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thinkin about how dirty tua does allison again. like her storyline in s1 revolved around being a sister to viktor, and in s2, around being a wife to ray and leader of the movement in the 60s. yes these things are important to her, but really, how much are we getting about allison being allison?
we only ever get to see allison at the end of a period of personal growth. s1 starts and she’s put rumoring behind her. s2 starts and she has a whole new life she built without her powers over a period of two years. why is it we can delve into themes of addiction with klaus and drugs, five and the apocalypse, hell, even diego and his hero complex, but only skim the surface of allison and her powers?
I mean!! think about it!! allison has the ability to make anyone do anything she wants! she’s relied on this her whole life, and only stopped using it recently as of s1, and yet the addiction allegory they expressly point out is five’s apocalypse fixation? like sure, I guess they’re kind of comparable, but I’d argue that allison forsaking something she used to use to make her life easier despite how much damage it did is way more like klaus’ drug problem than five obsessing over preventing the thing that ruined his life is!!
the only time she ever ‘loses control’ over her powers starts because someone else (ray) needs her to show them off and happens because she’s rightfully angry at the stadler’s guy -- if we’re expected to believe that allison built her whole life on rumors, why is it only this one big, accumulated thing that makes her snap when life is full of little inconveniences and indignities? does she seethe in line at the grocery store when the guy in front has like 40 items and moves at the speed of molasses? does she want to scream when they get her order wrong at the coffee shop? does she count backwards from ten every time a baby won’t stop crying in public? allison never had to learn to put up with small annoyances because her power made them something she could fix with a single sentence!
on top of that, how does she deal with the even bigger stuff? how can allison have the patience and humility and forgiveness of a saint when she’s spent her life getting what she wants when she wants, with no inbetweens? how does she harbor no resentment or fear towards viktor when her brother almost killed her? how did she learn to be okay with failure, with hurt, with less than perfection? how does she deal with the guilt of knowing she could solve the world’s problems but chooses not to because she can’t trust her own judgement anymore? how does she live with going from a borderline god to just another person?
and that’s just her relationship to her powers! do you ever think about how allison was the only girl in the umbrella academy? we see flashback after flashback of viktor being shunned by the family, but can you imagine being the natasha romanov of the team at age 13? you’re the only one who’s going to be marketed as a role model to girls! you’re the only one being asked about makeup and boys after killing people! you’re the only one wearing a skirt to an active crime scene! GOD, even when they show allison as a kid, it’s not about her, it’s about her relationship to luther!
allison is a character rich with potential, and sure, a lot of the things I pointed out could be explained away by other factors, but my point is that they just haven’t. allison is never allowed her own personal conflict that exists outside the realm of another character. there is no on-screen Allison equivalent to luther trying to find himself without a father figure, diego wanting to prove himself as a hero, klaus struggling with his powers, five solving the apocalypse, or viktor coming to terms with his abilities and childhood.
yes, every character deserves to be fleshed out more than they have been, but think about how much you know about each of the (living) hargreeves, think about how much of their neuroses and trauma and quirks you’ve seen, then think about how much you know of allison.
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A message to Trump supporters from someone who teaches AP US History:
“If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice.”
- Jim Golden”
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From someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP US History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated, "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement. So, for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about states' rights and not slavery.
A: "A state's right to what?" – John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So, if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently employ selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B. DuBois.
You learned about the Watts and LA Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth of slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states' rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice. – Jim Golden
1K notes
·
View notes
From someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice. - Jim Golden
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Hi I saw your requests open, would you do #13 and/or #35 five x reader pls? Tysm!!
warnings: language, angst, mentions of blood
* #13: “if you kill her, you kill me” & #35: “help her first” // taken from this prompt list
“I need help! God damnit, somebody get in here now!” Five shouts hoarsely, swallowing down the angry tears that threaten to spill over as he clutches your limp form to his chest. Crimson red stains your skin and seeps through the fabric of your shirt, and at this point Five can’t decide whether the blood that stains his uniform is his or your own. Your eyes begin to flutter and Five pales, gently patting your cheek with the tips of his fingers. “No, no, no, y/n, stay awake. Come on, you have to stay awake just a little bit longer. Shit. Where the hell is everybody?!”
“Five?” A voice calls, prompting the boy to whip around and face his siblings. The mere sight of him has them taking a step back, his frenzied wide eyes and blood stained clothes make him look like a wild animal who will bite anyone who steps near him or his beloved, and it isn’t until Luther steps forward that the others follow. “What the hell happened?!”
“Questions later, help her first,” Five demands before handing your frail body off to Luther. Your eyes are closed and your breathing is shallow and Five anxiously urges his brother to rush you off to Grace for treatment. He attempts to follow only for Allison’s gentle hand to rest upon his shoulder and hold him back.
“You need to be taken care of too, Five,” she says gently. “Look at all the blood on your clothes. Go change.”
“I’m not doing anything until I know she’s going to be okay,” he argues through clenched teeth. His shoulders are tense, but his eyes soften when he quietly utters, “It was my fault.”
“What happened?” Klaus asks gently, almost afraid of his brother lashing out if he raises his voice any louder. Five doesn’t reply, at least not right away, instead casting his eyes downward at the trail of blood, your blood, leading out the door that slowly seeps into the cracks of the tile floor
He had left you alone for a minute, a single minute, yet when he returned he was met with the sight of a gun pressed against your temple and a smiling Handler with her finger on the trigger.
“It really is so nice to see you again, Five,” she had grinned, cocking the pistol with a sense of giddiness despite your fearful whimpers. He tensed immediately, his brain already scrambling to calculate a way out of this where you came out unharmed. “You really didn’t think you could get rid of me that easily, did you?”
“Let her go.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” She scoffed with a smile. “You caused a lot of trouble for the Commission, for me. I can’t just let you get away with that. I mean, what kind of example would that set for the rest of them?”
“I’ll do whatever it is you want, just let her go,” Five pleaded almost desperately, and the Handler reveled in his newfound sense of vulnerability. Five had always been a tough nut to crack, so finding his one weakness was like opening up a sparkly present on Christmas morning.
“It’s going to take a lot more than that to convince me.”
“I’ll go back and work for you again. I’ll do all your dirty work just like I always have. But you have to let her go,” Five insistsed. “If you kill her, you kill me, and I won’t be of any use to you if I’m dead.”
“How sweet,” the Handler cooed mockingly. “You know, I never really painted you as the soft type.”
You gasped softly as she shoved you forward, a small sigh of annoyance leaving her lips at having to release you. It felt as if she had given up just a little too easily, but Five didn’t have time to think about it as he rushed to your side. No cuts or bruises marked your skin, but you were visibly shaken and an immeasurable guilt suffocated Five at the sight of you. You didn’t deserve this, just like he didn’t deserve you, not by a long shot.
“Let’s get you home,” Five uttered quietly, and the moment he turned his back to the Handler is the moment that everything seemed to fall apart.
The shot that rang throughout the air was deafening, and everything seemed to happen in slow motion as your body crumpled to the ground. A choked gasp pushed past your throat as you clutches at your stomach, crimson red staining your fingers as you slowly pulled your hand away before completely collapsing to the floor. Five’s cry of anguish was the only thing you could hear past the ringing in your ears, his figure dropping beside you before glancing up at the Handler through a red haze.
“I never would have made it that easy,” she smiled smugly. “A punishment has to fit the crime.”
Five didn’t make an attempt to argue nor did he even try to attack her; you were his main priority, and without another word he jumped back to the academy in search of help.
“I don’t want to talk about it,” Five murmurs gently, unaware of the worried glances his siblings share behind his back.
“Five...”
“Just get out of my way,” he finally snaps, shoving past Allison and Klaus as he makes his way to the infirmary. His heart is racing rapidly in his chest, thoughts running a mile a minute as he contemplates the countless outcomes of the situation. He refuses to believe you’ll die, he won’t let you. You can’t.
Five brushes away his tears in an impatient manner, stalking past the infirmary in favor of his own room where countless firearms lie waiting to be used.
There’s no use in crying over spilled milk. You’re going to be okay, he’s sure of it, so there’s no point moping around when action needs to be taken. The Handler is going to pay for what she’s done to you, and Five won’t rest until she’s good and dead.
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The Rewatch Academy: Episode 2 of Season 1
“Run Boy Run”
I am in no way a good analyst so my little analysis and speculations probably sound a bit goofy or pretty wild and probably mean nothing at all. Everything I put into this post about each episode is purely what I noticed or thought, whether it's funny or serious. I will be making jokes, so please just leave it at that (in no way am I trying to make fun of an actor and or character!) I am also in no way saying I noticed this stuff first. This is just what I noticed while rewatching these episodes
☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂
1x01 | 1x02 | 1x03 | 1x04
☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂ ☂
☂ Ben is a tired boy leaning on his chair
☂ Luther and Allison please stop making googly eyes at each other
☂ Five really woke up and chose violence that day huh
☂ Diego already knows shit is about to go down and it’s so funny
☂ I love that Reginald doesn’t even scold Five for stabbing the table
☂ Five: “I have a question.” blah blah blah Veggie is talking Five: “I want to time travel.” That’s not a question, Five
☂ It’s interesting to see young Five blinking/jumping compared to older Five. Even at this age, 13, he says that he’s still practicing his spatial jumps. Young Five needs to clench his fists and almost squeeze his eyes shut just to concentrate. Older Five simply just teleports without effort and is able to casually blink even as he’s just walking. Five probably practiced teleporting a lot in the apocalypse
☂ Someone else pointed this out, but all of the other Umbrellas are frozen for a for a second as Five teleports next to Reginald. While that freeze is just editing, and possibly a small error, this is another example of how Five’s spatial teleporting doesn’t make a noise. Luther, Diego, and Allison only look at Five when he begins talking to Reginald. Grace notices Five right away because he is in her line of sight while Luther and Diego were looking at where Five was sitting and Allison had her head down eating
☂ “The effects it might have on your body, even your mind, are far too unpredictable.” Harsh foreshadowing
☂ The “Run Boy Run” scene is one of the best musical moments in all of the show. It gave me chills when I first heard it, and the fact that all of the lyrics that play during that part match so perfectly with it make it even better. Tomorrow is another day being sung as Five travels into 2019 is just too good
☂ Imagine how scared you have to be to call out to your p.o.s father
☂ The instant regret immediately falls onto his face and he kneels in front of the Academy
☂ I love how in the first few episodes Five’s hair is styled exactly as it was when he was an old man and when he was actually 13. Over the rest of the season and the second season it just gets more disheveled and floppier
☂ “You think I didn’t try everything to get back to my family?” Ahhhh there we go, one of my favorite Five lines. This here is probably when I truly fell in love with his character. He spent 45 years just trying to survive and attempting to get back to his family. He would have spent more too if the Handler hadn’t taken him in
☂ Vanya is genuinely trying to understand what happened and Five was being a little asshole. C’mon, bud, she’s just confused and hasn’t seen you in forever
☂ This Five and Vanya scene melts my heart (simply as a sibling relationship!!) She doesn’t care anymore if she understands, she just wants him to stay because she hasn’t seen him in a while. Even Five understands that as his demeanor quickly changes from being frustrated to gently telling her “Night.” He watches her as she leaves, also partially realizing that he hasn’t seen her in a while too
☂ Why didn’t Five just teleport outside of Vanya’s apartment?? That would have been the stealthiest thing
☂ “All quick and efficient skills.” A little note on Five’s level of skill of slaughtering the Commission agents in Griddy’s
☂ Diego said he bought his police badge on Ebay, so computers do exist in the UA universe
☂ “By the way, this thing might look like a botched robbery, but my gut’s telling me something else is going on here.” Yeah, and that something else is your brother
☂ I want Claire to meet her uncles and aunt so bad
☂ So Ben has a ghostly puzzle book and pen he can use? Because if they were real Pogo would have been able to see them just floating in the air. What other ghostly items can Ben summon? (I believe this is more so just an error but it’s fun to think about)
☂ “I-I found it at a playground, actually. Must have just *click* popped out.” An underrated Five line
☂ Five immediately becomes aggressive at the thought of losing the eye, something he found clutched in the hand of his dead brother and was a clue to what caused the death of his siblings and the end of the world
☂ Just now noticed that you can see Diego up on the second floor being led down to where Patch is in the police station
☂ I really like that they added in the little tidbit about a cold case Five created 81 years ago
☂ I miss Patch. She deserved better and more screen time
☂ Hey, Diego might have been thrown out of the Police Academy but at least he’s still in The Umbrella Academy!
☂ Hearing Patch talk to Diego really made me realize that the Umbrellas weren’t even necessary for helping with crime. It was just Reginald’s way of training them
☂ Love the shot of Luther looking at Diego’s cross-stitch and the camera lining it up so it’s like he’s wearing the mask
☂ Five lying just to keep Vanya away and to continue on with his goal hurts. His goal is saving the world and his family, but I don’t think he actually took in what Vanya was saying to him or maybe he recognized the offer but shoved all of his feelings down. She was reaching out to actually get him some help and he lied to her to avoid that. Maybe he doesn’t care and is just blinded by his ultimate goal. Save the world and family first, then process your feelings and genuinely communicate with your siblings
☂ Don’t worry Klaus, I would have let you wear that outfit
☂ When Cha-Cha questions “Five” aka the poor tow truck guy, she asks him about “The London job in ‘66.” I believe she is referring to the Shepherd’s Bush murders where three policemen were murdered
☂ Hazel replying “Not from what I’ve heard.” when Cha-Cha asks if he thinks Five is a whimperer shows that Five definitely had a reputation in the Commission for probably being a cold and stoic guy
☂ Vanya is just trying to help, chill Allison 😭. You haven’t seen her in years, what do you know about her?
☂ Klaus would really slap his brother in the face to get drug money
☂ Another example of Five not making noise when he teleports is when he blinks into the taxi and Klaus didn’t notice that he had left until he turned to look where Five was. On the other hand though the taxi driver does jump as Five suddenly appears in the car. However, I believe that might be from the driver noticing Five in a mirror in the car
☂ I wonder what languages the Hargreeves siblings know. Vanya didn’t understand Leonard’s German. You think Reginald would have taught them multiple languages or maybe she forgot it if she was taught it
☂ I don’t know why but Luther just siting there and reading a book and almost getting hit by the knife is really funny to me
☂ Yeah Diego doesn’t have to prove his innocence, but it would have saved a lot of trouble
☂ Rewatching the scene with Leonard talking to Vanya about his father is just disturbing when you already know what happened to him and how he’s lying just to try to be more relatable
☂ I heard a rumor that smoking is bad for you ❌
☂ Vanya calling to make sure Allison is okay even though she hurt her makes me sad. She’s so nice and thoughtful
☂ The old man can’t even reunite with his wife before he gets hunted down
☂ The shot of Hazel and Cha-Cha putting on their masks in the dark with the music is 👌👌
☂ Again, Cha-Cha isn’t able to hear Five as he teleports next to her and slices her arm. She might not have noticed him though because he was very quick to attack her
☂ Five really went through all of that just to bring his wife home
☂ I think it’s an easily blocked out part because we already know what Allison has to say and it’s exciting, but Luther is apologizing about accusing Diego and causing issues amongst his siblings
☂ Five is just so defeated and emotionally tired that he doesn’t allow Luther to touch him. In fact, he very quickly and aggressively grabs Luther’s wrist. You can tell Five is a little out of it and I believe it was more so his subconscious stopping Luther. Five doesn’t want help, he’s going to carry the burden of figuring out who ended the world and killed his family as far as he can by himself
☂ “There’s nothing you can do. There’s nothing any of you can do.” Are such heavy lines. Five is so emotionally and mentally tired at the end of the day and he sounds like he’s about to breakdown. He’s replaying the moment he found his siblings’ corpses. They weren’t able to stop the person who ended the world. Luther is offering his help, but Five is denying it. Luther couldn’t stop the person who ended the world. None of his siblings were able to stop that person. He’s telling himself that they can’t help and he’s telling Luther and Allison that too. Five wants to be alone to figure out who this person is. His siblings can’t help him
☂ Five coming across the corpses of his siblings is just heartbreaking. He first stumbles across three adults lying in the rubble. One of them is holding an eye. He goes to shake the man in all black, having a tiny bit hope that miraculously he is still alive. He stumbles across another body only to back away with tears in his eyes as he spots the tattoo on the man’s arm and realizes who these people are
☂☂☂☂☂☂☂
Feel free to comment or reblog with things you have noticed too!
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I am not the author - The original post is from someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice.
- Jim Golden
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Markus Deserved Better from DBH
This ended up hella long but Markus deserved better from David Cage and I’m upset about it, ok?
Anybody who’s been involved or seen the Detroit: Become Human fandom knows that Connor is the most favorited by the voiced community, and he absolutely deserves the love he gets. He’s an intriguing character with a cute face, and the fandom has widely noted that. Kara is a widely loved character as well, just as she should be. We see so many raw emotions from Kara that make us relate and empathize with her, and she’s a strong willed person. Markus, however, isn't as widely appreciated. Don’t get me wrong, I know there are tons and tons of posts and art and writing and appreciation for him, but that pales in comparison to that of Connor or Kara. I’ve seen people blame this on “deep rooted racism” and all that lovely stuff, but there are a variety of reasons Markus doesn’t resonate with most as much as Kara or Connor, and why he deserved better from the creators. It makes the whole thing even weirder because Markus is the integral piece of the entire game.
Connor and Kara’s plot lines are obviously very important. Connor’s conflict in finding out who he is and what he wants to be is emotional, and him being a detective is crucial to his story. Connor’s end goal is to find Jericho, which is centered mainly around Markus’ story. Kara’s conflict in deciding to do what’s best for Alice, even if what she does isn’t “morally” correct, is also extremely emotional and really makes you evaluate what you would do for the ones you love, no matter how inherently “wrong” it is. Her being an Android and trying to take care of Alice and find Jericho to get to Canada are crucial to the story, and her end goal is centered mainly around Markus’ story as well.
Markus’ plot is the most important part of Detroit: Become Human. Without him, it would have taken another Android to finally decide to revolt, and given that he had to convince Jericho when he got there, it would have taken a decent amount of time. If Markus didn’t begin a revolution, Connor wouldn’t have ended up working towards finding Jericho because Androids would only have acted out individually with no name behind their cause, and widespread deviancy would be eradicated if someone else didn’t unite them all before they really started getting rid of deviants. Though Connor could have found deviancy without the revolution or Jericho, his character arc centers around witnessing his own people stand up for themselves and him deciding who he’s going to be. Connor without Markus would just be a detective doing cases on the very thing he’s never supposed to be and he’ll either remain a machine, or become a deviant and have to deal with that without a cause on his side.
Kara would probably still end up looking for Jericho with Alice because of the Android that shared information with her when they were looking for a place to stay the night, but she’d be greeted with pre-Markus Jericho that doesn’t do much but hide. She probably wouldn’t have made it to Canada or even the border if this happened.
This all means that all their stories—and plenty of other side characters’ stories—revolve around Markus, who he is, and what his existence means in the game. Now, this isn’t actually very obvious in the game. It doesn’t take deep thinking or any real situation assessment to realise exactly how crucial Markus is to the game and every character’s development, but it isn’t as clear as it should be. Markus should be the point the game revolves around because he’s why it exists—so why don’t we feel nearly as emotionally attached to him?
Well, we don’t get to see who Markus is. We see Markus speaking for a community as a whole, not really for himself. He puts himself in a position where most of what he says is said for Androids everywhere, and not necessarily his personal thoughts or aspirations. Yes, he wants to lead this revolution, but that’s his only characteristic he was given. Markus’ only purpose all the way throughout the entire game is the revolution. Of course, if you go the right route and choose the right things, you get one(1) possible love interest, but even that route is empty and bland of actual bonding or real insight to how Markus might be thinking or feeling. The only time we get to see Markus—and the thing that resonates within the people whose favorite character is Markus—is how he got to where he was. Connor is hesitant in his path of figuring out who he is against who he’s “supposed” to be. Kara is determined to take care of a child who hasn’t had the proper care. But Markus? Markus was the character who realised that nobody was going to stand up for him and that if he wanted protection, and rights, and thoughts, and to be independent he was going to have to do it himself. He stood up for himself when nobody could or would, and the people who realised that are the people who see exactly how valuable he is to the story and how much character he has inside of him that isn’t being shown to us throughout the rest of the game.
Connor and Kara have plenty of moments bonding with other people and expressing their thoughts or concerns. Connor has Hank, and they routinely interact in a way meant to make you connected to them both by sharing thoughts, ideas, and moments. Kara has Alice from the beginning, and it quickly develops our emotional connection to them both because they both need the other, and that is a strong, relatable emotional bond. Eventually Kara gets Luther who allows for more of Kara’s thoughts to be shown rather than just her emotions, as well as Luther’s, which give us an emotional connection to both of them. But Markus doesn’t really have those moments. Yes, he has Josh, North, and Simon, but the only talks they really had were about the revolution and Jericho’s decisions as a whole. There were so little scenes showing Markus connecting with others in a more intimate way than just recruiting them or speaking to Jericho as a whole, and they were pretty late into the game when we’d all already fallen in love with these other Characters.
It’s poor writing to only begin connecting the player to the main piece of why the story’s happening near the end of the entire game. There was time for more, in general, from Markus.
Plus—and this one really irks me as a music fan in general—his theme was a crime. I watched a playthrough before I ever played the game, and one of the first things I noted was the intensity of Connor’s theme. You all know it, and it is so packed with emotion that you can feel without having to know anything about the game. Nima Fakhrara, the composer of Connor’s theme, put so much of Connor’s conflict and internal struggles into that piece, and perfectly captivated the duality of human and machine within him. Listen to it if you haven’t taken the time, it’s 8 minutes and 54 seconds of an absolutely beautiful composition. Kara’s theme moves me every time as well. Philip Sheppard, the composer of Kara’s theme, also put so much emotion into hers. The push and pull of the intensity captivates Kara’s situation so well. Her theme feels much more raw than Connor’s, by the nature of her character. Also listen to that if you haven’t, 6 minutes and 55 seconds of another absolutely beautiful composition. Markus’ theme, in comparison to Kara and Connor’s, feels so empty. It’s fitting only because of the lack of emotional value they put into Markus, and feels almost like ambiance music. You can’t feel the emotions Markus has within the piece, because we see so little of who he is. Not only that, his theme is a staggering 3 minutes and 2 seconds long. And, I believe John Paesano, the composer of Markus’ theme, is not the reason behind this lack of emotion. John Paesano also composed Marvel’s Spider Man main theme, and noted that he wanted to make the theme “more emotional and introspective.” The Spider Man main theme is also as short as Markus’ but most would argue still has a lot more emotion. There is no guarantee it wasn’t just a different artist’s take, but I believe John Paesano could have easily made a much more emotional theme for a character who actually had more emotions and personality to base the theme off of.
Markus’ lack of emotional development, his disconnect from the player because he only speaks as a whole and the game never shows him speaking for himself or his mind, and the lack of emotion in his theme compared to such emotionally driven themes makes Markus feel unimportant and much more distant from the player.
There were so many things David Cage could have done to make Markus feel as important as he is, but he lacked so much of what the other characters were given. I understand that what he was doing as a character didn’t provide as many opportunities as Kara or Connor to really show who he is to the player, but there was room for a more emotional Markus. He’s my favorite character in the game solely because he got up and did what no one else could or would do for himself, and if I—and many others—can fall in love with a character based on their only real emotional action, can you imagine the amount of people who’d fall in love with the rest of his missing personality?
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Accompanist | Vanya Hargreeves and Reader (Oneshot)
Prompt: De-Aging
Fandom: The Umbrella Academy
Words: 1784
A/N: This doesn’t follow any particular storyline. I figure that since there’s always something going wrong when there’s time travel, I’m sure something like this would happen.
-
It had been months since the Hargreeves siblings had time travelled to fix yet another impending doom. Vanya told you to stay at the Academy with Grace and Pogo where you’d be safe, promising to come back to you as soon as she can.
During that time of waiting, you explored the large Umbrella Academy, looking for any secrets that Reginald Hargreeves might have kept within the walls and within his study. Pogo was gracious enough to give you access to the surveillance tapes, knowing that he could trust you. It was odd to have cameras around the house to monitor your own children, but Reginald was not even human, you knew that much.
Vanya was usually alone when she was growing up, and it worsened when Five disappeared and Ben passed. She would be by herself with only her violin to keep her company. Watching those tapes made every fiber in your being want to climb through the screen to meet younger Vanya and even younger Klaus and hug them and tell them everything was going to be okay. The others seemed to be deep in their own little world to care.
You were helping Grace dust off the railings of the stairways when you heard a strange noise, followed by a few thuds and groans. Grace’s eyes widened before she practically floated down the stairs to the room with the fireplace. You followed close behind and saw Five dusting himself off. He looked down at his siblings and cursed.
“No, damn it!” he shouted.
The others slowly stood up, clutching their heads and looked around. The first thing you noticed was that they were shorter, about Five’s height, which is saying a lot for Luther. Second, they were visibly younger. And third…
“Who the hell is that?” Diego pulled out a knife and pointed it at you.
“No, no, no,” Five muttered, standing between you and Diego.
“Oh, my god, Five!” Allison said. “Look, he’s back!”
“Where the hell have you been?” Luther demanded, stepping forward. Suddenly all the siblings except Vanya and Five were talking over each other, trying to find out what’s happening.
“Oh, dear,” Grace muttered in front of you, “Shall I make pancakes?”
-
“Okay, let’s go through this one more time,” FIve pressed, standing at the front of the table, his siblings sitting around with a plate of pancakes in front of them. “Questions will have to wait until I’m done. I’m looking at you, Luther and DIego. Now-”
Klaus raised his hand. “Are you going to explain why there’s a stranger in our house?”
Five squeezed his eyes shut, fists clenched tightly at his side. You looked over at Vanya who had been quiet the entire time. She was starting at Five in worry before sensing your eyes on her. You offered her a soft smile before turning your attention back to Five.
He went on to explain what happened when he time travelled, omitting a lot of information, given that not only were his siblings in their younger form like he was, but their minds also reverted back to when they were thirteen. You quietly ate your pancake and you could see Klaud shoving them in his mouth and occasionally muttering to the air over his shoulder.
Five finally reached the point where a crisis had occurred and could only be stopped if they went back in time. While they had fixed the problem, there were slight miscalculations travelling back.
Klaus raised his hand again. “That doesn’t explain the stranger eating pancakes with us,” he said.
All eyes turned to you midbite. You placed down your fork and straightened your back. “I am… Vanya’s friend,” you said.
Diego snorted, making Allison elbow him. Klaus seemed to accept this, looking almost happy for his sister for having a friend. Luther paid no mind to any of this, leaning forward towards you with a glare. You were unfazed by this, taking another bite of your pancake.
“I don’t know what your game is, but when Dad gets back-”
“Who cared about dad,” Diego interrupted him.
Luther whipped his head around and looked at him as if he said the most ridiculous thing. They both pushed their chairs back and squared each other up with Allison rolling her eyes between them. She pushed their shoulders down, hoping that they’d drop it.
“I heard a rumor,” Allison said, “that the two of you sat your asses down and be quiet.”
They slammed themselves down on their chairs, opening their mouths but no sound came out.
Five sighed. “Thank you, Allison. Now, until I figure out how to fix this, we will just have to stay put in here. Meaning no sneaking out to fight crime or to get any donuts, alright?”
Luther frowned, wanting to ask him who made him in charge. Five simply shook his head, feeling a migraine forming. Was it possible to grow gray hairs when you’re in a teenager’s body?
Pogo walked in and stood next to Five. “Five is right,” he said, “It would do no good gallivanting out before this problem is fixed.”
They all looked at each other and sighed. Once Five and Pogo agreed on some ground rules, the others got up and left to busy themselves around the house. Vanya was the last one to leave, her eyes lingering on you before turning to Five.
“Did you ever find the peanut butter and marshmallow sandwiches I left for you?” she asked softly.
Five sighed, his expression softened. “No, I’m sorry. But, there was not a day that went by that I never thought of those peanut butter marshmallow sandwiches. In fact, I could go for one now.”
Vanya smiled. You nodded at Five and left them to their sandwich making. Pogo followed you out until you reached the grand stairs.
“We need to keep a close eye on her,” he whispered.
“I know why you’re saying this, but she wouldn’t be much of a perceived danger if everyone had given her the love and attention that she deserved. All of them would have progressed so much more if there was positive reinforcement instead of needless competition and isolation.”
Pogo nodded at this. “You’re right, and I was foolish in keeping silent. Just let me know when you need any help.”
“I will.”
-
You were reading through books that could help Five reverse the effects of their recent time travel when you heard a clatter in front of you. Vanya froze, her violin case clutched close to her chest. You bookmarked your place and set the book down.
“I’m sorry,” you said, “Is this where you usually practice?”
She nodded.
“Would you mind… if I listen a little? You can say no, I just wanted to hear you play. I play the piano, you see.”
“You said you were my friend… in the future,” she said.
“Yes, I am. Sometimes I’d accompany you with my piano when you play. You’re an amazing musician.”
She tucked her chin in, looking down in embarrassment. You slowly stood up and stepped to the side. Before you could walk out, she grabbed your wrist.
“Can you tell me how we became friends?”
You smiled. “Sure.”
-
You had the routine of playing music with Vanya in between helping Five and bouncing ideas with him. After a while, the others would sit and listen while you and Vanya played. You bet that this was the first time they had actually sat down and paid attention to her music. Klaus had his eyes closed while he sat back while Allison watched, memorized. Diego was surprisingly quiet, gradually being less restless and stopped to appreciate it, though he knew that Luther wasn’t going to relax.
“Thank you,” Vanya said as she was cleaning her violin.
“For what?” you asked.
“For playing music with me. It’s… nice. Being the ordinary sister of six superheroes can be lonely. I started playing the violin to have something of my own that I could be good at, but they still never spared me a glance until now.”
You smiled, leaning forward to gently squeeze her hand. “Vanny, you are extraordinary, you know that?” She shook her head. “You are. You don’t need superpowers to be amazing. Even a normal person can make a big difference. You don’t realize how much power you have in you.”
“You’re too nice. You’re lying.”
“I’m your best friend, Vanny. I only speak the truth.”
Vanya wanted to take a break from playing, so you went around the house to check on everyone. You could always check the surveillance cameras, but they were too invasive and too impersonal.
Walking past some of the rooms, you smelled the burning of a particular plant down the hall. You knocked on Klaus’s room before opening the door. Klaus was furiously stubbing out his joint and knocked it down, kicking it under the bed.
“And what do I owe the pleasure?” Klaus asked with a cheeky smile.
You wanted to give him a speech that drugs won’t help him, and would only make it worse, but you had a feeling he knew. The memories of being locked up in the mausoleum were too strong to ignore. He needed something else to focus on and pour his energy into.
“Wanna learn the piano?”
The next thing you knew, you were teaching Klaus piano, Diego guitar, and Allison singing. It was the first time in a while that you’ve seen them so relaxed. Pogo had approved your decision of shifting their focus on other activities separate from their training while Grace would praise them for their quick learning and mastery. The expansive Academy was finally filled with music.
-
Once Five figured out the right formula to revert them back to normal, he gathered everyone into the living room with the fireplace. They all stood in a circle holding hands.
“Now, everyone needs to hold still and concentrate, alright?” Five said, slowly building up his power. When he saw that his siblings were ready, his power spread around the circle, engulfing them in a translucent blue aura.
The energy rustled any surrounding loose objects. The lights began to flicker as their bodies began to shift. They began to grow into their adult bodies, their faces morphing into mature features. Five stopped, pulling back and touching his face. He remained the same, but at least everyone else seemed to return to normal.
“(Y/n/n),” Vanya sighed, walking straight to you and hugged you tightly. “I’m sorry it took so long.”
“No, it’s okay.”
“Thank you for the way you treated her. Young Vanya,” she whispered.
“Of course, Vanny. My piano doesn’t sound right without your violin.”
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tua rewatch with the roommate
Episode five
Oh fuck the “I found you. all your bodies.” scene
“We died?” “Horribly.” throwback to the ben convo o o f
“If perfectly arranged under rubble and otherwise unharmed counts as ‘horribly”’ - roommate
I like that Diego says he’s going to kill Hazel and Cha-Cha like it’s a challenge?? lol five doesn’t care if they live or die he only cares if u do you big dumbass
“Well I know none of the main characters die bc there’s a season 2... and i’m pretty sure they’re all in s2... like all of the family?”
I mean luther is kind of valid for being frustrated that five didn’t share about the apocalypse but also like,,, the first person five told about it (Vanya) suggested he might be insane. so. i can understand some reluctance on his part on top of the whole “the last time my siblings fought this the Whole World Died Including Them i would like them as far away from apocalypse stuff as possible”
okay okay so five says “they turned me into the perfect instrument” so do y’all think that implies experimentation like in the comics or ????
all i can think about during the kennedy scene though is my high school history teacher. he went over the assassination in intimate detail and i’m pretty sure he was writing a book about it and everything. mr. hansen if you’re out there -
i like feral beard five more than mustache five tbh if i’m picking
“Someone ELSE shot the president? Was he supposed to shoot kennedy or was he supposed to kill the person who shot kennedy?” - Roommate
love that five tells luther to grow up over murder,,, though to be valid pretty sure they did actually murder people as kids SO. grow down?
fuck i love mary,, will you love me like you loved me in the january rain??? just shoot me in the heart
GOD rob is such a good actor
“wait a second... how is he wearing pants?” oh roommate you have a big storm coming
i have some serious questions about the commission and their methods of communication. where do?? the tubes come from? where do they go after?
Allison: i have a bad feeling [about leonard]
where are these instincts for everything else tho??? her marriage?
“Vanya. she really is trying to look out for you. i really would trust her. you could invite her to come along so she can see he’s perfectly fine??” - Roommate, whose instincts regarding not trusting leonard-harold are spot on
apparently my roommate knows people who put salt in their coffee. i have. so many questions.
“That’s suspicious?? that’s suspicious right?? did he do that? is he a secret serial killer? is he a FUCKING secret serial killer?” roommate when they talk about helen cho going missing
“What do you mean stop showing up it’s been like. a day” - I mean. the roommate has a point.
Klaus’s depression bath is a mood :(
did klaus put eye shadow on before his bath or did he get his hands on eye shadow in vietnam?? the questions that will never be answered
Five is so enthusiastic about having someone who understands... he doesn’t even notice absolutely Not Being In The Mood,, klaus is grieving and five is just like !!! where did you go!!!! like it was a vacation
klaus: yeah i’m ten months older now. when i’m done being depressed i will lord that over diego for the rest of our natural lives.
does five write in all caps all the time?? why?
roommate: I wonder what the upper size limit on the knives her can use. like is it machete length? forearm length? what are the limits on his powers. if he sharpened a very sharp mechanical pencil could he use it? if he sharpened a piece of the chandelier? at what point does something become a knife?
me: could he hurl mia (my cat)? mia and her knife feet?
allison also writes in all caps to write leonard’s address
we stan agnes and hazel in this household
“I never said we didn’t !! i just thought she was just a random extra in the first episode and every time we cut away i think that’s the last we’ve seen of her” - roommate because i keep saying that this is an agnes stan household
“OH THERE’S THE PATCHWORK COAT i was afraid it didn’t come back” - okay though good question he definitely didn’t have the coat on the bus. what is it with klaus and his magically appearing coat????
oh :( oh klaus :( every time klaus is sad i am also sad :(
honestly a family conversation IS the threat in this family
god though this random vet in this bar is actually an asshole though like. klaus doesn’t owe him shit. klaus served. he’s clearly having a moment with the photo. that could have been a family member or something who died i don’t even know
agnes: i’m a twitcher :)
“like a twitch streamer?” -Roommate
PLEASE give me twitch streamer!Agnes au
look i just enjoy hazel and agnes
roommate: honey you’re too young for her
me: NO DON’T BE MEAN TO THEM,,, agnes deserves a boytoy
“does diego drive a manual?” my roommate once again focusing on things that i do not
five: i have to find the people whose deaths could save the timeline
my roommate: is it agnes?? is he going to kill agnes????
i’m still laughing about that fact that luther is holding dolores.... over the fire escape... she couldn’t drop that far lads
luther’s dumb sometimes but he does have some nice heart to hearts with his brother,,,, honestly he and five get along pretty well in the early episodes. kindred spirits. body dysmorphia and isolation squad.
my roommate has to keep remembering social media doesn’t exist in this universe
i am still confused as to why
that won’t stop me from giving everyone iphones and youtube accounts in my aus though
diego can curve ANYTHING he throws, usually knives, according to cha-cha’s research. but that doesn’t explain the spoilers i have seen about s2 sO
Klaus: You also told me that licking a nine volt battery would give me pubes
HOW DID I FORGET THAT LINE
oh diego got a bullet graze forgot about that as well?? does he ever get like. medical attention for that? diego?????
it really has been like. maybe two days since helen cho died. is no one??? concerned????? they just immediately jump into replacing her??????????????????? hellO?
“very clear camera angles to show that this actress did not actually play the violin for this role” - i mean that’s fair but ellen is trying rip
me: who’s your favorite character so far?
roommate: that’s a tricky question. klaus is very entertaining to watch. allison is the most reasonable and i’m very interested to know, well, she seems like the best combination of reasonable and has the least selfish intentions. diego and luther i feel like are both good in a bland way in that they’re both doing good in the best way they can which usually involves punching people. five is fun. five is very fun. five is as fun to watch as klaus, they’re both very fun actors to watch on screen. they’re more expressive than diego and luther tend to be.
me: so which is your favorite?????
roommate: first instinct says allison, though she probably has the least dynamic or interesting arc so far
are hazel and cha-cha the best because their victims never see them coming?? like. they aren’t really THAT competent.
“I do LOVE the aesthetic of an ice cream truck playing ride of the valkyries” - my roommate is valid
“LOVE the hypersaturated background in this scene. it’s more fun that having it be desaturated.”
five looks so baby in this scene with the handler :(
still unsure where five got that handgun but i’m vibing
hate when she touches his face !! awful!!!
the handler’s little “all of them??” like yeAH ALL OF THEM even though they irritate the living FUCK out of each other. siblings man
ben gets shotgun for the getaway !!! go ben!
“I’m starting to think... given how space and reality seemed to be warping during her playing... that her medication... isn’t for anxiety...” - oh, oh roommate
ah i blocked out the leonard vanya make out as well
“DIDN’T YOU MEET HIM TWO DAYS AGO?” - yeah i feel u roommate
yup there’s helen’s body
“CSI call crime scene investigation - that’s going to start to smell real soon”
pogo: and you understand that the children can never know
me: actually pogo fuck you
and that’s episode 5 everyone thank you and goodnight
episode six
i do love a good flashback to klaus
klaus: sees a shirtless soldier and instantly falls in love
they don’T EVEN QUESTION HIM just “KATZ GET THIS MAN A PAIR OF PANTS” and they go with it?? he just APPEARED and they don’t even care
klaus was really just vibing in the 60s huh
wait this is like 1962 or 63 right
when does s2 take place?? also the 60s right???
didn’t kennedy die in 1963 i feel like what i know about s2 contradicts that date but i could have sworn they said a round trip to 1963??????
luther is SUCH A MOOD in the family briefing.
“aww he’s a bad liar” - roommate
“I realize that [the umbrella] was necessary for the title drop but where the fuck did that come from”
@ the handler please stop touching five,,, but also five has such. non reactions to her touching him. which worries me. like she grabs his shoulder walking alongside him and he doesn’t even look at her
why are there gas masks in the briefcase room...
can you IMAGINE if your boss toted a child into the room and introduced him as the Legendary Time Travelling Assassin that the whole office had a betting pool over who would die that one time and is Definitely approaching 60 not 13... and then called him LEADERSHIP MATERIAL. implying that this child will probably get a promotion before you do?? can you IMAGINE?
“again... two days ago...” roommate about leonard and vanya
vanya really chose literally just the worst time to come back to the academy huh
okay but vanya going off?? valid, but also,, i mean. it IS their dads fault that they don’t have any relationship with vanya?
luther: it’s about the moon
roommate: critical role moon theory
hey like. how did the family get together in the first timeline holy fuck. it’s hard enough to get them together when they Literally Know The World Is Going To End
so remember diego getting grazed with a bullet yeah well he has a sling on now which makes sense!! and yet. when five got grazed by a bullet he SLAPS A BANDAID ON IT. someone please address this.
five is such an asshole coworker i love it
i wonder if dot is a mother. or just a nice coworker. she keeps trying to talk to him and invite him to lunch aww
i wonder if it’s purposeful on the handler’s part to call him “mr. five” instead of “mr. hargreeves” to like... further isolate him from his family? by removing his last name they’re sort of removing his ties to his siblings considering it’s not like they’re related by blood
forgot how much i hate the bathroom scene !! wow !! hate it so much!!! there’s so many violations of social etiquette in such a short scene! it’s so deeply uncomfortable!
luther: stop it pogo! you know everything our dad did
i am remembering once again how much i hate pogo all over again!! reginald literally locked klaus in a mausoleum!! he abused the kids! pogo didn’t even speak up about sending luther to the MOON,,, oh luther :(
he just learned his dad exiled him for no reason he has lots of rights his entire world view was just shattered wow i am like infinitely more sympathetic to luther on the second watch
“I knew allison and luther was a thing. you told me allison and luther was a weird thing. still not a fan.” - my very valid roommate
they could have made the fort so much more sibling-y instead of romantic and it would have been so much better honestly
oh dave :(
“I wonder who her primary care physician is and if she can find out what that medication was...” roommate i wish i knew
“I’m trying to decide if he knew ahead to time to try and get at her specifically or like... i don’t know when he took the figurine I was like ‘doesn’t he own an antique shop is he there to steal antiques from the family home’.” roommate on leonard
forgot the handler gifted five a suit. also don’t like that. don’t like her talk about his body and everything either.
“is it too much to ask to give him two outfits? one he can wear now and one with the new body?” - roommate
honestly with hazel’s talk on budget cuts i’m not surprised he only gets one suit
STOP TOUCHING HIS FACE,,,, HANDLER. STOP TOUCHING HIS FACE
five and his sweet tooth. don’t take the candy five. come on. what did your father TEACH YOU. honestly reggie probably was like “let them get kidnapped it will probably teach them a life lesson”
“there were like... villages that needed rebuilding after disasters. he could have been sending these packages to legit lunar research facilities. legit facilities would have adored to have that information.”
okay but people KNEW he was on the moon. cha-cha mentioned it. it was in vanya’s book. why were scientists not knocking down reginald’s door demanding the research??? if i was a moon scientist i would have the mansion staked out trying to demand info jesus
“love his eye fluttering in the way of ‘oh shit i got something in my eye i can’t break character scene is still going scene is stILL GOING’“ - hilarious observations from the allison luther fort scene 2.0: grown up version that gets erased
did they just leave the fort up all those years. did no one USE the green house??? did grace lovingly work around it all that time?
oh :( dave :(
grace is capable of lying and pogo is a shadowy motherfucker
“okay now that they’re actually putting it into the plot i understand why you don’t think he’s trustworthy but you really got on my back about that”
in my defense i just hate him tbh i did not like him when he first showed up and i never particularly liked him tbh
allison: i think you’re the only person who knows who i am and likes me anyway
me, remembering the theory that allison rumored luther to love her: HMMMMMM
okay but i think the luther and allison dance scene is fucking HILARIOUS. absolutely ridiculous. i mean i hate that it’s incest but also the fucking LIGHTS DESCENDING. the RANDOM WARDROBE CHANGE.
roommate likes the green underskirt thing under allison’s random dance dress
are they just doing this in public???
ugh. the kiss. ugh. erased that from my memory as well
“they clearly want romance in this show but they painted themselves into a corner with the siblings thing” - roommate
five and his fucking STAPLERS isn’t this the second time he’s knocked someone out with a stapler?? the bank robber and now gloria??
five please your siblings were finally doing some decent work on their own issues :/
five is the kind of dramatic as fuck entrances
“love how he just grabs [allison’s] coffee. kid needs a coffee after all that.” - roommate
five actually does a good job of rallying the siblings though?? they just broke the fuck up in the og timeline
“something tells me that harold jenkins might be leonard”
oh roommate
episode seven
uh oh harold was born
i feel vaguely bad for him
“me the night before a convention” - roommate on harold’s tape and cosplay and everything
okay but how did reginald even KNOW harold jenkins had no powers?? did he? keep tabs on all the forty some kids not just the seven he kept?
but also why the fuck are these people laughing at An Actual Child fuck all of them honestly
“did HE kill hargreeves?? I mean. he’s got motive.” - roommate
harold really said “i think my superpower is actually this hammer motherfucker”
how did he get twelve years?? was he tried as an adult?? was he in juvie? how old WAS he
twelve years ago... they’re 29 soooo seventeen? he did NOT look seventeen? he was NOT seventeen in that flashback what???
roommate theorizes that harold ran off after the murder and committed petty crimes until caught and tried for murder when he was seventeen so was maybe 13 in the flashback
okay so i looked up the timeline and he got out in 2014 or something so he was like 13 in the flashback which makes SO much more sense honestly but also what the FUCK was he doing for five years
“he’s actually laying out all the facts as he knows them and I appreciate that.” -roommate about five briefing the team
five?? the only member of the family with communication skills? it’s? somehow more likely than you think?
“allison’s pants that she’s wearing now are the most perfectly tailored things i’ve ever seen. not even a wrinkle when she’s standing still. do you know how hard that is to do?” again my roommate noticing the things i absolutely do not
five. five. you have a GUT WOUND and also jumped a BUNCH OF TIMES. you are not blinking into the police station and getting the file. you need some SLEEP. and REST. and WOUND CARE FIVE FOR FUCK’S SAKE. you still have a GUNSHOT GRAZE on your upper arm and a SLICE on your wrist from DIGGING OUT A TRACKER. FIVE.
diego wants to be batman SO BAD.
five crossing his arms and Not Uncrossing Them because he’s literally HOLDING HIMSELF TOGETHER.
wow luther is really handling this so much worse in this timeline rip
luther is losing validity points for CHOKING KLAUS i knew this happened but i didn’t remember how awful it was !!! bad and terrible! and luther is very drunk and very sad and very angry. oh. he’s saying he never left the house and never had friends for nothing :(
klaus had the realization that reggie was an asshole YEARS ago and he’s just kind of like “aww. luther :(”
klaus is trying so hard
“Klaus has had the most heart to hearts with the most siblings honestly.” - roommate
allison at the beginning making her laugh in the office with the EYES, five on the steps of meritech, diego after the vet bar, luther on the couch...
wow cha cha really thought hazel was talking about how meaningful his partnership was with her when he was talking about agNES
five limping up the lawn and staggering up the stairs and clinging to the rails baBY SIT DOWN. YOU ARE BLEEDING.
“inspiring leadership” “one of the greats” what a sibling moment honestly.
five really said “i think i will pass the fuck out now”
five really said “hey i am literally willing to die for this mission because this mission is the safety and lives of my entire family and i love you guys :(”
except he doesn’t because five is decent at information sharing but getting feelings out of him feels like pulling teeth at times smh
is leonard trying to vicariously live his “normal child born on the umbrella academy day discovers they have had powers the WHOLE TIME” dream through vanya??
we yell about how leonard and vanya have known each other for like a week but i mean same for hazel and agnes!! he’s literally asking her to run away with him and she says yes !!!!! agnes is here for the romantic adventure with this man she’s really living her first hot girl summer and living for it
“she’s having her own little rom com! she thinks she’s living in a rom com not a dark sci fi!” - roommate accurate as usual
she just called ben the emotional support ghost and i mean... she ain’t wrong
honestly klaus should have just left luther to his rave, he didn’t get to party in his teens or during his college years or anything
i do appreciate the viking yell of “B R O T H E R” that luther greets klaus with though because that’s exactly how i greet my own siblings whenever i see them
oh klaus :(
oh klaus :(
he’s having war flashbacks, cravings, is in withdrawal, AND experiencing sensory overload while reliving one of the more traumatizing moment of his life
oh klaus :(
five in a bed for the second time of the season which is nice for him. if only the first time wasn’t because he passed out drunk and the second time wasn’t because of a whole shrapnel wound. i am now that captain of the Let Five Sleep brigade holy SHIT like at least they imply that the others sleep five is just feral and ready to go at all times
are the police allowed to just. remove someone’s arm sling? is that permitted? his arm could be fucked up? i mean. it is? he was shot?
“I saw everything my brothers and sister could do ruin their lives” VANYA some REALIZATION up in here,,,, admitting that the umbrella academy wasn’t exactly a desirable place to be is actually some real growth for her and leonard just fucking shuts her down? fuck that man
VANYA SEE THE RED FLAGS FOR WHAT THEY ARE COME ON
oh klaus :( oh luther :( oh :(
“love his corset side pants, like benedict from violet evergarden” - on the topic of Klaus’s pants
“I made everyone else so I must have made you” says god except for the fact that the kids just... surprise popped up instead of coming about the natural way. maybe god DIDN’T made them????????
oh klaus :( prepare for disappointment :(
oh i didn’t notice the photos of the umbrella academy in the barbershop the first time i watched this
so klaus gives an age for the mausoleum... thirteen... do you think that was before or after five left? statistically it’s probably after bc it was only a couple of months after they turned thirteen that five vanished
Klaus’s “we were just kids” breaks my heart every time
if i was one of reggie’s kids i would have just not gone to the funeral. rip to the hargreeves kids but i’m different
he doesn’t even call klaus klaus in death, he still calls klaus number four. fuck that man.
“i was gonna say i’d have been very very surprised if they kept him dead” - roommate on klaus waking up
“Five bucks says he set these guys up to try and get something out of her” - the roommate being very perceptive
cha cha is VERY rude to my girl agnes
honestly why DIDN’T hazel just kill cha cha after her whole speech and threats about killing agnes slowly in front of him???? like he literally watched her try to kill him as well
why wasn’t diego arrested in the original day that wasn’t actually?? he was being considered already. he still left the house, albeit with grace instead of allison. why wasn’t he arrested then????????
roommate thinks it’s interesting how committed the show is to their old timey shit. she used a nicer words like anachronisms but the point is: w h y
are these episodes even longer than i remember?? holy SHIT
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I love your work sm ;_; For the Tua ficlet, ❛ Promise me you’re not gonna over-react. ❜ or ❛ What are you, trying to give me a heart attack? ❜ whichever you like!
There was something particularly irritating about the fact that despite having successfully committed an axe-massacre without getting so much as a scratch, it was being tackled off a table by an overcommitted receptionist that got Five injured.
It wasn’t anything bad, just a cut from a shattered water glass that was deep enough to need stitches. Five had slapped a compress on it when he first got back to stop the bleeding. Then he’d prioritized organizing his siblings and finding Vanya. But now that he’d passed on the instructions, there was no reason for Five to not tend to the injury before they left. He still had about twenty minutes before the deadline, after all. It so happened Elliot had the supplies Five needed, though he’d had to do a small amount of digging through the dead man’s belongings to find the sewing kit.
Five stood in the bathroom of the apartment, trying to stitch the wound closed as he used the mirror to guide himself. Gritting his teeth, Five pulled the thread through his skin, closing a little bit more of the wound. He was focused so intently on the stitching, trying to ignore the stinging pain, that he didn’t hear the sound of approaching footsteps until it was too late.
“Five?”
Five jumped, almost stabbing himself with the needle, and then sighed when he turned and laid eyes on Luther. His brother was hovering in the doorway, staring at Five with a look of widening horror.
“What are you, trying to give me a heart attack?” Five said in annoyance, before he turned back to the mirror to line up the next stitch.
He really needed to work on his situational awareness if even Luther could sneak up on him. At this rate, missing a threat was going to get him killed.
“What happened? Are you okay?” Luther said as he took a step inside, his expression worried. “How did you get hurt?”
“Does it matter?” Five said, distracted as he poked the needle through his skin again.
“Of course it matters, Five.” Luther said, in that annoying ‘I know I’m right’ voice. “Were you in some sort of fight? Is that why you showed up covered in blood?”
“Eh,” Five resisted the urge to shrug. “Fight is a strong word for what happened.”
Five ignored the burst of warmth inside of him at Luther’s words. Of course it matters. Five matters.
“Do you want some help with that?” Luther said.
“I’m fine,” Five said, pulling another stitch closed. “It’s nothing I haven’t done before.”
Five was almost done anyway. He’d stitched himself up just fine a week ago, it wasn’t much trouble to do it again.
“Right,” Luther sighed. “So... what happened?”
“Did you get Allison?” Five hid a wince as he passed the needle through his skin again
Luther frowned. “Yes, I told her, she’s saying goodbye to her husband right now.”
“Good,” Five replied, pausing to glance at his watch. Thirteen more minutes, that was enough time to finish and get downstairs.
“Five,” Luther said, insistent. “What happened to you?”
Five sighed, realising Luther was just going to keep badgering him until he explained. It was his fault for not closing the bathroom door and letting himself get cornered. He pulled the stitch closed, gritting his teeth against the burning pain.
“I got tackled by some lady,” Five said. “And managed to land on some broken glass.”
“Wait, what?” Luther said, something angry and protective darkening his tone. “Why would she do something like that? You look like you’re thirteen!”
Five swallowed a sigh, and threw Luther a look of frustration. “Really? I hadn’t noticed.”
“And that doesn’t explain the blood,” Luther said. “Five, just tell me what happened.”
“I will tell you…” Five said as he finished off the final stitch. “Only if you promise me you’re not gonna over-react.”
“Uh…” Luther paused. “Why do you need me to promise that?”
“You remember how I looked when I got back, right?” Five said, reaching to pick up the scissors from the sink. “Just use your imagination.”
Luther paused to think, and then his eyes widened.
“Wait, did you…” Luther said. Then, his voice lowered into a whisper. “Kill people?”
Five raised his eyebrows at Luther, as he snipped the thread and tossed it into the bin alongside the needle. What was with the whispering? It wasn’t like there was anyone else in the house to hear them.
Luther stared at him nervously for a moment, and then sagged when Five didn’t respond. “Fine, I promise. Just tell me, alright? Why do you need to keep so many secrets?”
Five shrugged off Luther’s accusations, and took a moment to study his brother, making sure he was being serious. Luther didn’t look happy about it, in fact, he looked positively sulky, but Five supposed it was good enough. Luther might not understand necessary evils when it involved murder, but there wasn’t much he could do to change what had already happened.
“I made a deal with the Handler for a briefcase,” Five said quickly, reaching for the box of band-aids on the shelf to pull out a bandage. “In exchange, I had to kill the Commission’s board of directors.”
“You what?” Luther exclaimed, eyes widening into saucers. “That’s how you got the briefcase?”
Five rolled his eyes, and ripped open the packaging. So much for not over-reacting.
“Five!” Luther said when Five didn’t respond.
“Look, I did what I had to, to get us home, alright?” Five said, waving the bandage as he made his point. “Or do you want to be stuck in the 60s for the rest of your miserable life?”
“It doesn’t mean it’s right to kill a bunch of innocent people!”
“Innocent?” Five scoffed, covering his stitches with the adhesive before rolling down his sleeves. “Don’t be a hypocrite, Luther. You spent a year working for a crime lord.”
“I-” Luther hesitated, uncertainty flickering across his face. “Jack never involves civilians in his activities.”
“Is that what he told you?” Five said, turning to face his brother with a look of fond skepticism. He was as amused as he was saddened by how Luther had still managed to hold onto this kind of naivety, despite all the criminals he’d fought over the years. Luther was so desperate to see the good in people, especially in those he perceived to be authority figures, it would almost be pathetic, if it wasn’t just… Luther.
“Luther, you realise that the Commission’s standard M.O. is assassination, right?” Five continued. “Which is neither the best nor the only way to influence a timeline. The organization’s main ethos is cold blooded murder. The people in charge of it are not innocent by any definition.”
Half the time, the Commission was trying to fix the butterfly effect of their own actions. They were neither efficient nor good at what they claimed to do. If Five had actually cared, he might have actually done something about it during his years there.
“That doesn’t mean they... deserved to die,” Luther mumbled, though he now both looked and sounded conflicted about it. Five was going to take it as a win.
If Luther had any idea how many truly innocent people Five had killed just to make it back to them… But it didn’t matter, not really. Luther could condemn him as much as he wanted as long as he was alive to do it. Five didn’t care what his siblings thought of him. He hadn’t come back for their recognition or their approval. Five had returned to fix his mistakes, to repay them what he owed, that was all.
“If anyone deserves to die, Luther? It’s them.” Five smiled mirthlessly at his brother as he grabbed his blazer and pulled it on. “Now come on, we need to get down to the alleyway.”
Before Luther could reply, Five blinked away from the room, praying that the others would already be there waiting.
If Five could just save his siblings, then that would be enough.
Nothing else mattered.
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As a former southerner, Okie, white gay, that grew up separated from his father's family because "those people" were Portuguese, Cherokee, and black I feel it necessary to post this. If you feel attacked I cordially invite you to block me and go fuck yourself.
From someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice. - Jim Golden
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Hi! I’m loving your Diego fics, can I request one too? Since that scene in s2 where they show us all the siblings as adults but still in the academy uniforms (thus, still part of it), I love the idea of an au where that same Diego meets a girl outside of the academy, who makes him want to have a different life than the one he has (make sense?). Because the Diego of the au still lives in the academy, but after meeting her, he wants a new life, with her. I’d love to read something on these lines:)
Hey, I went a bit off track, but I hope you like it! I’m also aware that the life that is described for the reader isn’t something common in the US but I feel like we’re all dreaming in these stories, so imagine!
Warnings: Language, child neglect, emotional manipulation (We all know Reggie’s a shit dad, so that)
His own life
Diego had tried before. When they were seventeen all the Hargreeves kids had tried to just leave. Diego stopped his actions without hesitation when mom walked in and asked him to stay. Gave him a whole lecture on how him and his siblings were heroes and had to stick around because what would the Umbrella Academy be without them? What would she be without them? That same monologue worked on Klaus. Luther didn’t even need a lecture. One „Are you sure about this?“ And he started unpacking again.
Alison and Vanya weren’t so easy to convince. Alison had big dreams and Vanya just wanted to get out of her own personal hell. Grace, Pogo and Dad had caught them in the foyer. Vanya started to feel bad about her decision, especially when they brought up the possibility of failure all alone in a big, scary world. Alison even tried rumoring her way past them but of course Dad had managed to use that against her.
„If that is your way of handling all your problems outside of those doors, you’re not really handling anything, Number two. Now go back up to your room, I expect you at dinner in 30 minutes.“ So Alison had tears in her eyes at the thought of having to use her powers for everything. And she stayed, too.
Now they were nearing their thirties. They were still wearing their stupid uniforms. Going on missions at least twice a week and having to help out around the house was getting boring and frankly, exhausting. They did get to leave occasionally. Going to the diner at the corner, going to some fancy restaurant when Dad felt like they deserved it or just laying around in the courtyard. Every time they were at the diner he saw some people around who were just enjoying themselves. No worries in the world and a life of their own to live.
One particular Saturday afternoon they were sitting in the diner again. Diego was drinking a black coffee and eating a jelly donut. They weren’t talking. They never did. They just weren’t allowed to go out on their own, or to unknown places, so every Saturday afternoon they were sitting in this diner, rarely even sharing a table, just enjoying not being at the Academy. Diego was sitting in a booth on his own. Vanya was sitting by the counter, pulling apart a glazed donut and dunking each piece into her glass of milk. Klaus was laying in another booth, an empty glass of some extravagant milkshake standing on the table. Luther and Alison were sharing a table sitting across from each other, sharing a strawberry milkshake and a chocolate eclair and a chocolate glazed donut sitting next to it.
They all thought it was weird. Alison and Luther had been ‚secretly‘ dating since forever. They didn’t like thinking about it because they still thought of each other as siblings. But to be honest, Diego was jealous. He had never really been in love. How should he? He never met anyone outside the house.
„Hey, Auntie Agnes, sorry, I’m a bit late. Study group took a bit longer today“, a beautiful woman who came running in, said to the woman behind the counter.
„That’s alright, dear. Put on the uniform really quick and then I can go out for the day“, she smiled.
Diego looked after the beautiful woman. He had only caught a glance at her as she was rushing in and when she came back out she started cleaning up, while Agnes left. When she arrived at Diego’s table he smiled up at her.
„Can I get you anything else?“, she asked, smiling back at him.
„Uhm- Maybe a refill? And- and another jelly donut maybe“, he ordered nervously. Why was he so nervous around her?
„Alrighty then.“
Just about a minute later she came back with a new donut and the coffee can. She leaned against the booth with her arms crossed.
„It’s a little sad, isn’t it? When I was little this place was always buzzing but it really let itself go in these past few years“, she started small-talk, probably sensing that he liked her company, but also bored because there was nothing to do around here, „I’ve been helping out for a few years now, since I started my undergraduate, to make some money on the side. I’m about to be a doctor.“
„That’s awesome. You sound like you’ve got it together.“ Diego was a little jealous. She seemed as though she had all these plans and no one holding her back, quite the opposite obviously, since she was apparently working at her aunt’s shop.
She laughed. „No, I don’t think anyone does. That’s kind of the thrill, isn’t it? Not knowing where life is gonna go?“, she sat down opposite him, „When I graduated high school I took a year off and helped out in a crisis area. My parents were really scared but it gives you a sense of humility and accomplishment. And before I entered medical school, I did that again, just in a different place. I wanna see the world.“
Diego got really sad, she had done so much in her life and she still had plans. He had never left the city in his life, rarely even left the house. „I wish I could do that.“
„Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to brag like that. My parents are really supportive, I couldn’t have done all that without them“, she looked a little embarrassed.
„Oh, I don’t think, money would be the problem. My dad’s an eccentric billionaire. He just isn’t too supportive. We don’t get to live our own lives.“
She reached out her hand to hold his and smiled. „I can’t imagine what that’s like, I’m sorry. If you got your own life, what would you do?“
Diego snorted. He hadn’t thought about that since Mom had convinced him to stay. Back then he had wanted to keep fighting crime, just without his Dad. He had wanted to become a policeman, a real righteous citizen. Maybe get married, have kids. He had given that up around twenty.
„I don’t know anymore. There’s nowhere to go. I’m turning 30 this year, I should have started my own life ages ago.“
She smiled. „It’s never too late. I’m (Y/N) by the way, I’m here three days a week, five pm to midnight. Tell me, if you find something.“
She filled his mug and then went back behind the counter where someone had just sat down. Diego couldn’t wipe the smile off his face. Would she really help him have his own life?
Diego pondered the idea for a bit. Only a month later, when they went back to the diner, he took a bag with his important stuff and didn’t tell anyone about his plans. (Y/N) wasn’t there. It was 4.30 pm. He sat down in the booth where he had sat before, ordered a coffee and a jelly donut and waited. He looked at the clock. 5.30 pm. She wasn’t here. He decided to ask.
„Hi, sorry, is (Y/N) coming in today?“
„Oh, no, sorry, she graduated last week and moved out. She immediately joined the Doctors Without Borders. We’re worried but proud. She’ll be back in a few months. Do you know her?“, Agnes explained, smiling.
„Yeah, when she was working last months, she told me to come back if I knew what to do. I just- I know now, would you tell her that if you get to it?“, he put the money for his order onto the counter and left, into a new life.
Two years later
Diego had made it. He had received his associate’s degree from the Police Academy. Full in uniform, Saturday, five pm, he entered the diner again, hoping that maybe he’d see her again. He sat down in the same booth where he had sat two years ago, ordered a coffee and a jelly donut and waited. His siblings entered shortly after he had.
„Oh my god, Diego?“, Alison said and sat down in front of him, „What the fuck? Mom was sitting in her gallery for days after she found your note, how could you just leave like that?“
„I have my own life. It’s great, you should try it.“ Diego looked down and smiled.
„Is that a police uniform? Where did you steal that from?“, Luther asked.
„Yeah, it is. And I didn’t steal it, I earned it. I went to police academy, I’m a policeman now“, Diego grew in his seat and pointed at his name tag, „You see ‚Hargreeves‘. That’s me. I’m a police officer.“
The bell by the door rang again and he looked up. She entered. It was her. (Y/N). Diego got up and joined her where she had sat down at the counter.
„Hi, remember me?“, he asked. She turned around and smiled at him.
„Hey, I’m sorry, I don’t think you ever told me your name, but yeah, I remember you“, she looked him up and down, „You got your own life, huh?“
„Yes, I’m Diego, by the way. Thanks. I don’t think I’d have ever started without you, so I owe you.“
She smirked. „Maybe you could pay up with dinner, tomorrow night?“
He laughed under his breath. „I’d like that.“
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From someone who teaches AP US History:
If you are confused as to why so many Americans are defending the confederate flag, monuments, and statues right now, I put together a quick Q&A, with questions from a hypothetical person with misconceptions and answers from my perspective as an AP U.S. History Teacher:
Q: What did the Confederacy stand for?
A: Rather than interpreting, let's go directly to the words of the Confederacy's Vice President, Alexander Stephens. In his "Cornerstone Speech" on March 21, 1861, he stated "The Constitution... rested upon the equality of races. This was an error. Our new government is founded upon exactly the opposite idea; its foundations are laid, its corner-stone rests, upon the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition. This, our new government, is the first, in the history of the world, based upon this great physical, philosophical, and moral truth."
Q: But people keep saying heritage, not hate! They think the purpose of the flags and monuments are to honor confederate soldiers, right?
A: The vast majority of confederate flags flying over government buildings in the south were first put up in the 1960's during the Civil Rights Movement. So for the first hundred years after the Civil War ended, while relatives of those who fought in it were still alive, the confederate flag wasn't much of a symbol at all. But when Martin Luther King, Jr. and John Lewis were marching on Washington to get the Civil Rights Act (1964) and Voting Rights Act (1965) passed, leaders in the south felt compelled to fly confederate flags and put up monuments to honor people who had no living family members and had fought in a war that ended a century ago. Their purpose in doing this was to exhibit their displeasure with black people fighting for basic human rights that were guaranteed to them in the 14th and 15th Amendments but being withheld by racist policies and practices.
Q: But if we take down confederate statues and monuments, how will we teach about and remember the past?
A: Monuments and statues pose little educational relevance, whereas museums, the rightful place for Confederate paraphernalia, can provide more educational opportunities for citizens to learn about our country's history. The Civil War is important to learn about, and will always loom large in social studies curriculum. Removing monuments from public places and putting them in museums also allows us to avoid celebrating and honoring people who believed that tens of millions of black Americans should be legal property.
Q: But what if the Confederate flag symbol means something different to me?
A: Individuals aren't able to change the meaning of symbols that have been defined by history. When I hang a Bucs flag outside my house, to me, the Bucs might represent the best team in the NFL, but to the outside world, they represent an awful NFL team, since they haven't won a playoff game in 18 years. I can't change that meaning for everyone who drives by my house because it has been established for the whole world to see. If a Confederate flag stands for generic rebellion or southern pride to you, your personal interpretation forfeits any meaning once you display it publicly, as its meaning takes on the meaning it earned when a failed regime killed hundreds of thousands of Americans in an attempt to destroy America and keep black people enslaved forever.
Q: But my uncle posted a meme that said the Civil War/Confederacy was about state's rights and not slavery?
A: "A state's right to what?" - John Green
Q: Everyone is offended about everything these days. Should we take everything down that offends anyone?
A: The Confederacy literally existed to go against the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence, and the idea that black people are human beings that deserve to live freely. If that doesn't upset or offend you, you are un-American.
Q: Taking these down goes against the First Amendment and freedom of speech, right?
A: No. Anyone can do whatever they want on their private property, on their social media, etc. Taking these down in public, or having private corporations like NASCAR ban them on their properties, has literally nothing to do with the Bill of Rights.
Q: How can people claim to be patriotic while supporting a flag that stood for a group of insurgent failures who tried to permanently destroy America and killed 300,000 Americans in the process?
A: No clue.
Q: So if I made a confederate flag my profile picture, or put a confederate bumper sticker on my car, what am I declaring to my friends, family, and the world?
A: That you support the Confederacy. To recap, the Confederacy stands for: slavery, white supremacy, treason, failure, and a desire to permanently destroy Selective history as it supports white supremacy.
It’s no accident that:
You learned about Helen Keller instead of W.E.B, DuBois
You learned about the Watts and L.A. Riots, but not Tulsa or Wilmington.
You learned that George Washington’s dentures were made from wood, rather than the teeth from slaves.
You learned about black ghettos, but not about Black Wall Street.
You learned about the New Deal, but not “red lining.”
You learned about Tommie Smith’s fist in the air at the 1968 Olympics, but not that he was sent home the next day and stripped of his medals.
You learned about “black crime,” but white criminals were never lumped together and discussed in terms of their race.
You learned about “states rights” as the cause of the Civil War, but not that slavery was mentioned 80 times in the articles of secession.
Privilege is having history rewritten so that you don’t have to acknowledge uncomfortable facts.
Racism is perpetuated by people who refuse to learn or acknowledge this reality.
You have a choice. - Jim Golden”
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midnight hotline is one of my favorite fics! it's so rare to find an author willing to treat both luther AND diego as, yk, three-dimensional characters instead of caricatures. i was wondering if you still have interest in their dynamic after s2? tbh i love reading your lists of headcanons, so would delight in any thoughts you have about them as a ship or polycule w/ other characters. no worries if not! thank you either way for feeding us the good content!
ahhh thank you!! luther deserves sooo much more than the fandom gives him, doesn’t he? (although i feel like after the initial s1 backlash i now see a lot of posts that wax eloquent about how poor luther is misunderstood and the most traumatized, so perhaps people are seeing it differently.) they deserve to be three-dimensional characters! they have the potential! even if the writers in season 2 decided to dumb them down a ridiculous amount. olga foroga? everyone leaving diego hanging with ‘team zero’? it felt like the writers were like “well tom hopper has great comedic timing. what if we did that and nothing else.” that being said though, i DID like how when luther stormed out of elliot’s house, diego followed him and tried to give him a pep talk. good shit! enemies to brothers!
i don’t think i’d personally write more about luther/diego as a couple— midnight hotline encapsulates pretty much all i have to say about the two of them, tbh. in terms of polycules i am a huge fan of luther/allison/diego as a threesome and i can trace this back to the fight scene at the academy in s1e3 which was decadent for a simple person such as myself who appreciates competent people kicking ass together. the reason i love luther, diego, and allison together is the power dynamics between them and the rest of the academy” luther obviously was number one, allison had an extremely socially potent power, and diego schemed all he could to climb in his status. in general, i’m much more interested in stories about powerful people experiencing a reckoning with their status and assumptions than i am about underestimated underdogs. so i am enthusiastic and excited when i see them all kicking ass togethee
i actually wrote about 7-8k words of a second luther/allison/diego fic last december, but i don’t think i’ll be able to finish it— buuut i can post a snippet here! the premise is that they are teenagers at the academy, allison is goading them into manifesting their sexual tension, and diego and luther are coming back from sneaking out to a club :)
The footsteps got louder. Allison inhaled and then exhaled, forcibly calming herself, and then she heard the sound of familiar laughter.
“They fucking loved you, man, don’t act so surprised. You can’t go in a club flexing all your muscles like that and then act like it’s crazy when girls start coming up to you and petting you.”
“I wasn’t trying to flex at anyone— you told me this shirt was fine.”
“It is,” Diego said, “if you’re trying to get laid.”
“You said it was normal.”
“Wanting to get laid is normal, buddy. We’re at the house. Come on, I’ll show you how to get back in.”
Allison stubbed out her cigarette on the metal piping on the roof, and then she climbed out onto her window, perching carefully on the windowsill as they came around the corner into the courtyard.
Luther was dressed in a pair of dark jeans and a white tank top. It clung to every curve of his muscles. No wonder the girls had gone crazy over him. He looked good, appealing in a rugged way, yet less rough-and-tumble than Diego, who looked like he was smudged with some girl’s body glitter. Luther was leaning on Diego a little bit as he walked. The two of them looked excruciatingly perfect in the dim light, and Allison let out a tiny sigh.
“You good?” Diego said, looking up at Luther.
“Can we,” Luther said, “just sit for a moment?”
“You really need to?” Diego said.
“Yeah,” Luther said, stumbling to the bench in the courtyard and sitting down hard. “Yeah.”
“Oh, baby, you’re drunk,” Diego said, in awe.
“So?” Luther said. “Don’t you do this all the time?”
“I’ll have a drink,” Diego said, sitting down next to him. “But it’s not really the point of going out.”
“You’re tipsy right now,” Luther said. He reached in and tapped Diego’s nose.
Diego batted his hand away too quickly, and Luther laughed. “I don’t usually drink too much,” Diego said. “It’s… special occasions.”
“Like this?” Luther said.
“Going out with my clueless straight boy brother?” Diego said. “Yeah, I’d say that’s special.”
“I don’t know why you’re always telling me I’m straight,” Luther said.
“‘Cause you are,” Diego said. “I mean, I’m not— it’s not a big deal. I don’t care about it. Thought I just… we both know where we stand.”
“I’m not straight,” Luther said.
There was no noise. Allison leaned out the window a little further.
“Oh,” Diego said.
“You wanted to know where we… stood,” Luther said.
“Yeah,” Diego said.
“Is that a problem?”
“You keep it pretty quiet,” Diego said.
“So do you,” Luther said.
“Fuck,” Diego said. He rubbed his face. “This whole time, gay chicken, I thought you were a…”
“I’m not a clueless straight boy,” Luther said.
“You’re a clueless not-straight boy.”
“Diego.”
“Sorry,” Diego said, sounding the opposite of sorry, but he was quiet for a moment. The next time he spoke, he sounded tentative. “You’re really into guys, huh?”
“Don’t be weird about it,” Luther said, looking down at his hands.
“I’m not, man, I promise,” Diego said. He laughed a little. “I mean, I get it better than anybody.”
“It’s not really a part of me I thought about a lot,” Luther said. “Until Allison’s… game.”
“Allison made it weird,” Diego said.
Allison felt a flush of shame from her perch on the windowsill. Fuck her intentions. Fuck herself. Whenever she tried to intervene in a situation, save for a crime scene, she always dug her fingers in too far and made a mess, didn’t she? And Jesus, she didn’t even rumor them this time.
“Yeah,” Luther said. He paused.
“What?” Diego said.
“I don’t know,” Luther said. He still wasn’t looking at him. “You’re right. It’s weird.”
“She has some balls to pull this shit,” Diego said. He shook his head. “Gay chicken.”
“I don’t mind that it’s weird,” Luther said.
Allison went still.
“Really,” Diego said.
Luther shifted. “I know it’s— weird that I don’t think it’s weird, because it’s weird, but—”
“Are you into it?” Diego said, voice low.
Allison could barely breathe from the silence.
Luther looked down.
“Hey,” Diego said, tipping Luther’s chin up with his hand. “You get shy all of a sudden?”
“Diego,” Luther said, “are you…” He shook his head, as if chastising himself. “Are you—”
He cut himself off. Allison watched him, holding her breath, and she could see Diego watching him too. Everything seemed to hinge on Luther in this moment— unlike every mission in which he was Number One, titled as the captain, the boy king, and it was easy to brush him off. But right now, from her windowsill, Allison was magnetically drawn to the boy on the bench with a question in his mouth and a white undershirt that seemed to glow in the nighttime.
“You can say it,” Diego said quietly.
“You don’t know what it is,” Luther said.
“If I knew,” Diego said, “I wouldn’t need you to say it.”
Luther swallowed.
“C’mon,” Diego said. “Let it out.”
His voice was hushed. Allison could barely hear him. Luther looked up at him, disbelieving.
“Are you into me?” Luther said, looking up at him.
Diego nodded, once. Then he nodded again. “Yeah,” he said. “I— this whole time, Allison’s game, I wanted… you better not be fucking with me, you better not tell anyone, I swear to God— you better forget this when you sober up tomorrow.”
“No,” Luther said.
Diego blinked. “What?”
“I don’t want to forget,” Luther said, and he dragged Diego in and kissed him.
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