Fair warning! Nearly half of this chapter is an author's note and it covers a controversial topic. Story picks up after the hash marks if you want to skip the note.

A/N My essays tend to be controversial, either you love 'em or you hate them. And they spark debate, which gets people thinking. I did warn you in my chapter 27 essay that I'd be examining some of the episodes, this one with the succubus is going to be one of them.

There are a number of similar storylines between Buffy and Charmed. For instance, a love spell. Xander had Amy cast a love spell on Cordelia that back fires. His intent, to get her to declare her feelings, like he did and break her heart. In season one of Charmed, Phoebe casts a love spell on two men, one for herself and one for Piper. Piper is nearly raped and had to use her power to defend herself. After the love spell is ended, Phoebe has sex with the man she cast the spell on for herself. Just like Willow did after casting a mind rape spell on Tara.

Xander's actions are vilified by the audience and Phoebe's are forgotten. Tara briefly breaks up with Willow and then forgives her.

In season one of Buffy, Xander is lured, drugged and nearly killed by the she mantis, the same thing happens to Buffy and Cordelia when they go to a frat party. This same episode, Angel asks Buffy out for coffee and the episode with the she mantis ends with Xander angrily chopping up the she mantis' eggs.

The audience cheers because Buffy and Angel are finally going on a date. A 16 year old teenager going on a date with a 240 year old walking corpse trapped in a 26 year old body. It's treated as a joke that the she mantis went after virgins.

And the succubus episode is basically the same thing as the mantis episode, men lured and drugged for sex and murder. And while I found a couple of discussions regarding the Charmed episode, I found only one mention of Xander and the she mantis on a list of such scenes in Buffy, but it wasn't actually being addressed.

They all have the same problem, lack of consent. And yet, the only one vilified is Xander, who didn't want sex to be a part of his actions and stopped and confessed the moment he realized there was a problem. Not that doing so excuses his actions, but he's also the only one who ever does confess and hates himself as much as the audience does for it.

Consent remains a huge issue on both shows and even sometimes is played as a joke. It's not a joke.

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Xander approached the unmarked police car and tapped the roof. Daryl lowered the window and just sighed. "Are we that bad at surveillance or are you that good finding what's hidden?"

"You're parked down the street from a dating service, this one is on you, guys." Xander smirked. "I seriously need some time on the guy side of reality for awhile. Want to hang out at a boxing club or a shooting range?"

"Sounds almost like you're asking us on a date." Andy joked.

"Seriously, back in Sunnydale there were five girls in our group and three guys. Here, four sisters and me. Please help, save me from the ocean of estrogen that I'm drowning in. Which brings me to the demon we think is responsible for the murders. A succubus."

"Sex demon?"

"A different demon with the same title, a former witch gone dark side who traded her human tongue for a razor sharp one that she can use to burrow into a guy's brain and suck out his testosterone, through his mouth. Prue, Cordy and Piper are currently attending tonight's mixer in the hopes of doing some luring of their own."

"Why aren't you and Phoebe in there too?" Andy asked. "I would think more witches trying to find this thing would be a good thing."

"Phoebe and I are compromised. Her power is giving her glimpses through the succubus' eyes and since she can't control it, it's possible the succubus can also see through hers. And I'm out because when I was sixteen another demon lured and tried to seduce me, which would have been followed by my own death if my friends hadn't arrived in time and killed it."

"Uhhh." Shudders from both men.

"There's an alleyway and a back entrance, Phoebe and I'll cover it, if the girls do manage to find the succubus, who looks human, unless you examine its tongue, they'll try to bring her out the back, less chance of running into anyone. She targets men, guys, so while we can back them up, we need to let the girls take point on this one, too much risk since she apparently has an irresistible allure for men. Magically enhanced."

"We checked out the alleyway earlier." Daryl told him. "It dead ends, we can move to a spot where we can see both the front door and the alley entrance, just in case the girls end up coming out of the front entrance. We can't let it get passed us, it'll kill again, won't it? That's what demons do, right?"

"She also wants the men she lures to fertilize her egg sacks. Which is another uhhh!"

"Uhhh!"