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kennys1birthday · 3 years

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Songs I relate to each of the TUA siblings & why:

Luther: Boys Don’t Cry by The Cure.

I feel like Luther was pressured into being tough/strong as a kid since he is number one and his power is literally super strength. Reginald probably did not want him to show any weakness (crying) and the lyrics literally say “hiding the tears in my eyes ‘cause boys don’t cry.” He probably shoved a lot of his emotions/feelings down and that was probably another reason for the breakdown he had in S1. Or he tried to cover up his sad/angry emotions with happy or whatever.

Diego: Daddy Issues by The Neighbourhood.

I feel like I don’t even need to explain this one but…Reginald treated him so bad. You can tell Diego wanted his father’s approval but never got it. You could also tell how heartbroken he was at the dinner scene in S2. No further reasoning.

Allison: Primadonna by MARINA

If you listen to the lyrics it sounds totally like Allison. “All I ever wanted was the world. I can't help that I need it all, The primadonna life, the rise and fall. You say that I'm kinda difficult, But it's always someone else's fault. Got you wrapped around my finger, babe. You can count on me to misbehave.” All I ever wanted was the world…literally Allison, she could have the world just by saying four simple words. I honestly kinda find this song manipulative and that’s literally Allison’s powers. Don’t get me wrong, I love Allison but it’s the truth.

Klaus: Take Me To Church by Hozier

I honestly don’t have to explain this one. Watch the music video or just listen to the song and you’ll see what I mean.

Five: Bad Things by Cults

AGAIN THE LYRICS!!! “Bad things happen to the people you love, and you’ll find yourself praying up to heaven above. But honestly I’ve never had much sympathy, ‘cause the bad things always find them coming for me.” I could totally imagine this running through Five’s head while he was in the apocalypse. I don’t really have any further reasoning.

Ben: When Will I See You Again by Shakka

It has this sorta upbeat tempo but when you listen to the lyrics it’s actually really sad. This song is basically talking about wanting to see “you” again. In the show we can see how badly he wants to see his siblings again but there isn’t a possible way to unless he possesses Klaus or like how he saw Vanya. And he doesn’t know if he ever will get to see them again. Also I kinda get this feeling of being scared to let go which we found out that Ben was scared to do so near the end of S2.

Vanya: Eleanor Rigby by The Beetles

This song is about loneliness and Vanya definitely relates to that. She was left out of everything as a kid and even as an adult. We know the Violin was her safe space and this song has a really cool violin sound. That’s it I guess.

#tua #umbrella academy #luther hargreeves #five hargreeves #allison hargreeves #klaus hargreeves

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kennys1birthday · 3 years

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Age order and family role headcanons

Man, I remember doing headcanon-y age orders for same-age siblings when I was a kid and my brothers and I decided on the age order of the Ninja Turtles (OG cartoon, as I am old) and lots of people do this for TUA, so here’s my take. This is not going to take into account Five’s time travel making him the oldest because obviously he is now the oldest both in age and in spirit and takes on that role in the family now, so that feels like cheating. This is how I picture them growing up, more like. And for fun, also saying which dysfunctional family roles I think they would have taken on and why.

Luther – His position as Number One is essentially him being the honorary oldest anyway. He grew up fast, became over-serious, and is given responsibility over the others. He’s the only one of the kids who actually believes it was their (his) fault that Ben died. Being Number One was his role in the family in a way none of the other numbers were for the other kids. Oldest children tend to feel like there’s extra pressure on them that the other kids don’t have to deal with, and they’re usually right. Parents tend to look at older children as babysitters they don’t have to pay.

His role in the dysfunctional family is The Hero, being the one who keeps everyone in line and tries to keep the dysfunction in the family as low as possible. I’ve also heard this role called “The Normalizer,” since this is the child who makes the family look as normal to outsiders as possible–keeping the drama contained so it doesn’t burn uncontrolled.

Allison – Similarly to Five, I think she wanted to come across as more mature for a bit of clout in the family dynamic. She’s definitely “older” than the siblings beneath her on this list (watch her and Diego reunite in season two if you have doubts about them) and seems to try to look out for them where she can, though I’m not sure how true this might have been when they were children, as Allison on the show has already reformed herself.

Her role is The Golden Child, or the child who gets whatever they want and is treated specially by the parent, though unlike with most examples of this role, it’s because of her power and not because she makes the abuser feel good about themselves. She said she used to use her power on her father as well as throughout her career to get whatever she wanted. It does seem to have limits, as she doesn’t get away with as much as Five seems to, but still carries forward with a life in which she’s allowed to get whatever she wants.

Diego – People usually put him right under Luther because of their competition, but I think that one owes to how they are numbered rather than how maturely they act. Age order isn’t as responsible for competition as personality type, anyway. Diego, Ben, and Vanya embody most middle children I’ve known, Diego being the extroverted type who is struggling to stand out in a large family and resenting it. Middle children have a reputation for being overlooked, and some respond by becoming louder and getting frustrated.

I think the role that would fit Diego best would be The Scapegoat. This is mostly just his personality type—he is the most outspoken about the abuse they went through, the most rebellious even in childhood apart from Allison (who wouldn’t have filled this role, thanks to her power), and the sheer disdain his stammer gets from Reginald both as a child and as an adult lead me to think it wouldn’t have taken much for Reginald to just…hate him for no good reason and start blaming shit on him unfairly. The only other potential Scapegoat I could see would be Klaus, but I think Diego’s position as Number Two as well as his choleric temperament makes him a much more likely candidate.

Vanya – Another type of middle child I see, the one who is quiet and invisible and absolutely hates it. The middle child of my family was a lot like Vanya, though he also happened to be the Golden Child because he was the sweetest one of us and Mom liked how much he needed her. I knew I wanted Vanya to be a middle child on my list because she’s practically a stereotype of a middle child. She usually gets pinned as the youngest, possibly because she is physically tiny, but she has that tendency to be overlooked that middle children usually have. She’s also just significantly more mature than Klaus, less dramatic than Five, and less bait-able than Ben, so altogether, it’s appropriate for her to be the middliest middle child of them all.

Her role in the family is The Lost Child, the one who is most isolated from the family due to some perceived need for separation. In childhood, her father forced her isolation; in adulthood, she self-isolated. It was always for the same reason and it always made her unhappy.

Ben – This one was hard, but since children of similar maturity tend to be closer to each other in childhood, I thought it made sense for him to be near the bottom with Klaus, but temperamentally, he fits more among the middle children. Word of God is that Ben and Klaus were always great friends—or is it Word of St. Paul? It was either the actors or Steve Blackman who said it, either way, and we do see them attached to each other in flashbacks. I also think Diego’s body language, while not a reliable indicator because of the extraordinary context, suggested he sees Ben as being a bit younger or possibly of similar age. He’s definitely “older” than Klaus, regardless, and doesn’t have the sense of drama that puts Five near the bottom.

This took some real reading, but a more obscure family role I found that really seemed to fit Ben is The Peacemaker. He didn’t seem lost enough to be another Lost Child nor heroic enough to be another Hero, and too emotionally intuitive to be The Doer. The Peacemaker fits well with Vanya’s statement that Ben held the family together, being the one who tries to wind down family arguments. It’s a very codependent sort of role, as well, which would have been how he learned his codependent behaviors even before Klaus’ addictions.

Five – What we see of Five in the very few flashbacks he’s in is a boy with a flair for the dramatic and a slight sense of entitlement (though part of that is just being thirteen). Younger children have the reputation for being spoiled, and the show he puts on when demanding to time travel at the breakfast table is very, very typical of younger children, who grow up in an environment where they are used to having to resort to these things to prove they are serious about something (though stabbing the table is a bit overboard—get it? Overboard?). Otherwise, they’re commonly not taken seriously.

He has shades of The Doer, but I think he’s The Golden Child in a way Allison is not—the one who reminds Reginald the most of himself, being the most intellectual and self-assured of the children, and so tends to get away with the most. The fact that he was able to cheat at the race and have the support of their father doing it suggests he could be Reginald’s favorite (it’s Luther in the comics). Even when they’re adults, he’s the only one who gets along with Reginald. He’s also the only one we absolutely know has a room on the third floor, which I am betting he could have asked for and gotten because it would be quieter than sharing walls with your siblings. This should never at any point be mistaken for the easiest role in the family, as the Golden Child grows up with unrealistic expectations of themselves and doesn’t take it well when they fail. They’re also the most prone to developing traits of the primary abuser. If this is Five’s role, at least he got out early. Silver lining.

Klaus – I know babies of the family aren’t a monolith, but the truth is, if you have two or more older siblings and you’re the youngest, you found very early on that if you weren’t loud, funny, and willing to interrupt whenever you had something to say, you weren’t gonna be heard. Klaus is seen by his siblings as the lucky one, the one who can do whatever he wants without consequence. One of the scenes that really exemplifies this is Luther expressing his envy of Klaus as I have so often heard oldest siblings express about youngest siblings. Youngest siblings are seen as having a unique opportunity to be themselves and the fewest responsibilities. It’s not…completely untrue, either. Not at all untrue, actually. Speaking as a youngest. But it does come with its own set of drawbacks, like not being taken seriously and constantly being talked over. What does the baby know, after all?

The role Klaus would have would be The Mascot. The Mascot is The Funny One, preferring to deal with the conflict in the family by defusing the tension and making people laugh rather than talking it out, and being charming or funny becomes more important to them than being close to someone. And they’re usually the youngest. Surprise, surprise. They can also be seen as the most innocent, the one most in need of protection, without the family realizing the burden they’re carrying with their lighthearted attitude.

Pogo and Grace share the Enabler/Caretaker role, being the ones trying to keep everyone happy while inadvertently making it easier for Reginald to perpetuate his abuse, since they’re trying to soothe feelings instead of allowing natural consequences to happen. In one case, that’s due to learned helplessness; in the other, she’s literally programmed not to interfere with Hargreeves. Still waiting to learn more about how Pogo’s history with the family really went, because I absolutely believe he loved those kids, but love doesn’t mean you make the right choices.

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