A/N: OK, I know this website doesn't like us posting chapter-long author's notes, but I have a lot of thoughts about this show and this story and I feel like I'll explode if I don't say them.
I didn't think I would write another "Taboo" story after "Prayers". James's "voice" came easily to me, his character made intuitive sense to me, but Zilpha's character remained somewhat of a cipher in my mind. I couldn't understand why such an obviously smart and strong-willed woman would choose to deny her impulses at every turn and stay with a petty, controlling man. It was only after she killed her husband in episode 6 that her character became clear to me, and I saw a clear vision in my mind of what she'd been, what she was, and what she would become.
Unfortunately, the show writers did not have any vision of her at all.
First of all, the bedroom scene in episode 6. The cut the show writers made. What a missed opportunity for character development. And no, I don't just mean "character development" wink wink—I mean actual fucking character development. I mean, I get that you are trying to tell a story within a limited time frame, and that this show is supposed to be high drama and not porn. I get that Regency-era clothing is pretty hard to get out of quickly! But, picture it in your head: this is a woman who has just gotten out of an abusive relationship, who has in fact murdered her abusive husband less than 24 hours prior, and the first thing her lover does when he comes into her bedroom is to start giving her orders. And then they just jump-cut to the two of them ecstatically in bed together? I'm not saying that Zilpha wouldn't have had sex with James, or that she'd have started seeing James as yet another bastard she has to kill. But there would have been some sort of decision made, some sort of negotiation. Unspoken, because these two don't really communicate much in words—can you picture them having one of those "healthy relationship talks" we're all supposed to be having these days with our SO's? I sure as fuck can't—but some sort of power-negotiation would have taken place, enough for Zilpha to get across that she wants him very much but also expects to be his equal and not his doormat.
And then episode 8. Yeah, FUCK episode 8. These idiot writers set up an entire character arc around a woman trapped in an abusive marriage coming into her own power, setting herself free from the societal expectations that imprisoned her, and then they have her kill herself before she can actually do anything with it? They set her up as someone who's just developed occult abilities, and then kill her off before she can use them in any way? And after all that dialogue about her and James being "the same person", and her rejecting James like ten gazillion times before he gets her where he wants her, we're supposed to believe she'd kill herself because James rejected her once? It just makes zero sense, unless they just saw her all along as nothing but a sex object / "tragic" love interest for James. Like there's a difference. I don't care whether you ship James with Zilpha or not, this is not about shipping, because what this show did to Zilpha they also did to Winter and to Helga. And will probably do to Lorna as well, the second she starts having desires of her own again besides wanting to help poor James, soothe poor James, stop poor James from destroying himself. Remember when Lorna had an acting career? Remember when the show dropped broad hints that she was probably an American spy? Yeah, me neither.
I was going to have this fanfic just go for three chapters, but now I feel this great need to continue it. Because "Taboo" is basically an anti-colonialist fantasy, which is great, but it's an anti-colonialist fantasy that systematically kills off its women. And fuck, I really didn't want to go political with this. I hate bringing politics into fandom because it just leads to every ship fans enjoy being condemned as "unhealthy", and pointless "OMG what message are we sending to teen girls" arguments while the real world destroys itself all around us. I just wanted to write some fun James/Zilpha smut, add some ominous eerie supernatural stuff and call it a day. But this shit cannot stand. Get ready for part 4.