#RE: Umbrella Asylum

[judasiskariot]

RE: Umbrella Asylum - CHAPTER 2

☣HAPPY RESIDENT EVIL DAY!☣

🏖⭐☣Happy Arklay S.T.A.R.S. Mansion Incident Day 07/24/1998☣⭐🏖

Albert Wesker

Umbrella Laboratory

Story: Are you interested in what everyday life was like for the Umbrella scientists? The daily routine in the laboratory? The daily routine and fate of the test subjects with no hope of rescue? The true horror in an Umbrella laboratory or just the price of progress...

Category/Content: Accompany Umbrella scientists on their latest experiment

Long fic with more chapters to come, Chapter 1 here

w/c: 1,686 words in this chapter;more to come . ao3 . 18+ only . nsfw (to come) . german version(also on AO3)

tags:     Resident Evil, Biohazard, Umbrella Corporation, Dr. Albert Wesker, Smut, F/M, Female/Male,  Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Horror, Drama, Thriller, Angst

Humanity Ends Here

This is where humanity ends

The sparkle of scalpel blades under neon lights.

The smell of ether.

Medicine and pills that were supposed to heal people, but made people sick.

Health twisted into madness and disease.

What was meant by the asylum upstairs?

The so-called sanatorium was more or less just a cover and the Umbrella Corporation wrapped this cover around its research facility.

The international, billion-dollar pharmaceutical company was unofficially more interested in gaining even more money and power by developing weapons for biological warfare. But this may not have been the true interest of the founder named Spencer.

To the public, it was a pharmaceutical company that contributed a lot to research into medicines and made an entire city flourish economically and almost single-handedly provided it with jobs. Thus the friend of the entire public interest.

A deceptive and fatal misconception.

Beneath the institution - which was operated by Umbrella in about as much official capacity as its non-pharmaceutical research - was one of its laboratories. The human and animal experiments that took place here made one understand:

This is where humanity ended.

The sanatorium was the perfect cover for all medical equipment and supplies of chemicals and medicines and, above all, it provided human resources. Normally no soul would stray into this antediluvian institution and be missed. That was the point of it; but for the public's sake it housed enough suitable patients to present a clean image in an emergency. Fortunately, hardly anyone cared about people labeled “crazy” by society. A person without rights quickly became a person without dignity because he was a person without protection.

But how many souls were here through no fault of their own? Very conscious? Fully understanding what happened to them? Very well, defined by society as mentally healthy?

Corridors in which the screams and sounds echoed like a memorial to dying hope.

Corridors whose every flicker of light cast evil shadows; Shadows like evidence of the absence of humanity.

Corridors whose mere presence promised a story of cruelty, without ever being able to capture their true horror in words, let alone pictures.

So many fates. So many lives. So much torment. So many nightmares.

Every day. Each night. Every hour. Every second. A painfully long eternity.

The painful reality.

The horrible reality for brother and sister.

The Napier siblings sat huddled together in their new, dark, underground cell. There was still horror in their eyes from what they had seen on their forcible transport down there. They had witnessed something they never thought possible. The asylum had already been hell on earth for them, but their “transfer” made them realize that there were greater horrors:

Genetic experiments on living humans in a secret research facility beneath the sanatorium.

Images that seemed to come from a gruesome novel or a terrible horror film; Images that only seemed to harbor a nightmare filled with sweat of fear had become their reality here. It was reality and they couldn't close the book, change the channel or open their eyes to finally escape this torture of a nightmare.

The noises and screams on the way to their cell had caused pure panic in them. They were completely different screams than the long-term, grueling shouts, stammering and groaning of the inmates that they had to endure so far.

But when the voices of the guards outside the door could be heard again, the panic only increased. Jacob - whom everyone just called Jack - put his arm around his younger sister Harleen, who had previously been called Lee by her friends before all of this, in an attempt to calm her down.

“Stand back!” was ordered according to protocol and the wards only entered after the two prisoners were standing against the opposite wall, which could be observed through a small barred window in the door.

Several of them then entered with disgusting grins and the two siblings, who were already shaking and clinging to each other, held each other even tighter. Mischief emanated from them, which seemed to literally drip from every single one of their pores.

“Come on, hold on to her!”

Two of the tall guards grabbed the woman and brutally tore the two apart.

“Leave her alone!” the brother shouted in panic and his attempt to hold his sister with his eyes wide in shock and attack the giants was suddenly stopped when two others held him by his arms. As ruthless as a vice.

“Keep him calm! He can watch.”

The blonde kicked and screamed as the guard in front of her began to tear at her white prison clothes and push her legs apart. The air was ominously filled with the cries of the struggling prisoners, which reflected less anger and hatred and more pure fear. In between, the almost grunting, amused voices of the group of men in nursing whites.

"Stop it now!" Jack's voice was loud but a little shaky, full of fear and panic that turned into nausea at the sight of his sister fighting tooth and nail not to be undressed. With all his remaining strength, he tried to tear himself away to protect his sister, only to collapse to his knees in pain the next moment with a choking rattle. It was the guards' fists that dug painfully into the pit of his stomach that almost knocked him off his feet. The two men began to punch his stomach again and again and he found himself gasping for breath.

"Jack! No!" his sister cried out in pain and no longer paid attention to her attacker, but looked at her brother with wide eyes, "Leave him alone! Please leave him alone! Don’t hurt him!”

“First I need the test subject with…”

This scene of inhumane violence and desperate defense was suddenly interrupted when a man in a lab coat stood in the cell in the middle. However, he didn't pay any attention to the scenery, his focus was elsewhere and his gaze was focused on his clipboard with documents. His tone was just unemotional but firm.

“First I need the test subject with…” the scientist’s slender finger ran over his document until he found the desired spot and pointed in the direction of the woman, “…blood group 0.”

Only then did he raise his head and seem to see what was going on.

“We still have work to do here,” grumbled the guard, who was still holding his unzipped belt in his hand.

A cold voice that was as unmoved as it was authoritarian replied: “You can do whatever you want as long as it doesn’t interfere with my research. And a time delay has a hindering effect on this. Continue when I’m done.”

The henchmen laughed and only God knew what there was to laugh about, thought Jacob Napier at that moment.

 "Only when you're done with her, then we can't do anything with her anymore."

Reluctantly but obediently, they finally let go of the two of them and Jack seemed relieved that his sister was saved from these savages for the time being thanks to the scientist's appearance.

She saw it differently. Her gaze remained on the blonde in the lab coat and she didn't move away from her tormentors towards him. Someone who rose above such sadistic monsters but nevertheless did research here. How much safer could it be with someone like that? In particular, the guards' last words echoed in her head, giving her a bad premonition. A horrible…

She pulled at her partially torn clothing.

Silent, intimidated. Head lowered to avoid any eye contact.

Before she had been a bit louder and had to be literally dragged here, but that wasn't even a great effort for several full-grown men. After the young Napier was forcefully brought into the office and laboratory amid shouts of protest, the first thing she did was quickly look around to explore the room:

The room contained a heavy desk. On this one computer and neatly sorted files. Almost too clean; almost meticulous. Behind it is a glass display case and cabinets with a variety of medical instruments, as well as metal surgical instruments and many ampoules with a wide variety of active ingredients.

Behind the desk in the far left corner was a heavy metal door set into the wall, which, like the access door, was also locked with an electronic combination lock.

No escape.

On the left wall was another door that led into a private bathroom and on the same wall in the left corner, there was a control panel and a whole row of surveillance monitors.

To the right of the table was an examination stretcher positioned at an angle on which arms and legs could be fixed. There was enough examination equipment to make any hospital jealous.

Even though everything was sterilely clean, that didn't hide the horror that the sight radiated.

The guards had pressed the new test subject onto this same operating table and fixed his legs and left hand so that the right hand was initially free for the Umbrella Scientist's upcoming projects.

But now the young woman lay there in silence with her eyes downcast and, ashamed, using her free hand to straighten her white clothes, some of which had been torn by her attackers.

No more protesting, no more attempts to defend yourself.

The virologist was alone with his test subject.

The emotionless look didn't quite understand why her biggest concern was fixing her clothes. She seemed to him like a lost little girl.

She really was lost. Completely lost.

Left helpless.

Without any human emotion, he turned back to his short report for the executive department, entered the last data that was relevant to them - or rather he assessed that it was relevant to them; without any statistics that broke everything down perfectly in detail, as something like that only caused enthusiasm among himself and his colleagues - and finally signed.

The prisoner's head now rose slightly and craned around with rapidly searching eyes to catch a glimpse of the paper.

He signed with Albert Wesker.

Happy Arklay Day 07/24/98

Have a blonde, shades-wearing, blue eyed Umbrella lab Wesker.

(I call him Dr. Sexy MD)

Happy Resident Evil day you all!

[theorphicforest]

i finished season 4 of the umbrella academy a few days ago, after re-watching my beloved season 2 i’ve come up with thinks i liked and disliked about the season

so here is my rant.

Liked/noticed:

- Both Brellie ben and Sparrow ben died Because of Jennifer. imagine no matter what timeline your in you die because of your heart, brellie ben wanted to save her and not blow her up, sparrow ben wanting to feel seen and belong to somthing/someone (i love brellie and sparrow ben so much ill rant about him later dw)

- LUTHERRR went from being a Luther disliked to a Luther lover- he’s so silly omg i can’t-

- KLAUS MY BELOVED (that’s it a just loved seeing klaus will rant about what i didn’t like soon)

- Jean & Gene- before you say anything. THEY MATCHED EACH OTHERS FREAKS SO WELL

(when will i find somone who match’s my freak they way they match each others?)

- KLAUS AND CLAIRE OMG MY BABYS I CANT- HES THE BEST UNCLE 😭

- DEIGO, I LOVE HIM SM I LOVED SEEING HIM BE A FAMILY MAN.

DISLIKES (THERE IS A LOT)

*ahem*

why did luther get his ape body back, its not connected to his powers at all. they just did it to make two bad jokes didn't they

HOW DID SHE GET IN THE SQUID

they said durango was supposed to be more powerful the all the brellie combined if she came in contact with them but all she did was turn into a fleshy blob monster?

how did five start the commission?

why didn’t reggie just kill jenifer inseatd of making an elaborate truman show around d her? we all know he would have no problem killing g her bc he already did in the brellie timeline

how could claire and grace and the twins still be alive when their parents never existed. that would've created another grandfather paradox according to this shows logic i guess not?

WHERE IS SLOANE? AND RAY? YOU EXPECT ME TO BELIVE THAT THE RAYMOND CHESTNUT WOUDL WALK OUT IN ALLISON? I THINK NOT! if the actor didn’t want to/couldn’t be in the show i understand but at least make a good reason.

when Five meets the other Fives in the diner he doesn't show any symptoms of Paradox Psychosis

Diego dies without saying goodbye to his children

Abigail's storyline made NO sense at all

WHY ARE THE ALIENS?

Klaus' new powers are shown for a second and then for the rest of the season he's basically reduced to a prostitute, ruining all the anticipation of seeing his true strength that has been building up since season 2 and he lost all of his self improvement

why in the hell was Lila shooting laser from her eyes? where did that power come from?

oh yeah! AND WHATS THE DEAL WITH LILA AND FIVE? IT HAD NOTHING TO SO WITH THE PLOT AT ALL

AND WHILE IM ON THIS TOPIC WHY DIDNT DEIGO STUTTER WHEN HE FOUND OUT?

AND HE SAID LILA HATED BRACELETS (and traded on he got her for a Dyson vacuum) BUT SHE KEPT THE ONE FORM THE ASYLUM AND WORE IT FOR THE WHOLE OF SEAOSN 2 (AND MAYBE 3?) MAYBE DEIGO JUST HAS BAD TASTE IN BUYING BRACLETS?

SOBIBNG

i will do i post on why i love ben and Klaus so much eventually:3

[alpydk]

🌿 🌸

Good morning anon. Thanks for the ask, talking about fics I love! I did a huge post the other day so quickly going to add them in here as well. - Recommend only one hahahahahaahahahahahaahaha.

🌿Rec someone else’s BG3 fic and tell us what you like about it!

The 5 from the other day (Find the post here to see why)

Alchemy 410 Broken Horizons Weave me the Sunshine Professor Dekarios Twin Compasses

And now some more that I didn't link Weave and Woods - @weaveandwood - Honestly I just love the pairing. Auroria is such a good character who I genuinly see ending up with Gale. And it's not been all that eay relationship where they fall in love and are happy. They have their challanges. I most of all love seeing her learn new spells because that doesn't really happen in fics and its great to see. (Especially how proud she is with it.) "The second, third, fifth, ninth tries were similar. On the tenth try, she thought she saw a few sparks of electricity surrounding the arrow, sending a surge of pride through her. She was close, she could feel it. " - Come on Ori, you can do it!

---

Strange Highways - I have been on about this fic since chapter one. No fic has caught be like this. It's like it calls to my chaotic nature and I will keep screaming it into the Tumblr void like some insane looney fan. Just me alone with my billboard - READ THIS FIC. It's Cazador in a rock group in the 80's. It's funny, has amazing music referances but most of all it's just so fucking good to read.

The words spoke to his soul, into the very depths of it. He felt them with every cell of his body. This was not like the weak melodies bards played back in Faerûn. This music had authority. It had power.

Master of puppets, I'm pulling your strings

Twisting your mind and smashing your dreams

Blinded by me, you can't see a thing

Just call my name, 'cause I'll hear you scream

It was perfect. He imagined saying the words, making them his own. This was a supreme incantation, it had to be. This one would make people obey. Just Fuck Yeah!

--- Paperback Writer - (Short 600 words) - Haarlep edits Raphael's novel. It's fucking funny and I love it. Simple as. "Quivering, the hero took my hand I’m pretty sure Tav told you not to touch them, and it made you pout for a week."

And now the non Bg3 ones... because oops...

RE: Umbrella Asylum (Resident Evil) - @judasiskariot - It's got that lab, depressing, in your head build up mood. You know the one, everything is clinical but there is evil shit going on. The descriptions are fucking beautiful and I love it. "Icy blue eyes that were at least as cold as the black lenses of the glasses." - Just that about Wesker. I still think of it even now. ---- La Petite Mort - One of the most beautifully written crackfics I've ever read. Barbie/Dracula. - Just try it and love it. He should have gotten rid of her by now. Made a meal out of her, at least, even if only the once: her blood will surely be sweet, so sweet, heady and deep and dark when he drinks from her.

But he keeps finding excuses.

Not yet. If I'm honest my reading of fics has been limited recently. I have a few too many that just seem to have been abandoned and I'm becoming hesitant to start up reading newer chapter fics. I'm also a little put off when I see things at chapter 54 and then find its over 200k worth of words to catch up on. Yeah, I need to have people recommend fics to me so if people want to send me asks with their recs go ahead.

🌸Rec one of your fics and tell us what you like about it! Only one.... But I'm so good. (They say, going through the 40 fics knowing they really could be better.) I'm my own worst critic. Fuck it, you get more than one. This is my answer!

Cabinet of Oddities - It's Nana's story. What started all this chaos. It is love and adventure and mental illness and healing all rolled into one big Galemancer sized ball. 56k words of just me. I may also be writing the sequel/prequel right now... “A kiss does not necessarily have to mean love though, just as a hug certainly does not. Is that what you were expecting to feel?” He looked into her eyes. He had always been that of the hopeless romantic. As much as he wanted to believe his own words, he knew he was not the type to kiss without love, or at least potential love.

She gazed back at him. “I’m not sure. I wasn’t expecting to feel fear though.”

“And, do you fear me?” He hoped that she would say no. That maybe this feeling could blossom, that all their unspoken feelings could be revealed and yet he was also nervous of her answer. That if she said no, it would be something else holding him to this mortal coil, someone else who would eventually realise he was not good enough.  Just look how fucking good that is. (I'm not allowed to be down on myself so the other end of the spectrum it is)

--- Tattered Souls - RuganxGale (Also writing the sequel right now) - This is my ZhentWeave baby. This is all for me. I love it and that's all that matters. Honestly writing something like has been extremely liberating and I recommend everyone write something like this at some point. “Just get out of here...” Rugan’s voice was weak, his gravely tones quiet, and he tried to lift himself from the ground.

Gale spoke calmly, keeping his eyes on the mercenaries in front of him. “Not without you.” He could unleash the lightning bolt and possibly fire a magic missile before being hit if he moved quick enough.

“This isn’t your fight.” A hacking cough brought up small amounts of blood, which were spat onto the ground. “Just leave.”

An arrow flew from a trigger-happy archer whistling past Gale’s ear and he almost unleashed the lightning bolt in reaction, stopping only as he saw Rugan stand before him in defence of the female Zhentarim.

“Gale, not your fight...” Love me some cliches and tropes. Love them.

--- Okay, last rec. Not that anyone will read all of this, anyway. You're all looking for your own fics after all (I do that then get quietly depressed when my name isn't on the list... But we all do that, right? Right???)

Where is that child now, I wonder? - Gale past short (500 words). I keep thinking of this one a lot recently. Of young Gale and his relationship with his father. This is probably more a head cannon than an actual fic but it's stuck with me. - I recommend a read if you're looking for ideas. "No! I won't let my son read poetry and become like a delicate flowered prick of an elf. Weak, pathetic! No, he will do as I say and do it when I tell him to!" 

Again, thanks for the ask. I do love talking about recommendations and I have a number of Chase whump fics on the bookmarks list, as well as a few quick one shots I've enjoyed. Would love recs from others as said - The more angst the better. :)

[lyssak09]

Masterlist & Things I write for

AN: I automatically write the reader as female so when you re quest please please tell me what pronouns you want the reader to have. Also if requested I will and can write the reader as part of the LGBTQ+ community

Key: Italics means to be posted/its a draft

Fandoms I can write for:

Supernatural

Corpse Bride (my favorite movie ever)

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Night Court (1986)

Certain Stephen King movies: Just request one and I’ll tell you if I have seen it or not

Doctor Sleep

Charmed (the original one)

The Labyrinth (David Bowie movie)

Krull (1983)

Secret Obsession (netflix movie)

Day of the Dead: Bloodline

The Walking Dead (seasons 1-7) I get pissed with the show when I get to parts of season 7 so I stop watching and restart from the beginning of the show

Umbrellas Academy

Z Nation

Warehouse 13

Repo! The Genetic Opera

Dead by Daylight

Adventure Time

The Big Bang Theory

Friends

Suicide Squad (both movies)

Futurama

Slashers: Ghostface (preferably Stu), Michael Myers, Thomas Hewitt, Jason, Brahms Hillshire

Star Trek: TNG, Voyager, Lower Decks

My Bloody Valentine: Both 1981 and 2009 movies so please be specific with which one you want

Markiplier & Jacksepticeye egos

Masterlist

Supernatural

Yandere Dean hcs

Yandere Shapeshifter hcs

Yandere Sam hcs

Yandere Archangels request

Yandere Castiel hcs

Yandere Lucifer hcs

Yandere Casifer hcs

Yandere Casifer with Trans!reader request

Yandere Archangels soulmates request

Dead by daylight

Platonic Yandere killers reaction to child reader

Yandere Leon with Killer!reader request

Yandere Leon with Killer!reader pt.2 request

Platonic Yandere (HOY) Trapper & Huntress with tween!reader request

Platonic Yandere Huntress & Trapper request 

Yandere Nemesis hcs request

Yandere Killers & Survivors request pt.1

Yandere Killers & Survivors request pt.2

Yandere Doctor hcs request

Plantonic yandere (HOY) Trapper & Huntress pt.2

Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Yandere Jake Peralta hcs

Yandere Jake with Lawyer!reader request

Yandere Jake

Yandere Rosa

Yandere Amy

Yandere Charles request

Star Trek

Yandere Q request

Yandere William Riker

Yandere Data

Yandere Tom Paris

Umbrella Academy

Yandere Five with Soft!reader request

Yandere Five hcs

Yandere Luther hcs

Yandere Diego hcs

The Walking Dead

Yandere Daryl with motherly!reader hcs request

Yandere Daryl motherly!reader hcs pt.2 request

Yandere Daryl

Yandere Daryl VS Rick hcs/sorta request

Yandere Rick VS Governor request

Yandere Rick hcs

Yandere Grown Carl hcs

Yandere Michonne hcs

Yandere Governor request

Miscellaneous (Aka writing that doesn’t have their own category yet)

Yandere Brahms Heelshire (The boy)

Yandere Elliot Stabler (L&O SVU)

Yandere Mack Thompson (Z Nation) hcs

Yandere Emily (Corpse Bride) hcs

Yandere Black Mask/Roman Sionis (DC/BOP)

Yandere Pete Latimer (Warehouse 13) hcs

Yandere Homelander (The Boys) hcs

Yandere Joker (Suicide Squad)  hcs (Fight me on this)

Yandere Piper Hallowell (Charmed) hcs

Yandere Leo (Charmed)  hcs

Yandere Colwyn (Krull) hcs

Yandere Danny Torrance (Doctor Sleep) hcs I love Ewan McGregor 

Yandere Max (Day of the dead: Bloodline) hcs

Yandere Victor (Corpse Bride) hcs

Yandere Wilford Warfstache hcs

Yandere Antisepticeye hcs

Ocs

Tyler from my yandere song fic

Evan ( Yandere Landlord)

Daniel (Yandere Slasher)

Hudson (Yandere Cop/Sheriff)

Luke (Yandere Childhood friend/Bully)

Damien (Yandere Teacher)

Zachary (Yandere zombie apocalypse survivor)

Derek (Yandere Hypnotist/ Therapist)

Ashton (Yandere Neighbor)

Zeke (Yandere robot boss)

William (Yandere Prisoner)

Adrian (Yandere Asylum patient)

Devon (Yandere Priest)

Jason (Yandere Step father)

Max (Yandere step brother)

Anthony (Yandere slasher/homicide survivor)

Ryan (Yandere childhood friend)

Ewan (Yandere military man) 

Unnamed (Yandere boss)

Unnamed (Yandere AI robot house)

[bhaal-battle-beer-bard]

Masterlist mainblog @judasiskariot

📜🪶📜🪶💙🎻🫧🌹🌸🌹🫧🎻💙🪶📜🪶📜

Fanfiction

Astarion x Tav:

Fangtastic days of our lives

Kissing every one of your ridges – With horns and tail and everything

📜🪶📜🪶💙🎻🫧🌹🌸🌹🫧🎻💙🪶📜🪶📜

Poetry

Astarion:

What is eternity compared to you?

Gale:

Wash my pain away

Flaming stardust - Diamond flood of cosmic light

📜🪶📜🪶💙🎻🫧🌹🌸🌹🫧🎻💙🪶📜🪶📜

Songs

📜🪶📜🪶💙🎻🫧🌹🌸🌹🫧🎻💙🪶📜🪶📜

Not BG3 works (mainblog @judasiskariot) - AO3 MissZombieSlayer

RE: Umbrella Asylum chapter 1/Prolog , 2 , 3 , 4

DNI: Don't like what I write and think? Feel free to ignore and leave, not here to discuss, only to relax; Don't have nothing nice to say? Don't say anything at all

[jellybeanium124]

Let’s talk about Diego Hargreeves

This is going to be a meta exploration of his characterization so if you’re not into that stuff, I’m letting you know up front.

I recently re-watched S1 & 2 of The Umbrella Academy back to back, and I saw what could be the beginning of a trend I would not like. S1 Diego is much more of a real adult than S2 Diego.

S1 Diego has a real emotional maturity and intelligence to him. Sure, he has his “cut butt, nice legs” moments and jumps Hazel, but he’s also mediating between Klaus and the vets and has other moments of emotional maturity and intelligence that mark him as a fully realized adult (and the jumping Hazel moment is completely believable and in character as he as a very solid reason for doing so, at least in his own mind). Yes, he has trauma he hasn’t worked out, and yes, he’s knife batman, but for the most part he acts the most like a normal human adult, and compared to his siblings, I would go so far as to argue that in S1 he may have the highest emotional intelligence (even if he doesn’t like to show it).

I had watched S2 more recently and repeatedly before this full-show watch, and when I went back to S1 and saw some of Diego’s behavior I was like “huh... he wouldn’t have acted that well in S2.”

S2 Diego is more of a dumbass himbo. He just is. And while it’s funny and I love it, I don’t want him to completely loose the emotionally intelligent aspect of his character in S1. S2 Diego is more of a cartoon character, and less of a strange but realistic adult man you could meet in real life. On the one hand, yeah, he did just spend 3 months in an insane asylum and that could make anyone loopy, but now that he’s out I’m hoping he’ll get some of his seriousness back.

I think there’s a happy middle ground between S1 and S2 Diego I would really like to see, almost like a toned-down Crouching Moron Hidden Badass, but more “Crouching Sometimes Stupid But Still Realistically Capable As An Adult Not-So-Hidden Badass.” I think this middle ground would be incredibly hard to hit between the delicacies of writing such a character and acting such a character, and I could understand if they leaned one way or the other.

All I really want is for the dumbass himbo aspect not to be turned up any more than it is now. Please don’t flanderize Diego, or any of the other characters I could see going that way, like Klaus or Luther. These characters aren’t idiots and they aren’t children. They have all the complexities of any adult, and the show should treat them as such.

[magicalmystery-muses]

Willow Hargreeves in Season 2

MAJOR SPOILERS FOR UMBRELLA ACADEMY SEASON 2 BELOW THE CUT!!

First of all, in the apocalypse 1963 sees when Five lands and sees WW3, Willow is taking the life force from fallen soldiers around her to weaponize

She ends up in the same mental institution Diego does, but she pops out of the sky much later. Maybe like a week or less before Five does? She was found having a panic attack on the street and was brought into the asylum. Willow and Diego end up having this huge sweet reunion and Lila is Quite Lost

Five visits Willow before Diego. They talk, he tells her the world will end in a few days, and also tells her to keep an eye on Diego "in case he does something stupid." Of course Five ends up telling the guards about Diego's escape plan a few minutes later but ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

She ends up hearing the ruckus a few minutes later and Lila tells her about how Diego got taken in. Later, she joins him and Lila as they escape. She uses a potted plant in the common area to disarm one of the guards, then escapes with Lila and Diego. Willow sits in the back seat

When Five pops up, Willow squeals and hugs him. Which Five Does Not Like (secretly he does but he acts very annoyed)

Diego and Five have her stay back and look over footage with Elliot, which she hates, but the two of them actually become good friends in the process! She even eats his gross Jell-O molds because she feels bad saying no

When Lila got back with Diego half dead, Willow helped patch him back up. Lila then asked to be alone with him and Willow obliged, leaving them To It ™

Willow goes with Diego, Five, and Lila to the gala. As Five goes off to find Reginald and Diego goes from Lila to Grace, she’s trying to divert attention away from any guards or security, which works for a bit! Until the Swedes attack Diego, and she runs to help her brother, getting into the fight herself. Lila doesn’t help her either, just sticking to helping Five

The siblings reunite and things are mostly the same as in the canon scene, and Willow goes with Vanya, Allison, and Klaus to hang out at the beauty parlor!

She’s next seen with Luther and Diego after just getting back from hanging out with her other siblings, and then joins Luther and Diego in trying to convince Vanya that seeing Reginald is a bad idea. She actually likes the name “Team Zero”

During the dinner with Reginald, she has to walk out for a moment. She had just come to terms with the fact that it’s okay for her to not mourn her abuser, to even feel relieved, and here he is in front of her. It’s surprisingly Diego that goes to comfort her! As another Hargreeves sibling living with a disability, he knows she’ll listen to him. After a quick talk and him convincing her that this is how she can prove how far she’s come mentally, she eventually goes back inside. Dinner scene goes as normal. During the time Klaus is possessed by Ben, she feels betrayed that Klaus never told them he came with, and it puts a rift between them briefly

When she, Luther, and Diego get back, they naturally freak out about Elliot’s death, especially Willow who had formed a legitimate friendship with him. Five comes back, tells them about the deal, and they go with him. Willow stays with Five, and later goes with him and Luther when dealing with Older Five, both going as his “spotters,” and helps Luther break the news to Older Five that Young Five is there. When Luther and Older Five are in the bathroom, she tries to talk to Young Five and see if he’s okay, but he snaps at her because of his own paradox psychosis. After coming out of the bathroom, Luther pulls her aside and tells her what Older Five told him. Before the Fives start fighting and take Luther out, one of the asylum security workers sees Willow and she runs. Neither of the Fives or Luther notice, too caught up in the scuffle.

When she’s cornered by the security worker, because she left with Diego and Lila, she’s questioned about them as she and the worker fight. As she wins, Allison, Diego, and Klaus return with Vanya. They explain to her why they think the Apocalypse is over. Vanya has to break the news to her about Ben and tells her that he’s at peace now, and that he asked her to tell Willow and give her a hug for him. She breaks down in Vanya’s arms, happy her brother has finally reached peace but now having to mourn him all over again. Klaus distances himself from her, still thinking that he was the reason Ben stayed behind so long and feeling guilty.

We see the opening scene of the final episode at Ben’s funeral. Willow, the most visibly shaken up, sides with Allison when she says it wasn’t their fault Ben died. Reginald reacts basically the same as he reacted in the actual episode, but adds something about how Willow is even weaker because she came later, blaming both her and “her selfish mother” for Ben’s death. Willow takes these words to heart, and as the others leave, she stays behind to talk to Ben’s coffin. Ben notices her after he and Klaus’ conversation. It turns out that after seeing her, she was another reason why he didn’t want to go into the light

Back in 1963, the reporters lump Willow in with Diego in their report, because both escaped from the asylum together. What follows is basically the same: the family starts arguing, Vanya leaves, the family then joins her. Willow sits in the front with Vanya and Klaus, who tell her why Ben stayed behind, and she and Klaus make amends

During the final farm battle, Willow uses life energy from the crops growing around them as weapons, even controlling some of the plants themselves. Again, this is basically the same as canon, where Vanya seems to have won, Lila turns out to have powers, the siblings try to fight her. When Willow tries to fight her, the plants she used to try and hold Lila down wilt as Lila steals the energy, using it to blast Willow back

Once again, the same thing that happens in canon happens here, with the siblings dying but Five going back in time a few seconds earlier to fix it, Lila leaving with the knowledge she was one of the children born October 1st 1989, and Vanya saving Harlan

The Hargreeves siblings time travel back to 2019, relieved that both apocalypses have been averted. As they celebrate, Willow turns to look out the window and see Ben’s statue and tell “him” they did it, but is surprised why it’s no longer there. That’s when it turns out Reginald is alive, the Umbrella Academy is now the Sparrow Academy, and Ben is alive but completely different

[starlightafterastorm]

The Umbrella Academy Season 2                            

7/10

I feel the same way about Season 2 as I feel about the last episode of Season 1. It’s incredibly entertaining. It’s very heartwarming at times. But it is so much flash and action and style and very little substance. When I actually look deeper at the storylines and the characters it feels a bit hollow. Either we skipped SEVERAL STEPS of character development to get here, or we didn’t move forward at all. 

This would have been a FANTASTIC Season 3 IF we had gotten a Season 2 full of good character development only for Season 3 to show a character regression before moving forward at the end.

There were SO MANY storylines in Season 2 and so many characters did literally nothing, twiddling their thumbs while more important stuff was happening with other siblings. And that’s the whole crux of the matter. The siblings spent far too much time separated, their storylines disjointed.

Season 1 had a premise. Dysfunctional but found family. And the end of Season 1 promised that they would actually try to address Vanya’s (and their own) trauma. Season 2 sideswerved HARD and did not meet that promise. Instead they gave Vanya an amnesia storyline to gloss over the painful parts of healing.

There were just so many lost opportunities. More issues with this season and what I would have liked to have seen instead under the cut. I uh... went on a rant. 

The Plot

What they essentially did was a soft reboot that just re-treaded out Season 1 with slight differences which is why so many of the characters feel so stagnated. Most of them are not moving forward or are moving forward so slowly, what was the point?

Luthor:

moderate character growth. He has (mostly) broken free of Reginald Hargeeves’ influence and transferred his daddy issues onto any other older male. The underground fighting and being a body man for Jack Ruby was fine but having FIVE become his new daddy figure and then trying to figure out WHICH FIVE to listen to was absolute gold. Also him being heartbroken but SUPER RESPECTFUL of Allison’s relationship with Raymond was A+. I assume he was just as respectful when she was married to Patrick and kudos to him for being the only one to mention Claire all season. Gets points taken off because despite the end of Season 1 being about how to help Vanya process her trauma his immediate reaction to Vanya is to CONFRONT HER WITH A GUN BEHIND HIS BACK which he only puts away when he sees there’s a child in the barn with them. And then he just... walks away.

Yeah he just… is there quietly supporting everyone else this season. Not the best but not the worst. 

Diego:

SO MUCH CHARACTER GROWTH. I AM PROUD OF HIM. SOMEHOW JUMPED UP TO ONE OF THE FAVES THIS SEASON. Might have had the best character growth in the whole season. He went to therapy for 75 days and came out of it willing to throw away numbers and be team zero and make amends with most of his siblings. Still snarky and mean and kind of an obsessive dumbass about JFK and went into his thing with Lila way too quickly but I really loved him being a foil to Five. I almost cried when his stutter came back. 

Ok but my biggest complaint is that I would have liked to see his own struggles as a hispanic man in 1960’s Dallas, Texas. Tie it to Allison’s Civil Rights plot. Because he and LiIa are two clearly non-white people, Lila with a British accent of all things, in 1963 Dallas going to a fancy gala with rich white men and no one bats an eye. No one says anything to either of them. Not that I want them to be discriminated against but it’s weird to see that juxtaposed with Allison not even being allowed to go into a diner. Because racism towards hispanic men is well and alive in present day Dallas and it sure as hell would have been in 1963. Dallas specifically used to have a neighborhood called Little Mexico that reached peak population in the 60s but was slowly dismantled by gentrification. While not legally segregated, Mexican-American citizens were still considered second class citizens. Places like Woolworth’s (and probably that diner where Allison had the sit in) did not allow Mexican-Americans. Him being put into that asylum was definitely rooted in racism after showing violence, even after helping an old white lady, and screaming about the president being assassinated. 

I don’t know how to tie that cleanly to Allison’s storyline considering he already had a lot going on with his plot but like… show us some representation of a history not usually taught. Especially since David Castenada is Mexican-American. It’s literally his history. 

Allison: 

Started off kind of strong and then... eh. I liked PARTS of her storyline. I really liked her getting involved with the Civil Rights movement. I loved her being taken in by the other women at the hair salon. But I think the reveal of her storyline came too late. We spent multiple episodes with her before getting to her flashback after landing in the 60’s and it should have come earlier if you wanted us to care more about the community she joined. 

While I liked Raymond fine, I would have preferred he didn’t exist. Not for shipping or anything but just for the fact that you had such a strong beginning with Allison being saved by this group of black women who took her in and defended her that I feel like you could have built more into that. They had some great scenes with them supporting her after Raymond is arrested and crying out as Allison is being restrained by the police officer but then Raymond is angry at her and denounces her from the community and then nothing. Even after she tells Raymond the truth there isn’t another scene with Allison and the other women.

Allison didn’t need another relationship, sincere or not. Not after Patrick and Luthor. She needed scenes with the women, commiserating over her lost family, siblings and child. She needed the support of other women in order to learn how to support other women so she could learn from her mistakes with Claire and Vanya. And to learn how to use her powers responsibly. 

Her whole arc from Seasons 1 and 2 is about not wanting to use her powers because she has a history of personal gain and escalating violence… but then she doesn’t use them at moments where they would be the most helpful. How great would a storyline have been about her using her powers to protect these other black women in the community? And about learning how to use her powers to de-escalate a situation without resorting to violence? (Every time Allison was in a situation I kept screaming at the tv “I HEARD A RUMOR YOU SAT IN A CORNER AND TIED YOUR HANDS TOGETHER”)

Also. Also. Also. Black women often have no voice. Even, or especially, in their own community. They get looked over because of the violence happening to black men or the non-diverse feminism of white women. Show us more about Allison literally having no voice and connecting with these women who metaphorically have no voice. We get such a small taste of it. I want more. 

Klaus: 

What did Klaus do all season? No seriously? What was the point of him? 

I get that the cult is a very Klaus thing to do but then he gets smothered by them so he tries to dip out? Was there… supposed to be a lesson in codependency there? A lesson about creating a new accepting family? About being heard by people who support you but he prefers the Hargreeves who will snipe at him instead? 

And he was so mean to Ben all season. ALL SEASON he was mean to Ben. Because Ben can’t leave him and he’s acting as his conscience. Which is fair because that gets annoying after 17 years but maybe you should listen to him a little? Maybe you shouldn’t be making him perform tricks for you to impress your cult? 

The Dave storyline was sad and some of the most real moments from Klaus all season. Another storyline that… we knew where it was gonna go and how it was gonna end but I didn’t mind it so much. But if the point of his storyline was to learn to let go of his trauma and just of people he’s grieving in general, Dave AND BEN, then… how does the cult fit into it? I’m still trying to make sense of the cult plot point. It didn’t serve anything with Klaus and you didn’t need it to have Ben have feelings for and try to make a connection with a girl. There’s something there with the cult storyline they were maybe trying to get at and I don’t think they achieved it. 

Also his sobriety. The reason Klaus is the way he is is because he takes the drugs and the drinks to not see ghosts. If he were sober for three years (why was he sober for three years? He was in a cult. He should have been off his rocker the whole time because him trying to get sober was to see Dave and Dave han’ died yet) why wasn’t he surrounded by other ghosts asking him for help the same way they were in S1? And then he just… throws his sobriety away. Because of heartbreak? Annoyance at the world and at Ben?

Five:

Repetitive. It’s just a retool of S1’s apocalypse storyline. Which. AGAIN. Five doesn’t even solve this second apocalypse! I stand by Rapaccini’s post saying that Five was meant to be on the stage with the gun in his hand in season one. And he should have been there trying to stop the apocalypse with Vanya in S2. Cool, great, love Diego being taken into the Time Commission. But Five’s the one who’s been putting the pieces together and trying to get them the briefcase and who’s been looking at the newspapers and watching the videos and whatnot. How did no one consider that the second apocalypse revolved around Vanya? Again. And it’s for the same reason: her storyline was removed from her siblings and no one was there to support her until literally the last moment. She was being tortured by the FBI for A WHILE. Did anyone even tell Five that Vaya was being tortured by the FBI? Whie he was having a slap fight with his older younger self? 

Old!YoungerFIve vs Young!OlderFive was hilarious. I loved every moment of it except for the fact that at literally the same time Vanya was being tortured by the FBI. Why are you keeping FIve and Vanya so far apart? Their storylines should revolve around each other. They’re the literal lynchpins of the series. 

Ben:

Sweet baby. Sweet sad ghost baby. He twiddled his thumbs with Klaus for a while but I don’t mind it as much because he’s so tied to Klaus. So of course Klaus twiddling his thumbs means Ben doesn’t really get to do anything. I like him trying to assert his dominance in their relationship. I love him learning how to possess Klaus and make a real connection with fruit and the mud and getting to see Diego and Vanya one last time. I legit cried during Vanya’s scene with him. I’m so glad that we don’t lose Justin MIn next season because I was very worried. I also was brought to tears when he sat there alone saying he misses his siblings. All of them. So much. 

Vanya:

I don’t like amnesia plots and I don’t like infidelity plots. Those are personal squicks for me so I absolutely loathe Vanya’s storyline. Look. I get that Sissy is oppressed as a not straight woman in 60’s Texas and she’s struggling with a husband who is pretty terrible (but standard by 1960’s Texas POV) and her son is difficult. I get where they were trying to go with it. But that doesn’t justify her carrying on an affair with Vanya. She is still married and still sleeping with him while coercing Vanya into keeping their whatever a secret. I don’t consider illicit affairs behind another partner’s back to be romantic. 

I did NOT like their kissing scene together because again, she’s married, they’re both drinking and Sissy is visibly upset and drunk and she makes the first move on Vanya after having known Vanya for a month with Vanya having amnesia and Sissy is Vanya’s employer. Vanya has been hired by Sissy to watch over her child in exchange for room and board so by all accounts there’s literally no place to go and no one for Vanya to turn to if it goes south. When. When it goes south. Sissy knew full well that she had no intention of putting in the effort to make their relationship a permanent and sustainable thing as she makes clear to Vanya later. It’s Vanya who puts in the effort to make their relationship a viable thing after they spend the night together. So there’s a power dynamic there that is not ok. 

So many of those components DO NOT WORK FOR ME. I don’t like it and I don’t think anyone’s storyline benefited from it. Their relationship was just a whole lot of NOPE for me. 

What was the point of Sissy’s relationship with Vanya. Because it swallows up Vanya’s whole plot and we’re never going to see Sissy again so why did it matter? Just to show Vanya is queer? Cool, I love it. That’s great for Vanya. Do it not this way. Not in a way that has some amnesia, coercion, power dynamic issues. She already had that in a worse way with Leonard. 

Vanya did not need a relationship this season. Straight up. Just like Allison. Because if you want to show Vanya growing and healing from her trauma to allow her to love another man or woman after what Leonard did to her, GIVING HER AMNESIA AND WIPING IT ALL AWAY SO IT DOESN’T MATTER ISN’T HOW YOU DO IT. 

Beyond that. There’s just so much of Vanya’s storyline that is off and terrible and doesn’t make sense. If the whole point of all of this was to have this interesting connection with Harlan because she… transfers some of her powers to him? Is able to connect with him? They’re both special? Then show us that! We weren’t shown that. At all. How capable was Vanya in taking care of Harlan? We’ve never seen her with other children before, let alone a child who is non-verbal and clearly needs special attention and care. We see Sissy struggling with Harlan at one point, did Vanya struggle? As someone who used to work with children, it’s HARD. Adding in non-verbal special children is even harder.

So show us more scenes where this non-verbal child is able to communicate his wants and needs with Vanya. Show us Vanya being able to handle his temper tantrums in a way that connects to Vanya struggling with her own temper because of her trauma even if she doesn’t remember it. Show us Vanya commiserating with this child over a family that doesn’t really understand him and a father who is neglectful at best. The biggest scene I can remember Harlan connecting with Vanya before the finale is when he puts his hands over hers but that’s HARLAN comforting VANYA because VANYA is upset. Which is an interesting moment but that’s due to Vanya’s upset over Sissy and not anything to do with Harlan himself. 

Cycling back around to Vanya’s amnesia. Thanks, I hate it. 

If you have to have this stupid amnesia storyline, especially if you’re going to have it revealed by Reginald in Vanya’s mind that she is purposefully suppressing the memories because it’s too traumatic, then you need to seed that through the rest of the season. We had one nightmare flashback. Her memories could have been triggered by Carl being a dick about Harlan. They could have been triggered by feeding Harlan a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich. They could have been triggered by her taking Harlan downtown and passing by a music store. Vanya didn’t pick up the violin once this season and that’s a shame considering she’s the White Violin. 

I just really don’t like amnesia plots. I made a post saying I am SO FUCKING TIRED of seeing women traumatized in media only for them to keep getting re-traumatized to show their strength or their trauma is swept under the rug. And they swept Vanya’s trauma under the rug. All of Vanya’s interactions don’t mean anything in Season 2. They’re surface level sweet but hollow because she doesn’t fucking remember so what’s the fucking point in them apologizing and being nice to her now? They can afford to do that because she can’t remember and she’s not angry. And the focus shifts AWAY from Vanya after she remembers and the compassion and empathy goes to a different female antagonist who is trying to kill them. Where was this “let’s circle around you and tell you that you are one of us and we’ll accept you even though you just made a huge effort to kill us and almost succeeded” scene for Vanya after they locked her up and she busted out to go to her concert?

[aion-rsa]

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Complete Easter Egg and Reference Guide

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The following contains spoilers for The Umbrella Academy season 2. 

The Umbrella Academy wears its influences on its sleeve. Gerard Way and Gabriel Bá’s original comic and the Netflix series it was adapted into pay a great debt to properties like X-Men, Doom Patrol, and even The Royal Tenenbaums.

Now for its second season, The Umbrella Academy is even more devoted to Easter eggs, references, and many other real life and pop culture homages. This batch of episodes takes the Hargreeves family back to the early ‘60s where they encounter a whole new host of inspirations.

“There are tons,” showrunner Steve Blackman says of season 2 Easter eggs. “We specifically wanted to sit down and say, ‘Here are the Easter eggs we want to put in, let’s make a list of them.’ They’re everywhere. I think the fans will get a real kick once you start realizing what we’ve put in.”

Follow along with us as we catalogue every possible Easter egg and reference in The Umbrella Academy season 2. Hopefully we can clarify a thing or two about this season along the way. And hopefully you, dear reader, can help point out what we surely missed.

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 1: Right Back Where We Started

This episode takes its name from Maxine Nightingale’s “Right Back Where We Started From.” And indeed that song plays as the Hargreeves family arrives in the ‘60s and tries to acclimate to their surroundings. 

The season opens with the lunar-induced apocalypse that kills billions of people on Earth. The world’s destruction was essentially confirmed at the end of The Umbrella Academy season 1 but is re-confirmed here. In the original comic book, the planet is destroyed midway through volume 2 “Dallas” when Hazel and Cha-Cha detonate a nuke they stole from Reginald Hargreeves’s stash. Thankfully in this season, just as in “Dallas,” The Umbrella Academy makes it safely back in time and gets a chance to undo things.

For organizational purposes here is where each member of The Umbrella Academy lands in the early 1960s, along with what movie is playing on the local cinema’s marquee:

February 11, 1960 – Klaus and Ben –  The movie is Curse of the Undead.

1961 – Allison – The movie is The Curse of the Werewolf.

1962 – Luther – Movie not visible.

September 1, 1963 – Diego – Movie not visible.

October 12, 1963 – Vanya – The movie is Kiss of the Vampire.

November 25, 1963 – Five – Movie is still Kiss of the Vampire.

The song playing during this latest apocalypse is Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”

This thrilling series finale-esque apocalypse sequence also provides viewers with a decent reminder of what each Umbrella siblings’ power is:

Vanya uses sound to generate enormous, explosive power. 

Klaus can communicate with the dead and in this instance is even able to summon the ghosts of U.S. soldiers to do battle against the Soviets.

Luther is super strong. And surprisingly flame retardant. 

Ben (still dead) is able to produce monstrous tentacles from his stomach. In the comic series it is explained that he summons monsters from another dimension. 

Allison quite literally possesses the power of suggestion. Her phrase “I heard a rumor” bewitches whoever hears it to do what she says. 

Diego is super accurate with knives and seemingly takes his combat training more seriously than anyone in the Academy. In the comics, Diego  is able to survive without breathing but for the second season in the row that appears to have not made it to the TV show. “You got Jason Momoa doing that a hundred times better anyway,” David Castañeda told Den of Geek during a set visit. 

Number Five can travel through time but obviously rather imprecisely. He uses that power on a smaller scale to pop through space-time during fist fights.

Hazel makes his triumphant and brief return to the series…looking somewhere between Nick Offerman and Gandalf. He likes to call Five “old-timer” because despite having his childhood body, Five is actually in his late ‘50s. 

This time around, the world will end on November 25, 1963 – notably three days after the assassination of President John F. Kennedy in Dallas. 

Diego trots out a Star Wars joke about Luke Skywalker’s daddy issues that obviously no one in the asylum is able to understand, with Star Wars 14 years away from release. 

Diego’s friend at the hospital is new character Lila, played by Ritu Arya. Lila has no comparable character in the comic series and is purely a show invention. Arya is best known for her work in Humans and Last Christmas.

Klaus and Ben were in San Francisco for three years before heading back to Dallas. In that time, Klaus started a cult. California was a hotspot for cults in the late ‘60s and early ‘70s. Klaus was a little ahead of the game. 

Allison is preparing to participate in a sit-in with her Black peers. As early as the ‘40s but chiefly during the ‘50s and early ‘60s, sit-ins were tactics used by Civil Rights organizers in which protesters would occupy an area and refuse to move. Some of the most famous sit-ins involved Black Americans sitting at lunch counters or tables in all-white restaurants and requesting service. As Dan Fienberg points out in his season 2 review, Civil Rights organizers had largely ceased this practice by 1963.

The song playing during Diego’s time in isolation is a cover of Gnarls Barkley’s “Crazy” by Daniela Andrade.

The song playing as Diego and Lila escape is “Comin’ Home Baby” by Mel Tormé. 

Luther is working for Jack Ruby – an unlikely important figure in American history. Ruby was a well-known nightclub owner in Dallas who was tied to mob activities such as illegal gambling, drugs, and prostitution. On November 24, 1963 (one day before the world “ends”), Ruby approached JFK’s killer Lee Harvey Oswald as police were escorting him from prison to court and fatally shot him at close range.��

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 2: The Frankel Footage

The title of this episode is clearly a take on “The Zapruder Film.” The Zapruder Film is footage of the JFK assassination recorded by Texas clothing manufacturer Abraham Zapruder. It is believed to be the most complete visual documentation of the JFK assassination and was used by the Warren Commission that investigated the asssassination. It’s also become fodder for conspiracy theories.

In the reality of The Umbrella Academy, The Frankel Footage is what Hazel slipped into Five’s pocket before he died. It documents JFK’s motorcade from the perspective of Dan and Ethel Frankel on Dealey Plaza. The Frankel Footage uncovers none other than Reginald Hargreeves holding an umbrella on the grassy knoll. 

Interestingly, “The Umbrella Man” is a real figure in the complicated lore of the JFK assassination. A figure holding a black umbrella appears in the Zapruder film and at one point spins his umbrella as the President’s motorcade passes by. This led to theories that, among other things, the umbrella man was a CIA plant who signaled to Lee Harvey Oswald via his umbrella to fire the fatal shots. In reality, the Umbrella Man was discovered to be Louie Steven Witt in 1978. Witt said he brought the umbrella to the motorcade to heckle Kennedy. Kennedy’s father Joe had been a fan of Nazi-appeasing British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain. A black umbrella was Chamberlain’s trademark accessory. 

The Handler lives! A bullet to the head doesn’t do as much damage as one would think on The Umbrella Academy. “Bibbidi-Bobbidi-Boo” from Cinderella plays as The Handler is spared from the incinerator. 

The Handler’s boss at the Commission is a goldfish in a tank atop an otherwise human body. His name is “A.J.” and later on it’s revealed his last name is “Carmichael.” This comes directly from The Umbrella Academy comic where the head of the “Temps Aeternalis” is revealed to be a shubunkin goldfish named Carmichael. 

“Well it finally happened – that gorilla DNA took over your mind,” Five tells Luther. This quick aside confirms that Reginald utilized gorilla DNA to save Luther’s life after a mission gone wrong. 

“Who’s Diego?” Elliot (Kevin Rankin) asks Five. “Imagine Batman and then aim lower,” Five responds. 

When Klaus meets one of his old followers in a holding cell and the follower asks for words of wisdom, Klaus replies with “Don’t go chasing waterfalls. Stick to the rivers and the lakes that you’re used to.” This is a lyric from TLC’s 1995 song “Waterfalls.” 

All the “Children of the Prophet” have “Hello” and “Goodbye” tattooed or scribbled on either palm. This is in reference to Klaus’s tattoos of the same nature. In the comics, Klaus’s callsign is “The Seance” and those tattoos mimic the setup of most Ouija boards. 

Reginald Hargreeves owns D.S. Umbrella in Dallas. We see him open this business in the enigmatic opener of The Umbrella Academy season 1’s final episode. That episode also seemed to suggest that he’s an alien. 

Baby Pogo makes his first appearance! Pogo is a chimpanzee with the intelligence of a human. He was Hargreeves’s steadfast friend and probably the only positive influence in the young Hargreeves children’s lives. He was killed by Vanya in season 1. 

Five finds an invitation to Hargreeves from the Consulate of Mexico and one Mr. Hoyt Hillenkoetter. Roscoe Henry Hillenkoetter was the first director of the CIA in real life. 

The song playing as Diego fights his father is “I’m a Man” by Spencer Davis Group.

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 3: The Swedish Job

“The Swedish Job” is likely a reference to the classic ‘60s action film (and its 2003 remake) The Italian Job.

Let’s talk about The Swedes a little more. The Swedes are not present in the Umbrella Academy comic book. They fill a similar role to what Hazel and Cha-Cha do in the second volume of the comic as agents of The Commission (or Temps Aeternalis in the book). But with the show having burned Hazel and Cha-Cha on season 1, it likely needed a replacement here. Most assassins in the Commission are colorful characters so The Swede’s pale weirdness makes enough sense. 

“Sunny” by Boney M. plays over the opening montage of Klaus’s time as a cult leader.

Five is tracking soundwaves at Morty’s as that’s a surefire way to find Vanya. 

The man holding a “The End is Nigh” sign is certainly an homage to Watchmen. Watchmen was influential for Umbrella Academy writer Gerard Way…and just about everyone else. 

The Handler’s outfit as she intimidates a child at a pet shop closely resembles ‘60s fashion popularized by Jackie Onassis Kennedy – fitting given this season’s focus. 

Five’s coffee obsession continues apace in this episode. 

Klaus meets Dave, the love of his life, at Glenoak’s Hardware. Klaus had previously traveled to the 1960s in season 1 where he joined the Vietnam war effort and fell in love with fellow soldier Dave. Dave obviously has no recollection of it as it hasn’t happened for him yet. Or maybe it never will…time travel is weird. 

The song playing at episode’s end is “Golden Brown” by The Stranglers. 

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 4: The Majestic 12

“The Majestic 12” is a real organization…or purported to be real by conspiracy theorists. It’s said that The Majestic 12 was created by Harry S. Truman in 1947 and made up of scientists, military leaders, and government officials to investigate alien spacecraft. Elliot describes the Majestic 12 as a “shadow government.” Of course Reginald Hargreeves would be a part of it.

The Handler recovered young Lila in London, England in 1993. She appears to be about four years old at that time. If so, that would put her birth year at a very significant…1989.

The music budget this season continues to be insane. The song playing as Klaus falls back into alcoholism and addiction is Styx’s “Renegade.” Obviously.

Luther is enjoying some Texas barbecue when he encounters Allison again. This leads to two relevant points.

Texas barbecue is the best in the country.

With Luther’s increased appreciation for food, The Umbrella Academy season 2 is paying slight homage to the comic’s “Fat Luther” storyline. Following the events of the first comic volume, Luther becomes complacent, depressed, and ultimately, obese. “There’s certainly a nod to that in this season,” Tom Hopper told Den of Geek. “There was a question mark over the fact that Thor did the whole thing already (in Avengers: Endgame.”

Diego meets his mother at the swanky Dallas party. When Diego and his siblings knew “Grace,” she was merely a robot created by Reginald. Here she is a living, breathing woman who knows her date by “Reggie.” 

Harlan has a sparrow toy. Make note of this as sparrow imagery pops up a few times this season. Birds are all over The Handler’s clothing choices for instance. That ends up being tremendously relevant to the conclusion of season 2. 

Sissy and Vanya share a kiss and then more. Vanya is the second confirmed LGBTQ Umbrella Academy member. “Having that be such a big part of the show and Vanya’s life is exciting for me,” Ellen Page told Den of Geek. 

Luther just flat out loves drugs now. After his LSD trip in season 1, he follows that up with nitrous this season. That leads to this hilarious exchange with Elliot:

“My dad died too. He left me on the moon.” *howling, uncontrollable laughter*

The song at episode’s end is “I Was Made For Lovin’ You” by KISS. 

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 5: Valhalla

The episode’s title is named after “Valhalla,” a majestic hall ruled over by Odin in Asgard in Norse mythology. 

Poor Pogo was a space monkey. The United States, U.S.S.R., and France launched dozens of primates into space from 1948 through 1996 (!!!) to test space flight’s effects on humanity’s close cousins. When Pogo’s space flight went poorly, Reginald appears to have resurrected him with a similar serum to which he gave Luther. Is it possible that Luther got gorilla DNA and Pogo got human DNA?

Luther took a bus trip to see his father in the ‘60s. And the map that displays Luther’s trip offers up an interesting clue as to the whereabouts of The Umbrella Academy. The Umbrella Academy is filmed in Toronto though it’s never mentioned what city Toronto is standing in for in the show. In the comics it’s known as only “The City.” Here, Luther’s bus ride seems to end around Indianapolis of all places. It seems as though The Umbrella Academy is in the Midwest. 

Ambrosia was a gelatinous fruit salad popular in the ‘60s. It was and is an affront to humanity. 

The team’s breakdown of the many ways they could have destroyed the timeline is amusing to say the least:

“Diego has been stalking Lee Harvey Oswald.” – Luther

“You’ve been working for Jack Ruby!” – Diego

“Allison has been very involved in local politics.” – Klaus 

“Ok, you started a cult.” – Allison 

“I’m just a nanny on a farm. I don’t have anything to do with all of that.” – Vanya

“Face it. The only healthy relationship in this family is when Five was banging that mannequin,” Klaus says. This is a reference to Five’s mannequin lover, Dolores, from his time alone in the post-apocalypse future. 

Klaus, Allison, and Vanya dance to Sam Cooke’s “Twistin’ the Night Away.” 

The song playing as Five and Lila fight is a ska cover of Billie Eilish’s “Bad Guy” by The Interrupters. 

The song playing as the two surviving Swedes consign their fallen brother to Valhalla is a cover of Adele’s “Hello” by Swedish artist My Kullsvik.

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 6: A Light Supper

Reginald invites his “pursuers” to 1624 Magnolia Street, Dallas. This address appears to be a parking lot currently. 

“So there was a Black president?” Raymond asks Allison of the future. There was indeed, Ray.

“Hold on I’m Coming” by Sam and Dave plays as Allison and Ray have their day out on the town. 

“Sixteen years in the grave and you finally turned into your father,” Klaus tells Ben. Given the Hargreeves’s 1989 birth year and 2019 current year of the show, Ben must have been around 14 when he died. 

Dave has already signed up for the Army ahead of schedule, suggesting that the Hargreeves’ presence in 1963 really is altering the timeline. 

The song playing as the Hargreeves approach their Tiki Lounge meeting is “The Order of Death” by Public Image Ltd.

Ben can now officially inhabit Klaus. This is an evolution of Klaus’s power of being able to communicate with the dead. Robert Sheehan said of this development: “(Klaus) can’t be as selfish anymore because (Ben) has this thing over me that he can do. We have a lot of fun with it and stuff, but it’s kind of about sobriety. I think Klaus and Ben’s relationship is entirely about sobriety versus addiction, for somebody who’s lived with addiction for so long.”

As Five will tell Luther and Diego in episode 7, Öga for  Öga is Swedish for “An eye for an eye.”

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 7: Öga for Öga

A candy bar in the vending machine in 1982 Oshkosh, Wisconsin is a “Pogos-Gogos.” Pogo was likely a famous pop culture figure due to his space flight…and ability to speak English.

When Five takes an axe to the Commission executive board in 1982 Wisconsin, it’s hard not to think of American Psycho. Aiden Gallagher is a dead ringer for a young Patrick Bateman.

The song playing as Ben experiences life in Klaus’s body is “Sister of Pearl” by Baio.

We find out the name of Klaus’s cult is “Destiny’s Children.” Klaus is really working his knowledge of ‘90s R&B groups here.

The song playing as Allison battles The Swedes is “Everybody” by Backstreet Boys.

“I heard a rumor you killed your brother,” Allison tells one of the two remaining Swedes. It’s not clear why she assumes that they are brothers. But the fact that the lead Swede follows through means that Allison was correct. Otherwise The Swede would have hopped on a plane to seek out his real brother to kill.

“It was a simple task – just be here! We didn’t have to kill a giant sea serpent, fight off an army of mutants,” Five says of his team’s failure to rendezvous at the right time to escape the ’60s. The “kill a giant sea serpent” could be a reference to a brief moment in the comic’s one-off issue “But the Past Ain’t Through With You.” Sometime in the past, The Umbrella Academy defeated a sea serpent that attacked Japan because it was insulted that a toy-maker make unlicensed plush toys of it.

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 8: The Seven Stages

The FBI does have an office in Dallas but it’s about 10 miles away from Dealey Plaza and not directly behind the grassy knoll as depicted here. Or at least that’s what they want you to think…

Vanya is able to reflexively answer the FBI questioner back in Russian because Reginald Hargreeves was a strict teacher of foreign languages to The Umbrella Academy. 

Grace finds photos of Fidel Castro, Lyndon B. Johnson, JFK, and a map of his motorcade route in Reggie’s files. This is a clear indication to her that Reggie is involved in an upcoming attempt against the President’s life. Grace also sees plans for a “televator.” This is the elevator teleportation device Reginald will one day build.

There are five stages of grief but apparently seven stages of side effects from confronting one’s self in the same timeline. Five lists them out thusly:

1. Denial

2. Itching

3. Extreme Thirst and Urination

4. Excessive Gas

5. Acute Paranoia

6. Uncontrolled Perspiration

7. Homicidal Rage

As Vanya begins her LSD trip, the song that plays is “Pepper” by Butthole Surfers. Some of the lyrics are particularly apt for this season – “they were all in love with dying, they were doing it in Texas.”

Diego discovers that Vanya will be the cause of the apocalypse yet again in 1963, which makes an argument that The Umbrella Academy operates under Devs-style determinism.

Around the 23-minute mark someone holding a Cha-Cha mask can be seen off in the distance at Commission HQ. The individual’s face can’t be seen but it’s not out of the question that this could be Cha-Cha. Commission assassins appear to age in an unusual manner. Alternatively this could be an assassin who donned the cartoonish helmet before Cha-Cha. Showrunner Steve Blackman says that either interpretation is valid: “In the Commission, it’s always 1963, but it never changes time. So that very well could have been Cha-Cha holding the mask.”

In her LSD nightmare, Vanya is chastised by Reginald for wanting to live “a silly life on a silly farm.” One of the issues of “Dallas” is titled “A Perfect Life” and deals partly with Luther imagining a tranquil domestic life with Allison. 

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 9: 743

The episode gets its name from the case number in which Five executed Lila’s parents on The Handler’s orders.

Klaus references Antonio Banderas in complimenting Diego’s hair. Diego is legitimately touched. 

Much of this episode takes place in or around Dealey Plaza – the location where John F. Kennedy was assassinated. The sections of note in Dealey Plaza are the book depository where Lee Harvey Oswald fired his rifle from and the grassy knoll where some people believe a second shooter shot JFK. The Umbrella Academy doesn’t make a trip to the book depository but does briefly show the grassy knoll with Reggie Hargreeves and his umbrella. Luther and the two Fives spend most of their time in a parking lot behind the grassy knoll.

Fittingly, the song that plays as young Five fights old Five is “Dancing With Myself” by Billy Idol’s band Generation X.

Much of Vanya’s acid trip is set to Bach’s “Partita No. 2 in D Minor” on violin. There is a lot of violin imagery as well. This is fitting given Vanya’s aptitude for the instrument. She receives the villainess name “White Violin” in the comic series.

“Dad treated you like a bomb before you were one,” Ben tells Vanya.  The final issue of The Umbrella Academy Volume 1 is titled “Finale, Or, Brothers and Sisters, I Am an Atomic Bomb.”

Ben also tells Vanya he died “17 years ago” which seems at odds with Klaus’s declaration that Ben died “16 years ago.” Klaus and Ben have been in Dallas for three years though, so Ben died 19-20 years ago, depending on who is right. The year is also 1963 so Ben technically won’t die for another 42 or 43 years. Time travel is weird. 

Luther and Young Five send Old Five back to the very start of The Umbrella Academy series, which avoids a truly mind-bending number of paradoxes. 

Though it was teased in the show’s first season, Reginald Hargreeves reveals himself to be well and truly an alien in the final moments of this episode. Reggie unzips his skin mask, discards it, and then violently murders his Majestic 12 colleagues at the Tiki Lounge for them killing Kennedy against his wishes. This is a bit of information that the comic book is shockingly upfront about, casually revealing on the series’ second-ever page that Hargreeves is an alien and never addressing it further. 

Before they’re slaughtered, the Majestic 12 claim that Reggie has interests on the dark side of the Moon. Perhaps Luther’s trip to the moon wasn’t pointless after all. 

The episode concludes with a new song from Umbrella Academy creator and My Chemical Romance frontman Gerard Way called “Here Comes the End.”

The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Episode 10: The End of Something

This is the first time we’ve seen Ben’s funeral. His little casket is covered with squid iconography – a tribute to his power. 

The Umbrella Academy are now all suspects in JFK’s death. That’s bound to change the timeline, right? Indeed it probably does based on this episode and the season’s conclusion. It’s also interesting just how inherently suspicious each member of the Umbrella Academy would be to 1963 society. Vanya has an Eastern European-sounding name and can speak Russian. Diego is Cuban. Allison is a Black revolutionary. Luther is an enormous bare-knuckle brawler. Klaus is a cult leader. All intimidating stuff. 

The army of Commission goons that The Handler summons to take care of the Umbrella team is full of colorful masks and helmets a la Hazel and Cha-Cha. 

On our set visit for The Umbrella Academy season 2, Five actor Aiden Gallagher revealed that several characters would discover “sub-powers” Gallagher said: “I was talking to Steve (Blackman) about this, and how it works is in season one, we sort of get hints about all the characters powers and in season two, we really see more so the extent how far that can go. How different elements of each character’s powers actually means that they have this sub-power.” Diego seems to come across a subpower in this final battle when he appears to be able to stop bullets. Blackman explains the power thusly:

“If you think about Diego’s power, he can, with his mind, control trajectory of objects. Basically he likes throwing, so he can throw his knife and he can make it go in weird, odd curvatures and directions. All of them stopped their training in their adolescence when the family broke up, and they are still learning about their powers and their powers are still evolving. As I go through seasons we’ll see more of that. But moving a knife through the air – an extension of that is then being able to manipulate bullets through the air.”

Speaking of powers, Lila appears to have…well, all of them. Lila displays Vanya’s power, Allison’s power, and Five’s power in fights with each of them. But as Klaus, likely correctly, theorizes later, Lila can only mirror one of their powers at a time. Her ability is mimicry. Diego surmises that this means Lila is one of them – one of the 43 children born on October 1, 1989. That’s why The Handler went out of her way to kill her parents and adopt her. 

Allison leaves a letter for Ray in a copy of Jules Verne’s From the Earth to the Moon. A fitting book for the story of The Umbrella Academy and this season. 

The song playing during the closing montage is a cover of Chris Isaak’s “Wicked Games” by Parra for Cuva featuring Anna Naklab.

Luther calls Jack Ruby, presumably to convince him not to kill Lee Harvey Oswald. But Jack has already picked up his gun. 

Ah, The Sparrow Academy. We delved deep into what the ending of The Umbrella Academy season 2 means over here. For now, know that The Sparrow Academy is likely lifted from Volume 3 of The Umbrella Academy comics, “Hotel Oblivion.” We say “likely” because the team doesn’t have an official name but it does invoke a lot of Sparrow imagery. The Sparrow Academy turns up at the very end of volume “Hotel Oblivion.” In the show, The Sparrow Academy seems to exist in an alternate universe created by The Umbrella Academy’s actions in Dallas. In the comic, it is implied that they are simply seven other extraordinary children born on October 1, 1989. This could prove to be the case in the show as well…save for Ben Hargreeves, who we are obviously already familiar with. 

The post The Umbrella Academy Season 2 Complete Easter Egg and Reference Guide appeared first on Den of Geek.

from Den of Geek https://ift.tt/33f83kO

[judasiskariot]

RE: Umbrella Asylum - Chapter 4: Knowledge is power, power is life

Albert Wesker Umbrella Laboratory

Story:Are you interested in what everyday life was like for the Umbrella scientists? The daily routine in the laboratory? The daily routine and fate of the test subjects with no hope of rescue? The true horror in an Umbrella laboratory or just the price of progress...

Category/Content: Accompany Umbrella scientists on their latest experiment

Long fic with more chapters to come, Chapter 1 Prolog, Chapter 2 , Chapter 3

w/c: 1,305 words in this chapter;more to come . ao3. 18+ only . nsfw (to come) . german version(also on AO3)

tags/warnings:     Resident Evil, Biohazard, Umbrella Corporation, Dr. Albert Wesker, Smut, Female/Male,Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Horror, Drama, Thriller, Angst, Darkfic

Chapter 4

Knowledge is power, power is life

Right, Dr. Marcus?

The laboratory was illuminated; unpleasant and bitingly illuminated by fluorescent tubes that could cause a slight flicker from time to time. The constant was their easy hum, if you listened closely. Still, it was dark at the same time, and the somber, oppressive atmosphere would increase.

Albert Wesker, however, had no time to listen closely – even if he was unconsciously always perceiving everything; he had an incredible, almost too military, understanding – he listened more to the high-frequency Kilohertz beeping of the ECG, which together with him monitored his latest experimental subject.

At some point, her body had begun to adapt - which didn't necessarily alleviate the pain, but it was irrelevant to him anyway - and not just to be swamped by the injection solution. Now the question remained open as to whether she would succumb to it or not, for even though she lay still, the struggle inside continued. And it was important that it should not remain a struggle, because there were only winners or losers, the important thing was the adaptation, as with all carbon-based living things. Would the protein compounds be accepted without cellular degradation?

Wesker's mind worked analytically and objectively. Philosophical applications could be made in his spare time, when he noticed the beauty of his work every once in a while over a train of wine. Rearranging mitochondria and making malleable protein connections could be a nice thing, but sitting here in front of a living, human experiment, he was already trying to make his mind work like a flow cytometer.

Although he had spoken differently to her at the beginning, he was well aware that he was dealing with a human being. But not only had his capacity for empathy suffered in all those years at Arklay - where they had consumed countless subjects - but so had his patience. To discuss with him the human dispositions, to make him a bad conscience, or to beg for salvation, these had become abhorrent to him. Wesker wanted to achieve something, something that seemed to have been lost in the mountains.

So he waited to see if his subject would wake up again, while Napier's body had given her the redemption of a powerlessness and was now painfully struggling without her awake consciousness.

Attentive blue eyes, again veiled by black sunglasses, glided figuratively over narrow wrists and ankles that bore striking traces of fixations. Red belt marks from cutting and chafing. They had probably fixed the young woman in the Asylum often and not exactly gently. He could only think of two reasons for this, and a third scurried through his thoughts, with even Wesker briefly having to forget his face in disgust.

It would also often flourish here during the experiments to be fixed – if only for self-protection from the peripheral physical reactions.

His eyes wandered on the pale skin of her slender arms, where many red puncture holes, some of which had discolored into a hematoma, stood out.

He realized that the reports from above in the Asylum hardly contained the truth of what they had administered to her. It was illegal. It was indiscriminate. It was, in part, perverse cruelty. The puncture holes of the needles on her arm witnessed this and told him exactly what he could also see from the blood data, which he had analyzed by the way. They had pumped the young Napier full of all sorts of drugs. Most of them to calm down, still others – he could only speculate about this, because he did not want to get into the conversation with these purveyors in the first place – to perhaps observe their effect if they were new recipes that had not yet been released. It could have been sadistic barbarism.

In any case, none of this was conducive to his work. Any substance could falsify the results and put its subjects in a state that diminished their natural suitability and value for the experiments.

With such incompetence and unprofessionalism he had to fight his way around here.

Probably the biggest red flags for Albert Wesker. In addition to possibly colorful clothes for himself.

Why did he take this on himself anyway? Why did he endure such a thing when his own kingdom was waiting for him at Arklay? Together with William Birkin he was the head of the research department there and everything went as the two commissioned it.

However, research into the T-virus in Arklay stagnated. This has been going on for years. But what was almost worse for him was the incomprehensible result that the founder of Umbrella, Oswell Spencer, was expecting: a virus that was 100% deadly.

It made no sense to Wesker. Just as the cost of researching bioweapons could not outweigh their true market value. Birkin did not question this, for him every scientific curiosity was reason enough, and he lived in his own world, in which he could continue to experiment forever. Create. Destroy. Create.

Albert, on the other hand, was troubled by not knowing what the head of the Umbrella really wanted, because with time he had become more and more aware that he was missing something and he did not want to be a puppet, a marionette of others. No rat in the maze, no better than his experiments that would never understand their true destiny.

So he had come up with a very simple equation: if he discovered something so groundbreaking that matched his conjectures that Spencer was genuinely interested in, he would prove worthy of initiation. And then. . . wait and see. Wait and see if he liked what he learned.

Having failed to progress at Arklay, and being unable to completely turn the research there on its head – only because of William Birkin, and still the manager of the facility – let alone change it for his purely private benefit, without anyone knowing, and possibly contributing something to Spencer that Wesker did not want, he had been looking for alternatives.

He had stumbled upon the Asylum, where Umbrella had his ominous red-and-white fingers, and had applied there to support colleagues in the research facility below. His competence and qualifications had quickly earned him that he was the first point of contact when it came to research, but he was not the leader of the whole thing. Because then this would be completely different:

Quality, competence and scientific objectivity, coupled with care and not hobby sadism, because you had only a limited amount of staff available. The nurses and guards of the Asylum were also partly employed here; fortunately not the few limited doctors that the sanatorium officially needed.

Besides his Umbrella colleagues – or rather lackeys? – in the secret underground research facility, the rest had either always been a bit macabre in their minds, or they snapped because of the power to do whatever they wanted with other people.

It was limited in containment. This was also recognised by Wesker's blue eyes after they discovered bruises on the young woman's skin that had not been left by a puncture. And as yet unhealed red marks on her temples revealed to him that the ward had not lied with the electric shock therapy.

Injuries from the fixing straps, bruising from injections, burns from electric shocks. . . this could be done better and optimized.

The subjects did not have to be tortured unnecessarily, after all, their bodies would be heavily stressed by the experiments anyway and should be in a corresponding state for this. Thus, one should carry out everything one did competently, without such visible evidence.

It would certainly improve under his watch. His subject, her body, her being, was to be transformed and reshaped according to his ideas of the experiment, and not according to the influences of the raw barbaric violence that prevailed in the surroundings of the Asylum.

a/n:

In some chapters I will include references/shoutouts to other fandoms. If you think you have found the Easter Egg, write it in the comments or in a personal message, for those who do not like to comment publicly 😉

Notes:

I'm sorry for spelling mistakes, grammatical errors and perhaps a strange choice of words, but English is not my native language. I am grateful for tips on translation programs. Because the translation takes an incredible amount of time.

[lizziewain-blog]

insects keep fallin’ on my head

Ever since I had a baby a mere thirteen months ago, I have had four bugs fall on me. Okay, that is not completely accurate. I have had three bugs fall on me and one crawl up my leg. Ah, okay, you’re correct… I am still not being my ONE HUNDRED PERCENT AUTHENTIC truth-telling self. Okay, let me try this again.

Since July 24, 2017, I have had a spider crawl up my leg in the middle of the night as I clutch a small, helpless infant. This happened as I was navigating through the living room slash dining room slash baby changing slash mind field of infantile toyland in my incredibly shitty one bedroom Chicago apartment. But because I am a deft, graceful, classically- trained ex-ballerina, I was able to not trip and kill the baby, and, more importantly myself. (Ah, I kid, I kid. I know my dear babe’s life is way more important than mine. Oh, and I have never taken a dance class in my life, except in my head as I lay in bed daydreaming about being a ballerina at least four nights a week since I was 12; the age my mother dashed my dreams and told me I was too old to enroll in a beginner’s ballet class. AGEISM MUCH, RACHEL?! Incredible. #metoo. #sorrythatwasnotpoliicallycorrect.) Anywho, on to the next insect.

I have had a spider fall on me from a large, red and white striped umbrella while trying to frantically consume an alcoholic beverage before I have to pay attention to my ten month old baby again. This was on the patio of the same Chicago haunt that me and my current roommate met! And, yes, this roommate also happens to be the father of Baby and boyfriend of Me. Clearly, this place is a cursed land that I shan’t travel to anymore! For the only thing there for more me are creatures that will haunt my  dreams and ruin my life while playing with my hair!

However, the only thing more terrifying than an arachnid falling upon me, came in the form of  GIANT, GRASSHOPPER / CRICKET HYBRID. This lad nearly fell on me while closing the front door to our apartment, while holding now nearly one year old babe. It gently skimmed my shoulder and whispered “we’ve got you now, Liz” as 12,000 of his favorite cousins appeared and they began consuming my body. The whole process took eight minutes. Okay, I am embellishing. After his gentle murmur, he affixed himself to the wall as I screamed and hauled ass up the stairs, taking them TWO AT A TIME! Taking stairs two at a time while holding a 20 pound gourd, I mean, 20 pound baby, left me out of breath and incapacitated for nearly twelve days.

And, finally, while toting a baby AND a basket of laundry, I had a praying mantis fall from the ceiling and come within an inch of my arm. This caused me to not only scream, but drop my rather small basket of laundry. Why, you may be wondering, was she carrying a “small basket of laundry?” Well, she will tell you. It was a small load, comprised of only extremely soiled items that I lovingly pretreated with stain remover, or doused them with Shout and forgot about them for three days until I re-Shouted them and mustered up the energy to take them downstairs to the laundry room. ANYWHO. Thus, this is the story of how back-of-the-drawer period underwear erupted all over the back staircase of our apartment.

I’m not too sure when the next bug assault will strike, but, what I can assure you is that I will not be prepared and will definitely die. Okay, hopefully not. Hopefully, the bug will land on The Baby and I will have plenty of time to sprint away while she figures out the best way to handle the situation. Either that, or I’ll toss her a bottle of Raid. (Sixteen month olds know how to use spray bottles, right?) See you soon, unless a house centipede lands on me, because I will be forced to commit myself to an insane asylum for my own benefit. (Those things are sterile, right?)

[kingswell-media]

Umbrella Academy Season 2 -Trailer Review

- SPOILERS -

Source - https://images.app.goo.gl/eQvXNz1DjpfvQ4Wr8

Same weird family and a similar plot to season one. Gerard ways (Yes, that My chemical romance Gerard) Umbrella Academy hits us with a brand-new season on Friday and I am sure that just like me, you are more eager than ever to start binging it. So, before we delve into the mysteries of the new trailer, I feel it is best to discuss the ending of the last season. For your sake though I’ll keep it short.

At the end of season one, we saw that Vanya (aka number seven) after rediscovering her powers, had succeeded in destroying the world. Except for this time unlike the future number saw and lived. The Academy survived the apocalypse, by travelling back in time. But as we saw in the trailer it caused a few repercussions. (See Netflix's official re-cap here - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lxA3_0T51hM)

Now that this very short recap has been established season two has offered us some interesting questions, mainly the questions I want to get to the bottom of is what’s this seasons plot focuses (other than the end of the world) and who is still “dead” in this season. I’m using this term lightly because the academy is travelling back in time, leading me to have a strong hunch that they’ll recounter younger versions of people who we saw die in the previous season (I.e. Reginald Hargreeves, Pogo and possibly cha cha?).

So, what have we got from the trailer and what am I purely speculating as to what may occur? What we know for sure is that the academy is sent back in time, with five ending up in Dallas, Texas. Who discovers that the end of the world has followed them. As an aged Hazel tells him that it is November 25th, 1963 and five discovers once again that they have a set amount of days (ten to be exact) to stop the apocalypse.

Due to the period and clips in the trailer, I am led to believe that it isn’t because of the moon this time. A more likely scenario being the end of the world in the form of a more nuclear explosion.

What we can also gather from the trailer, is that by having successfully gone back in time it appears that the academy has been separated (a possible side effect the five could have been referring too). Meaning that a few of them have started up their own lives, this could be after assuming that they were the only one to survive from the time jump. Or perhaps they are simply using these new lives as a cover until they find their siblings.

Another clue from the trailer is that we’re getting new cast members! Yes, during the trailer, it was revealed we would see new cast members tagging along with the cast. These are Yusuf Gatewood (as Raymond), Ritu Arya (as Lili) and Marin Ireland (as Sissy) all three are paired off with children from the academy, meaning that they will likely help to fuel the character’s individual stories. Before they all ultimately come together to stop this new end of the world. So, what exactly are these individual stories?

Source - https://images.app.goo.gl/kiLgPbu31HKQgtCW9

Ben and Klaus

It is safe to say that Klaus seems to be leading the most interesting life thus far, having started up his own cult. Whilst the ghost of Ben is still tagging along with him. This is the dynamic that I am most interested in, as it has so many possibilities that it can lead to.

Klaus could continue to further develop his powers and borrowing bens from time to time. It might also mean that Klaus could bring Ben back from the dead. This would be interesting to see as I am curious to see how Ben would adjust to his second chance. But again, purely speculation, I would settle for at least more back story on his death.

Vanya

Sooo, the last time that we had heard of Vanya she was trying to destroy the world. However, now she appears more stable or is it only a temporary fix? In the last season, the academy had doubts about bringing them with her, as they said that they were taking the bomb with them. So, does newcomer sissy have a role to play in helping Vanya keep her powers at bay or is she another Harold Jenkins?

Diego

Now Diego like Klaus appears to be leading an interesting life in a mental asylum… What we do know however is that he does escape with newbie Lila. So, my question is why he was locked up in the first place and how far do they get in trying to escape. Not to mention the ominous scene of him dressed up in a tight-fitting Umbrella Academy uniform. My current theory on this is that it was a hallucination or dream of his past at the academy.

Luther

Luther’s story, at current state in my mind, does not appear to have much information as to what his role is in the story. All we can see in the trailer is that he listened to Al’s advice and has entered the ring as a fighter. But like many people, I assume that they are mostly thinking about how Alison and Luther’s previous flirtation will adapt in this season. Or is there still anything there? It was left somewhat on the rocks last season after Luther made the decision to lock Vanya up (upsetting the family) and not to mention that he had lost his V-card (something Alison seemed most surprised about).

Alison

She can talk again! I can imagine being separated from her family at the beginning, will have caused a lot of communication issues for her. However, it seems to have worked out. As Alison appears to have taken up a new love interest with newbie Raymond (Yusuf Gatewood). So as stated above, where will this leave her and Luther?

Her main character focuses this season appears to be fighting for civil rights, sadly a very current and real topic that we are still fighting for across the world during this 2020 pandemic. Something I would like to see also; is how will she react knowing that her daughter in the future is now dead. Will she be able to go back or rather, find a new path to save them?

Number five

So similarly, to last season five appears to be fighting the commission (who have a new look) once again to prevent the end of the world. What is interesting is that five has the most story that we are currently able to piece together.

Back in season one, whilst working for the commission. He abandoned his post to assassinate JFK (leaving someone else to do it for him), using the opportunity to instead find a way home. Which had the defect of him being stuck looking like a boy, with the mind of a fifty-year-old.

With that, we can expect that his story is tied to discovering who assassinated JFK in his place and how they are likely the possible key to the end of the world. Not to mention, as predicted above it is very likely that the main plot due it being set in 1963 and oriented around an apocalypse. We can expect to see it being heavily focused on the Cold War.

A leaked photo also showed him with a mannequin nuclear family, could we expect him to do an Indian Jones and hide in the fridge from an impending explosion?

Now comes the interesting section. In the last season, we said goodbye to a lot of characters, either all together or perhaps temporarily. Here is a list of the characters who we know are deceased and the one who is unaccounted for in the season two trailer.

Source - https://images.app.goo.gl/vC9zrVEj6EnjMXr68

Unaccounted for in the trailer

Agnes - Is she off bird watching away from the chaos, or does Hazels ageing and her absence indicate her death?

Died in the apocalypse

Cha-cha – Last seen trying to escape by calling the commission

Detective Chuck Beaman – Last seen receiving the evidence that would have cleared Diego’s name of murdering path (Spoilers to the list)

Sgt. Dale Cheddar – Last seen eating a sandwich in his office

Patrick – Was not shown on screen

Claire – Was not shown on screen

Murdered

Detective Eudora patch - Shot by Cha-cha

Leonard/ Harold Jenkins - Stabbed (numerous times – like a lot…) by Vanya

Pogo - Impaled on a deer head by Vanya

Grace – The first time she was switched off by Diego. The second time she was assumed dead after the academy collapsed from Vanya’s rage

The Handler - Shot in the head by Hazel

Suicide

Sir Reginald Hargreeves – As a way of bringing the academy back together

General death

Mystery Lady/ former wife of Sir Reginald Hargreeves? – Left to die (Being her wish) on a different planet as others escaped

It is very unlikely that we will see a lot of this cast return, however, they could also reappear as younger incarnations or as a flashback. But the ones we know we will see younger incarnations of are Sir Reginald Hargreeves and pogo. Which leaves an open door on a possible return or mention of Grace? (Which is unlikely due to her being built specifically to combat number sevens bad temper)

A few questions I want to find out about Hargreeves, is how will Hargreeves react to seeing older versions of children he has not yet bought? Or is this why he buys them in the first place? And will the children learn of their father’s alien origin?

When thinking about these younger versions of characters from the past it leads me to believe that it will allow some deceased characters to come back mainly Cha-cha. How will she react to an older Hazel? Will she try to murder a younger Hazel for portraying her? There are so many possibilities that time travelling back on a storyline can offer and ruin for a franchise, so let us hope that they get it right.

I should also mention that all of this is purely my speculation from reading articles and making my own assumptions. As the series is technically very loosely based on the comic books you could cheat and figure out what the series takes from the comic books and make your own assumptions. So how do I think season 2 will end?

In terms of the main story, I currently believe that the children after encountering a younger Hargreeves will get him to help them. Either by being less of a dick to Vanya, meaning that the events of the first and second season would be re-written (essentially end gaming them).

That they come together to figure out a way of stopping the new threat, whilst also keeping past events in places whilst. Either way, they will likely create a whole timeline for season three that will follow seasons one and two or completely rewrite them.

To summarise stories focusing on timelines are complex and I could be all wrong. Just be warned that you have until Friday before season two is released, so be ready to binge read and watch the comics and the series of Umbrella Academy or just the one!

See the trailer bellow:

https://youtu.be/Me0eoCwLj-A

Note - Since writing the opening scene to season 2 has become available, if you would like to watch then please visit the link bellow

Season two opening scene - 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jcdqpPzlTkM

[morganbelarus]

US briefing: Hurricane Dorian, Hong Kong arrests and James Comey

Fridays top story: Storm spares Puerto Rico as Florida declares state of emergency. Plus, how economics play out among prison inmates

Subscribe now to receive the morning briefing by email.

Good morning and a happy Labor Day weekend. Im Tim Walker with todays essential stories. The briefing will be back on Tuesday.

Fears Dorian will hit Florida as category 4 hurricane

Florida has declared a state of emergency after weather experts warned the states entire east coast could be under threat from Hurricane Dorian, which is expected to make landfall as a category 3 or 4 hurricane early on Monday. The storm did only limited damage as it passed through the northern Caribbean on Wednesday, sparing Puerto Rico but setting course for the US mainland.

Stockpiling advice. Floridas governor, Ron DeSantis, urged residents to stockpile a weeks worth of food and emergency supplies. Georgia has also declared a state of emergency in 12 coastal counties.

Trump plans. Donald Trump has cancelled a planned trip to Poland to commemorate the second world war this weekend to monitor the storm in Florida, and has sent the vice-president, Mike Pence, to Europe in his stead.

Life of asylum seeker on hunger strike at risk, says doctor

A vigil to protest against the treatment of immigrants in detention centres in El Paso last month. Photograph: Luke Montavon/AFP/Getty Images

An Indian asylum seeker, who has gone on hunger strike while detained by US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (Ice) in El Paso, is receiving abysmal treatment that puts his life at risk, a doctor has warned in an affidavit filed this week. Ice began force-feeding Ajay Kumar two weeks ago; Dr Parveen Parmar, the chief of global emergency medicine at the University of Southern California, said the 33-year-old is receiving the worst medical care I have seen in my 10 years of practice.

Force feeding. Kumar is one of three Indian men being force-fed while on hunger strike at the detention centre in El Paso, an act that medical and human rights groups have decried as inhuman and degrading.

Family reunited. A cognitively disabled Salvadorian migrant who arrived in El Paso with a cousin but was sent to Mexico alone by immigration authorities has been reunited with his family in Virginia after five months.

Comey violated FBI policies by sharing Trump memos

Comey and Trump disagreed, unsurprisingly, on whether the report had exonerated the former FBI director. Photograph: ABC News/Getty Images

The former FBI director James Comey violated justice department policies by sharing memos on his personal interactions with Trump, a report by a department watchdog has found. Comeys memos included notes on sensitive conversations with the president, which helped to spark the Mueller investigation. Comey took the report as an exoneration, tweeting that an apology from those who defamed him would be nice. Trump saw it differently, saying Comey was disgraced and excoriated.

Space Command. Trump on Thursday took to the White House Rose Garden to officially announce the re-establishment of the US militarys space command, describing space as the next warfighting domain.

Pro-democracy figures arrested in Hong Kong crackdown

Play Video

1:01

Arrests of high-profile Hong Kong activists a bid to spread white terror video

Three leading pro-democracy figures in Hong Kong have been arrested as part of a crackdown on protesters amid the citys most serious political crisis in decades. Joshua Wong, a former student leader during the umbrella movement of 2014, was forcefully pushed into a private minivan while walking to a subway station early on Friday morning, fellow activists said. Agnes Chow, another top member of the group Demosist, and Andy Chan, the head of a now banned pro-independence party, were also arrested. Wong and Chow have been released.

Prescient interview. Wong was still in prison when the current protests began, but in an interview he predicted the crackdown that led to his re-arrest, writes Tania Branigan.

Leaderless movement. Chow and Wong were arrested on suspicion of inciting others to participate in an unauthorised assembly. But, to the frustration of authorities, todays protest movement is leaderless, as Ilaria Maria Sala reports.

Crib sheet

Lawmakers in the California senate are considering a bill that could enact the worlds most progressive protections for workers in the gig economy, fundamentally altering the employment rights of Uber drivers and others in the state.

The fires raging across the Brazilian Amazon have reached protected indigenous reserves, raising concerns that loggers and land grabbers may have targeted areas occupied by isolated and vulnerable indigenous tribes such as the Aw.

A major new study has squashed the notion of a single gay gene that leads to homosexuality, finding instead that homosexual behaviour is influenced by a multitude of genetic variants, as well as non-genetic factors.

An Alabama man who was sentenced to life in prison for stealing $50.75 from a bakery in 1983 is to be freed after 36 years behind bars. Alvin Kennard, then 22, was given the unusually harsh sentence under Alabamas three strikes law.

Must-reads

Judy Garland became a cautionary tale for the child stars of later decades. Composite: Shutterstock/Rex/AllStar

Can Hollywood take care of its child stars?

A new movie depicts the final days of Judy Garland, the child star who became a cautionary tale for young performers of later decades. Danny Leigh asks whether her story or those that came after has done anything fundamentally to change an industry that feeds on the young.

How the prison economy works

For his new book about extreme economies, Richard Davies visited Angola maximum-security jail in Louisiana, Americas largest prison. He expected to find a simple bartering structure, but was instead introduced to a complex and modern system of hidden trade that offers an important lesson about the way economies work.

White supremacists swatted my home to silence me

Ijeoma Oluo is the author of So You Want to Talk About Race. As a result of her writing, she was targeted for harassment and abuse by white supremacist trolls, which culminated in her house being swatted and her teenage son seized by armed police. Im not going to disappear, she writes. No matter what comes my way.

Posters for films that never happened

The designer Fernando Reza has created a striking series of posters for potential cinema classics that never made it past pre-production, from Tim Burtons Superman sequel starring Nicolas Cage, to Quentin Tarantinos much-discussed but never-made The Vega Brothers.

Opinion

From 2010 to 2017 almost 500,000 Americans filed flood insurance claims, more than double the number during Reagans presidency. The climate crisis is already here, says Elizabeth Rush, and only collective action can properly address it.

As I have watched the US inundated, again and again, by record-breaking storms, another equally powerful phenomenon has begun to unfold. Across the country, community-led flood-survivor groups are popping up.

Sport

The US Open is succumbing to Cocomania, after Coco Gauff set up a third-round clash with the defending champion, Naomi Osaka, by beating Hungarys Tmea Babos 6-2, 4-6, 6-4 on Thursday night. At 15, Gauff is the youngest player to make it past the second round at Flushing Meadows since Anna Kournikova in 1996.

Tottenham have lost 15 league games in 2019, including last weeks against Newcastle. They must improve if theyre to overcome Arsenal at the Emirates on Sunday. Thats one of 10 things to look out for this weekend in the Premier League.

Sign up

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Original Article : HERE ;

The post US briefing: Hurricane Dorian, Hong Kong arrests and James Comey appeared first on MetNews.

US briefing: Hurricane Dorian, Hong Kong arrests and James Comey was originally posted by MetNews

[gaminghardware0]

Netflix reveals Resident Evil plot – get ready for a T-virus outbreak in, uh, “Clearfield, MD”

Resident Evil is coming to Netflix. After early reports a year ago about a Netflix series based on the classic zombie games, a plot description for the series has popped on on the streaming service's official site. RE has already had loads of live-action adaptations that have played fast and loose with the source material, and it sounds like the TV series will also be taking some liberties.

"The town of Clearfield, MD has long stood in the shadow of three seemingly unrelated behemoths – the Umbrella Corporation, the decommissioned Greenwood Asylum, and Washington, DC," the official description says. "Today, twenty-six years after the discovery of the T-Virus, secrets held by the three will start to be revealed at the first signs of outbreak."

The plot description shows up in searches for 'Resident Evil' on Netflix's media-focused site, as the folks at the Resident Evil Wiki noticed today. The name of the series also shows up in the full list of Netflix-produced shows on the same site. The series is listed for one season, but all related links take you to error messages.

View the full site

from https://www.pcgamesn.com/resident-evil-netflix

[bigbirdgladiator]

Violence erupted in Hong Kong on Monday as protesters stormed the Legislative Council on the anniversary of the city’s return to Beijing, amid growing anger over a plan to allow extraditions to China.     Hundreds of masked demonstrators ran riot inside the building, forcing their way into the chamber, and smashing up doors, walls and paintings. Portraits of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and Chinese President Xi Jinping were torn down. On Monday night, Hong Kong police moved in to clear the hundreds of protesters who stormed the legislature, and fired tear gas at protesters outside parliament.   Hours earlier, they had streamed into the legislature after shattering windows with metal trolleys and poles and wrenching open metal shutters. The council issued a red alert, ordering them to leave. But the riot police who had previously been pushing them back appeared to have retreated. Earlier, police had raced toward protesters, beating some with batons and using pepper spray to thin the crowds. As the day wore on, more people turned out to participate in a planned rally to mark the date the former British colony was given back to China in 1997. The organisers said some 550,000 attended. Anti-government protesters stormed Hong Kong's parliament building  Credit: VIVEK PRAKASH/AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Hunt, the British Foreign Secretary, tweeted in support of the demonstrations, saying: "No violence is acceptable but HK people must preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law." Away from campaigning want to stress UK support for Hong Kong and its freedoms is UNWAVERING on this anniversary day. No violence is acceptable but HK people MUST preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law, as hundreds of thousands of brave people showed today.— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 1, 2019 “I wanted to add to the crowd numbers so that the government could hear the dissatisfaction of so many people,” said Gary, 35, a teacher, who declined to give his surname. Ming, 50, a business owner, told The Daily Telegraph: “I have marched all three times. I completely support the young people and their ideals and ambitions, which is for the good of Hong Kong.  "Seeing these young people like this, if I didn���t come out, I couldn’t have that on my conscience. I’m in my fifties, what can we do for these young people? One thing we can do is come out and march." Pro-democracy activists use the handover anniversary every year to march through Hong Kong calling for greater freedoms, though have failed to win any concessions from Beijing. Coming after three weeks of ongoing rallies, this year's rally took on even greater significance.  Hundreds of protesters poured into the building after hours of trying to break through windows Credit: Vivek Prakash/AFP Marches since June 9 have seen crowds swell to over one million with people demanding Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader, Ms Lam, withdraw a controversial extradition bill. Rights activists argue that, if passed, it would see suspects face unfair trials in mainland China where the courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party and authorities use torture to extract forced confessions. The proposed bill, which has been delayed but not scrapped since protests intensified, adds to growing fears that China is gradually snuffing out the city’s freedoms, which were guaranteed for at least 50 years in a handover agreement between Britain and Beijing. China has become more willing to openly intervene in politics, barring individuals from running for the city’s legislature, forcing elected lawmakers to step down, and jailing young activists. As fears over human rights have grown, Germany has recently granted asylum to two Hong Kong dissidents. Riot police had pushed protesters back earlier in the day but later retreated Credit:  Anthony Kwan/ Getty Images  “The government is doing so much to threaten our way of life,” said Jessica Yeung, 50, a university professor who left a family holiday in York early to come home and join the protests. “We have to stand and safeguard our values.” Mrs Ho, a manual worker in her fifties, said: “I’ve come out to all the marches. I am not just supporting the students, I am supporting our Hong Kong spirit. They said it was one country two systems, but it’s not like that anymore. As for the glass breaking, we don’t know who they are.” The latest rallies in Hong Kong represent the biggest popular challenge to Chinese president Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. The extradition issue has re-united Hong Kong’s previously fractured anti-Beijing resistance movement which had been riven with in-fighting and squabbles between different camps. Police officers use baton to disperse anti-extradition protesters during a clash outside the Legislative Council Complex  Credit: Getty “It’s a matter of a raw nerve having been touched for both the political groups and parties, as well as for the general public, so people came out,” said Steve Tsang, director of the University of London’s SOAS China Institute. “It didn’t matter who was asking them,” he said. “They voluntarily and proactively went out to show how much they care about the consequences of allowing those laws to be passed.” Protest organisers hope “to transform our power from the streets into the political system,” Bonnie Leung, vice-convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, told The Telegraph, looking ahead to elections for the city’s legislature next year. It’s an opportunity for the resistance camp to win more seats and whittle down the current pro-Beijing majority, she said. As it stands, 43 of 70 seats are currently held by Beijing supporters in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. “Then the government can no longer ignore our voices as they are doing now,” said Ms Leung. Hong Kongers have also criticised the UK, urging London to do more to pressure China to uphold its end of the handover agreement, the Sino-British Joint Declaration.  Anti-extradition protesters push barricades toward police on a street during a stand-off outside the Legislative Council Complex Credit: Getty “The British suck,” said Alex, a designer, 25, who declined to give his real name. “They abandoned us and only paid us lip service.” Protesters have been increasingly wary of their identities being revealed over fears of future backlash. Many have used umbrellas or donned face masks as a way to obscure their faces, as well as to defend against tear gas. On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged the Hong Kong authorities to respect the “rights and freedoms” ahead of anniversary date, reiterating the UK’s support for the declaration. “It is a legally binding treaty and remains as valid today as it did when it was signed and ratified over thirty years ago,” he said. “It is imperative that Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people, are fully respected in line with the joint declaration and the Hong Kong basic law.” Two years ago, China said the joint declaration was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance. Beijing reiterated its stance on Monday, calling on the UK to stop “gesticulating” and “interfering” in its former colony and that Britain’s rights and obligations under the joint declaration had ended.  Police officers pepper spray during a clash with anti-extradition protesters Credit: Getty “Britain has no so-called responsibility for Hong Kong,” said Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry. “Hong Kong matters are purely an internal affair for China. No foreign country has a right to interfere.” “We urge Britain to know its place and stop interfering in any form in Hong Kong matters and do more for its prosperity and stability rather than the opposite,” he added. Aside from Mr Geng’s comments there was no mention of the protests in Hong Kong on Monday in China, where censors tightly control news and information. State media instead carried remarks from Mr Xi extolling the virtues of the Communist Party on the 98th anniversary of its founding – coincidentally the same day as the handover anniversary. Protesters have indicated no plans of backing down – unlike past demonstrations, the latest wave have coalesced through a groundswell from many groups – political parties, labour unions, business groups, schools – rather than one main convenor. “This is a pretty organic movement; there is not one single organizer like in 2014, where everyone was looking to the student leaders,” Dennis Kwok, a politician who opposes the extradition bill, told the Telegraph. “There are no leaders in this one.” Additional reporting by Yiyin Zhong Are you participating in the Hong Kong protests? Or have you been watching them unfold? Are you Hong Kongese or an expat? We want to hear from you about your reasons for taking part, what you hope the outcome will be and how it will impact the future of Hongkongers.  Send us an email to yourstory@telegraph.co.uk including your name, location and any images or video of the protests for the chance to be featured in the Telegraph. Submission of material is subject to our website terms and conditions which can be found here.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/327nPLo

[supertrendingnewsarticles]

Violence erupted in Hong Kong on Monday as protesters stormed the Legislative Council on the anniversary of the city’s return to Beijing, amid growing anger over a plan to allow extraditions to China.     Hundreds of masked demonstrators ran riot inside the building, forcing their way into the chamber, and smashing up doors, walls and paintings. Portraits of Hong Kong leader Carrie Lam and Chinese President Xi Jinping were torn down. On Monday night, Hong Kong police moved in to clear the hundreds of protesters who stormed the legislature, and fired tear gas at protesters outside parliament.   Hours earlier, they had streamed into the legislature after shattering windows with metal trolleys and poles and wrenching open metal shutters. The council issued a red alert, ordering them to leave. But the riot police who had previously been pushing them back appeared to have retreated. Earlier, police had raced toward protesters, beating some with batons and using pepper spray to thin the crowds. As the day wore on, more people turned out to participate in a planned rally to mark the date the former British colony was given back to China in 1997. The organisers said some 550,000 attended. Anti-government protesters stormed Hong Kong's parliament building  Credit: VIVEK PRAKASH/AFP/Getty Images Jeremy Hunt, the British Foreign Secretary, tweeted in support of the demonstrations, saying: "No violence is acceptable but HK people must preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law." Away from campaigning want to stress UK support for Hong Kong and its freedoms is UNWAVERING on this anniversary day. No violence is acceptable but HK people MUST preserve right to peaceful protest exercised within the law, as hundreds of thousands of brave people showed today.— Jeremy Hunt (@Jeremy_Hunt) July 1, 2019 “I wanted to add to the crowd numbers so that the government could hear the dissatisfaction of so many people,” said Gary, 35, a teacher, who declined to give his surname. Ming, 50, a business owner, told The Daily Telegraph: “I have marched all three times. I completely support the young people and their ideals and ambitions, which is for the good of Hong Kong.  "Seeing these young people like this, if I didn’t come out, I couldn’t have that on my conscience. I’m in my fifties, what can we do for these young people? One thing we can do is come out and march." Pro-democracy activists use the handover anniversary every year to march through Hong Kong calling for greater freedoms, though have failed to win any concessions from Beijing. Coming after three weeks of ongoing rallies, this year's rally took on even greater significance.  Hundreds of protesters poured into the building after hours of trying to break through windows Credit: Vivek Prakash/AFP Marches since June 9 have seen crowds swell to over one million with people demanding Hong Kong’s Beijing-backed leader, Ms Lam, withdraw a controversial extradition bill. Rights activists argue that, if passed, it would see suspects face unfair trials in mainland China where the courts are controlled by the ruling Communist Party and authorities use torture to extract forced confessions. The proposed bill, which has been delayed but not scrapped since protests intensified, adds to growing fears that China is gradually snuffing out the city’s freedoms, which were guaranteed for at least 50 years in a handover agreement between Britain and Beijing. China has become more willing to openly intervene in politics, barring individuals from running for the city’s legislature, forcing elected lawmakers to step down, and jailing young activists. As fears over human rights have grown, Germany has recently granted asylum to two Hong Kong dissidents. Riot police had pushed protesters back earlier in the day but later retreated Credit:  Anthony Kwan/ Getty Images  “The government is doing so much to threaten our way of life,” said Jessica Yeung, 50, a university professor who left a family holiday in York early to come home and join the protests. “We have to stand and safeguard our values.” Mrs Ho, a manual worker in her fifties, said: “I’ve come out to all the marches. I am not just supporting the students, I am supporting our Hong Kong spirit. They said it was one country two systems, but it’s not like that anymore. As for the glass breaking, we don’t know who they are.” The latest rallies in Hong Kong represent the biggest popular challenge to Chinese president Xi Jinping since he came to power in 2012. The extradition issue has re-united Hong Kong’s previously fractured anti-Beijing resistance movement which had been riven with in-fighting and squabbles between different camps. Police officers use baton to disperse anti-extradition protesters during a clash outside the Legislative Council Complex  Credit: Getty “It’s a matter of a raw nerve having been touched for both the political groups and parties, as well as for the general public, so people came out,” said Steve Tsang, director of the University of London’s SOAS China Institute. “It didn’t matter who was asking them,” he said. “They voluntarily and proactively went out to show how much they care about the consequences of allowing those laws to be passed.” Protest organisers hope “to transform our power from the streets into the political system,” Bonnie Leung, vice-convenor of the Civil Human Rights Front, told The Telegraph, looking ahead to elections for the city’s legislature next year. It’s an opportunity for the resistance camp to win more seats and whittle down the current pro-Beijing majority, she said. As it stands, 43 of 70 seats are currently held by Beijing supporters in Hong Kong’s Legislative Council. “Then the government can no longer ignore our voices as they are doing now,” said Ms Leung. Hong Kongers have also criticised the UK, urging London to do more to pressure China to uphold its end of the handover agreement, the Sino-British Joint Declaration.  Anti-extradition protesters push barricades toward police on a street during a stand-off outside the Legislative Council Complex Credit: Getty “The British suck,” said Alex, a designer, 25, who declined to give his real name. “They abandoned us and only paid us lip service.” Protesters have been increasingly wary of their identities being revealed over fears of future backlash. Many have used umbrellas or donned face masks as a way to obscure their faces, as well as to defend against tear gas. On Sunday, Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt urged the Hong Kong authorities to respect the “rights and freedoms” ahead of anniversary date, reiterating the UK’s support for the declaration. “It is a legally binding treaty and remains as valid today as it did when it was signed and ratified over thirty years ago,” he said. “It is imperative that Hong Kong’s high degree of autonomy, and the rights and freedoms of the Hong Kong people, are fully respected in line with the joint declaration and the Hong Kong basic law.” Two years ago, China said the joint declaration was a historical document that no longer had any practical significance. Beijing reiterated its stance on Monday, calling on the UK to stop “gesticulating” and “interfering” in its former colony and that Britain’s rights and obligations under the joint declaration had ended.  Police officers pepper spray during a clash with anti-extradition protesters Credit: Getty “Britain has no so-called responsibility for Hong Kong,” said Geng Shuang, a spokesman for China’s foreign ministry. “Hong Kong matters are purely an internal affair for China. No foreign country has a right to interfere.” “We urge Britain to know its place and stop interfering in any form in Hong Kong matters and do more for its prosperity and stability rather than the opposite,” he added. Aside from Mr Geng’s comments there was no mention of the protests in Hong Kong on Monday in China, where censors tightly control news and information. State media instead carried remarks from Mr Xi extolling the virtues of the Communist Party on the 98th anniversary of its founding – coincidentally the same day as the handover anniversary. Protesters have indicated no plans of backing down – unlike past demonstrations, the latest wave have coalesced through a groundswell from many groups – political parties, labour unions, business groups, schools – rather than one main convenor. “This is a pretty organic movement; there is not one single organizer like in 2014, where everyone was looking to the student leaders,” Dennis Kwok, a politician who opposes the extradition bill, told the Telegraph. “There are no leaders in this one.” Additional reporting by Yiyin Zhong Are you participating in the Hong Kong protests? Or have you been watching them unfold? Are you Hong Kongese or an expat? We want to hear from you about your reasons for taking part, what you hope the outcome will be and how it will impact the future of Hongkongers.  Send us an email to yourstory@telegraph.co.uk including your name, location and any images or video of the protests for the chance to be featured in the Telegraph. Submission of material is subject to our website terms and conditions which can be found here.

from Yahoo News - Latest News & Headlines https://ift.tt/327nPLo