I have a crush on Elle Bishop, the attractive sadistic sociopath who can shoot lightning from her fingertips. Well, perhaps ‘crush’ isn’t the right term. I definitely feel some attraction to the character, somewhat negated by the fact that she’s fictional, but that’s what fanfiction’s for. Make no mistake, I am attracted to her only in the realm of true fantasy. Were she and I occupying the same space, I would embrace the oldest and noblest of pirate traditions and run away. However, in the realm of fanfiction I can explore my fascination with the character comfortably and safely through her interactions with other characters.

Now, some people might want to know who the hell would want to put up with a childish Company agent who regularly electrocutes people she’s attracted to for fun. The answer are masochists, people who like pain. I like pain, always have, albeit under certain circumstances. It is therefore easy for me to imagine a character like Peter embracing his twisted relationship with Elle, at least until he can escape. Outside of the walls of the Company, a character with regenerative power (Peter, Claire, Sylar, Adam, or Arthur) could prove the perfect subject for Elle’s playful acts of extreme sadism with no long-term physical damage.

“He’s adorable! Can I keep him?”

—Elle, regarding Mohinder

A rather large obstacle is the fact that she’s a sociopath and would thus have no romantic feelings toward her partner. Instead, she would feel superior and regard them as a possession, the way someone without empathy might treat a pet, as she demonstrates by denying her father’s note that Peter is not a toy because “he could be.” Someone without feelings of empathy or guilt is unlikely to make a good long-term partner, and given her loosey-goosey personality Elle would probably engage in numerous brief but passionate relationships.

Why then, would a character voluntarily date someone who can’t care about them? I say voluntarily because Elle could have them locked up and force them to play as she does with Peter in the Company jail cell. However, even Peter calls to Elle in the end when it’s not necessary for him to do so – she’d have just walked away without zapping him and let him escape. I think the answer is that even though Elle feels no empathy, Peter cares about her and likes to see her happy.

When Elle has a conversation, her faked expressions and emotions are transparent. Having no clear understanding of compassion, she can’t adequately replicate it in her face and voice, the end result coming out like a badly performed soap opera scene. Anyone could tell she doesn’t mean it. However, when she feels happiness, it really just shines out on her face uncontrolled. She clearly is happiest when she’s feeling superior, doing something sadistic, or when someone shows her affection.

Peter, a potential masochist, could be attracted to Elle and desire to make her happy even when she can’t care for him the way he cares for her. Elle is a real person, after all, not a robot. Knowing she doesn’t care for him the same way could also make it more of a clear-cut friends-with-benefits relationship less likely to cause heartache.

This sort of dynamic is the only way I can imagine shipping Elle in a healthy way, or at least in the least unhealthy way. Granted, I’m pretty conservative with how much I torture my characters, so there can be plenty of notably unhealthy dynamics I’ll avoid. In any case, I love writing Elle and will undoubtedly explore her twistedness as much as I can, at least until I lose interest.

1. Forums are not to be used to post stories.
2. All discussions including language and content must be suitable for teens.
3. The owner/moderator(s) of this forum is solely responsible for content posted within this area.
4. All forum abuse must be reported to the moderator(s).

1. Forum admin/moderator
2. Fanatic (on site for more than 2 years)
3. Fan (on site for more than a year)
4. Regular (on site for more than 6 months)
5. Camper (on site for more than a month)
6. Apprentice (on site for more than a week)
7. Newbie (on site for less than a week)