I’m going to need to speak to you in my office right now!” Dermot argued with his feisty employee.

“I will be there once I’m finished helping my friend.” Drake told his boss.

“My office now!” Dermot shouted before storming out of Drake’s office.

“I’m sorry about all this he’s turning into the first ever elder I’m going to vanquish,” Drake apologized to Raven. “I’ll be straight back and then we’ll vanquish your mum please just stay here for a minute.”

“You really do have quite the variety of people stopping by your office.” Dermot snapped at Drake as Drake met him within the main hallway of Magic School.

“Again, with this demon hating talk are you ever going to learn from this self-hatred you have for demons?” Drake argued with his boss. “I get you may have not been a big fan about me working here because I’m a demon but I’m a damn good one and guess what so is my visitor.”

“You’re so beyond naive is frustrating when are you going to learn to stop trusting everyone so bloody easily?” Dermot told him. “This naivety of yours is going to wind up harming one of our students.”

“I’m here to help all students the demonic ones especially and the only way for magic school to ever really change for the better is for you to either shut up and accept the changes or back the hell down!” Drake shouted at Dermot.

“You really think you know everything don’t you your so beyond frustrating it’s driving me crazy.” Dermot shouted back at him as he got up in Drake’s face, both completely furious with each other.

“No, it’s you who’s convinced you know everything and you’re the one driving me crazy!” Drake snapped back at his boss before he was once again surprised, this time by Dermot pulling his body in towards his own and passionately kissing him.

The two looked at each other with pure confusion in their eyes, unsure of what just happened between them while longing to kiss each other again until suddenly they heard a loud scream coming from Drake’s office a scream which Drake instantly recognized as Raven’s.

“How the hell did you get in here mother?” Asked a horrified Raven after her mother shimmered into Drake’s office holding a male student from magic school by the throat. “Please just let him go and I’ll do whatever you need me to do.”

“I remember a time when this school never let our kind in and now it seems by trying to be more inclusive of us, they’ve just opened themselves up for any old demon to talk in.” Beth replied to her daughter while continuing to strangle the student.

“Let the kid go mother, stop hurting these innocents and start hurting me instead I know that’s what you want.”

“But darling hurting others seems to hurt you so much more!” Beth told her daughter before setting the student on fire with her magical touch alone.

“No!” Raven screamed at the top of her lungs.

Present Day

Raven was sat on the witness platform as her court case withing the magical courtroom continued after Drake found himself kicked out of court while the three heads remained above them all judging the demon on trial as Raven tried to focus on Paul, Pan, Cole and Lacey who were sat at the defense table.

“The entire case presented here against the accused is nothing more than a case of prejudice within the magic community spearheaded by the headmaster of magic school nonetheless which only serves to prove if anything that Mr Dermot McQueen is far from the right person to be head of any school where demonic students reside.” Paul addressed the court after standing up from his chair and walking over to stand in the middle of the courtroom floor. “In over 100 years Raven has never harmed a single innocent and instead of believing a victim who is quite clearly under attack you all jump to this conclusion that she must be guilty because she’s a demon and demons are only good for killing people. Raven was right when she said she wouldn’t be here if she was a witch and for that reason alone you should all be deeply ashamed of yourselves.”

“Objection!” Dermot shouted as he rose up to his feet from behind the desk of the opposition. “Paul Halliwell is clearly a biased party who despite having a law degree is unwisely basing hi argument on emotion instead of evidence or logic.”

“No this entire court proceeding is based on zero evidence except from a corpse being found near the accused while the other corpse was found with the accused when she was having lunch with myself and therefore I’m here alibi for the first murder which was identical to the second which occurred in magic school.” Paul argued with Dermot before looking up at the three judges. “If change is really going to happen in the magical community then we have to be the change, the driving force to make it all happen.”

“Enough!” Raven shouted as she stood up from her seat and began walking over to Paul. “I may have never hurt an innocent life but as of today I can no longer say I haven’t claimed any lives.”

“Show us what you mean please Miss Turner.” One of the three judges asked her.

“Of course.” Raven agreed before a screen suddenly appeared to the right of the courtroom as they watched Raven’s mother kill the male student in front of Raven in Drake’s office at magic school completely burned the body before Raven returned the favour to Elizabeth Turner  as she set her own mother on fire before Beth exploded and the screen disappeared along with the footage.

“You did the right thing Raven!” Cole told his sister as he stood up from his chair. “Our father would’ve been so proud of you.”

“You vanquished a demon who was killing innocents Miss Turner that makes you a hero in our eyes not a murderer.” One of the judges said to her.

“Today has honestly shown us of our own prejudices along with many others within the magical community.” Another judge stated while the three judges looked at Dermot.

“We thank you for your services Miss Turner and apologize for this trial ever having to take place.” The third judge apologised. “As for prejudices within Magic School we will be implementing some changes to ensure a brighter future for all students.

“We won!” Paul smiled as Lacey, Cole and Pan stood up to cheer before Paul hugged Raven.

“I’m not sure we did.” Raven replied to him.

[theliterateape]

Manufacturing Wounded Status to Beat the System

By Don Hall

As I sit in a local coffee shop, sending out emails to drum up events production business and create new and interesting ways to promote Literate Ape as well as our several local lit events, it often occurs to me that there must be an easier way to do this shilling for a buck thing.

I recall the numerous times I’ve been taken by someone presenting themselves as down on their luck—the hopeless “I haven’t eaten in three days” pitch, the emergency need for a couple of bucks to get on the train to get to work, the hapless request for some cash to “help clothe my child.” When DMJ and I were in Paris, we were confronted by a woman with a clipboard and a pitch to help fund the “Fight for Women” except that she was obviously lying and her clipboard was no more than a prop meant to fool the well-meaning tourists on the strip. 

I read yesterday about the mother of Kenneka Jenkins, the girl found dead in a hotel freezer without explanation as to how she ended up in there, addressing the Rage Profiteers who had mounted protests at yet another black woman found dead in Chicago.

Turns out some of those advocates were collecting money to fund the protest but kept the cash for themselves instead, and her mother, either because she found this to be kind of criminal or just that she wasn’t getting any of the moolah, called an end to it.

It reminded me of the folks who used 9/11 to cash in on pieces of ground zero (with tens of thousands of dollars spent buying chunks of concrete that had no connection to those attacks) or the companies that scrambled to sell little American flags around the same time. Using the idea of victimhood and heroism as a way to line their pockets was like a smaller version of Naomi Klein’s Shock Doctrine theory.  Find a wrong done somewhere, become the victim or hero of that situation, make the money grab and milk it for all you can. 

Do white males in America really feel marginalized by the strident Left? I don’t think so. I think these MRAs and Alt Right dipshits see those who are banking on victimhood, elevating their marginalized survival as somehow heroic and cashing in on it as just another opportunity to seize some much needed financing. Will the Chicago Theater Accountability Coalition eventually pull out the GoFundMe campaign because being a neo-McCarthyite is draining of time and energy and must be compensated?

Given the lack of ethics education or ethical behavior exhibited by our chosen and elected leaders, it’s no surprise that a single POC mother who has had fewer choices than most and who has bullied her way into a position of Triumphant Victim uses that sob story to create financial opportunities. Given the lack of serious oversight on the conflicts of interest presented by our current president, it is of no consequence to see the slow burn of often baseless accusations become an extortion of sorts by those claiming to have been harmed in some way to gain traction fiscally.

Gaming the system isn’t hard when the polemic is lead by shallow marketing efforts trying to sell the idea that being sick is a war against disease, that being marginalized is a trial that automatically elevates you, and that being mistreated or offended in almost any way guarantees you some sort of hero status. At this point, we've become an entire nation of panhandlers and the snake oil we sell is that of our own suffering and woe.

Case in point: the Australian woman who, on the idea that she had brain cancer and “cured” it with healthy eating (“cutting out gluten, dairy, and coffee”) amassed a small fortune with a smart phone app.

“No. None of it’s true,” Gibson finally confessed in April 2015 after questions were raised about her story. “I don’t want forgiveness. I just think [speaking out] was the responsible thing to do.”

Before she shut down her Facebook and Instagram accounts, Gibson had amassed quite a following, and kept everyone up to date on how she was “curing” her cancer. How did she cure it? By cutting out gluten, dairy, and coffee, among other things.

Gibson made over $420,000 during the course of her elaborate hoax. She was found guilty back in April but the fine of $410,000 was just issued today. The court found that Gibson made just over $10,000 in donations to charities during her venture, far short of what she claimed.

She made almost half a million bucks based on 1. Our fear of brain cancer 2. The drilled down pseudo-science of eating kale and the evils of dairy 3. Our kneejerk hipster desire to demonize gluten 4. Our desire for all solutions to be presented on our fucking phones

Why do we fall for this crap? Is it that we so desperately need to believe that overcoming adversity is a special superpower we can all access, like The Force (sans midichlorians, of course) and by believing this sort of nonsense we lend credence to the possibility for ourselves? I mean, if I had brain cancer, I might grasp at any straw that offered any possibility of a cure, even a freaking smart phone app that promoted healthy eating. That, however, is just this much to the left of having some random Holy Man lay hands on my skull and mutter some prayers, or a Paula Dean-esque women convince me that positive thinking will cure the simmering tumor in my medulla oblongata.

We purport that the victim of abuse is somehow more of an expert on abuse than an objective and dispassionate party. We suggest that, despite all of the research that exposes the serious flaws in eye witness testimony, that unless you were there, you can’t weigh in. That suffering grants the sufferer some sort of innate wisdom and angelic status. And then we pay for it almost every time.

At this point, if they're asking for money and their sales pitch is their own status as a suffering Christ-like figure complete with stigmata and a tortured existence beyond their control, I'll give them my sympathy but not my dough.

There sure is an easier way to scramble for a buck but I prefer the honest hustle to the shell game of victimhood.