#lots of vanya diego bonding

[botanicallyinclinednerd]

The Umbrella Academy season 2 episode 4

So she was telling Diego the truth, her parents were murdered when she was four. So she's got a shit fucking adopted parent that turned her into a weapon too, huh?

Can't decide who the worse parent is, Hargreeves or Handler. I'm still inclined to say Hargreeves, he fucked up the most amount of children and literally all of them hate him, but Handler is shooting a machine gun at Lila

I mean neither are good parents.

I somehow doubt that they actually know Lila is on the job... is she going to find that out somehow and she flips on her mom?

Vanya and Luther bonding over Five being an asshole, whatever works!

Luther is slowly moving down my shit list with each calm and kind interaction with Vanya

Five you fucked up on this one buddy, of course she's mad

Luther flipping Five off through his hole in the wall made me laugh

"Wonder if it's too late to be unadopted?" Oh it totally is, sorry five. You're stuck with these clowns

Klaus, that is not how that fable goes

KLAUS

12th is probably your father guys

Vanya and Sissy means a lot to me, if anything happens to Sissy I'm suing

Klausssss

:(((((((((((

Allison :(

Klaussssss :(((

Noooooooo!!!!!!! *KLAUS*

:(((((

Im upsettispagetti

Well good, I'm glad Five is forever on his toes

They're so awkward

Grace?

👀👀👀👀

They have such vibes

WOOOOOO

Allison putting a blanket over Klaus 😭

*sigh* luther

I was going to say "at least they are kaughing!" But now this guy is going to freak out again thinking there's an alien invasion. I'm telling you, I think they cause this apocalypse by being here

Well now Diego ain't gonna trust you honey

*squints heavily* well now I wish I could speak ancient Greek

[raving-raven-writing]

The Umbrella Academy S4: Review and Thoughts--Not Spoiler Free

Okay, I told myself I wasn't going to binge this final season, but I did....so, yeah.

This gif is honestly how I feel at the moment...which is uncertain, but I did not like the ending all that much. If you haven't caught up, do not read as this is NOT SPOILER FREE. In this, I am going to be mentioning favorite moments as well as touching on the stuff I liked and disliked about the characters this season. So, I will say that this season had a lot of good moments, lots of moments that made me laugh. And maybe I am strange individual, but the part where they all ingested (sans Klaus) the marigold and got ill was probably one of my favorite few scenes...I don't know why, don't ask. The road trip scenes in general just had me laughing like a hyena, I freaking loved it! The scene of Five and Lila time jumping to try and save Ben from dying as a teen and they end up meeting the Phoenix Academy---so cool as we briefly got to see one of the Sparrows and a new kid that could shoot fire from his hands. It was super short, but whatever. The fight of Luther and Diego vs the CIA was funny, even funnier considering that they were both wearing rip away suits. We got to see some good brotherly moments between Luther and Diego, which is nice because normally the two of them are butting heads with one another. I love the fact that Luther became a stripper--oh, excuse me, "professional dancer" as he dubs it. Even when he was dancing after he got his hairy ape like body back, I would still have watched. Just love his energy all around--very golden retriever energy.

Diego and Lila together grew on me in the previous season, and I like that they didn't sugar coat their lives as being amazing now that they have a family and many obligations and responsibilities. I found it kind of funny how they hinted that Diego had weight gain since his kids, but with the one scene with his shirt off, he certainly does not look fat at all. And like in a previous season, we got to see some cool bullet trajectory manipulation. But Diego, honey, no mustache, please. Allison was Allison....she's never been my favorite. I did enjoy Claire and Klaus and their relationship with one another, though. And I totally understand why Klaus became so afraid of everything around him--no longer being immortal would do that to people. The bit with Klaus and his drug dealer seemed to veer slightly off course if you ask me, and the bit of him being stuck in that grave....yikes, trauma galore. At least Thunderbolt was a nice ghost doggy. I like that in this season Viktor speaks up for himself and butts into conversations to make himself heard. It is very different compared to Vanya in season one or young Vanya. i also like seeing the more frequent usage of his powers. Very cool imo. And unlike the others, Viktor seemed to be the only one that truly stayed on the "gotta find Ben" task. Ben....sweet adorable Ben in season one and two is obviously different from season three Ben. Sparrow Ben, I like him, but I think I prefer Umbrella Ben, just because he seems so much more pure. Sparrow Ben seems so mischievous, and overly stubborn as he would not listen to Viktor. But I guess that that was "The Cleanse" working through his and Jennifer's systems.

Five still is tied for being my top favorite character. Compared to in a previous season where he and Diego had a lot of good, brotherly moments, these two are butting heads a lot towards the end. Going as far as to focus on fighting one another while there is a giant monster about to suck them out of existence. I would have preferred more friendly brotherly dynamics, but I mean, they are a dysfunctional family....so that didn't disappoint. Personally, I do not like the whole Five/Lila thing they had going on, but I mean...I understand why it formed in the first place. Seven years together on a magical subway will form bonds. But also, not including the time that Five was working for the Commission, Lila was probably the first person he got into a relationship with--Delores does not count considering she is a mannequin, so I could understand his want for human connection and happiness. The bits of them in the greenhouse I really like those scenes. Lila looks really pretty and at one point Five is wearing this sweater that is such a nice color. But compared to the first season, you can just tell how done Five is with everything--that bit in the deli showed that. Also with him just disappearing at the worst time possible during the cleanse. So...they all died in the end...so all the branch timelines were erased. At the end scene, we get to see cameos of past characters from past seasons, unless my eyes are deceiving me. It starts with seeing Lila's family and Claire, but then it focuses on three men playing frisbee...the Swedes, I think so. You also see Agnes, the donut lady. Herb and Dot from the Commission. Grace and Sloane (?) also show up in there too. I could be mistaken people's identity or just seeing thins--let me know if I am wrong. I mean, this is kind of how I would have wanted the 100 to end--everyone dies at the end. And I guess it was fitting---idk if it was accurate to the comics since I haven't caught up with them. Let me know if it was!

The cast did a great job though! I seriously love all the actors/actresses of this show! I am going to stop writing now as this is getting really long!

[myfictolovers]

Made some changes to my former “canon” for the new fic, since I’m gonna be spending time trying to make it “well-written”/practice for my original fiction, rather than just a bunch of self-indulgent rambling. For one, I pull back on how OP my characters powers are- more in response to some reveals in S3 than any discomfort with Mary Sue self inserts. I mean, it is for me to enjoy. It’s like, my SI’s power was time control, but it had a really OP immortality, death-bomb to everyone else element- which didn’t bother me until the immortality aspect of Klaus’s power made an appearance in S3. Though Marcus’s powers seeming to be similar to Luther’s shows there’s nothing against repeats in the show, it felt like my powers as I’d previously written them would make Klaus’s developments feel kinda cheap. Just for me, reading back through it. So I tried to scale back and simplify my powers- more so that they’re on an equal level to Klaus’s, like I imagine Luther and Marcus’s are to each other. It’s also good cause I feel like it balances out their Commission partnership with Five.

The bigger change- Whereas I originally wrote us meeting as kids, and my living in the Hargreeves mansion from 9-16, in this one I skip that part. Five and I meet When he saves me from a time loop, rather than our reuniting there. The story will start from Episode 1 of Season 1 of the TV show, with Klaus and I strangers with no investment in each other. I’ve tried to write in opportunities for them to bond, but I feel like there’s nothing that’ll stop it from being slow as hell- mainly because of Dave. I don’t want it to be a rebound, but there’s not much time for us to bond before they get sent to Vietnam. And as stupidly jealous as I get of Dave, there’s not a single fic I’ve ever written Klaus in where I’ve omitted him or made Klaus less in love with him- he’s too plainly important to Klaus’s development as a character.

Usually i either write myself as their childhood best friend, whom Klaus is debatably already in love with but in intense denial about it, OR I have them meeting years after some theoretical “return to normalcy” that has yet to show any signs of coming about in canon. So that Dave can be just as important, but they can realistically be in a place where falling in love with someone else makes sense, having gone through their grieving process, though there’s typically a bunch of angst and Klaus having a Fear of Feelings.

So my workaround here- my self-insert will be following Five around as much as they can, but time travel has wiped Fives memories of their time together in the commission- a specific mechanic of the way my SI’s powers work. So Five doesn’t trust me and goes AWOL a lot, and after getting along at the funeral and running into each other a couple of times, I find Klaus pretty much right after he arrives back with the briefcase and destroy it. There’s a bit of my character having to return their faith in their life and safety in expressing the softer parts of their personality again, that Klaus was helping them with before, and when Klaus comes back my character tries to help them in turn- Klaus offers to use his powers to help the effort more seriously if my SI helps them get clean, which my character refuses, but then they admit their real motivations (Dave) and my softhearted ass helps them. There’s a bit of attachment, some more shared traumatic moments. I can’t remember if there’s really room for any more chill goofing off, but I’m hoping to fit some in, supposedly while Five still doesn’t trust me and is leaving me behind on the case- meaning basically, while Klaus is off in the background supposedly irrelevant to the main plot, with Vanya and Allison fighting about Leonard, Luther and Diego fighting about Reginald, Five researching this and that and making a deal with the Handler. I figure using a little more of that time for the two to bond, a process that could naturally go a little faster given the quickly approaching end of the fucking world. Basically I expect Book 1 to be mostly fun plot, Five/SI friendship, and Klaus/SI to be a little flirty but fun and shallow pre-Vietnam, and then mostly platonic but clearly riding the line after, while they bond and Klaus heals. Then season 2- Season 2 gives space for some time to pass. Even trapped in the past, with Klaus running a cult, there exists in that situation a kind of “new normal” where they have a chance to spend real time together, and for whatever feelings I manage to dredge out of them in Book 1 to become something more solid and substantial.

[thorin-is-a-cuddler]

Backrow shenanigans and front seat bonding

A/N: What even is this? It is a mix of emotions I’m having for the Umbrella Academy siblings. Bear with me... just a little. 

The Umbrella Academy is driving in a car and shenanigans ensue. Set in Season 2, but in absolutely no particular scene. I’m getting Avengers 2012 vibes from these Umbrella Academy fanfics you too??

Vanya and Diego were in the front seats as the gang made their way to Elliot’s house. They hadn’t been together like this in so long it nearly felt unnatural. 

Diego couldn’t quite pinpoint it, but he felt like something was different about Vanya now. And probably also about himself. Gathered like this, with all of his siblings, the changes got more evident. None of them were still the same as they had been during their first doomsday. 

He was surprised when he felt a rush of warmth inside of his belly as he looked over his shoulder. There was Luther who had over the past weeks become much more of a brother to Diego than he had been in a long while. There was Allison who was even more annoying than she’d already been. There was Five who seemed to always be on a mission to safe his family. There was Klaus who was... Klaus. A very reliable character. And then there was Vanya. 

And Vanya was surprising Diego more than any of them. 

When she looked at him from the driver’s seat with a big smile, he realized that all he really wanted was to protect her, keep her safe. His chest was very eager to get puffed out while something like a big brother instinct took over. He slightly shook his head at himself, but was able to huff gently at Vanya’s smile and give her a small one of his own.

Vanya furrowed her brows with a laugh and looked from the street to Diego and back. “You okay, Diego?” 

A little embarrassed due to the curious heads that immediately leaned closer to the front from the backseats, Diego slid down in his seat a little and put a hand on his forehead. “Yeah, sure. All good.” 

Vanya scoffed with amusement and started fumbling around with the radio station. “Maybe a little music?”

“Oh, yes, music!” Klaus exclaimed, clapping his hands and making Allison laugh as he started bumping his hip against hers. 

Luther groaned and looked out of the window. “But nothing that Klaus can sing along to.” 

“Ex-a-cuse me!” Klaus turned around and meaningfully looked at his brother who was hunched in the storage room of the car. “I can sing along to aaanything.”

“Then no music, please!” Luther called to Vanya who was just about to find a good frequency. Klaus was waving his hands around in front of Luther‘s face, acting like he was going to slap him. His brother didn‘t seem very impressed by that.

„Oh, really?“ Vanya exclaimed disappointedly. „But this is a classic, Luther!!“ She eagerly turned the music up and started shaking her shoulders around and lip-synchronizing the cheerful words of the Beatles.

Oh, please, say to me, you‘ll let me be your man! 

Oh, please, say to me, you‘ll let me hold your hand!

„I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAAAAAND!! I WANNA HOLD YOUR HAAND!!!“ Klaus shrieked extra annoyingly, making Five cover his ears in distress.

Vanya almost doubled over from her sudden urge to laugh and Allison joined in the horrible singing with Klaus, despite actually having a beautiful singing voice.

Luther‘s face in the rearview mirror made even Diego crack a smile.

„Vanya... please...“ The strongest of the seven (Ben was chilling right next to him, hi Ben) members of the Umbrella Academy said in a desperate tone.

„Sorry, what? I can‘t hear you!“ Vanya grinned into the rearview mirror as she turned up the volume of the music even more.

Diego chuckled into his palm, pushing his temple against the window and glancing at Vanya with yet again surprised amusement.

Klaus took this as his cue to turn around and screech extra wildly into Luther‘s face.

„YOU SOUND LIKE A STRANGLED COCK!“ Luther yelled and actually made to grab for Klaus‘ throat, but his fingers barely stroked the skin around his neck, leading to Klaus pulling up his shoulders to his ears and giggling squeakily.

„Oh no, no! That tickles!“

„Well maybe this will shut you up!“ Luther threatened with a sudden sinister grin as he leaned over Klaus‘ seat and wiggled his fingers into the unprotected ribs of his skinny brother.

Klaus lost all artificial idiocy immediately, pulled his elbows to his sides to cover his ticklish spots and sank into his seat as giddy laughter took over him.

„NonononOHAHAA!! QUIHIIHIT IHIHIT!! GAHAHAHA NOHOT THAHAAT!!!“ He started kicking out his legs uncontrollably making Five hiss as his knee got hit quite harshly, before Allison managed to grab the legs and pinned them to her lap to keep his flailing from causing any further harm.

„Is this screeching better than before?“ Five yelled, putting his head up on his hand to look out of the window and acted like all that nonsense didn‘t concern him. There was a smirk on his features though.

“Is anyone going to mention that Luther just said ‘strangled cock’?” Vanya asked in Diego’s direction, making him snort with laughter instantly. The two of them were only capable to seize their laughing fit when Vanya almost drove them off the road. 

„NOHOHOHO ALLISON!! NOHOHO NEEEHEHED FOR THAT!!!“ Klaus exclaimed, sniffing traitor potential in the air as Allison‘s nails slightly started skittering over his kneecaps.

„I’m just protecting you from hurting yourself, sweetie!“ Allison cooed while circling his knees with her index fingers. „No need to be so modest!“

Vanya laughed out loud at that again, because if there was one thing in the world that didn‘t define Klaus, it was the word „modesty“. Diego grinned at her softly and shook his head at his siblings.

Luther was by now half in the back row as he leaned down to dig his fingertips mercilessly into Klaus‘ sides and ribs. He was wearing an unusually bright smile.

„DIEHEHEGOO HEHELP ME!!!“ Klaus squeaked at the top of his lungs when Luther managed to dig his thumbs into his hip bones despite his very desperate struggles to keep his hands away from there.

„You had it comin‘, Klaus.“ He simply stated and kept his gaze up front, the incessant laughter a much better frequency in his opinion than any radio channel.

Vanya looked at him now with a slightly unnerving playful smirk. He pulled his shoulders back and glared at her suspiciously. He was really trying not to smile too much, but that was hard with the backseat basically bursting from fun. (Except for Five, of course, who didn‘t interact, but also didn‘t intervene. He was just a happy bystander, whereas Ben was ravelling in Klaus‘ giggles even more than Diego was.)

„What are you lookin‘ at?“ He growled at her and was shocked at how lightly he had said that. Almost playfully. The hell. He wasn‘t that much of a playful fellow... 

Vanya snickered at his reaction, her eyes so bright that Diego once again felt a a pang of affection for her in his chest. There were a lot of pangs in there right now. Pangs for Klaus and Allison, for Luther and Five and for Ben, too, because he could just imagine how happy this car ride must have been making him. So much affection wanted to bubble out of Diego and destroy his reputation - a reputation Diego believed he had - but he couldn’t quite let go of his defensive nature. Maybe he just needed a little push, a little nudge. And maybe Vanya was on the best way to deliver just that.

“PLEASE PLEASE I CAN’T HANDLE NO MORE PLEEHEHHEEASE!!” Klaus’ struggles were getting lesser and his wheezing laughter started to sound weaker. Even Luther was able to register when someone had had enough and therefore stopped his tickling hands, crossed his arms on top of Klaus’ backseat and took to looking down at him with a smug expression on his face.

“None of that, you big mean-o!” Klaus held a finger in Luther’s face and slowly started sitting up, groaning like he had aged years during that tickle attack. “I have seen rock bottom, but I keep getting up...”

“Even now, you can’t shut up for one second, can you?” Five groaned and buried his face in his hands, making Klaus chuckle good naturedly. He did look utterly stunning now. As if the tickling had worked like a magical refreshing means on him. 

“Well, no, little Grandpops, I will not remain silent. Not after what I have just discovered.” He dramatically put his hands on his hips, taking in a deep breath. 

“And what would that be?” Five asked rather sarcastically. 

“Never trust nobody!” Klaus answered, his voice becoming a snarl as he turned towards Allison and quickly grabbed her sides with a need for ticklish revenge. His sister was lost to cheerful laughter in no time, trying to get rid of his hands by bending over and wrapping her arms around herself, but Klaus wasn’t easily shaken off. 

“KLAUS NOOHOHO!! I BARELY TOUCHED YOU!!” 

“Youuuuu siiideeed wiiiiith the enemyyyyYYY!!” Klaus spoke like an old wizard on a bridge, sneakily worming his hands under Allison’s elbows to get at her ticklish sides, keeping her in stitches. Luther made moon-eyes at them from the backseat while Five shook his head like he had given up on humanity - which he probably really had.

At the same time in the front seat: Diego was by now watching the backrow shenanigans in the rearview mirror with a fond smile on his face. That was until he met Vanya’s smug look in it which immediately seemed to make him lose all interest in the fun. He cleared his throat, looked away and crossed his arms in front of his chest. 

Just when he was certain that she would not say anything about his strange behavior, he felt a ticklish jolt run through his body from a spot just above his hip. He made a strangled noise and quickly pushed his elbow over the sensitive area where Vanya had poked him, a look of utter shock on his face. He saw Vanya’s mischievous smile and felt a giddy feeling rise in his stomach. 

“Ey,” he whined with an audible grin on his face, “what did you do that for?” 

“Lighten up, you big moron!” Vanya chuckled and punched him in the arm.

“Ow!!” Diego complained, his smile spreading on his face, a short snicker escaping him at the impact of Vanya’s fist. 

“Just give me one of your prettiest smiles!” Vanya demanded with another nudge to his shoulder. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, all the while smiling and trying his best not to. Not because he didn’t want to, but because he wanted to at least give Vanya a hard time about it. 

“Come oooon. Is that all you’ve got? I’m devastated!” 

Diego huffed when Vanya’s fingers collided with his side again, trying to find a way through his defensive arms to get at some ticklish spot that would make him laugh like Klaus had. But Diego didn’t give her enough space for that and she was no match for his strength. Therefore she quickly had to change tactics. 

In one swift motion, she wrapped her hand around Diego’s knee and started squeezing. And Diego had so not seen that coming. With a loud howl, he quickly bent over and tried his best to tear her hand away from his ticklish knee again, but she was very determined not to let go now.

“OH NO NO VANYA NO!! PL-PLEHEHHEASE!! JUST NOT THAT!!” Diego threw his head back against his seat and tried to keep Vanya’s hand away from him, but she was on him now, her hand finding the way to his stomach and tickling there and her hand finding a way to his ribs and tickling there too and Diego was lost to laughter now. Unstoppable laughter that kept coming, despite the pain that was rising in his stomach. 

“Oh, you two as well now??” Five yelled as he looked over Diego’s seat to get a closer look at them, rolling his eyes and dropping his face in his palm. 

“FIVE!! T-TELL HER TO LOOK UP FROHOOHONT!!” Diego cackled, tears of laughter coming to his eyes. “PLEHEHEASE!!” 

“I’m looking up front just fine!” Vanya replied, the biggest smile on her face as she managed to bond with Diego in a way she had never been capable of before. How could Five have interrupted that moment for her? Easy. He just couldn’t. 

Sighing about himself, he leaned forward between the two front seats, getting hit in the head by Allison’s flailing arms and almost knocked out by Diego’s twitching elbow, to grab for the volume on the radio. 

“What did you say, Diego?” He repeated Vanya’s words from earlier as he turned up he music. “I cannot hear you!” 

He sat back in his seat then, arms crossed in front of his chest and nodded to himself, quite pleased with just listening to the music around him. 

Oh, yeah I, tell you something, I think you’ll understand.

When I say that something: I want to hold your hand. 

I want to hold your hand.

 I want to hold your hand.

[alexiethymia]

Five: I don’t play favorites with my siblings, but if I did, Vanya would be my favorite, and I’d be hers. 

Vanya: actually-

Five: What?

Vanya: Allison’s my favorite. Yay sisters?

Allison: Awwww, you’re my favorite too!

Luther: </3 :’( 

Klaus: *probably drunk and sloshing his glass* I object!

Diego: Don’t worry bro. If I was into that mushy stuff, you wouldn’t be my most hated. 

Klaus: Aww, thanks Antonio.

Five: *in a high-pitched voice* Fine. (It’s Allison, the only other one in the family with half a brain, so it’s fine) Second-favorite then. (Not that he cares or anything)

Vanya: Um..Ben.

Ben (in heaven): *does a fist pump* 

Five: (Ben is dead and did help her stop the third apocalypse, so that is fine, absolutely fiiiiiiine) *with grit teeth* I am at least - at least - your third favorite?

Vanya: Of course...tied with Klaus. 

Klaus: Awww Vanny, that is so sweet.

Five: *actually choking*

[proofthatihaveaheart]

what i wouldn’t give for more ben scenes

[artkaolinite91]

About Umbrella Academy 3

Definitely my fave Five and Klaus chaotic interaction..lol xD

----

Okay...

What the heck...

Argh.. what kind of ending is that? 😂

.

.

.

My thoughts:

-I honestly think this season pretty cute and bubly for most of characters (looking at you Luther-Sloane, Diego-Lila and Reg), also less bloody and disturbing...

-The Sparrow Academy...not really that memorable tho..hahaha

-I love Klaus ever more!!! Great to see him in control to his own power (finally)..

-and of course FIVE!! aaaw how can you still be so charming even in his retirement? 😂😂😂

- Also Klaus and Five, they're bonding together??? Wow.. also..they carry this season..hahaha

- Diego... Finally your short hair is back!!! 😭 Looking good~~~ also I think I am starting to like him in this season..

-Good that Vanya/Viktor finally understand himself better now..tho feel sad with Harlan (and we got info about the original TUA siblings's mothers? Wow)

-Lila is actually pretty wise hahaha.. Didn't expect her to gives that advice about 'find the other focus' to Allison

-Aaand....well...Allison..

Hmmm..

I've conflicted feeling about her (since I always kinda dislike her since the first season), but...anyway..

She's always been a family person. I mean, in the first 2 seasons she always had her own 'other family' (Claire and Ray). But in this season, she was alone... While the other siblings finally started to getting their own families... Well, Luther-Sloane, Diego-Lila, Viktor-Harlan, Klaus-Reg (also a bit with his Aunt) and Ben, and Five with..his retirement time and his otherself (again lol).

And in the entire season she's basically becoming the trigger for the story to move on...(other than Five and Klaus ofc). And that's because she is in her lowest point..losing her own family and envies the other...

But she hurts a lot of her siblings.. especially Viktor and Luther...which I think..hmmm....too bad...

I think I like her version more when she's still with Ray.. (on season 2)

I wish there'll be season 4. Can't believe I waited for entire years and this series completely binged in just 2 days... Lol I need more 😂😂😂

((Just rambling..gonna adds more after more thoughts...maybe...))

Update:

I posted this review in wrong blog..omg...😂 But cannot easily copy and pasted it again.. Thus why I add the fanart here..because this account only for art related post..

[phoenixes-and-wizards]

little things i never want to forget about the hargreeves:

all of them used to defy their father, sneak out to griddy’s, and in five’s own words “eat donuts until we puked. simpler times, eh?”

luther wrote poetry while he was on the moon, especially about comets

tom hopper and the UA crew have said that the scratches all over luther’s body were made by him. he couldn’t stand the loneliness, especially during that first year, and would often resort to harming himself as a way to vent his frustration

it’s also pretty likely that he's had body dysmorphia at one point or another

he also has a habit of stress eating

diego almost became a detective, but he dropped out because he wasn't good at following orders. he even went to police academy!!!

diego has the cross stitch grace made specifically for him on the wall of his basement apartment, and in a frame no less

he’s also a big-ass momma’s boy

and he’s the only one grace calls “silly” as a term of endearment

and he has a fear of needles due to getting that tattoo when they were kids (y’all know which one i’m talking about)

plus his stutter only comes out when he's under extreme emotional stress

and a close rewatch of 1X03 shows that his bedroom had an overflowing abundance of books so what if him and ben used to bond over that😭

allison speaks seven languages

she told her daughter about her siblings, and claire obviously knew them well enough that she was calling them "uncle” and “aunty,” and that last one is especially heartwarming because this was around the time that vanya’s book had just come out, and yet, allison--who has the option of never telling claire about her--still does, and even explains why she wasn’t allowed to go on missions

klaus was smoking blunts at fourteen

klaus was clutching dave’s dogtags right before five teleported all of them to the past

and i’ve noticed that he has a habit of doing that in general in season 2, especially when he’s feeling kind-of low, but sometimes it’s also an unconscious habit and that’s cute, too

klaus would write the things the dead would say to him, all over his bedroom wall

klaus has a habit of going barefoot whenever he’s at home

five was the only person vanya felt comfortable enough with to present new violin pieces to

five outright says that everything he’s done so far was to get back to his family and keep them safe

@me-evil-never​ wrote in the tags: “five has watched his family die/be dead like 3 times if i’m counting correctly (YES YOU ARE AND IT’S A PAINFUL FACT WE MUST ALL LIVE WITH), plus all he has ever done in his life since age 13 was to get back to them so he could spend time safely with them” and YES I AGREE why would you hide such an excellent point in the tags because, sometimes, even i forget that it’s only been two weeks for him, and they’re probably the roughest he’s had since being stuck in the apocalypse as an actual child, and idk about you guys, but i just really want to give five a big hug because lord knows he deserves needs it

allison used to paint klaus' nails during meals

and was apparently a daddy’s girl, though how one could become a “daddy’s girl” if the father in question was reginald hargreeves is beyond my capacity to understand

ben was reading chekhov as early as 14

ben was a bookworm, both in life and death

vanya had the smallest room

vanya openly called ben the kindest of their siblings in her book, and said that when he died, none of them had any more reason to stay

before he left, diego gave reggie a piece of his mind

all of them know how to dance

they all know how to speak and read greek (ancient fucking greek, as one of you oh-so-eloquently put it)

vanya knows how to speak russian and god knows how many other languages

(by this point i'm really convinced they're all multilingual and there just hasn't been an opportunity for them to utilize that yet)

she also has a mr. snuggles teddy bear

according to klaus, vanya used to cry when the others would step on ants as kids

klaus is pansexual

he also dated twins once (though i’m not sure if he dated one then the other or both at the exact same time)

and has mild claustrophobia from being locked up in mausoleums all the time as a child

diego swore a pinky promise with lila and called it “the pinkiest promise” he’d ever make, and even though he’s a hard-ass who won’t hesitate to cut anybody in half, he’s still at his gentlest when he’s around her and he doesn’t even try to hide it

off her meds, vanya got first chair and a solo on her first try (as a violinist in a professional orchestra, lemme tell you that this is no easy feat to do)

she also seemed to have an affinity for bach (again--not easy!!)

even though he was barely starting puberty, ben was smart enough to reprogram allison's teddy bear to say "luther smells dad's underwear."

upon possessing klaus for a few minutes in season 2, ben could be seen clutching various flowers and smelling them repeatedly

klaus can actually levitate in the comics

according to @valkerymillenia, ghost!ben once saved klaus' life in the comics after he overdosed on heroin yet again

both klaus and diego repeatedly tried to open the lock to vanya's old anechoic chamber and were absolutely furious when luther wouldn't let them

diego called elliott "one of ours" despite knowing him for all of a week and a half

he also calls herb “herbie,” calmed him down after accidentally drawing a weapon on him, and created a secret handshake with him, all within two hours tops of meeting him

if one really thinks about it, diego is actually good with people? and that makes sense because he left the academy as early as seventeen, and he would’ve had to talk to a lot of people just to make ends meet that first year alone, and even though reggie tried to squash that part of him down, he’s still a good person at heart, you go prince of pointy things, make us all proud

[messers-moony]

Wish 2 | F.H

Paring: Five Hargreeves X Wife!Reader

Summary: Five storms out to time travel after an argument with his wife and comes back to an unexpected surprise.

A/N: Five time travels at 26 instead of 13

The shock that settled on Malachi’s face could’ve been recognizable from miles away. His Aunts and Uncles were right; he did look like his father. It astounded him. He wanted to be angry. This man had left him for almost his entire life. He was nearly eighteen and would be in November. So why did he show up now?

More importantly, why did he leave Y/n?

“ Why did you leave? “ Malachi’s voice was quiet, and Five swallowed, “ I- I didn’t know she- “

He interrupted before Five could continue, “ I don’t care that you left me. I stopped caring a long time ago. “ Malachi stated, “ I want to know why you left mom. “

“ I didn’t know that I would be gone for seventeen years your time. “ Five informed softly, “ I ended up at the Academy and immediately came here. “

“ That is no excuse! You left her when she needed you! “ The boy was desperate for his father to understand, “ How am I supposed to trust you? To love you after you left the one person you swore to love? “

“ I don’t expect you to trust me immediately, and I don’t expect you to be understanding of my actions. “ Five was almost too calm, “ Understand your actions?! Are you insane? “ Malachi retorted, irritated.

“ You left for seventeen years to prove a point! That’s extraordinarily too far-fetched. You risked never being able to see mom again because of your stupid pride! “ The boy yelled, standing in front of his mother protectively, “ Malachi, please. “ Y/n pleaded.

Tears filled her son's eyes, “ No! Mom, you deserve better than this. “

“ She does, and I’m aware of it. “ Five informed, and Malachi turned to glare at him, “ I’m not ashamed to say that she does deserve better. But you need to know– whether you believe me or not, I didn’t break all of my promises. “

Y/n and Malachi stared curiously, “ One of my wedding vows was ‘No matter what happens, no matter what we go through, I’ll always find my way back to you’. I may have broken most of my vows, and I can’t express the amount of pain I went through knowing I did, but I didn’t break all of them. “

“ I spent forty-five years alone in the future. It isn’t what you think it is either. But I spent every second of those forty-five years trying to get back here to your mom, to my wife. “ Five explained, “ I didn’t know she was pregnant. Perhaps I would’ve stayed. We won’t know now. What’s done is done, and all I can do now is try to earn your trust. “

Malachi didn’t stand down. His glare was harsh, and his eyes turned a shade darker. It was almost scary to see how protective he was. But maybe it made sense because that’s how Five always was. He always held his ground and protected what he loved. But that didn’t heal the breaking in his heart when his own son was being this aggressive towards him. Would it be cowardly to say he was afraid of a seventeen-year-old boy even after being an assassin for nearly five years? Probably.

“ Why did you show up now? “ Malachi’s voice was hurt now, no longer aggressive, “ A doomsday is upcoming. I had no idea when I’d come back or when I’d be back. “ Five answered.

The man swallowed before speaking again, “ How- How old are you? “

“ Seventeen. I’m about to go into my senior year of high school. “ Malachi replied reluctantly, “ He’ll be graduating with honors and as Valedictorian of his class. “ Y/n added.

Five chuckled, “ Glad to know you inherited my smarts. Y/n is hopeless. “

“ You asshole. “ She retorted playfully, and Five smiled, “ You- You really want him back in our lives? “ Malachi questioned to his mother.

She nodded, “ Yes. “

Five stood up from the chair at the island and made his way to them. He kept his distance from them, leaving three feet between them. It was better for Malachi to come to him than the other way around. His back was leaning against the island counter while his son pondered his decisions.

“ Malachi, it’s your decision too. If you don’t want to associate with him, that’s okay. “ Y/n stated comfortably, looking at her son's teary eyes, “ I would like for you two to have the bond you always wished for. But you’re grown up now. This is your choice. “

He sniffled, “ I- I’ve heard stories about you. “ Malachi informed, and Five chuckled bitterly, “ I’m sure you have. “

“ They weren’t all that great. “ The boy added, “ Uncle Diego wasn’t fond of you. Aunt Vanya talks about you a lot. She said that you were always nice to her. “

“ She said that you weren’t nice to anyone else. “ Malachi informed, and Five stared at him curiously, “ Uncle Diego said you were an asshole and prideful. “

Five had a feeling this wasn’t going to work in his favor. His own son was feeling the same way as his siblings had. Admittedly Five wanted that bond too. He wanted to create a bond with his son despite all his faults. He wanted to be there for him now that he was here. Five wanted to prove himself.

“ I wished for years that you’d show up. Every birthday, every Christmas, every thanksgiving, everything. I prayed and wished upon every shooting star that you’d come home. “ Malachi chuckled bitterly, “ But now that you’re here, I’m not sure that was the right decision. “

His father didn’t get a chance to respond before Malachi walked toward the door, grabbing his car keys and leaving. The door shut normally despite the amount of anger and sadness residing in the boy's body. He wouldn’t be another version of his father. He just needed to calm down. Five stared at the ceiling to prevent the tears from falling down his cheeks.

Gently Y/n turned his head down to look at her despite him being taller. Her sleeves covered her palms, and she wiped away the tears. Her sleeves were turning darker from the water. Eventually, Five couldn’t take it anymore. His body shook, and he pulled her into his embrace, sobbing on her shoulder. He held the back of her shirt tighter than ever.

“ I’m- I'm so sorry, love. “ Five cried onto her shoulder, “ Shh, it’s okay. You didn’t know. “ Her voice was calm and steady.

Her fingers ran through his brunet hair, “ Who helped you through it? “ His voice was so gentle and hesitant as his head laid on her shoulder, “ Diego was a great help. “

Five sniffled, holding her closer, “ When did you find out? “

“ A week before you left. I didn’t know when to say it. I was nervous and scared at how you’d react. It turns out I waited too long. “ Y/n chuckled humorlessly.

The man pulled from her embrace to cup her cheeks and gently kiss her lips. The gesture he had missed for forty-five years. At that moment, he felt like they had just gotten married all over again. The softness and gentleness of the kiss made him feel like nothing ever happened between them. He leaned his forehead against hers.

“ I’m sorry. Truly I am. I didn’t know, but even if you had told me then, I don’t think I would’ve listened. “ Five admitted, and she nodded, “ I know. “

A silence cut through the apartment like a spider creeping up a web, quick, careful and skilled, “ Do- Do you think he’ll ever forgive me? “

Y/n shrugged, “ Maybe. “

[moku-youbi]

Can we talk about how Alison Hargreeves is the fucking worst? This has me so mad. I've been pissed since season one, but three just pushed me over the edge.

Like, I love how the rest of the Umbrella Academy is always blaming Vanya/Viktor for shit, when it really all goes back to Allison and Reginald in the first place. Viktor never learned about his powers or how to control them, and gets it all sprung on him in what is only a few days. And look. I get that Alison was told to do it by her father, and she was young, so fine.

But how about the shit Alison does as an adult? She essentially raped her husband, rumoured him to love her, stole his free will for however long they were together, which was at least around 8 years, given the age of their daughter (if their daughter was conceived at the very beginning of their relationship). She took her daughter's free will. All her success was because of rumouring casting directors and directors. She forced Luther to want her, which is tantamount to rape as well, knowing full well he didn't want her and was into someone else. She murdered Harlan.

And all her fucking boohoo about losing her daughter and husband, like no one else lost anything. Like Five didn't live alone for decades in the post apocalypse mourning all their deaths, lose Delores in his own way. Like Klaus didn't survive fucking Vietnam and lose the love of his life twice. Like Diego didn't lose Patch. Like Luther didn't lose Alison herself, who used him when it suited her, didn't lose years of his life on the moon, and his own faith in everything he believed. Like Viktor didn't suffer his entire life because of their treatment, then lose Sissy and Harlan, who was like a child to her, who was like Viktor, given these powers he didn't understand and couldn't control, with his neurodivergence on top if it. Viktor certainly didn't mean to cause Claire's death. And it's arguable that Five is more to blame for the changes, knowing everything he does about the timeline and how small changes can have those kind of ripple effects.

Yet Alison's pain is worse than everyone else's. It's more valid. She can justify whatever sort of horrible behaviour, from rape to murder, for her loss. But Viktor essentially had his entire life stolen from him, and he's supposed to just forgive and forget.

I'm just astonished that anyone in the family can kid themselves about her. All the family does fucked up shit, and that's one thing I love about them. In a lot of ways, I think it's the best representations of siblings I've seen in media, because they're all such different people, with such different personalities and preferences and goals. They all do awful shit to each other, and yet that childhood trauma they experienced forged a bond that's stronger than all of that. But Alison goes above and beyond that. She crosses a line, more than once, into real villain territory, and someone better call her on it, jfc.

[jellybeanium124]

How the comic! and show!Umbrellas would feel about each other

Luther: I don’t think they’d be best friends, but they’d get along. Comic!Luther might be jealous of show!Luther because compared to him, show! has a much more normal body, but that’s it.

Diego: hate hate hate hate. The Diegos would hate each other. comic!Diego would see show!Diego as a blithering cop-fucking idiot and show! would see comic! as an unfun asshole.

Allison: They wouldn’t like each other, but for very different reasons. Comic!Allison is a lot worse of a person than show!Allison, so show! would see comic! as the woman she could’ve been if she’d gone down a darker path, and so she wouldn’t like to hang around her that much. Comic! just wouldn’t care for show! She might even see show! as weak.

Klaus: besties!!!! like I said they would get together all the time to dish about their respective siblings. On a more serious note, show!Klaus might want to help comic!Klaus quit but comic!Klaus wouldn’t take show!’s help. show!Klaus might also be jealous of comic! because he’s so much more powerful.

Five: I think the Fives would hate each other but would work together. Like Allison, comic!Five is much darker than show!Five, so show! might see comic! as what “he might have been.” Show! would have to prove his usefulness to comic!, but when it comes to saving their siblings they’d team up in a heart beat and wreck shop.

Ben: I think they’d get along. We get so little of comic!Ben that it’s kind of hard to compare the two, but for the one scene of ghost comic!Ben we get, it seems like he’s pretty similar to show!Ben at is most “Klaus get your life together!!!!!”

As for sparrow!Ben and comic!, I don’t think they’d get along.

Viktor: The thing about comic!Vanya is that she goes through several stages in the comics, from normal jaded human, to evilish White Violin, to paraplegic amnesiac being looked after by Mom and Allison, to just kind of a blank slate. Because of that, show!Vikor’s relationship with comic!Vanya depends on “which” version of comic! they’re meeting. I think show! and beginning of Apocalypse Suite!Vanya just kind of wouldn’t care for each other. They might bond over their shared childhood trauma, but BAS!Vanya is just a lot more angry and tired and jaded than even s1!Viktor. As for WV!, show! would not be on board with what she’s doing and would try to stop it. Amne!Vikor and show! would again not have a lot in common, and comic! just becomes less interesting as the comics go on.

[bigassheart]

I’ve seen a couple posts about how everyone was wildly out of character and totally inconsistent this season and I’m just like... were you guys paying attention? 

1. Luther

Arguably the biggest shift in character between the two seasons, but it makes sense. Luther spent a year fending for himself and thinking his entire family was dead. 

This is the first time in his life that he had to hold down a job and actually live on his own. It was literally his first time living out in the world among anyone other than his family, and you can see in his reactions with the other characters from that life (the boss, his landlord, those kids that idolize him, and the waitress) that it has really mellowed him out. It has allowed him to be more normal, despite being very much not normal. You can see the way he’s so much more comfortable in his skin. Literally the only times he looks uncomfortable is when he’s fighting people, shirt off and body on full display. He’s still not comfortable with that, but he’s not trying to hide under huge overcoats anymore. He has people in his life who accept him for being a little weird, but really do treat him normal. 

So is he a little less uptight and mission focused? Yeah. Because he can finally see another life, and it’s the life that he honestly did want in season 1 but felt like he couldn’t have because he was number 1 and he had a responsibility to his dad, his family, and the academy to be the leader. Having a year on his own frees him of all that. 

But he also spent all that time thinking his family was dead and feeling so guilty about it. You can see in his very first interaction with Vanya, where he suddenly feels that responsibility again. He brings a gun, not knowing what’s going to happen and, despite what he told Five, he absolutely does still have that lingering feeling of responsibility. But then he sees Vanya and she’s not a threat and everything he has been holding in for the last year comes out. Because he does feel guilty as hell for what he did to Vanya, but also for the fact that his actions pushed her into causing the apocalypse. He spent a year with the knowledge that he did that and thinking that his family was dead because of his actions. 

He’s willing to listen now because he spent a year living in a world where his actions killed his whole family. And now he finds out that that didn’t happen and he has a second chance. Of course he’s going to take it! 

2. Diego

In the first season, Diego finally admitted that he wanted to be close to his family and that he cared about them and wouldn’t leave them again. He confronted the guilt about leaving, which he had previously denied. He realized the difference between revenge and honoring someone’s memory. But despite all that, he never confronted the reason why he, a grown-ass-man, wandered around the city as a leather clad, mask wearing vigilante. 

So when we see Diego show up in 1963, that’s still who he is. He wants to be that hero and he finds an answer for how to be that hero in the first several minutes that he’s there. So he takes it. I mean, what else is he going to do? His family is gone. Maybe they’ll show up again. Maybe this is it. Either way, he’s on his own like he was before, so he’s got a duty to be the hero he has chosen to be. 

And then he meets his dad again. Everyone keeps telling him he has daddy issues, and they’re right. He absolutely has daddy issues. He’s still trying to simultaneously prove that he’s good enough for his dad, but also doesn’t need Daddy’s approval. Except he does need it. He still desperately craves it and he feels gutted when his dad denies him that approval, even falling back into the stutter he had as a kid. 

Now, despite the way we joke, Diego is not dumb. He is so observant and he makes some of the most poignant statements about his siblings and the way they see the world. He sees the people around them and he understands them, but he has never been able to completely turn that gift inwards and see those same things in himself. In this season, Lila breaks through all that and he finally sees himself in her at the end. 

“Do you know how hard it is to trust people when your whole childhood was bullshit manipulation? Then why would you do that to me?”  

Diego sees himself in Lila, in her failure to break away from her mother despite the fact that he knows she wants to. In the final episode, he sees that she is just like the rest of the siblings, but she doesn’t have to be. None of them have to be stuck with their daddy issues, because they have each other. They can support and care for each other. It’s the last step of the growth he started in season 1, moving beyond his tendency to define his life and his family through their father. 

3. Allison

Throughout season 1, Allison struggled with whether or not to use her powers, but it was all centered around getting back to her daughter. When she appears in 1961, that motivation is effectively removed. She thinks everyone else is dead. She thinks that she is stranded in the past and that she will never get back. She finds a group of people to support her and before long... she finds her voice again. 

It’s no coincidence that Allison’s first spoken words in the series come right after she gives Ray that pamphlet with a bunch of added notes. She finds her voice in the civil rights movement. She finds her power there. She finds a way to help change the world, to change reality, and she does it without her powers. 

This is something she struggled with through the entirety of season 1, feeling inadequate for using her powers to get what she wanted, not knowing if anything was real or earned. Now she has the chance to earn everything without those powers and she is thriving. 

And then she is forced to use her powers again. It all turns out fine, but now she’s showing off and experiencing all over again how good it feels to have power. She spent two years in a world where she was denied equal treatment, where she could be arrested and assaulted for any reason those with more power came up with. And now she feels that power... She doesn’t have to wait for people to give her respect. She can demand it. But the pain is still there, and it’s not enough to just be respected, because these people have hurt her. They almost killed her husband. They have used their power to cause pain to her and all those who look like her time and time again and now it’s time to understand what it’s like to be powerless, to be hurt and to be unable to stop it and... 

And it’s scary. It’s scary to have that much power, to see how you could become the kind of person who uses your power to hurt others. And she knows that her power has hurt people she loves and suddenly she’s right back where she started. 

Only not entirely. 

She doesn’t shy away from her powers in the final fight. She is obviously still finding that balance and I would expect this struggle to continue for her in future seasons. Power can be addicting and Allison’s power is so strong. She knows the danger there, but she also knows that sometimes it’s needed despite the danger. 

4. Klaus

Klaus is an addict. He finds obsessions to bury himself in to avoid dealing with reality. In season 1, he buried himself in drugs and booze. When he shows up in the 60′s, he finds a new drug to bury himself in: adoration. 

Klaus is so impulsive and it’s not difficult to connect the dots of how one thing leads to another until suddenly everything is out of his control. Honestly, that’s the story of Klaus’s life, no matter where he goes. And then something changes. He gets tired of his cult and leaves. Except... that’s not really the reason. 

After all this time, Dave is still the love of his life, and he knows he has an opportunity. He knows where Dave will be at this one time and he knows exactly what he has to change to keep Dave alive. 

He also knows that Ben is going to have thoughts about this. 

I know some people were disappointed that there wasn’t more Klaus and Ben bonding this season, but it makes sense that there is tension there. I think a lot of that tension comes from Ben’s circumstances, which I’ll discuss later, but Klaus is also not responding to that tension well. 

They are fighting more than ever (not that they ever didn’t fight in season 1, where they spent much of their time being snarky to each other and Ben literally punching Klaus in the face for being an asshole), but the fighting is about something new this season. Ben wants his own life and Klaus is not in a position to give Ben what he really wants. We also learn that he has been carrying around this guilt for the last 17 years about forcing Ben to stick around as a ghost. He forced this half-life on his brother and now that it’s not enough for Ben, Klaus doesn’t want to deal with it. So he avoids and deflects and snarks and we see the toll on their relationship. We see it in the way he tries to deal with his plans around Dave entirely on his own. He focuses so much into that last ditch effort. He’s already in such a low place before this, so when that fails, we see him snap. We see him give up and crumble. And Ben falls back to his old role, trying to save Klaus from himself. 

But the tension isn’t gone and Klaus’s guilt isn’t gone. We see it again when Klaus finally agrees to let Ben possess him. Klaus has always been afraid of his powers and being possessed is just as terrifying a thought as being surrounded by the dead. And yet he gives Ben that chance. It’s the last good thing he can do at that point. 

I do wish we had gotten more closure for Klaus and Ben’s story. I think Vanya’s reveal could have been given a little more time, but that’s not really a problem with inconsistent characterization, so we’ll save that for another post. 

5. Five

OK, who would argue that Five was out of character or inconsistent? He’s obsessed with stopping the apocalypse, is willing to cross a lot of lines to save his family, and constantly frustrated by his family’s failure to go along with his plans. This is textbook Five. 

What I loved about this season was that we got to see Five finally meeting his father again. They interact as two adults, not as a child trying to find away to become his own person, frustrated by a lack of trust from his father. It allows Reggie to see Five in a different light and to actually provide advice in a constructive way, something he has almost never been able to do when viewing them as his children. But despite outward appearances and despite the fact that Five is a grown man, he still sees his father the same way he always has. He doesn’t register Reggie’s advice as advice. He hears that he’s striving beyond his abilities and that maybe he can only travel in seconds. He hears his father telling him he can’t handle time travel. That’s why he doesn’t try to actually take the very good advice until the very end.  

An old dog can still occasionally learn a new trick and Five proves that true. 

6. Ben

As I mentioned earlier, Ben is chaffing at his ghosthood. Maybe it’s because Klaus has been sober enough to keep Ben around solidly for 3 years. Maybe it’s because Ben is no longer spending all his time trying to keep Klaus alive and sober. Or maybe it’s the fact that he has finally found someone that he actually wants to spend time with. Whatever the reason, Ben wants to be alive this season. 

Again, as I mentioned, that’s causing some tension. Ben doesn’t want to be tied to Klaus, but Klaus is ignoring that because he feels so guilty about it. Ben doesn’t want to admit that he was too scared to go into the light on his own, so they’re at a bit of a standstill. 

And then Ben gets the opportunity to be alive again, if only for a while. And in a lot of ways, it’s wonderful! But it’s not the same as being truly alive. 

So when the time comes, when he’s faced with that light again... he’s not afraid. He knows that it’s time to move on. He knows this isn’t where he should be, but he also got the chance to be there for his family. He misses them, but he got to talk to Diego and Vanya. He got to save Vanya. He got to save Allison and Diego and Klaus and Luther and Five and the whole world! So while he would have stayed, he’s not sad about leaving anymore, and he’s not afraid. 

7. Vanya

OK, she was a little out of character because... you know. She had amnesia. 

But aside from erasing her past, the amnesia allowed us to see Vanya without the anger and resentment that plagued her for all of season one. Vanya was always someone who was kind and loving, someone who cares enough to leave peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches out for a missing brother for years. Someone who knows the pain of not being seen and who will always take the time to truly see other people. She’s someone who wants to love and to be loved and to protect those she loves. 

That was all here, with or without the memories. And as soon as the memories came back, so did the guilt and fear about what she had done, what she had become, terrified of what was inside her in a way that she was not when her powers first surfaced. But Ben is used to being afraid of what’s inside of him. He knows she’s not a monster and is the perfect person to explain that to her. And this time around, she has experienced the love and care and attention of her siblings (and Sissy) to back up those words. That’s how she finally accepts them as truth, how she finally accepts her power as a part of her. 

Overall, there are things that I wish this season spent more time with, but there was nothing that I felt was out of character or wildly inconsistent. The characters still struggled with all the baggage from their shitty childhood, their fear of their powers, and the guilt in their past. Some struggled in new ways this season and some continued old struggles that had never fully been resolved. The season felt very different than the first, but it still felt like the Umbrella Academy. It was a good mix of new and old and a good mix of feel-good moments we have all been waiting for and frustrating and sad moments that just come with having a complicated family. I loved this season. And now, I’m going to go re-watch every episode. 

[danwhobrowses]

Umbrella Academy Season 3 - Quickfire Thoughts

So over the weekend I cranked up the Netflix and binged the third season of Umbrella Academy. Another enjoyable run with its own chaotic shit going on has run its course

So here's some quickfire thoughts of it

I would've been fine if the Umbrellas and Sparrows did indeed settle their differences with a Footloose dance scene

Throughout this season I continue to be baffled by the inconsistency of Luther's powers, like Season 2 he tanked a missile but a swift kick to the head or a curved sword does him in? It just feels weird. I still think the seasons are making him dumber too.

Marcus was an idiot for touching the big ball of fiery death, but I'm surprised he didn't just show up given Klaus' powers

The Vanya to Viktor stuff was done extremely well, Luther was sweet in wanting a gesture but it was nice that it wasn't blown up into anything, nothing really changed and that's the point

I see that a lot of people are at least joking that the Sparrows 'caught the Umbrellas' dysfunction' but really it did seem like it was always there. Ben did make a note that the Umbrellas 'fight like we do' after the Allison and Viktor argument and there was at the least tension already there, what unraveled them was simply the same thing that unraveled the Umbrellas, they lost one of their own. Marcus died and like with Ben and the assumed death of Five, the group started getting at each other's throats and looking out for themselves

I'm glad we got to keep Lila around though, I was a bit let down when it looked like she'd just have the cameo

While I didn't care too much for Alphonso or Jayme - who seemed to be more rotten in the inside and using their status to intimidate and do what they want - it was a shame to kill them and Marcus off so early, frankly I would've liked to have seen a lot more of the Sparrows

I don't understand how Ben survives Harlan's accidental mass matricide since he too would've been connected to Viktor, also what this 'pain' he's talking about was because we saw their heads pop before they showed signs of labour, also babies could still survive if the mother died and wouldn't the energy just go someplace else?

If I had a nickel for every time Robert Sheehan got stabbed through the chest and then realised he was immortal I'd have two nickels, which is less than a dollar but still, it happened twice

I don't really understand why Five felt that he needed to complete the cycle of his Founder self, who lives in a paradox-proof box. Surely that means he could live a different life and his founder would not be subject to the Grandfather Paradox itself?

When did Lila get pregnant? Because quite some time did pass between Season 2, her in the Infinite Switchboard, and her in Berlin. Feels like long enough time would've passed to be showing, or at least not be drinking alcohol. Sushi seems to be her craving though.

So...does Stan come back at all or what? He got blitzed

Corrupted Grace didn't really pay off in the end does it, she's just a minor obstacle

Despite all things in hindsight I did like Klaus' bonding with Hargreeves, the problem seemed to be that he always had an ultimate agenda. It's a shame though that Klaus still isn't allowed to use the fullest extent of his powers

In fact, powers seem to matter less and less for some of the Umbrellas; Diego doesn't alter a single projectile, all he does is play with his own knives, we've mentioned before Luther's power inconsistency as well

Sure Fei, shake the beehive, that was a solid idea...

Ben's sulking got on my nerves a lot, he wants the role but not the responsibility

I did find it odd that Luther didn't pick Five to be his best man, given their whole JFK adventure, it just seemed like they were closer than him and Viktor

Why isn't Luther allowed to be happy? It was just a long-winded wait of the other shoe to drop, first death and then Sloane's disappearance

Was it not obvious to anyone else that the seven stars on the lobby floor was the algorithm? I mean it kinda stood out given that there were seven and it had an asymmetrical pattern

And the main thing: Fuck Allison.

Her whole turn is just terrible really, she was dumb for not being familiar with any rule of time travel ever (if Footloose exists Back to the Future certainly existed which is the simplest explanation that changing the past affects the future), then she uses her anger to be an awful person to her family; adopting aggression, emotional blackmail and literal murder and using grief as a weak justification. She's as much to blame for all this as Viktor is given that she's the one who Rumored Viktor into thinking he didn't have powers but she wouldn't admit that shit at all. Always the victim pretending like she had enough when really she just wanted someone to punch who wouldn't punch back.

And then the ending, where Allison gets to have her cake and eat it, just because she cut up Hargreeves head doesn't mean she's redeemed in my eyes. She got zero comeuppance for her actions and now everyone else gets to suffer the consequences.

Overall, I liked the season, there's more to go with it but there was a lot of stuff that left a bitter taste in the end, lot of stuff unanswered too.

[busysavingtheuniverse]

may i ask you to elaborate on tua season 2?

hell yeah dude

for an easy answer @deer-time's tua salt tag is a really good starting place (though they've moved most tua-related stuff to their sideblog @salty-coffee)

but if you don't want to go through that basically, in no particular order:

it felt they were just shoving in scenes for the music and the soundtrack just wasn't as memorable as season one

the time skip ensured that we missed out on most of their development. i have a lot of beef with the time skip

i cannot stress enough how much the handler should've died in season one lol

WHY WOULD NONE OF THEM KNOW WHERE KLAUS WAS HE WAS LITERALLY A CULT LEADER

luther, at the very least, should've seen vanya's ads in the newspaper. diego allison and klaus i can understand because one was in an asylum (i have my beef with that don't worry lol), the other wouldn't read white newspapers, and the third was traveling

vanya's amnesia plot felt like it was just there to smooth her over? she got no meaningful interactions with the siblings because she didn't know them and the conflict they set up at the end of season one ('we need to fix her') never went anywhere. we love wlw representation but was vanya really ready for romance after all the shit that went down? she needs time to process and grow not forget everything and latch onto the first woman that takes her in. we got no exploration of her trauma. also why can she just automatically control her powers now? no trauma recovery narrative for vanya i guess. she spends the entire season as essentially a side character with no real agency in the plot? also where did the new powers come from hello

speaking of the romance literally none of it was executed well. why did raymond assume his WIFE was a government plant before at least hearing her out? vissy was written so shallowly it's not even funny. liego happened way too quickly and diego forgot about eudora too fast. klave was okay i guess lol idc abt them

why did diego and lila face no racism? why were they in an integrated asylum in the south? why did they actually show diego being helped genuinely instead of them just making his situation worse? i don't think therapy was that genuinely developed. diego felt like a completely different character

why would luther, known goody-two-shoes, work for the mob? also why would he not ask jack ruby to look up his siblings' names for him before? he went back to the alley so he at least had the thought that they landed in the same spot at different times right. also he was way too dumbed down and made into comic relief for the benefit of the luther haters

klaus was literally made irrelevant? he had nothing to do, his relapse was treated as a JOKE, his addiction wasn't explored, and he was basically just comic relief like luther

allison's plotline felt it was just there to get her out of the way, she totally forgot about claire, her trauma was ignored for the second season in a row, etc. she wasn't even mad at vanya like this woman slit your throat and incinerated your daughter i don't CARE that you treated her badly i think that's a pretty good basis for some friction? (screw the amnesia plot obviously)

five and ben were left pretty intact specifically because ben's personality isn't there and five didn't get a time skip

why did they forget that drugs suppress powers when vanya was with the fbi

very sexy of tua to introduce the concept of an evil corporation that's essentially the root of all their problems in season one and then redeem it but just giving it new management? and have five of all people look into the faces of herb and DOT, WHO LEFT HIM IN THE APOCALYPSE AND DIDN'T PUSH FOR HIM TO GET EXTRACTED, and say 'yeah guys totally! :)'

also he should've eaten carmichael i don't make the rules

NONE OF THE SIBLING BONDING FELT REAL BECAUSE WE DIDN'T GET TO SEE THEIR DEVELOPMENT. NOTHING VANYA DID FELT REAL BECAUSE OF THE AMNESIA

the swedes were legitimately not necessary. screw the swedes all my homies hate the swedes. why did they stay all the way until the finale

where did the five+allison jfk plot go that was so good

why did lila automatically know how to control their powers

elliott wasn't necessary either they should've just made their home base hazel and agnes's house with no unnecessary fridging please. that's where they could've gotten a briefcase too

the atmosphere felt completely different? season one was dark and slow and had the vibes of a gothic horror, almost? it was watching a train wreck in action, seeing all these plot threads inevitably combine for one hell of a finale. there was nothing like that in season two. aside from the obvious atmosphere change, it didn't feel like there was any direction to where the story was going? the only two highlights of the finale i care about are diego deflecting the bullets and five rewinding time. that's IT. and compared to season one's finale, it's utterly disappointing

idk it just felt like a popcorn flick/marvel movie and those are fine! those have their place! but the entire draw of tua was the darker themes and focus on childhood trauma/abuse, and they just completely failed to follow up. those have their place, and it was not here

all in all the writing just felt weaker

there's more in the 'tua salt' and 'tua s2 salt' tags

anyway tua is a ten-episode-long miniseries

[glimmerglue]

Random crack TUA au: The siblings, when growing up are numbered based on their powers. Number One has strength, Number Two can control trajectories, etc. HOWEVER: none of the siblings have a set power. The powers that they have bounce around from one sibling to the next and who has what power at any given moment is entirely random. 

This also means that their numbers constantly fluctuate. 

Luther is Number One the most, but sometimes is Number Six, or Number Two. Sometimes Luther has super strength, sometimes he can see ghosts... Likewise, Diego is sometimes Number Two, sometimes Number Seven, can sometimes teleport, or create energy waves from sound, etc...

This changes things. 

For one, Vanya is never isolated growing up. 

Secondly, growing up is twice as chaotic and the number rankings mean less overall to the siblings’ self-worth.

Thirdly, Five’s name constantly changes. Or it did. 

Vanya never gets drugged and isolated by Reginald because it is her powers that are dangerous, not her. And Reginald cannot control who has her powers, since they aren’t actually hers. Whoever retains the ability to contort and control soundwaves varies on a day to day basis, sometimes even on an hour to hour basis. 

When Vanya cracks Reginald’s lens, instead of drugging Vanya, Reginald produces the soundproof chamber for any sibling who should use that ability against him. 

He creates his plans. But he does not drug Vanya. 

Reginald very quickly learns how the siblings’ powers function, and is sure to train all of them in how to use each power. They all end up going through a wider variety of training to master each individual power. Through this, a lot of siblings go through the same, or very similar, training sessions. 

The siblings develop closer bonds sometimes because they understand each others training a bit better. Klaus is there to talk to Ben when he happens to be the next unwitting beholder of the ability to see the dead. Luther and Diego convene over being pushed to teleport too much. Five and Allison bond over having to lift too many weights. 

But they can also be just as distant with one another. While there isn’t the fissure of their number status to hold them back as much, they are encouraged to be just as competitive with one another over who can master specific powers better. And this particular competition can be vicious, especially since some of them struggle with some of the powers more than others. 

(Vanya and Five both struggle with seeing the dead. In fact, all of them struggle with this ability. Diego seems to have the best grip on it sometimes, but then he entirely fails with this ability other times, so it’s a mix. Klaus struggles with super-strength. Diego struggles with rumours. (Diego hates this, since he is the one who struggles with rumours the most. Luther struggles with them too, but not as noticeably, since Luther struggles more on word choice.) Five struggles with controlling soundwaves.)

Some of the siblings have more of an affinity to particular powers. This can mean either that they are better at using these powers, or for whatever reason, they receive certain powers more often then they receive others. 

Luther tends to be better at using strength, despite breaking things a lot. He tends to have strength more often, too. Five has an affinity for using teleportation, but only because he has mastered the calculations much more easily than his siblings. Klaus has the ability to see the dead more often than the others, despite his dislike of the ability. 

How each of the siblings grow up drastically changes. 

Klaus gets a lot of breaks from the ghosts, Ben isn’t the only one who has to learn to control the Horror, Vanya isn’t the only one who can use sound based powers. 

When they hit 13, things change even more. Five permanently becomes Number Five, rather than whatever number is assigned at any given moment. Because when they hit 13, Five leaves, taking the ability to teleport (and time travel) along with him. 

(Five makes the same reckless decision to use his powers to time travel to the future. He grows up in the apocalypse and his powers never change, because there is no one for him to switch powers with. He’s alone.)

The rest of the siblings grow up and leave. Their powers still fluctuate, but as they get older, the power switches come less often. Klaus holds onto the ability to see the dead for weeks. Luther can rumour people for months. They still switch powers with one another. But not as often. 

This changes so much. Allison can’t rely on rumours as often growing up, and her career as an actress is vastly different. When Luther is injected with the serum, he doesn’t have his super strength to support how his body mass has changed, and this drastically impacts his physical health. 

This time, in this au, Vanya doesn’t cause the apocalypse. This time, something else does. 

(And when Five arrives back to stop the apocalypse, when he stands up and sees his siblings for the first time in decades, he clenches his hands. But the familiar ripples of blue don’t appear. For the first time in decades he can no longer teleport. A fact that is both relieving and utterly jarring.)

[conchshell]

Because I'm such a fan of yours, a little 👀 is mandatory.

Sorry, you're stuck with me now. Imma stay here and harass you with love.

There eat this : 💙💜💙

aaahh you're so kind, thank you!! 💛💛💛

“Well, I’m heading off,”

“Should you really be going out when you’re sick?”

Five levelled Luther with a thoroughly unimpressed glare.

“I’m sick, not on my deathbed. And besides, I need to get Mr Pennycrumb a bed,” Five downed the rest of his coffee like a shot and placed the empty mug in the sink. Vanya smiled around the croissant she was nibbling, giving him a knowing look.

“You, of all people, going soft on the cat?”

“What? No!” Five spluttered. “It’s just he slept on me last night and in case you haven’t noticed, he weighs the same as a small horse. I’m merely getting him his own bed so he doesn’t crush my legs while I’m sleeping.”

“That's such a big fat lie,” Diego grinned, redirecting the trajectory of the spoon Five flung in his direction. It spun around mid-air and sailed into the sink with a metallic thud. “Of course, fearsome little Five is too cool for a cat.”

“Shut up,” Five muttered over his shoulder on the way to the door. Mr Pennycrumb mewled and padded behind him, pawing desperately at his ankles, and Five nudged him gently aside with his foot. “No. Stay. You can’t come with me.”

The cat, to the surprise of everyone else, obeyed. Instead, it hoisted a back leg up into the air and made a spectacle of cleaning it.

“I still can’t believe you managed to tame that beast,” Allison commented, eyeing the cat which was now staring back at them blankly. “Seriously, that thing is like something possessed, yesterday it kept trying to trip me down the stairs, and the day before that it attacked Luther in his sleep.”

“It’s a cat, not the antichrist,” Five said blankly, “well I’m off, see you later.”

“Wait, wait, wait. Aren’t you going to change?” Klaus commented, his gaze sliding down Five’s ensemble with a disapproving tut. “You know, when you said that you were trying something other than the uniform I was excited, but I wasn’t anticipating that you’d dress like a middle-aged man on vacation to the tropics.”

“What’s wrong with it?” Five said, looking completely puzzled as if he wasn’t standing there in a plaid shirt tucked into some puce Bermuda shorts.

“You’re wearing Bermuda shorts,” Klaus pointed out. “Willingly, I might add.”

“They remind me of my holiday to Cuba in 1923, management allowed me four days off in celebration of my 100th assassination,” Five frowned. And wow, there was a lot to unpack there. “I like them,” he added, after a few seconds of stunned silence.

“You like them?” Klaus said, feeling slightly bewildered. “I’m sorry, but I’m not letting my poor misguided baby brother dress like a reject from the roaring twenties. Let me grab my shoes and we can turn it into a shopping trip.”

“That sounds fun. Can I come too?” Allison said, interest piqued.

“The more the merrier! And we can even call by that waffle place too!” Klaus waved a hand, eyes lighting up. "They do the most delicious triple chocolate banana waffles, you've got to try them!"

“I’d sooner eat a bad Twinkie,” Five scoffed noisily. “And you do realise that I can just blink out of here, right?”

“And you do realise that they’ll keep pestering you about this,” Diego said, watching the scene unfold with amusement. “I think you should do, and besides, it’ll be a good bonding activity.”

“And you don’t want to join this ‘’bonding activity’’ with us?” Five raised an eyebrow.

“Ah…unfortunately I’ve got...” Diego paused, wracking his brain, “...gym stuff.”

"Gym stuff," Five hummed.

"Gym stuff," Diego confirmed with a nod. "You know, pumping iron, all that good stuff."

Allison scoffed, kicking him under the table. "You're a terrible liar, you're coming with us too, and you too Luther, don't think I can't see you trying to sneak out. Are you coming too, Vanya? I know you mentioned you needed to do some shopping."

"I do need a new dress shirt for my performance next week," she shrugged.

"Great! I'll get the keys!"

"Shot gun on passenger seat," Klaus sang, leaping up from his chair.

Five pressed his face into his hands and groaned.