#whatever I'm still on mom's netflix

[caityjay13]

paramount+ had a 50% off annual subscription so I said fuck it I'll deal with your terrible player interface but now they're trying to get me to watch Other Shows and I'm just like bitch you know what I'm here for

[britneyshakespeare]

you: nicholas alexander chavez, the actor from ryan murphy's recent work

me, a mama's girl and daytime tv viewer:

[animesmolbean]

Words Hold Power

An “The Umbrella Academy” fanfiction

Five x Reader

(Female)

Author's Note: Welcome to my The Umbrella Academy fanfiction! I'm so excited to share this story with you all! TUA is my favorite Netflix show! I'm very sad to see it's in its final season, but all great shows come to an end! But at least we'll get to rewatch it over and over again, lol.

Speaking of which, please, no spoilers for S4 since I have not watched it yet. I'll let you guys know where I am in S4 in coming posts.

With that said, I just wanted to tell you guys this. There was one hesitation I had with writing this story. Handling Viktor's character. I know about the journey of this character and Elliot Page's journey as well. I know about the transition, and I wanted to tell you how I planned on approaching this.

I did research on this topic and wanted to be sure I was handling it correctly. I researched how I should write transgender characters and their journeys throughout the story.

I also read other TUA fanfictions for research to see how other authors handle it, and like the research, it's a mixed bag. Some use Viktor only, and some show the name change.

After researching, I decided on an approach.

I will follow what the show does and show the transition story Viktor has. I chose this because I believe it's a beautiful journey, and the show does a great job handling the topic.

One last thing, all the main characters (The Hargreeves siblings) are aged up a little.

With all that said, I hope you enjoy the first chapter! ♥️

~Character Info~

Reader's ability is cursed speech. She can make anyone do what she says with only a few words. It's similar to Allison's, except she doesn't need to say certain words first like her, and her ability is much more powerful. To the point where she has to be extremely careful about what she says.

(As you can tell, this was inspired by the anime character, Toge Inumaki from Jujutsu Kaisen.)

Chapter 1: We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals (Family Reunion)

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October 1985, forty-three women around the world gave birth.

This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women have been pregnant when the day first began.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

He got eight of them.

Many years later, the kids grew up and went on with their lives as adults.

There was Number One, aka Luther Hargreeves. Big, strong and was currently on the moon, studying and preparing for whatever his mission was.

There was Number Two, aka Diego Hargreeves. Impulsive, brave and works as a vigilante of sorts.

There was Number Three, aka Allison Hargreeves. Famous actress who was currently on the red carpet in front of paparazzi.

There was Number Four, aka Klaus. A lazy, free-spirited soul who is currently leaving rehab and using the money he got from the rehab to buy drugs. He ended up in the back of an ambulance.

And, there was Number Seven, aka Vanya Hargreeves. She was quiet, timid, and was currently leaving the theater after practicing her violin.

However, their lives would change forever with one broadcast.

Their father was now dead.

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY

☂

Vanya rode a taxi to her childhood home. A place she lived for many years.

The Umbrella Academy.

A tall condo-like building with a black gate.

Vanya approached the building and opened the doors, whose windows were decorated by umbrellas.

The foyer was fancy still. The middle was open with a chandelier hanging above a small round table in the middle. Tall, smooth white beams holding the sides which held the second floor. A staircase that leads to that second floor was behind the small round table.

It was just as Vayna remembered it. Every little detail was still there.

“Hey, Mom.”

Vanya called to the woman in the living room. Said woman sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, which currently had a fire going. She stayed still as she stared into the dancing flames.

“Mom?”

“Vanya?”

A familiar voice turned Vanya’s attention elsewhere.

“You're actually here.”

She turned and saw her sister, Allison coming down the stairs.

“Hey, Allison.”

“Hey sis.”

Allison now stood before her sister. She chuckled and brought the other girl into a hug, which Vanya quietly but graciously returned.

“Ah. What is she doing here?”

A new voice spoke through the quiet foyer.

“You don't belong here. Not after what you did.”

It was Diego.

“You're seriously gonna do this today?” Allison spoke up, her tone telling that she wasn't in the mood for the male's attitude.

“Way to dress for the occasion, by the way.” She added, mocking Diego’s attire as he ascended the stairs. He was still in his “hero” gear; knives and everything.

“At least I'm wearing black.” Diego shot back nonchalantly as he turned left on the stairs, disappearing from the girls’ views.

Vanya, now uncomfortable, spoke up quietly, “You know what? I- Maybe he's right. And I shouldn't-”

“Forget about him.” Allison interrupted her. “I'm glad you're here.” She spoke softly. Vanya’s lips quirked up a little at Allison's words. The sisters shared a moment of silence.

☂

Diego arrived at his late father's room, to see Luther there checking the windows. He leaned against the doorframe.

“I can save you some time. They're all locked. No forced entry, no sign of struggle. Nothing out of the ordinary.”

As he spoke, he walked over to Luther who was also walking towards him.

“Oh, you got big, Luther. What's the secret, huh? Protein shakes? Low carbs?” Diego asked mockingly.

“What do you want?” Luther asked, not wanting to deal with Diego's attitude.

Diego reached into his pocket and pulled out a few folded pieces of paper, handing them to Luther. “The autopsy report.”

After he teasingly tried to pull them away from Luther, the latter brother snatched them out of his hand.

“And you have this, why?” Luther asked.

“Well, that's because I… broke into the coroner's office.” Diego explained as he sat down in an armchair. “And surprise, surprise, Dad's death was… normal. Just a boring, old heart failure.”

“Yeah, so?” Luther looked at Diego.

“So, why are you in here, checking all the windows?”

“Were you the first one on the scene?” Luther asked.

“Pogo found him.” Diego answered.

“Yeah, I talked with Pogo. He said he couldn't find Dad's monocle.”

“And your point being?” Diego asked in a bored tone.

“Can you think of a single time you saw Dad and he wasn't wearing that monocle? No. Which means someone took it. Which means there's a chance he wasn't alone when he died.”

Diego sat up from the armchair. “There is no mystery here. Nothing to avenge. Nothing to solve, nothing like that. It's just a sad old man who kicked it in a big empty house. Just like he deserved.”

“You should leave.” Lither spoke, not liking Diego's tone with that last sentence he spoke.

“Whatever you say, brother.” Diego said in a mocking tone as he turned to leave. Before he did, he turned back to Luther. “By the way, did you visit (Your Name) yet?”

Luther shook his head. “No. I was about to, actually.”

“You know where she is.” Diego simply said.

☂

Vanya entered the living room, looking around at the interior. She spotted a comic and new articles on their group, The Umbrella Academy. She looked at the bookshelves and pulled out one book in particular.

The title read, “Extra Ordinary My Life as Number Seven”

It was her autobiography book. The one she wrote when she left the academy.

She observed it solemnly until a voice spoke out.

“Welcome home, Ms. Vanya.”

She turned and saw Pogo, a human sized monkey dressed formally with a cane and glasses.

Vanya walked over to him and hugged him. Pogo hugged back with a hum. “So good to see you.” He noticed the book in her hand. “Ah, yes, your autobiography.”

“Do you know, um…” Vanya paused before continuing. “Did he ever read it?”

Pogo thought for a moment before replying, “Not that I'm aware of.”

Vanya turned her attention to the portrait above the fireplace. It showed a boy, around seventeen in age, sitting with a neutral but sophisticated look on his face.

“How long has it been since Five disappeared?” She asked.

Pogo turned to look at the portrait too. “It's been sixteen years, four months, and fourteen days.” The two looked at each other. “Your father insisted I keep track.”

“And… how long has (Your Name) been in that coma?”

“Sixteen years, four months, and six days.” Pogo replied.

“You wanna know something stupid? I always used to leave the lights on for him. I was scared that he would come back, it would be late, and the house would be dark and he wouldn't be able to find us, so he'd leave again. And he would take (Your Name) with him. So, every night I'd make a little snack and make sure all the lights were on.”

Pogo nodded. “Oh, I remember your snacks. I'm pretty sure I stepped in half those peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches, and those (Favorite type of Cookie) cookies.” He sighed a couple times before he spoke again, “Your father always believed that Number Five was still out there somewhere. He also believed that one day (Your Name) would wake up. He never lost hope.”

“And look where that got him.” Vanya said solemnly.

☂

Allison went up to her late father's study, looking around the area. The familiarity of it brought up a memory.

〰️

Reginald Hargreeves was working in his office, as usual, when Grace knocked on the door. She entered before closing the door.

“The children are ready for bed, sir. They wanted to say goodnight.”

She turned and walked a couple of paces and opened the sliding door.

On the other side revealed the eight children, all wearing matching pajamas. Allison was in the center while the others surrounded her. Little (Your Name) stood between her and Five, a black cloth face mask covering her mouth and nose.

The children were all smiling as they waited for their father to acknowledge them. But he was so into his work that he didn't even glance up at them.

Sensing the awkwardness, Grace quickly dismissed the kids. The kids, of course, were disappointed but not surprised. As they left slowly, (Your Name) tugged on Allison's sleeve, silently asking her to come.

“I'll be there in a minute (Your Name).” The girl whispered. (Your Name) tilted her head to the side. Allison spoke again, “Why don't you go hang out with Five for a bit before bed? I know you planned on it.” She gave the masked girl a small smile. (Your Name) felt her cheeks warm up, but she nodded, leaving and quietly walking over to Five. The boy saw her coming and, with a nod of his head, gestured to her to follow him. (Your Name) nodded and started to walk beside him. As she did, she heard Allison,

“He's always busy.”

〰️

“Where's the cash, Dad?”

The sound of a voice diverted Allison's attention and she walked over to her father's desk, hearing clamoring noises. She leaned forward to look to see who was over there.

“Klaus? What are you doing in here?” She asked.

Said boy looked up and gasped at the sight of his sister. “Oh! Allison! Wow, is that you?” He asked as he stood up. He embraced her slowly; Allison slowly returned the hug. “Long time. Too long.” He pulled away. “Hey, I was hoping to see you, actually, because I wanted to get your autograph. Add it to my collection!” He planted his chin onto his hands.

Allison let her brother act because it was how he always behaved when she noticed the white paper bracelet on his left wrist. “Just out of rehab?” She asked.

“No, no. No, no, no, no. No. I'm done with all of that.” Klaus replied with a sigh as he removed the bracelet. “I just came down here to prove to myself that the old man was really gone.” He smiled. “And he is! He's dead. Yeah!” He clapped, making Allison smile a little, shaking her head a bit.

“You know how I know? Because if he were alive, not one of us would be allowed to set foot in this room.” Allison silently agreed with Klaus.

“He was always in here, our whole childhood, plotting his next torment, right?” He said with a chuckle as he sat in the armchair behind the desk, putting his feet on the desk. “Remember how he used to look at us? That scowl?” He pointed to the man's portrait onto the wall behind him. “Thank Christ, he's not our real father, so we couldn't inherit those cold, dead eyes!” He stretched his eyelids to show more of his eyeballs. He fake screams, making Allison chuckle a little as Klaus started to dramatically imitate their late father.

“Get out of his chair.”

Klaus turned his head and saw Luther standing by the doorway. “Oh, wow, Luther! Wow, you really, uh… You really filled out over the years, huh?” Klaus said as he stood and flexed his arm muscles.

“Klaus.” Luther warned.

“Save the lecture. I was already leaving. You guys can talk amongst yourselves. I am going to visit (Your Name). Oh! The precious little sister of ours.” He chuckled softly. Before he could leave though, Luther stopped him. “Drop it.”

“Ex-squeeze me?” Klaus said.

“Do it. Now.” Luther ordered.

Klaus pulled his arm away from Luther and went back to the desk and started to empty out his pockets, which held a few of his late father's belongings. “It's just an advance on our inheritance! That's all it is!” Allison chuckled silently at her brother. “No need to get your little panties in a bunch.” With that, Klaus left, closing the door; leaving Luther and Allison alone in the room.

“So, Klaus is still Klaus, in case you are wondering.” Luther started.

“You know, after all these years, I find it strangely comforting.” Allison stated.

“Did you see Diego?” Luther asked.

“With his stupid outfit?” Allison added in amusement.

“Oh, I know. Do you think he wears that thing in the bathroom?” Lauther asked.

“Like in the shower?” Allison asked for confirmation.

“Yeah.” Luther confirmed.

“Yes, absolutely!” Allison laughed.

The two went on to talk about how their lives are going now that they are adults. Luther was the only one to stay while the rest went their separate ways. Their conversation ended talking about Allison's family and her powers.

〰️

A little later, everyone congregated in the living room. The fire was still going in the fireplace as everyone sat in silence.

Luther started talking about doing a memorial service for their late father. Some like Allison were mostly confused by this or making fun of it like Klaus.

“Is that my skirt?” Allison asked, noticing Klaus wearing a skirt now.

“Oh, yeah this. I found it in your room. It's a little dated, I know, but it's very breathy on the bits.”

Luther stopped Klaus before he could go further and started to talk about their father's death. He had a theory that he didn't die simply of heart failure. He recounted how he was acting suspicious and requested Klaus to try to communicate with him. Klaus was not interested.

“I can't just call Dad into the afterlife and be like, “Dad, could you just stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?”

“Since when? That's your thing.” Luther said.

“I'm not in the right… frame of mind.”

“You're high?” Allison asked, not surprised.

“Yeah! Yeah!” Klaus laughed. “I mean, how are you not listening to this nonsense?”

“Well, sober up, this is important.” Luther said.

Klaus only sighed.

When Luther started talking about the missing monocle, Diego concluded that Luther was suspicious of all of them, saying that Luther thought one of them killed their dad. This caused everyone to get upset. Diego insulted Luther's leadership, Klaus got up and jokingly said that he might as well go murder their Mom and (Your Name), unless she was already dead. Vanya left in silence and. Allison left in silence as well. Luther tried to defend himself, but it was too late.

They weren't always like this. When they were kids, they were tight knit.

〰️

17 YEARS AGO

“This is Jim Hellerman, reporting live for Channel 2 News outside of the Capital West Bank at Main and Sixth. A group of heavily armed men stormed the bank not three hours ago and took an unknown number of hostages.”

The armed men surveyed the bank as they pointed their guns at the bound up hostages and pushed them behind the counter as they proceeded with the robbery.

Unexpectedly, a girl with curly black hair, in a school uniform and mask, walked casually to one of the robbers.

It was Allison.

“Hey, get back with the others.” The robber ordered the girl.

“I heard a rumor.” Allison spoke.

“What? What did you say?”

Allison leaned forward and used her ability, “I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot.”

The robber pointed his gun at one of his partners and promptly shot him in the foot, knocking him down. The hostages screamed at the sound of the gun.

Suddenly, someone, dressed in a boy's school uniform with a mask came crashing down from a window above and landed behind the counter. It was Luther. He punched one robber and threw him out the window with surprising strength.

Then, another kid dressed like Luther came from the other side of the bank. “Guns are for sissies. Real men throw knives.” He threw two long knives at one of the robbers only for them to redirect to another robber and immediately killed him.

There were now only two robbers left in the lobby.

One of them climbed onto the desk and pointed his gun shakily at the three kids. “Get back, you freaks.”

“Hey, be careful up there, buddy.” Diego, the knife throwing kid taunted.

“Get back now!”

“Wouldn't want you to get hurt.” Allison taunted as well.

“Or what?”

A fourth kid appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sitting criss cross on the desk. A taunting smirk on his face. This was Number Five.

The robber shot at Five, but he disappeared and reappeared on the other side. When the robber turned around and tried to shoot him again, he suddenly realized that he was not holding a gun.

“Ooh! That's one badass stapler!” Five taunted before smacking the guy's hand holding the stapler into his head. This knocked the robber over.

All they had to do now was get rid of the robbers in the vault.

Or so they thought.

There was one more.

He loaded his fun and his gun cocked, catching the kids off guard.

“Down you freaks!” He yelled.

Suddenly, running from a hidden place behind a wall was a fifth kid, dressed like Allison, as she pulled down her face mask. She directed her attention to the robber.

“Explode!”

The single word echoed loudly through the bank, and just before the guy could turn his gun to the girl, his body suddenly exploded, body parts, guts, and blood spreading out everywhere. The hostages screamed in fear. The girl quickly covered her face again, breathing heavily as she ran to her siblings.

She gestured to all of them. They couldn't see much of her face, but they could tell she was worried by the look in her eyes.

“We're okay. Thanks (Your Name).” Allison said.

(Your Name) hummed, nodding as she walked over to behind the desk with the others, while two more kids dressed like the rest of the boys joined them. Five looked at her. “That was pretty badass. Good work.” He complimented, giving her a smile. (Your Name) felt her cheeks warm up a little, and she tilted her head a bit and closed her eyes. Most people wouldn't be able to tell her expression behind the mask, but Five knew she was smiling at him in thanks.

“Do we really have to do this?” A meek voice asked.

“Come on, Ben. There's more guys in the vault.” Luther told the boy.

Ben sighed as he walked to the vault door. “I didn't sign up for this.”

He entered as the hostages all ran for their lives out of the bank. Inside the vault, the last of the robbers were eyeing slaughtered by Ben's ability. He screeched and roared as his tentacles ripped them apart and threw them against the walls. Blood splattered all over the windows.

Once it was quiet, Ben came out, covered in blood. “Can we go home now?” He asked, his breathing shaky.

It was time to leave.

The seven kids started walking towards the entrance of the bank. (Your Name) pulled out a small vial and turned the cap. She pulled the bottom part of her mask up and put the bottle to her lips. She tilted her head back and started swallowing the liquid. She finished it and placed the empty bottle back in her pocket.

“Are you feeling okay?”

Five's voice made (Your Name) turn to him. She nodded and hummed in thanks. Five offered his arm to her. “Ready?” He asked. The girl nodded again, and she hooked her arm with Five's. Five smiled at her, and they started walking after their siblings.

The seven kids emerged from the back as the news reporters pointed their cameras at the group, and they all clamored to try to talk to them.

Above on the top of a building nearby, stood Reginald Hargreeves, observing the other kids with a mini telescope. An eighth kid, dressed like Allison and (Your Name), minus the mask, stood next to him.

“Why can't I go play with the others?” The girl asked.

“We've been through this before, Number Seven. I'm afraid there's just nothing special about you.” Reginald said as he lowered his telescope.

The girl looked down. “Oh.”

Eventually, Reginald came down to stand with the children.

“Our world is changing. Has changed. There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary. I have adopted seven such children.”

‘You mean eight.’ (Your Name) thought to herself as she looked down temporarily, her arm still linked with Five's.

“I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.”

Many news reporters asked many questions.

“What happened to their parents?” One asked.

“They were suitably compensated.” Reginald replied.

“Are you concerned about the welfare of the children?” Another asked.

“Of course. As I am for the fate of the world.” Reginald said.

〰️

☂

Everyone was in separate rooms, having their alone time after the little dispute from earlier. Klaus was still in the living room, trying to talk to their late father but he ended up knocking the vase filled with his ashes over.

Luther was walking through the hallways, reminiscing until he got to his room.

Allison was looking through her belongings until she found a gold heart locket with ‘A+L’ carved onto the front.

Klaus took the vase into the kitchen where he proceeded to take more pills.

Diego laid on the couch in the living room, playing with one of his knives.

Vanya sat on the stairs, a solemn look on her face.

Luther eventually found a familiar record and played it on the record player.

“I Think We're Alone Now” by Tiffany started to play.

Everyone heard the familiar tune all throughout the house and they all started to dance in their respective rooms.

Childhood nostalgia ran through their bodies as they all danced like no one was watching. Even Pogo moved a little to the beat.

But suddenly, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.

The music stopped as the house reacted to the violent disturbance.

The siblings all ran to the courtyard and saw a giant hole, surrounded by blue lightning.

“What is it?” Vanya asked.

“Don't get too close!” Allison warned.

“Yeah, no shit.” Diego said.

“Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly. Either that or a miniature black hole. One of the two.

“Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan.” Diego insulted.

“Out of the way!” Klaus exclaimed as he came out with a fire extinguisher and tried to spray it but it was out of steam. So, he just threw it at the mysterious anomaly only for it to get sucked in.

“What is that gonna do?” Allison asked.

“I don't know. Do you have a better idea?” Klaus asked.

The anomaly got stronger and Luther ushered everyone behind him to protect them. Klaus wanted to run. Luther and Allison held hands.

The electrical crackling intensified and someone emerged from the anomaly, arms out. It disappeared and the person fell out of the sky and landed on the ground. The sky cleared up as the siblings walked towards the person, who stood up. He was dressed in a suit way too big for him.

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked.

The boy known as Five looked at himself then back at the siblings.

“Shit.”

☂

The six were now in the kitchen. Five was busy making a sandwich while the others watched in shock.

“What's the date? The exact date.” Five asked.

“The 24th.” Vanya replied.

“Of what?”

“March.”

“Good.”

Luther spoke up. “So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?”

Five didn't reply. He just continued with making his sandwich.

Silence fell for a couple of seconds until Luther stood up. “It's been seventeen years.”

Five scoffed. “It's been a lot longer than that.” He blinked over to the cabinet.

“I haven't missed that.” Luther muttered.

“Where'd you go?” Diego asked.

“The future. It's shit, by the way.” Five replied as he blinked back to the table.

“Called it.” Klaus said.

“I should've listened to the old man. You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice.” Five looked up at the siblings. “Nice dress.” He told Klaus.

“Oh, well, danke!” Klaus said, playing with the article of clothing.

“Wait, how did you get back?” Vanya asked.

“In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time.” Five explained.

“That makes no sense.” Diego spoke up.

“Well, it would if you were smarter.” Five sasses.

Diego stood up to confront the boy but Luther stopped him, holding him back.

“How long were you there?” He asked.

“Forty-one years. Give or take.”

Luther and Diego sat back down. “So what are you saying? That you're fifty-eight?” The former asked.

Five looked at Luther. “No, my consciousness is fifty-eight.” He finished his sandwich. “Apparently, my body is now seventeen again.”

“Wait, how does that even work?” Vanya asked.

“Delores kept saying the equations were off. Eh.” Five took a bite out of his sandwich. “Bet she's laughing now.”

Vanya was confused. “Delores?”

Five ignored her and looked at the newspaper that told him about Reginald Hargreeves’ death. “Guess I missed the funeral.”

“How'd you know about that?” Luther asked.

“What part of the future do you not understand?” Five asked. “Heart failure, huh?”

“Yeah.” “No.” Diego and Luther said together.

Five hummed before clicking his tongue. “Nice to see nothing's changed.” Then, he got a good look at his siblings again. He realized that one was missing. “By the way, where's (Your Name)?”

The other five siblings looked at each other, solemn expressions on their faces now. “Well…” Vanya started. “There isn't an easy way to say this.” Allison said. “She's in a coma.” “She's dead.” Klaus and Diego finished. “Diego!” Allison scolded.

Five looked at his siblings, a subtle look of worry on his face, but on the inside, his heart was beating faster. “What happened?”

“Well…. like I said… this isn't easy to say.” As Allison tried to explain, they suddenly heard soft footsteps approaching the kitchen. They slowly turned their heads and what they saw shook them to the core.

There stood…

(Your Name).

Klaus yelled in surprise.

“Holy shit.” Diego said.

Everyone else looked in surprise.

(Your Name) was alive.

[dedeinthewild]

hiii, stopping by to say I'm really clumsy and I lost another of your request, that was made using some of my prompts and was about Arvid. If you recognize your request, I'm sorry but I still have to learn a lot about tumblr 💫

arvid lindblad x reader, childhood bestfriends reunited

-"you still have the bracelet I made for you?" -accidental first kiss

summary : At a middle school reunion, Arvid and ___ cross paths again, rekindling old memories and sparking a little more than just friendship. With laughter, nostalgia, and a touch of magic, they realize some connections never really fade.

According to her, school reunions were pointless and doomed from the start, whether the class had been a united group or a constant battlefield. People grew, interests changed, and while the idea of spending time together once more might have been appealing, she firmly believed that if people drifted apart, there was always a reason behind it—and whatever the reason, it was probably for the best.

The invitation had arrived a few days earlier, while she was on a train to Edinburgh to meet a friend. Her roommate had opened it without waiting, her hands stained with iodine tincture and strands of hair falling across her forehead. When she returned home that night, late and exhausted, she found her roommate waiting with an open tub of ice cream, two spoons, and the TV screen paused on Netflix’s logo.

"Someone’s invited you to your middle school reunion.”

"Wasn’t that a high school thing?"

"You’ve just graduated, smartass."

She laughed, dropping her bag on the floor and collapsing onto the couch in her slippers, wriggling under the blanket her roommate had wrapped around herself. She leaned back into the cushions, feeling the day's fatigue settle heavily on her.

"That’s the most stupid thing I’ve ever heard. What’s next? Kindergarten reunion?" she said sarcastically, grabbing one of the spoons. The stale sandwich she’d had on the train hadn’t been enough for dinner.

"Do you even remember who was in middle school with you?"

"That’s the point," she replied, narrowing her eyes. "I don’t."

Her roommate shook her head, smirking at how oblivious she was, despite having raved just months ago about a certain Formula 3 driver she used to know in middle school.

"Should I give you a clue?"

She nodded, taking a bite of the mint chocolate chip ice cream.

"He’s fast, and kinda cute."

She furrowed her brows, the clue not registering right away.

"You’re that clueless? God, you have the memory of a hamster."

Arvid Lindblad. Her last deskmate in middle school. The one who always sat in front of her on the school bus and walked her across the campus during recess to meet their friends from another class.

"Lindblad? He’s an ass now," she said, scooping up more ice cream. "And he’d never come to a reunion."

"If you don’t go, I will."

Her roommate seemed adamant, almost annoyed at the mention of the Brit. He’d practically grown up alongside her and had been her last tie to that chapter of life. They hadn’t seen each other in years, though she’d caught glimpses of his races. His apparent arrogance irritated her, as did his way of flaunting his jet-setting life on social media. It only served to remind her that, despite achieving her dreams, everyone else seemed to have climbed higher than she had. And maybe, just maybe, that stung a little.

"It’s pointless."

"You always dreamed of a paddock pass, and now you’re ditching the chance to get one?"

"I can’t just show up to Arvid and ask him to invite me to a race after five whole years."

She wasn’t opportunistic, and she prided herself on that. If she had made up her mind not to go, no one could sway her otherwise.

"But Mom, I don’t wanna go," she whined, sitting at the kitchen counter of her childhood home, just ten minutes by train from the apartment she shared with her university roommate.

"You need to," her mom said, patting her shoulder. "For once." She knew her daughter well enough to understand she needed to step out of her comfort zone and relive the joys of middle school, one of the happiest times of her life aside from high school. And she needed to see Arvid again. No one understood that more than her mom, who could read her like an open book.

And so, the following week, she found herself on another train, wearing a sweater her mom had bought for the occasion and freshly washed hair, feeling foolish for even spritzing on a little perfume. The reunion would undoubtedly be a waste of time, especially since the venue had shifted from a nice restaurant in central London to grabbing a quick slice of pizza before heading to a stadium. Who in their right mind would plan a reunion at a stadium?

"See you all in 20 at King Edward Park," her phone buzzed with a notification from Daniel, their old class rep, who had organized the whole thing.

She arrived at the station shortly after, taking the Tube to Wembley Central. Exiting the escalator, she wrapped her scarf tighter around her neck. The night was cold and damp, though thankfully without any threat of rain. It was a ten-minute walk from the station to the park, which she strolled at a leisurely pace, knowing she was right on time.

While on the train, she had scrolled through old class photos again, mentally categorizing everyone into groups, imagining what they might be up to now. They had all graduated from high school by now, and most were probably in university. She had to admit—she was curious.

"Midget?" a female voice called out as she turned the corner toward the park, her hands stuffed deep into her pockets.

Midget—the nickname her trio of friends had given her in their last year, when everyone else had shot up by ten centimeters while she remained her petite 155 cm.

"Hey," she smiled, her cheeks flushing slightly at the thought of reintroducing herself to everyone. A tall girl, towering over her by at least 30 cm, approached her with open arms. Her blonde hair was still styled as it used to be in two neat braids.

"Is everyone already here?"

"Yeah, only you and Arvid were missing," her friend replied with a grin, giving her a friendly pat on the arm.

She greeted the others, most of whom barely recognized her at first. The attention soon shifted, though, to the sound of baggy jeans brushing against each other and a head of unruly curls illuminated by the streetlights.

He had come after all, proving her wrong in at least one way.

Arvid Lindblad, now a standout Campos driver in F2. From being the sociable and popular kid in school, he had grown into the most recognized and arguably most accomplished member of their group.

"Evening, man," Daniel greeted him warmly, shaking his hand before pulling him into a brief hug. Arvid’s smile, as dazzling as it had always been, lit up his face. Despite his success, he seemed to have made an effort for the occasion.

He exchanged casual banter with the others before finally approaching the last two girls, who were chatting off to the side. She had opened her jacket, feeling a little more at ease, laughing with the tall blonde in front of her.

"How are you, Kendra?" Arvid asked, addressing her friend first while trying to mask the fact that he didn’t immediately recognize the other girl.

But she recognized him.

When she shifted slightly, the light from a nearby lamp revealed her face more clearly. And then, Arvid recognized her too. Those eyes he had looked into so many times, and the shy smile she gave when she wasn’t sure of herself or felt uncomfortable.

"_____?" he asked, still a little uncertain.

"Arvid," she replied softly, biting the inside of her cheek, her heart racing.

He looked down, pressing his lips together. With her, it was different.

---

“We could use an oily pizza right about now,” Daniel said, wrapping an arm around Kendra’s shoulders and taking the lead of their small group of barely a dozen people as they made their way out of the park, leaving her and Arvid to bring up the rear.

Arvid walked with his hands in his pockets, a carabiner dangling from a belt loop of his jeans, and a black sweater keeping him warm. Meanwhile, Wembley was already gearing up to host the match they were there to watch. His curls were more defined than before, springing like little coils that brushed his eyebrows with every step. The new haircut gave him a lot of volume, perfectly complementing his distinctive features.

“You’ve changed a lot,” he said, attempting to start a conversation.

“I have, yeah,” she replied, still looking down, letting her bangs shield her a little from his gaze.

“I’m guessing you’re studying medicine, like you always wanted.”

She laughed, nodding, while Daniel darted into a questionable-looking place across the street, leaving Kendra outside with the rest of the group.

“I read your book, you know.”

“Really?” she asked, surprised that he had actually read the book she published the previous year, the culmination of a project she had been working on since middle school.

Arvid stopped, leaning against a brick wall behind him, his hands now tucked into his jeans’ pockets. She stayed beside him, the laughter of the others drifting in the background as they likely joked about Kendra’s impulsiveness and how she and Daniel had found each other after middle school, eventually becoming a couple and now running her father’s antique shop together.

“One of my mechanics gave it to me as a gift. I knew it was yours from the very first page.”

“Not from the name?” she teased.

“You know I’m a bit forgetful.”

She laughed, leaning against the lamppost opposite him and pulling her scarf up over her red nose to shield it from the cold. Arvid watched her with a soft smile.

“So, you’re in F2 now,” she said, taking the lead in the conversation for once.

“Having a lot of fun, yeah.”

“What do you want?” Daniel shouted from across the street, looking at them with his wallet in hand.

“Two diet cokes!” they both yelled in unison, almost reflexively.

As Daniel disappeared back inside, they turned to look at each other, an expression passing between them that seemed to hold all their shared memories, the ones they had built before growing apart and losing touch for years. Memories they both had refused to admit they missed.  

She had once convinced herself that Arvid was arrogant, even though deep down, she knew he was just self-assured. Maybe their years apart had made her misjudge people, especially when it came to him. Not that she was jealous—or obsessed with him. She simply knew that the reason behind their drifting apart didn’t quite fit the usual narrative.

The mismatched group headed to the entrance of Wembley, where Daniel had secured tickets for seats in the stands. By now, they were nearly finished with the greasy slices of pizza and washing them down with drinks that helped digest what Daniel generously called “pizza.”

“Here are the tickets,” Daniel said, handing them out. “We’ll split up for security, so if anyone gets lost, at least you’ve got your own ticket. Sit wherever you want.”

The girls went through the scanners first, followed by the guys. Then they climbed the stairs to the stands. Once again, Arvid was beside her.

“Who do you want next to you?” the driver asked, typing something on his phone while they waited for the others, who had stopped off at the restroom.

“It doesn’t matter,” she replied, shrugging slightly before taking her seat. Noticing this, Arvid decided for her and sat down beside her, placing his phone in the small console between their seats and rubbing his hands against his pants to warm them as she looked around.

The others arrived moments later, laughing as Greg—once the biggest bookworm of their group—nearly tumbled down the stairs. They settled in just as the players began warming up on the field. 

While they waited for the match to start, they all chatted, enjoying the moment and showing her that perhaps this reunion wasn’t entirely pointless. Maybe being grumpy toward people didn’t really serve her well. As different as she felt from them, they all formed a pretty good group.

The match started shortly after, with the home team getting off to a strong start. Their plays were impressive, though Daniel’s detailed commentary went mostly unheard by the others. Meanwhile, she and Arvid were busy imagining the backstories of the fans seated around them, laughing quietly at their own stories and occasionally covering their mouths when someone overheard and turned to glare at them. They cheered for the team and paid attention to the game but were simply happy to share the evening together. Not as the anxious first-year medical student or the famous Formula 2 driver—but as Arvid and ____, the way they had been in middle school.

“You still have the bracelet I made you,” she smiled, noticing his large hand resting on his knee. Next to one of his expensive watches was one of the embroidery floss bracelets she used to love making as a kid.

He looked at his wrist, smiling slightly as he nodded.

“Why would I take it off?”

“It’s completely worn out.”

“Then make me a new one,” he suggested. She leaned back in her seat, pretending not to notice the blush spreading across her freckled cheeks.

The stadium was packed to the brim, erupting into chants every time a player took possession of the ball. It was a fascinating atmosphere for both of them, who didn’t often attend games due to their busy schedules. The home team came tantalizingly close to scoring a goal more than once.

During halftime, the group scarfed down quick desserts at the stadium’s restaurant—panna cotta accompanied by a glass of water—before making another restroom stop to brace against the cold.

“I want to know everything. Will you hurry up?” her roommate texted her.

“Wait up for me,” she replied, leaving the restroom with a contented smile and rejoining the others outside. Arvid watched her as she stepped back to Kendra’s side. When they descended the stairs back to the stands, he approached her and fixed her scarf, which had gotten pinched in her jacket, her long hair tucked awkwardly inside.

She smiled as she felt him fussing with her scarf, and then they took their seats again. The second half began, passing much faster as the two strong, determined teams remained scoreless. But everyone in the stadium could sense that a goal was imminent.

And it was.

Early in the second half, the stadium erupted as the home team scored, the ball hitting the back of the visitors’ net. The crowd went wild, celebrating the home lions' triumph. 

Around them, a bunch of shirtless men hollered with passion, and one beside them, despite wearing a coat, began thumping his chest and shouting in an indecipherable dialect. Shocked, she reflexively turned to Arvid to joke about it.

“God, he’s gone rogue—”

But she didn’t find Arvid.

She found his lips.

In the chaos of the cheering crowd, they had turned to each other at the exact same moment, only for their lips to meet instead of their gazes.

Without realizing it, they had kissed.

After five years of not seeing each other—five years of parting as best friends.

“Oh, sorry,” they both said, stepping back. But the jostling crowd around them shoved them back together, and she found herself in Arvid’s arms.

“Sorry again,” she said with an awkward smile, her face completely flushed, while the crowd kept singing. Arvid gently untied the knot in her scarf, freeing her neck as he placed his hands behind her head.

“I should take you out,” he said, his voice steady despite the noise. “Because now I want to kiss you for real.”

two updates today! To answer whoever asked me which requests I had in progress for Arvid, this was the second last one (here he's a bit older and already in F2, maybe twenty-ish)

-not proofread so there might be a few errors, but I really hope you like it!🍀

[lovekz]

home

syn : ran has called a lot of things home in his life.

warnings : mentions of gang violence, mentions of tenjiku kings getting drunk, kakucho is the mom of the group, rindou and ran talk about fem oral (briefly), sibling activities

ran has called a lot of things home in life.

first, it was his treehouse.

he and rindou shared a tree house at the early age of 7, receiving it for the older haitani's birthday.

the two would be up there everyday after school, gossiping about crushes and the boys that smelt bad.

it was home until the age of 9, when they began getting involved with gang violence.

a few boys ended up setting it a flame, along with their house.

after that, they had moved in with their mother's boyfriend, which wasn't a great experience.

then, home became the gang they were in.

their gang was their true family, full of men and (occasionally) women.

they would run the streets of roppongi, hang out on top of roofs, and even hang out outside of the gang.

they enjoyed it.

it was true family love, and it showed when they'd take their midnight rides and chill in the parking lot of mcdonalds.

and that was his home, until the two brothers took it much further in a fight and landed themselves in jail for murder.

so ran had no home for a long time.

until he met one of his best yet horrible experiences.

izana kurokawa.

ran and rindou met him in jail, where they got the shit beat out of them something serious.

but he became their home for a long while.

he gave them purpose, comfort, and advice (though it wasn't the best like ever).

once they grew up and fell out of all the gang activites, rindou became his home.

it was the laying in his brother's bed and talking about absolutely anything that did it for him.

he realized that throughout being apart of a gang, he and rindou grew distant.

it hurt to know ran didn't know his little brother as much as he used to, despite living with him.

but they made up for it by spending nights in each other's room.

they talked about anything and everything.

the sky, music, the birthmark on rindou's right butt cheek.

whatever came to mind, is whatever they spoke about.

ran learned more about rindou then he thought he ever could, letting him become his primary home.

his secondary home, no one could ever come close to.

his secondary home only became because of his primary home.

rindou had taken him to the club one night for his birthday, and they both got shitfaced.

along with shion, sanzu, and izana.

so to help sober up, kakucho (the designated driver) took them to ihop for those pancakes rindou wouldn't stop bugging him about.

they sit in a booth all the way to the back, drawing on the little kid placemats with woozy grins.

kakucho can only hold his head and pray.

when the waiter comes over though, ran immediately sobers up.

she was gorgeous, and her body filled out nicely.

all it took was a little 'hi' to steal ran's heart.

when it came his turn to order, he was sitting up straight, speaking clearly, and moving the placemat to shion, who was knocked out.

kakucho had to hold back a big laugh.

so the entire time you were moving back and forth to aid shion and rindou, ran flirted.

he was obviously still out of it a little, but he knew what he was doing and what he was saying.

he also knew that kakucho wasn't propping his phone up to watch netflix, but to record him.

before the night was over, ran was absolutely tired of his hair getting in the way of seeing you.

so you took your hair out of the bun it was in and gave him the scrunchie with a smile.

you even put his hair up for him after he struggled some more.

he made a vow to return it to you the next night, though you insisted on him keeping it.

eventually, he began seeing you everywhere and took you on a date.

these dates continued, until he was at your house more than anyone else was.

you became his secondary home, the one he runs to when he wants to get away from his primary.

best part about it? you don't live far.

-

"i'm taking a walk." ran says, grabbing his house keys and his phone.

rindou looked up from where he was studying to squint at his brother.

his eyes dashed to the digital clock on the kitchen counter, then at his older brother once more.

"it's two in the morning?" rindou said, putting his pencil down and folding his hands.

"and i'm a grown ass man?" ran shot back, turning to share the same expression.

it stayed silent, save for cash shit by megan the stallion playing lowly next to rindou.

ran rolled his eyes, deciding to not indulge in his little brother's nosiness and head out.

"you're going to see your girl?" rindou asked before he could step out of the door.

ran broke his neck to look at his brother once more, eyebrows raised in confusion.

rindou grinned. he caught on.

ran was going out to see his girlfriend.

"what?" ran quickly said, gritting his teeth.

rindou leaned back into his seat, shrugging and crossing his arms.

"i mean, i hope you are. you don't wear that dior cologne for just anyone, you know?" rindou said.

ran was practically steaming from the ears.

before he could get another word out, rindou gasped loudly and pointed to him.

"and you did your hair?! oh you're going to eat pussy." rindou laughed, holding his stomach.

"how's audrey by the way?" ran asked loudly, crossing his arms with a scoff.

the music from his phone paused and a girl perked up.

"who the fuck is audrey, rindou?" she scoffed, sounding very offended on the other side.

ran stuck his tongue out at rindou while he cursed, trying to explain himself.

ran walked out of the house with a smile on his face.

rindou doesn't know anyone named audrey.

-

by time he makes it to your house, you were getting ready to push the garbage to the curb.

you must've been fresh from work, because you still your work uniform on.

"hey sweet girl." ran calls, and the nickname feels sweet on his tongue.

the nickname has grown on you over the past few weeks.

you look up from the garbage bag and see him smiling at you, holding a bag from the store.

"hey ran. didn't know i'd have a visitor." you joked, continuing to walk to the bin.

he takes the garbage bag from you with ease and hands you the bag from the store.

what kind of boyfriend would he be if he didn't help out?

he tosses the bag into the bin and pushes it to the curb.

he understood that the garbage people would be around early in the morning, and you liked to sleep in on your off days.

which is one of the many reasons he came.

he does the same with the recycle, before following you into the house and washing his hands.

when he finished, you got in the shower and left him access to your bedroom.

he changed into the shorts he left at your house, and lost his shirt.

it was a common occurrence, so ran just laid down in your bed while he waiting for you.

you returned in your pink fluffy towel, grabbing a pair of panties and a big tee.

when you were changed and in bed, ran climbed between your legs and rested his head on your tummy.

"how was your day?" ran questioned, massaging your thighs slowly.

you let out a loud sigh, before leaning back into your bed and playing with his hair.

you ranted about your day and your two jobs, how your boss was being such a bitch, and more.

if ran didn't know any better, he would've offered to pay for your school and you could live with him.

but it was obvious to why you were overworking yourself now.

to be as strong and independent as possible.

and ran liked that about you.

no matter how much you complained, you never gave up and continued to pursue your dreams.

so if all you want from him is his love and attention, he'll be there with open arms.

you rant to him until you fall asleep, making him feel accomplished in himself.

he would never deny the fact that he found home in you.

[cxndiedvi0lets]

Looking for help

TW: Verbal and Physical Abuse, Suicide, Self-Harm, Eating Disorder, Sexual Harrassment, Mental Health, Animal Abuse

For anyone who's reading this, I just want to say thank you, and even if I'm desperately seeking for help. I'm not tagging anyone. You may know me as Violet or CxndiedVi0lets on Tumblr, and I've been blogging a lot in a while.

I've had severe episodes in the past where I may have been acting too extremely or even at this rate suicide. I've already had the mindset at the age of 5, and honestly, I'm really tired of pulling this act.

I honestly just don't want to be in this household anymore.

Over the years, my mental health has become progressively worse, and I've tried to seek help from a psychiatrist and a psychologist and have been diagnosed with severe depression along with psychotic episodes which well knownly for my anxiety and impulsive nature of BPD which of course, my impulse is no excuse but I'm not saying its not hard to control.

I stopped seeing a clinic because of my brilliant and intelligent father, who simply seemed to know everything. Then, continues to mock me for my condition.

So, I stopped on medications and everything else even if I was progressively getting worse, not only mentally but as well as physically.

I begin to fail a lot of my subjects and further have been neglecting my health but, Its not what im going through details.

The part where I've really finally snapped is when he threatened to kill my cats, and I've stopped telling them everything because they always use my past against me or remind it as a "safety precaution." I was sexually assaulted at the age of 7, which lasted until I was 12 before my grandfather was kicked out. To say the least things weren't going smoothly, I thought to myself it never affected me but didn't realized it had affected me in ways of self-destruction thinking it was just a normal cycle of a hormonal teenager which I won't elaborate my acts on which you can decide on.

I've had a lot going on in school. I've been sexually assaulted by a classmate recently, but I never elaborated on it, and his acts on me because I didn't wanna make a biggee deal of what I'm going through, even if it is over. I still see his face every day in school, passing by, he was just changed courses and I tried my best to make myself unrecognisable by changing how I dress and my looks which also kind of resulted me getting bullied lol and having my name written on those ridiculous smash or pass books degrading me and objectifying me. It didn't bother me... or at least I think it didn't. I've had a lot of rumours spread around me, and I have been oversexualising myself and making up stories to sound like im a whore. Stereotypical american netflix high school stuff huh?

And yet, I go back home to be used as my father's punching bag (literally) even when it's my mom's fault. It's always the case, and he always justifies it that me being beaten up despised getting bruised was for lecturing me or whatever, lol.

I also hate the fact that they'd even keep more pets like dogs just to have as a toy then neglect them once they begin to have health conditions and continue to get more than complain about them. They don't even have any remorse if they're dying or sick.

Same way of how my father used to lock me up and forced me not to eat cause I dropped a plate accidentally once lol.

I rarely eat, especially when they're around, and they like to complain about why I don't eat with them. I just like to say im not hungry, and now I dont actually feel any hunger at all, and some point that stress led me to gaining weight and overeating which of course led into other health complications. Like bleeding. Anyways skipping on that.

I honestly don't know what to do trying to hide a façade like this anymore, I just want to die or run away im never happy with literally anything. I can't feel anything, I've gotten used to so much pain, I just don't even react to it even when they start swearing at me or calling me names or anything. I don't feel human at all.

I just wish someone could help me maybe leave me advise or maybe send me something on my paypal just so I can earn to get out of this place. I honestly don't care if they think im selfish, I've had enough of this life.

[thisbelongsto-nohbodys]

Learning that Hilda S3 was supposed to have 6 more eps can't help but make ya wonder what kind of eps were cut? Imagine if there was an ep with Frida and her parents were they learn she's training to be a witch and it's a coming out allegory. They notice strange chants and glowing from Frida's room and go to investigate when she's at school and find a bunch of witch stuff. They go to confront her about it but end up tailing her to a typical Freaky Friends adventure where upon they see all the magical mishaps the 4 get up to on the regular, her parents get into danger and Frida saves them with a spell. Later at home and with Hilda at her side she admits to being a witch in training,

Frida: "Mum, Dad...I'm a witch...well, in-training but still."

Dad: “Well that’s kind of obvious after all the magic we saw you use.” Mom: “Wait, don’t witches have familiars? You know we can’t have pets in the apartment.”

[Frida grabs Hilda’s hand]

Frida: “well, about that. Hilda is my familiar.”

Shot lingers on the hands being held as we see the parents processing this and then they accept her daughter but warn her to keep her grades up “and no spells to change them or whatever.” “There’s not even a spell like that but okay.”

Just seems like there coulda been something done if Netflix had given the show the funding it had in previous seasons

[melanieph321]

Ruben Dias x Reader - Not Ready Part 6/12

Ruben is so funny in this chapter 😅😅

Part 7 and Part 8 are out on my Patreon!

Readers sister dies in a tragic car accident, leaving reader and her boyfriend Ruben in the urgent custody of her niece and nephew. Readers' life is suddenly flipped upside-down since having children hadn't been the plan for her and Ruben's life together. At least not now, when his football career was reaching great new heights.

Enjoy!

Ruben woke up and mechanically reached for you across the mattress. When his hand couldn't locate your body, his eyes flung open, frowning at the sight of your empty side of the bed.

Ruben didn't need an alarm to wake up in the morning. Ruben was the alarm.

His mind and body were so in tune with his daily routine, the core to his way of life as a professional athlete. He moved like clock work on game day. Especially if the game was happening early in the afternoon like this Saturday.

"Erm...Morning."

Although Ruben had failed to complete the first part of his routine, which was greeting and kissing you, he continued to hop in the shower and get a cold one in before breakfast. Breakfast, that was meant to be a protein smoothie. However, something told him that you were all out of powder.

"Morning, Uncle Ruben. I'm making slime."

Ruben paused in the doorway, for the first time not sure what time of the day it was. "Emmy, it's very early. Shouldn't you be asleep?" He regarded the child in pajamas seated by the coffee table in his living room. Her hands were buried deep in a mixture of what he could only assume to be his protein powder and possibly his shaving cream. The smell of the mixture was that strong.

"Uncle Ruben?" Emmy said, in a way that always flared something within him. A fire Ruben thought would never be lit. At least not for another five to ten years from now.

"Yes, Emmy?"

"Did you know that your TV doesn't show any cartoons?"

"Not even on Netflix?" He watched her press his breakfast away with her hands. Making slime. Whatever that meant.

"Well, I obviously thought to check, but it's clear that you and Auntie Y/N have an adult Netflix account and not a kids one like my mom and dad used to have."

Ruben took note of how her eyes faltered at the mention of her parents. It was enough for Ruben to accept that the third part of his morning routine had also failed. Or at least had to be postponed. "I'll have a look at it later." He assured and made his way across the living room, towards the hallway. There his gym bag was packed and ready since the night before. He also found it guarded by the world's fiercest sausage dog.

"Morning Iker, tudo bem?"

His dog greeted him with excited wagging of his tail, licking Ruben's cheeks as he picked him up. "Okay, okay, enough of that, now." He put the dog down but was startled to have another set of puppy eyes staring up at him.

"Are you going somewhere, Uncle Ruben?"

Again, his heart stirred uncomfortably at the passion in Emmy's voice. The utter trust she had in Ruben as if he was indeed her real uncle terrified him. "I have a football game today, Em. Didn't Y/N tell you that?"

"Yes, but that was last Saturday." She picked at something underneath her nails, the majority of her sleeve covered in homemade slime.

"Well, in Premier League, there is a football game almost every weekend."

"My mom used to play football, did you know that?"

"I didn't." He smiled but sympathized with Emmy as her eyes lit up at the thought of a tail from her mother's childhood.

Life truly wasn't fair.

"She was really good." Emmy nodded. "Playing for Chelsea."

Welp, City is better. Ruben wanted to throw out. The bitter part of him, that still needed to have breakfast. "That's really cool, Em. Your mother was really cool."

Ruben grabbed his gym bag along with the house keys, shooting a glare towards the guestrooms. He still hadn't kissed you good morning. You left his bedside last night after Vale came knocking on your door....again. He didn't like the thought of waking up without you. It was really fucking up his daily routine. That and other things. Hopefully the kids would be in bed early tonight. Ruben would get you in the shower with him as soon as they were. The craving he had for your body was getting a bit primitive. You would refuse him these days. Hissing at him if he tried to squeeze your ass whenever the kids were distracted enough not to notice.

"Uncle Ruben?"

"Huh?" He looked down, surprised to find Emmy still standing there, gazing up at him as if determined to wave him off at the door.

"Do you think I'll be as good at playing football as my mother?"

Ruben recognized the yearning in Emmy's voice, the yearning to be close to her mother in any way, if it physically was impossible. "I know you will. Now give me a kiss." Although he wished it was you, Ruben settled with having Emmy push off her feet and peck his cheek.

"And Iker!" She gasped, grabbing the dog, raising him up in the air to receive his fair share of kisses from Ruben.

"I'll see you later, Em."

"See you later, Uncle Ruben, and good luck on your game."

Although irritated by the disruption of his morning routine, Ruben had clearly found a new one. A routine that he couldn't say that he loved, but he was starting to like. Perhaps being 'Uncle Ruben' wasn't that bad after all.

Read full chapter and more on my Patreon

[shipcestuous]

Kaos

There's a show on Netflix called Kaos about the Greek Gods that from what I can see didn't get very much attention.

It was cancelled by Netflix, so there won't be a second season, however, for anyone interested in the series, I would say the first season is still worth watching. There are some completed arcs, even if the main story is still revving up.

A darkly-comedic and contemporary reimagining of Greek mythology that explores themes of gender politics, power, and life in the underworld. Zeus has a wrinkle. He's worried it might mean the end of the world and it might. Because on earth, six humans unaware of their importance or their connection to one another learn that they are component parts of an ancient prophecy. Will they discover the truth about the gods and what they're doing to humans? And if they do, will they be able to stop them?

It's definitely a "reimagining" of Greek Mythology and not just a modern retelling of myths.

The gods we see are Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, Hades, Persephone, Prometheus, and Dionysus, along with some other figures from Greek Mythology like the Fates and Ariadne.

Zeus makes phone calls to Ares, Aphrodite, and Apollo, if I remember right, establishing them all as his children. (Possibly also Athena?) Unfortunately, they don't appear. But Ares/Aphrodite is one of my favorite Greek Gods ships, so I'm thrilled they were siblings in this. Hera mentions a son, which is probably Hephaestus, and unfortunately the series ends with her going to see him. It would have been great to see him and the others in season 2.

Zeus and Hera: Hera is introduced as Zeus' wife and his sister. This series is in many ways about Zeus freaking out and becoming the worst version of himself, with his downfall hanging over everything, so all of this brings him into conflict with Hera. However, they generally seemed happily married. They both have lovers, which they talk to each other about, but they also have sex with each other, including once onscreen. Though Hera doesn't mind him having other lovers, if any woman bears him a child, she turns them into a bee.

Hades and Persephone: Hades and Persephone are depicted as being happily married and Persephone specifically says that she loves him. They're pretty cute. Hades is established as Zeus' brother, but Persephone's parentage is never discussed, except for one reference to "Mom". Demeter is never mentioned by name at any point and there's no mention of a Zeus, Hera, Poseidon, and Hades having a sister. It seems pretty clear that Persephone is not Zeus' daughter in this. Hera calls a gathering of the family (but it's only the characters on the show) and Persephone argues that she's not part of the family. However, she discusses the mythology around her, saying it was a story that Hera told, and though she corrects several things she never corrects her parents from the myths. So ???

Hera and Poseidon: This was actually the best one. Hera is allowed to have lovers but for whatever reason she is definitely not allowed to have Poseidon as a lover and she is terrified that Zeus is going to find out about their torrid affair. She doesn't seem to have any intention of leaving Zeus, even though that's what Poseidon wants, but that's not because she loves Zeus more. Poseidon is in love with Hera and says that he always has been. They have sex onscreen several times. The fact that Poseidon and Hera are siblings is never actually mentioned, but it's certainly implied by Hera being Zeus' sister and Poseidon being his brother. Unless we're supposed to believe he's half siblings with each of them by different parents. But at one point Poseidon says he doesn't f--k family, or something to that effect, which I think was supposed to be a joke.

SPOILERS: Interestingly, in the mythology of this series, Zeus and his siblings were originally human. Zeus was the first god and he became a god after having been born a human and living for however many years. So the incest between Zeus and Hera and Hera and Poseidon is occurring in what was a originally just a human family

[misterbenzadrine]

♡ day 4: miguel diaz ♡

sooo there's a lot that could theoretically be said about miguel right? he's a really good fighter, he makes mistakes but usually a really good person, he has a really strong/dedicated/supportive personality? blah blah blah, i wanna get into the MAIN reason i love miguel

MI GENTE LATINO 🗣️

okay so basically growing up with these characters has meant a lot to me. but miguel specifically was such an important part of my development. when i first started the show, johnny and daniel yeah cool great, the legacy lives on, whatever. BUT WHEN THEY SHOWED MIGUEL, i was awestruck. obviously this was at a time when hispanic/latino culture was entering the mainstream in america/internationally but to see a character on screen as the main character who isn't entirely played off as a stereotype for jokes?? hell yeah !

the showrunners making miguel such a powerful and kind-hearted character meant, and still does mean, so much to me as a latino kid. it was so cool and heart-warming to see him up there just absolutely beating the odds and being the coolest. and yeah, there are a couple race jokes (which admittedly i think are really funny) but overall carmen, rosa, and miguel are sosososo important to me and i will never get over the fact that miguel was probably the first time i personally saw a latino lead in a primarily white show

and i'm sure xolo knows this but i cannot be the only one who appreciated miguel and what he meant for television and i'm so glad xolo got a saturn award for miguel bc he really deserved it. miguel and (off-topic but) jaime reyes (blue beetle) mean the world to me and i will never be over them i fear. so to all the miguel haters, you can hate, you can say the writers have no clue what they're doing and he's a bad character, whatever i don't care, miguel is forever my heart (not even just a part, he IS my heart) and he will always mean the world to me, okay? okay. now we move on to business.

his relationship with carmen and rosa is peak. his relationship with johnny is AMAZING and carries the show so hard (it's harder to enjoy knowing robby is right there but i digress). his bonding with daniel in s4 is truly amazing. the way his potential dynamic with any given miyagi-do kid would work and be cute is an amazing feat.

my brain kind of skipped over his paralysis storyline when i started planning what to write in this. which seems CRAZY bc that's his biggest story. but i think the reason i skipped over it was bc the writers seem to have a tendency to employ really interesting conflicts and plots and then abandon them without any meaningful callback. so why don't we get a meaningful callback to his possible ptsd from the fall in s5/6? (ESPECIALLY s6, but i digress) (maybe they'll use it as another motivation for miguel in the end) ("look at everything you've been through, miguel, you can beat anything ! 🤩" /s)

miguel's fall from the second story was insane, right? i remember watching with my mom and both of us sat there in silence while he fell, then flinched and looked away when he hit the railing. they ate SO HARD with that finale, it was amazing how enraptured we were. and i KNOW we weren't the only ones. i've seen reaction videos and this was a moment that really pulled everyone in, everyone felt the shock, everyone wanted to know how miguel was going to come back from this. THIS, to me, is what pulled that final group of viewers. this is the most important part of the show, even six years later.

the show had a good following from youtube, then got a bigger following in season 2 (and from moving to netflix obviously). but this finale is the one EVERYONE still talks about. there are STILL edits made about miguel's fall. the s6 brawl was great but nothing will ever compare to that fall bc it demonstrated the tension that was built up and the gradual change of the four main characters in such a GORGEOUS way. stay with me

(i'd also like to preface this by saying i'm a miguel-plot truther, i truly believe the writers see miguel as THE main character for the teen cast. basically he IS the plot, he is an in-universe reflection of the overarching plot, and therefore anything that occurs plot-wise is going to affect or be affected by miguel in some way. no hate to any other character !! this is my perspective as a writer, you can ignore if you don't like that ig 😭)

so season 2 was great for several reasons, but for now, we're focusing on the love...square(?) of tory, robby, miguel, and sam.

so we start with miguel starring as the dweeb, sam as the mean rich girl (though that was just demetri's perception of her, not actually who she was), robby as the delinquent troublemaker, and tory as the self-assured new girl. now, WE as viewers know they're so much more complex than that, both on first watch and in hindsight; they have to be more complex, otherwise we wouldn't be watching the show. but this is their perceived roles in the grand scheme, in the social hierarchy, in the eyes of their peers, etc.

by the end of season one (except tory obviously), robby has become like daniel: balanced, kind, focused, and righteous), sam has evolved into the nice girl with a big heart, and miguel has become the alpha jerk that has a loyal band of followers right behind him, waiting to cause mischief and wreak havoc. again, OBVIOUSLY we know exactly how and why they change and exactly why they're perceived like this. we see miguel's anxiety spiral about losing sam, we see johnny unintentionally showing him how to be cool by asserting dominance (we also know that johnny failed with ali for that exact reason, though he and miguel don't know that). and we see exactly why robby takes to miyagi-do, why he's driven to take daniel's teachings to heart, bc we know how johnny and his mom have treated him. and with sam, we see that she's just a normal teenage girl, she wants to be pretty and popular but she's not mean. however comma, they don't see this context in each other, and therefore, tensions rise.

a general rule of thumb for the whole show: everything is about perspective, balance, and misunderstandings.

after spending a whole season with tory, we see each of the little instances that drives tory away from being her initial introduction into the angry, revenge-seeking (probably insecure) villain she's made out to be in later seasons. we see every moment her eyes get a little duller, a little darker when she knows she's being compared to sam, when she knows sam is seen as better than her, and for what? what does sam have that she doesn't? so she changes.

by the end of season two, miguel shifts into a mix of his two sides: he is the kind boy he used to be but also a confident and capable fighter. robby throughout the season gets progressively more frustrated with miyagi-do being purely defense and peace, wondering why daniel won't just let them fight back against cobra kai or demonstrate the miyagi-do fighting style instead of katas to attract new students. and sam gets progressively more embarrassed and frustrated with tory's presence and the fact that she's dating miguel; she loses her dignity every time she tries to get back at tory, and slowly chips away at that pure-hearted reputation she built up in season one.

so all of them flip-flopped to either side of the spectrum right? which makes the finale that much better ! personally, sam's peak pendulum moment was the whole party, being petty and going low enough to get back at tory with the drinking game, being her sassy self toward robby, then kissing miguel at the end. then, in the fight, tory becoming violent enough to actually start a fight and also scar sam's arm, miguel (at the end) deciding to take mercy on robby, in a moment that very much could've ended like the golf n' stuff fight. instead it ends with robby's full swing all the way to the angry side of the pendulum, blinded and motivated through violence, and takes miguel's moment of mercy as weakness, kicking him over that banister.

so this is a very pivotal moment for all of the characters but miguel especially. this shows the moment they've all switched. ANOTHER miscommunication. this is the moment we see just how much karate has changed all of them for the worse.

i personally love dream sequences in cobra kai and this is my second fav (the first being sam's sensory deprivation "who am i" dream)

so his coma is important to the plot, it's kind of a stalemate at first. the miyagi-do kids are in shock over the whole situation and try to help miguel with the fundraiser. but the cobra kai kids are enraged and far more motivated/bloodthirsty than ever before. to them, it was miyagi-do that kicked miguel off the balcony, not everyone's ridiculously intense focus on violence instead of cyberbullying each other in their private stories and group chats like normal teenagers.

so him being in a coma means a pause for everyone else, tory doesn't start fights, robby's on the run and m.i.a., and the only ones who are playing dirty are hawk and sam (and their groupies obvi), just picking on each other enough to be a bother but not for another fight to break out. and both sides tell themselves they're doing it for miguel. WHY? just hate each other, why do you need an unconscious kid to project onto? and it's bc miguel is so integral in all of their lives. none of this karate crap would've happened without miguel. so this is both the writers and the characters tracing everything back to miguel, bc thats their only valid excuse that isn't "we have issues and like to punch things to deal with it." he convinced hawk and demetri to join (which encouraged the others), he won the all-valley (unfairly but i digress) which attracted even more students, the only reason johnny even brought cobra kai back was bc miguel begged him to. and on the other side, daniel restarted miyagi-do to compete with johnny, robby joined miyagi-do to piss off johnny, sam joined miyagi-do yes to spend time with robby but also bc the karate craze originated with miguel ! he, like it or not, is the catalyst for a lot of this stuff.

miguel's dorkiness, his anger, his violence, his kindness, his strength, everything cultivated and jumpstarted the series (with help from johnny and daniel obvi). and yeah, obviously you could trace a lot of things back to things that barely connect. i could say all of this happened bc kreese's gf died. i could say none of this would've happened if mr. miyagi didn't work as a maintenance man. and yes, it could be said that miguel isn't necessarily the main reason for a lot of this, but you have to admit he is a reason, which i think the writers definitely intended.

so miguel, coma. everyone's tense but no one's really FIGHTING, not until miguel wakes up. he wakes up, johnny's self-pity spiral finally flips since he's motivated to help miguel, robby gets arrested, hawk and sam's growing tension becomes direct and physical, and tory rejoins cobra kai. so the second miguel is out, the world stops. but the second he wakes up, everything jumps into action due to that built-up tension. (it's giving that one scene in teen beach movie where they're all standing around and they know they're supposed to get in a brawl but the order of events got messed up and they don't know what to do)

then miguel's journey through the wheelchair is so interesting and i'm going based on memory so genuinely if this is wrong, correct me. but we never really see miguel in the wheelchair interact with anyone besides johnny and maybe carmen/rosa. i think this is just a fault in the writing (side note: i don't see it enough but i love disabled miguel art/fics ! seeing him use mobility aids is so idk interesting for him as a character i would've loved to see him hanging out with demetri or hawk or even sam with the wheelchair or the crutches. i think he only ever talks to tory during that time and we all know how that convo went. idk PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE MORE MOBILITY AID MIGUEL I WOULD LOVE TO SEE MORE OF THAT.)

so anyway, miguel, personal journey to learn how to walk again. this is a very sweet storyline to build up the relationship between him and johnny. it demonstrates miguel's internal frustration not just with what he sees as a setback, but also with johnny's self-pity spiral. i also really like that johnny doesn't really give a shit about safety and doesn't try to put limits on miguel. bro LITERALLY set his foot on fire to get him walking again like ?? 😭 it also shows how much johnny trusts and believes in miguel. not just for miguel's own growth but miguel's belief in johnny's growth. he actually listens to this child who's telling him he's great and shouldn't stand to the side while someone takes what's his and johnny's like "you son of a bitch, i'm in." so miguel's frustration (tension) keeps building and building until he finally walks again (just like the ploooot~~)

for story purposes, i'm not even gonna get into how fast it took miguel to recover or the fact that johnny's training actually WORKED, let's just settle on suspension of disbelief dkjfksj

so the second miguel can walk again and starts trying to reattempt karate, the tension just keeps going going going. robby officially cuts off johnny and joins cobra kai, hawk breaks demetri's arm and brucks's face, sam's ptsd is in FULL swing and getting worse, kyler joins cobra kai, and tory is peak kreese soldier.

ANOTHER brawl starts, they're losing until hawk switches sides, miguel beats kyler, then they go to stop tory. so this is an instance in which the plot affects miguel rather than vice-versa.

eagle fang/miyagi-do combine, personally johnny's issue with miguel getting close with daniel sets forward the eventual break up, which happens with hawk's buzzcut obvi. i'm gonna be very fr, i don't remember much about s4 other than the CONSTANT hawkmetri flirting but i do remember there was a lot of conflict with miguel, internally with relearning karate and externally with sam and johnny (obvi also robby and tory as well). i think s4 was also the season with the "i love you too robby" moment (which was another jaw-dropping moment for my mom and i but we laughed through the shock). that's another reflection of miguel feeling that inner turmoil and suddenly all the other characters are off-balance too (hawk, johnny, sam, etc.). then THAT s4 finale, with miguel running away after he gets injured mid-fight.

PERSONALLY his trip to mexico was so important to me when they introduced it but it's like never mentioned again and it ends so randomly ??? i also think that was fucked up of johnny to disguise that as a bonding moment for robby just for him to find out the real reason they were there. (i giggle every single time i watch that scene bc the way tanner changes his voice inflection is so funny.)

BUT THIS ISN'T ABOUT ROBBY, THIS IS ABOUT MIGUEL. and i understand this was important for miguel to reinforce who he is and his trust in carmen and johnny. however, if they were gonna write this storyline, let alone this SHOCKING of a storyline, it definitely should've had more of an impact on the narrative. miguel goes ALONE to another freaking country, gets scammed, finds his dad and at first feels betrayed by his mom, then finds out who his dad really is and is TERRIFIED of him for a bit, thankfully gets away from him, and just when he's at his most scared and alone, and admits he was wrong to his mom, johnny finds him and reinforces the fact that he's ALWAYS looking out for him. AN EMOTIONAL ROLLERCOASTER. IDK HOW HE'S NOT MORE TRAUMATIZED OR AT LEAST SHAKEN BY IT. also if this is just me but making miguel's dad awful is yeah, correct, perfect, sure. but idk making him a mob boss...something doesnt feel right. i could be tweaking but it's so ridiculous and takes me out of the moment. i don't personally have any ideas to make it better, again i don't remember s5 very much, but i remember thinking "that's it?" with the mexico storyline. the writers fumbled so hard.

also him and sam breaking up, heartbreaking ! the necklace dropping in the dirt gets me sobbing ! every ! single ! TIME ! though i do love yasmoon and hawkmetri totally fucking it up by meddling, they're so funny. and their break was SO necessary. istg netflix is always shoving trauma-bonded/ptsd-ridden teenagers into relationships with each other instead of a relationship to a THERAPIST. how about you go on a date TO A PSYCHOLOGIST? good on sam for once again being the only emotionally intelligent one in the show !

so yeah. i can't speak for s4/5 (sowwy i don't remember those (╥﹏╥) ) but for s1-3 and s6, it's definitely very miguel-driven.

which is unfortunate at times in a show that has so many cool characters (as i've been demonstrating for the past almost week) but i love miguel, i do love (from a writing standpoint) how he reflects the narrative. when he locks in, the narrative seems a little unstable but when he's BALANCED and locked in, the narrative is SO locked in (which is why i'm trying to be excited for pt 3 bc he's definitely a bit more balanced than he started in pt 2)

i also hope in pt 3 they keep up the trend of him supporting robby. and while i love him and robby, i do wish (like sam and tory) there was a way for them both to win without one of them losing somehow.

also excited to see them both with their baby sister.

ALSO i love that in all the fics i've read, miguel is just an absolute sweetheart to every single person. like the fact that he's such a sweetheart in canon that there's no reason to make him a jerk in fanon is so cute personally (i'm sure in kiaz fics he has like a little jerk stint for the enemies to lovers but ya know)

i love that every fic always makes him straight too. like the ONLY time he's not 100% straight is if he's the main queer pairing (like kiaz, migeli, migmetri)

miguel is an ally in fanon (and canon obvi). unless he's gay. then he's gay. but usually an ally ✨

!! headcanons !!

obsessed with sam. quite literally canon but. if she'll have him, he's sticking with her forever. like he doesn't have eyes for anyone else. (in canon, he literally only goes with other girls to DISTRACT from sam) (samguel endgame truther here) (i'm also a samtory truther) (i contain multitudes)

his best friends are hawk and demetri obvi but right below them is robby. this also works perfectly when he needs to figure out xmas/bday/anniversary gifts for sam bc his bffs are her bffs !

he listens to a lot of hip hop and some indie stuff (he does bond with kenny and hawk over kendrick lamar) (when the drake and kendrick lamar beef happens, despite not talking to each other for a few years, kenny and miguel blow each other's phones up each time kendrick drops a new diss track) (just making my favs kendrick fans bc i can)

after he leaves for college, he promises to text every day and video calls once a week (though it's a struggle for johnny and rosa to figure it out at first until carmen and robby show them how to do it) (johnny insists, and rosa agrees, that phone calls are just as effective as video calls and they're not as complicated) (they both still really appreciate seeing him though)

(personally not a fan of miguel wanting to go to stanford bc for what? it doesn't make sense to me. but i support him ig)

idk if this is already on tory's entry but miguel (just like the arcade scene in s6 pt 1) frequently tries to talk to and hang out with tory in a group setting but she's just really uncomfortable. she gets a little more relaxed but they never really get past the awkwardness and don't get as close as they were before the school fight. it's miguel though, so he always gets her bday gifts and tries to make her feel included. (tory appreciates the effort. it's just hard to forgive the guy who cheated on you emotionally and physically.)

during the s6 e7 ending mega platform challenge (idk the official name) miguel pushes down the anxiety he feels about the height and seeing other people fall from the height and focuses his stress and anger into winning the fight. it isn't until kwon's death that his trauma from the balcony becomes too much to push back.

sam, johnny, robby, and hawk assume he's quiet and reserved bc of the actual death they just witnessed (and honestly they're all too shaken up themselves to put much thought into it). but a few weeks later (right before the events of pt 3) they notice he still seems off and try to get him to open up to varying degrees of success.

it's surprisingly demetri (the professional compartmentalizer himself) that unintentionally gets miguel to open up after he makes an ill-timed joke (trying to joke through his own anxiety over the situation). miguel just starts rambling and working himself up remembering how it felt to fall and how scary it was to be at a similar height where he could potentially fall again then to see someone else's lifeless bloody body ("how can i just move past it? why do i still get freaked out when my foot falls asleep? why can't things be normal like before all this happened?") and demetri just kinda 🧍‍♂️ bc miguel, of all people, freaking out in front of demetri is new territory.

demetri deflects (like usual) and talks about rhodey from the mcu. how he gets shot in mid-air by vision during civil war and falls to the ground. and he survives bc of his suit, becomes paralyzed, and walks again through the leg braces tony stark made for him. ("it's never shown, leave it to marvel to leave out the actually interesting character arcs, but i think vision regretted hurting rhodey like that. vision isn't evil, he and rhodey were both blinded by war. and rhodey has to learn a new normal. he didn't die and he's just as strong as before. worse could've happened but it didn't. and things are different but there's nothing wrong with that. and he always had tony there to pick him back up, to look out for him.")

this pushes miguel to finally talk to the others about his trauma (which they're all kinda traumatized too so he doesn't feel so alone)(demetri absolutely does not know how much it actually affected him and sometimes cringes at the memory, thinking it's yet another moment of inappropriate yapping due to his own discomfort)

also yeah, mentioned above but miguel gets nauseated when his foot falls asleep or when he gets any sharp back pain.

miguel doesn't talk to the younger kids much but the times he does, he and devon like to yap specifically about johnny, he and anthony talk about karate and daniel, and he and kenny talk about music

he tries to keep up with hawk and demetri's nerd stuff but can't keep up nearly as well as robby and sam, he's just there for the vibes

in conclusion: miguel IS cobra kai, i know many people might disagree bc they like the other characters. trust me, i do too ! that's why miguel's not my number one ! but i really do think the writers intend for him to be the whole show, which is why he's so social and has some dynamic with all of the main characters, though they like to abandon some (*cough* daniel and tory *cough*). there truly would be no show without him but i digress. he's so special to me, the latino representation means so much to me, all his wins are my wins, all his losses are my losses. i've basically grown up alongside these characters so i truly feel so close to them. a message to miguel: you've been pushed back, beaten down, you've disappointed yourself, you've disappointed the closest people in your life. but you always come back. no matter what happens. you know how to push through. you are strong. and that wasn't johnny's doing. that wasn't cobra kai or karate. you are naturally persistent and dedicated. you're loyal, you're empathetic, you're confident and you stand up for what you believe in. if there should be any spin-offs or reintroductions of miguel in the future, i can't wait to see where you end up bc i know you'll be doing great in whatever it is. it's been a great seven years watching you grow. i cannot wait to see your finale ending.

[neo-zone]

Alright, I finally got my hands on this full ... presscon? cast reaction? Whatever.

I already shared some screenshots from this before (by some people on Twitter) and after finally watching the full version, I fell like I need to share the rest of the season 2 world building and character lores mentioned and discussed to you guys in here (and also major spoilers for season 3)

P.S. I could be wrong on some of the points here (either misinterpreting or not paying enough attention), so please correct me if I do in the reply section

Season 2

I'm still confused af on this line : "he killed his original body as well as his personality, eventually turning into the twisted monster that he is now". Like so, does it refer to Sang-won killing his original body in season 2 or is it about monster Sang-won killing the real Sang-won?

I still don't get this line too, so interpret it however you want : "The child covered in black?" "This is where what's remaining of Sang-won disappears, uncovering the child."

Chan-young was a baseball player. Ye-seul was one of the cheerleaders

Oh, apparently monsterization does still happened inside the stadium. That's why there's a regular daily checking. Anyone showing symptoms will be out in the isolation place (yeah that place where they put the sick mom in). Some lived, some died inside the isolation => might be why Chief Ji keeping her monster son secluded somewhere deep inside the stadium

Hyun-su cut Yi-kyung's daughter hair the same style as him, hence how they're being similar appearance wise

The live action crew is adapting Shotgun Boy into Netflix Sweet Home

Yi-kyung blames herself for how her child turned out to be with her monster-turning power

Yi-kyung's inability to give affection or even touched her child stems from the fact that monsters are created from human desires, so she didn't want her child to have desire (awfully familiar with a particular old man *side glance*)

Yep, you guessed it. These three (Hyun-su, Eun-yu, and Chan-young) are dense as fuck about their own feelings to each other (minus Hyun-su to Chan-young and vice versa ofc)

Yi-kyung's daughter views Hyun-su as her own family even more than her biological mother. Because they're similar and he's the only person she could hold hands with without her power reacting

Hyun-su uses red ribbons to mark the safe area for Eun-yu because color red stands out among the greenery of Seoul post time skip

The monster cocoons are shaped like a heart because monsterization manifests from human desires

The "real Jung Wui-myeong" is one of the scientists. Sang-won (or monster Sang-won depending how you interpret the earlier points) took his identity and used it as his own, probably to separate himself from his old human self

Lmao, not them calling Sang-won's family as family of evil and there's no good apple in it. That's so fucking foul

Sang-wook is still there somewhere (I already shared this one before)

Sang-won's original abilities include the Medusa touch he did to Hyun-su in episode 3

Oh wait, Yi-kyung survived?! I thought she died after her fight with Hyun-su (uh oh *nervous glance to every instance of me mentioning "her death" in replies*)

Monster Hyun-su act according to what Hyun-su thinks and desires (I had shared this one before)

Monster Hyun-su is more proactive and extrovert (is the extrovert part really necessary?")

Season 3 rough summary

Family drama : Nam Sang-won starts a bunch of trouble (this bitch) in order to create a world he dreams of. There are family reunions and conflicts between spouses. He also meets his child (uh oh). They fight for her custody. This custody case didn't need a court (fuck, oh come on 😂). Yi-kyung wouldn't just talk it out. She'd fight until one is dead

Sibling drama : Eun-yu will meet Eun-hyeok again, but I'm not sure it'll make her happy

Second male lead struggle : Chan-yeong faces even more hardships as the story progresses. But even then, he gives up a lot just to protect Eun-yu. He starts to understand the monsters more. There's a lot on his mind as the story goes on.

More monster Hyun-su : Hyun-su lets go of himself and lets out the monster. But the monster doesn't just do its thing. He reads Hyun-su's mind and acts as he wants.

Another Hyun-su and Yi-kyung interaction : And later on, he interacts with Yi-kyung as well. The emotion it brings also felt huge. In the narration, he tells Eun-yu how much pain Yi-kyung is in and that he has to stop it all himself. So I'm sure Hyun-su sparked a change in Yi-kyung's heart. That'll continue in Season 3.

[featjunranghae]

blissfully unaware - 03. inflation

"Sion keep that ramen down."

"but you know I love-"

"fine then I won't pay for the ice-cream."

"I no longer want ramen." Sion said with a sigh dramatically putting the ramen back in his shelf.

"god I feel like I'm grocery shopping with a 5 year old." you sighed picking up the chips you and gaeul binge on while watching netflix. "omg look at this cute water bottle."

"we should totally get matching ones. how much is it?" Sion asked skipping over to where you were to look at the price. He choked on nothing as he read the price tag. 35$. you both shared a look before he kept the bottle back in its place. "I think I'll just stop drinking water."

"inflation goes crazy man."

we both looked through the stationary aisle and he picked up two matching unicorn pens. "let's get these. it's on me."

"oh my mighty kungkungsi. you're so generous." you laughed.

"I know I know. it's just my love language babe."

you were about to hit his head when you looked behind him and- "fuck that's him." you whisper shouted grabbing sion's arm. "look look."

Sion looked to where your eyes were. "huh?"

"the guy I was telling you about. the hot guy." you said. soobin was looking through the ramen aisle. "fuck... let's go say hi."

"wha-"

you grabbed sions arm pulling him towards the ramen isle pretending you did not come here intentionally just for soobin. Sion still confused followed behind you. "let's get this- oh hi." you waved at him. "soobin right?"

soobin pushed his glasses up nodding. "hey..." he muttered looking at you before looking up at Sion. did he actually forget who you were? didn't you two meet just last night.

"I'm yn..."

"ah yes... you're filming with kai, right?" he said rubbing the back of his neck. "yo Sion." he turned towards the boy.

"sup man." Sion dabbed him up. "you on grocery duties?"

"nah I'm just hungry. had the worst exam ever. I need to eat my feels out."

"sick. see you later dude." Sion said as soobin walked off without even saying anything to you.

"you didn't tell me you knew soobin." you said turning towards him.

"you didn't tell me the guy you were talking about was soobin." Sion said before looking at the basket. "wait are you for real getting me ramen?"

"no." you huffed keeping the ramen back in its place walking off.

"dude..." Sion said walking after you. "are you sad cause of the... soobin thing?"

"he forgot my name. and we met like 15 hours ago." you said going to the counter putting your items to pay.

"look. he's just... really really shy." sion said. "he's really friendly. but just... takes time to get out of his shell you know-"

"I don't care. Kai's more handsome anyways." you said making sion raise a brow before laughing.

"whatever you say." he said before walking off.

"where are you going-"

he came back a few moments later with some chocolate milk. "I'll pay for these." he said poking your cheek.

"awh Sion..."

"bitch I can't let you drive when you're mad. I need to see my mom one last time before I die." he said making you roll your eyes.

"should've known better."

next - masterlist

taglist: @sumzysworld @glorism

[animesmolbean]

Words Hold Power 

An “The Umbrella Academy” fanfiction

Five x Reader

(Male)

Author's Note: Welcome to my The Umbrella Academy fanfiction! I'm so excited to share this story with you all! TUA is my favorite Netflix show! I'm very sad to see it's in its final season, but all great shows come to an end! But at least we'll get to rewatch it over and over again, lol.

Speaking of which, please, no spoilers for S4 since I have not watched it yet. I'll let you guys know where I am in S4 in coming posts.

With that said, I just wanted to tell you guys this. There was one hesitation I had with writing this story. Handling Viktor's character. I know about the journey of this character and Elliot Page's journey as well. I know about the transition, and I wanted to tell you how I planned on approaching this.

I did research on this topic and wanted to be sure I was handling it correctly. I researched how I should write transgender characters and their journeys throughout the story.

I also read other TUA fanfictions for research to see how other authors handle it, and like the research, it's a mixed bag. Some use Viktor only, and some show the name change.

After researching, I decided on an approach.

I will follow what the show does and show the transition story Viktor has. I chose this because I believe it's a beautiful journey, and the show does a great job handling the topic.

One last thing, all the main characters (The Hargreeves siblings) are aged up a little.

With all that said, I hope you enjoy the first chapter! ♥️

~Character Info~

Reader's ability is cursed speech.  She can make anyone do what she says with only a few words.  It's similar to Allison's, except she doesn't need to say certain words first like her, and her ability is much more powerful.  To the point where she has to be extremely careful about what she says.  

(As you can tell, this was inspired by the anime character, Toge Inumaki from Jujutsu Kaisen.)

Chapter 1: We Only See Each Other at Weddings and Funerals (Family Reunion)

On the twelfth hour of the first day of October 1985, forty-three women around the world gave birth.  

This was unusual only in the fact that none of these women have been pregnant when the day first began.

Sir Reginald Hargreeves, eccentric billionaire and adventurer, resolved to locate and adopt as many of the children as possible.

He got eight of them. 

Many years later, the kids grew up and went on with their lives as adults.  

There was Number One, aka Luther Hargreeves.  Big, strong and was currently on the moon, studying and preparing for whatever his mission was.  

There was Number Two, aka Diego Hargreeves.  Impulsive, brave and works as a vigilante of sorts.  

There was Number Three, aka Allison Hargreeves.  Famous actress who was currently on the red carpet in front of paparazzi.  

There was Number Four, aka Klaus.  A lazy, free-spirited soul who is currently leaving rehab and using the money he got from the rehab to buy drugs.  He ended up in the back of an ambulance.  

And, there was Number Seven, aka Vanya Hargreeves.  She was quiet, timid and was currently leaving the theater after practicing her violin.  

However, their lives would change forever with one broadcast.  

Their father was now dead. 

THE UMBRELLA ACADEMY 

☂

Vanya rode a taxi to her childhood home.  A place she lived for many years.  

The Umbrella Academy.  

A tall condo-like building with a black gate.  

Vanya approached the building and opened the doors, whose windows were decorated by umbrellas.  

The foyer was fancy still.  The middle was open with a chandelier hanging above a small round table in the middle.  Tall, smooth white beams holding the sides which held the second floor.  A staircase that leads to that second floor was behind the small round table.  

It was just as Vayna remembered it.  Every little detail was still there.  

“Hey, Mom.” 

Vanya called to the woman in the living room.  Said woman sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace which currently had a fire going.  She stayed still as she stared into the dancing flames.  

“Mom?”

“Vanya?” 

A familiar voice turned Vanya’s attention elsewhere.  

“You're actually here.” 

She turned and saw her sister, Allison coming down the stairs.  

“Hey, Allison.” 

“Hey sis.” 

Allison now stood before her sister.  She chuckled and brought the other girl into a hug, which Vanya quietly but graciously returned.  

“Ah.  What is she doing here?” 

A new voice spoke through the quiet foyer.

“You don't belong here.  Not after what you did.”

It was Diego.

“You're seriously gonna do this today?” Allison spoke up, her tone telling that she wasn't in the mood for the male's attitude. 

“Way to dress for the occasion, by the way.” She added, mocking Diego’s attire as he ascended the stairs.  He was still in his “hero” gear; knives and everything.

“At least I'm wearing black.” Diego shot back nonchalantly as he turned left on the stairs, disappearing from the girls’ views.  

Vanya, now uncomfortable, spoke up quietly, “You know what?  I- Maybe he's right.  And I shouldn't-”

“Forget about him.” Allison interrupted her.  “I'm glad you're here.” She spoke softly.  Vanya’s lips quirked up a little at Allison's words.  The sisters shared a moment of silence.  

☂

Diego arrived at his late father's room, to see Luther there checking the windows.  He leaned against the doorframe.  

“I can save you some time.  They're all locked.  No forced entry, no sign of struggle.  Nothing out of the ordinary.” 

As he spoke, he walked over to Luther who was also walking towards him.  

“Oh, you got big, Luther.  What's the secret, huh?  Protein shakes?  Low carbs?” Diego asked mockingly.  

“What do you want?”  Luther asked, not wanting to deal with Diego's attitude.  

Diego reached into his pocket and pulled out a few folded pieces of paper, handing them to Luther.  “The autopsy report.” 

After he teasingly tried to pull them away from Luther, the latter brother snatched them out of his hand.  

“And you have this, why?” Luther asked. 

“Well, that's because I… broke into the coroner's office.” Diego explained as he sat down in an armchair.  “And surprise, surprise, Dad's death was… normal.  Just a boring, old heart failure.”

“Yeah, so?” Luther looked at Diego.  

“So, why are you in here, checking all the windows?”

“Were you the first one on the scene?” Luther asked.

“Pogo found him.” Diego answered. 

“Yeah, I talked with Pogo.  He said he couldn't find Dad's monocle.”

“And your point being?” Diego asked in a bored tone.

“Can you think of a single time you saw Dad, and he wasn't wearing that monocle?  No.  Which means someone took it.  Which means there's a chance he wasn't alone when he died.”

Diego sat up from the armchair.  “There is no mystery here.  Nothing to avenge.  Nothing to solve, nothing like that.  It's just a sad old man who kicked it in a big empty house.  Just like he deserved.” 

“You should leave.” Lither spoke, not liking Diego's tone with that last sentence he spoke.  

“Whatever you say, brother.” Diego said in a mocking tone as he turned to leave.  Before he did, he turned back to Luther.  “By the way, did you visit (Your Name) yet?” 

Luther shook his head.  “No.  I was about to, actually.” 

“You know where he is.” Diego simply said.

☂

Vanya entered the living room, looking around at the interior.  She spotted a comic and new articles on their group, The Umbrella Academy.  She looked at the bookshelves and pulled out one book in particular.  

The title read, “Extra Ordinary My Life as Number Seven” 

It was her autobiography book.  The one she wrote when she left the academy. 

She observed it solemnly, until a voice spoke out.

“Welcome home, Ms. Vanya.” 

She turned and saw Pogo, a human sized monkey dressed formally with a cane and glasses.  

Vanya walked over to him and hugged him.  Pogo hugged back with a hum.  “So good to see you.” He noticed the book in her hand.  “Ah, yes, your autobiography.” 

“Do you know, um…” Vanya paused before continuing.  “Did he ever read it?” 

Pogo thought for a moment before replying, “Not that I'm aware of.” 

Vanya turned her attention to the portrait above the fireplace.  It showed a boy, around seventeen in age, sitting with a neutral but sophisticated look on his face.  

“How long has it been since Five disappeared?” She asked.

Pogo turned to look at the portrait too.  “It's been sixteen years, four months, and fourteen days.” The two looked at each other.  “Your father insisted I keep track.” 

“And… how long has (Your Name) been in that coma?” 

“Sixteen years, four months, and six days.” Pogo replied.  

“You wanna know something stupid?  I always used to leave the lights on for him.  I was scared that he would come back, it would be late, and the house would be dark and he wouldn't be able to find us, so he'd leave again.  And he would take (Your Name) with him.  So, every night, I'd make a little snack and make sure all the lights were on.” 

Pogo nodded.  “Oh, I remember your snacks.  I'm pretty sure I stepped in half those peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches, and those (Favorite type of Cookie) cookies.”  He sighed a couple times before he spoke again, “Your father always believed that Number Five was still out there somewhere.  He also believed that one day (Your Name) would wake up.  He never lost hope.” 

“And look where that got him.” Vanya said solemnly. 

☂

Allison went up to her late father's study, looking around the area.  The familiarity of it brought up a memory.  

〰️

Reginald Hargreeves was working in his office, as usual, when Grace knocked on the door.  She entered before closing the door.

“The children are ready for bed, sir.  They wanted to say goodnight.” 

She turned and walked a couple of paces and opened the sliding door.  

On the other side revealed the eight children, all wearing matching pajamas.  Allison was in the center while the others surrounded her.  Little (Your Name) stood between her and Five, a black cloth face mask covering his mouth and nose.  

The children were all smiling as they waited for their father to acknowledge them.  But he was so into his work that he didn't even glance up at them.  

Sensing the awkwardness, Grace quickly dismissed the kids.  The kids, of course, were disappointed but not surprised.  As they left slowly, (Your Name) tugged on Allison's sleeve, silently asking her to come.  

“I'll be there in a minute (Your Name).” The girl whispered.  (Your Name) tilted his head to the side.  Allison spoke again, “Why don't you go hang out with Five for a bit before bed?  I know you planned on it.” She gave the masked boy a small smile.  (Your Name) felt his cheeks warm up, but he nodded, leaving and quietly walking over to Five.  The boy saw him coming and, with a nod of his head, gestured to him to follow him.  (Your Name) nodded and started to walk beside him.  As he did, he heard Allison, 

“He's always busy.” 

〰️

“Where's the cash, Dad?” 

The sound of a voice diverted Allison's attention and she walked over to her father's desk, hearing clamoring noises.  She leaned forward to look to see who was over there.  

“Klaus?  What are you doing in here?” She asked.  

Said boy looked up and gasped at the sight of his sister.  “Oh!  Allison!  Wow, is that you?” He asked as he stood up.  He embraced her slowly; Allison slowly returned the hug.  “Long time.  Too long.” He pulled away.  “Hey, I was hoping to see you, actually, because I wanted to get your autograph.  Add it to my collection!” He planted his chin onto his hands.  

Allison let her brother act because it was how he always behaved when she noticed the white paper bracelet on his left wrist.  “Just out of rehab?” She asked.

“No, no.  No, no, no, no.  No.  I'm done with all of that.” Klaus replied with a sigh as he removed the bracelet. “I just came down here to prove to myself that the old man was really gone.” He smiled.  “And he is!  He's dead.  Yeah!” He clapped, making Allison smile a little, shaking her head a bit.  

“You know how I know?  Because if he were alive, not one of us would be allowed to set foot in this room.” Allison silently agreed with Klaus.  

“He was always in here, our whole childhood, plotting his next torment, right?” He said with a chuckle as he sat in the armchair behind the desk, putting his feet on the desk.  “Remember how he used to look at us?  That scowl?” He pointed to the man's portrait onto the wall behind him.  “Thank Christ, he's not our real father, so we couldn't inherit those cold, dead eyes!” He stretched his eyelids to show more of his eyeballs.  He fake screams, making Allison chuckle a little as Klaus started to dramatically imitate their late father. 

“Get out of his chair.” 

Klaus turned his head and saw Luther standing by the doorway.  “Oh, wow, Luther!  Wow, you really, uh… You really filled out over the years huh?” Klaus said as he stood and flexed his arm muscles.  

“Klaus.” Luther warned.

“Save the lecture.  I was already leaving.  You guys can talk amongst yourselves.  I am going to visit (Your Name).  Oh!  The precious little brother of ours.” He chuckled softly.  Before he could leave though, Luther stopped him.  “Drop it.”

“Ex-squeeze me?” Klaus said.

“Do it.  Now.” Luther ordered.  

Klaus pulled his arm away from Luther and went back to the desk and started to empty out his pockets, which held a few of his late father's belongings.  “It's just an advance on our inheritance!  That's all it is!” Allison chuckled silently at her brother.  “No need to get your little panties in a bunch.” With that, Klaus left, closing the door; leaving Luther and Allison alone in the room. 

“So, Klaus is still Klaus, in case you are wondering.” Luther started.

“You know, after all these years, I find it strangely comforting.” Allison stated.

“Did you see Diego?” Luther asked.

“With his stupid outfit?” Allison added in amusement. 

“Oh, I know.  Do you think he wears that thing in the bathroom?” Lauther asked.

“Like in the shower?” Allison asked for confirmation. 

“Yeah.” Luther confirmed.

“Yes, absolutely!” Allison laughed.  

The two went on to talk about how their lives are going now that they are adults.  Luther was the only one to stay while the rest went their separate ways.  Their conversation ended talking about Allison's family and her powers.  

〰️

A little later, everyone congregated in the living room.  The fire was still going in the fireplace as everyone sat in silence.  

Luther started talking about doing a memorial service for their late father.  Some like Allison were mostly confused by this, or making fun of it like Klaus.  

“Is that my skirt?” Allison asked, noticing Klaus wearing a skirt now.  

“Oh, yeah this.  I found it in your room.  It's a little dated, I know, but it's very breathy on the bits.”

Luther stopped Klaus before he could go further and started to talk about their father's death.  He had a theory that he didn't die simply of heart failure.  He recounted how he was acting suspicious and requested Klaus to try to communicate with him.  Klaus was not interested.  

“I can't just call Dad into the afterlife and be like, “Dad, could you just stop playing tennis with Hitler for a moment and take a quick call?” 

“Since when?  That's your thing.” Luther said.

“I'm not in the right… frame of mind.” 

“You're high?” Allison asked, not surprised.

“Yeah!  Yeah!” Klaus laughed.  “I mean, how are you not listening to this nonsense?” 

“Well, sober up, this is important.” Luther said.

Klaus only sighed.  

When Luther started talking about the missing monocle, Diego concluded that Luther was suspicious of all of them, saying that Luther thought one of them killed their dad.  This caused everyone to get upset.  Diego insulted Luther's leadership, Klaus got up and jokingly said that he might as well go murder their Mom and (Your Name), unless he was already dead.  Vanya left in silence and. Allison left in silence as well.  Luther tried to defend himself, but it was too late.  

They weren't always like this.  When they were kids, they were tight knit.  

〰️

17 YEARS AGO

“This is Jim Hellerman, reporting live for Channel 2 News outside of the Capital West Bank at Main and Sixth.  A group of heavily armed men stormed the bank not three hours ago and took an unknown number of hostages.” 

The armed men surveyed the bank as they pointed their guns at the bound up hostages and pushed them behind the counter as they proceeded with the robbery.  

Unexpectedly, a girl with curly black hair, in a school uniform and mask, walked casually to one of the robbers.  

It was Allison. 

“Hey, get back with the others.” The robber ordered the girl.  

“I heard a rumor.” Allison spoke. 

“What?  What did you say?” 

Allison leaned forward and used her ability, “I heard a rumor that you shot your friend in the foot.” 

The robber pointed his gun at one of his partners and promptly shot him in the foot, knocking him down.  The hostages screamed at the sound of the gun.  

Suddenly, someone dressed in a boy's school uniform with a mask came crashing down from a window above and landed behind the counter.  It was Luther.  He punched one robber and threw him out the window with surprising strength.  

Then, another kid dressed like Luther came from the other side of the bank.  “Guns are for sissies.  Real men throw knives.” He threw two long knives at one of the robbers only for them to redirect to another robber and immediately killed him. 

There were now only two robbers left in the lobby.  

One of them climbed onto the desk and pointed his gun shakily at the three kids.  “Get back, you freaks.” 

“Hey, be careful up there, buddy.” Diego, the knife throwing kid taunted.

“Get back now!” 

“Wouldn't want you to get hurt.” Allison taunted as well.

“Or what?” 

A fourth kid appeared seemingly out of nowhere, sitting criss cross on the desk.  A taunting smirk on his face.  This was Number Five.  

The robber shot at Five, but he disappeared and reappeared on the other side.  When the robber turned around and tried to shoot him again, he suddenly realized that he was not holding a gun.

“Ooh!  That's one badass stapler!” Five taunted before smacking the guy's hand holding the stapler into his head.  This knocked the robber over.  

All they had to do now was get rid of the robbers in the vault.  

Or so they thought.  

There was one more.  

He loaded his gun and his gun cocked, catching the kids off guard.  

“Down you freaks!” He yelled.  

Suddenly, running from a hidden place behind a wall, was a fifth kid, dressed like the rest of the boys, as he pulled down his face mask.  He directed his attention to the robber.  

“Explode!” 

The single word echoed loudly through the bank, and just before the guy could turn his gun to the boy, his body suddenly exploded, body parts, guts, and blood spreading out everywhere.  The hostages screamed in fear.  The boy quickly covered his face again, breathing heavily as he ran to his siblings.  

He gestured to all of them.  They couldn't see much of his face, but they could tell he was worried by the look in his eyes.  

“We're okay.  Thanks (Your Name).” Allison said.

(Your Name) hummed, nodding as he walked over to behind the desk with the others, while two more kids dressed like the rest of the boys joined them.  Five looked at him.  “That was pretty badass.  Good work.” He complimented, giving him a smile.  (Your Name) felt his cheeks warm up a little, and he tilted his head a bit and closed his eyes.  Most people wouldn't be able to tell his expression behind the mask, but Five knew he was smiling at him in thanks.  

“Do we really have to do this?” A meek voice asked. 

“Come on, Ben.  There's more guys in the vault.” Luther told the boy.

Ben sighed as he walked to the vault door.  “I didn't sign up for this.” 

He entered as the hostages all ran for their lives out of the bank.  Inside the vault, the last of the robbers were eyeing slaughtered by Ben's ability.  He screeched and roared as his tentacles ripped them apart and threw them against the walls.  Blood splattered all over the windows.  

Once it was quiet, Ben came out, covered in blood.  “Can we go home now?” He asked, his breathing shaky.  

It was time to leave.  

The seven kids started walking towards the entrance of the bank. (Your Name) pulled out a small vial and turned the cap.  He pulled the bottom part of his mask up and put the bottle to his lips.  He tilted his head back and started swallowing the liquid.  He finished it and placed the empty bottle back in his pocket.  

“Are you feeling okay?” 

Five's voice made (Your Name) turn to him.  He nodded and hummed in thanks.  Five offered his arm to him.  “Ready?” He asked.  The boy nodded again, and he hooked his arm with Five's.  Five smiled at him, and they started walking after their siblings.  

The seven kids emerged from the back as the news reporters pointed their cameras at the group, and they all clamored to try to talk to them.  

Above on the top of a building nearby, stood Reginald Hargreeves, observing the other kids with a mini telescope. An eighth kid, dressed like Allison, stood next to him.

“Why can't I go play with the others?” The girl asked.  

“We've been through this before, Number Seven.  I'm afraid there's just nothing special about you.” Reginald said as he lowered his telescope.  

The girl looked down.  “Oh.”

Eventually, Reginald came down to stand with the children.  

“Our world is changing.  Has changed.  There are some among us gifted with abilities far beyond the ordinary.  I have adopted seven such children.” 

‘You mean eight.’ (Your Name) thought to himself as he looked down temporarily, his arm still linked with Five's.  

“I give you the inaugural class of the Umbrella Academy.” 

Many news reporters asked many questions.

“What happened to their parents?” One asked.

“They were suitably compensated.” Reginald replied.  

“Are you concerned about the welfare of the children?” Another asked.  

“Of course.  As I am for the fate of the world.” Reginald said.  

〰️

☂

Everyone was in separate rooms, having their alone time after the little dispute from earlier.  Klaus was still in the living room, trying to talk to their late father, but he ended up knocking the vase filled with his ashes over.  

Luther was walking through the hallways, reminiscing until he got to his room.  

Allison was looking through her belongings until she found a gold heart locket with ‘A+L’ carved onto the front.  

Klaus took the vase into the kitchen where he proceeded to take more pills.  

Diego laid on the couch in the living room, playing with one of his knives.

Vanya sat on the stairs, a solemn look on her face.

Luther eventually found a familiar record and played it on the record player.  

“I Think We're Alone Now” by Tiffany started to play.  

Everyone heard the familiar tune all throughout the house and they all started to dance in their respective rooms.  

Childhood nostalgia ran through their bodies as they all danced like no one was watching.  Even Pogo moved a little to the beat.  

But suddenly, thunder rumbled and lightning flashed.  

The music stopped as the house reacted to the violent disturbance.  

The siblings all ran to the courtyard and saw a giant hole, surrounded by blue lightning.  

“What is it?” Vanya asked.

“Don't get too close!” Allison warned.  

“Yeah, no shit.” Diego said.

“Looks like some sort of temporal anomaly.  Either that or a miniature black hole.  One of the two. 

“Pretty big difference there, Paul Bunyan.” Diego insulted.

“Out of the way!” Klaus exclaimed as he came out with a fire extinguisher and tried to spray it but it was out of steam.  So, he just threw it at the mysterious anomaly only for it to get sucked in.  

“What is that gonna do?” Allison asked.

“I don't know.  Do you have a better idea?” Klaus asked.  

The anomaly got stronger and Luther ushered everyone behind him to protect them.  Klaus wanted to run.  Luther and Allison held hands.  

The electrical crackling intensified and someone emerged from the anomaly, arms out.  It disappeared and the person fell out of the sky and landed on the ground.  The sky cleared up as the siblings walked towards the person, who stood up.  He was dressed in a suit way too big for him. 

“Does anyone else see little Number Five, or is that just me?” Klaus asked. 

The boy known as Five looked at himself then back at the siblings.  

“Shit.” 

☂

The six were now in the kitchen.  Five was busy making a sandwich while the others watched in shock.  

“What's the date?  The exact date.” Five asked.  

“The 24th.” Vanya replied. 

“Of what?”

“March.” 

“Good.” 

Luther spoke up.  “So, are we gonna talk about what just happened?” 

Five didn't reply.  He just continued with making his sandwich.  

Silence fell for a couple seconds until Luther stood up.  “It's been seventeen years.” 

Five scoffed.  “It's been a lot longer than that.” He blinked over to the cabinet. 

“I haven't missed that.” Luther muttered.  

“Where'd you go?” Diego asked.

“The future.  It's shit, by the way.” Five replied as he blinked back to the table.  

“Called it.” Klaus said.  

“I should've listened to the old man.  You know, jumping through space is one thing, jumping through time is a toss of the dice.” Five looked up at the siblings.  “Nice dress.” He told Klaus. 

“Oh, well, danke!” Klaus said, playing with the article of clothing.  

“Wait, how did you get back?” Vanya asked.

“In the end I had to project my consciousness forward into a suspended quantum state version of myself that exists across every possible instance of time.” Five explained.  

“That makes no sense.” Diego spoke up.

“Well, it would if you were smarter.” Five sasses.

Diego stood up to confront the boy, but Luther stopped him, holding him back.

“How long were you there?” He asked.

“Forty-one years.  Give or take.” 

Luther and Diego sat back down.  “So what are you saying?  That you're fifty-eight?” The former asked.

Five looked at Luther.  “No, my consciousness is fifty-eight.” He finished his sandwich.  “Apparently, my body is now seventeen again.” 

“Wait, how does that even work?” Vanya asked.

“Delores kept saying the equations were off.  Eh.” Five took a bite out of his sandwich.  “Bet she's laughing now.” 

Vanya was confused.  “Delores?” 

Five ignored her and looked at the newspaper that told him about Reginald Hargreeves’ death.  “Guess I missed the funeral.”

“How'd you know about that?” Luther asked.

“What part of the future do you not understand?” Five asked.  “Heart failure, huh?” 

“Yeah.” “No.” Diego and Luther said together.

Five hummed before clicking his tongue.  “Nice to see nothing's changed.”  Then, he got a good look at his siblings again.  He realized that one was missing.  “By the way, where's (Your Name)?”

The other five siblings looked at each other, solemn expressions on their faces now.  “Well…” Vanya started.  “There isn't an easy way to say this.” Allison said.  “He's in a coma.” “He's dead.” Klaus and Diego finished.  “Diego!” Allison scolded. 

Five looked at his siblings, a subtle look of worry on his face, but on the inside, his heart was beating faster.  “What happened?” 

“Well…. like I said… this isn't easy to say.” As Allison tried to explain, they suddenly heard soft footsteps approaching the kitchen.  They slowly turned their heads and what they saw shook them to the core. 

There stood…

(Your Name).

Klaus yelled in surprise.  

“Holy shit.” Diego said. 

Everyone else looked in surprise.  

(Your Name) was alive.

[munchboxart]

I watched Bee and Puppycat Lazy in Space last night since I heard that they re-animated the first few eps. I did watch the originals and seasons 1-2 back when it came out. I'm kind of mixed, Bee and Puppycat has always had awkward pacing issues but to me it was kind of endearing, but uhm, good lord it was more obvious in the re-animated episodes. I do like that they added more context to Bee/Puppycat's history, I love it a lot, I was hoping to see more of it in the later episodes 😭

I am kind of sad that a couple of the episodes were mega shortened to just short mentions, like Bee's Birthday job at Cloud World or whatever. I think the part I was a little more sad about was the "What's your favorite color?" part, it felt a little more rushed, I guess it was just trying to fit in Bee's Dad bit and them going to the Glitch Gorge scene, rather than just ending it there like in the original and having the scenes of Cardamons Mom and Deckard.

The rest of the episodes were just all of the "season 2" one's, which are pretty good. To be fair, I did skip a good chunk of it after learning it was just Season 2 again so if they added new scenes, I might have not known about it.

Other than that, uhmmm Moully is still one of my favorite characters (Wesley, Crispin, Puppycat, etc. too). For soundtrack, I am so upset that the Funny Lying OST where Space Outlaw and Violet are shown for the first time together to candy hunt are not in the album, it make's me so mad, that is one of my favorite OSTs and it's not in ANY OF THE ALBUMS RAHHHHHHHHHHH

Anyways I do recommend watching it if you want a slice of life thing, though maybe watch the first original season over the one on Netflix, but do note that it is a little longer than the one on Netflix, as it's all been condensed down to 3 episodes rather than it's original 10(?)

Edit: one last thing that I just remembered, I didn't like (or I guess I feel mixed) about the episode of Deckard going to the culinary school. I thought it went by a little too fast and Bee already knowing what letter it was without reading it (assumingly, and also the recycling bin should be way too dark for her to read in there 💀 unless she has night vision. What I DO like is that they made her being a robot more obvious and "accepted" (for a lack of better words) and just calling her a weird old young woman or something 😭 It makes the scenes of her thinking about how much time she has in the world settle a little longer, which I like

[botanikos]

Holy crap bae what is the story of the iron infusion? If you're comfortable talking about it! Am so glad you're still here!!!

Sure, I'm comfortable with it! It's not my only brush with death, just my most intense one!

cw for menstruation mention!

☆

To start, among my myriad of issues, I was diagnosed with PCOS (Polcystic Ovary Syndrome). This means I have a hormonal disorder and get cysts on my ovaries. Additionally, and ultimately how we found out about the worsening of the PCOS, I had extremely irregular menstrual cycles. So following a rather harsh 32-day cycle with pain in which i described as "wolverine gutting me repeatedly even though there's nothing left," and a failed trip to the hospital for aid, it was determined that due to these excessive cycles, I was severely anemic! Borderline blood transfusion, anemic. Yaaay!

Fast-forward! I was scheduled to undergo 2 rounds of Injectafer, an iron infusion to help get my levels back on track ( at the time, I wasn't capable of holding iron or producing enough of it ). The first session was fine! I sat with my phone and my mom and watched some Netflix.

Second infusion. . . They hooked me up, I got comfortable, and opened my book. I had enough time to look at my mom and said, "Hey, I'm sure it's just my anxiety, but I felt a small pain in my arm. Probably just the needle, but my chest feels cold and—" !! Everything went black, and I couldn't breathe. I could distantly hear people around me, but I couldn't move or see or breathe. My mom says I flushed red, and then all the blood left my body in an instant. They apparently even started to pull out a crash cart.

But they stopped the infusion and immediately replaced it with Benadryl and whatever steroid they used. The coming-back was ROUGH, and they forced the medicine into me quickly, so it BURNED.

Anyway, the staff there now know me by name; pretty sure it scared the shit out of them coz it doesn't happen so often and was really supposed to be an incredibly low chance of that happening.~

SO YEA, I am allergic to Injectafer! 1 of 2 known medical allergies! BUT I MAKE A STABLE AMOUNT OF IRON ON MY OWN NOW !!!!!!!!!!!! YAY ME!!!!!!

[yawn-junn]

•｡Playful - Yungyu𓂃

·˚Thanks too: Anon, Yungyu, 8Turn

·˚Note: so sorry this is late I didn't realize what day it was and I was so caught up in rewatching the untamed since their taking it off Netflix anyways if you have a request feel free to send it in HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!

·˚Taglist: @bunnie-stay-p1ece - @mxlly143 - @wonootnoot

·˚TW: hitting : horror movies : food : teasing : jump scares : very very very soft horror elements :

·˚Prompt: 6.) Horror Movies

10/6/24

Yungyu was late, as the time went on the later and later it got Yungyu still not in sight, sighing you settled into the couch ready to watch the movies by yourself, slowly chewing on popcorn the loud slam of the front door and loud footsteps scared you out of you're skin, jumping you whipped you're head back at the boy who smiled innocently at you.

"Sorry I'm late, mom wouldn't let me leave" he sighed sitting on the couch next to you digging his hand into you're bucket of popcorn, "you could've texted me you were gonna be late" you huffed hitting his arm, he winced dropping the popcorn in his hand while his other shot up to hold his shoulder.

"Ouch!" He exclaimed kicking you're leg, "hey! Don't kick me!" You gasped going to kick him back, he flinched away "then don't hit me!" He argued making a valid point you sighed settling back into the couch, "whatever" you grumbled, using the remote to start whatever horror movie Yungyu was so prominent to see.

Every jump scare he would hide into you're arm while you laughed "I thought you said horror movies don't scare you" you teased moving his head to poke his cheek, the bowl of what used to be popcorn laid forgotten on the floor while you and Yungyu played around watching the movie.