#new canon and Viv can suck it

[paulie-lombardos-boy-toy]

StrikerXBlitzø but make it Loser,Baby once the gunslinger finds out our imp is feeling horrible after Apology Tour and sings to cheer him up while sneakily convincing Blitz that he should just break it off and stick with him cause fuck Stolas

[showtoonzfan]

Okay so I saw S1E2 of HH “Video killed the radio Star” so here’s my thoughts on that, ⚠️SPOILERS⚠️

- So once again, the pacing is all over the place. In the span of 2 episodes we have to deal with introducing Adam and Lute, the main characters of the hotel, the three V’s and Sir Pen, and I don’t like how the three V’s are introduced in the second episode of season 1. Like…can we just let the characters we know breathe and get to know them before you introduce new ones?? Told you this was going to be like Helluva lol.

- So hell is freaking out that the extermination got moved to 6 months later, but Charlie of course isn’t the focus of this episode. It’s mainly the three V’s + Angel/Al/Sir Pen. It still bothers me that the reason behind redeeming sinners is not because Charlie is sick of Hell being a damnation but because she doesn’t want them to be exterminated. It’s such a drastic change from the pilot and the character motivation that it still throws me off sorry.

- So, I actually like Vox. I take back bitching about Christian Borle playing him because while his suave voice may not fit the twink design, he does a fantastic job either way as expected, making Vox an intimidating person. I had thought before that Vox was going to just be this dumb henchman, but I actually like how he’s the runner of things. He’d be so cool if he didn’t curse and talk like every other character in the show though.

- Good GOD Valentino. I already shared how I felt about him when the dialogue leaks came out, but I HATE how his character is just this idiot man baby who throws temper tantrums and legit needs to be “calmed down” by Vox because he’s such an idiot. Like…Velvette calls him a piss baby and Vox legit had to talk to him as if he was one, that’s how dumb this guy is. There’s a scene where Vox asks what they should do about the hotel and Val says “just put something inside, that’s how I get the bitches”- like…kill me. The fan interpretations were better. He was actually someone you didn’t want to mess with and had an intimidating voice, here he’s a whiny baby that you have to remind yourself is the same guy who forces himself on Angel. The Addict and comic version of this character is not the same as the one we have now. His voice is too high pitch, it sucks and his accent goes on and off constantly. Viv can’t write abusers for shit, she sees everything as a joke. Again, how are we supposed to take abuse seriously if this is how you portray your abuser. Crimson is more intimidating than this joke of a cockroach.

- Alastor has been gone for seven years, yeah that “Lilith is Rosie and Al is working for her”- allegation is 100% true like it perfectly lines up together since Lilith has also been gone for seven years. Only for Alastor, it makes no sense. Like…wdym he’s been gone for seven years. The pilot is canon and they state he’s been at the hotel for a week. Alastor was literally walking around town when Charlie was on the news. Do they mean that it’s been years since he’s done his radio show? Viv, when you retcon shit you need to specify. You’re just confusing everyone again.

- They need to explain why exactly it’s dangerous to make a deal with Alastor because all this vagueness isn’t helping the story. The whole reason Vox sends Sir Pen out to be a spy was to make sure Charlie didn’t make a deal with him, yet you literally have Vaggie making a deal with him like it was nothing in the last episode. I also fail to see why exactly Vox cares about Charlie making a deal with Alastor in the first place. Is it because he doesn’t want Al to have more power? Is it because he doesn’t want Charlie to have power? EXPLAIN.

- Yay more retconning and woobifying. So Angel Dust is a whiny wimpy bitch in this episode, he’s very out of character. When Sir Pen comes to the hotel, he’s extra pressed about that, when in the pilot he couldn’t even take Sir Pen seriously and was acting nonchalant towards him. Then when Charlie starts getting all giddy and complimenting Pen, Angel gets sad and jealous??? This is the second fucking episode of season 1. I thought the whole point about Angel and the hotel was that he didn’t trust Charlie nor take the redemption stuff seriously. Now apparently he wants her approval? And then when he finds Pen out, Pen insults him and that causes Angel to just fucking lunge at him and start punching. When did Angel get this goddamn sensitive. Why did the wimpy snake character who’s supposed to be a loser get under his skin THAT much? It’s even more jarring because the last episode Angel was literally saying he loves being exploited and in the pilot he’s presented as someone who could give less of a shit of what other people think, now a simple jab at him being a slut made him go off. Remember when Travis called him a slut in the pilot and Angel just laughed it off? What happened to that Angel lol.

- Vaggie has a line that flat out calls Angel a sexual harasser. And yet we’re supposed to feel bad for him and root for HuskerDust. Makes perfect sense Viv, fuck you. She has no idea what sexual harassment even is because she sees actual harassment as quirky funny jokes and paints it as genuine love. Pick a side. Is Angel an asshole who sexually harasses people or is he an uwu baby who deserves to be with Husk. Clearly Viv chose the second option.

- I liked Vox and Al’s song, tho I wish it was more singing instead of talking. Charlie’s song in the end was boring but at least it was short. I still don’t know how to feel about Pen being at the hotel tho. Like I get he’s a loser and not a big threat but him happily joining the hotel now is way too structurally fast. There’s a lot of things that feel like Viv changed at the last minute compared to the pilot and it shows. Pilot was better.

That’s it, not looking forward to the third one which is HuskerDust focused (female centric show my ass)

[chaifootsteps]

Apparently, Viv said we'd learn Strikers sexually, but she can't say what it is in case it's plot relevant.

This kinda worries me. Like why would his sexually be important unless he's also being put in a plot relevant romance?

Idk, I don’t really trust Viv with another romance after she fucked up blitz/stolas.

Plus the only options I could see, unless she introduced yet another new character, are Stella, or Vassago, cuz we know she won't do blitz/striker (and I don't see any other side characters being plot relevant). And given Viv is keeping his sexually a secret, I'm more inclined to say it's vassago since I feel like if it was stella, she'd just say he was straight or bi.

I don't like either option, but i dislike Vassago more because, at least with stella, it'd be shown as a toxic relationship. Meanwhile, I'm afraid Vassago/striker would just end up similar to Stolas/blitz, where Vassago 'saves' striker and shows him how wrong he was for hating all royals. Then, he helps Vassago protect and save blitz and stolas.

Yeah, Stella/Striker's the only Striker ship I can see potentially playing out in canon in a way that maybe isn't utterly horrifying. She's upper-class but they've got a history, the nobility of Hell's hurt them both, it wouldn't be perfect but it would be doable. The thing is, Morgana seems to be into Stella/Sallie Mae and what Viv's attack dog wants, Viv's attack dog gets.

Vassago/Striker would be awful. It would just be more evidence that this show's overarching theme is "If you're on the bottom rung of society, all your problems in life can and should be solved by sucking a rich man's penis."

[bamber344]

Till Death Did Us Part (Madeline intro)

prev/next

masterlist

Chapter takes place concurrently with the previous chapter; Jordyn's Deployment

New character POV time! Like I said in the prologue, Jordyn's POV is the only one in first person; the rest of them are in third limited. Hopefully it's not too confusing!

Heed the warnings on this one! No physical whump, but this babe ain't doing too hot (she's where the 'sad women' bit on the masterlist description comes from) and the chapter touches on some of the darker parts of her mental state. Nothing extremely explicit, but it might be triggering for some so I wanted to make sure. Stay safe! Chapter begins below the cut.

CWs: frequent references to pre-canon character death, mentions of alcoholism, slight allusions to self-harm, suicidal ideation, mentions of transphobia (misgendering). I think that's it, but let me know if I forgot anything!

Till Death Did Us Part

The sound of her phone buzzing on her nightstand forced Madeline out of a sleep she desperately didn’t want to wake from. She didn’t want to greet the day that awaited her; perfectly content to just lay there, hiding under her covers until the calendar ticked over to the next date along. She didn’t want to face the realities that today would force upon her. If she just closed her eyes and drowned everything out, she could pretend none of the past five years ever happened; that Rosie was just in the bathroom, and would come back to bed at any moment.

Her phone rang again, and Madeline grumbled, reaching over to answer it.

“Leave me alone, Viv,” she muttered hoarsely into the receiver.

“Damn, someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed today, huh?” Vivienne replied. 

Anger flared in Madeline’s gut. “Don’t fucking poke me today, Vivienne. Not today.”

There was a silence over the phone. “I… I’m sorry, you’re absolutely right. That was mean. I was just… trying to lighten the mood, I guess. Sorry.”

Madeline sighed. “What do you want?”

“I was just checking up. I know today’s difficult for you. Want me to come over? I can make breakfast.”

Breakfast meant getting out of bed. It meant waking up and coming face to face with the truth of the day. It also meant scrambled eggs with bits of ham and cherry tomatoes. A difficult choice, to be sure. 

At the continued silence of Madeline’s internal debate, Viv dug deeper. “Come on, you know Rosie wouldn’t want you to rot in bed all day.”

All the assumption did was stoke the fire inside of her. “Don’t presume to know what she would want.”

“You know I’m right, though. Come on, you won’t even have to do anything. I’ll even do the dishes after. Please?”

The thing that sucked was that she was right. The last thing Rosie would want would be for Madeline to waste her life mourning her. She groaned loudly, making sure that Vivienne could hear her dissatisfaction. 

“Fine.”

Immediately, Vivienne appeared at the side of Madeline’s bed. She was used to the sudden teleportation by now, but it still annoyed her how quickly she showed up. She wanted at least a little more time to pretend she didn’t exist before being forced to interact with anyone.

“Come on, snowball. Up you get.”

Madeline groaned again, burying her face in the pillow. “Get out of my room.”

“Say please.”

Madeline grabbed a spare pillow and hucked it at Vivienne, who teleported to the other side of the room and pulled the covers off of the bed in retaliation.

“Oh my god, you’re naked!”

“Karma,” Madeline muttered, a smile tugging at her lips. She would never admit it, but Viv’s antics were a little amusing.

“Fine, I’ll give you a few minutes!” Viv called, now on the other side of the bedroom door. “Don’t take too long, though. Breakfast will be ready soon!”

Madeline sighed, sinking back into the pillow to enjoy her last few moments of restful bliss.

—

“So, what are your plans for today?”

Madeline shrugged, running a hand through her dirty-blonde mullet and pulling the tangles out of it. It had been an impulse choice of haircut made in a half-drunken, half-miserable stupor, but she would be lying if she said she hated it. It added to her butchy vibe. “I dunno. Visit Rosie’s grave, I suppose. Cry a lot. Drink myself to sleep again.”

Vivienne frowned. “Come on, Maddie. you agreed to stop doing that.”

“What are you, my mom?”

“No, I actually care about your wellbeing.”

Madeline snorted. “You’ve got me there.”

They were sitting at the kitchen counter, finishing the scrambled eggs Viv had made. By now, Madeline was well and truly awake, and that really sucked. But, time waited for no woman, and today would have happened, whether she got out of bed or not. Today was the five-year anniversary of Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes’ death, and sleeping in wouldn’t change that. It would just protect Madeline’s consciousness from having to recognise that she’d been a widow for five years for just a few hours longer. Kicked out of home at 14, married to her childhood best friend at 18, widowed by a monster attack at 21, semi-recovering alcoholic and washed up superhero at 26. What a shit-crock of a life.

Okay, maybe ‘washed up’ was being a little harsh on herself. As far as superheroes went, she was respected for her work. Though she was currently on indefinite hiatus for mental health reasons, she was technically the co-leader of the Heroes Union, and the other heroes did value her opinions, whenever she was present to give them. The problem was that she wasn’t really doing anything else with her life. Vigilantism was generally looked down upon, and would get heroes arrested if they tried to do it with any degree of frequency, given their solid lack of secret identities. They were allowed to step in in the case of violent crime, but they had no real power to arrest, just protect. Most hero work was just fighting off monster attacks and helping rescue civilians in the aftermath of any disasters, which left them with a lot of free time. Of course, there were the occasional villains that showed up, using their powers for their own gain and too dangerous for the police to go near, but in a city like Tombguard, with all of its heroes, most would-be villains had the good sense to try their luck elsewhere.

All that was to say; Madeline didn’t have a job. ‘Freeloader’ was a common pejorative used for superheroes by people who didn’t like that their taxes supported the Union, but in her case, they were right. She spent all of her time moping around, occasionally doing some work when the Godling decided to make another lamppost sentient or whatever - and then spent all of her leftover Union paycheck (after rent and food and other basic necessities) on alcohol and weed. In an ideal world, she would actually be contributing something to society; working a job, and then popping out to kick some flesh-and-stone creature’s butt when the city needed her, but she just… Wasn’t Doing That. At the very least, she could take a more active role in her hero work; go on patrols, monitor the city, help little old ladies cross the street. Do some actual volunteer work if she couldn’t find a paying job. Life was just a mess at the moment, and though she felt like she was slowly getting better, she still really just missed her wife, and it was exceedingly hard to move past that grief. Especially on days like today.

Viv put a hand on her shoulder, snapping her out of her thoughts. “You know what we should do? Go on patrol.”

Madeline raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“Because I’m pretty sure you haven’t left the house in a week. Come on, it’ll be fun! We’ll get some sunlight, do some parkour, feel the wind rushing through our hair!” Her voice lowered from its jubilance, becoming quieter; more sympathetic. “Once we’ve had enough we can stop by to see Rosie, alright?”

Madeline looked her in the eye, trying to see through her milk-chocolate irises to the intention underneath. “Why do you care so much about me? Why go out of your way for me like this? I don’t get it.”

The question gave Vivienne pause. She sighed, reaching up and putting her hand on the top of Madeline’s head.

“Because you’re my friend, you numbskull.” She ruffled Madeline’s hair. “I’m not just gonna drop you because you’re having a hard time. I care about you, and I’m not gonna stop caring when it becomes difficult. You were always there for me when I joined the Union, even through my worst days. Now, it’s my turn to do the same for you. Everyone needs a little helping hand sometimes.”

Madeline looked down at her empty plate, tears threatening to form in her eyes. “I… Thanks, Viv. I’m really glad to have you as a friend, even if… I don’t always act like it.”

“Likewise,” Viv replied, playfully punching her shoulder. “Now, suit up! Let’s go!”

Madeline raised an arm and sniff-checked her armpit. “Yeah, that’s not happening until I shower.”

—

Alright, Madeline could admit when she’d been wrong. Being out in the sun was pretty damn nice. It was a beautiful day, and putting her costume on for the first time in weeks felt great, even if it didn’t fit quite as well as it used to on account of the muscle she’d lost lazing around. The wind tousled her hair as she ran and leaped from building to building, her arms and legs singing with exertion and endorphins, heart racing in her chest. She felt alive. A laugh bubbled up from deep within her as she summoned a platform of ice beneath her feet, using it to launch herself up to a higher ledge and vault over, landing in a roll on the next roof.

“Woohoo!” Viv called as she did a backflip off the next ledge, only to miss the landing and fall in between the buildings. She reappeared back on the roof and laughed. “Oops, messed that one up.”

Madeline shook her head fondly. “Teleportation has made you far too reckless.”

Viv wiggled her hips, poking out her butt. “Hey, if you got it, you gotta flaunt it.”

Madeline raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you’ve ‘got it’? Because the only thing I see is a flat washboard.”

Viv blew a raspberry, flipping her off. “My ass is great and you know it.”

Madeline chuckled. “Sure. I-”

“Hey, stop! Thief!”

The shout caught both of their attention. They shared a look and walked to the edge of the roof, peering over the street, where a man was running in their direction, groceries clutched in his arms.

“Shoplifter,” Madeline observed. “None of our business.” It would be hypocritical of her to go after him, anyway; she’d had no qualms stealing food to feed herself in the past. She understood the plight.

“Man’s gotta eat,” Vivienne said. 

Madeline had seen all she needed to see. They were about to turn away when another commotion set off near the intersection. A figure in black leapt from the passenger door of a car and sped down the sidewalk towards the man, moving faster than a regular human had any right to. Their black armour glinted in the sunlight as they crashed into him, tackling him to the ground and pinning his arms behind his back.

“Who the hell is that?” Viv asked.

Madeline shrugged. “I dunno. Their armour looks pretty expensive, though.”

An older man walked up, hands behind his back. Viv groaned. “Ew, I hate that jerk.”

Andreas de Vygon was a loud and proud anti-unionist and a staunch hater of superheroes of all types. Also, a police captain with a history of unsavoury allegations, all covered up by his rich friends. ‘Jerk’ was putting it kindly, in Madeline’s experience. Though, from the way he was acting around this new person, perhaps ‘hypocrite’ would be a better adjective.

“Backup is on the way to take him to the station. Good work, Seven.”

“Thank you, sir.”

Something about their voice - even muddied by an obvious voice changer as it was - stuck in Madeline’s brain. She couldn’t tell what it was, but something about the way they spoke was familiar. It wasn’t the accent – that was as nondescript as an accent could be, as far as she could tell. It was just… something.

“Well, shit. A superhero working with the police. That’s a new one,” Viv said.

“Mhm.”

“Wanna go down there and meet them? See what they’re about?”

Madeline thought about it. This new person was intriguing, but not enough to risk having to deal with de Vygon’s bullshit. They were probably just a cop sympathiser who got lucky enough to be born with powers, anyway. Going by their armour, they were clearly sponsored, too. Not worth the trouble.

“Nah. Andreas de Bigot would probably just aggressively misgender me again.”

Viv snorted. “Yeah, true.”

Madeline was referencing a press release the man had done, addressing the public a few days after Rosie’s death. He’d referred to Madeline multiple times as Rosie’s ‘husband,’ despite the fact that she was very publicly a woman, including on her ID, and had already been years deep into her transition when she made her debut on the city stage. She couldn’t imagine his views had changed much in the intervening years.

“Come on, let’s get out of here.”

They took a more casual pace as they continued, hopping between buildings where possible and teleporting where it wasn’t. The sight of the scene below them had sobered Madeline up some. She couldn’t count how many nights she’d spent in a holding cell during her teen years after getting caught pocketing things from corner stores. Sometimes she would get lucky and just get beaten to a pulp by the owner in the alley outside, but most of the time the cops would be called, and her ice powers weren’t nearly refined enough back then to help her get away. She’d be more likely to slip and skin her knee. It was a dark time for her before Rosie’s family took her in. She felt for the poor guy who just got caught.

They’d been making their way along for a good few minutes when a loud crash sounded behind them. Madeline didn’t even have to turn to know that the Godling was up to Its bullshit again.

“Sorry, Snowball. Looks like you’ll actually have to do your job today.”

“Lay off it, Viv,” she sighed. Sure enough, when she turned, a giant glob of pinkish flesh had risen from the road, and was very angry at the world. That was definitely going to mess up traffic for the next few days. Oh well, it didn’t look that tough. Time to actually do her job, and just maybe get a little catharsis out of it. For Rosie.

Vivienne grabbed her hand and they jumped into the fray.

—

“Well, that was easy.”

“Yup.” 

Madeline stared at the mess she’d just made of the monster; riddled with holes from the giant ice spears she’d thrown at it. Generating that much ice from the air always took a lot of effort, so she’d worked up a decent sweat, but the melting point was also a lot lower, so it’d clear itself out quickly. Her job as a Union frontliner was done; now it was the cleanup crew’s turn.

“Thanks for the assist,” she said, turning to Vivienne. “That would have been a lot harder if I had to focus on dodging too.”

“That’s what I’m here for!” Viv beamed.

“So, what now?”

Vivienne looked back towards the scene with the cop-hero. Madeline followed her gaze. They were still there, looking in this direction.

“Oh, there’s my uncle!”

“The detective?”

“Yeah. I know you don’t like cops, and, okay, you have good reason not to, but trust me, he’s a decent guy. Mostly a desk jockey these days.”

“I don’t really care,” Madeline muttered, truly apathetic about the whole thing. She’d met the guy a handful of times on patrols, and there was no reason to doubt Viv’s take on him. From what she could tell, he was just a guy stuck in his job because he’d already wasted too much of his life doing it, now only doing the bare minimum to get by so he wouldn’t lose his only source of income. Honestly, he just seemed kinda sad most of the time. In the lonely, alcoholic sort of way. Hm, on second thought, maybe they’d get along.

“Wanna go say hi?”

“Not really-”

She didn’t even have time to get the words out before Viv was reaching for her.

“-DON’T fucking teleport me.” She flinched away.

Viv got that fucking look on her face that she always got whenever there was a line she knew she could push without getting in too much trouble. A sinking feeling spread through Madeline’s gut and she internally resigned herself to her fate of having to speak to a cop.

Sure enough, the little shit disappeared and Madeline felt a hand on her back. A split second later her ears popped and she found herself only a few feet away from the group of pigs and their little superhero helper. Just great.

“Fuck! I told you not to do that, Viv!”

She put her hands up in surrender – but notably did not apologise. Madeline was going to remember that, and she was going to hold it against her so hard. 

“Hey, Uncle Steve!”

The unkempt man cleared his throat. “Good morning, Vivienne. Nice work out there. You too, Madeline.”

Madeline grunted in acknowledgement. She could feel eyes on her from under that rent-a-cop’s faceless black visor. Studying her. Intensely. It was uncomfortable.

They were surprisingly short up close. Granted, Madeline was decently tall, coming in at 6 feet, so a lot of people were surprisingly short to her. Especially those with the aura that this over-armoured supersoldier had. They looked wound up like a coiled spring, ready to jump out and strike the moment the order came through. Still… there was something there, gnawing at the back of her mind. The armour was pretty form fitting, and something about their shape just… Well, to be honest, it reminded her of Rosie. Not that Rosie had a monopoly on her particular body shape. She was just on Madeline’s mind a lot, on account of what day it was. It wasn’t important, she concluded. Just her mind grasping at its usual straws.

“Thanks!” Viv replied. She turned to the Rosie shapematch. “So, a new hero, huh? What’s your name?”

Andreas stepped in before they had a chance to respond, putting a possessive hand on their shoulder. “We’re done here, Seven.”

Just like that, they were led away back to the car they came from; now sitting lonely near the intersection. All other traffic had cleared off in the wake of the monster attack.

“Well,” Madeline said. “That was really fuckin’ strange.”

“That’s an understatement,” Steve said. “We were only informed about this yesterday. They’re calling it Project Genesis, whatever that means. Super confidential stuff, apparently. I never thought a hero would actually be allowed to work within our ranks.”

“Who are they?” Viv asked.

Steve shrugged. “De Vygon only ever referred to them as ‘Seven’. I don’t think I caught a gender or anything. Though… when that monster popped up, they seemed afraid of it. Could be something. I think I also heard the captain mention memory loss to them, too. Maybe they're amnesiac?”

“That sounds wildly unethical,” Madeline muttered under her breath. An amnesiac superhero, hiding their face, with a number for a name, who’s afraid of monsters, working under an almost-definitely corrupt police captain. Everything about this was screaming ‘red flag.’

“Should we ask them to join the Union?” Viv pondered. “All of the heroes in Tombguard have to be part of it, don’t they?”

Madeline sighed, pulling out the tome of job-knowledge in her head. “Legally, they don’t have to join if they don’t want to, so long as they’re independently licensed. From the looks of things, I’d say they probably are. Extend an invitation if you really want, I don’t care either way.” 

Things would probably be safer if the supercop was under the same regulations as the rest of the Union, but she didn’t say that out loud. Honestly, they gave her the creeps. She’d rather stay away where possible.

Steve stretched, cracking his back. “Well, I’d better get going. Gotta get this guy processed. You two take care.”

Madeline didn’t acknowledge him as he got in the car and drove off. That whole interaction had put her in a bit of an odd mood. She didn’t really feel like patrolling anymore.

Viv picked up on it. “You had enough?”

She nodded. “Yeah. Take me home.”

—

Madeline clutched the bouquet of flowers as she made her way through the rows of graves, her chest aching. Vivienne hadn’t accompanied her into the cemetery proper, just dropping her off at the gates and letting her go on her own. She appreciated it. As much as she cared for the girl, she wanted to spend some alone time with Rosie today. Though, it seemed as though her wish wouldn’t be granted; at least, not yet.

Standing at Rosie’s grave were two people; a man and a woman, holding each other as they looked at the headstone. Manny and Eleanor Garcia. Rosie’s parents. Madeline sucked in a breath and approached.

Manny was the first one to notice her presence. He turned to her, a sad smile adorning his face. “Madeline. It’s good to see you.”

“Hey,” she replied, voice rough. “Likewise.”

“We’ve missed you this past year,” Eleanor said.

Madeline hummed. It was the truth; she’d been neglecting paying them a visit lately. They were better parents to her than her bio-parents had ever been, and she loved them dearly. Honestly, she owed them her life. It was just… difficult being in that house without Rosie around. Living was difficult without Rosie around, to be fair, but she was trying to work past that. With the recent dip in her mental health, it was just easier to avoid anything that reminded her too strongly of her late wife, in-laws' house included.

Upon realising that she clearly wasn’t going to get a response, Eleanor changed the subject. “I like what you’ve done with your hair.”

Madeline managed a smile, running a hand through her mullet. “Thanks. It was… mostly an accident, but I like it, too.”

Awkward silence stretched between them. The wind rustled through the trees, birds chirping and singing like this wasn’t the anniversary of the worst day in the world. Madeline looked at her in-laws, analysing their features and searching for any sign of Rosie. There were hints of her, here and there; in Eleanor’s thick, wavy hair, and the shape of her eyes; in Manny’s wide nose and tan skin. She had her dad’s laugh lines and her mom’s fierce personality. It was a small comfort; being able to see parts of her, still alive and moving, not buried six feet beneath the dirt.

Manny sighed and put an arm out towards her. “Enough of this, Maddie. We’re not strangers. Come here.”

Madeline wasn’t strong enough to resist the pull. She stepped into his hold, sinking against his side as his arm wrapped around her shoulders. Tears prickled at her eyes. “I’m sorry I haven’t been there recently. I miss you guys.”

“You know you’re always welcome to stay with us,” Eleanor said. “You’re family. Just as much our daughter as Rosalyn was.”

Madeline bit her lip, trying not to cry too hard. “Th-thank you. Things… Things have been really difficult lately. Just getting out of bed is hard most days. I don’t really have the energy to spare for anything but surviving. That’s… That’s why I’ve been vacant.”

Manny kissed her head. “We’ll always look after you, cariño. If you need help, we’ll be there.”

Madeline smiled. “I’ll think about it. Thank you both.”

The silence that came over them was far more amicable this time around. Madeline stared at Rosie’s gravestone, thinking about how her wife was just underneath her, only six feet away. She was so close, yet Madeline would never truly get to see her face again, cursed to forever catch fleeting, teasing glimpses of her in picture frames and lookalikes. Her body yearned for Rosie’s, whole and real and alive; not just a frozen, flat image of a painted expression. What she wouldn’t give for just one more night with her…

“Hard to believe it’s already been five years,” she muttered, bottom lip quivering a little. 

Hold it back, Madeline. At least until Rosie’s parents leave. Don’t let them see how broken you still are.

Manny hummed. “Some mornings I still expect to hear her running downstairs into the kitchen.”

“I still think she’s gonna be next to me when I wake up,” she admitted.

“Sometimes I hear noises at night, and my first instinct is still that it’s you two staying up late again,” Eleanor said, voice breaking a little.

For some reason, that was what broke her. Her fragile hold snapped and a sob tore from her throat, and from there it was hopeless. Manny’s arms cradled her and she buried her face in his coat, shoulders bouncing as she bawled. Another pair of arms encircled her, comforting in their warmth. It didn’t quell the hurt, though. It didn’t fill the hole left in her heart.

Why was this still so painful? Wasn’t time supposed to make it better? It had been five damn years, and Madeline was sick of feeling so miserable, but every time she seemed to be healing, something would remind her and she would tumble all the way back down again. After the first year, she’d been doing good; working, participating in the Union, just keeping busy to distract herself. Yes, she had some unsavoury coping mechanisms at the time, but she was functioning, and she was functioning for a while. About a year and a few months ago, though, her mental health took a dive and she’d been an absolute wreck ever since. It was like the first few months after Rosie’s death all over again, only it just never ended. It wasn’t fair. She’d been coping. She’d been getting on with her life. Moving on, like Rosie would want her to. Now, she was just back in a pit, and every time she tried to climb out, the walls would crumble under her fingers and she’d fall back down. It just… felt so hopeless. Some days, she just wanted to lie in that pit and let the dirt bury her for good, so she could be with Rosie again. The thought was far more tempting than it should’ve been.

She pulled back from Manny, wiping her eyes. “Thanks…”

He ruffled her hair affectionately. “Anytime, mija. We’ll give you some space with her. After that, would you like to come over for dinner?”

She nodded, unable to form the words to properly reply. The two of them smiled softly, before turning and leaving her alone at the grave.

Madeline turned back towards the sun-warmed stone, reading the words engraved on it.

Rosalyn Garcia-Holmes

Beloved daughter and wife. Activist and Hero. Firestarter.

Gave her life for the people of Tombguard.

“Screw Billy Joel, I started it.”

Madeline smiled sadly at the quote, remembering the day Rosie said it. She kneeled on the grass, placing the bouquet down next to the headstone.

“Hey, Rosie. I’ve been missing you a lot, lately. I, um… I hope you’re sleeping well.”

Madeline didn’t really know what to say. She had so many thoughts in her head regarding Rosie, but now that she wanted to say them out loud, nothing came to her. Maybe it was for the best. Rosie would understand, either way. Madeline didn’t want to disturb her rest with pointless ramblings. She took a deep breath, trying to reorganise her thoughts, and spoke again, reaching out to touch the headstone.

“I… I love you. So, so much. I still miss you every single day. I hope you’re well, wherever you are. I hope… I hope I’ll get to see you there someday, too. I… Fuck, Rosie. I can’t even put it into words. I just… I just wish you were here right now. I wish I could hold you again. I wish I could hear your voice from something other than recordings. I wish you… I wish you could give me some goddamn advice on how to get the hell out of this… this fucking slump! I feel so fucking pathetic. I… I need help and I don’t know what to do… I just… don’t know what to do anymore…”

Her tears started pouring again, right as her words dried up. She put her forehead against the warm stone and closed her eyes, reminiscing about times long past, imagining her lover’s hands stroking through her hair, just like she used to.

Taglist: @steelandblood @sapphicwhump @urnumber1star @alsolucakairomi @idkwhattodowiththisaltiamsorry

Hope you all liked it! I'm pretty happy with how it turned out, personally. Madeline was a fun character to discover while writing the chapter, and I enjoyed her inner monologue. Let me know what you thought!

Also, yes, in case it wasn't clear, Madeline is a trans woman. We stand for the flag in this household 🏳️‍⚧️

Next chapter is from Andreas/Father's POV. Fun times :)

let me know if you want to be added to the tag list !! see you all next time!

[flower-boi16]

Hey, uh, is it okay if I like rant amd criticize for a bit? I want to post about it but I'm scared of getting harrassed.

I really should have seen this coming since I watched Helluva Boss and it's terrible 2nd season, but I blindly believed that HB sucked because Viv was too busy with Hazbin Hotel and I convinced myself that HH will be better but now here we are.

So, I just watched the first episode of Hazbin on YT, and I have some.... issues. First of all, it's the pacing. I think it went WAY too fast for the first episode and it got me seriously confused, like, the first episode is supposed to be the intro to the story, WHY IS IT SO FUCKING FAST?! Hell, if Viv intended the PILOT to be the introduction it's fine, but STILL, IT'S WAY TOO FAST! And this brings me to my next point : Hazbin Hotel is NOT newbie friendly. As someone who knew Hazbin lore for a while, the first episode already left me seriously confused, just IMAGINE how confused a new viewer, who has no idea about the lore and stuff, will be. Again, first episode = first intro, especially for NEW fans. Like LEGIT if a fan needs to get info from OUTSIDE the show itself, it isn't good.

Oh, and the whole plot of Charlie meeting with Adam? Should've been done in a DIFFERENT episode! Again, first episode = first introduction, WE SHOULD'VE USED THAT TO SHOW THE PROBLEMS IN THE HOTEL! THAT SHOULD'VE BEEN THE MAIN PRIORITY FIRST! If I could rewrite the episode, I'd do it like this :

Episode 1, it focuses SPECIFICALLY on shooting a new commercial. We can still have the whole call from Lucifer about the meeting with Adam, but instead the meeting will be held in about a week or two, which not only excites Charlie, but also adds fuel to the fire about the situation at the hotel since she wants to present the idea without any flaws to heaven. So then the episode focuses on Charlie and Vaggie trying to (force) shoot a better commercial and it can play out how it does in the canon episode. Ater that, the next three or four episodes then focuses on the problem IN hell while keeping Charlie's whole attempt at fixing the hotel's situation as a small side plot.

Then, come episode 5 or 6, we see Charlie meeting Adam and the angels about the project after she tries her best to make it work, only for Adam and the rest of heaven mocking her hard work because of their black and white mindset, and this would cause Charlie to have both some doubt in her mind about the project, along with frustration of not getting any respect despite her best efforts. And then the later episodes can be Charlie struggling with these thoughts and the season can end with Charlie regaining her confidence and motivation while accepting that even though it may not work, at least she TRIED.

Anyways, this is only my opinion and it's very much limited by the fact I've only watched the first episode (I saw some clips for the upcoming episodes and I don't think I want to watch HH anymore) so please just take it with a grain of salt. I thank you for reading this whole ordeal very much.

Well, this is definitely a LONG ask. But ya, good rewrite! I personally didn't find too many issues with the pacing, but I agree that HH isn't newbie-friendly, the show is written like a continuation of the pilot - it doesn't introduce the characters like the pilot, it just does what HGS did; just...have the characters there without telling us who they are.

I haven't seen the pilot myself but the only reason why I'm not too confused right now is because I absorbed information about it through reviews of it for a long time. So ya good rewrite!

[hrodvitnon]

Post-Abraxas timeline GvK scenario - Continuity and thoughts

Continuing from my review of ‘Abraxas’ new chapter on FF .net; I thought I’d just contribute some thoughts I’ve had about how 'Abraxas’ would affect events, mythos and continuity (ways in which Abraxasverse has already deviated and diverged from Monsterverse’s post-KOTM canon and how that would impact on GvK, that sort of thing), if the GvK crisis DOES occur in some form or another canonically in Abraxasverse. Sorry it’s late, it took a lot longer to write this than I thought it would. ^^’)

This post by me is for making pointers for consideration about diverges from Monsterverse canon that the main 'Abraxas’ story has already made and how they’ll impact if a GvK scenario occurred in Abraxasverse, though I’ll also take this opportunity to share some of my own thoughts and ideas about it beyond that. :)

So, down to it:

—-

(1) Where/How/Would a Ghidorah skull come in in regards to Mechagodzilla? It’s been established in 'Abraxas’ that Abraxasverse Ghidorah’s severed heads will fight off necrosis with their healing factor and will just slowly regrow the rest of Ghidorah; that severed heads can suck the power out of any electrical systems they come in contact with to feed themselves; and that humans being too close to Ghidorah heads’ telepathy for too long is a bit like mixing lead poisoning with an over-winter stay in the Overlook even if you don’t actually sit in the head’s skull. All three of which are divergent to the implications of the Ghidorah-skull in GvK. Maybe there’s adaptation deviation in the Abraxasverse GvK scenario, where Apex use the Children of Zmei instead of a Ghidorah skull to pilot Mechagodzilla and it’s them that makes the Mecha become a sentient psychopath?

(1.5) This is just my thoughts and ideas: if it’s still a Ghidorah skull piloting MechaG instead of some of the Children of Zmei: maybe in the four years after 'Abraxas’, Ghidorah comes back again and is killed again and the skull comes from this most recent defeat, with Apex using a chemical to suppress the skull’s healing factor and assuming that was enough for them to control the evil triple-mind inside the bone. (Although after how big and dramatic that climax chapter was, I like to think that Ghidorah is now either gone for good or it’ll be a very long time, as in at least a decade in-universe, before Ghidorah ever resurges directly.) Or, maybe there’s a creepier origin story for Apex’s Ghidorah skull: Apex unearthed the skull in a dig which reveals it to be thousands of years old, and when Monarch find out after everything, they’re puzzled about why a decapitated Ghidorah head just decomposed and became a semi-sentient hunk of bone, instead of regrowing the rest of Ghidorah like San’s old head did or re-attaching itself to other severed pieces to speed up Ghidorah’s resurrection from a pre-Antarctica ancient battle. Godzilla doesn’t know anything about the skull, and neither does San. What’s creepier, Monarch’s analysis of Apex’s Ghidorah skull indicates that while the skull’s structure is the same, its DNA actually isn’t entirely identical to Ghidorah’s, as if the skull encountered something which changed its genetic makeup. A thought occurs to Viv 'n’ San: San’s decapitation at Isla de Mara probably wasn’t the first time a shed skin got split off from Ghidorah, in fact San remembers that when there was more than one shed skin each time Ghidorah died in the past, they would usually signal each-other and combine to speed up Ghidorah’s resurrection… but there were times, on alien worlds that Ghidorah conquered, when it just wouldn’t care for these shed skins before returning to space since it wouldn’t be around on the planet for them to challenge it. What if more Ghidorah clones grew from the severed pieces it left littered on the dead alien worlds once the main Ghidorah left? Godzilla, San or other Titans would surely know if a Ghidorah-clone ever set foot on Earth while they were alive - does that mean the Ghidorah skull’s owner came to Earth and died before the still-living Titans were born and before the main Ghidorah that San came from arrived on Earth? And what killed the skull’s owner? Why is it’s DNA altered: did it encounter something, on ancient Earth or in space, that changed its genetic makeup? :o Does this mean there are more creatures like it, born from Ghidorah’s remains littered on dead alien worlds, who are still amongst the stars and who might one day find their way to Earth?

(2) I’m wondering who will be in charge of Monarch when Godzilla starts rampaging. If Mark rejoins Monarch and it’s still him who’s in charge, hopefully his character development during 'Abraxas’ will mean that even if his role doesn’t change much, he’ll be a lot less of an ass now than he was in GvK, and he won’t be the same fantasy-forbidding father that he apparently was to Madison in the GvK novelisation.

(3) One major thing that’s on my mind every time I think about this: in GvK, a lot of the conflict came from the humans not understanding why Godzilla’s attacking; and Viv 'n’ San as a Titan with EVP can communicate with both humans and Godzilla. So the only way I can imagine the whole Mechagodzilla crisis wouldn’t be over in time to prevent MechaG’s activation with Maia never getting near the Hollow Earth energy source, (unless there’s more adaptation deviation) is if Viv 'n’ San are on vacay in the Hollow Earth when the Titan rampage kicks off, and therefore aren’t topside to explain to Monarch and the world that Godzilla can hear Ghidorah’s call at every place he attacks. (Who knows, maybe in Abraxasverse, Viv 'n’ San will run into Kong and Team Kong in the Hollow Earth, then follow them topside in time for Mechagodzilla’s emergence - heh, I can imagine Viv 'n’ San’s “Oh, for fuck’s sake!!” reaction to a big, cybernetic Godzilla-Terminator bursting out of a mountain with Ghidorah’s bio-acoustics howling out of it.) And on top of this, there’s also the main 'Abraxas’ story hinting that the old Bone Singers’ ways of communicating with Titans are going to start coming back soon in Abraxasverse among the human population, making it less likely humanity will be as completely in the dark about Godzilla’s rampage as they were in GvK…

(4) I’m not sure where the internet rumour that Godzilla in Monsterverse canon sent the Titans back into hibernation because he sensed the Ghidorah skull came from - from what I’ve read, in 'Godzilla Dominion’ and the GvK novelisation, Godzilla explicitly sent all the Titans back to stasis because keeping them in line while they were awake was too much for canon-Godzilla to keep managing in the long-term, unlike with Abraxas-Godzilla. Maybe the other Titans will globally participate in Godzilla’s rampage looking for the Ghidorah-piece that’s calling out to any Titan listening, and the fact it’s every benevolent Titan that’s rampaging instead of just Godzilla will proportionately fan the flames of public panic and enable Apex’s role to go unnoticed. This could actually go quite a long way to make it understandable why the public are so blind to the pattern with Apex-facilities that Godzilla is attacking; if over a dozen Titans rampaging on humanity’s cities has the public too whipped up into a panic to think straight - especially since from what we’ve seen in 'Abraxas’ so far and from what TVTropes says about the GvK novelisation’s expansion, it looks like the public generally in Abraxasverse are a bit more humbled and concerned about the Titans’ environmental importance and a bit more common-sensed after KOTM’s events than they were in GvK’s continuation. Anyway, frankly I’m hoping an Abraxasverse GvK scenario will retcon or at the very least downplay the KOTM Titans going back into hibernation - I’m in agreement with TVTropes that turning KOTM’s humans-coexisting-with-awakened-Titans setup into an aborted arc and largely letting the Titans-environmentalism thing fade into obscurity was a crappy move on the Monsterverse writers’ part.

(5) Mechagodzilla’s pilot. With how Abraxas-Ren has already interacted with the Titans and shown his father’s respect for nature, I can’t see that character going down the same path as the Monsterverse-canon Ren did. There’s that idea a Nonnie suggested that Ren could get mind-raped by Ghidorah if it comes back (or maybe by another psychic evil Titan like Gigan ;)) so Ren becomes like canon-Ren - but after Chapter 17, I feel it would be better if canon-Ren, who’s stood apart from his canon counterpart and become his own endearing character in 'Abraxas’ already, goes down his own unique path. There’s also the possibility that Abraxas-Ren could be an unwitting pawn to Apex who doesn’t know what they’re really up to, but I doubt Simmons, if he’s anything like in Monsterverse canon, could ever fully pull the wool over nature-respecting Abraxas-Ren’s eyes. If MechaG still has a pilot with a relevant role, I think the pilot should be someone else. Maybe it’s Maia, who has a bit more brains in Abraxasverse than she did in GvK. Or maybe it’s an OC.

(5.5). An idea in the latter camp I had: maybe, as a mirror-world like flip to canon-Ren; whereas in Monsterverse canon it was Serizawa’s son who was MechaG’s pilot, in Abraxasverse it’s instead the OC son of Admiral Stenz - the son who agrees with his late father about killing the Titans to prevent human casualties, but who is much more willing to murder thousands for the so-called greater good and is crossing lines that his father never would’ve crossed. Or alternatively, maybe Stenz Jr. is a bitch-in-sheep’s-clothing; he expressly disagrees with his late father’s approach to handling the Titans which almost handed the world to Ghidorah on a silver platter in 2019, and he believes humans and Titans should live together… but instead of seeking a fair coexistence, Stenz Jr. thinks the Titans should be humanity’s slaves and Sentient Batteries, replenishing the world to benefit human civilisation whilst being penned by humans who dominate them with MechaG and being harvested for any resource goodies their bodies hold.

(6) Continuing from my pointer about how the human public in Abraxasverse seem to be a bit more common-sensed generally in Abraxasverse: I’m guessing this means Apex probably won’t have the military’s under-the-table support that they had in the GvK novelisation (according to TVTropes), and instead Apex’s corporate conspiracy will rely more on underground paramilitaries and other illegal groups - including groups with anti-Titan sympathies - to get the materials and resources they need to build Mechagodzilla. OR: maybe in Abraxasverse, MechaG wasn’t built in secret by Apex; maybe in reference to your old Tumblr shenanigans about Vivienne and Serizawa using MechaG, Monarch started building MechaG so humanity could contribute in a fair and meaningful way to fate-of-the-world Titan brawls alongside Godzilla and Mothra, but Apex stole MechaG (maybe Apex used the havoc and confusion of a Titan rampage instigated by Ghidorah-remains or the Children of Zmei calling out) and they installed the Ghidorah/C.O.Z.-parts into the Mecha thinking they could control it.

(7) If this scenario does occur, considering how awesome Monsterverse-MechaG was; maybe in an Abraxasverse scenario, instead of being killed fifteen minutes after he’s born, MechaG will have the smarts to flee once Kong and Godzilla team up and the odds turn against MechaG, leading to MechaG being a longer-lived threat? Maybe he’ll even recognise Viv 'n’ San are part-Ghidorah and take an interest in the Ghidorah half of them, in contrast to Ghidorah’s interest in the human half during 'Abraxas’?

(8) The destruction of Skull Island. It was caused in Monsterverse-canon by Camazotz manipulating Ghidorah’s storm. Assuming this still happens in Abraxasverse, wouldn’t Monarch contact Viv 'n’ San and make them aware of what’s happened (if Viv 'n’ San don’t find out on their own) so they can use their Ghidorah-derived, storm-harnessing powers to try to reverse what Camazotz did? After all, Monarch would probably be thinking, since the storm will kill all non-protected life on the island if it stays that way, even if Viv 'n’ San’s attempt to change the change goes wrong, it can’t be any worse for the island than if they didn’t try. Of course, there’s still the real possibility Viv 'n’ San’s attempt could make no difference or even end up making the storm worse for the climate of places beyond the island.

So, yeah, those are just my thoughts on how a GvK scenario could occur in Abraxasverse, and the mythos and continuity considerations involved. :)

—

JAYSUS CHRIST LOOK AT THIS GOLDMINE!

Whew! So many possibilities and great ideas, thanks for sharing them! Who knows what the future brings, but what I can say is that, whenever the hell I start working on it, Chapter 18/Epilogue won’t be nearly as huge as 17 was (which was over 22 THOUSAND WORDS HOW THE FUCK), so if it’s okay maybe I’d like to leave one or two nods to this list for the AbraxasVerse take on GvK…

[chaifootsteps]

It'll eventually come to that. Someone will ask why the new cast sounds like the old one.

Then either Viv or her stans will be like "UH welL AcTuaLlY it's HER characters and those are OBVIOUSLY the Canon voices duhhhh she knows her own characters better than anyone else 😒😒"

Okay, then why does Husk sound completely different? You can't sit there and tell me that's not just not Keith David's voice (I love Keith don't get me wrong) but OG Husk has a VERY gruff and grumpy voice.

And even the other actors only sound like they're soullessley imitating the OG cast. I'm a voice actor. Alastor does NOT sound threatening. His voice is too light and young sounding. I can immediately tell that they're either trying their best or phoning it in. But it doesn't work either way. The only person I'm fine with is Stephanie because fuck Monica.

Also, why did Viv keep most of her OG cast for HB? Hmmm. Maybe it's because it's indie.... and not.... studio....

(Also as a VA I can tell you those VAs definitely got paid more than Viv is saying, just saying--)

I'm very curious as to what Sir Pen will sound like with Alex Brightman. Also, Luci's voice still sucks. 💀

And when when you point out the Husk contradiction, they'll immediately block you. It's a given, like the sun rising in the east.

I'm curious/dreading Alex as Sir Pen too. Stamper might be the only member of the cast Viv was completely justified in not bringing back, but I'm still gonna miss him like crazy.