what's up, i like charmed

1a) thoughts on Phoebe/Kyra ship?

1b) any other good sapphic Phoebe ships in mind? whether you ship them or not?

2) thoughts on any good sapphic Paige ships? the only one i've seen someone ship her with is Jinny the Genie (only in one episode) and idk that i really care about it that much and i'm trying to think what other sapphic ship could she have cause i definitely get more gay vibes from her than Phoebe but i think Phoebe does have more sapphic ship opportunities :/

(if you're no longer desperate for distraction and you're busier now don't worry about answering this quickly! i can wait for a reply)

lmao, I appreciate it, nonnie! Definitely would not say no to more asks bc I'm trying to get back into the groove and all of the other ones are longer things, which is why they're sitting there rn (love everyone who sends asks, my brain just requires time to marinate). Also my boyfriend and I just got back from an art scavenger hunt, which was so fun! Except I am now burnt, thighs chafed (jean shorts and flip flops was A Choice y'all), and Exhausted so I am. basically not moving for at minimum an hour so prime ask answering time! (Edit: okay, that was yesterday and my laptop started dying so I could not finish and had to move to reading a book instead, but point of always wanting more asks stands lol.)

For Phoebe/Kyra, just gonna share this with you real quick. And I honestly think it'd be cute, especially bc even though Kyra is a demon, I think that she and Phoebe are much more similar than they think or prefer. I think that Kyra could help Phoebe both expand her powers in a new one and also learn to appreciate humanity and magic in a different way, just a very different optimism to them. (I also really like the idea of Phoebe, Drake, and Kyra together bc I think that their energies would mesh well.) It would also be funny bc I think that Phoebe would gear up to have to basically do a early version of Phole 2.0 only for the biggest issues with Kyra being like. personal gain and shit. (Like we really did never see her being violent and the only plan of her own we see is the desire to turn human, so I imagine her to be much more petty bullshit and mischief than actual violence.)

For other Phoebe (and Paige) ships, I think that the issue is mostly that we don't actually have a lot of female recurring characters that aren't related/in a maternal role to the sisters? That said, for Phoebe, I've seen Aviva mentioned a lot, but my personal preference is Aviva had a crush on her but Phoebe didn't. For other one-off characters, Charlene from Ex Libris definitely would've been a cute couple, especially with Phoebe sweating as Charlene continues theorizing about magic and demons. I think that Melody the muse would've been a good one, especially since Phoebe ends up with the writing job as an advice columnist.

Like. all? of the recurring female characters are demons, so it'd have to be enemies to lovers. My favorite ones would be the Oracle (bc she's hot and I want more info on her tbh) or the Seer (here is some more you if that compels ya). Julie, Cole's demonic assistant that was trying to replace Phoebe, I could see hate fucking but idk if they'd catch feelings. Super random one, but does anyone remember Charon, the demonic soul collector from season one? She interacted with Phoebe the most out of the sisters, I think, and that could be interesting. Hannah from season one also maybe, like initially as a way to fuck with Prue/replace Rex's seduction thing. Maybe you could also argue Billie but I can't see that one tbh. My favorite ones are probably: Charlene, Melody, or the Oracle. (Plus Kyra bc gayyyy.)

As for Paige, you're right in that I kinda struggle with a lot of the character options there tbh. Earlier on, she has that coworker Lila when she was a social worker that she was friends with that gives off lesbian vibes, and they were friends but would've required her to be more featured in the show. Her charge Joanna in s7 is another maybe that would've required more, but in regards to charges, I do think it was one of the more even-leveled ones that we saw, bc I feel like Paige was too... in charge? Over? Billie to really be able to suggest her. (Also Billie's enough of a train wreck when she meets the sisters that I don't think any of them would really work with her tbh.)

For some magical options, potentially Mylie the mermaid, especially since Paige was so gung-hoe about saving her and had the most interaction with her, I believe. (Also I would've loved to get more for mermaids.) Kinda offset by the fact that Mylie's plot is her little mermaid-ing it up with that guy, but potential. The nymphs, Daisy and Miranda, also had that free love vibe when Paige was transformed into a nymph as well. (Circles of nymphs consisting of triad lover girls with their gay queer-platonic satyr protector, anyone?)

My favorite two, however, are Ava Nicolae or Mikelle. I feel like Ava could mesh pretty well with Paige tbh? Like personality-wise, I think that it'd initially be a bit of an opposites-attract thing, but I think that they're both learning their respective crafts and could balance one another out pretty well. Mikelle is like. definitely gay, y'all, but that said, I feel like they'd be better as besties rather than lovers bc Paige is trying to help Mikelle a bit too much for me to feel like that relationship wouldn't be a bit too toxic ultimately.

Ooh, for enemies to lovers, Paige should've had a vampire gf. Maybe the Vampire Queen, but at least a vamp girlfriend, I think you could draw parallels between vampires being the outcasts of the Underworld with Paige as this forbidden child. (Also wanted more for vampires.) I actually do like the idea of Paige/Jinny, I think that their banter was fun and we got some backstory hints for Jinny but it is pretty much you gotta extrapolate out some good stuff. I can't really think of any good enemies to lovers for Paige tbh? She def should've got some though.

Honestly, this is a really good question?? I'm not super sure honestly, so this is gonna be kinda a cop-out type of answer tbh. (Also disclaimer that I offer no promises that these names won't pop up bc sometimes ya got to get a little ridiculous when you keep doing next gen aus man.)

Prue - Artemisia, aka the name I used for Presley's middle name bc I'm projecting my enjoyment of that painter onto Prue. Anything in a similar vein as well, I'm gonna categorize her as someone who likes names from creative historical figures but won't actually name her kid something like Properzia (as in Properzia de Rossi) or Plautilla (as in Plautilla Nelli).

Piper - when it comes to Piper's kids' names, I honestly can't think of anything wild for her. I think that she's the most likely to pull out the family names, so probably the ones that just are a bit too recent/current maybe? But I have no idea what would be wild for her.

Phoebe - Peighton, I feel like Phoebe would be the one to do the godawful spelling shit until one of the sisters goes what the fuck is that.

(So sorry, I just had to lose my shit about all of these pairings first.)

Wait, Prue/Andy/Bane hits bc I think that Bane would initially drive Andy absolutely fucking nuts bc he's a criminal!! And then they fall in love and I think that it balances everything out bc Prue is the one with the plan and keeping things level, Bane is an intense romantic and sweeps the other two up into spontaneous adventures, and Andy is the one who makes it all fell like a home. I think that works so surprisingly well, and I've never considered that before!!

I think that Piper/Mark/Leo would also be super sweet in the early seasons, and I do think that we'd skip past the kind of tension between Leo and Mark that Leo and Dan had, and I think it'd be very sweet. Not totally sure how they'd all grow together, but I think that I'd definitely skip Mark as a Whitelighter in that AU to have him be an Angel of Death instead. (Here is some meta/thoughts about the creation of Angels of Death, which is still pretty vague but is the vibe here.) (Oh, also, quick preview of Piper/Mark next gen AU 2.0 has Mark as an Angel of Death! but I have to post the original one first oops.) I'd just love to see all three of them grow into these incredibly powerful, badass leaders of their communities and then come home and just be <3 adorable nerds in love together.

And then ofc Phoebe/Coop/Cole is surprisingly appealing bc like I said, I think that Coop actually makes the Cole redemption land by making the connection for Cole that he can't change for others' love but only for himself and it's Phoebe stepping into this very adult, long lasting love for the first time, and then there's something about Coop, who has always brought love for others, not only falling in love himself but in a situation that he thinks he has no business being in. (Coop being told to break them up, but he went that's dumb and decided to help them instead but he's just some Cupid and this is a Charmed One and Belthazor, an iconic love story for the ages, where does he even fit? And the answer is between them.)

Okay, but to the actual question: I haven't actually thought about Paige poly ships too much, but I have two suggestions: Henry and Drake or Henry and Simon. I won't say too much about Paige/Henry/Simon besides tossing you onto phoebehalliwell's page bc well. She is the expert here.

But I have recently fell in love with Paige and Drake as a ship, and I think that Henry actually offers some wonderful balance to it as well. All three work with kids and helping them improve their lives, which offers a natural meeting point. And then for the actual relationship, I think that Henry grounds the other two and is the more practical (*cough* cynic) of the three, Drake has this passion and love for humanity that kinda helps restore the other two's hopes, and Paige is the creative free spirit that we all love. I would actually love to do more with this one now, bc I'm already a Paige/Drake shipper and I do think that Paige/Drake/Henry combines the best parts of all of the ships.

what are your thoughts on Abby the bartender/stalker of Prue? do you think think she was gay/in love with Prue? yes/no? why? other thoughts on the whole dynamic? and maybe how that episode might have gone today? versus how it went down in the 90s/00s?

Honestly, it's been a real minute since I've watched those episodes, but one of the first original posts that I did before I kinda got the groove of what I wanted my blog to be was actually about that situations! I think that it was an interesting storyline that seemed like it could have had more tbh. We see Abbey in exactly one preceding episode, so it's not like we know her enough to play this a who dunnit, which would've been interesting. I do wish that we had her as a minor supporting character throughout the season bc I do think it would've been better to actually establish her a little (besides her not even ten lines of dialogue two episodes before) if we're gonna go with the "oh my gosh, one of our characters is a deranged stalker!" idea. That said, I love the concept bc I always found it fascinating when we had mortal enemies for the sisters to handle bc I mean, ya can't just kill those and have htem helpfully burst into flames. And I do think that it's fascinating that it's completely unrelated to the magic thing but purely bc Prue is beautiful and successful and cool.

As far as her sexuality, it... honestly is giving repressed lesbian vibes, but at the same time, that's such a problematic depiction for a show with no canonical LGBT characters (besides like. one one-off lesbian couple in s7, which they did handle mostly well I guess). Definitely think that she loved her idea of who Prue was over who she actually was but repressed it bc with her perception of Prue as the perfect woman, it meant that she also couldn't be attracted to women (90's man.) Would've loved for it to be more fleshed out like I said bc we really don't get shit on Abbey to actually get anything on her really. I do like that we got a stalking plotline tho bc it does feel v real and is something that a lot of women (1 in 3 or 1 in 5 I think?) deal with, but I do think that it may have actually been local celebrity Phoebe who would've made more sense for it later but then again it happens to "average" people as well. Also the fact that it's a woman as the stalker is surprisingly progressive in acknowledging that women are capable of that too, bc it really is typically a male thing in media I feel like.

If we were gonna do it in a modern adaptation, I'd prefer it be stretched out to really flesh out the story and also actually deal with the aftereffects of such a thing bc I mean. especially being attacked in her own photography studio in such a personal way would be hard? But if we're going with a more straightforward one to one, I do think that we'd get Abbey as canonically a lesbian tbh, but I do think we'd (hopefully) have more canonical LGBT characters to offset the problematic vibes.

lmao, I'm glad!! It was a bit sneaky of me tbh lmao, and I think I already prefaced that obviously my opinion is just my opinion and I'm just a random gal on the internet but like. I'm right dammit!!

BASICALLY: I think any variation of Matthews or Mitchell for the Paige/Henry kids work, but my personal HC is the girls have Matthews and Little Henry has Mitchell. In the magical world, they introduce themselves as Matthews. In the human world, Mitchell.

That's totally fair! I definitely agree that Paige does not give a single fuck about it, but I do think that Henry does. (Part of the joy of him being in only like 11 episodes is that fans kinda have to do the interpretation/heavy lifting for him but I do love the base we got.) I think that Paige cares about keeping her last name bc of her connection with her parents.

For Henry, I view him as someone who, when marrying Paige and having kids, has this "traditional" view of what having a family means and that he wants, and I do think that some of the early relationship conflicts and early parenting issues actually do rise from Henry having this idealized view of a family that he never had and kind of just. stumbling when it doesn't look like that in reality. Before meeting Paige, I do think that he has a more 'macho' perspective of who he is supposed to be bc he's a loner with trust and commitment issues, and, well, again, 11 episodes, we don't really get to resolve all of that (also he isn't the main character here, Paige is). I think that being with Paige kind of makes him knock a lot of those internalized things loose and he ends up being much more chill as time goes on, but my initial belief is that it was something important to him that Paige kinda was like why the fuck does that matter?? and it was something he hadn't actually considered on why he thought it mattered until then.

Quick disclaimer bc there are many, many opinions on this and I want to be clear: this is all in good fun, these are just my opinions, and I am just a twenty something random girl running a Charmed blog and not The Voice of Charmed lmao so please do not take any of my opinions too seriously/poorly. (No one has yet, so this is just a cautionary preface!)

Okay, but onto my actual response. I can see your point, and it is definitely a popular one, but it's honestly one that I really disagree with truthfully. (That said, when I first started my next gen series outline twelve years ago, I did have the kids' last name as Halliwell.) For Paige's little family specifically, I really just cannot see any of them taking on the name Halliwell. I understand the intention behind it, but the thing is that a) the Halliwell name is actually relatively new name for the Warren family (with Grams being the first one to have and establish it as a name) and b) Paige is easily the most involved Charmed One in the magical community and presumably well-known (well. at least for her efforts and not her torrid love affairs (aka both Phoebe and Piper, just in different directions). I think that Paige makes them respect Matthews as a name all on their own, and I also can't really see Paige-and this is going to sound harsh, and it's truly not intended to be, but I can't think of a better word for it-using the Halliwell name as a shield. I think that she'd be more likely to reference her own feats as a Charmed One, witch, Whitelighter, Magic School headmistress/teacher, etc. instead of using the name bc I do think it'd be more effective anyways.