Summary: Sequel to Life Could Be a Dream, Sweetheart. With Reginald Hargreeves dead and Five still stuck in time, it seems that the fate of the world is in your hands. You’ve come to terms with your past and you’re ready to stop the impending apocalypse no matter what it takes. As events unfold, it turns out that you can be as prepared as you’d like to save the world, but you might not be able to save yourself.
Something I noticed upon re-watching TUA is that other than Luther who stuck around the longest and was the most obedient, Vanya was the closest to Reginald. He made an effort to separate her from her siblings, excluding her from that group, but in doing so actually brought her closer to himself.
In nearly every single Umbrella Academy flashback, Vanya is standing right beside Reginald and above the others. In the bank heist scene, Vanya is on a rooftop beside Reginald and above the others. In the staircase race scene, Vanya is at the top of the staircase beside Reginald and above the others (who are literally racing each other to get to their level). Even in the tattooing scene, although she’s not with Reginald, she’s again on a staircase above her siblings.
Reginald’s dialogue is telling her (and the audience) that Vanya is “nothing special” and less than her siblings, but the imagery is contradictory. Vanya is constantly framed above the others and almost as Reginald’s equal. I could not find a single shot where any other kid is standing right beside Reginald like that, they’re always framed below him, across from him, and/or far away. Even Luther is always standing facing Reginald with the desk (a symbol of his work separating him from humanizing the kids) between them. Vanya is the only one who is ever on the other side of that desk (metaphorically speaking).
This may also explain why Vanya is the only one who seems genuinely sad about Reginald’s death. Luther is obsessed with looking for answers, Allison’s reaction we don’t really see except being overwhelmed and flustered because of how she heard (at the funeral she seems indifferent to his death, she plays peacekeeper between the siblings), Klaus and Diego are openly hostile, and Five is indifferent about it - but Vanya is the only one whose reaction is outwardly sad. The camera also lingers on Vanya’s reaction for much longer than the others implying that her feelings about Reginald are more important or at least more complex. We get Vanya initially hearing the news and having a one line reaction, as all the other siblings do, but then Vanya is the only one who gets an extra shot just to show how she feels about Reginald’s death. We get this lingering shot of Vanya crying on the bus. She is the only one who we see cry about Reginald being dead.
We don’t see it explicitly but I imagine that Reginald and Vanya had more one-on-one moments than the other siblings did. We see her being the one standing next to him and writing on a clipboard which implies that he used her as a sort of personal assistant. That her job involved being close to him and doing menial things like timing her siblings’ races or taking notes. This sort of position would not only keep Vanya further from her siblings (the main objective), but also keep her closer to Reginald. He would have wanted to keep Vanya closer to him to keep her controlled and isolated. There’s also the fact that Pogo makes a point of telling Vanya, and only Vanya, that Reginald “loved her very much, in his way” which is gross and abuse apologist of him to say, but it is does add to the evidence that Reginald was, in some messed up way, closer to Vanya than to the others and again emphasizes the importance of that dynamic.
Thinking further about the idea that Vanya evidently spent more one-on-one time with Reginald than the others, I wonder if that’s part of why they were so mad at her about the book. Obviously, they were partially mad she wrote about them being assholes to her and calling them out on their bullshit, but what if she revealed things about their father that no one else knew? I hope this dynamic gets explored more in Season 2 because I think it’s very interesting this strange sort of respect Reginald seemed to have for Vanya because of her power despite being afraid of it and trying to smother it.
Ok, I really don’t want to restart this discourse, but since
the aggressive burst of Luther hate post-S1 has calmed down, I feel like a lot
of people have written off all criticism of his character as being exclusively about
the fact that he assaulted and re-traumatized Vanya which is not accurate. If the way he handled
the Vanya situation was my only issue, I wouldn’t hate Luther. He was absolutely
wrong and Big Dumb to handle things that way, but it would be somewhat
understandable. The reason I hate Luther and will never be okay with him getting
an easy, slap-on-the-wrist redemption arc is because Luther is habitually
abusive to all his siblings.
Luther habitually uses his physical strength to intimidate his
family into doing what he wants, threatens (verbally or non-verbally) to physically
hurt them and/or destroy things they love if they don’t obey him, and even
chokes Klaus while he begs him to stop. None of that is okay, and none of that
should be ignored or overlooked no matter how you feel about the character. If
Luther gets a redemption arc (which I do support), he needs to be held
completely accountable for his abusive behavior and the harm it has caused. I won’t
tolerate an abuse apologist narrative especially when that has been done so
often with cishet white dudes in teen television.
Yes, Luther is a survivor too, but he’s still accountable
for his own actions. Especially considering Reginald was dead and no one was
making him choke his choke Klaus out or threaten to break something because he knows it means a lot to Five (Dolores), being violent just because he’s having a tantrum about how no one is listening to him and daddy said he’s number one
so you have to listen to him wah wah isn’t acceptable behavior. It is Luther’s
choice to behave that way and he needs to face serious consequences for that in
Season 2. To allow that behavior to go unaddressed and excused would be
abuse apologist as I said.
Going back to the Vanya incident, for me, it’s not so much
that Luther made the very stupid choice to attack Vanya and lock her up, my
issue is more that Luther absolutely refuses to listen to any of his siblings opinions
on the matter and has no respect for any of them. He thought his opinion was
all that mattered and that he was above all of them, every single one of them wanting
Vanya out didn’t matter because their feelings and opinions simply don’t matter
to him when push comes to shove. Even Allison, who he claims to love more than
anyone in the world, even her Luther refuses to listen to and treats with such
abhorrent disrespect.
My heart broke seeing Allison who is already feeling so
powerless and traumatized by losing her voice and her power, and now the man
who claims to love her won’t even listen to her, won’t let her see her own damn
sister, and simply ushers her away like she’s a toddler and not a grown woman who
deserves respect and autonomy. Even if Luther thought Allison was in danger, whether
she chooses to endanger herself or not is not his choice to make. If Allison as
an adult wants to choose to interact with Vanya again, that’s her choice to
make and Luther has no right to physically intimidate her and stop her. And to add to that, Luther straight-up LIES to Allison’s
face and promises that he won’t hurt her sister, then does it anyways. That’s how
Luther treats even the person he loves the most, like she gets no opinion and no
rights the second he decides she doesn’t.
The apocalypse happened not because Luther made a stupid
mistake in a moment of panic and grief (which would be somewhat understandable), but because of his fundamental lack of
respect for everyone in his life which is shown throughout the first season; because he was so desperate for control that he undermined their autonomy and didn’t
listen to anything they said until he finally pushed one of them too far that she
snapped. That was not an accident, that was the direct consequence of Luther being a
habitual abuser. He can’t change that kind of behavior with one apology or scene,
Season 2 will have to unravel his entire character and make him face his own actions
head on to fix that. Which I really hope they do and I am excited to hopefully see
a real redemption arc for him.
So to say that a lot is going on is an understatement. If you haven’t figured it out by my profile picture I am not only a black woman but a black woman in America. I love that my generation is getting out there and protesting for what is right. We are truly making history by making our voices heard. I decided to make this post because I struggle with mental health and I know that some people may need the distraction so that’s why most of the things on this list are just mindless shows. It’s important to be informed but also it’s okay to step away from the phone and the news and take a break if you need one. So with that being said, I hope you guys enjoy the shows on this post. I hope everyone who’s out there protesting is being safe and is safe. All lives won’t matter until Black lives matter.
1. Siesta Key (Season 3)
Yeah I’m fucking trash. So what. The second half of season three looks like it’s going to be the messiest yet and I’m here for it. I just hope that one day Juliette realizes that she is way too hot to be messing around with someone who looks and acts like Alex.
Premiers June 16th on MTV and then airs every Tuesday at 8pm/7c
2. Dating Around (Season 2)
The awkward first date dating show is back and I’m so excited. There’s nothing better than watching two strangers try to flirt with each other. If you like dating shows this is truly the best streaming has to offer.
Premieres June 12th on Netflix
3. F Is For Family (Season 4)
The fourth season of one of the best animated Netflix originals is back and honestly we could all use the laughs right now! If you haven’t gotten into this get into it now.
Premieres June 12th on Netflix
4. Dark (Season 3)
The best show I have ever seen in my entire life is coming back for its third and final season and bittersweet is the only way to describe how I’m feeling about it. This is the best show that Netflix has ever made and I doubt you could find me a better one. The writing on Dark is phenomenal and I can’t wait to see how they end it all.
Premieres June 27th on Netlix
5. The Kissing Booth 2
My favorite Netflix original rom com is back with their second installment. If you know me or have followed this blog you know that I fucking STAN The Kissing Booth. It is the PERFECT amount of cheesy. The Kissing Booth is like a security blanket for me. It’s there when I’m happy, it’s there when I’m sad, and most importantly it’s there when I wanna see Jacob Elordi’s abs.
Premieres July 24th on Netflix
6. The Umbrella Academy (Season 2)
I’m not giving anything away because I want everyone to watch it but with a cliffhanger like that Season 2 may be the quickest binge ever.
Premieres July 31st on Netflix
7. Selling Sunset (Season 3)
If you love Bravo and HGTV (Tarek’s new girlfriend is actually in this) I highly suggest you get into this hunny. This reality show follows a real estate company run by two brothers whose workers are flawless Los Angeles boss babes. Come for the million dollar mansions, stay for queen Christine.
I feel you on most of that, but I sort of disagree with her causing as much harm as her siblings.
There’s a part in the comics where Pogo tells Vanya something along the lines of “No, you’re not like your siblings. You don’t need to destroy things to feel like a hero” (I’m paraphrasing bc my memory is shit, sorry).
I think her siblings grew up in a weird sort of environment where they were always competing with each other, and so they always want the upper-hand over everyone else. It isn’t enough to be doing well; you have to be doing better than everyone else in the room. It’s why Luther and Diego constantly fight over rank, why Diego goes after Allison’s success, why Five always has to remind everyone that he’s the smartest one.
Whereas I don’t see that with Vanya?? I think for Vanya she just wants to be on equal footing with her siblings. Writing the book wasn’t about winning the imaginary competition that the sibs have always fought; it was just her way of saying “Hey, I’m here! I exist!”
She never wanted to win. She just wanted to be in the race at all.
TLDR: I think the other sibs do more harm bc that’s what they were taught. They were taught that fighting is bravery, and compromising is settling. Those values were never instilled in Vanya, so she’s more apt to slow down and avoid a fight at all. Until, of course, she breaks mentally, and even then, it’s less deliberate and more like her powers/emotions exploding out of her.
That being said, my girl has definitely done her fair share of fuck ups, just like her sibs.
A/N: I big simp for diego tbh he’s my fave and im excited to see him again also tw: kidnapping? i think thats about as far as it goes. also i just finished writing this and realized i did a kidnapping not a break in but OOF
“What the hell are we supposed to do with her?” The skinnier masked man yelled, clearly upset at his associate. “She’s not a Hargreeves!”
At the moment, you were kidnapped. Or at least, that’s what you thought was going on. It only made sense, considering you had been grabbed right off the street and shoved in a van. And with all this talk about the Hargreeves? Your boyfriend, Diego, was probably the reason why.
“This is even better!” Yelled the man who had grabbed you, who was wearing bright yellow gloves. “She’s dating one of ‘em.” So they did know about you and Diego. You tried to move away from him, but the man grabbed you by your hair, pulling you back.
The masked man sighed, pinching the bridge between his nose. “Well, The Hargreeves are drowning in cash, so I guess we can still get something out of this.” While the two were discussing, you snuck out your phone and sent an emergency text to Diego, and then trying to send him what was going on.
Your phone was snatched out of your hands, quickly shut off by the masked man. “Shit. Well, we better get out. The bitch texted one of them.” He said, climbing into the front seat. “Tie her up.”
The other man began doing so, and as your struggled he kicked you until you stopped. Your side was throbbing from the pain, and you just silently prayed that Diego would find you.
———————-
They had taken you to an abandoned garage, and you had been there for a few hours. You weren’t sure how long it had been, but it had been a long time. The two that had kidnapped you along with a third member who met you at the garage were growing increasingly impatient.
“We should just kill her. They’ll catch us if we let her go.” The third man said, clearly the weakest link of the group, shakily pointing a gun at you. You were terrified, unable to speak at the sight of it.
The masked man shook his head. “She won’t get us any money dead.” He was right, but you didn’t want to think about it. You begged for them to keep you alive, but you weren’t sure that was even going to happen at this point. It didn’t seem like the third man was listening though.
Just as the third man was about to pull the trigger, a knife flew from out the entrance, pinning a corner of the man’s shirt to the wall. Diego rushed in with police officers following him, but Diego was making a beeline straight for you.
The officers quickly apprehended the criminals while Diego untied you and held you close. “I could’ve lost you. I’m sorry I couldn’t get here in time.” You weren’t expecting Diego to be so open with his emotions in front of you, but you were too happy to be back in his arms to care.
You held him tighter as well, whispering in his ear. “I’m just glad you’re back now.” You felt safe now, here in his arms. You almost didn’t want to leave despite what had happened, because you wanted to stay in his grasp.
Diego took you back to your apartment later, even staying the night to make sure you were okay. You two eventually ended up cuddling, and then falling asleep in each other’s arms.
You: y/n is the eighth member of the umbrella academy
Me, an intellectual: Preminger is the eighth member of the umbrella academy and his two henchmen are nine and ten. Their abilities are, respectively, being SO h
He has an Olympic gold medal in committing to his aesthetic. Every aspect of his life was customized. He made his kids wear uniforms so that the colors would go nicely with his house. King 🤩😳🙈⭐️
En el cine con Black Panther y en series como Watchmen, The Umbrella Academy y la próxima The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, reunimos a los superhéroes afroamericanos más célebres.
